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Since its launch in 1999, Pickathon has broken the mold time and again with its expansive lineups. Asked what keeps him excited year after year, Pickathon founder and CEO Zale Schoenborn said, “Re-creating Pickathon from scratch every year around a mandate of radical discovery is an incredible, rule-breaking challenge.”
The concept of radical discovery is so deeply woven into the fabric of Pickathon, attendees can’t help but learn about themselves and music at the festival. All acts play two sets, not only allowing festivalgoers the chance to catch everyone on their lists, but also to catch artists themselves wandering the grounds between their performances.
It’s not uncommon at Pickathon to see a legendary hardcore band in the Galaxy Barn, then rush to the Paddock mainstage to witness an elder jazz giant, only to be followed by a country music nobody on the Woods stage—a nobody who will not only become your new favorite yeehaw-er, but will headline Edgefield next time they blow through town. “Years from now, people are going to look back at the lineup and say, ‘There is no way all of those artists were in the same place at the same time,’” Schoenborn muses. And rightly so.
What’s new this year? “We are stepping up in massive, culture-shifting ways this year,” Schoenborn says. And what does that mean? The same thing it has every year, just more: “Our connection to the global music community has never been deeper.”
Below are the five Pick26 sets that, if missed, will hang over your consciousness forever—sleep will become elusive and friends will no longer look to you for music recommendations. If the sets are caught, you will live to see another year of connection and love. Pickathon’s schedule tends to shift throughout the weekend; see the organizer’s website for the most up-to-date schedule.
El Khat
El Khat, a trio of second-generation Yemeni immigrants, began their musical journey in the garages and warehouses of Berlin. Sonically, the group pursues Arabic modalities via a combination of hand-built instruments and 21st century tools. Though the band doesn’t claim a land or flag, its distinct sound winds through the nervous system, conjuring the famous open-air souqs of Yemen. Joy and pain and movement and music—all life flows through El Khat and the cultural traditions they draw from. Like the addictive plant the band is named after, El Khat stimulates the mind and body, exciting the senses into a soft frenzy that’s hard to shake. It’s up to you to know when to stop.
Marcos Valle
Sunny beaches, crystal waters, easy energy. Palm trees casting shade on bodies baking in the sun. Brazilian great Marcos Valle has a way of conjuring summer vacation daydreaming. Now 83, Valle has been the heart of bossa nova and modern samba movements since the 1960s, expanding the musical traditions into global phenomena. His music transcends generations, influencing the likes of past giants Sarah Vaughan and Frank Sinatra, sliding in to guide more recent smooth operators, including Sade and D’Angelo. For peak Valle, dip into his 1973 Previsão do Tempo and his 1983 self-titled album.
Mexican Institute of Sound
From its inception, the results of the high-concept project Mexican Institute of Sound have aided dancers in dropping ass and cutting shapes. MIS, the work of Mexico City DJ and producer Camilo Lara, alchemizes Mexican folk traditions and cumbia rhythms with dubbed-out modern electronica to make a music so infectiously danceable it’s drawn some of the planet’s biggest artists as collaborators; David Byrne, Tricky, and Gorillaz among them. The new Ruido Tovar, a collaborative album with fellow Pick26 artists Meridian Brothers, sees MIS tapping Beck for two tracks—“Ritmo Babilonia” should be on everyone’s summer mix this year.
PISS
Vancouver, B.C.’s PISS holds back for no one. They’re far and away the toughest band playing Pickathon this year. The sound bite used to open their sole musical recording online, Three Demos, lets you know the band isn’t here to submit to anyone, but will free everyone from the shackles of late-stage capitalist frameworks of gender. Ripping through Demos with a ferocity reserved only for those who’ve experienced trauma firsthand, bandleader Taylor Zantingh troubles the line between noisy hardcore and poetry, burning down binaries as she goes. Here’s hoping their first album on their new label, Sub Pop, comes quick, dealing a death blow to assailants worldwide.
Vista House
Comparing a young band to established artists never quite draws the clean parallel you want. But as Portland’s Vista House continues to mature vocally and sonically, the band’s debt to Jason Molina and his Songs: Ohia project is becoming more and more clear. Led by Tim Howe, an artist springing from a musical family originating in the high desert of Central Oregon, Vista House’s earnest storytelling makes you consider quitting your job, starting a band, and hitting the road for the sake of adventure itself. This is alt-country of the highest order, music that will save our souls.
GO: Pickathon at Pendarvis Farm, 16581 SE Hagen Road, Happy Valley, pickathon.com. All day Friday–Sunday, July 30–Aug. 2. $209–$580+, under 12 free.
