Kurt Vile & The Violators

Kurt Vile was the co-founder of War On Drugs, but left the band in ’08 at the time of their debut album. Vile has released four albums since then, the two most recent being the ones that made the difference. Both are on the American Matador Records label, the trust house that took in Cat Power, Yo La Tengo and Thurston Moore. Vile’s most recent album of ’11 - ‘Smoke Ring For My Halo’ – gave him a sudden breakthrough into a wider audience. Pitchfork awarded the piece a score of 8.4 in the ‘Best New Music’ category.

Kurt Vile is still influenced by Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, fingerpickin’ guitarist John Fahey and Pavement. His clanky lo-fi sound has become ‘cleaner’ in recent years, but is still middle of the road. Humo described his sound nicely as ‘a fresh mix of lazy folk jams, classic singer/songwriter pop and strapping fuzz rock’.

Cool fact: due for release is Vile’s new album: ‘Wakin’ On A Pretty Daze’. In his home town of Philadelphia he announced it with a huge wall painting. Cool! The album is also said to refer to Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Tusk’.

Live, Kurt Vile is again accompanied by his inseparable backing band, The Violators.

Daughn Gibson

The evening will be opened by America's Daughn Gibson. His baritone vocals sound highly unique in combination with his country tinted ballads. Gibson’s solo debut ‘All Hell’, released last year, promptly received a strong 8.1 from the influential Pitchfork. Best New Music in other words. What's more, the album was released via the White Denim label of Pissed Jeans frontman Matt Korvette.