Bonnaroo Band of the Day: Washed Out

Just like last year and the year before, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with as many bands as we can from Bonnaroo‘s impressive 2014 lineup. We’ll start from the bottom and work our way up, paying special attention to the smaller and lesser known acts on this year’s bill. Keep reading for your Bonnaroo Band of the Day…

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Despite famously providing the theme music for IFC pacific northwest-skewering comedy Portlania, Washed Out‘s Ernest Greene actually hails from Georgia. The former aspiring librarian’s story began as many musicians of the modern era’s have: he was discovered through MySpace through music made in his bedroom. Swept up in the chillwave movement of the late ’00s, Washed Out’s breakthrough EP, Life of Leisure, benefitted from a huge dose of “right sound, right time,” and his subsequent debut album, Within and Without, brought some much needed substance to a scene that was quickly attracting copycats, chasing the next “cool” movement. Bloggers and scenesters in the know unanimously praised the lo-fi tendencies, vintage synth affinities, shoegaze sensibilities, and sweeping, hypnotic calmness of Washed Out and his contemporaries, such as Neon Indian and Toro Y Moi.

Where chillwave stands in 2014 is quite different, and, though it may not be as in vogue with the hipster crowds of today (whether hipster-ism is even in vogue today is a different discussion), and many of the lesser-than bands who jumped on the bandwagon have fallen by the wayside, but Washed Out remain as viable, musically relevant, and inspired as ever; likely due to the fact that they were a catalyst for a musical trend, not a symptom of it. With last year’s Paracosm, Greene explored new territories, bringing a more accessible polish to his production and channeling elements of psychedelia and dream pop, as well as putting his hip hop tendencies on full display. Clearly a talent deserving of recognition beyond a trendy label, Washed Out is an act that still stands to surprise and evolve, and should be at the top of your list this summer for Bonnaroo.

LISTEN | “Amor Fati”