5 Highlights From Pitchfork Music Festival London 2024

Snow Strippers - Village Underground, Thursday, November 7

Topics overheard outside Village Underground included: Is Nettspend cringe? Why did Drain Gang leave Year0001? Are they checking IDs? Detroit duo Snow Strippers have a devout Gen Z following, which was well represented on Thursday night. Some have compared the buzzy duo’s EDM-pop and heady trance to one perpetual, numbing climax, and when Tatiana Schwaninger and Graham Perez rushed the stage to “Just Your Doll,” it seemed unlikely they could keep up this frenetic energy for long. But what followed was a mesmerizing hour of icey, revving synths, unrelenting strobes, and bouncing phone screens. When the 8-bit synth of “It’s A Dream”—whose 2023 remix features Lil Uzi Vert—first blared out, it received such a feverish response I had to double check Uzi hadn’t actually popped out.

Laraaji - ICA, Friday, November 8

Laraaji began his set with a guided relaxation, urging us to loosen up our bodies from our toes up to our scalps. In front of him lay a selection of instruments, which he proceeded to pick up with the calm intent of pruning a rose garden. The whirr of cicadas and the swelling of a modular synth established an immersive backdrop as he strummed, drummed, and plucked his signature zither. Soon the unmistakable twinkle of a kalimba was heard, the instrument prominently featured on the rediscovered recordings released last year, Segue To Infinity. Famously a practitioner of “laughter meditation,” Laraaji peppered his set with chuckles as he guided us down this slow river of sound, not transporting us anywhere in particular but urging us to be fully present.