We're giving you the day-by-day for this year's Sasquatch! music festival -- check out our recommendations for Friday here, Saturday here, Sunday here, and read on for Monday's picks!

Start Monday off with Nissim at 1:00 on the Cthulhu stage. Nissim is the moniker of Damian Black -- who you might know better by his former alias, D. Black, manager and member of Sporting Life Records and accomplished rapper and producer in his own right. Black gave all that up several years ago when he converted to Judaism, got married, and had a son. Recently however, he’s been lured back into making music, although this time around the music is more earnest and uplifting in nature. Follow his set up at the Bigfoot stage at 2:25 for Minneapolis rapper P.O.S., who’s part of the ever-talented Doomtree collective and part of Rhymesayers, the label that brought us Atmosphere and Brother Ali. P.O.S. comes off a little stronger than some rappers, as some sort of hybrid between punk and rap. He’s just as likely to rap over squealing guitar as he is to record scratches and a bass beat. These two back-to-back is sure to wake you up and set a tone for your last day at the Gorge!

Stick around the Bigfoot stage for Cody ChesnuTT’s set at 3:25. Last year saw the release of his second full-length album Landing On A Hundred, the first since his debut in 2002. Fans of southern soul, R&B, funk, and blues will find a lot to like in ChesnuTT’s music, and his live shows are energetic and oozing with passion. Up next is Dirty Projectors at 4:30, led by the dizzying guitar work of the band's founder and guitarist David Longstreth. The really captivating aspect of Dirty Projectors are the vocals of Haley Dekle and especially Amber Coffman, who at times hit some serious Mariah Carey-level high notes. Their 2012 album Swing Lo Magellan may have been their most gorgeous and explorative release to date.

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We're giving you the day-by-day for this year's Sasquatch! music festival -- check out our recommendations for Friday here, Saturday here, and read on for Sunday's picks!

Start Sunday off right with Seattle’s Deep Sea Diver, playing at 1:00 on the Bigfoot stage. Originally a solo project of guitarist Jessica Dobson, the band has evolved into a three piece that includes her husband Peter Mansen on drums. Dobson shreds on guitar; enough so that she’s spent time during the past year on tour as a guitarist for The Shins. Must see! Next up, at 2:00 on the Yeti stage, is Sean Nelson, who most will know as the former frontman for Harvey Danger. Nelson is set to release a solo album on June 4^th titled Make Good Choices, featuring collaborations from Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla and R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, and this will be a good chance to hear some of those new songs up-close-and-personal style.

At 3:05 on the Bigfoot stage is Diiv. The four-piece band is the project of Z. Cole Smith, former member of the band Beach Fossils. Smith has a strong admiration for Kurt Cobain, but the band has a sound that's distinctly different from his musical idol: elements of krautrock and early 90’s shoegaze dominate Diiv's vibe. For a changeup, Seattle rapper/producer/multi-instrumentalist O.C. Notes will be taking the Cthulhu stage at 4:15. The project is the moniker of Otis Calvin III, who can also be heard in the hip-hop duo Metal Chocolates. For Sasquatch, he’ll be joined live on stage by several talented Seattle area musicians, including Erik Blood on bass, Thomas Hunter (Wild Orchid Children) on guitar, Trent Moorman (Head Like A Kite) on drums, and Vox Mod on synths. Can't wait!!

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We're giving you the day-by-day for this year's Sasquatch! music festival -- check out our recommendations for Friday here, and read on for Saturday's picks!

Options abound at 1:00 to start off your Saturday: over at the Yeti stage is Seattle’s Rose Windows. The septet recently signed to Sub Pop Records, who will release their debut album The Sun Dogs on June 25^th. On the Cthulhu stage, also at 1:00, you'll find Ra Scion. Most will know Ra Scion as the front man for Common Market, the hip-hop duo he formed with producer Sabzi. He’s currently teamed up with Tacoma producer Todd Sykes, and his rhymes are just as potent as ever. Stick around the Cthulhu stage -- which is all Puget Sound hip-hop, all four days, by the way -- for Tilson XOXO, the current project of the former Saturday Knights front man. He released a fabulous soul infused Jackson Five-inspired song last fall called “Nevereverland” that was featured on Give Seattle 2013, a benefit album for The Vera Project.

Back at the Yeti Stage after that is Indians, the solo project of Danish musician Søren Løkke Juul. He released his debut album Somewhere Else on 4AD this past January. His stripped down electronic sound brings to mind a mellow version of Panda Bear or Porcelain Raft (who also play Saturday, at 7:40 on the Yeti Stage).

Next, head over to the Bigfoot Stage at 4:10 for Michael Kiwanuka. The British singer does a great job of balancing his old soul influences of Marvin Gaye and Bill Withers with more modern R&B {think a gentler D’Angelo-type sound}. His song “Tell Me A Tale” sounds like it could have just as easily been recorded in 1972 as 2012:

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Imaginaries! Sasquatch is right around the corner, and as always, this year’s festival has a little something for everybody. There’s the folky hand-clapping foot-stomping sounds of Mumford and Sons, the reunion of The Postal Service after a ten year hiatus (!), the inescapable hip-hop of hometown favorite Macklemore, and, what’s sure to be an unforgettably epic nighttime set from Sigur Ros. If you’re headed to Sasquatch, you’re likely pretty familiar with most of the big name mainstage acts. Thankfully, in-between all those great headlining sets, there are tons of great acts (many of them hailing from the great Pacific Northwest) to see off on those side stages. Hopefully this list will give you some ideas of who to see while you’re basking in the glory of all that is Sasquatch…

If you’re one of those ambitious types that will be there when the gates open Friday afternoon, you’ll be rewarded by a set from Erik Blood, playing on the Yeti stage at 4:00. Blood is an accomplished local producer, having manned the boards for local hip-hop acts Thee Satisfaction and Shabazz Palaces in recent years. He made lots of noise on his own with his 2009 debut The Way We Live, and followed it up with the equally fantastic Touch Screens in 2012. 

Following Blood on the Yeti Stage at 5:05 is local composer, producer, and orchestral musician Jherek Bischoff. His 2012 release Composed features contributions from the legendary David Byrne, and songs bring to mind some of the eastern European influenced sounds of DeVotchka and Beirut, as well as the orchestral-pop sounds of Hey Marseilles.

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It seems crazy to be talking about it already, but ready or not, 2012's Sasquatch! Music Festival is right around the corner! Next weekend, in fact, we'll be packing up our cars and celebrating the impending start of summer by spending a long weekend in the sun, poring over four days of band schedules and making the most of our annual trip to the Gorge Ampitheater in George, Washington. The last few years have given us festival weekends for the books {here's some proof from 2011 and 2010}, and this year looks like it will be no exception -- there's tons to see every day no matter what your personal taste is, and at the moment it looks like the weather is going to hold out, too! So, let's take a look at some of the highlights that we can't wait to take in -- and you can play along at home by making your own Sasquatch! day-by-day schedule here.

FRIDAY

There seems to be a build built in to the fest, both per-day and over the course of the weekend, too: Friday starts by easing us into a warm bath with the smooth sounds of Allen Stone, who will be kicking things off at the Sasquatch Stage at 5:00p. And if that "blue-eyed soul" sound isn't your thing, don't worry -- you can take it in the opposite direction with the post alt.indie vibe that Yellow Ostrich does at 5:15p on the Bigfoot Stage instead {pop on over here for a sample of what we love about these guys}. Then, Iceland's made-famous-to-Seattle-via-KEXP allstars Of Monsters and Men take the 6:00p spot on the Sasquatch Stage, while recent buzz band Polica blow out the Bigfoot Stage at 6:30. There's plenty to experience Friday besides (and around) these four picks, but our last can't-miss recommendation is 110% for Girl Talk's set at 8:30 on the Sasquatch Stage, sure to be a power-hour that will leave the crowds (and us!) happily hopped-up in preparation for the next three days of music.

SATURDAY

We can't really think of a better way to begin the first weekend day of Sasquatch! with back-to-back sets of awesome on the Sasquatch Stage, first with Pickwick at 12:00p, followed immediately by Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires at 1:05p. {It's worth noting that we've been buzzing with love for Charles Bradley since his set in KEXP's Bumbershoot Music Lounge last year, and we can't wait to catch him on the big stage!} Well-primed, we'll head into some modern American roots tunes from Blitzen Trapper at 2:10p on the same stage, and we'll cap the first part of the day off with what's sure to be one of the best revival-jam sets of the weekend, Alabama Shakes at 3:00p on the Bigfoot Stage. Speaking of, we're quite sure you're in the loop with AS's recent release, Boys & Girls, but just in case you haven't gotten into it yet, check it out here.

Saturday shakes up at 3:30p, with a turn for the funkier side: THEESatisfaction will be bringing all the goodness from their latest release {and then some!} to the Yeti Stage right about then, and there's tons to check out over the course of the afternoon and early evening (Portlandia, Kurt Vile and the Violators, and Dum Dum Girls stand out as choices worthy of your festival time) before Helio Sequence's Bigfoot Stage set at 6:30p and Metric's Sasquatch Stage set at 6:40p. Those bleed into our absolutely-can't-miss pick for Saturday, tUnE-yArDs on the Bigfoot Stage at 7:30p {!!!!!}, and the night caps off with The Shins and Jack White back-to-back to close out the Sasquatch Stage starting about 8:10p.

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Sunday morning's installment of the Sasquatch! music festival found us with smiling, weary eyes and happy tired feet from all the blissing-out (two posts' worth!), which worked out perfectly with the grey sky vibe and our first sets of the day. The alt.folk.traditional-yet-bizarre sounds of Cotton Jones began the trip for us on the small (Yeti) stage, and their sounds bled nicely into the warm, longing big-guitar melody of the Moondoggies on the Bigfoot stage. Bursts of sun came through just in time for the straightforward rock of Black Joe Lewis, who lifted us up perfectly to take on a dusk set from Gayngs and a mindmelting mainstage show from the Flaming Lips.

Photos below!

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The opening bell at this year's Sasquatch! music festival was no slouch, and we've got the photos to prove it!

Mixed in with the obvious wins -- sunshine, scenery, and good friends -- we spent a little over three days on what we're quite sure was the best trip so far of 2011. Days one and two brought the local flavor in a big way, opening up Saturday morning with Seattle Rock Orchestra's Radiohead cover set on the Bigfoot stage, a one-two punch of pow from the Globes on the Yeti stage, and an early afternoon set from the Head and the Heart on the main stage. We broke out of our melancholy-tinged swoonfest for one of the best sets of the festival, Aloe Blacc -- who connected with the throngs of fans at the Bigfoot stage beautifully with his smooth brand of funky old-school soul and some bad-ass dance moves.

Just before the sun started to fade, we caught regional local Dan Mangan back over at the Yeti stage -- hailing from Vancouver, BC -- who brought his thoughtful, alt.indie.ponder-pop songwriting to an incredibly enthusiastic crowd. We're up to our elbows in his last release, Nice Nice Very Nice, as we speak type -- check out the pictures below!

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The big news over the weekend (if the Twitter feed of my local rock writer friends is to be believed) is that a) the Sasquatch Festival will once again be happening for the ninth time in nine years from Saturday, May 29 through Monday, May 31; b) 3-day passes are now sale for the discounted price of $170 and were as of Saturday morning (while the national unemployment rate dropped to 10.2% last week) and c) the recently-reunited Pavement is headlining (at least) one night.

The full lineup is set to be announced on February 16. Possibly NSFW video after the jump.

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at The Gorge

Oh Monday! Dear third day of camping, hair unwashed, everything I own smelling like sunscreen. After packing everything up post-haste we hoofed it to see one of the two early shows that day, the Heartless Bastards. I'd heard scattered ruminations about them but didn't know much and I'm patting myself on the back for checking them out. The Heartless Bastards are a Cincinnati-by-way-of-Texas band fronted by Erika Wennerstrom, whose soulful Patti Smith/Chrissie Hynde voice unites with the rough and tumble southern sound of her Austin band to form a rich and raucous kind of alt-country that is anything but boring.

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at The Gorge

I'm from Texas and all, but sitting on a rock in 85 degree heat with no shade, clouds or wind isn't my idea of completely awesome. Especially when after all that I walk back to the sticky hot tent to drink and then pass out in my sleeping bag, only to await the next day of the same. So that's my excuse for missing Calexico (but my amigo Sam caught them and wrote about it ). On with St. Vincent!

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