Your guide to Sasquatch 2010: The best bands to see

Saturday

Shabazz Palaces (12:05 p.m., Sasquatch Stage)

Three reasons to see Shabazz Palaces:

1.) It's the latest project from Seattle-based former Digable Planets member Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler.

2.) Butler's Shabazz beats are so dirty and gruesome they make Clipse's "Trill" sound like Akon's "Don't Matter."

3.) One of his songs is titled "my mac yawns i go on to make this darksparkles move call it: as the americans say, middle section made by plcr runner reg on his 30' chromitar." Need I say more?

Mumford & Sons (1:55 p.m., Bigfoot Stage)

Mumford & Sons, a young, four-man band out of London, bloom beautifully into folk music. Their only album to date, "Sigh No More," crescendos elegantly, brimming with lyrical fervor. Blending strings, brass, piano, mandolin, guitar and banjo to make a soft but powerful sound, Mumford & Sons meld their voices to make a stunning harmony that is both melancholy and sweet. Though their folk sound tends to a certain softness in volume, the power of the voices and the lyrics reverberate into an organized tempest. It is almost violent as a penultimate song, showing that Mumford & Sons do not merely play their music. When they play, they reveal a story.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (4:05 p.m., Bigfoot Stage)

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros make use of ensemble collaboration to the edges of its definition: with ten members and extra personnel, they bring together a lot of instruments and a lot of talent. Employing guitar, drums, piano, ukulele, trumpets and accordions just to name a few, the band pulled together an eclectic collection of songs for their first album "Up from Below." Some songs are soft and gentle, others loud and upbeat, but all have an innate bounce brought by the drums and swingy piano that make dancing irresistible. 

They're known best for the duet "Home," a song born to be sung loudly (and whistled and sweet-nothinged) out the windows of a car during the summer—or out of The Gorge this weekend.

WHY? (6:45 p.m., Yeti Stage)

If someone published the lyrics of Why? as a book of poetry, I would immediately buy it. Listening to Why?, I feel the urge to write extended analytical essays attempting to decipher what each song is trying to say, figuring out all of the insane metaphors and mind-melting internal rhymes that make the English major in me quiver with delight. But beyond that, Why? just doesn't sound like anyone else. Their pseudo-rap delivery mixed with a moody atmospheric sound closer to indie rock than hip-hop makes for a refreshing act not to be missed.

Sunday

Local Natives (1:30 p.m., Bigfoot Stage)

Who cares if the members of Local Natives wear their contemporary indie Americana influences on their sleeves? The band's pop-folk by way of Talking Heads is so bursting with feel-good vibrations that it's hard to resist their musical charms. And come on, the rousing four-part vocal harmonies on "Airplanes" and the stirring, string-laden crescendos of "Who Knows Who Cares" are positively going to soar at an outdoor festival like 'Squatch. With an energetic live show that has the quintet of multi-instrumentalists trading their spots on-stage between tribal drum beats, Local Natives are just what you're going to need to overcome that post-Saturday hangover.

LCD Soundsystem (7:00 p.m., Sasquatch Stage)

If you hate dancing, you should definitely not go see LCD Soundsystem. If you hate listening to songs that have a lot of slinky disco bass and feature synths pumping out rhythms that will force you to shake what your mother kindly gave to you, you should definitely not go see LCD Soundsystem. If you hate lyrics that are so chock full of delicious irony and wit that they are funnier than pretty much anything you'd see on TV, please, you should most assuredly not go see LCD Soundsystem.

Pavement (8:30 p.m., Sasquatch Stage)

Pitchfork.com will tell you that the guitar wasn't an instrument before Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus held one in his hands during the making of their debut opus "Slanted and Enchanted." The boys at that taste-making outfit will also probably tell you that Pavement invented sliced bread, and the toaster, and "indie rock."

None of this is true of course, but even so, Pavement ought not be overlooked. This year marks the band's triumphal reunion after a decade-long hiatus full of bitter feuding, and the angst remaining in its five core members will supercharge their performance at Sasquatch. Just think about it: "Summer Babe (Winter Version)" while Malkmus and Spiral Stairs wrestle on stage? "Silence Kit" with Bob Nostanovich and Mark Ibold locked in a staring contest? It's going to be a ferocious set, and a ton of fun.

Public Enemy (9:45 p.m., Bigfoot Stage)

Of all the veteran bands on this year's summer festival circuit, Public Enemy is probably the most influential. Along with '80s-era Beastie Boys, PE's Flav, Chuck D and their beat-makers in The Bomb Squad helped to completely redefine hip-hop, blending political fervor and social awareness with the kinds of inspired, ear-catching jams made famous by outfits like De La Soul.

If you can listen to Public Enemy's harrowing "It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back" without getting pissed off and riled up, you probably have no spine. The group wasn't f***ing around when they broke into mainstream consciousness 20-some years ago, and they remain a no-nonsense musical force even now.

Monday

Seattle Rock Orchestra (2:20 p.m., Bigfoot Room)

So, Arcade Fire isn't going to be at Sasquatch. Mega-bummer. But hey! What's this? The next best thing will be there to fill the hole in your soul where Win Butler's quavery voice should be.