Field Day mix 07 – The Sea and Cake

Mirco-pop, post-rock, avant-garde – Chicago’s The Sea and Cake could slip into any of these categories, but they’re not a one-size-fits-all kinda band, and the fact that they can navigate smooth passage between genres is down to their embracing of playful experimentation.

Here is a band whose drummer plays in Tortoise, whose members paint, take photographs and write comic books, a foursome who cite The Velvet Underground, Sublime Frequencies and D’Angelo as influences, and you can hear traces of them all if you listen hard enough…

“What moves me is somewhat elusive, and I get glimpses of it, and that’s what keeps me working,” says singer and guitarist Sam Prekop. “What it is, I’m not sure, but I’m attracted to an unexpected, rare, damaged beauty.”

In the mix, exclusively for Field Day 2011, this session showcases all that, and more. Stream or download below, followed by our Q&A with Sam…

Field Day mix 07 – The Sea and Cake by Field Day 2011

Tell us about the mix you’ve recorded for Field Day?
“It’s comprised of stuff I’ve been listening to lately, quite random, very diverse assortment and unusually  beautiful in my opinion,  a real reflection of how I listen: all over the place; always curious, not a lot of vocalists, but the few in there really feel striking.”

Any exclusives or particular favourites on there?
“The Lucky Dragons are a recent discovery for me and I still don’t know a lot about them, but I really enjoy the record – ‘Honeycomb 3′ is from Rara Speaks – I  saw them perform a very touching, soulful show  in chicago not long ago. Another discovery is Virgo, from Chicago, that I was completely unaware of. It seems crazy to discover music from your hometown , that seems so out of time and place, but somehow so familiar and alien, simultaneously, we could have been neighbors, a wonderful thought.”

What else are you up to?
“I’ve been working on a soundtrack for the past month or two, it’s primarily synth-based but will also have some string arrangements, it’s been quite an intense learning experience , I’m really pleased and excited about it, and hope to release it in some expanded form later this year. also writing quite a bit of new material for the follow up to The Moonlight Butterfly, which i expect we’ll start recording this fall.”

What can we expect from your show at Field Day?
“It’ll be a quite comprehensive over view from most of our records almost retrospective, but naturally we’ll be featuring the latest material off of The Moonlight Butterfly as well ‘Inn Keeping’ from that record has been especially interesting to rework in a live situation, I look forward to playing it outdoors.

Who are you most looking forward to seeing at the festival?
“I’m gonna go with Omar Souleyman, he played Chicago a year or so ago, I missed it and i still hear about it, as insane and beautiful and just wild. Can’t wait!”