Here's a closer look and listen at this year's True/False Film Fest music roster
Before the movies, comes the music.
At the True/False Film Fest, this is true two ways. Bands and buskers from as close as a few Columbia blocks over and — sometimes — as far as another continent precede documentary screenings with their rich artistry. They also form temporary, chosen musical families at concert showcases.
And when it comes to this year's fest, to be held Feb. 29-March 3, the full music lineup was revealed ahead of the films, set to come next week.
Forty-two artists will make their presence felt in song and sound. Surveying the entire lineup is nearly impossible, so we pulled out 15 to take a closer glance at — which comes with immediate regret.
This look glosses over returning favorites such as 18andCounting, dynamic acts such as R.A.P. Ferreira and Zeph France and local wonders like Ruth Acuff, Kyren Penrose and Liv Burney.
Still, you have to start somewhere and these are 15 acts you'll definitely want to keep an eye and ear out for at this year's fest.
BSA Gold
Billed by the festival as both a descendant of Alice Coltrane's spiritual jazz legacy and a peer to trailblazers such as Shabazz Palaces, Chicago musician Barédu Ahmed tethers the electronic and the organic, letting the seams show if only to demonstrate the great human passion that animates this music.
Try this track: "In Threes For Time" from 2022's "Tone Poems for Mysterious Times"
Rae Fitzgerald
One of Columbia's truest musical lights, Fitzgerald pens gliding indie-rock anthems and quietly spacious odysseys for the lovelorn, the hopelessly romantic and for spiritual seekers without a church.
Try this track: "100 Guns" from last year's "Say I Look Happy"
Ben Lamar Gay
Somewhere near jazz yet doing something more, the Chicago-based Gay has tended the fires of experimental music in the Midwest and around the world. He brings a daring and generous touch the music he makes, whether on cornet or through electronic vibrations.
Try this track: "Parade Debris" from 2022's "Certain Reveries"
Good Looks
Shimmering, sad-eyed and sublimely melodic, these Austin, Texas indie-rockers somehow sound like the cinema of that city's great auteur, Richard Linklater.
Try this track: "Almost Automatic" from 2022's "Bummer Year"
Nona Invie
A real musical visionary who has carried projects such as Anonymous Choir and Dark Dark Dark to past fests, this Minneapolis artist creates whole sonic weather systems.
Try this track: Last year's single "For Now"
K. Kudda Muzic
A St. Louis keyboardist who lends his talents to the likes of Smino and Blvck Spvde, Kudda makes ridiculously cool R&B in the lineage of Robert Glasper and Terrace Martin; his work slows the breath but stirs the soul.
Try this track: "oldr the wisor, yungr the perspective" from last year's "Lift[d]"
V.V. Lightbody
Lightbody, aka Vivian McConnell, is a serious presence on the Chicago scene, collaborating widely; her own music takes a lush, tension-holding and -resolving indie pop shape. Lightbody also will perform at the fest with Daniel Villarreal (see below) as Valebol.
Try this track: Last year's single "Itinerary"
The Mall
Synth-pop emanating from this outfit scrapes each corner of the sky above St. Louis. Dark, visceral and ultimately rousing, these songs harness electricity enough to move body and soul.
Try this track: "Contract" from 2022's "Time Vehicle Earth"
Psalm One
For nearly 25 years, the Chicago MC known as Psalm One has been loosing rhymes across the Midwest and beyond; her deep-cut catalog is soulful and self-assured, keeping righteous chips on her shoulder to challenge listeners at the level of expectation and fashion.
Try this track: "Pitchfork Score" from 2022's "Bigg Perrm"
Randall and Rehm
Two-thirds of iconic Columbia band The Hooten Hallers, John Randall and Andy Rehm have brought their otherworldly high-low dynamic to True/False for years, delivering swampy rock 'n' roll with a growl and a howl.
Try this track: "Show Me," from the Hallers' 2022 record "Back in Business Again"
Sweeping Promises
The rock radiating from Lawrence, Kansas dynamic duo Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug joins the sonic fuzz of a basement band, art-gallery colors and seemingly endless transferable energy.
Try this track: "Shadow Me" from last year's "Good Living is Coming For You"
Thao
A true indie queen, Thao Nguyen has made serious revolutions per minute with her & The Get Down Stay Down band, joint efforts with the likes of Tune-Yards and Mirah, and her own memorable solo projects. Nguyen's songs never fail to reach far and deep, fostering human connection while reveling in spiky, soulful sonics.
Try this track: The 2022 single "Ambition"
They Hate Change
Floridians Vonne Parks and Dre Gainey pool their abundant hip-hop powers to create songs that artfully dodge, but never duck the lyrical implications of navigating 21st-century life. These songs swirl around listeners, poetic fragments breaking free and burrowing into the soul.
Try this track: "So Excited" from last month's "Wish You Were Here" EP, recorded with vocalist Cherele
Tonina
From St. Louis out to Los Angeles, Tonina Saputo innovates from the standup bass, weaving jazz, classical and global folk colors into a remarkable garment of sound.
Try this track: "Asking for a Friend" from the 2022 effort "Senti"
Daniel Villarreal
The Panama-forged, Chicago-based talent lights up corners where Latin and jazz tones intersect. A drummer and a DJ and someone who takes sound and makes it vision, Villarreal will bring an inherent dynamic force to this year's True/False.
Try this track: "Daytime Nighttime," from last year's "Lados B," recorded alongside guitar great Jeff Parker and the remarkable bassist Anna Butterrss
See this year's full music lineup at https://truefalse.org/program/music/ and check back Feb. 9 for this year's concert schedule.
Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. He's on Twitter/X @aarikdanielsen.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Get to know the 2024 True/False Film Fest musical lineup
