The best of Soundset '10, set by set
Here are some high points (pun intended) of Sunday's Soundset festival at Canterbury Park:
Best set overall: P.O.S. with his punk/noise band Building Better Bombs and DJ Plain Ole Bill as backers. This was the same live configuration Stef Alexander put together for the Coachella fest, bringing extra weight to songs such as "Optimist," "Purexed" and especially "Drumroll."
Second best: Method Man & Redman really were a hoot, serving some of the best cuts off last year's "Blackout 2" and just enough classics, including "4:20" and the finale "C.R.E.A.M."
Best guest spot: When Brother Ali joined Freeway and Jake One to rip up "The Truth."
Best newcomer: Alabama buzz kid Yelawolf won me over. With his punky hair and white tee, he came off as an indie-rap answer to Andrew W.K. -- over-the-top, hyper and a little hokey but hard to resist.
Worst noise spillover: The music between the stages did not bleed together all day until Method Man & Redman took the main stage (did they turn the sound up for them?), as Dessa was finishing off the second stage with Aby Wolf singing some of her soulful new material. A total clash of vibes. Good thing Dessa had all her Doomtree cohorts to crank it up in the end with "Low Light."
Smokiest set: We knew Method Man & Redman would have a song or two or 10 about lighting up, but Wiz Khalifa wound up being the most pro-cannabis performer of the day. Lyrics included, "Everything is better when you're high," and "Wake up, bake up." (I smelled and saw less weed in the crowd at this fest, though, than I usually see at most metal shows or especially jam-band fests like 10,000 Lakes.)
Biggest misuse of a song called "Freedom": Fashawn's. This one was about lighting up, too. At a fest where some other rappers were rhyming about social injustices in Africa and inner-city America, it seemed rather petty. Plus, it simply wasn't a good song.