Your Day for Night Guide — the Best Picks from Houston’s Ever-Changing Music Festival

The third frame of Free Press Houston’s progressive, unique, and eclectic Day For Night music/arts festival is this weekend at Post HTX, 401 Franklin, the former Barbara Jordan Post Office. In its third year, Day for Night welcomes names like Nine Inch Nails, St. Vincent, Pretty Lights, Perfume Genius, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Princess Nokia, and The Jesus Lizard to the edge of downtown.

These are my picks for which acts are most deserving of your time, from the heady hip-hop of Earl Sweatshirt to the manic footwork of Jlin, to, yes, Cardi B.

Day for Night Day One — Friday

11:20 pm Earl Sweatshirt Blue Stage
Earl has been quiet since 2015’s I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside, but the twisty wordsmith is a delightful stage presence whose inclusion on a Friday night showcase is a stroke of smart curation, pairing his verbose raps with the soulful techno of Kaytranada, who follows Earl at 12:30 am to close out the first day of the festival.

Day for Night Day Two — Saturday

1:10 pm Deep Cuts Green Stage
One of my favorite local bands released my favorite song to come out of Houston this year, “Endlessly Refreshing,” a wistful but quietly sad song about choosing to stay home, “endlessly refreshing” your social media feeds, rather than going out. They’ve evolved quickly in just a few years, with a full-length album set to drop in 2018.

2:50 pm Pearl Crush Yellow Stage
Another local favorite, Pearl Crush is the stage name of Lories singer Mandy Clinton. She combines pop melodies with electronic flourishes, think somewhere between the gauzy pop of Beach House, Dev Hynes‘s glossy production, and the shape-shifting melodies of Blue Hawaii and you’re almost there.

4:10 pm Lil B Green Stage
Cult Oakland rapper Lil B isn’t just an emcee, he’s an entire movement, combining his lo-fi, frequently avant-garde production with even more abstract rhyming, all components of his “based” movement, an unrepentant positive mental attitude (for examples of this see “No Black Person is Ugly,” or his carefree skater-boy anthem “California Boy,” or “I Love You“). A rare performer, B has hit the road with more frequency in recent years, but is still a treat to see live. Catch him Saturday afternoon.

6:50 pm Cardi B Green Stage
“Bodak Yellow” is the song of the year.

7:30 pm B L A C K I E Yellow Stage
B L A C K I E is my favorite Houston artist, and his stage shows are legendary. I love the chilly, minimal dubstep of James Blake and Laurie Anderson is a living legend (both have performances scheduled at the same time as B L A C K I E), but I’m thinking about merely dropping in on those to bear witness to a local living legend.

10 pm Tyler, the Creator Green Stage
Tyler’s Flower Boy from this year was a stunning display of growth and maturity, a pop record that finally let Tyler indulge in all his Stevie Wonder meets Pharrell meets jazz fantasies to startling effect. I’m sure his shows are still rowdy and raucous, though. Don’t jump in the pit unless you’re ready.

10:40 pm Jlin Blue Stage
Gary, Indiana’s Jlin is a masterful footwork composer, who released one of the best records of 2017 with Black Origami, a dizzying album that chews up and spits out the entire history of electronic music. Don’t miss out and be prepared to sweat.

12:20 am Jamie xx Blue Stage
Jamie xx, 1/3 of the xx (fresh off their solid release from this year, I See You) will close things Saturday night. Hard to believe In Colour and its world-conquering anthem “I Know There’s Gonna Be Good Times” was two years ago, but it’s a timeless record and Jamie xx’s live sets are always…. a good time.

Day for Night Day Three — Sunday

1:20 pm Shabazz Palaces Blue Stage
Seattle’s avant-garde rap-weirdos have consistently put out good music for nearly a decade now. It’s hard to believe they’re playing this early, but show up on time and check them out. Their two records from 2017 were slept-on but still uniquely fascinating.

4:30 pm En Vogue Green Stage
Inviting R&B legends En Vogue to a festival that also touts Nine Inch Nails and St. Vincent is why Day For Night is a destination festival.

6:40 pm Solange Red Stage
It’s Solange. What else needs to be said?

7:10 pm Mount Kimbie Blue Stage
Mount Kimbie came onto the scene as a part of the chillwave class of 2009, but have stuck around due to a willingness to experiment with the form, bringing in R&B and dubstep elements to their sound, along with collaborating with artists like the incomparable King Krule. Their 2017 record, Love What Survives, was very chill yet overlooked.

10:30 pm Tim Hecker Blue Stage
Tim Hecker‘s drone and techno-inspired electronica is a thoughtful pre-climax to the weekend. 2011’s Ravedeath, 1972 is a new classic, neither too cool or too academic to listen to for pleasure, which describes his entire catalog as well.

12:20 am Thom Yorke Blue Stage
Thom Yorke, frontman for Radiohead, has sustained a frequently rewarding solo career since 2006’s The Eraser. Yorke and Radiohead don’t come around too often, so even if I haven’t closely consumed his more recent solo stuff, I want to see him dance, and will secretly hope for a solo rendition of “True Love Waits.”