Hideout Block Party

Neko Case

The 12th installment of the Hideout’s annual throwdown boasts an impressively diverse roster of top-shelf talent. This year the beloved festival falls two weeks past its usual date to coincide with the vast programming of the World Music Festival. Block Party organizers have lined up a typically ambitious bill that belies the modest club’s down-home demeanor.

Former Hideout bartender Neko Case is the crown jewel of this weekend’s blowout. The alt-country chanteuse headlines a solo slot Saturday night and appears again Sunday evening with kinda-Canadian pop powerhouse the New Pornographers. If you’ve ever been privy to Hideout co-owner Tim Tuten’s almost legendary long-winded introductions, then prepare yourself for the mother of them all when Case hits the stage.

The rest of Saturday’s highlights are startlingly eclectic (due in no small part to the WMF overlap): Vancouver stoner-rock titans Black Mountain, Malian blues scion Vieux Farka Touré, Israeli power trio Monotonix, old-school Czech avant-rock act the Plastic People of the Universe, U.K. electro-hip-hop duo Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip and Hungarian gypsy rockers Little Cow. And the dean of desert rock, Howe Gelb, brings his longstanding outfit, Giant Sand. Phew.

Sunday’s lineup counts far fewer passports among its performers. Aside from the New Pornos, the day’s most anticipated set belongs to Brooklyn disco revivalist Andy Butler, better known as the mastermind behind Hercules and Love Affair, who spins a DJ set closing out the weekend. Fellow Brooklynites Ratatat also appear, supporting their latest laptop confection, LP3. Other highlights include local hip-hop workhorse Rhymefest, Athens psych-rock collective Dark Meat, Brooklyn genre-hopping singer-songwriter Tim Fite and Oklahoma folk-rock outfit the Uglysuit—all of whom team up with Tuten and co. to bid summer a proper farewell.