More than 80 acts spread over five stages perform at this year's Langerado. To help you navigate through the mire, we've provided this guide to the ones you shouldn't miss. Click on the song titles (our picks for the bands' top songs) to visit MySpace pages and sample the music.
THURSDAY MARCH 6
The New Deal ("VL Tone") This Canadian trio tours sporadically and is most commonly found on the festival circuit. If you like progressive house music, New Deal delivers, and with full instrumentation. —Leilani Polk
FRIDAY MARCH 7
Vampire Weekend (“Oxford Comma”) Everybody's favorite new "it" band is selling out shows all over the place. The New York foursome plays three dates in Florida, including Langerado. For more info, see Music Week. —LP
!!! (Chk Chk Chk) (“Must Be the Moon”) The unpronounceable name is maddening to say the least, but these Brooklynites are so good at what they do — fusing psyche rock with electrified dance music — and lead singer Nic Offer's breathy delivery is so carelessly sexy that the faux pas is easy to overlook. "Like watching a party happen on stage," a blogger wrote about their live show. —LP
The Roots (“Here I Come”) The best band in rap plays Langerado and Jannus Landing — read more about them in Music Week. —Wade Tatangelo
Beastie Boys (“Electric Worm”) Original white-boy rappers Adam Yauch, Mike D. and Adam Horovitz have come a long way since fighting for their right to party two decades ago — their latest album is the all-instrumental jazz-funk excursion The Mix-Up. —WT
SATURDAY MARCH 8
The Bad Plus (“Iron Man”) Purists might grapple with the piano trio interpreting numbers like "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Iron Man" — but historians know jazz artists have been interpreting contemporary hits ever since the genre's infancy. The Bad Plus occasionally explores more experimental terrain, but ultimately, they're a post-bop act that smartly throws in a familiar cover here and there. —WT
Thievery Corporation (“Crazy Stranger”) D.C.-based DJs Rob Garza and Eric Hilton produce midtempo, psychedelic dance music that incorporates elements of dub, acid jazz, Indian classical and bossa nova. Thievery Corporation puts on an impressive live show and usually tours with a sizeable cast of musicians, among them, a sitarist/guitarist, two horn players, a violinist, a cellist and several singers. —LP
Ghostland Observatory (“Dancing on my Grave”) Dramatic electro punk meets good-time fun with this Austin duo, which just dropped its third LP, Robotique Majestique, on Trashy Moped Records. The album's new retro chic single, "Dancing on My Grave," has frontman Aaron Behrens channeling Loverboy à la "Turn Me Loose." —LP
SUNDAY MARCH 9
Minus the Bear (“Knights”) Seattle's indie prog-pop quartet makes good use of synths, writes catchy hooks and seems to have a sixth sense about where to incorporate both clean and artistically warped guitar licks. Pitchfork gave the band's 2007 release, Planet of Ice, a respectable 7.2 rating, but the only positive thing the critic had to say about the album was that it's better than its predecessor but only slightly so. —LP
of Montreal (“Gronlandic Edit”) These purveyors of indie pop set falsetto vocals against danceable beats and synthified melodies. Kevin Barnes is the band's creative force, and his performances with of Montreal incorporate costume changes and a variety of stage props. —LP
The National (“Fake Empire”) This Brooklyn-based indie-rock/chamber-pop band's cinematic songs brim with vivid imagery and are driven home by Matt Berninger's deep, penetrating vocals. The quintet formed in the late '90s, but it took their 2007 release, Boxer — which includes the Nick Cave-channeling blogosphere smash "Fake Empire" — to put 'em on the pop charts. —WT
This article appears in Mar 5-11, 2008.