Kanye West in Sweden in 2011 (more)

NYC festival Governors Ball is totally sold out of regular tickets, but if you weren't able to get yours and still want to go, there are still a few options. From now until Monday (5/27) at 11:59 PM, you can enter the Governors Ball Ticket Lottery. Entering the lottery gives you a chance to be selected to purchase either a 3-day pass or a single day ticket. More details on how the lottery works below.

DoNYC is also giving away VIP passes and tickets to every after party, so you can also head to their site to enter that contest too.

Ticket lottery details and festival set times below...

Continue reading "sold-out Governors Ball offers last chance on tickets via lottery"

LA Fest FYF Fest is celebrating 10 years this year, and will take over Los Angeles State Historic Park on August 24 & 25. Check out the massive lineup in the poster above, and in alphabetical order below...

Continue reading "FYF Fest 2013 Lineup (My Bloody Valentine included)"

Deerhunter at Austin Psych Fest 2013 (more by Tim Griffin)

Governors Ball is less than a month away, and the fest has now released the daily schedule. They've done a pretty good job with not too many giant conflicts -- though there's a few like Grizzly Bear vs Beirut, Bloc Party vs The xx, Erykah Badu vs Beach House, and Nas vs Guns N Roses. Check out the daily line-ups across their four stages below.

Continue reading "Governors Ball announces set times"

Lollapalooza 2012 (more by James Richards IV)

After it was already confirmed that Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, The Postal Service, The National, The Killers, and Mumford and Sons were playing Lollapalooza 2013, a pretty promising leak came which appeared to potentially reveal the rest of the lineup, and it turns out that leak was real.

In addition to the previously mentioned artists, Lollapalooza will include Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, Kendrick Lamar, Grizzly Bear, The Cure, New Order, Baroness, Beach House, Cat Power, Death Grips, Jessie Ware, Father John Misty, DIIV, Wavves, Alt-J, Hot Chip, Disclosure, Baauer, Palma Violets, Angel Haze, Band of Horses, Crystal Castles and many others.

Lollapalooza goes down in Chicago from August 2 - 4 in Grant Park. Single day passes go on sale Wednesday (4/3) at 10 AM.

Full day-by-day lineup below...

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2013 lineup announced (Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, Postal Service, Cure, New Order, Kendrick Lamar & more)"

Osheaga Festival is returning to Montreal's Parc Jean-Drapeau from August 2-4. This year's lineup includes The Cure, Mumford and Sons, Phoenix, New Order, Vampire Weekend, Kendrick Lamar, Hot Chip, Alt-J, Beach House, Explosions in the Sky, Big Boi, Baauer, Father John Misty, Disclosure, Frightened Rabbit, Angel Haze, Jessie Ware, DIIV, Guards, and many more.

3-Day passes go on sale Friday (3/15) at noon. There are still over 20 artists TBA, but you can browse the complete initial lineup below...

Continue reading "Osheaga Festival 2013 lineup & tickets (The Cure, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, Kendrick Lamar, New Order and more)"

Beach House have just released a video for "Wishes" from last year's Bloom. The clip, set at a high school football game's halftime show, was directed by Eric Wareheim and stars Ray Wise. As you might expect from one half of Tim and Eric and the guy who played Leland Palmer on Twin Peaks, it's a little weird. But also kind of beatiful. Watch it below.

Continue reading "watch new Beach House video, directed by Eric Wareheim and starring Laura Palmer's dad"

Weird Al and Bonarroo phone bank (including Mike Birbiglia and Eugene Mirman...

With help from Eugene Mirman, Chris Gethard, Mike Birbiglia, Portugal. The Man and more, Weird Al just began announcing the 2013 Bonnaroo line-up on the Bonnaroo YouTube page which happens June 13 - 16 in Manchester, TN. Weird Al just announced Pretty Lights, Wilco, A$AP Rocky, and The xx, and over the next hour, more artists will be announced. We'll update this post as more announcements come.

Other artists playing include Passion Pit, Kendrick Lamar, David Byrne and St. Vincent, Jim James, Big K.R.I.T., Billy Idol, Grizzly Bear, Japandroids, Foals, Wild Nothing, Deap Vally, Killer Mike, Lord Huron, Divine Fits, Nas, Beach House, The Gaslight Anthem, Local Natives, Dirty Projectors, Baroness, The National, The Vaccines, Holy Ghost, Death Grips, R. Kelly, Alt-J, Purity Ring, Cat Power, Wu-Tang Clan, Bjork, Tame Impala, Animal Collective, The Tallest Man on Earth, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Paul McCartney, Earl Sweatshirt, Four Tet, Father John Misty, Swans, A-Trak, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Cults, AraabMuzik, DIIV, Charli XCX, Matthew E. White, Frank Turner, JEFF the Brotherhood, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Calexico, Two Gallants, and more.

Tickets for the festival go on sale Saturday (2/23) at noon EST.

There's also now a video of Daniel Tosh announcing the initial lineup, which you can watch, along with the current list of announced names, below...

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2013 lineup announcement underway"

Before releasing Bloom, we decided that we would only participate in "promotional" activities that we could control artistically and give substantial energy. We had previously been involved in too many live sessions, radio tapings, photo shoots, etc., where the outcome was far below our personal artistic standards. We also felt a need to distance ourselves from the "content" culture of the internet that rewards quantity over quality and shock over nuance...

...Forever Still is directly inspired by Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii. We wanted to perform in a non-typical setting without losing the spirit of our music. We felt the songs would resonate in a more majestic and spiritual landscape. The experience was an intense three nights of filming. Everyone involved in production and crew was benevolent in their time and talented in their efforts. We were very lucky to have the help and hard work of many people who aided and lent their abilities to our vision.

The basic concept is four songs performed from sunset to sunrise.

We tried to keep the edits minimal with long takes in order to focus on the energy of the songs, the landscape, and the physicality of live performance. The entire film was shot in or around Tornillo, Texas, where we recorded Bloom. Like Bloom, we hope that Forever Still is experienced as a whole, long form. - [Beach House]

Continue reading "watch Beach House film 'Forever Still' ++ 2013 Tour Dates"

Click it for the bigger poster.

Governors Ball, which started as a small NYC festival on Governors Island and moved to the larger Randall's Island last year, keeps getting bigger and bigger. This year's fest takes place June 7th, 8th & 9th, and tickets go on sale Friday. Check out the full lineup, in list, video and flyer format - one unannounced headliner included, below...

Continue reading "Governors Ball 2013 lineup (Kanye West, Kings of Leon, Grizzly Bear, xx, Cut Copy, Kendrick, Anco, Beach House & MUCH MORE)"

by Bill Pearis

The Village Voice's annual "Pazz n' Jop" critics poll is up and, as with anything like this with averaged votes, the winners are probably not that surprising. Frank Ocean's Channel Orange takes the top album slot (Kendrick Lamar is #2), and Carly Rae Jepsen's inescapable "Call Me Maybe" comes in at the top of the singles list. (Miguel, who is on the cover of the Voice this week, comes in at #2 with "Adorn.")You can also view individual ballots and read pithy quips about the year as a whole.

The top 10s for Pazz & Jop albums and singles are below and full lists are over at the Voice.

Continue reading "Village Voice still does Pazz & Jop; Frank Ocean and "Call Me Maybe" win 2012"

Gardens & Villa at Webster Hall in October (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Santa Barbara indie pop crew Gardens & Villa haven't given us an album since their 2011 self titled debut on Secretly Canadian, but they did treat us to some music this year with a cover of "Gypsy" for the the Fleetwood Mac tribute album, Just Tell Me That You Want Me, and a remix of their tourmates Polica's "The Maker" for Polica's remix EP.

We asked the band for a list of their top 10 songs of 2012, and like their own sound, most of the artists they chose lean on the indie pop side of things like Beach House, Ariel Pink, Peaking Lights, Pure Bathing Culture, and others. You can check out their full list below.

Continue reading "Gardens & Villa's Top 10 Songs of 2012"

by Andrew Sacher

Today, we finally get the much anticipated list of Pitchfork's Top 20 Albums of 2012. They revealed Nos. 30-50 yesterday and spent the rest of this week posting Honorable Mentions and tracks. None of the albums that made the top 20 are surprising to see there (which doesn't mean they aren't deserving), but the surprises come from the albums that missed the list all together. Passion Pit got ROBBED! Twin Shadow too! And Wild Nothing! If you're looking for Converge or Baroness, you'll have to redirect yourself to Pitchfork's Metal list (though Pallbearer was in the main top 50). And we could've guessed that Nos. 1 and 2 would be Frank Ocean and Kendrick Lamar... but who took the No. 1 spot? Head below to find out and you can check out individual writer's votes too...

Continue reading "Pitchfork's Top 20 Albums of 2012"

Free Energy @ BOMB Fest (more by Eric Townsend)

Previously on DFA Records, Free Energy's new album Love Sign will be out Jan. 15 via their own imprint, Free Energy Records. You can listen to two tracks now below, and pre-order the entire album at their website.

No NYC dates at the moment, but the band will head out on the road right after the album's release, hitting Tomorrow Never Knows in Chicago and FRZN Fest in Madison along the way. All dates are listed, along with Free Energy's Top 10 of 2012 list, below.

Continue reading "Free Energy releasing 'Love Sign', touring, told us their 'Top 10 LPs of 2012'"

by Bill Pearis

Pitchfork just posted their much anticipated list of the top 100 tracks of 2012. The #1 slot went to... Grimes! Whether you thought the whole of her album Visions was good or not, it was hard to deny the charms of "Oblivion." (Having that great video didn't hurt either.) Do you think it deserved to top the list? If not then what song should've?

You can check out P4K's entire hot 100 of 2012 below.

Continue reading "Pitchfork's Top 100 Tracks of 2012 (Grimes' "Oblivion" is #1)"

"My Morning Jacket was formed in 1998 in Louisville, Kentucky by singer, songwriter and guitarist Jim James (real name: James Olliges Jr). The original line-up also included three members of the Shelbyville emo-punk band Winter Death Club; namely John McQuade (later known as Johnny Quaid - guitar and vocals), Tom Blankenship (later known as Two Tone Tommy - bass) and J. Roberts (later known as J. Glenn - drums)." [Wikipedia]

MMJ bassist Tom Blankenship (who also recently helped out with Brooklyn Rock Lottery) gave us his list of Top 10 LPs of 2012. While it includes year-end list mainstays Frank Ocean and Alt-J, there are some surprises as well. You can check out his year-end picks below.

Continue reading "My Morning Jacket's Tom Blankenship lists his Top 10 albums of 2012"

Dan Deacon @ MHOW, 11/16/2012 (more by David Andrako)

Dan Deacon made his national network television debut last night (12/13) on Jimmy Kimmel Live, playing "True Thrush" from his most recent album, America. Like at his live shows, Dan and his band played mostly in darkness and incorporates an iPhone app into his crowd-participation antics. You can experience a little of that symbiosis in the video from the Kimmel performance which has an interactive element, which you can watch below. Dan's North American tour wraps up this weekend in Florida and he'll head to Europe in February for a short tour there. All dates are listed below.

Meanwhile, Dan gave us his Top 10 LPs of 2012 which includes Baltimore pals Ed Schrader's Music Beat, Beach House, Dope Body, Chester Endersby Gwazda (who Dan brought on tour with him this year) and Horse Lords. You can check it out below, along with a list of tour dates and the 'Kimmel' video.

Continue reading "Dan Deacon made his network TV debut on 'Kimmel,' lists his Top 10 LPs of 2012"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Ex Cops - Wonderful Christmas Time (MP3)

photo by Nanci Sarrouf

Admission. Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmas Time" is easily my most-hated holiday pop song. Repetive, grating, plodding, and seemingly recorded by accident, the song makes me want to suck a candycane into a point and gouge out my eardrums. (Unlike, say, The Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping" which I can listen to ad infinitum.) So it's a Christmas miracle that Ex Cops have taken this unfortunate Macca yuletide perennial and sped it up, turned it up and transformed it into a rough-hewn little indiepop charmer. We've got the premiere of the song right here in the post to download above or stream below. Merry Ex-mas.

Another present you're going to have to wait a bit for is Ex Cops terrific debut album, True Hallucinations, which hits January 22 via Other Music Recording Company. The band are playing a record release show at Glasslands that same day with Hunters also on the bill (tickets). After that, Ex Cops play Mercury Lounge on February 15 and tickets to that show are on sale at noon. You can see them sooner than that, though, as they were just added to tonight's Paul Banks show at Webster Hall (12/14) and tickets are still available.

Meanwhile Ex Cops' Brian Harding and Amalie Bruun have each submitted lists of their favorite songs from 2012. In a bit of daring, they both include their own single "You Are a Lion, I Am a Lamb" on their respective lists. Check them out below.

Continue reading "Ex Cops cover Paul McCartney, list Top 10 Songs of 2012, opening for Paul Banks + more NYC shows (dates, streams)"

Lucero at Brooklyn Bowl, Dec 2012 (more by Andrew St. Clair)

Lucero's upcoming shows at Brooklyn Bowl (tickets for 12/28 & 12/29, or both) and New Year's Eve gig at Wellmont Theater with The Hold Steady (tickets) will be here before you know it. We cornered pedal steel whiz Todd Beene to ask him about his favorite things form 2012. His top 10 for the year (which includes other stuff besides music, like, um, underwear) is below along with his very entertaining commentary.

Continue reading "Todd Beene of Lucero's Top 10 of '12 (LPs, underwear & more)"

!!! at Sasquatch 2011 (more by Josh Darr)

As previously discussed, !!! will be in town for a show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday (12/13) with Sinkane (who will open for Solange next week) and Yellow Dogs. Tickets for the show are still available and we're also giving away a pair. Details on how to enter to win are below.

Meanwhile, !!! frontman Nic Offer recently spoke to us about his favorite albums and songs of the year. Like Nic's own music, the list skews mainly electronic and electronic-tinged pop, and he makes room for a few other interesting inclusions too. Nic is also now the second artist we've spoke to to include the various artists compilation, Personal Space: Electronic Soul 1974-1984. You can check out the whole list below.

Continue reading "!!! told us their top albums &songs of 2012, are playing Brooklyn this week (win tix!)"

Lower Dens @ Chicago's the Riv, 10/1/2012 (more by Grant McAllister)

Baltimore's Lower Dens went into new, motorik directions on their second album, Nootropics so it makes sense that tracks from the record might work well in the remix world. Hence, the Nootropics Remixed EP which takes three cuts off the album and puts them into the hands of Trentemøller, Cex, and Steve Moore. You can stream Trentemøller's excellent recrafting of Nootropics standout cut "Brains" below. You can buy it directly from Ribbon Music, and if you buy any Lower Dens title, you'll get Nootropics Remixed for free.

Meanwhile, Lower Dens shared with us their picks for Best of 2012. All four current members contributed lists and none of them were straight LP lists, mixing media with inclusions for live shows, books, food, film and ephemera. Check them out below, along with that "Brains" remix.

Continue reading "Lower Dens released 'Nootropics Remixed' EP, list their favorite things of 2012"

"Here's a riddle: Grimes + LDR = the #1 and #2 most-blogged artists of 2012. Grimes LP on tons of year-end blogger lists. Why not LDR?" - Dev Sherlock

Hype Machine, which compiles data from countless music blogs, posted the Top 50 Most Blogged About Artists, complete with pretty pictures (like the one of the #1 artist above), and ways to listen to those artists. Head to their site for the full list, but you can check out the top 10 below...

Continue reading "The Most Blogged About Artists of 2012"

Polica @ Webster Hall, 10/6/2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Polica's debut album, Give You the Ghost, has shown up on a few Best Of lists this year (like NME and The Fly) but what records did they like in 2012? Well we've got their Top 10 LPs list right here and is topped by Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city.

They also give props to Minneapolis pal P.O.S. (with whom they collaborate in Gayngs and Marijuana Deathsquads who have sometimes also played as backing band) whose We Don't Even Live Here makes the list. So does their neighbor Now Now's Threads which was released on Chris Walla's Trans label. Check out their whole list below.

Continue reading "Polica's Top Ten LPs of 2012"

by Andrew Sacher

More of the big 2012 year-end lists have been rolling in, with NPR and SPIN recently revealing theirs, and now Rolling Stone have unleashed theirs. Similarly to Uncut, the expected albums from older artists are there, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Dr. John, and the number one slot going to Bruuuuuuuuuuuce. It's got huge albums like Mumford and Sons, Taylor Swift, and fun., as well as the token high ranking indie album (Japandroids at #9), the token washed up band who was once classic (Green Day), things you knew you'd see on Rolling Stone's list like Jack White and Alabama Shakes, and... Grimes!

You can read the whole list below...

Continue reading "Rolling Stone's Top 50 Albums of 2012"

Q Magazine put out their Top 50 albums of 2012 list, choosing to do so in no particular order this year, making it more a pile than a list. Check out Q's picks in alphabetical order below.

Continue reading "Q Magazine's Top 50 Albums of 2012"