(via @falsie)

Tickets for the James Blake shows at Terminal 5 go on AmEx presale today at noon.

Tickets for the Volcano Choir (aka Bon Iver + Collections of Colonies of Bees) show at Webster Hall go on AmEx presale today at noon.

Comedy rappers The Lonely Island are sitting down with Rob Bennington for a taping of 'Unmasked' at 12:30 PM on May 31 at Sirius XM in midtown Manhattan. Tickets to that show can be specially requested today at 12:30 PM.

While Charli XCX is in NYC for Glasslands and Summerstage, she's playing a free in-store at Urban Outfitters on May 30.

Fred Falke was added to the Classixx show at Le Poisson Rouge. Tickets to that show are still available.

Cody ChesnuTT is headlining a show at SOB's on June 13, the day before he opens for Mavis Staples at her free Prospect Park show. Tickets for the SOBs show are on sale now.

Stereophonics are playing Terminal 5 on September 21. Tickets to that show go on AmEx presale today at noon, with a general on-sale starting Friday (5/31) at noon.

Tickets to see Gary Numan at Music Hall Of Williamsburg go on AmEx presale today at noon.

Emeli Sande and Rudimental are playing Rumsey Playfield on August 28. Tickets to that show go on AmEx presale today at noon. Ticketmaster presale starts Thursday (5/30) at 10 AM, and general on-sale starts Friday (5/31) at noon.

The xx @ Coachella 2013 (more by Wei Shi)

As you may be aware, Baz Lurhmann's glitzy, big-budget adaptatation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel, The Great Gatzby, is out May 10 and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Toby Maguire, and Carey Mulligan. That same week will see the release of its soundtrack which was curated by Jay-Z and features Jack White, The Bryan Ferry Orchestra, Gotye, Lana Del Rey, Beyonce with Andre 3000, and Jay-Z himself.

It's also got a new track by The xx, titled "Together," which was specifically written for the film. You can stream it, and check out the soundtrack art, full tracklist and a trailer for the film, below....

Continue reading "stream The xx's contribution to 'The Great Gatsby' soundtrack"

Outside Lands Fest 2012 (more byAmoreena Lucero)

The 2013 edition of San Francisco's Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival with happen at Golden Gate Park on August 9 - 11. This year's line-up includes Paul McCartney, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, D'Angelo, Willie Nelson, Grizzly Bear, Band of Horses, Hall & Oates, Foals, A-Track, Jurassic 5, Kurt Vile and many more. Tickets go on sale Thursday (4/18) at noon PDT.

This is the sixth edition of Outside Lands, and the full announced line-up is below.

Continue reading "Outside Lands Fest 2013 line-up: Paul McCartney, Nine Inch Nails, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs ++ more)"

Phoenix at Music Hall of Williamsburg, 4/5/2013 (more by PSquared Photography)

Two days after announcing the existence of the second edition of Jay-Z's of Made in America festival, here comes the initial line-up. Set to go down August 31 - September 1 at Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway, look for appearances from Beyonce, Queens of the Stone Age, Nine Inch Nails, Kendrick Lamar, Miguel (who is collaborating with Kendrick), Solange, The Gaslight Anthem (who just announced two huge NYC shows), Phoenix (who just played MHoW and SNL), 2Chainz and more.

So far no details on ticketing. Full line-up is below...

Continue reading "Made in America fest initial 2013 line-up: Beyonce, Nine Inch Nails, Phoenix, Kendrick Lamar, Gaslight Anthem + more "

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)"

Alt-J at Mercury Lounge in May (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Big day for award nominations. The Oscars announced theirs this morning and the Brit Awards just wrapped up their ceremony for 2013 nominations, with Emeli Sandé grabbing four and Mumford & Sons and Alt-J each getting three. All three of those artists were nominated for British Album of the Year, a list that also included Paloma Faith and Plan B. If you don't know, The Brits are basically the UK's equivalent of the Grammys, though nominees are all British apart from a few "International" awards.

Jessie Ware, Muse, and Adele each got two nominations, and single-digit noms went to Bat for Lashes, The xx, Richard Hawley and The Vaccines.

Mumford & Sons have two nights at Barclays Center in February and Alt-J will swing though town in March.

The entire 2013 Brit Awards nominees list is below.

Continue reading "2013 Brit Award nominees announced (Emeli Sandé, Mumford and Alt-J lead the pack)"

Frank Ocean at Angel Orensanz, Sept 2012 (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

BBC Music has announced their Top 25 records of 2012. Like lists from MOJO, Q, and Uncut, it's got familiar names like Frank Ocean, Baroness, Swans and Grizzly Bear... but if you're expecting a UK indie act to top their list, you might be surprised at the Beeb's #1 choice. Check out the entire list below.

Continue reading "BBC Music's Top 25 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"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Then there were the visuals: blasts of confetti, swirls of light on circular video screens, lasers sweeping the floor of the arena, and the electronic bracelets that seemed to realize Adam Young's dream of ten thousand fireflies. Coldplay sold seats in the entire arena, which meant tiers of flashing armbands in every direction. The intent was to create something immersive -- to make fans part of the light show, and to erase a bit of the barrier between performers and listeners. It also made the Coldplay concert look and feel like something out of the Electric Daisy Carnival. - [NJ.com]

Coldplay, whose tour next brings them to Chicago, played East Rutherford, NJ's Izod Center on both Friday and Saturday night (8/3-8/4). Using confetti, oversized beach balls, and wristbands given out to every member of the audience, Coldplay turned the arena into a technicolor spectacle while churning out fan favorites like "The Scientist", "Clocks" and "Viva La Vida."

Emeli Sande and Marina and the Diamonds opened both shows. Pictures from the first night and the setlist (which was identical for both nights), below...

Continue reading "Coldplay played two nights at Izod Center (pics from night one, setlists from both)"

Coldplay at All Points West 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

Swedish duo Icona Pop will be heading to North America this month, where they'll play Glasslands on June 22 (tickets). Before they play that show, they'll DJ a VIbrations party one day earlier, 6/21 at Hudson Terrace Roof Deck with DJ sets by Cassian, Sean Glass, and guests. The party is free til midnight with RSVP.

In related news, Charli XCX (who wrote Icona Pop's song "I Love It") has a new EP out today called You're the One. You've already heard "Nuclear Seasons" and the Balam Acab remix of that song. Now you can listen to the EP's title track as well, which is streaming below. The EP also includes a Blood Orange remix of that song.

Charli is one of the many artists opening for Coldplay (who will never work with Justin Bieber) on their upcoming tour, including the Chicago date with Marina and the Diamonds. Other openers on the tour include Robyn (who opens their Texas shows), Frank Ocean (who recently announced his own tour), Wolf Gang (who has nothing to do with any group Frank Ocean is part of), Temper Trap, The Pierces, and Emeli Sande.

Emeli was in NYC last week to play Bowery Ballroom and MHOW with Selah Sue (if you went, how were those shows?) and she'll be opening the East Rutherford, NJ shows at Izod Center on August 3 and 4 with Marina and the Diamonds. Tickets for those shows are available. If you're going to the Coldplay shows, be careful with the "Xylobands" that are being given out at the concerts. Fans are reporting that these bands, "which create a dramatic effect at Coldplay gigs," have been randomly reactivating after the shows and causing traumas such as waking fans up in the middle of the night. "It is believed the only way to stop the glowing is to jam a pencil clip into the band." Maybe they should call them jam bands.

As mentioned, Marina and the Diamonds will return to the NYC area after that for two headling shows at Webster Hall (8/16 & 8/18) with MS MR. The 8/16 show is sold out but tickets for the 8/18 show are still available. MS MR will play NYC even sooner than that at Santos Party House on June 27.

Speaking of Coldplay openers, Rita Ora just recently opened a few dates for the band and she's in NYC tonight for a free show at Gramercy Theater. RSVP is closed but you maybe don't wanna go anyway? Beyonce and Jay-Z on the other hand, might already have plans to be there. They went to support her at Coldplay's show in Manchester on Sunday (6/10) and were then spotted headbanging during Coldplay's set. A video of said headbanging is below.

That video, the Charli XCX stream, and a list of all Coldplay dates below...

Continue reading "Charli XCX (whose EP is out), Frank Ocean, Robyn & more opening on Coldplay tour; Icona Pop DJing in NYC"