photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Bjork / Empire of the Sun @ Bonnaroo, 6/15/2013

There's no shortage of kooky costumed folk at Bonnaroo, but it's usually the antendees who are eccentrically attired. On Saturday (6/15), though, the main stage gave them a run for their money. Ever fashion forward, Bjork wore a headdress that either made her look like a dandelion or an extra from Hellraiser. (She wore it at the Hollywood Bowl too.) Australia's Empire of the Sun was a close runner up with their over-the-top headlining set that could've been from Flash Gordon. Mumford & Sons had to cancel (replaced by shoe-phobic folkie Jack Johnson), but Saturday also main stage sets from Billy Idol, R. Kelly, Nas, Cat Power, Matt & Kim, Portugal. The Man, The Lumineers and more. Pictures from those sets are in this post.

Elsewhere at Bonnaroo on Saturday, Mac DeMarco, JEFF the Brotherhood, Lord Huron and others on the smaller stages, a live episode of Scott Aukerman's Comedy Bang Bang, and in the Cinema Tent, Police Academy's sound effects wiz Michael Winslow (who played with Animal Collective the night before) did a one man show.

Pictures from Thursday are HERE and Friday are HERE, with Sunday still to come. More pictures from Saturday below...

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2013 day 3 in pics: Bjork, Cat Power, Nas, Empire of the Sun, Billy Idol, R. Kelly & more"

Captain Murphy's Steven Ellison in FlyLo formation, 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Daughter @ CMJ 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

today in NYC
* Paris Combo @ Joe's Pub
* Lukas Graham @ S.O.B.'s
* Slavic Soul Party @ Barbes
* The English Beat @ City Winery
* Yngwie Malmsteen @ Irving Plaza
* Marika Hughes & Friends @ Barbes
* Daughter, Wilsen @ Bowery Ballroom
* Ward White, Josh Joplin @ Mercury Lounge
* Daniel Bachmann, Don Bikoff @ Union Pool
* Josh Rouse, Eleni Mandell @ The Bell House
* Arvid Noe, Ovlov, Flagland @ Death By Audio
* Slum Village, Mick Boogie @ Santos Party House
* Tigga Calore, Kool A.D., Kassa Overall @ Glasslands
* Atlas Genius, Wild Club @ The Studio at Webster Hall
* Wet Petals, My America, Weird Womb @ Saint Vitus Bar
* The Teen Age, Mainland, Supercute! @ Mercury Lounge
* John Hodgman and David Rees (DJ Set) @ Union Hall
* Brazos, ARMS, The Relatives, Cooper Formant @ Cameo Gallery
* Ava Luna, Modern Rivals, The Ugly Club, Vensaire @ Brooklyn Bowl
* The Rudy Stoned Band, No Kill, Deaf Echo, Octo Puce @ Muchmore's
* Cyro Baptista & Banquet Of The Spirits, Jorge Continentino @ The Stone
* The Fleeting Ends, Alicia Witt, Bill Popp & The Tapes @ The Living Room
* Les Sans Culottes, Bradley Dean & The Terminals, Los Jamones @ Cake Shop
* The Guggenheim Grotto, Christina Courtin, Michael Daves @ Rockwood Music Hall
* Oberhofer , LODRO, Cowboy Indian Bear, Paint, Dirty River, Night Vision @ Pianos
* Stereo Crowd, Hermajesty, Of The Opera, Jean Fight, Jeremy Current @ Bowery Electric
* Erykah Badu (playing as DJ Low Down Loretta Brown), The Underachievers, Captain Murphy, Teebs, Azizi Gibson, PBDY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Flying Lotus makes his NYC debut as Captain Murphy tonight at Music Hall of Williamsburg as part of the month-long Red Bull Music Academy residency here in the city. The MHOW show also has Erykah Badu DJing as Low Down Loretta Brown, plus performances from The Underachievers, Teebs, Azizi Gibson, and PBDY. Sold out.

Tonight is also the last night of Oberhofer's Pianos residency, and the show aslo has LODRO and Cowboy Indian Bear on the bill. Tickets are still available.

Daughter play their first of two sold out NYC shows tonight. Did you hear their cover of Daft Punk's "Get Lucky"? If not, you can stream it below.

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Empire of the Sun have released the video for their new single, "Alive," from their forthcoming album Ice on the Dune. Like most of their videos it's slightly over the top. You can watch it below.

Kelis, who has always been one of the more adventurous artists in popular R&B, is set to release her next album, FOOD, this September. The album was produced by TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek and it will come out on his Federal Prism label. The first single, "Jerk Ribs" (which surfaced a few days ago, but was mislabeled as "Call on Me") sees Kelis soaring over a clattering beat and some anthemic horns, and it's one of her strongest singles in years. You can stream/download it below. - Andrew

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

The Polyphonic Spree at BV-SXSW 2013 (more by Sarah Frankie Linder)

Progressive pop cult The Polyphonic Spree have a bunch of festival dates scheduled for this spring/summer and they'll also be touring around those fests, playing a number of club dates throughout the US. Those dates include NYC shows happening on July 9 at Music Hall of WIlliamsburg and July 10 at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets for those shows go on sale Friday (5/3) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (5/1) at noon.

The Polyphonic Spree were also among the recent additions to this year's Bonnaroo lineup. Other additions include Solange, White Lung, Mac DeMarco, Black Prairie, Maps & Atlases, Royal Thunder, William Tyler, Cat Martino, On An On, Bilal and more. 4-Day passes for the festival are still available.

All Polyphonic Spree dates are listed, along with a full list of the Bonnaroo lineup additions and a video of the Polyphonic Spree covering Nirvana's "Lithium" at our BV-SXSW day party (one of our greatest moments at SXSW this year), below...

Continue reading "The Polyphonic Spree touring --- dates include 2 NYC shows & the recently-updated Bonnaroo lineup"

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.

UPDATE: an initial announcement accidentally included artists from the 2012 lineup mixed in with the 2013 lineup. Those mistakes made it into our post but are now fixed.

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 "

Hot Chip at Prospect Park in 2012 (more by Toby Tenenbaum)

Astralwerks Records was founded in NYC in 1993 as a primarily electronic arm of Caronline Records. When they hit it big in the late '90s with Chemical Brothers, Air and Fatboy Slim band, Astralwerks became one of the biggest indie labels in the country. They've since been picked up by Universal Music Group and have expanded into other genres but they do maintain a focus on the electronic. To celebrate their 20th anniversary this year, Astralwerks will release a limited edition box set, Astralwerks: Music in 20/20, on Record Store Day (4/20). The compilation features previously unreleased or rare tracks from Hot Chip, Air, Diamond Rings, Kraftwerk, Kings of Convenience, Doves and others plus previously released tracks by The Chemical Brothers, The Beta Band, Fatboy Slim, Cassius, Basement Jaxx, Royksopp, a Four Tet remix of Sia and more. Check out the full tracklist and trailer video for the compilation below.

Hot Chip are on the festival circuit this spring/summer -- including Coachella, Primavera Sound, Osheaga, Lollapalooza, and others -- and as mentioned, they're stopping in NYC for a show at Roseland Ballroom on Tuesday (4/9) before Coachella. Tuesday's show is with The Crystal Ark (DJ set) and Tanlines. Tickets for that are still available. All dates are listed below.

Meanwhile, TONIGHT (4/8) at Le Poisson Rouge, Hot Chip side project The 2 Bears (aka Joe Goddard and Raf Rundell), who are also playing and touring around Coachella, play a a show with Ladies Night. Tickets for tonight's show are still available. All dates are listed below.

Tanlines, who open the Roseland show, are also playing Coachella and have other dates coming up including shows with Passion Pit and Vampire Weekend, but not Passion Pit's NJ show with Phoenix or Vampire Weekend's Roseland show.

All Tanlines, Hot Chip, and 2 Bears dates are listed, along with the Astralwerks album tracklist and trailer, below...

Continue reading "Hot Chip are here, featured on Astralwerks' RSD compilation w/ Air, Diamond Rings, Kraftwerk & more (updated dates)"

photos by Autumn Andel

The Treasure Island Music Festival went down over two days on a small island in the San Francisco Bay, juggling two stages and acts that ranged from Death From Above 1979 to Cut Copy to St Vincent. The bands and sets were staggered so that changeovers allowed for the audience to see all of each band which, on day 1, included appearances from Death From Above 1979, Geographer, Aloe Blacc, The Naked & The Famous, Shabazz Palaces, YACHT (who play NYC in December), Battles, Dizzee Rascal, Chromeo, Buraka Som Sistema, Flying Lotus, Cut Copy, and Empire of The Sun...

"Sometimes a performance impresses you simply because of its natural and flawless flow. This was Chromeo on Saturday [10/15 at Treasure Island Music Festival]. The Montreal duo known for creating modern 80s-inspired electro-synth pop got one of the largest crowds of the day moving immediately as they opened with "Fancy Footwork." The hits kept coming with classics like "Don't Turn the Lights Off," "Bonafied Lovin," "Tenderoni" and set closer "Night by Night." Chromeo over the years has cemented themselves as one of the more fun and original acts in electronic music, Saturday was no disappointment whatsoever."
-[SF Station on the highlights at TIMF]

Belated pictures from day 1 of the Treasure Island Music Festival (which happened on 10/15) continue, more YACHT and Chromeo included, below...

Continue reading "Treasure Island Music Fest 2011 -- day 1 in pics (Chromeo, DFA1979, Shabazz Palaces, YACHT, Cut Copy & more)"

photos by Tim Griffin

Arcade Fire / The Walkmen

The 10th annual Austin City Limits festival came to a close on Sunday with a headlining set by Arcade Fire (who also taped an edition of Austin City Limits the TV show one day earlier). It was a rough year for some attendees. I'm talking about smokers. Austin Statesman posted the following before the weekend:

We welcome all the people and music artists attending this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival. It's a special year for the music festival, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The talent this year is incredible, with headliners Kanye West, Stevie Wonder and Arcade Fire, as well as local favorites such as Asleep at the Wheel.

Before we get this party started, we must advise attendees that the Austin Parks Department has banned smoking at all Austin parks, greenbelts, trails and golf courses. That includes Zilker Park, site of the festival.

We realize that a smoking ban might be an inconvenience for some. But it is necessary to keep everyone safe. So please have fun at the events, which run today through Sunday, but leave the cigarettes, cigars, pipes -- or whatever else one might be smoking -- behind. (The ban also prohibits wood or charcoal grilling in Zilker and other parks.)

Smoking was allowed at previous ACL festivals, but this year is different. This year, Central Texas is dealing with wildfires that have killed two people, destroyed about 1,500 homes and burned tens of thousands of acres in Bastrop County, Steiner Ranch, Pflugerville and other Central Texas communities. In Austin, city firefighters responded to 469 brush fires from January through July. Cigarettes caused about a fourth of those fires, officials said. [Austin Statesman]

Continue reading "Austin City Limits 2011 -- Day 3 in pics (Arcade Fire, Walkmen, DFA1979, Manu Chao & more)"

Treasure Island Music Festival is returning to San Francisco, CA on October 15 and 16. The lineup includes Cut Copy, Beach House, The Hold Steady, Flying Lotus, Death From Above 1979, YACHT, Shabazz Palaces, The Antlers, St. Vincent, and many others. 2-Day passes go on sale Wednesday (7/27) 10 AM and single day tickets on Friday (7/29) at 10 AM.

Speaking of St. Vincent, if you haven't already, check out her new track at StrangeMercy.com. The full album is out September 13th via 4AD. More info and tour dates HERE. Still no info on tickets for her Met show.

Full Treasure Island lineup below...

Continue reading "Treasure Island Fest announces 2011 lineup, includes St. Vincent (who recently released a new song)"

The above pictures is a screen shot from the Virgin Freefest lineup announcement video that they posted to YouTube. The girl behind the words exclaims, "James Murphy solo!" as she reads her piece of the September 10th free MD festival lineup. The full lineup, video, poster and press release is below...

Continue reading "Virgin FreeFest announces 2011 lineup (includes "James Murphy solo" and many more)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Governors Ball concluded big on Saturday (6/18) with sets by Outkast's Big Boi, Empire of the Sun, Girl Talk, and Pretty Lights. Pictures from earlier in the day are HERE and HERE. The final set of pictures continues below...

Continue reading "Governors Ball in photos (part 3)"

The schedule has been revealed for the Governor's Ball Music Festival taking place at Governor's Island on June 18. The festival has artists performing on two stages (Big Apple Stage and Gotham Stage), but with no overlapping sets. The two stages means no long changeovers either though. You can run and back and forth and catch all of everyone. Das Racist have been added since the initial lineup announcement, though they go on pretty early. Tickets are still available. Check out the schedule, and a video interview with Girl Talk, below.

Continue reading "Governors Ball updated lineup & set times"

The 10th Anniversary ACL Festival line-up is on the books. Stevie Wonder, Arcade Fire, Kanye West, Coldplay, My Morning Jacket, Fleet Foxes, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Nas & Damian "Jr Gong" Marley and Cee Lo top the bill of the over 130 bands. Bright Eyes, Social Distortion, Empire of the Sun, Santigold, Pretty Lights, TV On The Radio, Skrillex, Big Boi and Randy Newman are also on tap to rock September 16-18.

Continue reading "Austin City Limits 2011 festival lineup is here, tickets on sale"

"Founders Entertainment are proud to present the inaugural Governors Ball Music Festival (www.govball.com), a one day event to be held June 18 on New York City's Governors Island. Girl Talk, Pretty Lights, and Empire of the Sun are joined by Big Boi (of Outkast), Neon Indian, People Under The Stars, Mac Miller, Miami Horror, Passion Pit (DJ Set), Reptar, Outasight and other artists to be announced over the coming weeks. Closing out the festival will be Pretty Lights, whose rising popularity will be complimented by his brand new state of the art production.

The Governors Ball promises to be a massive mid-summer dance party of epic proportions. Performances will take place on two stages without overlapping sets, and feature stunning views. The artists appearing at the inaugural Governors Ball are diverse in scope and sound, spanning indie rock, dance, electronica, and hip hop, but the common theme and guiding force behind the festival is music that gets people of all walks of life moving, dancing and having a good time." - PR

The closest thing we've seen to this on Governors Island is HARD Fest that took place with M.I.A. in July. This lineup, with more than one artist on the bill who can headline multiple nights at Terminal 5, is bigger though.

Meanwhile Girl Talk kicks off the next leg of his Winter Tour at a sold out Terminal 5 on 2/24. His last area show was at Wellmont earlier this month.

Outside Lands 2009 (more by Chris Graham)

San Francisco's Outside Lands Festival 2010 takes place in Golden Gate Park from August 14th-15th. Headlining acts for the fest include Kings of Leon, Furthur featuring Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, The Strokes, My Morning Jacket, Phoenix, Social Distortion, Levon Helm and Al Green. Other acts include Nas & Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, The Budos Band, Dawes, Gogol Bordello, Cat Power Janelle Monáe and Tokyo Police Club. The full lineup (which will be added to) is below.

Two-day passes go on sale Tuesday, June 2nd at 1pm EST. Single day tickets go on sale Sunday, June 6th.

Check out pictures from all three days of Outside Lands 2009 (which as you may have figured out was one day longer than this year's).

A video trailer for this year's fest and the lineup is below...

Continue reading "Outside Lands 2010 lineup announced"

I'm only sort of kidding. Empire of the Sun have added a 2nd show at NYC's Terminal 5, part of a handful of shows the Australian electronic music duo is playing as part of a short US tour that includes Lollapalooza. Tickets are on sale for both (well, the new one is still only on AmEx presale).

Continue reading "who the heck are Empire of the Sun & how are they playing 2 nights @ Terminal 5?"

Al Green is playing BB King's on September 2nd. Tickets are on AmEx & other presales now.

The Fab Faux Presents A Night In The Life: A John Lennon 70th Birthday @ Radio City Music Hall on September 25th. Tickets are now on AmEx presale.

Crosby, Stills and Nash are playing PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ on August 19th, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, NY on August 20th, and Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, NY on August 31st. Tickets for the first two go on various presales Friday at 10am. The Bethel show is on sale now.

Tickets are now on AmEx presale for the Cake show at Rumsey Playfield.

Tickets are now on AmEx presale for the She & Him show at Terminal 5 (which is two days after their free show on Governors Island).

Muse and Metric tickets went on presale today.

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros have added a 2nd show at Webster Hall. The first one (7/22) is sold out. The second one (7/23) goes on AmEx presale at noon.

A fourth LCD Soundsystem Terminal 5 show is on sale.

Empire of the Sun headline Terminal 5 on August 9th. Tickets are on AmEx presale now. It's one of four dates they're playing when they're here for Lollapalooza. Those dates are below...

Continue reading "Crosby, Stills & Nash, She & Him, The Fab Faux, Al Green, Empire of the Sun, Edward Sharpe, Cake & other tickets"

"The 2010 Lollapalooza line-up is official: Soundgarden, Green Day, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, The Strokes, and Phoenix will headline, joined by Social Distortion, MGMT, Jimmy Cliff, Hot Chip, and The Black Keys. With 130 bands on this year's bill, its sure to be a weekend long feast for the ears.

It's a monumental year for Lollapalooza, filled with homecomings, reunions, and first-times. Soundgarden, 1992 and 1996 Lollapalooza alumni, return to the Lollapalooza stage for their first performance since 1997. Green Day will rock Grant Park sixteen years after their first Lollapalooza appearance. While Lady Gaga will headline the festival only three short years after playing the BMI stage at Lollapalooza 2007.

Arcade Fire returns to Grant Park, having played the reincarnated Lollapalooza in 2005. This is the first Lollapalooza for The Strokes - and also their first show in four years. And making their Lollapalooza debut: Phoenix." - Lollapalooza

Continue reading "Lollapalooza actually announces 2010 lineup "

The December issue of Q Magazine is an 'Artists Of The Century' special edition, covering all of the acts that the fine staff of the good ship Q feel are the most important of the century so far. As befitting a special edition of the UK best selling music monthly requires a special cover was commissioned world renowned photographer John Wright has spent over a year shooting 34 artists to fit on triple fold out cover.

The issue is packed to the gills with pieces written by Russell Brand on Noel Gallagher, Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis on Coldplay and Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme on The Arctic Monkeys. In addition it also includes exclusive interviews and photos from the likes of Amy Winehouse, Dizzee Rascal, U2, Dave Grohl, Lily Allen, Rihanna, Sir Paul McCartney, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Brandon Flowers from The Killers, Elbow's Guy Garvey, Pink, Muse's Matt Bellamy, Murdoc from Gorillaz, The Kings Of Leon, Mark Ronson, Mika, Nick Cave, Robert Plant, Florence Welch, Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol and Tom Chaplin of Keane.

Continue reading "Q Magazine's Top Albums of 2009 "