The second annual Hopscotch Festival will go down in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, across 12 different venues with over 135 bands, from September 8th through 10th. The lineup this year runs the gamut of independent music... from traditional indie staples (The Flaming Lips, Guided By Voices, Superchunk) to southern-inflected rock (Drive-By Truckers) to noise (Prurient) to hip hop (Beans) to garage (Jeff The Brotherhood) to funk (Budos Band) to metal (Krallice), and everywhere in between (Swans, Rhys Chatham, etc etc). Tickets are currently on sale. Full lineup is below.

Hopscotch happens almost three months after Guided By Voices play a Brooklyn Northside Festival show in McCarren Park (tickets) which is one day after Beirut plays a Northside Festival show on the same McCarren Park stage with... Sharon Van Etten (though she may have been accidentally announced at one point, they officially kept her placement on the bill under wraps until after Saturday's Music Hall of Williamsburg show). Tickets for Beirut/SVE are still on sale, and another opener will be added too.

Guided by Voices (whose Brooklyn show also has more openers coming) are also playing Pitchfork in July with Animal Collective whose Prospect Park show is now on AmEx presale.

Swans' upcoming NYC show is now on AmEx presale too.

Hopscotch lineup below...

Continue reading "Hopscotch Fest returns to Raleigh (2011 lineup announced), Sharon Van Etten officially added to Northside Fest"

photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

The legendary Lee Fields

"NPR Music and WBGO boldly attempt to go where few have gone before: Deep soul, indie funk and polyglot jazz share a stage and a bill. We bring you three very different, very large bands, recorded live from Joe's Pub in New York City. Lee Fields And The Expressions headline the night of music, with The Phenomenal Handclap Band and Fight the Big Bull." [NPR]

Continue reading "Lee Fields & The Expressions, The Phenomenal Handclap Band & Fight the Big Bull @ Joe's Pub in NYC - pics & stream"

DOWNLOAD: Lee Fields & the Expressions - Ladies (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Lee Fields & the Expressions - Love Comes and Goes (MP3)

Lee Fields buttons (on sale now)

Soul crooner Lee Fields's new LP, My World, is out now on Truth and Soul Records. Fields and his band the Expressions, made up of Dap Kings, Budos Band and Antibalas members, celebrated that disc with a CD release show at Southpaw on Friday, June 5th. Two songs from that record are posted above.

Coming up, he'll be at Joe's Pub on Tuesday, July 21st with The Phenomenal Handclap Band (who just put out an album of their own) and Fight the Big Bull. Tickets are on sale. Fight the Big Bull, an ethnic folk-inspired jazz band, is also playing an early set that same night with Sex Mob. Tickets to that are on sale too, and you can get a two-ticket package by phone.

The Phenomenal Handclap Band also have a show coming up at Le Poisson Rouge.

Fields was recently sampled by J. Cole, "Jay-Z's first and only signing to his newly formed label, Roc Nation." The mix tape with that on it, titled The Warm Up, is streaming on Vibe (RIP).

A video of Lee doing "Love Comes and Goes" at that Southpaw show, with more vids, below...

Continue reading "Lee Fields playing Joe's Pub w/ Handclap Band & stuff "