Last year indie rockers Superchunk thrilled their fans by releasing an all new album. After nine-years, the band dropped Majesty Shredding on Merge Records.
The band just released a very amusing video for the song “Crossed Wires”. It is worth checking out…trust me.
Yesterday I mentioned the NXNE line-up and said I was impressed.
Today I see the Lollapalooza 2011 Line-Up and am beyond thrilled. I am sure I am not the only one who feels this way.
20-years ago the festival started. It was not consistent of course with the festival ending in 1997 only to be renewed in 2003. These days the festival no longer tours the states, but year after year they always have a great line-up. This year I am really thinking about going.
I was supposed to go in 2009 but plans fell through and I had to cancel my trip. This might be the year that is happens.
Perry Ferrel has stated the festival is going to be a little more retro this year. Jim Rose Circus sideshow anyone?
Yes, there are the big names like Eminem, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, and Muse that would be all cool to see, but there are other bands in their line-up that have me itching to get to Chicago this summer.
Bands like Deftones, Ween, The Cars, City & Colour, Rival Schools, Cee-Lo Green, My Morning Jacket and Cold War Kids tickle my fancy, but Big Audio Dynamite??? Awesome.
Girl Talk too…yes, I admit it, want to see Girl Talk live. J. Roddy Walston, Explosions In The Sky, Black Lips, Atmosphere, Kid Cudi, Ryan Binham & The Dead Horses…man I can just keep going.
I’ll stop now. Let’s see if I make it out to Chicago in August. Me thinks it would be a good idea.
Lollapalooza 2011 from Lollapalooza on Vimeo.
So did you happen to miss SXSW and can’t make it to Bonnaroo this year?
Are you looking for a festival to hit up this year like none other? Would you prefer not to melt at said festival? Well check out the line-up for North By Northeast (NXNE) coming up in June. It is one hell of a offering of bands of multiple genres in good ol’ Toronto, Canada and I am highly considering jumping the border to check it out.
This bill is IMPRESSIVE!!! Descendants, The Pharcyde, Digable Planets, Hot Water Music, Bouncing Souls, OFF!, Joey Cape and Kevin Seconds alone make it amazing. (DEVO too – Kent/Akron love y’all)
There are a ton of other sweet acts joining them making for one of the better festivals I have heard about this year.
If you are looking for a summer festival you should consider this one, not because I say so… Well maybe you should if you know what is good for you.
Here is a press release in regards to NXNE:
NORTH BY NORTHEAST (NXNE) announces the second wave of bands for the 17th edition of the festival, taking over Toronto June 13-19, 2011. Tickets are now available online at www.nxne.com.
NXNE has just confirmed that Devo, Descendents, Stars, The Pharcyde, Men Without Hats, Digable Planets, Twin Shadow, OFF!, Art Brut, Shad, Land of Talk, Chad VanGaalen, and Cults will join a festival line-up that also includes performances by The Dodos, Deerhoof, Hot Water Music, The Bouncing Souls, and Anti-Flag (previously announced), plus Dum Dum Girls, Evan Dando & Juliana Hatfield, Braids, Ty Segall, Suuns, PS I Love You, Crocodiles, Wild Nothing, The Pack A.D., Metz, Dirty Beaches, Forest City Lovers, The Luyas, Lower Dens, Gentlemen Husbands, Rusty, Royal Bangs, Julianna Barwick, No Joy, Prince Rama, Doldrums, Secret Cities, Evening Hymns, Snowblink, Parlovr, Talk Normal, PUJOL, Woodsman, Gauntlet Hair, Joey Cape, Tape Deck Mountain, AIDS Wolf, Houses, CJ Ramone, and Kevin Seconds.
Presented by AOL, New Wave legends Devo headline the summer’s biggest day-and-night party on Saturday, June 18 at Yonge-Dundas Square. Toronto’s Yonge Street will close to traffic and open to a massive crowd of NXNE fans as Devo – complete with signature uniforms and flower pot hats – whip into the downtown core with classics from cult fave albums Freedom of Choice and Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! Also rocking the Square will be Canada’s Men Without Hats, fresh off a sold-out return to the stage at SXSW 2011.
“We’re excited to have such legendary artists play the busiest hub in Toronto for the largest music festival in Canada,” says Joshua Ostroff, music editor, AOL Canada. “It will be a great time, with amazing music and we’re looking forward to being right in the centre of the party”
SoCal pop-punk hits NXNE on Thursday, June 16, with Descendents. It’s a rare chance to see one of the genre’s most influential bands, touring with their classic late-80s lineup for the first time in a decade. They’ll share the Yonge-Dundas Square stage with Vice Records’ L.A. hardcore supergroup OFF! featuring Keith Morris (Circle Jerks & Black Flag), Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides), Steven Shane McDonald (Redd Kross) and Mario Rubacaba (Hot Snakes & Rocket From The Crypt).
Sirius Satellite Radio touches down at Yonge-Dundas Square on Friday, June 17, for a live-to-air North American broadcast featuring Juno-nominated Stars. The band recently sold out consecutive nights at Massey Hall and opened for Coldplay in Ottawa, and their NXNE set will be a highlight of the festival. Also on the bill is Montreal trio Land of Talk, generating great reviews in Pitchfork and Stereogum.
“A live show and broadcast from Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square is a great way to share the excitement with our listeners across Canada and the U.S. while marking SIRIUS’ 6th year of support for NXNE,” said Andreanne Sasseville, Director, Canadian Content Development and Industry Relations, SIRIUS Canada Inc.
NXNE ’s final festival night rolls out Sunday, June 19, as a second colossal evening party takes hold of Yonge-Dundas Square and Yonge Street, fuelled by performances by alternative hip-hop legends The Pharcyde, whose 90s release Bizarre Ride II was named by Kanye West as his favourite album ever. The night also features Grammy Award winners Digable Planets, tagged in Rolling Stone as “everything hip-hop should be: artistically sound, unabashedly conscious and downright cool.”
Funding supporting all NXNE’s free public concerts at Yonge-Dundas Square is provided by the Government of Ontario.
There’s even more for fans at NXNE this June: California’s Dum Dum Girls, coming off a 2010 tour with MGMT and Vampire Weekend; Chad van Gaalen, playing new songs from his upcoming release, Diaper Island; and Twin Shadow, hitting the festival on the heels of shows at SXSW, Coachella, and Bonnaroo.
All NXNE Festival passes and wristbands are now on sale, available at www.nxne.com. Early-bird pricing for NXNE Priority Passes is available through April 25.
The complete NXNE Music line-up and schedule, NXNE Film schedule and additional NXNE Interactive programming will be announced over the next few weeks. Stay tuned!
17 Years, 650 Bands, 50 Stages, 40 Films, 75 Interactive Conference Sessions, 7 Days.
Just caught this amazing video for “Wrong Way Kids” that dropped a couple days ago by one of my all-time favorite punk rock bands. Bad Religion never ceases to amaze me…
A little bit about the video from Epitaph:
Influential punk rockers Bad Religion have released a moving video for the new single, “Wrong Way Kids” from the group’s critically heralded album, The Dissent of Man. The song is an up-tempo, powerfully melodic tribute to the band and their fan’s shared histories as rebellious yet durable outsiders.
The footage begins in present day with lead singer Greg Graffin offering a knowing message of hope for Bad Religion’s many fans: “Even though they’re misfits,” he states, “There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.” A subsequent shot reveals a defiantly unconventional Graffin on stage with the band back in 1984 counting down the song intro. From there it’s a surging beat, powerful guitars and signature sing-along chorus set against a stirring non stop montage of found footage showing the band’s remarkable rise from teen rebels to international punk luminaries.
Seriously, how cool is that video? Young and old Bad Religion footage really shows how far 30-years can go.
The grandfathers of punk will actually be playing a show in Cleveland on May 7th. Sadly they are opening for Rise Against. If you ask me, Rise Against should be opening for them.
Sadly I will not be attending the show. I want to, I really want to. This will be the first Bad Religion show I have missed since they played the Rock Hall a couple years ago as a suprise guest. This is one of those bands I make sure I am present at every show, but sometimes I can’t make them all.
A few years back I was handed a CD by this band called Ninja Gun. All I could think in my head was what in the hell is a Ninja Gun and why is there a peach on the front cover?
Prior to listening to that album, I assumed that they were going to be just another screaming, loud and young act that I would care less about and almost passed it up. I am glad my curiosity got the best of me though as I was sorely shocked once I heard what Ninja Gun was all about.
They were more of a melodic folk/rock/country driven act that impressed me well past my expectations. To this day their debut release, Restless Rubes, is spun in my household regularly.
On April 12th Ninja Gun will release a four-song EP entitled Roman Nose on Sabot Productions. This is the band’s follow up teaser to that 2008 debut Restless Rubes that I almost passed over.
Led by Jonathan Coody, the band has toured with many a punk act in their time thanks to being less than an hour away from Gainsville, the punk rock capital of Florida. Regardless of their sound, they have always had no problem keeping the punk fans entertained.
Starting off the EP was “That’s Not What I Heard”, a poppy yet chilled-out track that carried layered acoustic guitars setting a certain mood for a good ol’ porch hangout with friends. As relaxed as it sounded though, the lyrics were pungent and well-written.
The track “Hot Rain” tells the story of the demise in farming in the band’s hometown. Just listening to this track I can hear improvement in the band’s sound. It just sounded so well put together.
“Lepers In Love”, a tune about a seemingly unjust relationship, was a killer track. The song carries a certain slow-waltzing feeling at the beginning but rocks out shortly after.
The mellow “Roman Nose” on the other-hand, told the tale of a good man selling an “old thing” an ultimate token of love for his special someone. Musically it was such a sorrow-sounding song, but became beautiful once the lyrics dissolved in my mind.
All I could think while listening to this EP is how funny it is that Ninja Gun is known to tour with punk bands yet I know they would have no problem playing along side Lucero or opening up for Wilco or even The Avett Brothers.
I find it humorous that there are a peaches incorporated on the EP’s artwork now knowing that their hometown of Valdosta, GA is surrounded by peach farms. The first time I saw the cover art for Restless Rubes and the lone peach sitting there, I could not gather why there was a peach on it. Come on folks, I am from Ohio…
Valdolsta can be a little busy downtown, but the surrounding areas are quiet towns with not a lot to do. Trust me, I’ve been there. It looks like the type of city many folk dream of escaping from and moving on to bigger and better things, but they don’t – not because they are prisoners of the city, but because it’s a really chill and relaxing place to live.
Ninja Gun was once a hidden jem but I am thinking that is all going to be changing very soon. Roman Nose is just a taste of what this small-town band has in store for their next full release and I could not be happier for them.
Want to hear “That’s Not What I Heard”? Head over to Magnet Magazine and check it out for yourself!