Lollapalooza and the current state of music festivals

Why can't you get tickets?

There's a permanent sway that has held over the music festival market, drifting in one improbable direction in the past six years. Availability for music festivals, such as Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, and Coachella, have become slim in recent years, selling out earlier and earlier every season. What results is a fundamental change in the way we, as fans, approach the idea of festivals.

Album Stream: Miles Whittaker - Faint Hearted

As one half of Demdike Stare, Miles Whittaker already has an ear for jarring, rhythmic pulse. Venturing off for his newest side solo-venture, Whittaker has produced the earthly, bruising Faint Hearted LP, that's fairly apt to the name. The tracks range from crushing industrial drone to modern twinged German electro-house, with plenty of shaking personality split in between.

Stream Whittaker's entire Faint Hearted below, but do yourself a favor and grab the LP via Modern Love as soon as you can.

Ben UFO - Pleasure Principle/Bleep Mix

In partnership with Bleep and the upcoming Pleasure Principle Festival, UK producer Ben UFO has released this monster hour-plus mix. Originally, Ben had created the session as part of his addition to the Fabriclive series, with Fabriclive 67. However the cut ran on obviously long, so this portion was left aside.

Stream/download the entire mix below.

New Active Child - Evening Ceremony

Although not formally part of any Active Child solo project, "Evening Ceremony, the latest from the Pasadena producer, is a gorgeously paced, low-hum single that would fit anywhere in his catalog.

The track will actually be featured as part of the soundtrack of the new movie The Host, based off the Stephanie Meyer novel (of Twilight fame). Critical assumptions aside, her soundtracks are surprisingly well-put together. The soundtrack will be released the same day as the film, March 29.

Harrison - You Just Gotta

Courtesy of Andrew at Potholes In My Blog is a brand new cut from Toronto producer Harrison, who put out his clever jazzy album Prom King earlier this month over at his Bandcamp. "You Just Gotta" takes a different venture for Harrison, adding looped R&B vocals with synthy dance-cut backing beats. It's another good sign for the young producer, who proudly released Prom King before he turned 18.

Free Time - Nothin But Nice

Australia's Free Time, led by singer-songwriter Dion Nania, are the newest in an ever-growing crop of irrefutably welcoming garage-angled acts. Half laid-back, half effortlessly turbulant thanks to the help of Jonah Mauer's free-form guitar solos, "Nothin But Nice" waves on like Yo La Tengo with energy.

Stream the single below and grab Free Time's upcoming debut LP May 28 via Underwater Peoples.

New Young Galaxy - New Summer

The newest single from Young Galaxy's sweetly anticipated Ultramarine, "New Summer," has arrived. Following "Fall For You" and "Pretty Boy," "New Summer" befits a more melodic, slowly drifting somber archetype. Which, in another word, could just mean its pretty. And it is.

Young Galaxy's Ultramarine is set for release April 23 via Paper Bag.

Honningbarna - Fuck Kunst (Dans Dans)

Too often, punk is hard to explain. So what better way to explain than in a language I don't even understand?

"Fuck Kunst (Dans Dans)," if it weren't obvious on title alone, is from Norwegian traditional punks Honningbarna. It's short blister punk that doesn't require complete understanding to get behind, which comes from the band's UK debut Verden En Enkel. With help from producer Pelle Gunnerfeldt, who's worked with acts like The Hives, The Knife, and others before hand, Verden En Enkel aims to complete the seemingly improbable task of taking contemporary international artists on a wide-scale.

Check out "Fuck Kunst (Dans Dans)" and the album's first single "Offerdans," which premiered over at NME last month, below. And grab Verden En Enkel May 6 via G Records/EMI Norway.

Mvrvy video - Clouds

Fans of French mega-funk producer Marvy Da Pimp may recognize his Mvrvy side-project, in which the grand sensibilities are toned down a bit in favor of more minimal approaches. As part of the move, Mvrvy released this super-captivating video from director Romain Cieutat, who uses clever 3-D animation in flurries to accentuate the sounds.

The track will be released as a B-Side to his upcoming single "Cumulo Nimbus," which will be released mid-April through Marvy's Le Motel project.

New Yeah Yeah Yeahs video - Sacrilege

"Sacriledge," the grand and inspiring first single from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs highly anticipated fourth studio LP Mosquito, has been given a stoic video treatment from director Megaforce. Told in reverse, the story centers around British model Lily Cole, who is the desire of the entire town.

Watch the sort of NSFW video below and grab Mosquito April 16 via Interscope.

New Wavves video - Afraid Of Heights

Celebrating the release of the band's fourth studio LP, Wavves released the new video for the title track "Afraid Of Heights." Starring two cross-dressers (one of them is Stephen from the band), the video goes for the seemingly apt VHS style, taking an unsurprising creepy turn at "Afraid Of Heights" turns down.

Grab the new album today.

Album Stream: Atu - Pictures On Silence

A mixtape with a noble purpose? Tell me more!

Producer Atu offered up his brand new Pictures On Silence LP over at the Soulection Bandcamp page earlier, with a special offer. The first 1,500 downloads will be offered freely, but for those who opt to pay the minimal $5 fee, proceeds will go towards the EveryChild organization and its work in Malawi.

Stream the LP below.

Redivider - Lost In The Outtakes

Courtesy of the always great Potholes In My Blog, your dreary mid-day Monday just got its own befitting mixtape. This recent output from San Francisco producer Redivider comes from several outtakes of his Lost In The LP (available now) features acid-dripped beats and ripe moving bass, all available to stream/download below.

New Toro Y Moi video - Never Matter

Using the, "Hey, listen to this stuff" technique at a flea market, director Steve Daniels gives a more fun (until the end) vibe to Toro Y Moi's "Never Matter." Despite the clear volunteer portions of the video, there is a scripted story here, with Chaz Bundick appearing at the end with a surprise.

"Never Matter" is featured on Bundick's most recent Anything In Return LP. Get it today via Carpark.