New Chemical Brothers - Theme For Velodrome

Joining the likes of Muse, who contributed the official song for this summer's Olympic Games in London, The Chemical Brothers have also added their own single. "Theme For Velodrome" is the theme for the velodrome, where the cycling events of the games will take place. It also works out as a song that sounds like it might be part of the Drive soundtrack. Check it out below, courtesy of BBC Radio 1.

Wednesday Bears: Lollapalooza 2011: Day One Review

Four years up, four years down. If there was any hesitation that I had become a festival regular at this point, it's been thoroughly tossed aside. With every new expansion of the park, there's still the staples: That smell from the mud on the south side, the BMI stage being consistently empty, the north side offering crowd size relief, lines at Kuma's, etc.

But with Lollapalooza's 20th Anniversary, there were some notable changes. First and foremost was the newly expanded Perry's Place, which in four years had expanded from a small gathering to the football field-sized cave. Over those years, festival organizers (and notably Perry Farrell himself) have done a lot for electronica music, growing and moving the stage every year, gathering bigger and bigger acts. In addition, with the size growth, the largest Lolla crowd ever (270,000 + fence jumpers over all three days) didn't seem as overwhelming as it had in years past, sans for a few way, way too overcrowded acts (Foster the People).

Day One:

Festival-goers noted that day one was easily the most crowded booking of all three days, with enormous acts laced throughout the schedule, causing numerous scheduling conflicts. For me, it all started with The Vaccines.

The much-hyped UK act had a very early slot on the first day, sitting comfortably on the south side's main stage. I don't quite know what it is, but the first act I see every year usually delivers, and the group was no exception. Pacing through nearly their entire debut album (closing with "Norgaard"), the four-piece put on at the very least a solid show, setting the trend for early Friday afternoon.

Delta Spirit

After a small break, Delta Spirit were set to play on the same stage. Already familiar with the act after seeing them at Lolla two years ago, I knew kinda what to expect - a rowdier than thou spectacle befitting a band with a little more publicity to back up their name. Live, the band is in another world of exceptional, baiting singles here and there with lead-singer Matthew Vasquez easily leading the crowd. Sure, there were a handful of Muse fans here and there, with just permanent frows of disappointment that they weren't listening to Muse yet (they played the same stage later that night), but they couldn't take away from an outstanding show, led by an incredibly enigmatic front-man. With all respect, if you missed this show, you missed one of the best of the weekend - bar none.

What followed next was a series of glory and frustration, all at Perry's. Through Feed Me, Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 1977, and Skrillex, I was immersed in a shroud of deluded assholes, genuinely nice people, and then many more assholes. The Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 1977 proved to actually be one of the weekend's all-around best acts, far and away, but wading through Feed Me and Skrillex's crowd was unbearable. It in itself explained this year's greatest flaw and asset - the Perry's crowd.

Looking around the tent's outside, one could easily see throngs of kids in large groups - far too large to have traveled far distances. It's apt that the bros would only hang around the other local bros, because that was all they cared to see, aside from Eminem the next night. It's no coincidence, however, that because of this the shows outside of Perry's were for the most part very comfortable and easy to manage. Still, it's an absolute shame that the generic Perry's crowd dragged down the atmosphere of the park.

Crystal Castles

After a sweaty stagger away from the tent, I crossed shortly over to catch Crystal Castles' set. After a notoriously poor showing in 2009, the set was plagued with technical problems. Alice Glass' mic was continually cut off or spaced out, with the show ending a few minutes early. Still, the crowd seemed more than pleased, despite the clear difficulties, with the duo ending the set with "Not in Love," one of the best songs of the weekend. It's somewhat apparent that this is more of an indoor, late night band, rather than one playing for an oversized crowd of casual onlookers. Maybe the festival scene just isn't right for them.

For the first time in the festival's Chicago history, four headliners would close out the night. The near 100,000 Friday fans were split among the aforementioned Muse on the south side, Girl Talk at Perry's, Coldplay on the north side, or Ratatat at the smaller Google+ stage. I gladly opted for the smaller act, with a much better guaranteed seat.

Ratatat

Ratatat is truly an act better seen in the dark, as was evident with their performance at Coachella. While the fireworks and light shows were meant for Muse and Coldplay, Ratatat gave a fine light show performance tucked in Grant Park's corner. It likely didn't have the bravado of the two other acts' already well-established shows, but it did prove to be a nice outlet for those who don't really care for them.

Aside from the occasional asshole, Friday was an astounding success, just like the previous years (sans 2009). Tomorrow, I'll be posting my Saturday review.

Best Performances: Delta Spirit, Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 1977, Ratatat
Worst Performances: Crystal Castles

Highlight: "Bushwick Blues," by Delta Spirit. "Warp 1.9," by Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 1977. "Not In Love," by Crystal Castles. "Louder Pipes," by Ratatat
Lowlight: The Skrillex crowd.

Tuesday Bears: Lollapalooza 2011 Headliners Revealed (a bit early)

The official lineup won't be fully released until 1:00 a.m. EST, but Rolling Stone has at least revealed the six main headliners of Lollapalooza 2011.

They are:

Coldplay
Eminem
Foo Fighters
Muse
My Morning Jacket
Deadmau5

We were well aware of Eminem, Muse, and Foo Fighters for months, and we heard of Deadmau5 earlier today, but Coldplay (which aren't playing any other major fest this year) and My Morning Jackets were nice late surprises.

Stay tuned for the whole lineup ...

Lollapalooza rumors update

The official Lollapalooza lineup release is a mere four days away, so before Tuesday comes around, I'll give the lineup wrap up of what we already know.

Now, if you've been following my Twitter, you'd see that the folks at the official Lollapalooza Facebook page have been running a daily game. Participants are quizzed on 10 random Lolla history questions per day, receiving three clues (max) about the 2011 lineup, depending on how many questions are answered correctly.

The game has been running every day since Monday, so here are the first batch of artists that we can base the clues off:

Muse

Foster the People

Skylar Grey

The Vaccines

Delta Spirit

Nas & Damian Marley

Lykke Li

Tennis

Ween

Local Natives

Bright Eyes

Smith Westerns

Noah and the Whale

Ratatat

*There's a third clue from earlier today that asks, "This bluesy, rootsy beauty might just be James Brown reincarnated." The probable answers are either Janelle Monae, Adele, or Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Still unsure.

As for the adds, if those are indeed the correct answers, which the consensus seems to be, there are only a few surprises. Muse, Lykke Li, and Tennis have all been confirmed for some time, and many of the other artists were reasonable to assume that they'd appear. Ween, however, came almost out of left-field and should be a pleasant surprise for many attendees.

The game, as I said, will continue until Tuesday when the official lineup is finally released. Until then, there will be nine more clues released.

Stay tuned here for full Lollapalooza updates ...

Update: First Lollapalooza 2011 Confirmations!

Importante!

The first official news of Lollapalooza 2011 was released several hours ago. As it is every year, the three primary headlining acts are announced several weeks before the entire official lineup is released. In 2009, Jane's Addiction, Depeche Mode and Beastie Boys (who were forced to cancel) were the first headliners to be announced. Last year, Lady Gaga, Soundgarden, and Green Day were given the top billing of the annual festival. So it's safe to assume that the first three headliners will be the more popular acts of the festival so as to draw an obvious crowd.

Noting that, 2011's three primary headliners will be ...

Eminem
Muse
and Foo Fighters

Surprised? There were probable hints that Muse and Foo Fighters would be two of the six headliners, but Eminem seemed to come out of left field - much like Lady Gaga last year. There has been variable voiced disappointment over the selection, but it seems unmerited. For the past two years, many of the headliners were so-so at best, but were rounded out by terrific middle-tier acts and opposing headliners. So, maybe a knee-jerk reaction by some was a bit forced. And, for the record, I'll take those acts over Depeche Mode, Tool, Kings of Leon, Green Day, Jane's Addiction and a washed up Soundgarden on most days.

Other acts also confirmed were: Best Coast, Girl Talk, Lykke Li, and Crystal Castles.

I'll keep you up to date with more Lollapalooza rumors throughout the next few months leading up to the Chicago festival.

Tuesday Bears: Return of the Bear .... Coachella Lineup Announced

Sorry for the overwhelming delay - with the computer going to Hell and moving around, I had to delay Bears and Bullets for the numbing two weeks. Thankfully, everything has been put back an order and I'm ready to return to the daily routine.

Indio, California's annual Coachella festival lineup has been announced, with with top-heavy oft-rumored acts Jay-Z, Pavement, Muse, Thom Yorke (solo), and Gorillaz headlining among others. The new poster (seen above) lists Yorke next to "????," which would incline to be special guests? A new backing band? We'll see.

Full Lineup:

FRIDAY APRIL 16: Jay-Z, LCD Soundsystem, Them Crooked Vultures, Vampire Weekend, Deadmau5, Public Image Limited, The Specials, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Echo and the Bunnymen, Benny Benassi, Fever Ray, Grace Jones, She & Him, Erol Alkan, The Avett Brothers, Calle 13, The Whitest Boy Alive, The Cribs, La Roux, Yeasayer, Lucero, DJ Lance Rock, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Proxy, Ra Ra Riot, Deer Tick, Wolfgang Gartner, Aeroplane, Iglu & Hartly, Sleigh Bells, P.O.S., Baroness, Hockey, Little Dragon, White Rabbits, Wale, Kate Miller-Heidke, As Tall as Lions, Jets Overhead, Alana Grace, Pablo Hassan.

SATURDAY, APRIL 17: Muse, Faith No More, Tiësto, MGMT, David Guetta, The Dead Weather, Hot Chip, Devo, Coheed and Cambria, Kaskade, 2Many DJ's, Major Lazer, Dirty Projectors, Gossip, Z-Trip, The xx, John Waters, Les Claypool, The Raveonettes, Mew, Sia, Camera Obscura, Tokyo Police Club, Porcupine Tree, Old Crow Medicine Show, Aterciopalados, Bassnectar, Frightened Rabbit, Dirty South, Flying Lotus, Corinne Bailey Rae, Pretty Lights, Shooter Jennings, RX Bandits, The Almighty Defenders, Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros, Craze & Klever, Zoe, The Temper Trap, Portugal. The Man, Band of Skulls, Girls, Beach House, Steel Train, Frank Turner.

SUNDAY, APRIL 18: Gorillaz, Pavement, Thom Yorke????, Phoenix, Orbital, Spoon, Sly and the Family Stone, De La Soul, Julian Casablancas, Plastikman, Gary Numan, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sunny Day Real Estate, Yo La Tengo, MUTEMATH, Deerhunter, Infected Mushroom, Club 75, Matt & Kim, The Big Pink, Gil Scott-Heron, King Khan and the Shrines, Florence and the Machine, Yann Tiersen, Little Boots, Miike Snow, Talvin Singh, Ceu, B.o.B., Babasonicos, Owen Pallett, The Glitch Mob, Mayer Hawthorne, Local Natives, Rusko, The Middle East, Hadouken!, The Soft Pack, Kevin Devine, Paparazzi, Delphic, One EskimO.

Ticket's for the April 16-18 event officially go on sale Friday, January 22. For more details, head over to the Coachella Website.

Monday Bears: New Moon soundtrack is good, self-confliction

Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series is unmistakably the most popular fad (hopefully) coming out of teenage female (or for that matter all female) culture these days. The books and movies are harrowingly stupid and vapid, which some how makes complete sense to why teenagers are obsessing over it. We all know this and we all know I'm not one to ever write about Twilight, but the soundtrack for the upcoming sequel New Moon is, well, good.

The film features original works ranging from Grizzly Bear to Thom Yorke to Muse, confusing me and other music fans dearly. While it is exciting to hear new music from the likes of Yorke, only hearing through means of terribly constructing and culturally flattening films like New Moon seems like the worst way. Still, for those who value the music for what it is and not what it is attached to, ignoring new work from these artists may be worse than actually seeing the film. Maybe.

The Summit Entertainment produced New Moon is set for release November 20 with the soundtrack scheduled for release next Tuesday, October 20. And if you're wondering if the music will catch on with the kids. Yes, it will. Sigh.

Death Cab for Cutie - Meet Me on the Equinox - MP3

Thom Yorke - Hearing Damage - MP3

Grizzly Bear - Slow Life - MP3

MP3's Courtesy of Pop Tarts Suck Toasted

Phoenix, Muse, and Others Do Talk Show Rounds

Here's a couple performances from talk shows earlier this week, including Phoenix gracing the Tonight Show stage and Muse singing about whatever on Later... With Jools Holland.

Phoenix - 1901 (Live Conan)



Muse - United States of Eurasia (Live on Later... With Jools Holland)



Florence and the Machine - Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up) (Live on Later... With Jools Holland)



Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Home (Live on Letterman)

Adam Yauch Diagnosed with Cancerous Tumor

The sad news has already circled around the Twitter Universe, but for those who may not know Beastie Boys member Adam Yauch (MCA) announced this morning that he had been diagnosed with a small tumor on his parotid gland in his neck.

Fortunately for Yauch the tumor was discovered early enough that the cancer had not spread and could be much more easily treated. However, the group was forced to cancel all of their remaining Summer tour dates and push back the release of their upcoming album Hot Sauce Committee Part 1.

The select cancelled dates include; Jersey City's All Points West, San Francisco's Outside Lands Festival, Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza, and more.

Adam also released a video explaining the situation below ...



Of course the large issue here aside from the health and well-being of Yauch is what to do to replace the group who was headlining so many Summer festivals. As of now the possibilities are completely up in the air with minor word of mouth suggesting possibilities of Foo Fighters or Muse to replace the group at Lollapalooza, but as far as the other festivals are concerned there's very little certainty.

Stay tuned for more updates.