Festival News: Pitchfork Music Fest announces headliners, Lightning In A Bottle moves

A week after Coachella threw its spectacular lineup in all of our misshapen faces, Pitchfork announced the headliners for their annual Chicago festival. R. Kelly, Bjork, and Belle and Sebastian, three not-so-similar but still pretty big names will be headlining the three day event, with many more acts soon to be named to the billing.

In case you've forgotten, whatever happens at Pitchfork cannot happen at Lollapalooza, do to clauses in the festivals' contracts. So for any fans hoping for some combination of those three names - maybe next year.

Tickets for the July 19-21 fest are on sale now, with three-day passes coming in at $120, and single-day passes for a modest $50.

New Kendrick Lamar - Swimming Pools (Drank)

Before performing at last weekends Pitchfork Music Festival, alongside Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar released the first official track from his major label debut. The new track, "Swimming Pools (Drank)" doesn't feature any guest spots, which Kendrick has become increasingly fond of, but does feature steady hard beats from T-Minus.

Check out the new track below, and grab good kid, m.A.A.d city October 2.

Thursday Bears: Last adds to Pitchfork Music Festival

As usual with Pitchfork Music Festival, a large amount of late-adds have been etched onto the July 13-15 billing. Included with the previously mentioned big names of Vampire Weekend, Feist, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Hot Chip are a solid class of additions, which are:

Wild Flag, Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, Beach House, Real Estate, Dirty Projectors, Atlas Sound, Big K.R.I.T., Nicolas Jaar, Cults, Chavez, Oneohtrix Point Never, Youth Lagoon, King Krule, Dirty Beaches, Lotus Plaza, Lower Dens, Milk Music, The Psychic Paramount, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Outer Minds, and A Lull.

Familiar with Bears and Bullets and summer music festivals? Well, if you aren't, whatever acts play Pitchfork Music Festival cannot play Lollapalooza. That being said, while there are a few very solid acts I'd like to be able to see (Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Atlas Sound, among others), the lineup doesn't take too much away from what Lollapalooza could end up being - which, by the way, will be revealed at midnight, Tuesday. Stay tuned for that.

Three-day passes for Pitchfork Music Festival are sold out, but single day tickets are still available. Check which acts are playing which days here.

Tuesday Bears: Pitchfork Music Festival lineup released

No other music festival bares influence on Lollapalooza more than the Pitchfork Music Festival. Both are held in Chicago, less than a month apart from one another. And because of this, the festival organizers have inacted a "radius clause" which I've mentioned on here time and time again, that states that musical acts that play within a certain mile radius in a certain time span before and after Lollapalooza's scheduled dates cannot play there. All this usually means is that any act playing Pitchfork cannot play Lolla and vice versa.

So, who won't be at Lollapalooza this year? Feist, Vampire Weekend, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, lead out the initial headlining list, alongside Hot Chip, A$AP Rocky, Kendrick Lamar, Tim Hecker and a handful of other notable acts, all of which you can see here.

The pre-Pitchfork predictions seemed to be strong for Bon Iver, PJ Harvey, and Jeff Magnum headlining, but now that that seems to be out of the question, that all but guarantees a spot for Justin Vernon and the band at Lolla in August. This, however, is not the entire Pitchfork Music Festival lineup. More than 30 other acts will also be added, so nothing is certain.

Again, nothing is confirmed yet, but this is reason enough to be suspicious. Tickets for the July 13-15 fest go on sale Friday, March 9 at noon. Single-day passes are $45 and a three-day pass are a reasonably priced at $110.

Friday Bears: Dirty Beaches on Take Away Show

As part of the Pitchfork Paris Music Festival last October, Pitchfork and La Blogotheque (the people who make the awesome Take Away Shows) have released of series of intimate performances from artists who appeared at the fest, including this intensely bizarre sax+handclap performance from Dirty Beaches under a Paris bridge in the middle of the night.

Seriously.

Dirty Beaches - Untitled (Live on Take Away Show)

EDIT: Embedding doesn't particularly work for this one. Watch it here.

Friday Bears: Final Pitchfork Music Festival additions

July's annual Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago added the final acts to its 2011 billing earlier today. Late additions of Battles, whose new album Gloss Drop will be released early June, were added to the July 15-17 festival alongside veterans DJ Shadow, Superchunk, and Thurston Moore.

Also added were: Toro Y Moi, Zola Jesus, Twin Shadow, tUnE-yArDs, Cold Cave, OFF!, Wild Nothing, Julianna Barwick, EMA, Darkstar, and Gatekeeper.

The fest's three-day tickets have been sold out for a while, but single days are still available here.

Oh, and before anyone forgets - any act that plays Pitchfork Music Fest cannot play Lollapalooza.

Monday Bears: New Kurt Vile video - Jesus Fever

Kurt Vile's new Ricardo Rivera-directed music video for "Jesus Fever," off the Philadelphia-native's Smoke Ring for My Halo, features Vile, who was recently tabbed for July's Pitchfork Music Festival, projector-walking through any nameless city, only to play his song underground in some oddly colorful subway.

Smoke Ring for My Halo is available now via Matador Records.

Kurt Vile - Jesus Fever

Kurt Vile

Thursday Bears: New TV on the Radio - Caffeinated Consciousness

One week after it was announced that TV on the Radio were one of the headliners at this year's Pitchfork Music Festival, the band released their upcoming album's second track "Caffeinated Consciousness."

So far, the more we've heard from Nine Types of Light (set for release April 12), the better and better it seems to get. You can download the track below the stream simply by entering your e-mail address and date of birth.

TV On The Radio - Caffeinated Consciousness by Bears and Bullets

Friday Bears: Pitchfork Music Festival lineup released, Lollapalooza rumors

Earlier today, Pitchfork announced the first official part of their annual Chicago music festival lineup (there are usually add-ons later). Filling out the top of the billing are Animal Collective, Fleet Foxes, and TV on the Radio, with a slew of quality undercard performers, such as: Deerhunter, Destroyer, Cut Copy, and James Blake, among others. You can check out the full official lineup and schedule here.

What this all means, for those who may not follow regularly, is that any artist that plays the Pitchfork Music Festival cannot perform at Lollapalooza - per the festival's radius clause. And as a regular, I'm okay with this. TV on the Radio, Deerhunter, Animal Collective, Fleet Foxes and Cut Copy, the festival's bigger names, all played Lollapalooza in the past two years. This opens up more room for artists that may not be considered regulars.

In related news, Titus Andronicus are now expected to perform at Lollapalooza per Consequence of Sound.

Pitchfork Music Festival will take place July 15-17. Tickets are now on sale.

Tuesday Bears: Malkmus, Pavement on Colbert Report

I'm not sure it can qualify as a "while" because I can't remember the last time I actually saw all of Pavement anywhere on TV, now or 11 years ago, so last night's appearance on the Colbert Report was a bit of a surprise.

Before the group performed, "Gold Soundz," Pitchfork's recently decreed Number One Song of the 90's, Stephen Malkmus gave a quick, awkward and shortly-there-after completely irrelevant interview with Colbert, that didn't really answer the inquiry of why his songs are so ambiguous. Dammit, now it makes sense.

Pavement - Gold Soundz (Live on the Colbert Report)

Lollapalooza 2010 Must-See Artists, Pt. V

And finally, here's part V.

#2: Spoon
No, Spoon aren't one of the six headliners at Lollapalooza this year, something that speaks volume to the festival's plethora of solid mid-tier acts, or their maybe weak-ish headliners. The Austin, Texas indie-alterna veterans, now 12 years into their critically-amassed studio career, have become a staple for summer music festivals, appearing at Pitchfork Music Festival two years ago, Coachella in April, Lolla (for the third time) and Austin City Limits later this year.

It seemed that the release of 2007's Ga Ga Ga Ga, that the band would be poised for an enormous breakout, similar to what Phoenix has experienced since the release of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix last year. While things didn't exactly pan out in the same manner (they never really do), the band is still is at the peak of their long career.

Spoon will be performing at 6:15 on the Budweiser stage, Saturday, August 7. Fans can also meet the band at 8:00 in the F.Y.E. Tent.

Spoon - The Mystery Zone (Live on KCRW)



#1: Arcade Fire
Six years and only three studio albums to their credit, the Arcade Fire are in a unique place - too big for the indie scene and still too small, obscure and profound for the big markets. While it remains to be seen that this will be the zenith of their careers, the band has certainly reached a point of critical profoundness.

I guess it's somewhat ironic that I ended up posting this today, the same day the group releases their third album The Suburbs. I've heard bits and pieces, but have to get my hands on a full copy of the release. But from what I've heard (and numerous others have) the band does not disappoint. Surely, during Lollapalooza, for those who aren't obsessed with Lady Gaga, the Arcade Fire may end up being the biggest thing all weekend.

The Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait - MP3

Well, that wraps up this year's top ten list. I'll be heading off pretty soon, so Bears and Bullets will be on its annual hiatus. Stay tuned next week for my in-depth review of the festival.

Stay cool kids ...

Tuesday Bears: Sasquatch! 2010 Lineup Announced

The lineup for 2010's Sasquatch! Music Festival in Gorge, Washington was leaked several hours ago with sources indicating that it's 100% official, with festival organizers likely confirming the list later today (as of now, has been confirmed).

The May 29-31 festival will be headlined by Pavement, who are also headlining Coachella and the Pitchfork Music Festival, My Morning Jacket and Massive Attack. LCD Soundsystem, MGMT and Public Enemy will also be on the bill, with more artists to be announced later.

Full Lineup:

A-Trak
Avi Buffalo
Band of Horses
Booka Shade
Boys Noize
Broken Social Scene
Brother Ali
Camera Obscura
Caribou
City and Colour
Craig Robinson
Cymbals Eat Guitars
Dam-Funk
Deadmau5
Dirty Projectors
DJ Z-Trip
Dr. Dog
Drive-By Truckers
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
Fool's Gold
Freelance Whales
Fresh Espresso
Fruit Bats
Garfunkel & Oates
Girls
Hudson Mohawke
Japandroids
Jets Overhead
Kid Cudi
Laura Marling
LCD Soundsystem
Local Natives
Luke Burbank
Massive Attack
Mayer Hawthorne
MGMT
Midlake
Miike Snow
Minus the Bear
Morning Teleportation
Mumford & Sons
My Morning Jacket
Nada Surf
Neon Indian
No Age
Nurses
OK Go
Passion Pit
Past Lives
Patrick Watson
Pavement
Phantogram
Portugal. The Man
Public Enemy
Quasi
Rob Riggle
Shabazz Palaces
She & Him
Simian Mobile Disco
Tegan & Sara
Telekinesis
The Hold Steady
The Lonely Forest
The long winters
The Low Anthem
The Middle East
The Mountain Goats
The National
The New Pornographers
The Tallest Man On Earth
The Temper Trap
The Very Best
The xx
tUnE-YaRdS
Vampire Weekend
Vetiver
Wale
Ween
Why?
YACHT
Yes Giantess

Bonnaroo Lineup Announced Throughout Today

Not too long after Coachella and the Pitchfork Music Festival revealed parts of their official 2010 lineups, Manchester, Tennessee's four-day Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival is doing the same.

Announced throughout the day (one act every six minutes) via the festival's Myspace, this year's lineup (as of now) includes several large acts including Jay-Z, Phoenix and The Flaming Lips performing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Several other acts include Weezer, Wale, The Avett Brothers, Regina Spektor, Norah Jones, Gwar (hopefully following Jones), and many, many more.

Tickets for the June 10-13 festival are available now. Expect more updates and bigger names in the near future.

Pavement, Modest Mouse Headline Pitchfork Music Festival

Pitchfork Media's 2010 music festival announced a portion of their official line up Friday, with recently reunited indie juggernauts Pavement and Modest Mouse headlining the Chicago, Illinois three-day festival.

LCD Soundsystem, Raekwon, St. Vincent, and many others including a long list of artists yet to be announced are performing July 16-18 at Chicago's Union Park. Good for them. What this means to me and anyone who ever reads Bears and Bullets knows that whatever happens at Pitchfork Music Festival will effect Lollapalooza, also held in Chicago in early August. Because of rules and regulations, any artist performing at one festival cannot perform at the other during the same calendar year. So for any devout Lolla-goers, scratch Modest Mouse, Pavement and LCD Soundsystem off your hopeful lists. Sigh.

Official 2010 Pitchfork Music Festival Lineup (as of Feb. 8):

Monday, July 16;

• Modest Mouse

Saturday, July 17;

• LCD Soundsystem
• Raekwon

Sunday, July 18;

• Pavement
• St. Vincent
• Lightning Bolt
• Cass McCombs
• Sleigh Bells
• Here We Go Magic

Stay tuned for more updates ...

Tuesday Bears: New Flaming Lips Video: I Can Be a Frog

Supporting the Flaming Lips upcoming 12th studio album, Embryonic, the Oklahoma natives have performed stints at Pitchfork Music Festival, ATP, and the Colbert Report before releasing the first video for the talk-along song "I Can Be a Frog." The song is a slow, quiet, and kind of odd choice to be put in video format, but still presents its quirky fun.

For those who may not recognize, that's Karen O's voice playing the part of sound effects as the brunette model (in a setting resembling Roxy Music's Country Music album cover) acts out each of the animals Wayne Coyne name-checks.

Flaming Lips - I Can Be a Frog (ft. Karen O)