The 11th annual Sasquatch! Music Festival runs May 25-28th at the Gorge Ampitheatre in George, Washington. Topping this year’s lineup are Jack White, Beck, and Bon Iver, with Pretty Lights, Tenacious D, The Shins, Girl Talk, St. Vincent, Feist, and Silversun Pickups, among the other heavyweights.

Also playing are Spiritualized, Childish Gambino, Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai, M. Ward, tUnE-yArDs, Wild Flag, Mark Lanegan Band, Shabazz Palaces, The Walkmen, The Head and the Heart, Metric, The Joy Formidable, Little Dragon, SBTRKT, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Alabama Shakes, Kurt Vile, Zola Jesus, The War on Drugs, araabMUZIK, and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.

The bill also boasts Nero, Wolfgang Gartner, Deer Tick, Cass McCombs, Shearwater, The Helio Sequence, Gary Clark Jr., Apparat, THEESatisfaction, Dum Dum Girls, The Cave Singers, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Purity Ring, Active Child, Com Truise, Starfucker, Cloud Cult, Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, Grouplove, I Break Horses, Trampled By Turtles, Said The Whale, Hey Rosetta!, Gardens & Villa, and Craft Spells.

This year also marks the return of a comedy lineup with a live performance of Portlandia, in addition to Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Todd Barry, Beardyman, Rob Delaney, Pete Holmes, and Howard Kremer.

Check out the complete lineup at Festival Outlook.

Festival passes go on sale February 11th at 10:00 AM PT via the festival’s website.

We’re still two months away from South by Southwest 2012, but today the schedule for the music portion went live, adding a slew of new names to the bill. Previously confirmed acts include Built to Spill, The Magnetic Fields, Talib Kweli, Against Me!, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Cloud Nothings, and a keynote speech by Bruce Springsteen.

Update: As a number of readers have pointed out, several acts listed on the festival’s schedule yesterday have since disappeared, including Best Coast, ASAP Rocky, Dan Deacon, Zola Jesus, YACHT, Nicolas Jaar, Azari & III, Bear In Heaven, Caveman, Anika, Cerebal Ballzy, and Charlift. According to festival organizers, this is the result of a number of reasons, including incomplete paperwork. It’s also possible that an artist initially applied to play the festival, but has since changed its plans. As of now, it’s unclear which of the aforementioned acts will end up playing. Stay tuned to our Festival Outlook page for lineup additions and updates.

Now joining them are Best Coast, M. Ward, of Montreal, ASAP Rocky, Danny Brown, Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire, Dan Deacon, The Drums, Astronautalis, Bear In Heaven, Ceremony, Chairlift, Crystal Antlers, Little Boots, Deerhoof, Dragonette, Gossip, Matthew Dear, Miike Snow, SBTRKT, Sharon Van Etten, Zola Jesus, Nicolas Jaar, Oneohtrix Point Never, Thundercat, The War on Drugs, Youth Lagoon, and Tennis.

Also set to appear are Lana Del Rey, The Ting Tings, Action Bronson, Apparat, Buraka Som Sistema, Spank Rock, Corrosion of Conformity, Jimmy Cliff, Rye Rye, K’naan, YACHT, Band of Skulls, White Rabbits, Beth Jeans Houghton and The Hooves of Destiny, Supreme Dicks, Caveman, Cerebral Ballzy, Freelance Whales, Here We Go Magic, Free Energy,  Eleanor Friedberger, The Black Angels, Blondes, Busdriver, Ezra Furman, Friends, Memoryhouse, Mikal Cronin, Miniature Tigers, Zechs Marquise, and Purity Ring.

The massive bill also includes Counting Crows, Tommy Stinson, The Wedding Present, Andrew WK, Brendan Benson, Hot Water Music, Gauntlet Hair, Grieves and Budo, Imogen Heap, Ingrid Michaelson, Michael Franti and Spearhead, The Henry Clay People, Justin Townes Earle, The Love Language, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Micachu & the Shapes, The Fresh & Onlys, Gardens & Villa, P.O.S., Anika, And So I Watch You From Afar, Fake Problems, Azari & III, Sleepy Sun, Bahamas, Japanther, The Knux, Carter Tanton, Cassettes Won’t Listen, Jacuzzi Boys, CHALI 2NA, Cities Aviv, Is Tropical, Javelin, Kids These Days, Living Things, Scattered Trees, and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.

Update: Despite previously being on the lineup, The Polyphonic Spree are no longer slated to play the festival.

Check out the complete lineup at our Festival Outlook. And stay tuned for additional lineup news and updates — typically, the biggest acts are revealed until just days prior to the festival.

The music portion of South by Southwest 2012 runs March 13-18th in Austin Texas. Registration is now ongoing, with various types of badges to chose from. Click here for all the details.

Fans of acclaimed electronic artist Apparat, aka Sascha Ring, are well aware of the man’s tendency of constant evolution; one album tweaks and adds to the musical concepts set forth on whatever came before it. His most recent effort, the very well received The Devil’s Walk, sees the electro-master crafting an intensely personal record that is what he calls a “band record,” a completely different structure from everything he had done prior. How does a person make the journey from one-man electro-nerd to frontman for an atmospheric and emotional band, all the while remaining melodic, melancholy, and at its core, electronic?

He goes to Mexico. And reads up on Romanticism. In the new mini-documentary Apparent’s The Devil’s Walk Revealed (EPK) from Agile Films and director Luke Bellis, in association with record label Mute, we’re given insight into what went into the making of the new album as well as the progression of Ring’s sound. Inter-spliced with concert footage, music video clips, and scenes of recording in Mexico, we’re treated to a one-on-one interview with Ring himself, charming and subtle with a tiny smile constantly in the corners of his mouth. He discusses turning Apparant into a group project, the inspiration behind The Devil’s Walk, falling in love with Mexico, and expanding from his electronic beginnings.

See all he has to say by checking out the exclusive premiere of the doc below. Apparat is currently on tour in Europe and beyond (see underneath video for details), and Ring promises future American dates in the video itself. Let’s just hope that last line really is just a bit of German humor.

Apparat 2011 Tour Dates:
10/14 – Bristol, UK @ Arnolfini
10/15 – Bratislava, SK @ Electronic Beats Festival
10/16 – Brighton, UK @ The Haunt
10/17 – Leeds, UK @ The Wardrobe
10/18 – Manchester, UK @ The Ruby lounge
10/19 – Glasgow, UK @ The Arches
10/20 – London, UK @ Koko
10/21 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
10/22 – Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje
10/23 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique
10/28 – Budapest, HU @ Electronic Beats Festival
10/30 – Luxembourg, LU @ Rockhal
10/31 – Leipzip, DE @ Centraltheater
11/01 – Zurich, CH @ Kaufleuten
11/02 – Frankfurt, DE @ Mousonturm
11/03 – Turin, IT @ Club to Club Festival
11/04 – Rome, IT @ Circolo degli Artisti
11/05 – Bologne, IT @ Link Club
11/07 – Prague, CZ @ Roxy
11/08 – Vienna, AT @ Flex
11/09 – Munich, DE @ Kammerspiele
11/10 – Stuttgart, DE @ Waagenhallen
11/11 – Heidelberg, DE @ Enjoy Jazz Festival
11/12 – Dresden, DE @ Beatpol
11/25 – Tokyo, JP @ Unit
11/30 – Perth, AU @ Bakery
12/02 – Melbourne, AU @ Hifi Bar
12/04 – NSW, AU @ Subsonic Festival
12/09 – Barcelona, ES @ Sala Apolo
12/15 – Istanbul, TR @ Babylon
12/16 – Istanbul, TR @ Babylon
12/19 – Berlin, DE @ HAU

If you happened missed the first go-around, or just want to give it another spin, NPR is now streaming Wilco’s latest LP, The Whole Love, ahead of its September 27th release via dBpm Records.

Also streaming on NPR is the fourth album from German producer Sascha Ring (aka Apparat), The Devil’s Walk. The 10-track effort officially hits stores on September 27th via Mute.

Four years later, Apparat experimented with mellow, precise beats on Walls, venturing away from the comfort of electronica to a sound more typical of Muse. Many of the tracks revealed a more organized artist, one who was starting to understand his ambitions and how to achieve them.

Devil’s Walk, then, is a mastery of this talent; “Sweet Unrest” is a resoundingly beautiful first track. It’s a notable beginning to an album swept with melodious melancholy, ambiance, and raw emotion. From “Sweet Unrest” to the album’s last track, “Your House Is My World”, the inspiration behind Devil’s Walk feels intimate. This is not a work of naïveté. It’s through his personalized sound, through his artfully crafted lyrics, that he shares his deepest wisdom.

It’s a well varied effort; “Song of Los” and “Black Water” sound like a revival of New Wave, a mix between John Maus, Cut Copy, and The Smiths, with “The Soft Voices Die” resuming the ambient soundscape Apparat is ultimately striving for. It’s completely unlike anything Apparat has created before and is a winning account of an artist who knows his audience and understands his own creative range. He can now place himself among artists who not only experiment, but evolve, who not only instigate, but inspire. Devil’s Walk is not an attempt at a new sound. It’s an exposition of how to create a new sound and how to do it at a level that connects with the listener.

Essential Tracks: “Sweet Unrest” and “The Soft Voices Die”

Commencing with a gently pulsating hum and concluding with a soothing recollection of rain, Sascha Ring, or rather Apparat, introduces us to the first single off his upcoming The Devil’s Walk with no presumption of disarming you. Often electronic artists openly indulge in the more unnatural sounds a computer can manufacture, never concealing that what you are hearing is not any traditional instrument. So when a producer chooses instead to soothe, entice and romance a listener, it is well worth the near five minutes it takes to do so.

Wind down your day with the single “Black Water” below, and keep an ear out for the rest of the album when it drops September 27th on Mute. Europeans will also be delighted to know that Ring is spending the rest of his summer touring throughout your continent.

Apparat – “Black Water”

Apparat 2011 Tour Dates:
06/23 – Nordrhein, DE @ Philharmonie Köln
06/30 – Augsburg, DE @ Modular Festival
07/02 – St Petersburg, RU @ Stereoleto Festival
07/09 – Amsterdam, NL @ Pitch
07/15 – Graifenahnichen, DE @ Melt Festival
07/25 – London, UK @ Scala
08/26 – Katowice, PL @ Tauron Nowa Muzyka Festival

Under the British label Mute, the LP is said to venture into “new musical territory where prominent vocals, live instruments, beautiful crescendos and lulling diminuendos spearhead an epic sound,” which is essentially a testament to the diversity of Apparat’s music. At this time, there is currently no available title, tracklist, or artwork. However, Mute did issue the lead single, “Ash/Black Veil”, which you can stream below.

Ahead of the release, Apparat will be playing the European summer festival circuit. Find all confirmed dates below the stream.

Apparat 2011 Tour Dates:
05/28 – Düdingen, CH @ Kilbi Festival, Bad Bonn
06/02 – London, UK @ Roundhouse ^
06/04 – Graz, AT @ Springfestival
06/18 – Barcelona, ES @ Sonar Festival
06/30 – Augsburg, DE @ Modular Festival
07/02 – St Petersburg, RU @ Stereoleto Festival
07/09 – Amsterdam, NL @ Pitch
07/15 – Graifenahnichen, DE @ Melt Festival
08/26 – Katowice, PL @ Tauron Nowa Muzyka Festival

^ = w/ Moby

Tickets are available in advance starting at $190 online at lightninginabottle.org/buy-tickets. Art installations, yoga classes, dance troupes, and organic food vendors will also be included in the price of admission.

Now, on to most hands-on part of this story: In further support of emerging talent, The Do Lab in conjunction with The Confluence want to invite all interested producers/dj/artists to create a mixtape/podcast for a chance to be added to the official Lightning in a Bottle 2010 lineup and official poster design.

1 Grand Producer: a one hour set and artist pass to Lightning in a Bottle 2010 (plus addition to final LIB Poster Design)
2 Runners Womp: a pair of tickets
5 Honorable Mixtape (will be released through all be added for a download on the LIB webiste)

* All submissions must be contain only artists included on the LIB 2010 lineup
* All submissions must be in-between in between 45 and 60 minutes in length
* All submissions must contain name, contact info, website (if you have one) AND A DIRECT LINK TO DOWNLOAD.

Send all submissions to info@theconfluencegroup.com by Midnight PST on April 15th. Winner to be announced with other unannounced late additions.

With that in mind, get mixing…

Photo courtsey of Aaron Gatsch…

Plus, did I mention they have collaborated with such artists as Maxïmo Park, Puppetmastaz, Björk, and…Thom Yorke? So, they must be good!

Anyhow, not that I’ve gotten your attention, let’s take a few moments to explain the final name of the bunch. Moderat is the title of the latest collaborative record between the two German acts. On May 12th, the record will get its release via Bpitch Control.

In support of the release, Modeselektor and Apparat will embark on a rare North American tour beginning May 19th. The two-week trek will be centered around a live show, or “audio-visual spectacle,” which will consist of the electro heads teaming up with members of the video/visual art group Pfadfinderei for some rather crafty spectacles – three screens of video, perfectly synchronized to the audio, will be a part of what the band describes as their most improvised and concert-like performance ever.

Now that we have all that covered, how about we finish up with a taste of Moderat…

Moderat Tracklist
01. New Error
02. Rusty Nails
03. Seamonkey
04. Slow Match
05. 3 Minutes Of
06. Nasty Silence
07. Sick With It
08. Porc#1
09. Porc#2
10. No. 22
11. Out of Sight

Moderat 2009 Tour Dates:
05/19 – Seattle, WA @ Neuomos
05/20 – San Francisco, CA @ Harriet
05/22 – Los Angeles, CA @ Paladium
05/23 – Denver, CO @ Beta Bar
05/24 – Boston, MA @ Paradise
05/27 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
05/28 – Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
05/29 – Toronto, ON @ Circa
05/30 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall