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.

The music portion of South by Southwest 2012 runs March 13-18th in Austin Texas. Today, the festival revealed another batch of 2012 acts, with Built to Spill, The Magnetic Fields, Stars, Metric, Thomas Dolby, and Delta Spirit leading the way.

Other newly confirmed notables include Lee Fields and the Expressions, Talib Kweli, Grimes, The Big Pink, Oh Land, Screaming Females, Dan Mangan, Gross Magic, Ganglians, Daughter, The War on Drugs, Blood Orange, Bleached, Suckers, Spector, Miracles of Modern Science, Ear Pwr, Beach Fossils, Prince Rama, Zeus, and Zorch. For all the latest lineup news and updates, be sure to bookmark our South by Southwest page on Festival Outlook.

Also, as announced last week, Bruce Springsteen will serve as next year’s Keynote Speaker.

Registration for SXSW 2012 is now ongoing, with various types of badges to chose from. Click here for all the details.

The thing is, it’s probably not worth the investment, charitable proceeds aside. Fantasies was a great indie rock album, sweeping from catchier-than-catchy opener “Help I’m Alive” through the low dirtiness of “Satellite Mind” to the bubblegum indie ballad “Gimme Sympathy”. It was an exercise in glittering, hummable indie rock, with Emily Haines’ sweet voice at its best. It was a brilliant record in the simplest of ways.

The remixes accompanying the album on Fantasies Flashbacks aren’t. While some of the versions here, such as the “Gimme Sympathy” Trashtalk remix — which combines elements of dubstep with electropop — are of some class, the majority pale in comparison with their inspirations. The Danger Denial Anger Acceptance Mix of “Help I’m Alive”, for example, replaces the satisfying, jerking guitar chords, fuzzy bass, and thumping drums with acoustic guitars and ethereal drones, turning it from something The Breeders could have been seriously proud of into what could be a B-side from Pink Floyd’s The Wall.

Really, there’s only one genuinely impressive remix: Kostiarapoport’s take on “Collect Call”. Turning the original from an innocent and relatively generic indie track into a pensive and slow ensemble of string and harp, it ends up being similar to a Final Fantasy or Son Lux record, and with Haines’ vocals preserved, it verges on Kate Bush territory.

But Fantasies Flashbacks, at least in its digital form with original tracks and their remixes alternating, is sometimes boring and definitely too long. With this one, it’s a matter of form: In 7″ singles, with the tracks divided, it definitely works. Still, Fantasies was a great album, and Fantasies Flashbacks is a good excuse in itself to revisit it — and get some new Metric material along the way.

Essential Tracks: “Collect Call (Kostiarapoport Remix), “Gimme Sympathy (Trashtalk Remix)”, and “Help I’m Alive”

If it seems like Metric has been supporting Fantasies for years, it hasn’t been that long. In April, it will have been years. Yet last night’s performance of the album track “Gold Guns Girls” didn’t come across as tired at all; one could even argue it sounded as alive and fresh as something that came, well, months ago. Also a plus was frontwoman Emily Haines, who managed to look pretty and tough at the same time. It is still my suspicion that her BSS highlights will always remain her calling card. Maybe when Feist finishes her new album, Broken Social Scene and Metric can join her for a super-tour. I know, I’ll keep dreaming. Enjoy the clip (via The Audio Perv).

Collect Call is the latest creation from music video director Christopher Mills (Interpol, Modest Mouse, and Secret Machines). Soundtracked by the Metric song of the same name, Mills says the film centers on the tale of a young girl trapped in “a dark dream in an alternate reality”. Wow, that’s some Inception-level mindfuckery. Don’t let any comparisons to Leonardo DiCaprio movies fool you though, Metric’s music syncs beautifully with the dark and twisted imagery of the film.

Enjoy the entire film below. You can also check out Metric out on tour with Muse through October.

Metric 2010 Tour Dates:
10/11 – Cincinnati, OH @ US Bank Arena *
10/12 – Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center *
10/13 – Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom
10/21 – Quebec, QC @ Colisee Pepsi *
10/23 – Uniondale, NY @ Nassau Coliseum *
10/24 – Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center *
10/25 – Richmond, VA @ The National
10/26 – Raleigh, NC @ RBC Center *
10/27 – Charlottesvilla, VA @ John Paul Jones Arena *
10/28 – Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle
11/14 – Victoria, BC @ Save On Foods Memorial Centre

* = w/ Muse

The album starts off with a loud yell, “We Are Sex Bob-omb”, announcing the name of Scott Pilgrim’s band before breaking into a fast, three-chord garage punk ditty. In total, there are four different Sex Bob-omb tracks on the Scott Pilgrim OST, all penned and performed by Beck, and all of which flirt with post-punk and stick to fast, three-chord riffage with lyrics about girls, summertime, and other typical slacker subject matter, except for the old 1980’s Nintendo/arcade-throwback, “Threshold (8 Bit).” Unfortunately, none of the Sex Bob-omb songs really breach the surface; they’re fun a time or two, but aren’t any more than what you’d expect from a fictional-movie-band. Although, “Garbage Truck” with its thumping, bluesy verses and catchy chorus may be the best fictional-movie-band song since “That Thing You Do” by The Wonders. Regardless, the tunes play an important part in the movie and do a fine job at making the soundtrack gel.

Cohesiveness is a necessary quality to any soundtrack – it’s crucial to have great individual songs and string them together in a way that makes sense. The Scott Pilgrim OST does a fine job at stringing the songs together, for instance, leading into the T. Rex classic “Teenage Dream”, with its large orchestration and bombastic choruses works really well after “Garbage Truck”, as does the transition from “Scott Pilgrim” by Plumtree into Frank Black’s classic “I Heard Ramona Sing”. Plumtree is a 90’s teenage band from Nova Scotia, who are credited for coining the Scott Pilgrim name, and after listening to their track, it’s easy to discern why O’Malley equated the song with his comic book – the track exudes teenage powerlessness, confusion and most all, a happy go lucky brand of naivety that the movie will surely bear.

Where the soundtrack fails is in its song selection. The lo-fi surf punk of the Black Lips’ “O Katrina!” is nothing special, and the songs from Sex Bob-omb rival band Crash and the Boys, written and performed by Broken Social Scene, serves as filler to an album that already has plenty of it. The Beck track “Ramona” is pleasant, with its swelling orchestration and Beck’s lovely, arching croon – it would work great as a Sea Changes B-side – but its overly repetitive and wobbly chorus bogs it down. Broken Social Scene’s “Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl”, shows potential early on with a soporific melody and a delicately picked banjo, but the track goes into a repetitive chorus for about two-minutes too long, and ultimately ends up as a neatly placed side note.

Not so surprisingly, the best parts of the soundtrack come from the old guys. The Led Zeppelin meets The Stone Roses track, “Sleazy Bed Track” from the 90’s Britpop band The Bluetones, is a distinctive and exceptional track, “Under My Thumb” from The Rolling Stones, with its depiction of sexual struggle and head-bobbing marimba taps, fits perfectly on the soundtrack, while both of the Frank Black songs are wonderfully blissful – the twangy rock ballad “By Your Side” is easily the album’s highlight. That goes without mentioning, the Metric song “Black Sheep”, performed numerous times live in the past couple years but not officially released until now, is a definite highlight – a distorted new wave track with a catchy-as-hell chorus and a sprawling guitar-heavy ending.

So the soundtrack doesn’t live up to the hype of the movie. Beck, Broken Social Scene, Black Lips, and Metric all add tunes that fans will enjoy, but they don’t produce anything better than you’ll get listening to their own albums. However, there’s enough blistering, heavily distorted garage punk and requisite classic rock, to keep even the most angst-ridden, slacker teen satisfied until the end of summer.

But then you get up. A cool shower washes off all the stale sweat you chose not to get off the night before. Remember that part about sheer exhaustion? You dress, gingerly walk down the stairs of your apartment, and grab breakfast at your favorite local diner. After all, nothing says energy like a healthy dose of two cage-free eggs and toast.

Upon arriving at Grant Park, the first thing you notice are the religious zealots yelling about how you’re going to hell because you listen to Lady Gaga. As you chuckle in response, you realize the blistering sun of yesterday has been replaced by a healthy dose of clouds. Your exhaustion immediately turns to anticipation and you race into the park to begin your day.

Ten hours (and 15 minutes) later, you’re walking home, having just witnessed one of the great Lollapalooza performances to date. And to think, you — for at least a second — had considered skipping the day and watching reruns of America’s Next Top Model.

Every person goes through this emotional roller coaster and every person — like it or not — has this love/hate relationship with any and every festival. You love it because of stuff like what happened Saturday night (e.g., Green Day). You hate it because of the morning after exhaustion, and you even end up making some absurd promise about how this is the last time you’ll put yourself through such a grind or that next year you’re getting a cabana. Of course, that never ends up being true because, well, of stuff like what happened Saturday night at Lollapalooza.

So when you wake up tomorrow morning, remember why it’s all worth it…

Saturday, August 7th

Mimicking Birds
adidas MEGA, 11:30 a.m.

Photo by Cap Blackard

The very small (yet sincere) crowd gathered around the adidas MEGA stage seemed wrapped in a mellow cocoon with vocalist/guitarist Nate Lacy weaving it all around. The trio seemed a little nervous (which is surprising, considering their 2009 opening slot for Modest Mouse), yet their acoustic twinged songs still plucked at the heartstrings. The songs alternated between sunsets (“Burning Stars” with its repeated mantra of “All we are is burning stars”) and sunrises (the eruption of “The Loop”, with lines like “Soon now her star will swell, bloat up, turn bright red”). With so many lyrics dependent on the stars, Mimicking Birds set left their audience with heads gently swimming in the clouds. -Adam Kivel

The Morning Benders
Sony bloggie, 12:00 p.m.

“We recognize it’s the crack of dawn…Lollapalooza time,” said lead singer Chris Chu, shortly after The Morning Benders began their “early” set. Under overcast skies, the shoegaze pop (if there is such a thing) provided the sun for a while, and the harmonies provided the breeze. Highlights included the funky verse/sunny chorus of “Promises” and the short, upbeat “Cold War”, both off the band’s new record, Big Echo. The voices harmonized stunningly, and the instruments were played well, but there was something that didn’t quite ring true with the band. Perhaps it was the “too cool for school” attitude of Chu, who seemed to try too hard at times to look the part. By the time he dropped the sunglasses and let loose, the set was almost at an end. The talent is there, though, and hopefully The Morning Benders will be allotted a set longer than half an hour next year. – Justin Gerber

The Soft Pack
Budweiser, 12:30 p.m.

Photo by Heather Kaplan

By no means is half past 12 really all that early. But, when you’re a musician, on the second day of a music festival, and it’s a fucking Saturday, half past 12 is an axe to the eyes, a weight to the head, and a major, major bummer. Frontman and guitarist Matt Lamkin would agree, who looked as excited to be on the Budweiser stage as Mickey Rourke did for his prison mugshot. But that didn’t stop him from pummeling through an assortment of material off his group’s latest LP. Renditions of “C’mon” and “More or Less” seemed tired, but Lamkin finally found his swing after introducing the band in the most cheesy, obnoxious way (all in good fun) and jumping into “Parasite”. The rest came natural. They even introduced a killer new tune, which goes untitled, but features a slide guitar and sounds very Doors-ish, a la L.A. Woman-era. Total win. -Michael Roffman

Rogue Wave
adidas MEGA, 1:00 p.m.

Photo by Cap Blackard

A scattered, relaxed crowd gathered for Rogue Wave as they eased their way on to the stage and tried to play, only to face technical difficulties. On the second try, with Steve Taylor still motioning for his keyboard to be turned up, sound gradually improved and sent the crowd on their way for a great set starting with Permalight‘s “Stars and Stripes”. The crowd started to pick up on the band’s energetic spirit with the third song of the set, “Solitary Gun”, as beach balls flew up into the air along with enthusiastic claps, causing vocalist, Zach Rogue, to scream, “I love you!”. When it came time to perform the very appropriate “Lake Michigan”, there was nothing but the banging of drums, teasing the crowd for a good minute until the rest of the band chimed in, lifting the audience into the most exciting moment of the set. -Lauren Guagno

Harlem
Sony bloggie, 1:00 p.m.

“Oh, it’s gonna be another one of those shows.”

Playing a show early in the afternoon is a challenge for anyone, especially young bands who, let’s face it, more than likely partied a little too hard the night before. When the guitarist for Harlem apologized to the crowd by saying that they had just woken up, no one was surprised. Though they had some technical difficulties early on, the band played through them and the loose, ramshackle atmosphere they created was rather endearing. Midway through the show, the guitarist and drummer switched places, proving that these guys are talented musicians, even if their music tends to get a little off key. While the crowd was sparse, Harlem kept their energy high throughout their 35 minute set. While none of the songs were particularly remarkable, as my friend put it, “they’re just a fun rock ‘n’ roll band.” Sometimes, that’s all that matters. -Carson O’Shoney

Wild Beasts
Playstation, 1:15 p.m.

Photo by Heather Kaplan

From the introductory electronic plinking and spoken word poem, it was clear that Wild Beasts were going to be one of the more theatrical sets of the weekend. Dual vocalists Tom Fleming and Hayden Thorpe’s operatic falsettos upped that gambit, much to the crowd’s delight. Fleming’s hollers of “Watch me!” over the marching beat of fan favorite “All the King’s Men” garnered matching howls from the huge, dancing crowd. “Where we’re from, everyone huddles and shivers and gets sad,” Thorpe remarked, lamenting the lack of a Lollapalooza in the band’s native Kendal, in the northwest of England. That might explain all of the pastoral drama, but it sure fit in even in the bright, midday sun. -Adam Kivel

Blues Traveler
Parkways, 1:45 p.m.

Photo by Cap Blackard

This writer grossly underestimated the audience that would turn out for this band’s performance Saturday afternoon. The biggest stage on the south side of Lolla, if not the whole of the festival, was packed with those eager to hear the jam band play their hits and deep cuts. Blues Traveler obliged right off the bat, marching out to “America, Fuck Yeah” from Team America: World Police and playing their most famous hit, “Run-Around”. Between this and the closer, “Hook”, the group played a solid hour’s worth of extended jams, including “You, Me and Everything”, with calls from the band and answers from the crowd. Two covers were also performed: Sublime’s “What I’ve Got” to big success, and Radiohead’s “Creep” which proved to be, well, different. “Wanna thank the Lollapaloozans,” said frontman John Popper near the end of the set. “Chicago, you rule!” Chicago apparently felt the same in return. – Justin Gerber

Warpaint
Sony bloggie, 2:15 p.m.

Photo by Cap Blackard

Shoegazy, psychedelic, dank; the four L.A. women that make up Warpaint may have only one EP under their belt (the solid Exquisite Corpse), but the controlled, tamed sound the group poured out onto the relaxed, shaded crowd sounded like a veteran outfit. “This song is called “Beetles”,” guitarist Theresa Wayman coyly announced, “It’s about your mind.” The chiming guitars, reverbed, dim bass and thundering drums sounded out songs that were simultaneously like a drug-induced hypnosis and a lithe dance party. The anthemic “Elephant” closed out the impressive set, with the telling “I’ll break your heart” looming over the stage. -Adam Kivel

Against Me!
adidas MEGA, 2:45 p.m.

“We got three hours of sleep last night… so we’re holding nothing back,” proclaimed Against Me! frontman Tom Gabel shortly after his band launched their mid-afternoon set at the adidas MEGA stage. By the time it was all said and done, Gabel proved a man of his words, as the Florida punk outfit spent the next 60 minutes dishing out ferocious punk rock, stopping only to take catch their breath. In turn, the crowd, already jazzed for the evening’s other mosh friendly entertainment, responded with a non-stop onslaught of moshes and crowd surfing. Even those in the back couldn’t help but offer a head bang or two. But, of course, mosh inducing was only one component of Against Me!’s set — the lyrical potency of 2007′s New Wave and the newly released White Crosses was on full display. In fact, the only real complaint that could be made was the presence of former Hold Steady multi-instrumentalist Franz Nicolay, who joined Against Me! earlier this year. There’s just something about curly mustaches and accordion playing that doesn’t really jive with lyrics pertaining to societal dissatisfaction and songs about abortion clinics. Thank god punks are so accepting. -Alex Young

Photo by Heather Kaplan

The xx
Playstation, 3:15 p.m.

Photo by Heather Kaplan

As Chicago’s hot sun baked the mixed crowd of fans (that being a mixture of “bros” and die-hard fans sporting black and white XX shirts), heavy drums and bass teased the crowd until Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, and Jamie Smith hit the stage. For a band who favors playing in the dark, the sun certainly didn’t mix well (or help), resulting in an odd setting that slowly bled spectators away. However, for the fans who stuck around, they witnessed a tremendous and awfully tight set. Sim stole the spotlight, though Croft appeared quite comfortable whispering every once and awhile. Next time, an evening set at the very least? -Phillip Roffman

Grizzly Bear
Budweiser, 4:15 p.m.

Photo by Heather Kaplan

“Holy shit, look at all of you!” – Ed Droste (after walking onstage to a massive crowd)

Music festivals are tailor-made for bands with high energy, high volume music. Grizzly Bear’s music is the exact opposite. They create subtle and beautifully intricate melodies that can be easily lost on large outdoor crowds. That kind of music is always a challenge in front of thousands of people on a hot day. Just a couple years ago, the thought of Grizzly Bear at a festival scared me away – as reviews of their sets at Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo in 2008 and 2009, respectively, were less than spectacular. But something happened between then and now – they’ve figured out how to make their music work for a large festival crowd. They’ll always be more of a club band – but playing to your audience is never a bad thing. They slightly beefed up their sound and put on a great show for a receptive crowd. The biggest cheers came for Veckatimest tracks, especially “Two Weeks”, but the band also dug into their earlier work and played fan favorites like “Knife” and “Little Brother”. In the end, Grizzly Bear beat the odds and came out on top with a captivating show. -Carson O’Shoney

Royal Bangs
BMI, 4:15 p.m.

Photo by Cap Blackard

“Hey, we’re Grizzly Bear, thanks so much for coming to see us tonight.” -Ryan Schaefer

This Knoxville trio’s been receiving its fair share of press lately. It helps that they’re adding more and more fans by the week, too. (I can’t tell you how many shirts I saw at Pitchfork this year.) But, they deserve it. Dubbed as Tropical and Neo-Soul, the Royal Bangs may not truly have a grasp on their sound yet, but whatever they’re doing is fun. At times it feels as if it’s Passion Pit covering a Billy Joel tune (“Maniverse”), other times it sounds like a quick take on LCD Soundsystem (“My Car is Haunted”). At the intimate BMI stage, where hundreds of folks cluttered the forest-y area primed to dance and groove, the sound apparently was a major success. Let’s just hope any new fans don’t go home thinking they’re Grizzly Bear. -Michael Roffman

Deer Tick
Sony bloggie, 5:00 p.m.

Photo by Cap Blackard

Beard of the festival goes to Deer Tick drummer, Dennis Ryan, whose beard puts Zach Galifianakis to shame. As for the music, equally impressive. John McCauley, rocking white-rimmed sunglasses and a white fedora, brought out his road-weary pipes amongst the southern-rock music. Within the controlled chaos, stunning five-count-‘em-five-part harmonies could be heard that hearkened back to The Allman Brothers. However, I doubt Gregg Allman and Duane Allman ever locked lips onstage after a jam session like McCauley and guitarist Ian O’Neil did during “Electric Funeral”. The audience was highly receptive, and played along with McCauley’s sense of humor. “Because this [“28 Miles”] is our only single off the new album,” he said, “by default, it’s the closest thing we have to a hit single.” A good band to check out as the sun began to set Saturday afternoon. – Justin Gerber

Metric
Playstation, 5:15 p.m.

Vocalist/guitarist Emily Haines (sometime contributor to Broken Social Scene, with a mellow side project called Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton) is clearly at the front of Metric‘s live show. She strutted and posed around the stage in the same vein as a Karen O, or even a Debbie Harry. The gigantic, pulsing electro-rock washing out over the humongous, elated audience. After the super-sing-along of “Help I’m Alive”, Haines tossed a “Hey Chicago, you’ve got to fight for your right to party” chorus into the middle of the pummeling, rapid “Empty”. After finding a pair of sunglasses tossed up at her feet, Haines swapped hers out for the fan donated ones, declaring that “this may be the only time there’ll be a wardrobe change in a Metric show,” her big, rock star grin beaming. James Shaw, Joshua Winstead and Joules Scott Key added a potent, crushing dose of rock for Haines to work with, making the seven year old “Dead Disco” ring out like a visceral, modern party jam. -Adam Kivel

Photo by Heather Kaplan

Social Distortion
Parkways, 5:45 p.m.

While older punk fans might cringe at the idea of veteran rockers Social Distortion opening for the likes of Green Day, frontman Mike Ness didn’t seem to mind. Sporting a tan, which showed off his glorious tattoos, and working off a voice that’s only become more scruffy over the years, Ness enthusiastically worked through the past hits and even managed to squeeze in a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Under My Thumb”. It wasn’t a memorable set by any means, and in fact, eight hours later, the only thing that comes to mind are tunes like “Story of My Life, “Ball & Chain”, and naturally, their iconic cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”. And while that’s not the most promising sentiment to leave on – especially since their next effort, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes, is due out this November – it’s highly unlikely this band will have a problem maintaining its highly loyal fanbase. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t kicking myself for not seeing Spoon or Edward Sharpe, instead. -Michael Roffman

Spoon
Budweiser, 6:15 p.m.

Photo by Heather Kaplan

“The last time we played a show like this was Coachella – you guys are putting them to shame.” – Britt Daniel

If there is one thing that Spoon has been throughout their 16-year career – it’s incredibly consistent. Over that span they’ve made seven albums, and not one of them is a clunker. It’s no surprise then that Spoon’s main stage show on Saturday night was consistently good throughout. From the opener, “Me and the Bean”, featuring just Britt Daniel and an acoustic guitar, to the rest of the set – which featured a horn section at some points – Spoon kept the crowd engaged from beginning to end. The one disappointment that was on everyone’s tongue at the end was the lack of “The Way We Get By”, but other than that glaring omission, Spoon played crowd favorites from their entire catalogue, like “I Turn My Camera On”, “The Underdog”, “I Summon You”, and “Writing in Reverse”, even throwing a Wolf Parade cover (“Modern World”) in for good measure. It wasn’t fancy and it wasn’t flashy, but it was a very solid set from a very solid band. -Carson O’Shoney

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Sony bloggie, 6:30 p.m.

“You should see how you look right now,” shouted Stewart Cole. “You look beautiful!” That “you” referred to the thousands who overwhelmed the Sony bloggie Stage, where fans hung from trees and crowd surfed nonstop – most of them covered head to toe in paint and toilet paper. Let’s break this down: Why were fans hanging from trees? Why were they covered in paint and toilet paper? Because Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros happened to be in town.

Photo by Cap Blackard

To say they stole the night would be unfair and unrealistic, but for lack of a better assessment, let’s just say they stole the night. How? Every song was delivered with so much enthusiasm and energy that fans never stopped moving. Not once. At one point, “40 Day Dream” brought about stomping feet and waving hands, keeping the ground in a healthy rhythm. The band had no intention of ignoring this energy either; instead, opting to get the crowd involved in more ways then expected, whether it was frontman Alex Ebert physically handing out tambourines to shake about or Jade Castrinos guiding us along through choruses.

Photo by Alex Young

It’s hard to believe that 10 musicians weren’t enough for everyone present. The cold, hard truth is that they weren’t. The fans just couldn’t help but want to be involved. So, in retrospect, the band was everyone present at the Sony bloggie Stage. Altogether, in this innate response to love and community, people both short and tell glimpsed a rare miracle. Once “Home” rung out, the ideal belief that world peace could happen seemed somewhat, believe it or not, realistic. As mentioned before, Stewart Cole cried out “You should see how you look right now. You look beautiful!” What we left out was that the crowd shouted back, “So do you!” It’s just a shame it had to end. -Phillip Roffman

Phoenix
Budweiser, 8:30 p.m.

Here’s a recipe for a good way to end day two of Lollapalooza. A crowd practically on cocaine or speed. Either one you pick. An overwhelming light show which could leave anybody an epileptic. Oh I almost forgot…Phoenix being the last ingredient. Although Green Day may have played 30 or so songs (clearly going over Lollapalooza’s curfew), Phoenix gave the crowd nothing less than what was to be expected from them in their recent visit to Letterman, KCRW, Bonnaroo etc. You could argue they added a spin on things, too. Let’s talk about this crowd, though.

Photo by Lauren Guagno

From the moment the band pummeled out “Lisztomania”, people went apeshit. Dance party would be an understatement, as it was a little more chaotic, so try and wrap your head around this image. Imagine hundreds of glow sticks (all resembling colors taken straight from Phoenix’s breakthrough effort, last year’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix) thrown into the air, dancing over the crowd, some exploding and spilling their colors out onto fans below. With this neon dressing everywhere, it was only a matter of time until it reached the stage, which it did, pegging Thomas Mars and the remainder of the band. Oh, there was sweat. Lots of it. And that was everywhere, too.

Photo by Lauren Guagno

Straying away from the setting and focusing primarily on the band, passion and energy come to mind. Passion in the sense of their overall message, which is to have nothing less than a good time. This idea came to fruition when the French quartet left the stage for a meek 30 seconds, only to come back and knock out “Funky Squaredance”. This kept the dance party in rhythm – there were even French flags! – and although they ended the set a tad early, you can’t say they didn’t try to keep things going. A cover of Air’s “Playground Love” went over well, as did their last song, the sleek mix up of “1901+1902”. -Phillip Roffman

Empire of the Sun
Perry’s, 9:00 p.m.

Empire of the Sun certainly know how to make an entrance. Their appearance at Lolla marks their first performance on North American soil and it was one for the record books. Not even Gaga, with all her fireworks and whatnot could achieve the theatricality that Luke Steele and company unleashed on the Perry’s stage. Any unsuspecting raver kids who didn’t know what was coming must’ve had their ecstacy-addled minds blown. Glittery dancers took the stage wearing large headdresses shaped like aqueducts and posed elegantly, with their capes billowing from strategically placed fans. Then the Emperor himself took the stage in his spiked headdress and chrome samurai armor. The audience was in awe.

A strong opening with Walking on a Dream single, “Standing on the Shore” led into the non-album thrasher, “Breakdown”, with Steele making frequent trips to the front of the stage to lay down some guitar work. This was not a predictable set. Yes, all the singles were played, but many were reworked, upping the tempo to keep the crowds dancing, and there was one song that has yet to be identified and possibly a new track. This show was glam performance at its finest. The dancing girls had at least five outfits and as the Swordfish Girls performed their own dance number, Steele slipped into something more comfortable. During a slightly faster rendition of the single version of “Without You”, Steele approached the audience and slipped into the pit of sweaty bodies, disappearing, but still singing and chiding on his fans with a cheerful, “c’mon girls.”

The tragic flaw of the show was Perry’s. It was a venue that could hardly contain the Empire. The stage, though well-equipped in lighting and sound, was built to house DJs and little else. Though the space was transformed to accommodate a rock set-up, it was still congested for Steele, plus his two bandmates and four dancers. The reconfiguration of the stage caused a slightly delayed start and the encore was only one song long and the obligatory, but sublime “Walking on a Dream”. You could tell Steele was disappointed to leave when curfew was called and the audience was disappointed to see him go. Hopefully this is only the beginning of the Empire’s reign in the States.

Photography by Cap Blackard

Green Day
Parkways, 7:45 p.m.

Christ, where do we start? Let’s go with the short summary: Green Day came to Chicago, lit off a couple of fireworks, and unloaded its two-decade plus catalog with smiles galore. Not good, enough? Okay…

Tonight, the Bay Area trio, led by a bleach blonde Billie Joe Armstrong – who should really take the Tonight Show reins from Leno – set the bar incredibly high for any headliners to follow. They did it all. Oldies surfaced (“Paper Lanterns”, “2,000 Light Years Away), flames rose from the stage, fans gave Armstrong a run for his money, fireworks lit up the sky 10 times over, and Jason Freese reinterpreted Van Halen’s “Eruption” via saxophone. That’s only a smidgen of what went down, though.

“Coming up is the Smashing Pumpkins,” Armstrong screamed to an adoring, swollen crowd. “Oh shit, wrong year.”

Quips continued throughout the night, including persistent demands for the crowd – everything from hand claps to countless “Hey oh’s”, which seemed to happen every five minutes. However, Armstrong intended to do more than just rile up the crowd, he wanted to turn the Windy City into a fiery hellstorm. Take for example, the event’s 10 p.m. curfew, which he sneered at, jovially declaring, “I say you kiss my white fucking ass, and we’ll play how long we want.” It should be noted that he stuck true to his words. They did play overtime – by 15 minutes, mind you – and the crowd did see his white ass. They just didn’t kiss it; though, a fan later did lay a smooch on Armstrong’s lips. Very funny.

Photo by Heather Kaplan

In terms of the actual performance, there was little room to complain. Sure, they spent a good 40 minutes performing material off of 2004′s American Idiot and last year’s sister album, 21st Century Breakdown, but to say any of it was uninteresting would be, well, a lie. Hell, they even threw in live rarities like “Letterbomb”, arguably one of the better non-singles off of American Idiot. Not to mention, when they started to dish out older material, they relished every minute of it, extending solos, working off bridges, and inviting sing-a-longs. At one point, they even worked through an assembly of classic rock riffs, starting with “Iron Man”, continuing with “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love” and “Sweet Child of Mine”, and finally finishing with “Highway to Hell” which eventually morphed into one hell of rendition of “Brain Stew”. And, naturally, that led into “Jaded”.

But it wasn’t just the adrenaline-induced songs that sold this show. No, it was Green Day’s consistent charisma and charm; the sort that lets you know this band loves you, just as much as you love them. Just look at ‘em: Armstrong’s youthful smile, bassist Mike Dirnt’s silent humor, and drummer Tre Cool’s cartoon-like behavior… it all adds up. They’re characters, they’re entertainers, and they’re exceptional musicians. They cover all the angles, and yet they always appear to be trying harder. What’s more, you never feel left out. You always feel as if you’re adding to the experience.

Photo by Heather Kaplan

Okay, so the majority of the crowd were hardly out of their diapers when Dookie hit the streets back in ’94, but what does that matter? There were still plenty of old timers, all looking to find a solid rock ‘n’ roll show and hear their favorite tunes. Green Day accomplished all of that, without sacrificing any of their sound. They went the extra mile. That seemed pretty obvious when they dove into the nine minute opus, “Jesus of Suburbia”, five minutes after their set was scheduled to end. They also followed it with two more tracks. Let’s just say Mr. Farrell will probably have a couple of letters from unhappy nearby residents next week.

Eh, lump ‘em in with the minor few who didn’t consider tonight one of the best nights in Lollapalooza history. Popular opinion is usually bullshit, but we’ll weigh in with the majority this time around. Mr. Armstrong, Mr. Cool, and Mr. Dirnt, we’re not worthy. We’re not worthy. -Michael Roffman
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Gallery by Heather Kaplan

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Gallery by Cap Blackard

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Every year since 2006, this “island by an island” has been overrun by more than 50,000 people for two usually hot and sweaty days in the middle of the summer. The city I’m referring to is nowhere else than Montreal, and the event is Osheaga, loosely translated from the indigenous Mohawk people as “the place where people shake hands.”

And there were a lot of people shaking hands this year, as the 2010 edition of the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival may go down as the best yet. It may have helped that it was headlined by the most talked-about band in music right now, but it’s not like Arcade Fire were the only ones worth seeing at this festival as unique as the city in which it’s held, as you’ll read below…

Saturday, July 31st

Skip the Use
Sennheiser Stage, 1:00 p.m.

I wasn’t planning on seeing anyone right away upon my arrival at Parc Jean-Drapeau, preferring instead to explore my new surroundings before The Walkmen at 1:30, but I was immediately drawn to the cozy-looking side stage sponsored by audio electronic experts Sennheiser. Well, that and the band playing, Skip the Use, seemed pretty interesting. Their lead singer immediately reminded me of Kele from Bloc Party, who was scheduled to play Osheaga but had to cancel due to visa issues. This guy was French (from France), wore pink Converse All-Stars, and had what I’d call a caffeinated personality – He had people bouncing to his quintet’s infectious Euro electro-rock right from the get go. Also, the lineup for beer at this stage was next to nonexistent…bonus!

If you like stuff from The Virgins (the New York City group known for ‘Rich Girls’), give them a listen at their MySpace. (Anyone who are online friends with The Hives are alright in my book!)

The Walkmen
BlackBerry Stage, 1:30 p.m.

If you’ve never been to Montreal, I can’t emphasize enough how much of a “party city” it is, something I think a lot of bands discovered over the weekend, one in particular being NYC’s The Walkmen. I say this because singer Hamilton Leithauser and the other four Walkmen presented themselves as the very definition of the word ‘casual’ while the people they were performing for were ready to booze it up and rock from the moment they entered the gates. Leithauser spent the majority of their half-hour set (which they drove 14 hours for, he told us) with his hands in his pockets under the dangling Christmas-like lights set up in anticipation for Pavement. They used the brief time they were given to showcase tracks like “Victory” from their upcoming album Lisbon, and closed with ‘In the New Year’ from their excellent 2008 effort, You & Me.

Owen Pallett
Sennheiser Stage, 2:10 p.m.

I was looking forward to perspiring to Cage the Elephant on the main stage at 2 p.m., but they apparently had border issues Saturday morning that prevented them from appearing at Osheaga. I decided to head back to the Sennheiser area for some violin action from Owen Pallett.

It was a pretty weird scene when I got there. Pallett was already on stage, looking as if he was doing his own sound check, occasionally pausing to badmouth the technicians in the big white tent. A good 10 minutes after he was supposed to start, the overhead lights suddenly went on, presumably starting the set. Another ten minutes or so after this, his guitarist awkwardly showed up, who would later switch to playing some sort of drum kit. Although instead of beating them with sticks, it was like he was vigorously scooping ice cream out of the inside of the drum, producing a pretty unique and cool sound.

“We’re not a festival band,” Pallett announced roughly halfway through, and I’d have to concur. The guy is infinitely talented, doing things I have never seen before like screaming at his instrument to get an echo effect, but maybe he should stick to playing operatic quality venues where you can actually hear and appreciate his skills. The problems he was experiencing continued right through ’til the end, to the point where Pallett apologized to everyone and simply up and quit before he was able to finish ‘Lewis Takes Off His Shirt’ (from his first non-Final Fantasy album, Heartland).

Japandroids
Sennheiser Stage, 4:40 p.m.

Japandroids are a band I’ve been wanting to see for some time now. Aside from me having a fondness for two-member groups, namely The White Stripes and The Black Keys, I’ve also been hearing a lot of good buzz about these Vancouver natives’ live act. Their music had a supercharged, high-speed groove to it that I was really digging. Guitarist Brian King, looking crisp in a well pressed white shirt, said on more than one occasion how this was their last show for a number weeks, so it was our “last chance to dance and get $#@%ing crazy!” He gave off the impression that he wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he wasn’t rocking out with drummer and partner in crime David Prowse. (No, not the guy who played Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies!)

And a lot of people took his advice to heart, as I saw more mosh pits break out during the seven or so songs JPNDRDS played than any other set I caught at Osheaga. My personal fave was “Wet Hair”, with them talking breathlessly about how they “must get to France so they can French kiss some French girls!”

Stars
BlackBerry Stage, 5:30 p.m.

Even though I had just seen them a few weeks ago at Ottawa Bluesfest, I hurried back to the twin main stages for Montreal’s own Stars, paying little attention to the massive sing-along for K’naan’s “Wavin’ Flag” so I could grab a good spot close to the front. The crowd already gathered for Stars had to be at least two to three times the size of their Bluesfest audience, and band members Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan showed their love by continually hurling bouquets of white roses to their admirers. And apologies in advance for the pun, but these Stars shone just as bright during the day as they did on that Ottawa night.

One thing I thought was worth noting is that Stars didn’t appear to have “dressed up” as much for this homecoming gig as much as in Ottawa. That is until I realized Campbell was wearing a Metric shirt under his pale blue jacket with friend Jimmy Shaw’s face on it! With their charismatic, melodic-playing frontman encouraging everyone to put their “hands in the sky…feel that sunshine…it’ll be winter soon,” Stars blazed through 12 songs in just under an hour, many from their recently released album The Five Ghosts (including “We Don’t Want Your Body”, “The Passenger”, “Fixed”, “I Died So I Can Haunt You”, and “Wasted Daylight”).

Pavement
BlackBerry Stage, 7:15 p.m.

I feel the overwhelming need to come clean about something – I’m a 37-year-old who’s been an alt-rock fan since the genre’s glory days of the early and mid-’90s, but I can’t say Pavement were anywhere near my radar back then (and it’s not like I only listened to what was popular on the radio). So I can’t lie; their whole reunion thing this year meant very little to me, but I decided to give these self-proclaimed California slackers a chance, and not just because I wanted to be up front for Arcade Fire a few hours later.

Simply put, it may have been the best musical decision I made all weekend. I can’t expand much more on their hour-long, 17 song performance other than it rocked! So much so that I’m almost ashamed to have ignored them for so long. And they exuded a coolness that manifested itself very early on:

They had barely finished second song “Stereo” when for whatever reason, Stephen Malkmus got drilled with a full plastic cup of Budweiser (And keep in mind, Canadian beer is stronger!) The crowd collectively gasped, thinking that this was going to be the end of Pavement’s Montreal comeback before it even began. We all braced for the worst, knowing the city’s unfortunate penchant for a good riot.

Malkmus earned his awesomeness badge and then some by calmly toweling himself off and complementing his assailant’s pinpoint accuracy. He’s obviously a sports fan, as later he asked how Montreal’s Canadian Football League team the Alouettes were doing, and also dedicated “Fin”, the last song on 1997’s Brighten the Corners to the Montreal Expos, the much beloved baseball squad now plying their trade as the Washington Nationals.

Pavement definitely won me over. Good job, boys!

Arcade Fire
BlackBerry Stage, 9:30 p.m.

Is The Suburbs better than Radiohead’s OK Computer? These are the types of comparisons Arcade Fire’s new album have been garnering. I don’t know if they’re justified yet, and frankly, I really don’t care. What I do know is that the performance delivered Saturday night in Montréal by Win Butler, Régine Chassagne and their modern traveling minstrel band had wide-ranging appeal, and the potential to propel Arcade Fire into a new musical stratosphere. The nine people that were on stage, all playing various instruments at different times, created a veritable wall of sound that made absolutely everyone’s jaws drop and set our tongues wagging for a full hour and a half (unopposed, I might add). Arcade Fire are no longer a kitsch indie band; I’m thinking bigger than Radiohead, if that’s even possible…yeah, I’m talking U2-type popularity. Maybe not right now, but they’re definitely on their way.

I know they’re webcasting from Madison Square Garden later this week and headlining Lollapalooza, both of which will be huge, but there was something majestic and monumental about seeing them play what felt like a private function for 25,000 or so “of our closest friends,” according to the charming and perpetually twirling Chassagne. They were that good live, and I consider myself extremely fortunate that I was front row (just to the left of) centre to experience it all. I won’t soon forget the rush I felt when ‘Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)’ started up, or the explosion of confetti fireworks as ‘Wake Up’ brought an incredible first day of Osheaga to a close.

Sunday, August 1st

Galactic w/ Cyril Neville
Budweiser Stage, 1:00 p.m.

Galactic is one of those ensembles I had always heard great things about in relation to fests like Voodoo in New Orleans. It was a treat to see (And hear!) them bring their funk-a-fied trumpet and saxophone sounds to Montreal. I think a lot of early risers learned that dancing to this type of music is a fantastic way to work off one’s hangover from the evening before!

Still Life Still
Sennheiser Stage, 2:00 p.m.

When I saw that a band from Toronto would be playing on the intimate Sennheiser stage, I thought I’d give them a shot. And Still Life Still aren’t all that bad…inoffensive, almost pedestrian rock, but definitely not stilted. They fought valiantly through their own sound problems as well as the bleed from the nearby “Tree” stage. The lead singer and guitarist has the Sam Roberts look going for him, that’s for sure, which will make him a favourite of the ladies. Even though they’re proud to be from the East York borough of Toronto, he certainly knows how to endear himself to the Montreal crowd, announcing that the Osheaga city “beats the $#!& out of Toronto!”

Now that I think about it, I’m sure I’ve heard them on our local modern rock station, 102.1 The Edge. Surprised it hasn’t been more, although I highly doubt they’d play one song I heard, “Soldiers on LSD”.

The Gaslight Anthem
BlackBerry Stage, 3:00 p.m.

Osheaga marked the second time I’ve seen The Gaslight Anthem (the other instance being at Lollapalooza last year). I found it cute in a punk rock sort of way how singer and guitarist Brian Fallon (you know, the nice young man with all the tattoos) seems genuinely astonished at the success of his New Brunswick, New Jersey new millennium rock ’n’ roll band. “Let’s see if we can try to have some fun,” he started with. The thousands of us watching, clapping and occasionally moshing for the next 40 minutes weren’t worried about this in the least.

All niceties aside, that is a pretty badass stage backdrop they have, and their songs are just as cool. Pretty tough to pick one or two as the best out of the ten they played, but I really like “We Did It When We Were Young”, from their latest album American Slang.

The Black Keys
BlackBerry Stage, 4:20 p.m.

As I made my way to Parc Jean-Drapeau by subway, I ran into a surprising number of fellow Torontonians. When I asked who they were most looking forward to seeing on Sunday, nearly every single one of them had The Black Keys at the top of their list. They didn’t let any of them down, as the Keys absolutely blistered through a 10 song set dominated by selections off of their 2010 record Brothers (as well as a new song called “Chop and Change” from the Eclipse soundtrack of all things).

While I have nothing but positive things for the most part to say about Osheaga organizers evenko, I’m seriously thinking of filing a civil lawsuit over one of the best live acts in music today only getting a 40 minute timeframe in which to work their magic. I guess I can take solace in the fact that skin beater extraordinaire Pat Carney, soulful blues shredder Dan Auerbach, and their new friends Nick on bass and Lee on keyboards will be playing full sets at two sold-out Toronto shows following their Montreal stop.

And on a side note, am I the only one who thinks Snoop Dogg should have been in this “420” slot?

We Are Wolves
Sennheiser Stage, 5:40 p.m.

If visitors from Toronto were most looking forward to seeing The Black Keys, then the equivalent for Montrealers were indie sensations We Are Wolves. The friends I was at Osheaga with were adamant that they be one of my “must-see” bands. At first I started to wonder what I had got myself into when I saw three Gothish-looking guys emerge from behind the curtain wearing bizarre, kite-like apparatuses. Once they began their heavily distorted electro rock though, which I tried to coin ‘new age industrial,’ as there were shades of old school Ministry and their drummer STOOD for the entire 45 minutes, I was hooked. I didn’t know the names of any of their songs (then again, neither did any of mes amis), and I couldn’t understand many of vocalist’s Alexander Ortiz’s lyrics, but like almost everything about Montreal, it was soooo good!

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Sennheiser Stage, 7:15 p.m.

You know how sports fans are always saying how they would want to see legendary players they’ve only heard about? Well for the longest time I was saying the same thing about The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. I would like to take this opportunity to state publicly, without hyperbole, that I can die a happy man because I have finally seen them in concert. I have been going to shows for twenty years, and this was by far the loudest one I have ever, ever, ever been at. I was on the rail, standing in front of a subwoofer, silently cursing that I hadn’t brought earplugs. (Not that anyone could have heard me swear!) The bass was so freaking loud that a bunch of us found ourselves huddling around a one litre bottle of water someone had dropped that was literally becoming carbonated from the whole lotta shakin’ going on.

Jon Spencer was like a runaway freight train hijacked by Elvis Presley. When he wasn’t shouting out the names of the next song at other JSBX members Judah Bauer and Russell Simins before trying to start without them, he was constantly displaying his flexibility by bending down on one knee in his tight leather pants, taking a breather only to yell “Blues Explosion!” as loud as he could into his mic. It was glorious, and it hurt to leave the scene of this musical car crash, but it was time to check out one of the main events.

Metric
Budweiser Stage, 8:30 p.m.

If t-shirt sales are any indicator of a band’s status, then Metric deserved a line to themselves at the top of the Osheaga poster. It seemed that every second person I saw Sunday was a pretty blonde girl modeling a white Metric tee with their stenciled logo and Emily Haines’ face on it.

Any celebrity she and her three male band mates have achieved has been earned, mainly from playing show after buzz worthy show since they self-released their latest album Fantasies in April of last year. For any American indie rock aficionados who may not yet be familiar with her, no reasonable facsimile can compare to Metric’s effervescent frontwoman. The only way to really describe her is as a little dynamo in high heels, her golden, shoulder length hair blowing in the wind while strutting her stuff in a glittering silver micro-minidress, singing her heart out on songs like “Black Sheep” and “Empty” as well as surprising with a cover of the Beastie Boys’ “Fight for Your Right”.

They also had the biggest VIP section of people watching them side stage by far. They may have been privileged, but they were pumping their fists as hard as anyone in the crowd to “Help I’m Alive”, and reacted just as explosively at the riff to “Gold Girls Guns”.

Devo
Sennheiser Stage, 9:15 p.m.

Having already seen main stage headliner Weezer at Ottawa Bluesfest two weeks prior, I thought I’d indulge in somewhat of a guilty pleasure and catch a bit of Devo to cap off what has probably been the best all-around festival I have attended since Lollapalooza in 1994. I didn’t think anything was ever going to touch The Smashing Pumpkins in their prime (before Billy Corgan shaved his head and started going cuckoo) on top of the Beastie Boys unleashing “Sabotage” and the rest of Ill Communication on alternative audiences, but I think we have a new winner!

I should probably mention that the Sennheiser-sponsored stage I spent an awful lot of time at was entirely “green” powered. Unfortunately, though, I never was able to confirm if that was because of all the Devo energy domes seen around Parc Jean-Drapeau all weekend. But onto their show! Playing up the music video pioneer reputation they established in the ’80s, Devo had a giant wall behind them spastically flashing images non-stop. A true sensory overload. Devo sent everyone home happy with new wave classics such as “Peek-a-Boo!”, “Girl U Want”, and, of course, “Whip It”. I’ve personally become a fan of their new album Something for Everybody, especially set opener “Don’t Shoot (I’m a Man)”, wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man and all!

According to The Playlist, the score soundtrack is a grand total of 38 songs. While the soundtrack has Frank Black and Plumtree hits, the score may win the battle of sheer overall musical prowess. With tracks on the score featuring the likes of Kid Koala, Beck, Supergrass, Broken Social Scene members Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, and Cornelius, top-notch doesn’t begin to describe it. Plus, there’s stuff written by Dan the Automator, Godrich and Beck, and U.K. DJ/mash-up artist Osymyso. So much music it makes your heart want to explode.

Enjoy the full tracklist below. Both the score and the official soundtrack are out August 10th, with the movie out August 13th. As always, stay tuned for any more details that would officially make this movie’s soundtracks even more unbelievable.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World Original Score Tracklist:
01. Nigel Godrich – Universal Theme
02. Nigel Godrich – Hillcrest Park
03. Nigel Godrich – Fight!
04. Dan the Automator – Slick (Patel’s Song)
05. Nigel Godrich – Love Me Some Walking
06. Nigel Godrich – Talk To The Fist
07. Nigel Godrich – Rumble
08. Nigel Godrich – Feel The Wrath
09. Nigel Godrich – The Grind
10. Nigel Godrich – Hello Envy
11. Nigel Godrich – Mystery Attacker
12. Nigel Godrich – Second Cup
13. Nigel Godrich – The Vegan
14. Nigel Godrich, Jason Falkner & Justin Meldal-Johnsen – Bass Battle
15. Nigel Godrich – Sorry I Guess
16. Nigel Godrich – Roxy
17. Nigel Godrich – The Ninth Circle
18. Cornelius / Beck – Katayanagi Twins vs. Sex Bob-Omb
19. Nigel Godrich – This Fight Is Over
20. Nigel Godrich – Gideon Calling
21. Nigel Godrich – Level 7
22. Nigel Godrich – Welcome To Chaos Theatre
23. Beck / Nigel Godrich – We Are Sex Bob-Omb (Fast)
24. Nigel Godrich – Fast Entrance Into Helll
25. Nigel Godrich – Chau Down
26. Nigel Godrich – Game Over
27. Nigel Godrich – So Alone
28. Nigel Godrich – Round 2
29. Beck / Nigel Godrich – Death To All Hipsters
30. Nigel Godrich – A Different Guy
31. Nigel Godrich – Boss Battle
32. Nigel Godrich – Blowing Up Right Now
33. Nigel Godrich – Aftermath
34. Nigel Godrich – Bye and Stuff
35. Osymyso – Love (Bonus Track)
36. Osymyso – Ramona (Bonus Track)
37. Osymyso – Prepare (Bonus Track)
38. Dan the Automator – Ninja Ninja Revolution

Also, you got a question you’ve been dying to ask Cee-Lo? Wanna just tell Emily Haines from Metric how cute she is? Or maybe you’d rather annoy ECC with questions about whether it was ultimatelty Kendrick Perkins’ absence which led to the Lakers dominating the boards in Game 7 to finally best the Celtics? You can submit your questions to the bands via the official Eclipse Soundtrack website and perchance they’ll be answered on air.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Soundtrack is available at Starbucks and everywhere now, and its cinematic counterpart is nationwide June 30th.

As Pitchfork now reports, the soundtrack will consist of 19 selections in all. Beck wrote original music for the SEX BOB-OMB, the band led by the film’s title character (played by Cera), while Broken Social Scene provided the sounds for the film’s other fictional band, Crash and the Boys. Metric contributed one song, “Black Sheep”, which is already available for all.

Also appearing on the effort will be previously released songs from the likes of Frank Black, T. Rex, and The Rolling Stones as well as Plumtree’s 1997 track “Scott Pilgrim”, the song which originally inspired Bryan Lee O’Malley to create the character and comic book series.

What’s more, Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich, who served as the soundtrack’s executive producer, also penned the film’s score.

The soundtrack will see release on August 10th via ABKCO, while the film will follow three days later on August 13th. A release date has not yet been set for Godrich’s score, but it will reportedly receive a digital unveiling at some point in the near future.

In addition to the soundtrack and the fact that it features Michael Cera in a fictional band, all you really need to know about the film is that it centers around Scott Pilgrim’s quest to kill the love of his life’s seven ex-boyfriends so that they can be together. The trailer probably explains all this better though, so that’s why we included it below.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Soundtrack Tracklist:
01. SEX BOB-OMB (Beck): “We Are SEX BOB-OMB”
02. Plumtree: “Scott Pilgrim”
03. Frank Black: “I Heard Ramona Sing”
04. Beachwood Sparks: “By Your Side”
05. Black Lips: “O Katrina!”
06. Crash and the Boys (Broken Social Scene): “I’m So Sad, So Very, Very Sad”
07. Crash and the Boys (Broken Social Scene): “We Hate You Please Die”
08. SEX BOB-OMB (Beck): “Garbage Truck”
09. T. Rex: “Teenage Dream”
10. The Bluetones: “Sleazy Bed Track”
11. Blood Red Shoes: “It’s Getting Boring by the Sea”
12. Metric: “Black Sheep”
13. SEX BOB-OMB (Beck): “Threshold”
14. Broken Social Scene: “Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl”
15. The Rolling Stones: “Under My Thumb”
16. Beck: “Ramona (Acoustic)”
17. Beck: “Ramona”
18. SEX BOB-OMB (Beck): “Summertime”
19. Brian LeBarton: “Threshold 8 Bit”

UK rockers Muse and metal legend Ozzy Osbourne will headline this year’s festivities, set to run from October 29th-31st at New Orlean’s City Park. Other noteworthy acts include Weezer, MGMT, Drake, Interpol, Hot Chip, Metric, Deadmau5, Florence and the Machine, Janelle Monáe, Jónsi, Street Sweeper Social Club, Jakob Dylan and Three Legs, Eagles of Death Metal, Minus the Bear, and Galactic, which will be accompanied by a yet to be announced guest.

Also scheduled to perform are Buckwheat Zydeco, Eli “Paperboy” Reed, The Airborne Toxic Event, Raphael Saadiq, Afrojack, Die Antwoord, Crookers, Innerpartysystem, Trombone Shory & Orleans Avenue, Toubab Krewe, George Porter, Jr. and his Runnin’ Pardners, Rebirth Brass Band, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights, and Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars. Click here for a listing of the current bill. In all, over 100 acts will perform during the festival’s three days.

Three-day General Admission passes, priced at $150, and 3-Day LOA Lounge VIP, priced at $500, will go on sale starting at 7 AM EST. Visit the festival’s website for more info.

Image support via Brett Bazan.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse opens with “Eclipse (All Yours)”, a group effort between Canadian synth-poppers Metric and legendary film composer Howard Shore. Metric has always epitomized the best of pop-rock: catchy hooks, charismatic live performers with energy to spare, and a musical versatility to keep things fresh and interesting, so their rise from one of indie’s best-kept secrets to bona fide stardom has always been inevitable. On “Eclipse”, frontwoman Emily Haines channels the thoughts and feelings of series protagonist Bella Swan convincingly with her dreamy vocals, and while its lovely but safe melodies do not reveal the delightfully raucous vigor of Metric, it should hasten their ascent.

Having previously appeared on the soundtracks to the first two flms, Brit space-rockers Muse return once again, but this time with an original composition. Although “Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)” was not specifically written for Eclipse, its syrupy lyrics are nonetheless a perfect match. Musically, “Neutron Star Collision” is a composite of classic Muse sounds, and while unapologetic grandiose, the pomposity does not reach the excessive levels that made 2009’s The Resistance too much of a Queen tribute album.

A joint effort between Beck and Bat for Lashes has been the most intriguing prospect of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse since the soundtrack was announced, and fortunately their collaboration on “Let’s Get Lost” far from disappoints. Beck Hansen’s haunting vocals and fuzzy synths interplay with Natasha Khan’s seductive lyrics and uniquely hypnotic brand of singing so well that this match made in heaven is the strongest Twilight-inspired song yet. “Let’s Get Lost” not only represents Bat for Lashes and Beck at their best, it also reveals thrilling musical territory that can likely only be explored together.

While less morose than its morose predecessor, Eclipse centers around the theme of love and the internal and external conflicts that love entails. Songs such as Sia’s “My Love” and “Heavy in Your Arms” by Florence + the Machine fit that bill perfectly but are still more than strong enough to stand on their own without the context of a vampire-werewolf-Mary Sue love triangle. Cee-Lo Green, of Gnarls Barkley and Goodie Mob fame, is as soulful as ever on the infectious “What Part of Forever”, one of the more upbeat songs on the soundtrack. Unfortunately, The Bravery’s “Ours” combusts rather than sparkles under the light of the rest of the soundtrack. As the weakest link of the new-wave meets post-punk revival, the latest from The Bravery further proves that some things are best left in 2005.

Although The Twilight Saga: Eclipse may not push any boundaries or innovate the world of film soundtracks, it’s a consistent collection with a few obvious standouts that is certain to please fans of the film and the artists alike. Like New Moon before it, Eclipse is at its most successful as a crash course on indie music. With its collection of both familiar stars and artists on the rise, Eclipse is like a well-constructed mix CD given to that less musically inclined friend or family member with the intent of expanding their musical horizons.

In the midst of their 2010 North American trek supporting Fantasies, Metric brought everything a fan could ask for and more to Terminal 5 in Manhattan. Blazing music? Check. Seizure-inducing light show? Check. (Seriously, they must have stock in the strobe-light business.) Emily Haines? Double-check. The entire concert highlighted everything there is to love about Metric, and there’s certainly a lot to love.

Before the main event, opening act Bear in Heaven arrived but didn’t really feel like a good match to warm up the Metric crowd. Their electronic, experimental indie rock sounded more like noise than actual songs, especially since their shrill guitar was turned up way too loud. There were a few good parts of instrumentation here and there that had potential, but the overall experience was disappointing, especially after playing for 45 minutes.

Soon enough, though, Metric took the stage to the slow burner, “Twilight Galaxy”. With the stage covered in a dark blue light and the band members slowly taking their place at their instruments, it proved to be an odd yet appropriate opener. It let the group build up towards their faster-paced songs, but it wasn’t so slow that it killed the crowd’s energy. While Haines spent most of the first number behind her synthesizer, she really started moving during “Satellite Mind” and never stopped for the rest of the show. Throughout the entire concert, if she wasn’t stuck by a synth or guitar, she was all over the stage. Whether reaching out to the crowd, striking a superhero pose, or simply dancing to the music, she put as much energy into every song as the sold-out audience of passionate fans did.

Most of the setlist came from their latest record, with singles “Help, I’m Alive” and “Sick Muse” getting the biggest reaction from the crowd. It wasn’t all new stuff, though. The band threw in fan favorites from both Live It Out and Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? Out of these older tracks, the highlights included the intense “Empty” with savage guitar playing from James Shaw and the high-energy “Dead Disco”.

Every song in the main set felt like it worked perfectly after the previous one. There were no dramatic drops in tempo between numbers, but there was enough slowdown at times to give everyone a short rest. Haines’ tributes to the Beastie Boys (“Fight For Your Right”) and to fellow Canadian Neil Young (“Hey Hey My My”) both managed to fit alongside Metric’s tracks, especially the line “Rock and roll will never die” preceding the Beatles/Stones-inspired “Gimme Sympathy”.

If any songs fell short, they were “Gold Guns Girls” and “Monster Hospital”. While both were performed well, the former was sorely missing its backing shouts during the chorus and the latter wasn’t very memorable or a good pick to start the encore. Another problem was that Haines’ mic was mixed a little too low against the rest of the band, resulting in her being drowned out at certain points and rendering her comments in between songs a little difficult to understand.

Despite these small setbacks, the rest of the concert proved to be an energetic mess of fun. Both the band and the audience had the times of their lives. Ending with an acoustic sing-along of “Combat Baby”, the band members were all smiles as they took a bow and walked off the stage. It’s always great when a concert is as much fun for the band as it is for the fans. If Metric keeps up this level of performance, then the fun is just beginning.

Metric setlist:
Twilight Galaxy
Satellite Mind
Front Row
Help, I’m Alive
Empty
Collect Call
Gold Guns Girls
Gimme Sympathy
Sick Muse
Dead Disco
Stadium Love

Encore:
Monster Hospital
Combat Baby

Update: Fanfarlo, The Black Keys, The Dead Weather, and a few others join the list!

I don’t know anyone who actually enjoys the Twilight movies. If you do you’re probably lying to yourself. But there’s no denying that the people behind the film’s soundtrack do a pretty awesome job of scoring some of music’s best names. Today, the tracklist for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack is being revealed Bonnaroo style and so far the likes of Beck w/ Bat For Lashes, Vampire Weekend, and Metric are confirmed participants. We already know Muse is as well. And none of these bands are sharing previously released material. No, for Twilight soundtrack, everything is new. That’s what you get when you have oodles of cash to shell out after all.

If you feel like staring at your computer screen for the next six hours, keep your eyes peeled on the tracklist here. We’ll of course post about the end result once it’s all over. Wait no more! Scroll down to find the end result!

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack arrives in stores on June 8th.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Soundtrack Tracklist:
01. Metric – “Eclipse (All Yours)”
02. Muse – “Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)”
03. The Bravery – “Ours”
04. Florence + The Machine – “Heavy In Your Arms”
05. Sia – “My Love”
06. Fanfarlo – “Atlas”
07. The Black Keys – “Chop And Change”
08. The Dead Weather – “Rolling On A Burning Tire”
09. Beck and Bat For Lashes – “Lets Get Lost”
10. Vampire Weekend – “Jonathan Low”
11. UNKLE – “With You In My Head”
12. Eastern Conference Champions – “A Million Miles An Hour”
13. Band of Horses – “Life on Earth”
14. Cee-lo Green – “What Part of Forever”
15. Howard Shore – “Jacob’s Theme”

Since we last talked, the 2010 lineups for two of the city’s biggest summer concert series, SummerStage/Rumsey Playfield and Celebrate Brooklyn (the same concerts with which we told you about last week) have been updated. And let’s just say your studio apartment beneath the nail salon isn’t the only place that’ll be heating up in the Big Apple this summer.

While SummerStage already had a lot of big names filling out the whole ordeal, there’s been a few substantial additions, including Gil Scott-Heron, St. Vincent, The xx, tUnE-yArDs,  and more, all of which will be playing free shows. The likes of Hot Chip, Gov’t Mule, The Black Keys, and The Morning Benders will also be taking part in the SummerStage festivities, however, their respective performances will all come in the form of benefit concerts to support the full season of free programs. So, you’ll have to pay to get into ‘em.

It should be noted that while all the shows listed (which you can peep below) are at Rumsey Playfield, not all are SummerStage shows.We’re talking pretty much about the Cake, Ween, Coheed and Cambria, and Broken Social Scene gigs. But don’t let that stop you from enjoying your summer and a group of awesome shows, including some by some band Pavement.

And while the sheer number of concerts at SummerStage almost eclipses the shows we think you’ll dig when compared to the 2010 Celebrate Brooklyn event, don’t you dare skip out on a trip to Prospect Park. Kicking off the summer extravaganza is Norah Jones, and it only gets better as the degrees in the thermometer tick their way north. Expect free performances from Sonic Youth, The Swell Season, Metric, The Roots, and Ozomatli. Plus, Passion Pit, Rufus Wainwright, The National, and The Dead Weather will be performing ticketed benefit shows.

Find a complete list of SummerStage and Celebrate Brooklyn shows below. Special thanks to BrooklynVegan for the through pre-coverage. For additional info on SummerStage and Celebrate Brooklyn, head here and here.

2010 Summerstage/Rumsey Playfield Lineup:
05/16 – Leon and the Peoples
05/26 – Coheed and Cambria, Circa Survive, Torche #
06/05 – Living Colour w/ Ebony Bones!, Pillow Theory, and CX KiDTRONik (3 p.m.)
06/14 – Baaba Maal, Mamadou Sarr ( 7 p.m.)
06/15 – John Butler Trio, State Radio (6:30 p.m.) #
06/19 – Meshell Ndegeocello (NYC LGBT Pride Rally) (4 p.m.)
06/23 – Stanley Clarke ft. Hiromi, McCoy Tyner Quartet w/ Ravi Coltrane, Esperanza Spalding, Francisco Mela (CareFusionJazz Festival) ( 7 p.m.)
06/26 – Tinariwen (3 p.m.)
06/27 – Gil Scott Heron (3 p.m.)
06/30 – Def Poetry Jam ft. Carlos Andres Gomez and others ( 7 p.m.)
07/25 – Bassekou Kouyate, Fool’s Gold (3 p.m.)
07/26 – The Flaming Lips (7 p.m.) #
07/27 – The Black Keys w/ The Morning Benders (6:30 p.m.) #
07/28 – The Black Keys w/ The Morning Benders (6:30 p.m.) #
07/31 – Los Amigos Invisibles (3 p.m.)
08/01 – St. Vincent w/ tUnE-yArDs and Basia Bulat (3 p.m.)
08/04 – Hot Chip w/ Hercules and Love Affair, Holy Ghost! (6:30 p.m.) #
08/08 – The xx w/ CHairlift and Jack Peñate (7 p.m.)
08/11 – Gov’t Mule (6 p.m.) #
08/15 – Public Enemy w/ 7th Octave and Blitz the Ambassador (3 p.m.)
08/22 – The Specials (3 p.m.)
09/16 – Cake #
09/17 – Ween #
09/18 – Broken Social Scene #
09/21 – Pavement (7 p.m.) #
09/22 – Pavement #
09/23 – Pavement w/ Slothbear #
09/24 – Pavement #

2010 Celebrate Brooklyn Lineup:
06/09 – Norah Jones (Opening Night Gala) (8 p.m.)
06/29 – Passion Pit w/ Tokoy Police Club (Benefit Show) (7:30 p.m.) #
07/09 – Ozomatli w/ Fidel Nadal and Toy Selectah (Bud Light Latin Music Series) (8 p.m.)
07/20 – Rufus Wainwright (Benefit Show) (7 p.m.) #
07/27 – The National w/ Beach House (Benefit Show) (7:30 p.m.) #
07/30 – The Swell Season, The Low Anthem (Bud Light Music Series) (7:30 p.m.)
07/31 – Sonic Youth w/ Grass Widow and Talk Normal (7 p.m.)
08/03 – The Dead Weather (Benefit Show) (7 p.m.) #
08/05 – Metric w/ Joan as Police Woman and Holly Miranda ( 7p.m.)
08/07 – Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Budos Band and more (7 p.m.)

# = Ticketed show, aka it will cost you money. For tixs, head here for SummerStage and here for Celebrate Brooklyn.

Beginning in May, Bear in Heaven will be on tour with a couple notable acts who should satisfy even the most finicky of bad joke lovers (I can’t be the only one!). Starting May 16th in the town that they call home, Bear in Heaven will hit the road with recent Juno star Metric, then chase it with dates with Twin Sister, which is a totally different act than Kid Sister (am I the only one who has made this mistake?). This continuing adventure will include stops at the Pitchfork Festival and Green Man Festival, proving that hard work and dedication actually do pay off. Kids take note. Of course, this may defeat the purpose of forming a rock band for most of you. Don’t worry, I’m sure the work and dedication is greatly trumped by the designer drugs and anonymous sex.

Bear In Heaven 2010 Tour Dates:
05/16 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 *
05/18 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall *
05/19 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues *
05/20 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theater *
06/24 – Portland, ME @ Space
06/25 – Winooski, VT @ The Monkey House
06/26 – Buffalo, NY @ Big Orbit’s Soundlab
06/27 – Hamden, CT @ The Space
07/09 – New York, NY @ Pier 17 #
07/10 – Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Bluesfest
07/13 – Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bear’s Place ^
07/15 – Toronto, ON @ El Mocambo ^
07/16 – Ann Arbor, MI @ The Blind Big ^
07/17 – Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
07/19 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon ^
07/20 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club ^
07/21 – Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
07/24 – Vancouver, BC @ The Biltmore Cabaret ^
07/25 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir ^
07/26 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop ^
07/27 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo ^
07/29 – Denver, CO @ Hi Dive ^
07/30 – Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge ^
07/31 – St. Louis, MO @ The Luminary Center for the Arts ^
08/02 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop ^
08/08 – Katowice, PL @ OFF Festival
08/11 – Oslo, NO @ Blaa (Oya Club Night)
08/21 – London, UK @ X0Y0
08/22 – Powys, UK @ Green Man Festival
09/09-11 – Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch Music Festival

* = w/ Metric
# = w/ Zola Jesus
^ = w/ Twin Sister

Passion Pit will help Muse kick off its new leg on September 22nd in San Diego and will remain with the U.K. outfit until October 8th. After a two week pause, Muse will resume its travels, this time with Metric serving as openers. As of now, the tour is set to wrap up on November 6th in Cincinnati.

All but two of these newly announced dates will go onsale starting Saturday, April 24th via Ticketmaster.com. Tickets for Charlottesville, VA and St. Louis, MO will be available on Friday, April 23rd.

Muse 2010 Tour Dates:
04/20 – Mexico City, MX @ Foro Sol
05/27 – Lisbon, PT @ Rock In Rio
06/02 – Bern, CH @ Stade de Suisse
06/05 – Nurburg, DE @ Rock Am Ring
06/06 – Nuremberg, DE @ Rock Im Park
06/08 – Milan, IT @ San Siro
06/11 – Paris, FR @ Stade de France
06/12 – Paris, FR @ Stade de France
06/16 – Madrid, ES @ Estadio Vicente Calderon
06/19 – Nijmegen, NL @ Goffertpark
06/26 – Pilton, UK @ Glastonbury Festival
06/29 – Arendel, NO @ Hove Festival
07/01 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter
07/03 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
07/09 – Kinross, UK @ T in the Park
07/10 – Punchestown, IE @ Oxegen
07/15 – Carhaix, FR @ Vieilles Charrues
07/19 – Helsinki, FI @ Kaisaniemi Park
07/21 – Stockholm, SE @ Zinkensadamms IP
07/13 – Bergen, NO @ Bergenhus Festning
07/30-08/01 – Niigata Prefecture, JP @ Fuji Rock Festival
08/01 – Icheon City, KR @ Jisan Valley Rock Festival
08/15 – Budapest, HR @ Sziget Festival
08/19 – St. Poelten, AT @ Frequency Festival
08/21 – Krakow, PL @ Coke Live Festival
09/04 – Manchester, UK @ Lancashire County Cricket Ground
09/10 – London, UK @ Wembley Stadium
09/11 – London, UK @ Wembley Stadium
09/22 – San Diego, CA @ Viejas Arena ^
09/23 – Anaheim, CA @ Honda Center ^
09/25 – Los Angeles, CA @ Staples Center ^
10/01 – Rio Rancho, NM @ Santa Ana Star Center ^
10/02 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center ^
10/05 – Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center ^
10/06 – Milwaukee, WI @ Bradley Center ^
10/08 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Ford Center ^
10/21 – Quebec City, QC @ Pepsi Coliseum *
10/27 – Chalottesville, VA @ John Paul Jones Arena *
11/02 – Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center *
11/03 – St. Louis, MO @ Scotttrade Center *
11/05 – Columbus, OH @ Value City Arena *
11/06 – Cincinnati, OH @ US Bank Arena *

^ = w/ Passion Pit
* = w/ Metric

The current trek consists of 14 dates with plenty of gaps for more to come. Of particular note is the lack of anything between October 9th and 10th, which happens to be the same time as this year’s Austin City Limits Music Festival. Just saying. Also included is a date in Denver, CO on October 2nd, which replaces a previously scheduled date that was postponed during the spring leg of the band’s tour.

Update: Passion Pit and Metric will serve as the tour’s openers, however, who will play when has not yet been detailed.

All but two of these newly announced dates will go onsale starting Saturday, April 24th via Ticketmaster.com. Tickets for Charlottesville, VA and St. Louis, MO will be available on Friday, April 23rd. A Muse fan pre-sale will be available for all these dates on Wednesday, April 21st.

As for a preview? Might I suggest reading this review and/or watching the video below, which is of “Starlight” from Coachella.

Muse 2010 Tour Dates:
04/20 – Mexico City, MX @ Foro Sol
05/27 – Lisbon, PT @ Rock In Rio
06/02 – Bern, CH @ Stade de Suisse
06/05 – Nurburg, DE @ Rock Am Ring
06/06 – Nuremberg, DE @ Rock Im Park
06/08 – Milan, IT @ San Siro
06/11 – Paris, FR @ Stade de France
06/12 – Paris, FR @ Stade de France
06/16 – Madrid, ES @ Estadio Vicente Calderon
06/19 – Nijmegen, NL @ Goffertpark
06/26 – Pilton, UK @ Glastonbury Festival
06/29 – Arendel, NO @ Hove Festival
07/01 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter
07/03 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
07/09 – Kinross, UK @ T in the Park
07/10 – Punchestown, IE @ Oxegen
07/15 – Carhaix, FR @ Vieilles Charrues
07/19 – Helsinki, FI @ Kaisaniemi Park
07/21 – Stockholm, SE @ Zinkensadamms IP
07/13 – Bergen, NO @ Bergenhus Festning
07/30-08/01 – Niigata Prefecture, JP @ Fuji Rock Festival
08/01 – Icheon City, KR @ Jisan Valley Rock Festival
08/15 – Budapest, HR @ Sziget Festival
08/19 – St. Poelten, AT @ Frequency Festival
08/21 – Krakow, PL @ Coke Live Festival
09/04 – Manchester, UK @ Lancashire County Cricket Ground
09/10 – London, UK @ Wembley Stadium
09/11 – London, UK @ Wembley Stadium
09/22 – San Diego, CA @ Viejas Arena
09/23 – Anaheim, CA @ Honda Center
09/25 – Los Angeles, CA @ Staples Center
10/01 – Rio Rancho, NM @ Santa Ana Star Center
10/02 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
10/05 – Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
10/06 – Milwaukee, WI @ Bradley Center
10/08 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Ford Center
10/21 – Quebec City, QC @ Pepsi Coliseum
10/27 – Chalottesville, VA @ John Paul Jones Arena
11/02 – Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center
11/03 – St. Louis, MO @ Scotttrade Center
11/05 – Columbus, OH @ Value City Arena
11/06 – Cincinnati, OH @ US Bank Arena

Michael Bublé (ask your Mom) was the star of the evening. In addition to winning the Juno Fan Choice Award, his most recent LP, Crazy Love, took home Album of the Year.

Drake, who has yet to actually release an album, scored New Artist of the Year, joining a list of past winners which includes Lights, Feist, and Avril Lavigne. His single “So Far Gone” also took home Rap Record of the Year.

Finally, the indie outfit Metric, which also took home Alternative Album of the Year for Fantasies, were crowned as Group of the Year. Past winners of that award include Nickelback (three times!), Billy Talent (two times!), and Sum 41. Good company, indeed.

You can find the complete list of winners here.

Metric took home Alternative Album of the Year for Fantasies, with Emily Haines giving a Broken Social Scene-shoutout laced speech that could lead one to believe she is watching too much Lost. “People really support each other here,” Haines noted (via Spinner), “they want their friends to succeed. There was something Kevin [Drew, from Broken Social Scene] said to me a little while ago. We were hanging out with Torq [Campbell, from Stars] one night, and Kev said: ‘our only responsibility is to all succeed so we can all still be there at the end.” I hope Desmond is there in the end, too.

Kings Of Leon won the prize for International Album Of The Year Award for Only by the Night, a record that seems like it’s been out since the 90s, Deadmau5‘s For Lack of a Better Name took home Dance Recording of the Year a night after headlining the Sahara at Coachella, Bell Orchestre won an award for Best Instrumental Album (As Seen Through the Windows) and K’naan won the prestigious yet vague sounding Artist of the Year. Get the full rundown of all the winners you’ve never heard of here and stay tuned for an update of Sunday night’s festivities.

Afters months of guesses and leaks and a week-long word puzzle, we finally know who will be playing the 2010 edition of Lollapalooza.

This year’s festival, set to take place from August 6-8 at Chicago’s Grant Park, will be headed by what is currently the first scheduled performance for the recently reunited, iconic grunge outfit Soundgarden. Legendary punk rockers Green Day, pop superstar Lady Gaga, influential indie outfits The Strokes and Arcade Fire, and French sensations Phoenix are all set to top the lineup.

Other notables acts include Erykah Badu, Social Distortion, MGMT, Devo, Cypress Hill, Spoon, The National, The New Pornographers, Wolfmother, Gogol Bordello, Grizzly Bear, Yeasayer, Hot Chip, Drive-By Truckers, Dirty Projectors, Metric, Cut Copy, AFI, and the legendary Jimmy Cliff.

As we scroll further down, names such as Mavis Staples, Minus the Bear, Frightened Rabbit, The xx, Blitzen Trapper, Fuck Buttons, Switchfoot, The Temper Trap, The Dodos, Jamie Lidell, The Cribs, and Raphael Saadiq can also be found.

The bottom tier of the lineup features up-and-comers like Mumford & Sons, Cymbals Eat Guitars, The Soft Pack, The Morning Benders, Warpaint, The Antlers, Freelance Whales, Jukebox the Ghost, and These United States.

Finally, this year’s bill will once again feature Perry’s, a dance-oriented stage. Among those scheduled to appear include 2ManyDJs, Empire of the Sun, Digitalism, Tiga, Felix da Housecat, Rusko, Flosstradamus, Wolfgang Gartner, Joachim Garraud, Peanut Butter Wolf, and a DJ set from Cut Copy.

As it stands now, the current 2010 bill looks like this:

Soundgarden, Green Day, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, The Strokes, Phoenix, Social Distortion, MGMT, Jimmy Cliff, Hot Chip, The Black Keys, The National, Spoon, Devo, Cypress Hill, Cut Copy, The New Pornographers, Erykah Badu, Slightly Stoopid, Grizzly Bear, Gogol Bordello, Chromeo, Wolfmother, Yeasayer, X Japan, Mutemath, Metric, Dirty Projectors, AFI, Mavis Staples, Matt & Kim, The xx, Drive-By Truckers, Blues Traveler

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Temper Trap, Jamie Lidell, Frightened Rabbit, Fuck Buttons, Deer Tick, Blitzen Trapper, Stars, Raphael Saadiq, The Cribs, Minus the Bear, Switchfoot, The Walkmen, Mumford & Sons, Wild Beasts, Rogue Wave, Los Amigos Invisibles, The Big Pink, The Dodos, Hockey, Cymbals Eat Guitars, B.o.B, Dawes, Warpaint, The Antlers, The Soft Pack, Rebelution, Balkan Beat Box

Wavves, American Bang, The Ike Reilly Assassination, Company of Thieves, Nneka, Harlem, The Constellations, Miniature Tigers, Mimicking Birds, The Kissaway Trail, HEALTH, Javelin, The Morning Benders, Foxy Shazam, Violent Soho, Royal Bangs, Neon Trees, Freelance Whales, Semi Precious Weapons, Dan Black, The Band of Heathens, Dragonette, My Dear Disco, Shawn Fisher, Neon Hitch, Skybox, The Ettes, Jukebox the Ghost, These United States, MyNameIsJohnMichael

Perry’s DJ stage lineup:

2ManyDJs, Empire of the Sun, Digitalism, Perry Farrell, Tiga, Felix da Housecat, Rusko, Erol Alkan, Kaskade, Flosstradamus, Wolfgang Gartner, Joachim Garraud, Mexican Institute of Sound, Caspa, Peanut Butter Wolf, Dirty South, NERVO, Cut Copy (DJ Set), Beats Antique, Steve Porter, Didi Gutman of Brazilian Girls, Ancient Astronauts, Ana Sia, Team Bayside High, Dani Deahl, FreeSol, DJ Mel, BBU Vonnegutt, Only Children, Lance Herbstrong

Additional acts, including the lineup for this year’s Kidzapalooza stage will be announced in the weeks ahead. The day-by-day schedule will likely be revealed in June.

Three-day passes are currently priced at $190 and can obtained here. Once that allotment sells out, the price will raise to $215. VIP passes and travel packages are also available.

Update: For those looking looking to get their scheduling freak on, it appears that Lady Gaga and The Strokes will be playing Friday, Green Day and Phoenix on Saturday, and Soundgarden and Arcade Fire on Sunday. Here is the day-by-day breakdown, which is TOTALLY UNCONFIRMED, per the Lollapalooza message board:

Friday, August 6th:
Lady Gaga
The Strokes
Jimmy Cliff
Hot Chip
The Black Keys
Devo
New Pornographers
Chromeo
Dirty Projectors
Mavis Staples
Matt & Kim
Drive-By Truckers
Jamie Lidell
Fuck Buttons
Raphael Saadiq
The Walkmen
Los Amigos Invisbles
The Big Pink
Cymabalks Eat Guitars
B.o.B
Balkan Beat BOx
Wavves
American Bang
The Constellations
Javelin
Foxy Shazam
Semi Precious Weapons
My Dear Disco
The Ettes
Jukebox The Ghost
These United States
2ManyDJs
Tiga
Erol Alkan
Caspa
Peanut Butter Wolf
Cut Copy (DJ)
Ana Sia
FreeSol
BBU Vonnegutt

Saturday, August 7th:
Green Day
Phoenix
Social Distortion
Spoon
Cut Copy
Erykah Badu
Slightly Stoopid
Grizzly Bear
Gogol Bordello
Metric
AFI
The xx
Blues Traveler
Edward Sharpe
Deer Tick
Stars
Wild Beasts
Rogue Wave
Dawes
Warpaint
The Soft Pack
Rebelution
Harlem
Mimicking Birds
Kissaway Trail
Morning Benders
Royal Bangs
Dan Black
Dragonette
Skybox
Mynameisjohnmichael
Empire of the Sun
Perry Farrell
Rusko
Kaskade
Wolfgang Gartner
Joachim Garraud
Beats Antique
Steve Porter
Ancient Astronauts
DJ Mel
BBU Vonnegutt
Only Children
Lance Herbstrong

Sunday, August 8th:
Soundgarden
Arcade Fire
MGMT
The National
Cypress Hill
Wolfmother
Yeasayer
X Japan
MUTEMATH
The Temper Trap
Frightened Rabbit
Blitzen Trapper
The Cribs
Minus THe Bear
Switchfoot
Mumford & Sons
The Dodos
Hockey
The Antlers
Ike Reilly
Company of Thieves
Nneka
Miniature Tigers
HEALTH
Violent Soho
Freelance Whales
Band of Heathens
Shawn Fisher
Neon Hitch
Digitalism
Felix da Housecat
Flosstradamus
Mexican Institute of Sound
Dirty South
Nervo
Didi Gutman (Brazilian Girls)
Team Bayside High
Dani Deahl

What’s more, in the days proceeding the festival, Osheaga will bring a series of acts to various venues across the city. So far, Chromeo is confirmed in Osheaga In The City. Additional acts will be announced in the weeks to come.

Tickets for both Osheaga In The Park and Osheaga In The City will go on sale starting Tuesday, March 23rd at noon via the festival’s website.

The release of their single brought the Canadian Indie Supergroup back into the much deserved spotlight, after a year or two in relative silence. The song itself is a good reminder as to why we all love these Canadians so much. Full of aesthetic percussion, unreasonably catchy guitar melodies, and heavily layered vocals from a baleful arsenal of talented vocalists, this band is one that is tough to hate on. Even the innumerable side projects of BSS rarely miss the mark. It’s truly remarkable what an impressive collection of talent has been assembled out of Toronto and what impressive music they continue to make.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the collective is their extrasensory ability to choose female vocalists to contribute to the project. Leslie Feist, of her solo project’s fame, and Emily Haines, of Metric fame, were the first to be recruited by band founders Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. Next up were Amy Millan of Stars fame, and Lisa Lobsinger of Reverie Sound Revue (whom we highly recommend you check out). The most recent female vocalist added to the lineup is the beautiful and talented up and comer, Lizzie Powell, who also performs with her main focus, Land of Talk. With such talented female vocalists and talented musicians to back them, it would be near impossible to go wrong. BSS as an institution owes a great deal of gratitude to these incredible women for the amount of success they’ve experienced. As a side note, most of the above mentioned women will be appearing on Broken Social Scene’s forthcoming Forgiveness Rock Record due out May 4.

But we’re not here to plug for BSS’s upcoming album, we’re here to talk about life-changing live performances. In particular, we’re here to talk about an in-studio session Rolling Stone did to showcase Metric. And Metric does their thing throughout the session, but far outshining the remainder of their session is a cover that the BSS standout Emily Haines does. She wisely chooses to cover Elliott Smith’s “Between the Bars” to compliment her airy and swaggering vocal style. A cover of an artist of Elliott Smith’s caliber is dangerous because his songs are held by many to be sacred and are borderline untouchable, but Haines does it more than enough justice. Ignore the barely average guitar that doesn’t nearly live up to Elliott’s guitar talent; pay attention to the vocals.

Emily Haines puts a minor twist on a legendary song and gets away with it marvelously. Many times, an artist will rub their own funk on a popular song and it comes out sounding like an utter train wreck, but this is not even slightly the case in this intimate take on “Between”.  It may just be my bias that I think Emily Haines is one of the most beautiful women alive today, but this performance is absolutely breathtaking. Her vocals not only do our man Elliott justice, but pay tribute to what an incredible songwriter he was. She expertly moves through the piece and leaves her audience breathless, which is why, I’m sure, the boys at BSS scooped her up to be part of the band. Enough of my ranting, here’s the video. Prepare to get sentimental and possibly a bit teary-eyed.

If you’re unfamiliar, the plot centers around Scott Pilgrim, the title character played by Michael Cera, who is a member of a band called Sex Bob-Omb. It’s a pretty confusing story (you might want to read Wikipedia), but basically Pilgrim meats the girl of his dreams. However, in order to be with her, he must defeat “seven evil ex boyfriends, who are coming to kill him.” Did we mention everyone has their own band?

Anyhow, in this particular film, the Sex Bob-Omb are matched up against rival band Crash and the Boys. Beck and BSS provided the music for the former, while Metric handled the latter. Per /Film, Metric has made “Black Sheep”, its first Scott Pilgrim track, available via its Facebook Fan Page. All you have to do to listen is become a fan and the streaming player is activated.

According to IMDB, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is due to hit theaters this August. So expect to hear more soundtrack sounds soon. While you wait, check out a series of video blogs taken during the film’s filming here. Below you can find video #1, which features Michael Cera  fighting. Who knew that was possible.

Noise Pop Festival:

The San Francisco based Noise Pop Festival has added several new names to its 2010 bill. Now set to join the previously announced likes of The Magnetic Fields, Atlas Sound, Rogue Wave, and Memory Tapes are Deerhoof, Fences, Princeton, something called The Dodos & Magik Magik Orchestra Collaborative Performance, and none other than the Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band. Festival passes and individual tickets are currently available via ticketfly.com.

South by Southwest:

Wasting no time to kick off New Year off with a bang, Austin’s always overwhelming South by Southwest has added a series of heavy weights. Cheap Trick, She & Him, Broken Social Scene, Metric, and Cornelius are now all set to showcase at the festival, which is set to take place from March 17-21. Plus, many other acts have already been independently confirmed by CoS, meaning we still have a long ways to go before the complete bill is unveiled. Badges, wristbands, and all that fun stuff can be had at sxsw.com.

All Tomorrow’s Parties:

When it comes to All Tomorrow’s Parties’ lineups, any news is usually huge news. This is particularly exemplified in the latest lineup additions announced for the Matt Groening-curated portion of All Tomorrow’s Parties 2010. The recently reunited Iggy & The Stooges, Built to Spill, CocoRosie, and Lightning Dust are among the names confirmed to join Panda Bear, Deerhunter, Broadcast, and The Raincoats from May 7-9 in Minehead, UK. And then the weekend after that Pavement takes over. Yeah, totally jealous. Tickets, if there are any, can be had via Seetickets.com.

Coachella Music Festival:

Now for the obligatory Coachella update: Vampire Weekend and Hockey are the newest names to be confirmed for festival, which will be held from April 16-18 in Indio, California. Hot new rumors include Wilco, Soundgarden, Citizen Cope, RX Bandits, jj, and Elvis Costello. All should be revealed by the end of January, and then we can sleep.

311:

What: Tour dates for North American tour

When: November – December

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 AM EDT

The Hot Rats:

What: Tour dates for New York, NY, Brooklyn, NY, & Los Angeles, CA

When: January

Tixs: $15.00

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 AM EDT

Metric:

What: Tour dates for North American tour

When: November – December

Tixs: $15-20

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 12:00 PM EDT

Our Lady Peace:

What: Tour date for Orlando, FL

When: December 3

Tixs: $18.25

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 AM EDT

Queen Latifah:

What: Tour dates for North American tour

When: November

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 12:00 PM EDT

Tegan & Sara:

What: Tour dates for North American Tour

When: January

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 2:00 PM EDT

Tickets for the newly announced dates are available via Ticketmaster.com.

Metric 2009 Tour Dates:
09/26 – Brisbane, AU @ Parklife Festival
09/27 – Perth, AU @ Parklife Festival
09/28 – Perth, AU @ Capitol
09/30 – Sydney, Au @ Metro
10/02 – Melbourne, AU @ Billboard
10/03 – Melbourne, AU @ Parklife Festival
10/04 – Sydney, AU @ Parklife Festival
10/05 – Adelaide, AU @ Parklife Festival
10/07 – Tokyo, JP @ Club Quattro
10/15 – Kitchener, ON @ Centre in the Square
10/16 – Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
10/17 – Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
10/19 – Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Civic Centre
10/20 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
10/21 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
10/23 – London, ON @ Centennial Hall
10/24 – Hamilton, ON @ Hamilton Convention Centre
10/28 – Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings
10/29 – Saskatoon, SK @ The Odeon
10/30 – Calgary, AB @ Big 4
10/31 – Edmonton, AB @ Northern Alberta Jubilee
11/16 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom
11/17 – Portland, ME @ Portland City Music Hall
11/18 – Hartford, CT @ Webster Hall
11/19 – Providence, RI @ Lupo’s
11/20 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues
11/21 – Clifton Park, NY @ Northern Lights
11/23 – Baltimore, MD @ Ram’s Head Live
11/24 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Small’s
11/25 – Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
11/27 – Charlotte, NC @ Neighborhood Theatre
11/28 – Atlanta, GA @ Center Stage
11/30 – Houston, TX @ Waarehouse Live
12/01 – Austin, TX @ La Zona Rosa
12/02 – Dallas, TX @ Palladium Ballroom

The Damned:

What: Tour dates for Cleveland, OH

When: October 21st

Tixs: $20

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 AM EDT

The Decemberists:

What: Tour dates for Asheville, NC & Columbia, MO

When: September 25th & October 7th

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 12:00 PM CDT

Manic Street Preachers:

What: Tour dates for Denver, CO & Detroit, MI

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 AM EDT

Marilyn Manson:

What: Tour date For Milwaukee, WI

When: September 15th

Tixs: $39.50 – $44.50

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 AM CDT

The Mars Volta:

What: Tour date for San Antonio, TX

When: September 19th

Tixs: $27.50 – $35.00

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 AM CDT

Metric with special guests The Stills:

What: Tour date for Toronto, ON

When: October 21st

Tixs: CA $29.50 – CA $34.50

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 12:00 PM EDT

Monsters Of Folk:

What: Tour Dates for North American tour

When: October – November

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 12:00 PM EDT

What: Tour Dates for North American tour

When: September

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 AM PDT

Peter Bjorn & John with El Potro Del Mar:

What: Tour Date for Philadelphia, PA

When: November 8th

Tixs: Price unavailable

Buy: Livenation.com at 12:00 PM PDT

Pitbull:

What: Tour date for Charlotte, NC

When: October 22nd

Tixs: Price unavailable

Buy: Livenation.com at 10:00 AM EDT

Silversun Pickups:

What: Tour date for Grand Rapids, MI

When: September 15th

Tixs: $25

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 AM EDT

The Walkmen:

What: Tour dates for Atlanta, GA and Nashville, TN

When: September 25th and 27th

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 AM EDT

Wilco:

What: Tour Dates for North American tour

When: September – October

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 AM CDT

An impressive list for sure, and one which continues to grow by the day. According to The Playlist (via TwentyFourBit), Beck has recorded original material for the soundtrack of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, the upcoming major motion picture starring none other than Mr. Indie himself, Michael Cera.

The film, which is based on the comic book series by Bryan Lee O’Malley, is about a 23-year-old aspiring musician and a whole bunch of other stuff too complicated to explain/I don’t want to ruin (read Wikipedia). As result, the soundtrack is pretty important. So important in fact that filmmakers tapped producer Nigel Godrich, aka the same guy who has previously worked with the likes of U2, Radiohead and Paul McCartney, to oversee the project. In turn, he apparently tapped Beck, along with Metric and Broken Social Scene, to create the film’s original music.

If you’re interested in all the geeky speculation about who plays what, what plays who, and so on and so forth, hit The Playlist. But know this, even more new Beck material is coming…

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is scheduled to hit theatres in 2010.