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Carrie Brownstein spent years as one third of Sleater-Kinney, arguably the greatest punk band in the world. During that time, it would’ve been a real head-exploder to imagine her in a credit card commercial. But Brownstein is now a sketch-comedy celebrity thanks to Portlandia, and in a new American Express ad, she plays a succession of goofy characters that would’ve been right at home on the show. Watch it below.

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On the surface, it

by Dominick Mastrangelo

The Flaming Lips @ Wellmont Theatre, 5/16/2013

The Flaming Lips played the first of two New York-area shows last night (5/16) at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, New Jersey.

It was near-sensory overload -- as all Flaming Lips shows have been since The Soft Bulletin tour -- as strobes and lasers flashed all about the theater. Wayne Coyne ascended a pile of silver half domes where his mic sat atop and he cradled an infant doll for the first three songs as black confetti was shot from cannons, two on either side of the stage, during the second song of the evening, "The Terror." It was everywhere and I found myself fishing confetti out of my camera bag on the train ride home.

It was also a far cry from my first Lips show - "The World's First Headphone Concert" - in Dallas in 1999 when Coyne had a solitary trash bag of confetti and would launch handfuls of it into the crowd. Colors cascaded through fiber-optic cords that snaked around the domes and back behind Coyne. From afar it looked as if he was standing on the glittering remains of a Disney Electrical Parade float. You may have seen it on their Late Night with Jimmy Fallon appearance.

The set leaned heavily on material from their new release, The Terror, and the past few records back to Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. We were treated to one song f...

Interlocken is a new four-day music festival, set for September 5th – 8th in Central Virgina, “with an emphasis on world class music, locally sourced food and sustainability.” The inaugural lineup is headlined by Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Grateful Dead offshoot Furthur, and The Black Crowes, who’ll appear alongside Zac Brown Band, The String Cheese Incident, and many more artists still to be announced. According to a press release, many of the artists will be performing over multiple days, and will be featured in unique pairings. There will also be no overlapping sets.

“Most festivals these days are trying to be everything to everyone — very eclectic with an emphasis on a large number of artists in various genres,” says festival founder Peter Shapiro. “With Interlocken, we want to break away from that mold and create something more identifiable and distinct.”

The festival’s website will begin selling “artist pre-sale” tickets on May 22nd and “early bird” tickets on May 23rd.

French pair celebrate release of new LP in Wee Waa, Australia

In addition to the previously discussed lineup of Pusha T, Redman and Dizzy Wright, Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest expands with the addition of EPMD, Soul Understated and a tribute to the late great MCA (Adam Yauch):

On the Final Day of the Festival, July 13th, The Festival will stop for a moment of silence for Yauch and then launch into a tribute curated by [BHF Executive Director Wes] Jackson and Bodega DJ, RawBeatz. Brooklyn Bodega will also release an exclusive mix of Beastie songs of remixes from the "Cookie Puss" days all the way to "Hot Sauce Committee".

Tickets are still available for the July 13th event.

As discussed, Pusha T's new LP My Name is My Name is due in July and features "Numbers on the Boards" which recently surfaced in video form. Check out that video, as well as a tour doc about Pusha T, below.

Continue reading "MCA Tribute, EPMD and more added to Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest" at brooklynvegan

In addition to the previously discussed lineup of Pusha T, Redman and Dizzy Wright, Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest expands with the addition of EPMD, Soul Understated and a tribute to the late great MCA (Adam Yauch):

On the Final Day of the Festival, July 13th, The Festival will stop for a moment of silence for Yauch and then launch into a tribute curated by [BHF Executive Director Wes] Jackson and Bodega DJ, RawBeatz. Brooklyn Bodega will also release an exclusive mix of Beastie songs of remixes from the "Cookie Puss" days all the way to "Hot Sauce Committee".

Tickets are still available for the July 13th event.

As discussed, Pusha T's new LP My Name is My Name is due in July and features "Numbers on the Boards" which recently surfaced in video form. Check out that video, as well as a tour doc about Pusha T, below.

Continue reading "Adam Yauch Tribute, EPMD and more added to Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest" at brooklynvegan

Read and comment. From thedailyswarm.com.

The must-discussed singer-songwriter mines familiar territory on this latest leak.

After hearing her covers by forebears

Last night Glasslands, the beloved Kent Avenue venue that’s no longer up in the clouds, hosted Montreal shoegazers No Joy, CMJ 2011 band Weekend and Brooklyn’s own Grand Resort. Photos by Chris Becker.

The post No Joy, Weekend, Grand Resort @ Glasslands: May 17, 2013 appeared first on CMJ.

Sigur Rós appear on The Simpsons this weekend, as animated characters and the ethereal music serving as the episode’s soundtrack. Up above is a really great promo poster, shared by the band’s label XL Recordings (via Pitchfork). And below you’ll find three clips from the episode.

The band wrote of their participation in the episode:

sigur rós have scored part of an upcoming episode of the simpsons. the episode, which will feature new, original music by sigur rós, as well as their take on the simpsons

There were many strong music videos this week, and a couple that I loved, from actual adults. But no grown-up is going to beat a charged-up mob of Minneapolis children rapping about bikes and school uniforms. I’m sorry. It’s just not ever going to happen. Our picks for the week are below.

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Rapper passed away of diabetes-related complications in February