[News] Coachella 2013 Lineup Revealed

Yes, I'm posting this a day and a half late, and yes, the Internet has already exploded with fanboys and haters reacting the announcement, but fuck it, I'll go ahead and write about the Coachella 2013 lineup announcement anyways. No harm in that, right? Back to business, though. After all the mandatory "fake lineup announcements" and specualation around who is headlining or performing at the massive Indio, CA festival, the lineup is officially out there for music fans to deliberate over.

Headlining the festival are Blur, The Stone Roses (not to be confused with The Rolling Stones), Phoenix, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Other notable acts are Wu-Tang Clan, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Postal Service, Passion Pit, The xx, Sigur Rós, Vampire Weekend, How to Destroy Angels, New Order, Lou Reed, Modest Mouse, Grinderman, Pretty Lights, Modest Mouse, Jurassic 5, and Bassnectar.

Adding to the musical palette are Moby, Hot Chip, Beach House, Grizzly Bear, James Blake, Spiritualized, Franz Ferdinand, Tame Impala, Local Natives, Alt-J, Yeasayer, Simian Mobile Disco, Grimes, Puscifer, Portugal. the Man, Johnny Marr, Major Lazer, TNGHT, Pusha T, Earl Sweatshirt, Danny Brown, Purity Ring, Kurt Vile, Father John Misty, Cloud Nothings, Jessie Ware, Youth Lagoon, Action Bronson, El-P, Foals, Dinosaur Jr., Divine Fits, and Thee Oh Sees, and many more.

Check out the full Coachella 2013 lineup above. The festival takes place on two separate weekends, April 12th-14th and April 19th-21st, with general sale tickets to go on sale starting January 29th.

[News] Governors Ball 2013 Announces Full Lineup, and It's Awesome

The Governors Ball Music Festival, which takes place every June on Randall's Island in NYC, has announced the lineup for the 2013 festival, and it's absolutely awesome. With headliners like Kanye West and Kings of Leon, the lineup goes from "meh" to "holy crap" very quickly. Continuing the awesomeness are Nas, Kendrick Lamar, Beach House, Grizzly Bear, The xx, Cut Copy, Animal Collective, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Bloc Party, Local Natives, Crystal Castles, Dirty Projectors, Holy Ghost!, Death From Above 1979, Japandroids, and so many more. Of note, there's one name that is blacked out, which we're assuming will serve as a big announcement in the future.

Tickets for the three-day festival go on sale this Friday, January 25th. Below, you can watch the announcement video for the festival.

[Watch] Foo Fighters Live at Reading Festival 2012 (Full Set)

It's Monday, I'm tired and it's my Birthday. With that in mind I fancied giving you all a little gift instead of just opening them all up for myself. I can be nice like that sometimes... Foo Fighters may have just announced a little break and Dave Grohl is keeping himself busy with the Sound City Documentary but last year Dave, Taylor, Chris, Pat and Nate played pretty much every festival and arena imaginable, finishing up with sets at Leeds and Reading festival at the end of August in the UK. I was lucky enough to witness the Leeds set which will remain up there with one of my all time favorite shows. Ever. Foos were made for shows like this and they have a way of involving everyone in the crowd from the kids on the barrier to the people climbing on top of bins in the back for a better view. It's festival rock at its finest. Over the weekend though I stumbled upon this video of their entire Reading set whilst in a drunken birthday stupor. 

Clocking in at over 2 hours long it features all of the usual hits and on stage shenanigans from the band along with plenty of crowd participation, not that Dave and his lungs need it. Take some time out of your day and enjoy the show. Happy birthday to me, huh. 

[News] Eminem Announced For Reading & Leeds Festival

At the end of November Reading and Leeds festival broke from their normal tradition and announced some headliners prior to the usual protocol of it happening in March right before tickets go on sale. In that they said Deftones, Alt-J, Subfocus and Boy Better Know featuring Wiley, Skepta and JME. Today they've announced another and it's a biggie. Returning to the festival for the first time since 2001, Eminem will take centre stage with a full band behind him. It's sure to be a popular addition to the festival and a highlight of the 2013 summer calendar. Others rumoured to be performing include Blur and Black Sabbath. This could shape up to be one for the books.

Pre-sale tickets are on sale now.

[News] Initial Leeds & Reading Festival Line-Up Announced Incl. Deftones & Alt-J

Leeds & Reading take place on a *usually* sunny bank-holiday weekend in August. For me it was my first ever Festival experience and next year will be my 9th in a row. Yeah, I know, 9. I feel a little older just for typing that. With 2012 being a raging success with sets from The Black Keys, Foo Fighters, The Cure, At The Drive In and Florence and the Machine, 2013's initial line-up has just been announced. It's a break from tradition as the festivals normally announce a large portion of the acts in March along with tickets immediately after. The line-up announcement so far, 4 acts, is a pretty mixed bag  but it should definitely get some people pretty excited. Deftones, Alt-J, Sub Focus and Boy Better Know are those 4.

Organisers of the festival have stated they're looking to broaden the horizons of the event with more stages and a re-shuffle of the main arenas, so I'm expecting this mix of acts to be a preview of something far bigger, covering many people's musical tastes.

Weekend tickets will go on sale tomorrow and they'll be doing a deposit scheme in which you can pit down £50 and then pay the rest before 31st March next year. Pretty neat huh?! 

[Watch] Jay-Z Joins Pearl Jam On Stage to Perform "99 Problems"

Jay-Z's Made In America delivered some amazing surprises on its first night, bringing Jay Electronica, Kanye West, and the G.O.O.D. Music crew to the stage, but it was the second night that delivered the best surprise. What could be better than surprise performances by Kanye West and G.O.O.D. Music? How about Jay-Z, the festival curator himself, appearing on stage alongside Pearl Jam to perform "99 Problems"? Check out Hov's surprise performance above.

[Watch] Surprise Performances from G.O.O.D. Music and Jay Electronica at Made In America Festival

In the world of hip-hop, few people have as much influence and sway as Jay-Z, and his Made In America festival is a true testament of that. The Philadelphia festival has a lot of expectation from across the board, and now that day one is over, all we can say is damn did Jay-Z deliver. Earlier in the day, the Roc Nation head honcho brought out Jay Electronica to perform a surprise set, and below you can watch him perform both "Exhibit A" and "Exhibit C". If that wasn't enough, Jay closed the night out with a special thanks to the city of Philly, brining out Kanye West and the G.O.O.D. Music crew to perform. When Jay-Z comes calling, you best answer. Check out the full set above.

[News] CMJ Music Marathon Reveals Initial Lineup

From October 16-20th, New York City will once again play host to CMJ Music Marathon, a festival that sees over 1,300 artists from around the world performing at over 80 venues across the city. The festival organizers have unveiled the first batch of artists set to perform, including GZA, Kimbra, The Walkmen, Killer Mike, OFF!, The Presets, Pig Destroyer, Talib Kweli, DIIV, Twerps, Prince Rama, The Love Language, Young Magic, King Tuff, Com Truise, Bear Hands, Main Attrakionz, Dusted, Poolside, The Stepkids, Daughn Gibson, Beacon, The Jezabels, and more.

Expect more lineup announcements to arrive in the coming weeks, and make sure to check out the official CMJ website for more information on artists as well as various panels. Badges and tickets are also available via the CMJ website.