What started out two decades ago as a makeshift traveling musical circus has now become one of Chicago’s biggest annual events. This year’s Lollapalooza includes performances from Muse, Foo Fighters, Kid Cudi, Cee-Lo Green, Bright Eyes, Lykke Li, Crystal Castles, and dozens more — and it also marks your chance to win a VIP trip for two to attend the fest.
We’ve partnered with GUESS to send one winner and a guest out to Chicago’s Grant Park to spend three days basking in music and sunshine, with airfare, accommodation, and VIP festival passes all included. The winners will also attend an exclusive afterparty presented by Flavorpill and GUESS, featuring Tinie Tempah and Young the Giant.
Hold on to your shades, music fans. Kanye’s new video for his thumping jam “All of the Lights” hit the internets today at 1:30PM EST, and the somber opening shots quickly explode into a dazzling technicolor roller coaster that feels like it’s about to fly off the rails at any second. Directed by Hype Williams and featuring Rihanna and Kid Cudi, this is the closest thing we’ve seen to 3-D without those dorky glasses. Click through for the video, and take our advice: watch this baby in full screen.
Did you know that November is National Peanut Butter Month? Neither did we. And we may not have any jelly, but we sure do have some jams (ba-dum-ching!). For your auditory pleasure, we’re serving up another heaping helping of new music, from a taste of the Daft Punk-composed Tron soundtrack to a delightful glimpse of the upcoming 30 Rock soundtrack. And, as always, right click and save as to download, or scroll to the bottom to collect ‘em all.
Philly duo Chiddy Bang blur the lines between hip-hop and indie rock, sampling MGMT and Sufjan Stevens while working with Pharrell, Q-Tip, and Darwin Deez.
The pair’s debut album is set to hit shelves next year, preceded by this week’s release of the appropriately titled The Preview EP. At eight tracks, it’s almost a full album in itself, and paired with the group’s much buzzed-about Swelly Express mixtape, offers plenty of bangers to hold fans off until the album appears.
Over the summer, we listened to the radio a lot, and we began to notice something: Most pop songs offer really terrible advice. Any intelligible lyrics that aren’t advising you to move your ass a certain way are usually shouting out instructions that, if you follow them, will probably ruin your life, plunge you into huge amounts of debt, or lead to a guest appearance as an alcohol-poisoned extra on The Jersey Shore. And, in particular, most of the solutions offered for wooing a lady or dude seem, well, pretty disastrous. We’re not sure Dr. Phil would ever advise you to “get your drunk text on.”
Not to get all Tipper Gore on y’all — we feel that Usher should be able to tell you to do stupid things with abandon — but if you want to start or stay in any sort of healthy relationship, it’s probably best to ignore the things that Lady Gaga is crooning in the club. After the jump, check pop songs’ worst advice about love and sex.
Rootsy California singer/songwriter Lissie caught the public ear with her heartfelt covers of Lady Gaga, Kid Cudi, and Metallica, but her debut album shows she’s just as captivating with her own songs.
Catching a Tiger features a lively blend of rock, country, and classic pop, often reminiscent of Stevie Nicks-fronted Fleetwood Mac, and always anchored by Lissie’s stunningly soulful vocals. The sensibilities are retro, to be sure, equally mining ’70s and ’80s West Coast tropes — but always with enough sincerity to leave little doubt about Lissie’s earth-bound authenticity.
Of course, your weekly mixtape consists of June’s obligatory summer jams. But this time, we’re also including some low-key tracks you can listen to inside and enjoy the underappreciated wonders of air conditioning. These ten tracks, featuring the latest from the Morning Benders, Francis and the Lights, Tanlines, and more, will help get your mind off that shirt sticking to your back. After the jump, Right Click + Save As to download the songs individually or scroll to the bottom for the entire mixtape.
Yes, there were actually music videos this week other than the crammed-full-of-crazy video for “Telephone” that Lady Gaga finally released last night after weeks of anticipation. (And if you haven’t already seen it, follow along with our in-depth coverage here). While “Telephone” might rival “Thriller” in terms of fanfare, there were plenty of other music videos released this week that deserve your attention. After the jump, you can go graveyard-dancing with Morrissey, stumble through the gravity-defying world of Kid Cudi, and discover how much better flying would be if the airlines all employed Kate Nash. It might even make you forget about that telephone currently ringing off the hook.
