Sasquatch! Music Fest Line-Up& Info

This year’s Sasquatch! Music Festival happens Memorial Day Weekend, May 24th through 26th in Gorge, Wa.

R.E.M. / The Cure / The Flaming Lips / Death Cab For Cutie / Modest Mouse / M.I.A. / Flight Of The Conchords / Rodrigo Y Gabriela / Michael Franti & Spearhead / The Breeders / Built To Spill / The Hives / Tegan & Sara / Ghostland Observatory / Ozomatli / The New Pornographers / Blue Scholars / The National / The Kooks / Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks / Cold War Kids / Beirut / Rogue Wave / Okkervil River / Fleet Foxes / Kinski / Mates of State / Sera Cahoone / Crudo (featuring Mike Patton & Dan The Automator) / Battles / Destroyer / Dyme Def / The Blakes / Pela / Jamie Lidell / The Cops / Dengue Fever / Siberian / Say Hi / White Rabbits / David Bazan / The Little Ones / “Awesome” / Dead Confederate / The Heavenly States / 65daysofstatic / Grand Archives / Vince Mira with the Roy Kay Trio / Joshua Morrison / Throw Me The Statue / J. Tillman / The Shaky Hands / Thao Nguyen with the Get Down Stay Down / Matt Costa / The Cave Singers

Tickets go on sale March 8th at noon (probably PT):
The first allotment of tickets are $56.50 per day, available for the on-sale weekend only. Beginning Monday, March 10th tickets are $66.50 per day. The week of the festival (beginning Monday, May 19th) tickets are $76.50 per day if still available.

A discounted 3 DAY TICKET is available for a very limited time for $154.50. Offer ends Sunday, March 9th at midnight. Photo ID will be required for Will Call pick-up.

V.I.P. Tickets are available only as a 3 day pass, sold only in pairs, and patrons must be 21 or older. $750 per person (sold in pairs only, includes all 3 days)

This all ages festival will occur rain or shine. Parking is free with lots opening at 9AM each morning, while the festival gates open at 11AM.

[Insert Title Referencing "Closer" Here]

Vaudeville/cabaret rockers Panic! At The Disco, whose debut A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out was a huge hit, has been long at work on their follow-up disc. Tucked away in Las Vegas, the band initially came up with an “elaborate and weird” (imagine that!) concept album for their sophomore effort, but hit the slump even before releasing the anticipated album. The foursome said they realized that their concept was far too elaborate and through the process they’ve learned “to keep it simple.”

P!ATD went on to say that their fans should expect something different than A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out when the new disc drops. Unlike when writing the first album, the band members are all happy in their lives now and their songwriting will reflect that. Making lots of money and winning the adoration of lots of fans made you happy? I never would have guessed.

Our Hearts Will Go On

After more than 700 shows that raked in over $400 million dollars, Celine Dion performed her last show at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas this past weekend. It’s hard to say goodbye to Las Vegas, but a new day has come, and la Dion is attempting to take over the world embarking on a world tour. I know your excited.

In actual exciting news, I back from a three-day weekend, so expect more content than was brought to you at the end of last week.

Music News

What non-stop touring Philadelphia 5-piece band just penned a deal with Columbia Records? The announcement hasn’t been officially been made by the label yet so I can’t divulge but expect to see a huge announcement when I’m allowed. I love these boys like there’s no tomorrow and played manager to them for a brief stint.

Congrats!!

Free Yr Radio

Urban Outfitters. Commercial hipster mecca or wannabe-hiptard haven? I can’t claim to be a huge fan but I’d be lying if I said I’ve never shopped there and would probably decorate future apartments from their home department were its wares not so over-priced. They steal designs from young, independent, freelance designers and mass-market them from clothes that are probably made in sweatshops, because seriously, who isn’t using cheap overseas labor these days (besides the coke heads at American Apparel)?

This past weekend I was i an Urban Outfitters [I had a gift card!] and actually stumbled upon something I found to be absolutely brilliant: at the cash register there was a pile of CDs called “Free Yr Radio: Benefiting Independent Non-Commercial Radio.” As previously mentioned, we love all things independent and non-commercial here at PopWreck, so I was drawn to the CD to check out which bands they’d recruited for the comp. Much to my surprise, I loved every single band that provided a track; maybe not so surprisingly because I have a friend who tells me I’m a hipster and I might secretly aspire to be one, but not the douche-y hiptard kind, I promise.

The back of the CD case promises that “The net profits from this benefit CD will be split among Free Yr Radio 2007 partner stations. Your purchase will directly help support noncommercial radio in the U.S. (so buy two!).” Stations benefitted include: WLUW, KJHK, KTRU, WKNC, KGNU, KZSC, KCMP The Current, WERS, WBWS, WNHU, KXLU, and [my personal fave] Y-Rock on XPN. In addition to UO, Toyota yaris are the other sponsor for the projects, so I suppose they’ll plug the yari as a hipster car. (I had to Google what a yari was, btw.) The coolest thing about the CD is that the inside cover has a intro. by Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel, Postal Service, James Figurine) about how great non-commercial radio is and what a terrible time music would have without it. Amen.

Track Listing:
Klaxons Golden Skans (Erol Alkan’s Ekstra Spektral Edit)
The Ponys Hara Kiri (Live)
Voxtrot Stephen (Live)
The Long Winters Commander Thinks Aloud (Live/Prev. Unreleased)
Annuals Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Man Man Easy Eats (Live)
The Rapture Crimson Red
Rogue Wave Publish My Love (Live)
Tapes ‘N Tapes Cowbell (Live)
Dinosaur Jr. Yer Son
Grizzly Bear Little Brother (Live)
El-P Poisenville Kids No Wins (Live)
Dntel The Distance (Metronomy Remix)
Sonic Youth World Looks Red (Live)

Isn’t that a pretty sick compilation? I really am not getting paid by Urban or Toyota to say this, I mean it. It’s a great cause and the CD was only $10 (probably the cheapest thing you’ll find at an U.O.!) and supports all of the non-commercial radio stations listed above. Seriously pick one up if you find yourself in or around an Urban Outfitters, just avoid the stuff with stolen designs.

Can Music Save Your Mortal Soul?

Yesterday marked the beginning of the CMJ (College Music Journal) Music Marathon in New York City. The marathon celebrates all that music and film have to offer, new and old, over the course of five chaotic days. During last year’s marathon I volunteered my services, along with many other music enthusiasts, to get into the shows for free. For what I think was probably 10 or 20 hours of service over the course of the week, I received a badge that allowed me to get into just about any show I wanted, which was seriously a dream come true. I picked apart the CMJ schedule for the bands I wanted/needed to see and literally created an all-inclusive timetable of my own to make the best use of my time over the week. Each day I had a listing of the band playing along with time and venue (obvi) but I went so far as to map out the best subway route(s) to take so I wouldn’t have to stop and think for a second. For the marathon, I made sure to purchase a 7-Day Unlimited Metrocard because I knew between subways and buses I’d get more than my $24 worth for the week (generally a single ride on the subway/bus is $2).

Over the course of the week between classes, my internship, being an RA, volunteering for the marathon and attending shows, I probably got about 4 hours of sleep a night, but it was absolutely worth it. Since high school I’d been heavily involved in my local music scene and decided that I would one day want to start a record label. Attending college in New York City was great at helping me get my foot in the door through internships, but during the fall of my junior year I interned with a company that absolutely sucked (not to name names, BurnLounge), and ruined all of my aspirations and desires to be involved in the music business. Immediately following I’d taken an internship with a [not so typical] women’s fashion magazine and found something new to love. It was working at the CMJ Music Marathon and attending shows like it was my job that opened my eyes to how much I truly love and want to be a part of the music industry.

Needless to say I was initially destroyed when I moved back to Philadelphia and got a full-time job, dashing my hopes of volunteering at this year’s CMJ Marathon. Last year I got to see Ben Lee (awesome), Birdie Busch (amazing), Boys Like Girls (fun), Breakup Breakdown (excellent), Dan Keyes (beautiful), David Bazan (melancholily gorgeous), Forward Russia! (off the wall), Hotel Lights (haunting), Kaddisfly (okay), Kevin Devine (my #1 true love, see also: omg amazing as always!), Matt Nathanson (amusing), Pablo (so good), Rooney (booty-shakin’), Scenes From A Movie (not bad), Snowden (okay), Soft (pretty good), Straylight Run (beautiful), The Decemberists (rad), The Format (fun), The Hint (good), The Oranges Band (awesomely fun), The Rapture (dance party orgy), These Arms Are Snakes (awful!), Tigers & Monkeys (amazing!), Valencia (amazing, they’re my boys in the most literal sense) and Wax On Radio (awful!). There were also a ton of amazing people I met through volunteering and just around the city that week. I ran myself ragged all over New York and loved every second of it.

After actually seeing who was playing this year, my disappointment at not being able to attend dissipated. There are very few bands in the line-up that I recognize or care to see, and some bands just seem totally out of place on the roster (Bouncing Souls, The Counting Crows ?!?!) — though maybe it’s not possible to be out of place at CMJ. There are 38 bands, out of hundreds, that I’d like to see play this year, only five of whom I’d try to go out of my way for. My lack of excitement for the current line-up makes me feel way better about not volunteering this year, and even about not being in New York.

In the future I hope to get back in the festival game, but this year I’m okay with missing it. Mostly, I’d like to head over to Austin for SXSW and City Limits, perhaps even Coachella in CA someday. There are music festivals all over begging for volunteers to help out in exchange for free shows, great music, and rad people, and I would like to be able to do that professionally (though the technical definition of professional makes that impossible as I wouldn’t be “earning a living” by it — whatever). You want in? Let’s go, go, go!