Sander has been building musical bombs for some time now, powerful productions that truly blow minds and speakers. We saw this on his summer collab with teenage phenom Julian Jordan for their monster tune, ‘Kangaroo.’ This was followed in short order with the sweeping sounds and heavy drops of ‘To Galaxy,’ part of the remix soundtrack for hallowed video game franchise HALO [4]. Oh, and then there was the signing of ‘Nothing Inside’ to Jay Z’s Roc Nation imprint back in October.

What does it mean to be a “Musician’s musician”? To me, it means that your art is so original and amazing that people who’ve not studied the art form you’re working find it difficult to penetrate the depths of what you’re creating. Kyle Field, the singular vision behind the music and art of Little Wings, has been always been a musician’s musician. From his early days in his first band with M. Ward when he was still going by Matt, to his time on K Records influencing the likes of Phil Elvrum when he was the Microphones and Khaela Marecich from the Blow, to Feist’s recent tribute in naming her film, Look At What The Light Did Now, after that wonderful Little Wings song, Kyle has always been an artist who inspires others to greatness. With LAST, Kyle Field’s life of surfing, visual arts and music have culminated into an album that should see his music celebrated amongst the echelon of those who’ve championed his talents since day one; a musician’s musician no longer.

Prog Angeles: An 826LA Fundraiser Celebrating the Music of Yes, King Crimson, and Pink Floyd
with members of Weezer, Incubus, Yes, Circa, The Rentals, and More

James and Jas of Simian Mobile Disco, though quite different in personality, are both modest fellows. In conversation each of them, more than once, puts the success of SMD down to sheer luck – however, this is not really true. Yes, they were in the right place at the right time in some senses, but it takes an awful lot more than that to bring an album as sonically glorious and ambitious as Unpatterns to as broad an audience as they are managing to reach. And as you get deeper into the details of their career to date, it becomes very clear how much tenacity, scholarship, imagination and sheer love for what they do, as well as good fortune, has got them to where they are today.

Dom Kennedy graced the streets of Los Angeles in 2008 with the release of his debut project, titled 25th Hour. The Leimert Park native, born August 22, 1984, made a name for himself by promoting, distributing and, along with Jason Madison, co-producing the 25th Hour mix-tape. After receiving local and nationwide praise, Dom followed up in the spring of 2009 with the independent release of Future Street/Drug Sounds, an all-original collection that seized the attention of major labels, blogs and Hip Hop fans worldwide.

Rachael Yamagata has been called ‘the troubadour of heartbreak’ by the press and fans are drawn to her ability to ‘turn emotion into song’. She’s got the old soul singer songwriter essence that calls upon Todd Rundgren, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, The Carpenters and Elton John and sonically gravitates towards the darker stylings of Nick Cave, Tom Waits, P.J. Harvey and Danny Elfman.

“In some ways, this album’s a lot more aggressive than anything we’ve done in a long time,” Art Alexakis says of Invisible Stars, Everclear’s first collection of new songs in six years as well as the band’s first eOne release. “But in other ways, it’s a lot more melodic. I like having both of those sides covered.”

Echo Park-based romantic synth pop duo In The Valley Below are pleased to release their debut video for “Take Me Back”, the first installment of a two-part series. Directed by French avant-garde filmmaker Laurent Michel Moreau, “Take Me Back” the video portrays a young woman who strays from her community and becomes alarmed at the discovery of a young man shot in the chest. In The Valley Below will be performing a weekly residency for the month of November kicking off tonight at Los Angeles’ Bootleg Theater. A full list of dates is below.

Los Angeles-based duo BLONDFIRE is releasing their digital EP Where The Kids Are on November 6, 2012. Brazilian-American siblings Bruce and Erica Driscoll have been writing, producing, playing and performing together since they were kids, creating bouncy electro-pop-n-roll that combines worldly sophistication with American accessibility. Where The Kids Are features four songs off the band’s upcoming Warner Bros Records full-length debut Young Heart, due out early 2013. The title track is currently climbing the charts at Alternative Radio.

Two brothers from the UK making house/future music. Debut single out on Moshi-Moshi Records in september 2010, the duo have released a 4 track EP on transparent records which they gave away for free via their facebook page (facebook.com/disclosureuk) and have recently announced a new single ‘Tenderly/Flow’.

John Lydon: Vocals (1978-Present) After fronting the Sex Pistols, John Lydon formed Public Image Ltd in 1978. PiL went onto blend a variety of different musical styles over three decades before returning in 2009. Outside of PiL John has released several solo records and collaborations. He also brings quality TV to the masses.

Goldroom : Born out of Los Angeles synthpop trio NightWaves, Goldroom is Josh Legg’s solo effort and production alias. An amalgamation of dreamy synths, emotive vocals, and tropical disco grooves, Goldroom paints the soundscape of summertime in Los Angeles. 2011 saw Goldroom self releasing his four song Angeles EP as well releasing a slew of remixes for buzzworthy acts like Penguin Prison, Poolside, and Gigamesh. His massive remix for Niki & The Dove has been streamed over 120,000 times on soundcloud and has been a staple of some of the worlds biggest tastemaker DJs such as The Magician, Aeroplane, Alex Metric, and Mylo. As a DJ, Goldroom has shared the stage with Alan Braxe, Classixx, Poolside, Oliver, and The Magician. Goldroom is always looking for songwriting, production, and remix opportunities.

Los Campesinos! was in Los Angeles and played at the El Rey on October 18, 2012 and they were awesome giving an enthusiatic blow-out performance. It was their second to last show before returning home to the U.K. It took no time at all for the audience to become swallowed up by their contagious sound and by the time they were playing the 3rd song in their set the audience had spontaneously combusted into dancing and fist pumping.

Celebrating a bratty, tongue-in-cheek viewpoint and a spunky indie-punk style similar to Art Brut while applying an assortment of instruments akin to Architecture in Helsinki, the seven-piece group Los Campesinos! (a Spanish name that roughly translates to “the Peasants”) formed in 2006 in Cardiff, Wales. The lineup took shape around Cardiff University students Aleksandra (keyboard, horn), Ellen (bass), Gareth (glockenspiel), Harriet (violin, keyboard), Neil (guitar), Ollie (drums), and Tom (guitar), all of whom began sharing vocals (as well as the last name of Campesinos!). The group played their first show at a college function in May 2006; by the following August, they had built enough of an audience to secure an opening gig for Broken Social Scene. Later that year, Los Campesinos! signed to the U.K.-based label Wichita Recordings, which released the band’s first single in early 2007.

Patrick Wolf is celebrating 10 years of making music with the release of the double-album, Sundark & Riverlight, featuring re-recordings of songs from Wolf’s entire catalogue, out September 25 on Bloody Chamber Music/Essential Music. In conjunction with the release, Wolf will be embarking on a world tour, kicking off in London at The Old Vic Theatre on August 29. The tour arrives in North America on September 18 at World Café Live in Philadelphia, wrapping in Los Angeles, October 5 at the FILTER Culture Collide Festival. Woodpigeon will support all dates, except September 21 in New York and September 22 in Boston, which will feature Mice Parade.

One of the brightest stars to light up the pop firmament this millennium is back, with a difference. Thanks to her brilliant self-titled 2008 debut, LADYHAWKE, aka Pip Brown, shot to stardom around the world, particularly in Britain and the Antipodes, where the New Zealand-born singer-songwriter soon gathered up armfuls of awards as THE breakthrough artist of the moment.

Seminal Florida rock band Further Seems Forever today announced that they have signed to Rise Records and will release a new full-length album on October 23, 2012. Entitled Penny Black, the release features the band’s original lineup, together for the first time since the band’s much-lauded debut album, The Moon Is Down (2001).

Green Day was originally part of the punk rock scene at 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, California. Its early releases for independent record label Lookout! Records earned them a grassroots fanbase, some of whom felt alienated when the band signed to a major label. Nevertheless, its major label debut Dookie (1994) became a breakout success and eventually sold over 10 million copies in the U.S. and 15 million worldwide. As a result, Green Day was widely credited, alongside fellow California punk bands The Offspring and Rancid, with reviving mainstream interest in and popularizing punk rock in the United States. Green Day’s three follow-up albums, Insomniac, Nimrod and Warning did not achieve the massive success of Dookie, but they were still successful, reaching double platinum, double platinum, and gold status respectively. Green Day’s 2004 rock opera American Idiot reignited the band’s popularity with a younger generation, selling five million copies in the U.S. The band’s eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown, will be released on May 15, 2009.

Multi-platinum recording artist Gotye announces his biggest ever tour of North America today, including stops at the some of the nation’s most iconic venues including LA’s, Greek Theatre on September 4. Tickets go on-sale to the public on June 8. Fans who have “Liked” Gotye on Facebook or signed up for his mailing list by midnight EST on June 4 will get advance access to purchase tickets for all shows. Go to www.gotye.com for more details.

Pacific Festival: The Dunes, presented by Identity MG, is a new entertainment experience for coastal Orange County, benefiting Surfrider Foundation, on Sunday, September 2, 2012 during Labor Day Weekend at the Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort and Marina.

In advance of the release of their new Green Day ¡Uno!, Green Day ¡Dos!, and Green Day ¡Tré! album trilogy, Green Day will look back on their career with the release of the eight-CD boxed set The Studio Albums 1990-2009 on September 4th, 2012. The collection treads the band’s meteoric journey from their 1990 debut, 1,039/ Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, through Kerplunk (1992), Dookie (1994), Insomniac (1995) Nimrod (1997), Warning (2000), and American Idiot (2004), to 2009′s 21st Century Breakdown.

Here is some background information on Alabama Shakes from the Hold On Songfacts: The R&B-inspired Rock band Alabama Shakes originated when lead singer/guitarist Brittany Howard approached bassist Zac Cockrell during a high school psychology class in Athens, Alabama and the pair began meeting after school to write songs. Howard and Cockrell then approached Punk-Rock drummer Steve Johnson, who was working at a local music store, to join the band. The trio recorded some of their songs in a studio in Decatur, Alabama and subsequently recruited guitarist Heath Fogg on his return to Athens from college in Tuscaloosa. Originally christened “The Shakes,” the band later renamed themselves The Alabama Shakes in order to differentiate themselves from other bands with their original name.

Dubbed the “spiritual love child of Sade and D’Angelo,” Goapele creates music that fuses jazz, soul and hip-hop with her own beautiful poetry, as showcased on her recent release, Break of Dawn. Be sure to catch Goapele in her feature performance in “Sparkle” coming out August 17th starring Whitney Houston and Jordin Sparks.

Jamie Hince and his musical partner Alison Mosshart believe that your art is something you live, rather than something you merely do. Therefore, the conventional approach to recording an album – write some songs a bit like your last songs, book flashy studio and ear candy-providing producer, be professional and get home in time for tea – is not an option for them. The Kills make music that sounds like the stripped-to-the-bone nub of the crux of the sex and death and madness at the heart of the very best rock ‘n’ roll. And the only way to pull that off is to put themselves through the creative, physical, financial and emotional mangle. “It was definitely a journey,” confirms Alison, with the sanguine air of one who believes that anything that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. “We wrote so many records before we got to this one. It took a few failed attempts and different situations and going to different places and running out of money in order for us to get it together and write the right record.”
The Kills formed in 2000 when a boy from Andover, England and a girl from Florida, USA met in a South London hotel. “It was like we’d lived parallel lives”, Jamie recalls. Both had been to art college, the boy had just left a punk-pop band called Scarfo and the girl wanted to leave a punk-pop band called Discount, and both were disillusioned with the musical scenes they were part of. “We had these bedrooms on different sides of the Atlantic which were full of artworks and films and music that we’d made for no-one to listen to. We had so many things in common. It was at a time that if you spent a lot of time making art and dressing up you got beaten down for being pretentious. Everything was about being down to earth. And we both just felt this relief when we met each other.”

SLASH featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators – Myles Kennedy (vocals), Brent Fitz (drums), Todd Kerns (bass) and Frank Sidoris (guitar) – have announced a fall headlining tour that arrives in New York City on September 18 at Hammerstein Ballroom. General public onsale will begin Friday, July 13th at noon.

Fans gathered outside The Book Soup on Sunset Blvd and waited patiently for a chance to have their books autographed. Crahan, alongside fellow band mate Corey Taylor, greeted fans before the book signing prior to the book presentation. Fans gathered for an opportunity to receive insight on the book and the idea behind its creation.

Grandaddy formed in Modesto, CA in 1992, and consisted of Jason Lytle, Aaron Burtch, Tim Dryden, Jim Fairchild and Kevin Garcia. The band initially broke through with 1997′s Under the Western Freeway and the NME-praised single “Summer Here Kids.” The band’s sound,” atmospheric electronics meet warped Americana”, crystallized on 2000′s Sophtware Slump, which was met with breathless hype and earned the band “Next Big Thing” status. Tireless rounds of international touring and mountains of fawning press led to 2003′s Sumday, increasing album sales, more touring, more press ,T.V.show appearances, and a slot on the main stage at the Glastonbury festival. The band produced another EP and an album entitled Just Like the Fambly Cat, before disbanding in 2006.

Jus†ice, formed by Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, is the band of a whole generation. When the two friends were still graphic design students in 2003, they created Jus†ice as a place to experiment with a hybrid genre between music and image. They wanted to blend pop and electronic borders, and showcase their talents as fascinating passionate pop culture craftsmen, bored with hierarchy.

On a rainy Nashville Thursday last October, Justin Townes Earle leapt onstage at the famed Ryman Auditorium to accept the 2011 Americana Music Award for Song of the Year. The triumphant evening capped a turbulent twelve months for the gifted young musician categorized by significant hardship as well as notable achievement including debut performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall and on The Late Show with David Letterman.

FYF Fest. September 1st and 2nd, 2012
At the LA State Historic Park, Los Angeles, CA
Tickets are $77 and go on sale Friday June 22nd.

In support of their fifth studio album, Synthetica (Metric Music International/Mom+Pop) out June 12, Metric will make their Greek Theatre debut on October 9. For every ticket purchased a download of their first single, “Youth Without Youth” will be delivered to fans as well as a digital copy of Synthetica and 5 Synthetica Reflections tracks.

The Nerdist Podcast Live show includes both a live taping of the popular podcast and, before the taping, standup comedy performances by hosts Chris Hardwick, Jonah Ray, and Matt Mira.

You are a 23-year-old from rural northern Scotland. Piano has been your instrument, your songwriting tool, since you were ten; your voice has been remarkable for even longer. A tattoo of artist Frida Kahlo — a typically single-minded, forthright heroine runs the length of your right forearm.

Almost 2 years ago to the day, I drove a moving truck cross-country fromLos Angeles. I had been on I-40 for a day when I looked at my phone to see my mom calling. I realized I had forgotten to tell my parents I was moving toNew York- and I am close with my family. Fact is, I hadn’t really told anyone. I had lived in southernCaliforniamy whole life, and quite loudly those last few years. Leaving with any sound at all hadn’t crossed my mind. I realize that frames me as quite the mystery – I’m really not. And I wasn’t running, I had done that extremely well years before. I wasn’t angry or disillusioned, those tricks never completely caught on with me. It wasn’t conniving or vindictive, purposely curt or desperate. It really wasn’t anything that might be associated with such an exit. It was just a quiet and gentle finish to something that had run its course.

Giveaway rules: To enter the giveaway, follow @ellenwoodep on Twitter and RT the giveaway post, and email @ contactus@ellenwood-ep.com with name, twitter name, email address.
The giveaway ends at 5/24/12 12pm PST. The winners will be notified via Twitter direct message and email.

D A W N S are preparing to release their self-titled debut EP and the Danton Supple (Coldplay, Starsailor, Morrissey) produced work is scheduled for release June 20th, 2012, the summer solstice.

Brent DeBoer never meant to turn road agent, I swear. I knew that man better than anybody alive, and he had a heart bigger than the motherlode at Tombstone. But it’s hard on a man, coming up the way he did, all hardscrabble and hand-to-mouth from just about the time he could walk. He wasn’t no more than a boy, really, when he worked his first round-up over in Lincoln county, but he came back a man, and I should know, I seen enough to know the difference.

No Doubt announce their new studio album, set for a September 25 release.

Chicago hard hitters Chevelle returned to Los Angeles on their latest ‘Hats Off To The Bull’ album tour. The three-piece group began their sixteen-song set list with ‘The Clincher’ causing the first of multiple circle pits across the floor. Lead singer Pete Loeffler quickly established an interactive relationship with the audience, reminding the west coast crowd they are one of the few cities that generate a strong electric energy. The stage maintained a simple appearance, decorated solely by a red Persian rug and large amps, focusing the attention on heavy melodies and fist pumping action.

Dispatch will perform this summer at Bonnaroo, Hangout and Outside Lands festivals and starting September 20th the band will embark upon the Circles Around The Sun Tour, its most extensive North American tour in over a decade. The list of tour dates can be found below. In an ongoing effort to keep tickets in the hands of the fans, Dispatch is asking its fans to visit www.dispatchmusic.com and register for the ticket presale which launches today, April 16th and will wind down at 5PM EST on April 25th. Then on April 27th, registered fans will get a code enabling them to purchase concert tickets starting on May 1st to any stop on Dispatch’s North American Tour this fall.

Motion City Soundtrack return home to their longtime label Epitaph to release their fifth full-length studio album Go on June 12th, 2012. The new album is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed My Dinosaur Life (Columbia, February 2010) and was recorded over an extended period of time this past winter at Flowers Studio in their hometown of Minneapolis, MN with Ed Ackerson co-producing alongside the band. The first single off the new album is the characteristically catchy “True Romance” which can be heard now via an exclusive premiere on RollingStone.com

Headlining both nights, Metallica will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the ‘Black Album’ by playing it in its entirety on one night AND all of ‘Ride the Lightning’ for the first time ever on the other night! This will be the only North American performances of these albums in 2012.

Good Old War / The Belle Brigade (co-headlining) w/Family of the Year at the Avalon this Sunday, March 25

Garbage has announced that their fifth studio album, Not Your Kind Of People, will be released in the United States on May 15, 2012, on the band’s label STUNVOLUME. As V Magazine recently put it: “The poster girl for ’90s alternative rock is ready to reclaim her reign – and the radio – with a new record from her iconic band, Garbage.”

Los Angeles Philharmonic’s 2011/12 season is Death Cab for Cutie with The Magik*Magik Orchestra, making their venue debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall, May 7, 2012 at 8 PM. Youth Lagoon are confirmed to open the show.

“All the dubstep stuff that’s around, we’re loving it, but that’s not our game. We won’t go near it. We’ve always had respect for the masters who do their game, those boys who do that sound [dubstep], that’s what they do. We know what we do, and when any Prodigy record hits it’ll still feel fresh.”

Cults’ twinkling experimental pop arrived in a shroud of mystery early in 2010, when the group posted three songs on their Bandcamp page. One of those songs was “Go Outside,” which mixed dream pop haze with girl group harmonies (and, fittingly, samples of Jonestown leader Jim Jones) and earned the band acclaim from publications including Pitchfork and NME. Eventually, Cults’ core duo was revealed as guitarist Brian Oblivion and vocalist Madeline Follin. Later in 2010, Cults released Go Outside as a single on Forest Family Records and performed shows with bands including Best Coast. Early in 2011, the group made its U.K. debut and signed to Columbia Records; Cults’ self-titled album, which featured production by Shane Stoneback, arrived in the middle of that year. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

On Saturday 21st January the UK’s biggest bass and soundsystem culture Outlook will explode in to the new year at Ewer Street car park to celebrate the launch of this years festival and cleverly clutching the coveted prize of Best European Festival at the UK Festival Awards. Taking control of 5 bumping and grinding archways, this is a party not to be missed!

Kentucky’s Black Stone Cherry is hitting the road next year with a series of headline dates beginning February 1, 2012 in Libertyville, IL. Black Stone Cherry has had an amazing year following the May 31, 2011 release of Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea, an album Classic Rock Magazine just named #4 of “Albums Of 2011” in which they declared it “…one of the most important albums of 2011.”

Count on a night of riotous laughter and profanity-laced parodies when The Dan Band returns to L.A. Live’s CLUB NOKIA Friday, March 30, 2012. Tickets for this show are on sale now.

Emerging in 1993, when Dr. Dre’s G-funk had overtaken the hip-hop world, the Staten Island, NY-based Wu-Tang Clan proved to be the most revolutionary rap group of the mid-’90s – and only partially because of their music. Turning the standard concept of a hip-hop crew inside out, the Wu-Tang Clan were assembled as a loose congregation of nine MCs, almost as a support group. Instead of releasing one album after another, the Clan was designed to overtake the record industry in as profitable a fashion as possible – the idea was to establish the Wu-Tang as a force with their debut album and then spin off into as many side projects as possible. In the process, the members would all become individual stars as well as receive individual royalty checks.

Augustana’s new self-titled album, featuring the first single, “Steal Your Heart,” is available now. The band, which is fronted by vocalist/lyricist Daniel Layus, recorded the album in Los Angeles with Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer Jacquire King, who is known for his work with Kings of Leon and Norah Jones, among others. “The creative and musical progression of this record feels like the most true expression of who this band is in its most basic form,” said Layus. “We worked really hard to bring the sound to a new frontier, but not so far that it lost that sense of organic sensibility.” The album delivers on the emotionally resonant, rootsy pop/rock that Augustana have become known for since launching themselves onto the scene with their major-label debut, 2005′s All The Stars and Boulevards. The album reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart. It also spawned two Top 40 hits, “Stars and Boulevards” and “Boston,” which was certified digital platinum. The band’s follow-up, 2008′s Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt spawned the singles “Sweet and Low,” and “I Still Ain’t Over You.”

Dauntlessly singing into the void that was left behind since Saturdays=Youth, Gonzalez suddenly surges with overwhelming emotion as the music mounts an invisible precipice. Historically, he softly eased you into his world, introducing you to the lush and radiant spaces between captivating melodies and intimate lyrics, but not this time. Not on this record.

RAMMSTEIN, the Berlin-based band known for their incendiary live performances, will bring their brand new live production to North America this spring for 21 dates kicking off April 20th in Ft. Lauderdale. Tickets for the tour, promoted by Live Nation, will go on sale beginning Friday, November 18th

After selling out the Palladium in Hollywood, Wilco has added a second Los Angeles-area concert, this time at The Wiltern on January 25. The Wiltern is located at 3790 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles. White Denim will be supporting.

STEPHEN MERCHANT to Largo on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 17-18, 2012 at 8:00 pm. The Emmy, BAFTA and Golden Globe award winning co-creator of The Office and Extras (both for BBC) is embarking on his first ever stand-up comedy tour STEPHEN MERCHANT LIVE: HELLO LADIES…

Band of Skulls have announced details of the release of their new album. ‘Sweet Sour’ will be released through Electric Blues Recordings on Monday February 20th 2012. The 10-track album was recorded at Rockfield studios in Wales with producer Ian Davenport and mixed in Los Angeles by Nick Launay (Ni

The Saddest Landscape will begin recording their new record at New Alliance Studios in Boston, MA, starting November 5, with producer John Taft, who they collaborated with on their last album, 2010’s You Will Not Survive.

Currently wrapping up their Odd Soul Introduction Tour, rock innovators MUTEMATH will kick off 2012 with another tour that begins January 26th and criss-crosses the U.S. before finishing up on March 18th in Atlanta. The band are touring in support of their new album Odd Soul, which was released on October 4th on Teleprompt/Warner Bros Records.

IAN BROWN, JOHN SQUIRE, MANI AND RENI WILL PLAY TWO VERY SPECIAL SHOWS AT THE 75,000 CAPACITY HEATON PARK IN MANCHESTER IN JUNE 2012.
The Stone Roses are reunited. The legendary four-piece today announce two massive shows at Manchester’s Heaton Park on Friday June 29 and Saturday June 30, 2012. The