Finally A Festival I Can Go To

Of course, I'm a poor college student and the event is on finals week.

The festival season has long been in full swing. SXSW has already rocked the Southwest (duh), and Coachella dominated the West coast. Get ready, other half of the country, because NXNE is getting into full gear. The Toronto-held music and film festival will commence on June 8th, featuring three days of sounds and sights. Thirty or so music venues will showcase approximately 400 bands, most of whom have yet to be announced.

According to the event's website, it is "Canada’s biggest and most important music festival." Comparable to the US version, SXSW, it is renown for uncovering new music. And although music is clearly the focal point of the festival, there will be a wide variety of other activities, including a full conference with, among other things, speakers, discussions, and seminars. The third part of the event is the film festival. Attendees can sit back and relax while watching the best of today's independent films. Titles include Mix Tape, directed by Jefferson Root, and Tragedy: The Story of Queensbridge, directed by Brooker Sim.

One can see that this weekend is worth the trip. If you do plan on going, make sure you have your passport up to date or at least have the proper identification to get into Canada. It can take a month to get a passport if you don't have one already, so you had better get started on that. Tickets are an extremely low $85 for students with a valid student I.D. and $165 for normal people. Those are US dollars, just in case you wanted to know. Buy your passes now, and don't forget to make reservations at the Holiday Inn.

NXNE is June 8-10 in Toronto, Canada.

In other news...

I bet this one is really going to piss off Noel Gallagher. Don't Believe the Truth, the new and supposedly life-changing album from Oasis, has made its way to iTunes almost a month before its scheduled release. The completely legal download was found on the German version of iTunes and *gasp* I found it on Regnyouth. Download the whole album below!

On the subject of iTunes, Apple is apparently adding unique enhancements to its newest version of iTunes. New features will include better security and handling of contact and calendar information. The new version should be available this month.

Jeff Tweedy is a man on top of the world. Wilco's latest album, A Ghost Is Born, has been their biggest selling and most widely known to date, winning them a Grammy for Best Alternative Album despite the fact that they're not really all that alternative. Last weekend, the band played their long-awaited set at the Coachella music festival, a set that they were forced to cancel last year when Tweedy admitted himself into rehab for a pain killer addiction. As Tweedy spoke to MTV about his excitement to be back on track, he said, "I'm really happy they asked us back, and I feel about a thousand times better getting to do it this year than I probably would have felt doing it last year." Tweedy still has a lot on his plate with a new DVD and CD coming out sometime in the future. The DVD is being taped this weekend in Chicago, while the new album will likely take some time to complete. Release dates for both have not yet been set.

While MTV isn't interviewing indie rock icons, it's banning others from showing their videos on the channel. The UK's British Sea Power has had their video for the new song "Please Stand Up" banned from the channel because it didn't pass the censors on account of the phrase "wetter and wetter." Now, from the sounds of things, it's MTV being stupid, but since I couldn't find the lyrics anywhere on Google, it's safe to say that none of us really know what context the lyrics were in, and so MTV may have been right. Hear it for yourself if British Sea Power makes it to your town on their current US tour.

The chatter about the new Sufjan Stevens album, Illinois, is overwhelming. I have to say that, though I've only really listened to it once, it's pretty good. It always takes a little bit of time for me to really get into his music, but I'm sure once I give it a few more run-throughs it will be one of my favorites. If you haven't had the esteemed opportunity to hear the full album, you can get an idea of what you're in for from this article/biography from Fanatic Promotion. In the... whatever it is, he describes in great detail what went into the recording of the album, from locations to equipment. It's a fascinating read, so check it out. Oh, and scroll to the bottom to find it. And check out his pictures. He's pretty hot.

Beck is certainly making the rounds. Following his upcoming European tour, which begins on May 28, he will release the next Guero single, "Girl". Good song. I suggest staying home on Friday night to see him perform on Jay Leno.

As I reported yesterday, Bright Eyes was recently on Jay Leno, and now Prefix has lo and hi res streams of the performance.

It was brought to my attention yesterday by my friend John Hoyt that the Andrew Bird show scheduled for this month was marked as cancelled on Ticketmaster. I decided I would email Robert Duffy over at donewaiting.com, who was sponsoring the show, to find out the truth. This is the sad news he had to report:

Andrew Bird got a hernia while on tour in Europe, so he needs to cancel the first few US dates. We hope to reschedule the Columbus show soon..

Sorry, guys.

Upcoming Columbus Shows

Tonight - The Wedding Present w/ The Organ and Tiara - Little Brothers
Tonight - Electric Six w/ VHS or Beta - Skully's
5.07 - The Decemberists w/ Willy Mason - Little Brothers
5.08 - The Books - Wexner Center
5.13 - Mae w/ The Academy Is... and Jamison Parker - Little Brothers
5.15 - Andrew Bird w/ Antenna - Little Brothers
5.17 - Stereo Total w/ Les Georges Leningrad - Little Brothers
5.27 - The Killers w/ Hot Hot Heat and Robbers on the Street - Promowest Pavilion
6.03 - Tokyo Rose - High Five
6.08 - Modest Mouse - Promowest Pavilion
6.13 - Iron and Wine - The Newport
6.29 - Black Eyed Peas w/ Talib Kweli - Promowest Pavilion
8.31 - Coldplay - Germain Ampitheater

Daily Downloads
From Regnyouth:

Oasis - Don't Believe the Truth (link, mp3)
Fischerspooner - Oddysey (link, mp3)
Of Montreal - The Sundlantic Twins (link, mp3)