Lollapalooza

The 2010 iPhone App for the Lollapalooza Music Festival is your official electronic guide to the Grant Park during August 6th through 8th. Stay in touch with friends, discover artist info and listen to Lolla radio, use your favorite social networks or raise the lighter high in the air, this year’s iPhone App is our best one yet. Check out the screenshots below…

Download Here

And stay tuned for more updates with more features coming soon! AUGUST 3, 2010 UPDATE: iPhone users make sure to get the update to our App – it includes some major new functions that will help you out at the Festival:

My Friends: Lets you stay connected with your buddies at Lolla. Use your Facebook login to select friends. See messages from all of your selected friends in one place with our “Friend Wall”. Organize a meeting point using your phone’s GPS – just plant a digital “flag” on the Lolla Map >>

Lineup and Custom Schedule: See every artist playing Lolla and where/when they are playing. Add filters by day and/or stage to drill down to what you want to see. Search by name in any view. Add or remove artists to your personal Custom Schedule with one touch. Synch your Custom Schedule on the app with your Custom Schedule on Lollapalooza.com – login with Facebook or your email and pull from the web to your phone or vice versa. >>

Artist Info: Click on any artist name in the Lineup pages to see a full bio and links to the artist’s website, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, iTunes, and more. Write down set lists using the notes feature. >>

Lolla Radio: Programmed by our friends at Slacker Radio, this station allows you to preview the entire Lolla Lineup. Add any artist in the radio stream to your custom schedule with one touch. >>

Map: See a zoomable/scrollable map of the event. The site map continues to evolve as we get closer to the event, and those changes will be reflected within the app. >>

News: Check out Lolla’s official News and Twitter feeds, or look at “Chatter” about Lolla by people on Twitter and Facebook. >>

Post Photos to Facebook: Snap or choose photos within the Lolla App and upload directly to Facebook. Set autofill language for the photo captions to save time! >>

Post Messages to Facebook or Twitter: Post updates to Facebook or Twitter from within the app. Set autofill language for your messages to save time! >>

Lighter: What epic concert experience would be complete without a lighter for your favorite ballad? Rock on. >>

Now, Download It Here

All the way up to August 6-8, we will be featuring reviews and previews for artists playing Lollapalooza 2010. Not only that, we’ve enlisted Lolla-loving blogs, many which you guys picked out yourself, to help us out. Today’s feature on HEALTH comes from Consequence of Sound.
Enjoy, and check out the rest of our Artist Discovery Series to get hip to Lolla 2010.

Lollapalooza is just around the corner, so Consequence of Sound will be giving you the heads up on this year’s lineup, highlighting a variety of acts we think you need to know about. You’ve most likely heard a few (if not most) of them by now, but maybe a few more paragraphs, videos, and songs will convince you to stop by their stage come set-time…

It’s kind of sad to think that HEALTH’s best known release is only half theirs. Nigh three years ago, the Los Angeles-based four-piece released a semi-remix/semi-collaboration version of their song “Crimewave” with Crystal Castles. While the track is the perfect dance-inducer, it fits a separate niche from the rest of the group’s material. One must only compare that “Crimewave” with the one on the group’s debut to find the differences. Where the CC version is funky and constant, the HEALTH version is tribal and angular, even crushing.

Discover: HEALTH.

From their 2007 self-titled effort on, HEALTH has established its own unique sound: from the zoothorns (microphones filtered through god knows how many pedals) to the extra tom in front of the sickeningly powerful drum kit, the bass that sounds nothing like a bass to the haunting, near-whispered vocals. While this may sound like more of the usual freak-noise-mumbo-jumbo out there, it all comes together as a slick, entirely comprehensible package.

“Triceratops” is easily the best track on the first album (one of the best of 2007 if not a larger time-frame), a bone-bruiser that rampages with the mania of a pack of said dinosaurs. “Are you broken, are you leaving, is your blood red, are you breathing?” vocalist Jake Duzsik intones a few times before the needling guitars and thunderclap drums fall out in favor of a wordless moan from multiple voices. Epic, swirling tones and thumping toms fade out the track, a receding storm of noise.

That album led to a show leading into 2008’s Pitchfork Music Festival at Chicago’s Hideout. The gig was one of the sweatiest, rowdiest, most crowded I’ve ever seen. Bassist John Famiglietti’s swagger and howl took center stage, while drummer B.J. Miller and multi-instrumentalist Jupiter Keyes provided impressive, substantial bases from which Duzsik could monotone and scream.

Before heading out as a support act for industrial legends Nine Inch Nails, the group released a remix album called HEALTH//DISCO which featured, among other re-envisions, the Crystal Castles’ hit “Crimewave”. The sound didn’t always get rave reviews from NIN fans, but it’s safe to say the tour earned a few new fans. A year later, the group released Get Color, a strong sophomore effort featuring a newer, tighter sound.

But, to get a better idea of the band’s unique sense of humor/aesthetic, take a look at this MySpace journal entry regarding the group’s Willy Wonka Golden Ticket-esque release of Get Color. Prizes ranged from breakfast in bed to a poster signed in blood to a package of childhood photos. Though, sadly, some of those wacky gifts have gone unclaimed.

“We just went to Magic Mountain with the grand prize winner,” explains Famiglietti. “We’ll have a video up on YouTube shortly. We’ve done most of ‘em though, like blood autographs and stuff like that.”

There have been more shenanigans involving the ol’ MySpace page, though. Recently, the group put up examples of HEALTH-related tattoos. The response was larger than even they imagined. “We’ve only had some photos sent our way, but they look amazing,” Famiglietti says. “I think some chickened out.” That’s not all, however. In addition to the wacky internet memes, the group made some time to swim with dolphins, which Famiglietti adds, “When a dolphin jizzes it’s like a fucking shotgun blast.” Lovely image.

Regardless, the music is what’s important here, and I’m not just saying that because I didn’t win a bag of Keyes’ cat’s hair (seriously). “In Heat” opens Get Color with the same tooth-chattering waves of distorted synth and guitar noise. Lead single “Die Slow” stutters its way into an immense groove. Fun fact: The video to that track was recently removed from YouTube, due to some sexual content, prompting the band to release an edited version in which a giant orange square is placed over the “racy” material. The band was a little disappointed by that, though. “What irks me is that the ‘Die Slow’ video was flagged for sexual writhing and not the blood,” Famiglietti argues. “But the “We Are Water” video, which has a stabbed ball sack and some beheading, was not even flagged.” What gives?

So, if you like your music danceable, but with an edge, HEALTH is the band for you. Everything comes together in a tangled mess of groovy fun. No napkins, necessary. Plus, they go on early enough, which should avoid any nail biting conflicts in your schedule. Famiglietti’s, too. Much like you, he plans to check out the rest of the festival come Sunday. Who’s he psyched for? Famiglietti only had one answer: “Cypress Hill!”

Laugh riot.

Be sure to pick up HEALTH’s latest effort, DISCO2, out now via Lovepump United.

All the way up to August 6-8, we will be featuring reviews and previews for artists playing Lollapalooza 2010. Not only that, we’ve enlisted Lolla-loving blogs, many which you guys picked out yourself, to help us out. Today’s feature on The Morning Benders comes from LoudLoopPress.com. Enjoy!

Spend a day or two out on the West Coast and you’ll pick up on the laid-back, worry-about-it-tomorrow attitude that persists throughout many of the various locales. Give Big Echo, the sophomore album from Berkeley, California’s The Morning Benders a spin or two and just as quickly you’ll pick up that airy West Coast vibe. Despite the relaxed atmosphere there’s nothing lazy about the group bringing their melodic and breezy brand of pop to Lollapalooza’s The Grove stage at noon on Saturday, Aug. 6.

The quartet, led by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Christopher Chu, worked with Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor on Big Echo to capture a lush but warm sound that the group has transferred to their live show. In the studio or on stage there’s a cool confidence in what they do. “The grass is always greener – when we are in the studio, I get antsy, and all I want to do is go on tour,” said Chu, “When we are on tour for months at a time, all I want to do is get back in the studio and make something new. Can’t have one without the other.”

At a recent performance at The Vic Theatre opening for Broken Bells in Chicago, Chu personalized the set by chatting with the audience between songs. He’ll try and do the same in front of the larger, outdoor festival crowd at Lollapalooza. “I always find a way to feel connected to the audience when I am performing,” said Chu. “And even if we can’t talk to people from the stage, we’ll go into the crowd after and talk to everyone. We do that at every show.”

Chu’s ability to connect with the audience is aided by his charming and vulnerable lyrics that are laced with romantic imagery. There’s sincerity in his tone that’s bolstered by the focused rhythms of drummer Julian Harmon and bassist Timothy Or and the blissfully harmonic guitar of Joseph Ferrell. The Morning Benders have toured extensively in 2010, already having played in Chicago twice. But Chu and company are excited to be coming back for Lollapalooza. “Chicago is one of our favorite cities to play,” said Chu. “Festivals are a lot of fun for us though because we get to see a lot of our friends in bands. Due to our crazy schedules there are few times when all our band homies are in the same place at the same time.

Who is Chu looking forward to catching at Lollaplooza this year?

“I would love to see The Strokes, and Arcade Fire. I very rarely go to see big bands like these at shows, and a huge music festival seems like the ideal venue to see them in. Could be epic.”

Written by Associate Editor Andrew Kahn. Photos by Craig Shimala.

This year we have partnered with Slacker to bring you a great radio player chalk-full of all the 2010 artists playing Grant Park this summer, August 6-8 in Chicago!

Want to leave Lolla Radio up and streaming while you work on other things? Simply open up our Pop Out Player and get your Lollapalooza fix all day long.

All the way up to August 6-8, we will be featuring reviews and previews for artists playing Lollapalooza 2010. Not only that, we’ve enlisted Lolla-loving blogs, many which you guys picked out yourself, to help us out. Today’s feature on The xx comes from TheFiveThreeSix.com. Enjoy!

The Sex Pistols. The Clash. Led Zeppelin. The Who. The Kinks. David Bowie. Coldplay. Yes, London, we get it, you’re spiking your water with talent. Don’t be shy about putting some fluoride in there too; it does wonders for the teeth (sorry, it was just too easy). Now, I’m not sure if it is bitterness or Chicago pride, but every time another great band emerges from the well-endowed depths of London, I’m a bit skeptical. How can the same people who gave the world Susan Boyle and the black plague constantly contribute to music in a meaningful way? I have become more and more critical of bands that appear with a UK flag in hand and promises from their PR company that they are the next big thing. I always say, “Prove it!” and then when they do, I blush like a schoolgirl and act like I supported them all along.

I didn’t need to be a blushing asshole when The xx debuted their first album xx last August. It was immediately clear that their talent didn’t need to be proven, it simply was.
Drawing influences from a feast of artists, they technically fit into the “pop” category, but are unique to anything we have heard before. A soft, lulling pop sound with a solid beat, The xx have earned their own genre of “dream pop” and there is nothing about their whimsical tunes that fights this label. Winning immediate acclaim and landing on the Top 2009 Album List’s of everyone who matters, they proved that if your debut album is incredible it doesn’t take five studio albums and a Jay-Z collaboration to get noticed.

This three-piece band has created something wonderful without any illusions. With The xx, you don’t need to dig through flashy gimmicks or outfits worth mocking to find the good stuff. The band consists of Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith, who (prepare to feel useless) are only 21 years old. When I was 21, the only music I was making was the whistling noise creating by an empty bottle of tequila and that certainly wasn’t earning me any points at Pitchfork. Their music is made without any crazy fashion statements, no (obviously) racy lyrics and no reason besides their talent for them to find success. The soft vocal bouncing between Croft and Sim creates a relationship that is so natural it’s alluring, tranquilizing, and exciting at the same time.

The xx has provided background noise to almost every major TV show, rocked out a sold out tour, played all the big festivals and even provided the catwalk tunes for Karl Lagerfeld’s Fall/Winter show (If the Kaiser likes them, you probably should too). Like their great London predecessors, they have proven in the tiny span of a few months that they are qualified for pop band stardom. They are incredible musicians, vocalists and songwriters, and have introduced the return of this winning combination as the standard to musical success. The xx has done this in one powerhouse of a debut album filled with a multitude of number one hits and a sound that never gets old.

If you’re looking for ridiculous costumes or over-synthesized vocals this Lollapalooza, this might be a show to skip. If you’re looking for a band filled with magnificent levels of talent, be sure to check out The xx, on Saturday at 3:15. If you miss it, your music sensible friends are sure to judge you and then you’ll be embarrassed, so just go. Then send me a thank you note. It’s the polite thing to do.

Written by Nora Silver & Bridget Luehrsen

All the way up to August 6-8, we will be featuring reviews and previews for artists playing Lollapalooza 2010. Not only that, we’ve enlisted Lolla-loving blogs, many which you guys picked out yourself, to help us out. Today’s feature on MGMT comes from HEAVE Media. Enjoy!

Look, we’re trustworthy people. But don’t just take our word about seeing MGMT at Lollapalooza. Heed the wisdom of former-Lollapaloozers Manchester Orchestra. We were interviewing them at Lolla in 2008, and they made us stop the conversation so they could listen to MGMT’s “Time To Pretend.” They know a megahit when they hear it.

And if MGMT’s new album isn’t a microcosm of Lollapalooza, what is? 120-odd bands, DJ’s and artists spread out across six stages and a DJ tent in a mosiac of indie rock, alternative, funk, electro-bee-bop, hip-hop, dance-in-your-skinny-jeans goodness. For an entire weekend. MGMT’s latest, Congratulations, is a shorter, but similarly styled mélange of sounds and influences. 50’s surf-pop meets 80’s synthesizers married to 70’s prog-rock with an indie rock vibe sprinkled throughout.

Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden – the Brooklyn-based duo who, along with a backing band, make up MGMT—decided not to release any singles from Congratulations. Some detractors complain this is because the disc lacks singles, but we think its because the album needs to be heard as a whole; it’s the layering of the pop psychedlia on each track that gives the band’s music its tripped-out power and groove.

So if you need a bottom line, here it is: MGMT’s music is live wire, and the band is a force live. You’ll want to be there, front and center like the first day of kindergarten, when they crank the synths and make you get to the stage as quick as possible.

And don’t worry, they understand Lolla’s collaborative vibe. Don’t be shocked if they pull out a special guest or two to accompany their repertoire of “it’s too hot to dance, but I’m going to dance anyway,” music.

Written by Wes Soltis

All the way up to August 6-8, we will be featuring reviews and previews for artists playing Lollapalooza 2010. Not only that, we’ve enlisted Lolla-loving blogs, many which you guys picked out yourself, to help us out. Today’s feature on The Strokes comes from The Tripwire. Enjoy!

As has been covered by a number of people recently (likely in greater depth and with greater eloquence), The Strokes are going into their second decade, rumors to the contrary be damned.

It’s hard not to look back on their career-so-far without at least a twinge of nostalgia in a couple of ways: for that of a late-90’s New York that never actually existed, for a time before ‘witch-house’ when industry buzz propelled less dubiously-named styles (i.e. ‘Rock’), and for a time when these five were living out the first two reels of any competently-made rock band biopic.

In any case, what better way to confront these attacks of memory than with a trip down memory lane that only Internet video could make possible?

(Note: a number of NBC-owned videos (their November 2003 residency on Conan; Julian performing ‘I Wish It Was Christmas Today’ on Fallon last year) are no longer available for viewing anywhere, so there are some holes in this history. Would it really be rock n’ roll without some holes and patches though?)

Want a chance to win one of three pairs of passes to Lollapalooza or our grand prize – a deluxe weekend package that includes flight, hotel, tickets, a one year subscription to SPIN Magazine, and the best seat in the house for the The Strokes‘ performance? You’re only 400 characters away! The contest goes like this:

STEP 1
We’ll post an image of one of The Strokes’ albums on our Twitter and Facebook Page daily for three consecutive days (June 8, 9, 10).

STEP 2
You’ll craft a 400 character mashup of the song lyrics from that album. Post it back as as a comment underneath the Lollapalooza post for that day on our Facebook Page by 11:59PM CT that evening.

STEP 3
We’ll reward the most eye-catching mashup each day with a pair of 3-Day Lolla Passes.

STEP 4
On Friday, June 11, we’ll post each of our three daily winner’s mashups on the Lollapalooza Facebook Page. The mashup that receives the most Comments and Likes by Sunday, June 13th at 11:59PM CT will score the big grand prize – including a side-stage VIP vista during The Strokes’ set!

See the official rules below.
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Our Cut & Copy Cut Copy Contest has come to an end, and we have had so many creative entries through our Facebook and Twitter pages it’s been tough to pick only five winners. We thank everyone who put smudge marks all over their office copy machines and took the time to make masterpieces inspired by one of their favorite bands and 2010 Lollapalooza performers, Cut Copy.

Now, we are pleased to announced our 5 winners, each winning a pair of 3-day Passes, including our grand prize winner who also receives a spot on the side-stage during Cut Copy’s 2010 Lollapalooza set.

To view all of our entries, visit the Lollapalooza Facebook and browse the Twitter entries tagged @lollapalooza. And now the Top Five…

This year’s Lolla Remix Throwdown is here! Over the next two-months, entrants will battle it out to see who’s got the chops – not only in the studio – but in self-promotion, live performance and everything else that makes an artist the complete package.

Start off by submitting your best original production in the open round, which runs from June 3rd to June 25th. The contest will then narrow down to the semi-finals where artists will have the chance to remix songs from Lollapalooza 2010 artists like Tiga and Felix da Housecat. Four finalists will then be selected to fly to Chicago and compete live on August 1st for the grand prize!

What does the winner get? Oh, it’s good. A slot to play Perry’s stage at Lollapalooza 2010, two CDJ900 tabletop multi players from Pioneer, Shure in ear SE535 earphones, a $250 gift certificate to online dance music retailer satelliterecords.com, 4 hour hands-on training program in Digital Mastering day of finals competition courtesy of Music Industry Workshop, $1,000 cash and MORE.

So, think you have what it takes? Let’s see what you’ve got – click here to enter and start building your artist profile!

Read official details below.

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