2011

Lollapalooza Announces Artist Lineup

The lineup has been announced for Lollapalooza, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year on August 5th-7th at Chicago’s Grant Park.


At the top of the bill are Eminem, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Muse and HT favorites My Morning Jacket. Other HT favorites Grace Potter & The Nocturnals and Ween have also successfully snuck their way into a mostly indie-centric lineup.

This year’s lineup for ‘Perry’s Place”, the electronic-themed stage, features festival mainstays Girl Talk, Pretty Lights, Kid Cudi and many others.

Three day passes will run you $215. READ ON for the full lineup…

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Royal Bangs: Flux Outside

It’s not easy to describe the sound of Royal Bangs. Singer Ryan Schaefer has said that he has no interest in conforming to the conventions of a particular genre of music. Instead, he would rather make whatever music he feels, without worrying about what it’s called. While that mindset helps create an eclectic mix, it frustrates fans and critics who are used to utilizing the names of genres and subgenres to define a band’s sound.

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Lost Toys, Covert Ploys and the Alchemy of Apprehended Noise – The Leak Of David Bowie’s Toy

There are some who speculate David Bowie himself may have either approved of the leak of Toy or is so engaged in his post-iconic, house-husbandly duties that he hasn’t had a chance to look up from piles of dirty dishes to comment. In a recent Mojo article, David Buckley offers the possibility that Bowie’s “then record label, Virgin, had a listen and didn't consider an album featuring 11 retreads of obscure tracks to be the right sort of new product at a time when Bowie was still having hit singles.“ Obviously the silence is open to myriad interpretations. However now that, in the words of Torrent Freak, “Toy is out of the box and never going back,“ should officialdom’s imprimatur matter?

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HT Interview: Ron Johnson Returns To The Road With The Warren Haynes Band

“When Warren calls, you take the gig,” says Ron Johnson, the Brooklyn-based bass player, best known for his 10-year tour of duty with Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe.

His new, high profile gig is with the Warren Haynes Band and it brings him back to touring after a one-year break from the road.

[Warren Haynes Band – Touring Edition by Allison Murphy & Dino Perrucci]


The seeds for his involvement with Warren Haynes Band were planted three years ago. “I just remember hearing from J. Bau (part of the Warren Haynes’s management team) that Warren was making a solo record,” recalls Johnson, “and without even hesitating, I said, ‘if he tours that thing, I want a shot at it.’”

By chance, album bass player George Porter Jr. was not able to make the band’s first performance at the 2010 Christmas Jam. For Johnson, it was less of an audition and more of a one-off gig. “I’m not sure if they knew if Porter was going to do any touring following the record. I just know that Porter couldn’t do Christmas jam and he gave me his blessing to fill those shoes.”

READ ON for more of JR’s chat with Ron Johnson…

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