The Flaming Lips have a 24-hour song. Yep. Can’t wait to read the first review of it.

Listen to a new b-side from EMA here.

Spend some time with the New York Times feature Reassessing the Year Punk Broke. It gave me a headache.

Watch Girls’ Christopher Owens Perform Four Unreleased Songs Live at Pitchfork.

Check out a new video from Austin’s Pure X at Gorlla vs. Bear.

When Girls released their new album Father, Son, Holy Ghost earlier this month I was on the fence. I was somewhat of a fan of the band’s previous output, but wouldn’t consider myself a full-fledged true believer. That changed whenever the album hit the internet. The first two tracks, “Honey Bunny” and “Alex” set the stage for one of the year’s most interesting releases. It converted me.

While I wasn’t able to catch the band personally, Ed Oliver brought photos from last night’s show at the Majestic Theatre in Madison, including bonus shots of NOBUNNY.

MP3: Girls – “Vomit”
Video: Girls – “Honey Bunny”
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Buy: Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Mashable: How Online Services Are Changing the Way Bands Consume Music

Spin is streaming Youth Lagoon’s new album in full.

Neil Young autobiography on the way (via Stereogum)

Pitchfork has a video of Girls “Honey Bunny.”

I’ve been listening to NPR’s First Listen of Miles Davis, ‘Live In Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1′

Austin City Limits 2011 just wrapped up. YouTube is streaming songs from the festival. My highlights were: The Walkmen, Delta Spirit, Yellow Ostrich, Fleet Foxes, J. Roddy Walston & the Business. I also saw two unforgettable Arcade Fire shows. Favorite new discovery was Wild Beasts.

I made a September Spotify play list. Go here to check it out.

Hit up Daytrotter for some great new sessions from Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Low and EMA.

Aquarium Drunkard offers a download of Tom Waits :: Ivanhoe Theater 11/21/76 – Radio Broadcast (WXRT).

Anybody gonna drop the coin on Nirvana’s Nevermind [4CD/DVD Super Deluxe]?

Check out The Daredevil Christopher Wright’s new EP

Yesterday’s Pitchfork Music Festival provided a great opportunity to see a bunch of bands that had eluded me. In total, I saw eleven bands during the course of one day, including eight of those for the first time.

I wasn’t going to miss a chance to check out Best Coast, whose album, Crazy For You, arrives next week behind a wave of great press. Her song “Boyfriend” would be permanently in my head for the remainder of the day.

Up next my group headed over to catch Girls. Had I been flying solo at the festival this is a band I would have certainly passed up. The combination of my fellow festival goers being fans and hearing from multiple co-workers that their Milwaukee show was something special, I decided it was worth giving the band a shot live. While it wasn’t the worst thing I heard all day, I didn’t leave feeling any more impressed with the band than I had been previously.

I took in Beach House from afar. Their set sounded absolutely amazing. These guys provide the perfect soundtrack to any time of day, and sounded especially at home under the blistering Chicago sun. Having seen the band only a few months earlier, I ducked out a bit early as I didn’t want to miss a chance to see Local Natives again. These guys were one of the highlights of the festival for me. If you don’t own a copy of Gorilla Manor, make sure to seek it out the next time you’re in a buying mood.

Despite the fact I’ve probably seen St. Vincent ten times in the past two years, I couldn’t resist seeing Annie Clark’s set. Backed by horns and violin, Clark demonstrated her guitar prowess, providing slightly altered/updated versions of the songs than I’d heard previously. Our group walked over and checked out Surfer Blood next and who could miss the insanity that is seeing Major Lazer live. The crowd went absolutely bonkers during Major Lazer, whose set included dancing girls, Chinese Dragons, and one very impressive leap into the audience via ladder. I literally cringed when I saw the dude jump off. That had to hurt.

We packed ourselves in like sardines in order to take in Sleigh Bells set. Unfortunately it was marred in technical difficulties which provided a good enough reason to depart early in order to secure a spot for Pavement and take it the remainder of Big Boi’s set along the way.

Even though we’re holding tickets for two upcoming Pavement shows, my friends and I couldn’t resist the chance at seeing the newly reformed band close out the festival. For many in the audience it was a time to be reunited with one the 90′s best bands. For myself it was an opportunity to see a band I was just a bit too young to catch them live before they called it quits. It was worth the wait. I think many in the crowd were a little surprised the band didn’t return for an encore with some time remaining before the clock struck 10pm, but it would be hard to find any other complaints with their set or the festival overall.

The music was obviously amazing, but I couldn’t wrap up this post without thanking Dan for the photos, our contributor Jon for hanging out and catching shows with us. It was great to say hello to our own Jodi and blog friends You Ain’t No Picasso, Chromewaves, J. Neas with Aquarium Drunkard, and the Ice Cream Man. We’ll be back next year.

By Jodi Root

My experiences with Friday the 13th are usually pretty tame and unmemorable, the only reminders of this cliché superstitious date is an abundance of lame facebook statuses or overheard generic chit chat on the el. I’m pretty sure this past Fri 13th, however, has succeeded in trumping all past occurrences to date – both as far as an overall eventful evening and on the creepy factor. I have the much buzzed about San Francisco band Girls to thank for this.

Headlining their second consecutive night playing Chicago’s Empty Bottle, Friday’s set was long sold out, packed to the brims with fans eager to see if this Pitchfork darling duo’s performance could live up to the hype. All lame puns aside, it was kind of ironic to see that a group who goes by the name of Girls maybe lured out 5-10 females total in its hipster crammed audience—the stuffy, congested crowd was definitely one mass sausage fest—but no complaints from this gal, I haven’t seen that long of a line to the male’s restroom since the Robyn concert.

Quality conversation with a friend and an abundance of $2.50 312’s fogged my memory a bit and my scribbled notes are definitely what you would consider illegible. As a result, my experience last evening is a bit of a dreamy haze—but this isn’t by any means a bad thing. Flashing back to the dream sequencey set, Girls took to the silver and gold illuminated stage at five after midnight. The four-man line-up kicked off their hour long set with the ever eerie, “Ghost Mouth.” Christopher Owens’ vocals were crisp and piercingly on, creeping the crap out of me as he channeled the Buddy Holly like 50’s nostalgia rock vibe and desperately crooned, “I’m too scared to get out and get into heaven.”

Owens’ repetitive references to fear and god can’t help but get under your skin when you remember his past growing up as a member of the cult Children of God. I’ve read that the debut “Album” was heavily influenced by both Owens’ aforementioned past as well an influx of drug abuse—and both the song content and delivery makes this abundantly clear. There were some moments in last night’s show where I felt like I was in a graveyard. Or at a Raveonettes show—but if they were both dudes on a lot of smack. Or at a 50’s surf shop beach party, but if David Lynch had taken hold as the host of festivities.

The music was loud, soft, melodic and flat. The performance itself may not have been the most memorable—the guitarist definitely seemed more of a lifeless prop, barely pulling his weight at times, but Owens’ presence and the overall presentation was definitely an experience. The combination of unease, nostalgia and desperation delivered were bone chilling and the sound quality helped perfect the message. At one point I had turned to my friend and slurred, “Are we in Twin Peaks? I swear this would be the perfect soundtrack to Laura Palmer’s demise. . .” to which he simply smiled and pointed at a group of dudes behind me who were contemplating the exact same theory.

Following opening track “Ghost Mouth,” the majority of “Album” was accounted for, with additional tracks including “Headache,” “Summertime,” “God Damned,” “Laura,” “Big Bad M**********r,” and single “Hellhole Ratrace.” Of course, the ever poppy “Lust for Life” closed off the set, prior to Owens taking the stage solo for a few remaining numbers. I went into the show hoping for a deeper appreciation to one of 2009’s most hyped records, and after last night’s performance that’s exactly what I got. Not everyone will get the novelty of catching such a fantastic night of music on one of the year’s spookiest calendar dates, but I recommend it thoroughly regardless.

Buy: Girls – Album
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MP3: Girls – “Lust For Life”