Chili Pepper Anthony Kiedis is set to curate a new summer fest in…Pittsburgh?

The two-day New American Music Union will give attention to 15 new college bands — and other little-known acts such as the Raconteurs and Gnarls Barkley. The college acts taking part will also be judged (like “American Idol”!), with the winner given a full day of recording in a top LA studio for free. American Eagle, which is sponsoring the fest, will also promote the band’s record in their stores.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow.

The lineup thus far — including the college acts in competition — after the jump. Read more…

This in from MTV News super-shooter Akshay Bhansali:

I just spent a rather bizarre weekend down in New Orleans. My dad serves on the board of directors of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and the final weekend wrapped yesterday. It all started with a party at the family house, which involved consuming copious amounts duck po-boy, boudin balls, and soft-shell crawfish (yes, you can apparently soften more than just crab), and fixing Gwyneth Paltrow’s mom’s cellphone(??). Blythe Danner is an incredibly cool woman!

After the party I cruised over to Frenchman Street in the Marigny to catch M.I.A. perform in a crazy steamy warehouse. The crowd hardly seemed to care about the heat — when she opened her epic show with “Bamboo Banger,” the room became pure, awesome chaos. Maya had Cherry, always at her side, onstage with her, and even her brother Sugu was hyping up the crowd! She ended with the album closer “Paper Planes,” which not only puts a new spin on a Clash classic but works shockingly well in the “Pineapple Express” trailer, correct??

Pics from JazzFest — and what M.I.A. reveals to Akshay backstage — after the jump. Read more…

Trent Reznor’s reunited Nine Inch Nails, Scott Weiland’s reunited Stone Temple Pilots, and the amazingly-still-together R.E.M. are set to headline this year’s Voodoo Experience in New Orleans.

Also appearing, for the first time, are the Neville Brothers. Check back for more details on the lineup.

The festival was originally put together in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as a way of reviving local tourism and showcasing local talent, who always make up a big chunk of the bill.

And get ready to buy tickets here after May 2nd.

Prince has made a habit of busting out the odd cover now and then during his shows, from the Foo Fighters (“Best of You”) at the Super Bowl to Joan Osborne’s “One of Us,” you just never know what he’s going to hit you with. He pulled a major surprise over the weekend during his headlining set at Coachella, though, covering not only the Beatles’ “Come Together” but also Radiohead’s 1993 debut single, “Creep,” which he flipped from a grungy anthem of angst and self-loathing into a towering soul jam about longing that sounded like it could have been on his seminal Purple Rain album.

That got us thinking about all the other oddball Radiohead covers out there. No, not the cheesy business like Korn’s lounge-pop version of “Creep,” but things like Bilal and the Roots funking up “Everything In Its Right Place” at Clive Davis’ Grammy party last year, jazzer Brad Mehldau getting all meditative on “Exit Music (For a Film)” and Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante taking “Lucky” to the acoustic side.

Hell, everyone has taken a swing at “Creep” — from Moby to Tears For Fears — but one of the weirdest, non-hit-single covers is the glam-metal, high-kicking falsetto-rama of “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” unleashed by late, lamented English rockers the Darkness. The boys made it sound like a lost Judas Priest single from the early 1980s. And remember Panic at the Disco’s Queen-like emo take on “Karma Police,” complete with xylophone and cello?

Certain Radiohead tracks have been covered to death by a wide swath of pop and rock singers: “Fake Plastic Trees,” Alanis Morissette; “Karma Police,” Howie Day; “Knives Out,” Flaming Lips; “No Surprises,” Iron & Wine. But covers have also emerged from artists of just about every genre, perhaps taken with the English band’s majestic arrangements. From NPR-favorite classical piano player Christopher O’Riley, to string quartets, bluegrass pickers, and even dub reggae fanatics. (Awkward? Yes.)

And then, of course, there’s John Mayer, who not only raved about Radiohead’s “Kid A” but covered it and put it on the bonus disc of his Heavier Things album. That surely gives the kid more cred than that tattoo sleeve.

The complete roster for Sir Richard Branson’s third-annual musical shindig has been announced, with performers including Paramore, Cat Power, Lupe Fiasco, Iggy & the Stooges, Gogol Bordello and Lil Wayne joining previously announced headliners Foo Fighters, Jack Johnson, Kanye West, Nine Inch Nails and Stone Temple Pilots at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course August 9-10.

“Now everyone can see that our goal is the Whoa! factor,” festival producer Seth Hurwitz said in a press release. Good job, guy. Our first thought was “Whoa! Why the hell is Bob Dylan on this lineup but not headlining?” Check out the full lineup after the jump. Read more…

My Bloody Valentine are going to headline All Tomorrow’s Parties. We repeat: My Bloody Valentine.

Perhaps we’re dating ourselves a bit by revealing that Loveless was one of the great make-out albums of our overly intense ‘n’ artsy junior-high years. If you haven’t heard it, get off your Vampire Weekend-, MGMT-lovin’ arse and appreciate the sexy, drone-y genius that is Kevin Shields.

Also in the lineup — curated in part by MBV themselves — are Built to Spill, Meat Puppets, Shellac (Steve Albini), Mogwai, and Aussie rockers The Drones. Remember, just a few thousand people will snatch up the ATP honor of living on-site for three entire days (no one-day passes), drinking, eating, breathing the music by a lineup this damned good.

Done.

The complete bill after the jump. Read more…

So I am sitting here at my always cluttered desk and on it, oddly and appropriately sitting next to one another, are “Peace: The Biography of a Symbol” (a book marking the 50th anniversary of the peace symbol), and a press release from Columbia Records touting the fact that their breakout band MGMT will be playing the Big Three US festivals this summer: Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Lollapalooza. Plus, in June, they’ll play Glastonbury and open for a little band by the name of Radiohead. But I digress. Back to the peace symbol book being next to MGMT —

“Hippie” is, I think, a much-maligned and none-too-fashionable word — one that probably has never applied to me, but I wouldn’t mind if it were. And it’s a term that’s been thrown liberally about in describing Ben and Andrew of MGMT, as well as folks like their erstwhile tourmates Yeasayer. (Ohio punk band Psychedelic Horses— even dedicated a not-so-flattering song to Yeasayer called “New Wave Hippies.” But more on that indie beef another time…)

Now, certainly there are psychedelic elements to MGMT, and certainly they have politically lefty roots (Wesleyan U, plus Andrew’s dad Bruce VanWyngarden is the editor of Memphis alt paper The Memphis Flyer). The press release calls MGMT “mind-bending” and “futurist” -– OK, but what about the “h” word?

How does the band feel about the term? Find out after the jump. Read more…

We’re not going to lie to you. We were kind of holding our breath when an early peek at the lineup for the seventh annual Austin City Limits Festival (September 26-28) mysteriously appeared in our inbox. Please don’t let it be Radiohead and Jack Johnson again — please, please!

Prayers answered. The headliners for the way-diverse fest include:

Gnarls Barkley
N.E.R.D.
Beck
The Raconteurs
Foo Fighters
The Mars Volta
Erykah Badu
Against Me!
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
Vampire Weekend
Yeasayer

Other highlights from the lineup after the jump. Read more…

We’ve actually been to the Virgin Mobile Festival (didn’t it used to be called just the ‘Virgin Festival’? Right?) in Baltimore before, and it’s actually a pretty great time. It’s a simple festival on the beautiful grass of the Pimlico Race Course, and if you get there a couple of days early, you can feast on delicious crab and catch an Orioles game and drive around the city pretending you’re on The Wire (we don’t actually recommend this last bit, btw).

The headliners for this year’s festival - taking place on August 9 and 10 - have just been announced: Kanye West, Nine Inch Nails, Foo Fighters and a reunited Stone Temple Pilots (since that Velvet Revolver thing seems like it needs to decompress a bit). Oh yeah, and Jack Johnson, who is this year’s festival slut. The full-lineup is expected in the next few weeks.

Here’s the interesting question, though. Will people beyond the greater Baltimore/D.C. area travel for this? Lollapalooza happens the weekend before, in Chicago. And the new All Points West Festival, put on by the organizers of Coachella (and also featuring two days of Radiohead), actually happens ON THE SAME WEEKEND. Like if you live in Philly, where you gonna go?

The festivals are all a good thing but maybe folks could’ve spread them out a little more?

Many of us in the Newsroom love music festivals. From Coachella to Bonnaroo to Lollapalooza (these would all make fantastic Scrabble words), we think listening to good music out loud, in the open air is great. And it also makes us think about summer, which is always good. Some of us even remember Woodstock - both times (Hi, Kurt!). We have not been to the Sasquatch Festival in Gorge, Washington. But we hear good things. MAYBE THIS IS THE YEAR!

The lineup was announced for the Memorial Day weekend festival and features headliners R.E.M., The Cure, Death Cab For Cutie and the Flaming Lips doing a special “UFO” show. Full lineup after the jump:

Read more…