Concert Announcements: David Byrne & St. Vincent, Soundgarden, Yo La Tengo and more!

As Kansas City prepares for Snowpocalypse part 2, at least we can be exited today for a handful of great concert announcements.

First off is David Byrne & St. Vincent whom will be playing at the Crossroads in KC on Friday, July 12th. Although I didn't love their 2012 collaboration, Love This Giant, there is no denying that they are both insanely talented and this show should be a memorable one.

Grunge monsters Soundgarden will be at the Midland Theater in KC on Wednesday, May 22nd. Also that same Wednesday, Yo La Tengo will be at the Crossroads venue in KC.

Finally, one other show of note is the first Buzz Under The Stars show which features The Lumineers, Cold War Kids, The Neighborhood and The Mogwli's.

See the entire concert calendar HERE.

New Song: Kurt Vile - 'Wakin On A Pretty Day'

I'm really excited to see news today of the first single from the new Kurt Vile album being released. Kurt Vile  is the creator of my favorite album of 2011 and is getting ready to release his newest album, Wakin On A Pretty Daze, on April 9th (pre-order here).

The first single off the album is called 'Wakin On A Pretty Day' and you can check it out below.

Kurt Vile - 'Wakin On A Pretty Day'

Middle Of The Map Festival Lineup Announced

My favorite weekend of music in Kansas City for the past two years has been the Middle Of The Map Festival put on by Ink Magazine and The Record Machine. They've just announced the initial lineup for the third year of the festival and it's once again looking to be an amazing weekend. The full lineup is below but I can tell you some highlights for me are Grizzly Bear, Deerhoof, Jeff The Brotherhood, Iceage, The Appleseed Cast and Owen Pallet. The festival this year is taking place on April 4-6 at various venues around KC (Uptown, Riot Room, RecordBar, Gusto, The Union and Westport Coffehouse).

Of course, all of the best local bands are playing as well. The full list is below:

Grizzly Bear, The Joy Formidable, Tennis, Deerhoof, JEFF the Brotherhood, Kids These Days, Iceage, The Whigs, Wovenhand, The Appleseed Cast, The Casket Lottery, White Lung, People Get Ready, Denison Witmer, Kitten, Guards, Cowboy Indian Bear, Soft Reeds, Palace, Making Movies, Détective, Owen Pallet, Mister Lies, The Last Bison, Pujol, Joe Pug, La Guerre, Spirit is the Spirit, Sleepy Kitty, My Gold Mask, Dots Not Feathers, Smoker, the Soil & the Sun, Trouper, Little Legend, Maps For Travelers, She’s A Keeper, Bloodbirds, Quiet Corral, Akkilles, Radkey, Steddy P & DJ Mahf, Thee Water MoccaSIns, the ACB’s, Shy Boys, Fourth of July, Ghosty, Shadow Paint, The Slowdown, Cherokee Rock Rifle, Clairaudients, White Girl, Antennas Up, Heartfelt Anarchy, Six Percent, The Regrets, The Belles, The Noise FM

New Album: My Bloody Valentine - m b v

Only 22 years in the making, My Bloody Valentine finally release the long-awaited follow-up to 1991's cult favorite Loveless. Three listens in and it's actually really fucking good too. It had been a long running joke that this album would never see the light of day and possibly didn't exist, so it was thrilling to see the band post on their facebook page yesterday afternoon that the album would be released that day. Of course, the albums release hours later did crash the website for a substantial amount of time throwing the internet into a panic.

Finally the website was stable and we have an album that many music fans have been waiting decades for. It's way too early to talk about just how good this album is but for an album that had 22 years of expectations to deal with, the praise I've seen so far has been pretty universal. You can buy the digital, vinyl or cd at their website and both physical copies come with an instant download. You can also stream the entire album on the bands Youtube page (or hear them below). Either way the release of this album seems to have turned into one of those really cool moments in music history when an "event" happens that many people experience all at the same time. Those are really few and far between these days.

'if i am'
'new you'
'in another way'
'nothing is'
'wonder 2'
'she found now'
'only tomorrow'
'who sees you'
'is this and yes'