July 28th + 29th on Randall's Island, Further artist announcements coming May 21st.

The inaugural Catalpa Festival is striving to be a pioneering New York festival, unique in its programming, atmosphere and aesthetic. With as much an emphasis on site artistry, interactive experiences and experimentation as the musical entertainment itself, Catalpa is filling what we see as a gap for an event quite beyond the ordinary in New York City.

A meeting point for creativity, Catalpa will feature over 40 performers from many musical genres including Blues, Rock, Hip-Hop, Electronic, Reggae and Indie. Art installations of all scales, bespoke event structures and enough unique elements will be present to transform people out of their ordinary setting and into an environment more fantastic.

Catalpa will be held on Randalls Island NYC from 1pm to 11pm over July 28th/29th weekend, 2012.

The lineup for this years Coachella Festival is out and, as you would expect, it's a great one. Headlined by The Black Keys, Radiohead, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog. The lineup includes also includes a lot of our favorites here at BestNewBands.com including: M83, Florence + the Machine, Neon Indian, Dawes, WU LYF, tUnE yArDs, Childish Gambino, Gary Clark Jr.,  and our Best New Band of 2011 Grouplove.

The recession's over, so get your tickets now before they sell out.

Just as Diamond Rugs finished recording "Christmas In A Chinese Restaurant" and was still in the studio listening back to the track, John McCauley got in front of the camera to create this fun clip to the song.  Filmed and edited by Justin Collins, who co-produced the record, the video's charm and honesty is bound to bring a smile to your face.  Check out the video via SPIN.com orYouTube.

Diamond Rugs, Partisan Records' latest signing, is a collaboration between John McCauley (Deer Tick), Robbie Crowell (Deer Tick), Ian Saint Pé (The Black Keys), Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), Hardy Morris (Dead Confederate) and Bryan Dufresne (Six Finger Satellite).

The Diamond Rugs long player is going to be released in the spring of 2012. It was recorded in Nashville and produced by Adam Landry and Justin Collins (Middle Brother, Deer Tick). Diamond Rugs will play their first show ever on December 29th at The Earl in Atlanta, GA.

www.facebook.com/diamondrugs

Watch "Christmas In A Chinese Restaurant"

Stream, Download, Grab "Christmas In A Chinese Restaurant" via SoundCloud

It’s not often that as a musician that you can brag about touring with Wilco, Eddie Vedder, Pearl Jam and The Black Keys, but Liam Finn has done exactly that. Perhaps helped by his impressive pedigree (his father is legendary Australian musician Neil Finn of Crowded House), the indie rocker’s second proper studio album (along with an EP and two live sets), FOMO, is one of the most impressive to be released to date.

Buxter Hoot'n is two parts family, five parts rock 'n' roll revivalists. The San Francisco-based quintet is heading south for a show at The Mint this Saturday along with Honey Island Swamp Band and Sioux City Kid. Earlier this week I spoke to lead singer Vince Dewald, curious about everything from the band's diverse influences to how the band lived together in San Francisco to their new eponymous album. The record marks their second full-length release, and don't miss the music video for the third track "Blue Night" below.

Laurel Kathleen: You’ve been together five years as band. What’s one thing that’s really changed, and what’s really stayed the same?

Vince Dewald: Well, when we first started we played a solid year before we had Melissa in the band. Before she joined, we were doing a lot more acoustic stuff. I was playing acoustic guitar, my brother was playing upright bass, and Ben was playing more violin. As far as songwriting and vision goes, we were still very connected to what we’re doing today but it was still was more on the acoustic side. We’ve definitely evolved into more of a rock ‘n’ roll sound. We’re using more…not overtly modern elements or sounds, but more contemporary sounds. It’s not completely roots music anymore; we’re moving into our own staple sounds while incorporating what we’re hearing today as well.

The Black Angels in a haze of awesomeness.

On Saturday night, I had the chance to see The Black Angels, Cold Cave, and The Kills at The Fox Theater in Pomona.  So I drove east to the city, parked in a somewhat scary parking lot, and headed into the theater which looked a lot like The Wiltern on the interior, actually.   Down on the floor beneath lofty art-deco ceilings I watched the black-clad guys scatter around stage like ants, sound-checking and setting equipment up.

Today we’ll be trying something different for the Weekend Playlist: instead of audio, we’ll be featuring the nominees for Best Videos of 2010. Enjoy!

“Bergerac” - Back Pocket Memory:

Remember the days when rock n' roll was really rock n' roll? When it was largely feared by the masses, when reeling guitars caused echoing screams, and lead singers shook and convulsed on stage like madmen, scaring but captivating mindblown audiences?  Before bands like Linkin Park turned everyone around you into a Hot-Topic-frequenting idiot whining into internet threads with a screenname like LnknPrk4EvA. Before your mom wanted to go with you to see The Foo Fighters play a show.  When rock n' roll was rebellious and gritty. When it was hid from authority figures and was in many ways a gateway drug to the vast amounts of awesome music in the world.  

Well, welcome back.  The Goondas immediately take you back to the late 60s, when Mick Jagger was sexing up the world with his dangerous tunes, and when subcultural rock was just grabbing hold with its greasy palms and shaking a showered society to its core.  The Goondas have that old sound feel and an old school mentality.  They maintain the image of a reckless band who shows up (most of the time) to make some honest, awesome music. And in a modern context, this creates a sense of ironic purity amidst the corporate machine.

Claire Gallagher: Ok, who’s who? What are your names, what instruments do you play, etc?

Jackson Atkins: Guitar
Brenden Green: Vocals
Andy Meuwissen: Bass
Josh Miller: Drums

Despite the fact that Broken Bells only announced themselves as a project just over a year ago, the duo has exploded onto the scene with force and an eclectic new sound. Broken Bells is the now familiar name of Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) and James Mercer, frontman of the Pacific Northwest indie band The Shins. The two met at the Roskilde music festival in Denmark in 2004, but waiting another four years before embarking on their new collaborative project. With the release of their self-titled debut, Broken Bells introduced their experimental pop sound to the indie world and let's just say it didn't take long for new fans to accumulate.

"The High Road," the first single from the duo's debut album, was quick to permeate music circles with its indie-rock melody and catchy electronic additions from Burton. Second single "The Ghost Inside" has similar appeal and received extra press thanks to Christina Hendricks (of TV's Mad Men), who starred in the elaborate music video. Now on tour, indie fans of both The Shins and Danger Mouse's work will surely want to catch this collaboration live.

Pat the White is the moniker of Patrick Leblanc, a French Canadian blues artist whose album Strange Fascination I've recently become enamored with. Released in late October of this year, Pat the White's latest album is just as intrguing as the notion of a southern rock, blues and jam band emerging from French Canada. It's obvious that Patrick Leblanc is a fan of groups like The Allman Brothers, but it may surprise you to know that he didn't hear the song "Free Bird" until 2005. He grew up in a small town without the luxury of FM radio, and discovered the blues by accident when hearing it at a local music festival. He's come a long way since then, playing many shows in Canada including the Montreal Jazz Festival and the Maximum Blues Festival. His 2007 release Reviver was named "Album of The Year" by the Montreal Blues Society; they named him "Best Live Performer" in 2003 and 2004. Pat the White toured Europe in 2009 and has plans to tour the US and record another album in 2011. Until then, I'll wait patiently and continue to enjoy Strange Fascination, an album that challenged me to find a part I didn't like. From start to finish, my head was a perpetual motion machine, unable to keep from bobbing along at various speeds to every one of the nine tracks. It's clear that every musician on the album is the very definition of professional: not only are the lines played to perfection, but they're infused with the kind of raw energy and emotion that really bring songs to life. They're concerned with making the negative space as interesting as the positive, surprising the listener on more than one occasion with a sudden drop out or prolonged, pregnant pause.  With the addition of Pat's charismatic vocals and thoughtful phrases, it's hard to say which moments will resonate with you individually. Many guitar licks and lyrical phrases of Strange Fascination are bound to linger, expressing themselves in a moment of careless humming or a few words that you just can't seem to get out of your head.