For Valentine’s day this year, AC Entertainment decided to give its fans one of the best loving gifts any music festival-goer could ask for, the lineup for Bonnaroo’s 11th year.

The headliners include Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phish and The Beach Boys. What I found particularly neat about this year’s lineup is many of the acts chosen for Bonnaroo have made visits to the Triangle’s venues in the past year or plan to in the next few months — The Beach Boys (coming in April), Bon Iver, The Avett Brothers (coming in March), Feist (coming in May), Ludacris (N.C. State University’s campus last year), Ben Folds Five, Umphrey’s McGee, Punch Brothers, Yelawolf, Dawes, The Black Lips, Phantogram, The Joy Formidable, The Antlers, Kurt Vile and the Violators, Das Racist, Delta Spirit, Trampled by Turtles, The War on Drugs (coming in March), and Fruit Bats, just to name a few.

This is just another reason to pat yourselves on the back for being a part of the Triangle’s taste-making community, whether you’re a venue, musician, concert goer, radio listener, or even blog reader. You’re awesome.

The festival will take place about nine hours away from Raleigh in Manchester, Tenn. on June 7-10.  Tickets will go on sale Saturday, Feb. 18, at noon.

I think I picked the right place to study abroad.

Constellations Festival is relatively young, but that doesn’t keep the event from bringing in some of Indie’s finest acts. 2010′s festival included the likes of Broken Social Scene, Sleigh Bells, Local Natives, The Vaccines, and many other fantastic acts. With hopes high for this year, the festival returned to the University of Leeds Student Union on Nov. 12, and it brought acts including Yuck, Braids, The Big Pink, The Antlers, and Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.

One building, five different proper music venues, and nine hours of cramming in as much music as possible is a daunting task to say the least, and thankfully the folks planning this event allowed for seeing the majority of the largest names with ease. They could have easily planned the event in a way that makes more sense musically. This would include The Antlers opening for Wild Beasts, Yuck opening for Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, and Summer Camp opening for The Big Pink. Thankfully the large acts played back to back in the same venue with the periods in between sets long enough to pop over to another venue and catch the majority of another band’s show.

The culmination of these elements made for one hell of an afternoon and night filled with music, and below are some of the highlights.

Summer Camp

This was by far the biggest surprise of the night. I was amused by the sound of Summer Camp after my initial listen of their debut album Welcome to Condale, but I felt as if there was still much to be desired. Although I had my reservations about the group, they put on one of the most delightful performances of the festival. Their love of 80s nostalgia, although they are probably too young to remember the 80s, brought about a charm to the performance. Famous dance scenes from 80s films projected to a screen on stage alongside the upbeat pop duets with some real swing left me wanting to reevaluate my initial stance on their debut.

 

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

One of the most anticipated acts of the festival did exactly what they needed to do. Consistent throughout, Malkmus and company brought their a-game during their hour-long set. Playing mostly new tracks off of Mirror Traffic, they also revisited some of the earlier solo work from Malkmus. The act left me feeling satisfied and lived up to many of expectations I had.

Yuck

If you are a fan of Yuck’s self-titled debut, you need to see this band live. There are certain things that recorded songs cannot convey, and the sense of raw, distorted power is definitely one of them. The band had some initial technical hiccups after the mics cut out on them toward the end of their last song, and walked off as the stage crew came back on to get everything working properly. The band took it in stride. After walking back on stage frontman Daniel Blumber jokingly announced, “This is our longest encore ever.” The band mixed up their tracks much like in their album, going from one faster paced harder sound to one a bit more reserved. It was the track “Rubber” that stole the show. The 7-minute song provided a visceral listening experience that shook the ears and body to its distorted 90s rock core, something much better understood when experienced instead of described.

 

The Antlers

This band is easily one of the best in filling the room with their atmospheric sound, regardless of size. That’s exactly what they did on this night. Playing the best from their debut and their second album, The Antlers demonstrated how they are able to beautifully construct songs that in some moments lack vocals yet sound structured, and when the vocals kick in it provides a fine compliment to their rest of their truly gorgeous sound.

 

Wild Beasts

It was a bit of a homecoming for the band currently based in Leeds, and their set brought out the largest crowd of the entire night. The large room was packed to the ceiling as the band covered tracks from their entire discography, and the songs both slow and upbeat highlighted the best of the band. Like Yuck, Wild Beasts live proved just how incredibly powerful their vocals are. It felt like a somewhat surreal experience to hear these regular guys produce such operatic and captivating voices. All in all, they gave one of the best performance of the night ending what was already a fantastic day.

1. The Antlers have announced that they are releasing a free ep. The two track ep is entitled, “New York Hospitals” and includes a brief introduction to their popular song, “Sylvia.” Alongside the free ep, the band have released a music video for their song “Sylvia.” (via Pitchfork)

2. Crystal Castles have announced that they are set to release their second full length. Just like the first album, their second will also be titled “Crystal Castles.” The new LP is set to release in North America on June 8th through Fiction records. (via Pitchfork)

3. Wavves‘ front man Nathan Williams has announced on the band’s blog that they are currently in the mixing process for their sophomore album. Williams enthusiastically wrote on the blog, “SOUNDS CARAAAZAAAAAAYYY AND WILL BE OUT THIS SUMMER. SEEEEEE YA!” (via Pitchfork)

4. Supergrass has sadly announced that they will be breaking up. Jokingly the band cited a “17 year itch” for the reason for breaking up. They were working on a new album before the announcement of their breakup. No plans have been announced if they will release this material. The band will make the split official after their upcoming tour is finished. (via NME)

5. Rumors that Rob Pattinson will be playing the role of Kurt Cobain in the biopic about the 90s grunge rocker. Courtney Love’s manager has since denied rumors that the part would be going to the “Twilight” actor. Love told the Canadian Press, “Isn’t that so stupid? Who would cast him?” When given her direct opinion who would be best to play Kurt, Love mentioned both Ryan Gosling and James McAvoy. (Spin)

The year 2009 has undoubtedly been a fantastic one for music, from the techno tones and spaced out beats of Animal Collective’s “Merriwether Post Pavilion” to the satisfying and deep “Tarpits and Canyonlands” from Bombadil. We were moved by new albums by old favorites like in Yeah Yeah Yeahs “It’s Blitz” and we were introduced to new acts that leave us wanting more like in Florence and the Machine’s beautiful “Lungs.” After knowing the huge amount of great releases that this year has left us with, I asked the daytime DJs at WKNC to complete a job that’s a lot easier said than done. Below is a list of the top five albums as completed by many of the DJs you know and love. Enjoy!

DJ Danger Tape

1. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
2. Bowerbirds – Upper Air
3. M. Ward – Hold Time
4. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
5. Japandroids - Post-Nothing

Just John

1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz
2. Fever Ray – Fever Ray
3. A Sunny Day in Glasgow -Ashes Grammer
4. Yacht – See Mystery Lights
5. Here We Go Magic – Here We Go Magic

May Day

1. Bowerbirds – Upper Air
2. M. Ward- Hold Time
3. Discovery – LP
4. St. Vincent – Actor
5. Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career/The Love Language - The Love Language

DJ Elly May

1. Luego – Taped-together Stories
2. Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club – The Beautiful Untrue
3. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below
4. Lonnie Walker – These Times Old Times
5. Gossip – Music For Men

Hot Tamale

1. Florence and the Machine - Lungs
2. Passion Pit – Manners
3. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
4. Matt & Kim – Grand
5. Discovery - LP

DJ Kligz

1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz
2. Florence and the Machine – Lungs
3. Dirty Projectors- Bitte Orca
4. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
5. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone

Riff Raff

1. Regina Spektor – Far
2. Passion Pit – Manners
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- It’s Blitz
4. The Temper Trap – Conditions
5. You and Your Effects – Wire Sharks/Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard – One Fast Move Or I’m Gone

Audity

1. Sonic Youth – The Eternal
2. U.S.E – Loveworld
3. Regina Spektor – Far
4. Metric – Fantasies
5. Veelee – Three Sides/Various Artists – Here Here Compilation

DJ Ones

1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- It’s Blitz
2. Florence and the Machine – Lungs
3. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
4. Animal Collective – Merriwether Post Pavilion
5. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

DJ Matticus Rex

1. Do Make Say Think – Other Truths
2. Pelican – What We All Come to Need
3. Bon Iver – Blood Bank
4. Caspian – Tertia
5. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

Chuck

1. The Antlers – Hospice
2. Megafaun – Gather, Form & Fly
3. Various Artists – Dark Was The Night
4. Antony and the Johnsons – The Crying Light
5. Wilco – Wilco (The Album)

Mick

1. Bombadil – Tarpits & Canyonlands
2. Cotton Jones - Paranoid Cocoon
3. Megafaun – Gather, Form, & Fly
4. Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There Are Mountains
5. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below

DJ Ray

1. Rural Alberta Advantage – Hometowns
2. Brazos – Phosphorescent Blues
3. Here We Go Magic – Here We Go Magic
4. Grouper – Cover the Windows and the Walls
5. The Low Anthem – Oh My God Charlie Darwin

Tommyboy

1. The King Khan and BBQ Show – Invisible Girl
2. Megafaun - Gather Form and Fly
3. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
4. Telekinesis- Telekinesis
5. The Very Best – Warm Heart of Africa

Spaceman Spiff

1. Bowerbirds - Upper Air
2. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
3. Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
4. Harlem Shakes – Technicolor Health
5. The Temper Trap- Conditions