[Outside Lands 2012] Top Five Songs We Can't Wait to Hear Live

This Friday marks the beginning of this year's Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco, the fifth edition of the cultural highlight. SKOA will be attending the festival this year, and each day leading up to the festival we will be dishing out a feature focused on the bands set to appear at Outside Lands. Today, our spotlight is focused on the top five songs we cannot wait to hear live at the festival.

No matter how good a band's repertoire is, there is always one song that stands out, one song that automatically comes to mind whenever you think about said band. That recollection is even more potent when you go to see them live in concert, bringing the immediate hope that they will play that song live and it will be even better than the studio quality version. Of all the bands playing at Outside Lands this year, there are five that have songs so damn good that we're shaking with excitement to hear them live. Now, keep in mind all of these songs are relatively new, having been released at various times over the past year or so, but that doesn't mean they aren't highlights in the catalogues of these artists. Rather, it's the opposite. These songs are gems in the handfuls of songs these bands have given us over the course of their long, or short, careers, and they are sure to be as good if not better live in concert. Check out our top five picks after the jump.

NOTE: For all of our Outside Lands coverage, head here.

Bloc Party - "Octopus":

Jack White - "Sixteen Saltines":

Alabama Shakes - "Hold On":

Tame Impala - "Apocalypse Dreams":

Passion Pit - "Constant Conversations":

[Outside Lands 2012] Top Five High Energy Shows to Dance at Till You Drop

This Friday marks the beginning of this year's Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco, the fifth edition of the cultural highlight. SKOA will be attending the festival this year, and each day leading up to the festival we will be dishing out a feature focused on the bands set to appear at Outside Lands. Today, our spotlight is focused on the top five high energy shows to dance at till your knees are trembling.

If you're willing to put the time, effort, and money into going to a show, then it is immediately worth it. One aspect that makes a show much more worth it, though, is if you show up and you're dancing from start to finish. When a band has a stage presence that is so energetic, and when the music is paced perfectly so that you don't stop moving for the entire set, that is when you know it was a good show. Take a look at the top five picks for the most danceable acts at this year's Outside Lands after the jump.

Justice: The moment Justice becomes a topic of conversation, the song "D.A.N.C.E." is almost always brought up. The French house duo has become iconic for their Parisian brand of electronic music, a brand that translates perfectly to the dance-hungry crowd. Whether you're playing Justice at a house party or seeing them live in concert, the dirty, sexy basslines and unwavering barrage of synthesizers plays perfectly into high energy, non-stop dance-a-thons. When it comes to dancing, Justice has you covered. Just make sure you have a full day afterwards to recover.

YACHT: This Portland outfit continiously impresses with their infectious electropop sounds, and in a live setting, it's impossible to prevent the onslaught of dancing crowds. Who wouldn't dance to "Dystopia (The Earth Is on Fire)" or "Shangri-La"? It's all just so damn catchy. YACHT knows how to do danceable, groovy beats right, so do yourself a favor and check them out.

MSTRKRFT: Jesse F. Keeler and Al-P know how to get a party started. Every song they release under the MSTRKRFT moniker is a party in itself, with pounding kick drums, ever-evolving synthesizers and altered voice samples. MSTRKRFT is the kind of thing you would play for a group of people on MDMA, and that's exactly why it's the perfect brand of music to dance until you drop.

Franz Ferdinand: Something about this Scottish quartet is so captivating, whether it's the music itself or their unrelenting and energetic stage presence. Each one of their three full-length albums are full of numerous catchy post-punk tracks, every one of which is perfectly suited for the live stage. If you've ever wanted to dance our heart out during an outdoor concert in the pouring rain, who better to do it to than Franz Ferdinand?

Passion Pit: If you've ever watched footage of Passion Pit performing live, there is no doubt that their catchy pop sounds are perfect for crowds of eager fans wanting to dance to their heart's content. Manners was packed with danceable song after danceable song, and Gossamer is no different. The Massachusetts outfit knows how to deliver a fulfilling pop song, and fans of the band know perfectly well how to dance to it. Seeing this band live is not something you should pass up.

[News] Beck Confirms Details For 'Beck Hansen's Song Reader', Announces Suprise Show At Bimbo's On 8/9/2012

(mockup, not actual photo of the songbook

Today Beck fans around the world are both rejoicing and scratching their heads. In addition to springing a last minute surprise show at Bimbo's in San Fransico this Thursday (8/9) before setting foot on stage at Outside Lands Festival (which if you've been following along our very own Adrian will be attending), Beck has also confirmed details of what his website creepily(?) refers to as the "long-gestating" Beck Hansen's Song Reader, which will be released this December by book publisher McSweeney's.

"A book publisher?" you ask. Yes. Beck has decided to one up everyone releasing cassette tapes and is re-crowning himself as the King of Random by releasing an 108-page song booklet featuring 20 never before released or recorded songs with20 individual full-color song booklets-18 featuring original lyrics, and 2 instrumentals-with covers from more than a dozen different artists.

This is equal parts exciting and frustrating for someone like me, who's only musical abilities is playing an iPod, but as it was noted in the press release: "The songs here are as unfailingly exciting as you’d expect from their author, but if you want to hear “Do We? We Do,” or “Don’t Act Like Your Heart Isn’t Hard,” bringing them to life depends on you. Devoted fans have already created a Tumblr page in anticipation of the inevitable versions of the songs that will hit the internet shortly after the "album" is released.

Tickets for Thursday's show at Bimbo's go on sale at noon PDT today on Ticketmaster. To learn more about Song Reader head over to Beck's website. McSweeny also has more samples of some of the artwork as well.

If you're on Twitter and in need of a chuckle, have a look at tweets with the hashtag #BeckFutureAlbumIdeas courtesy of myself and other fellow Beck fans. Feel free to contribute your most creatively whacked out ideas if you'd like.

[Outside Lands 2012] Three Mesmerizing Light Shows That We Can't Wait to See

This Friday marks the beginning of this year's Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco, the fifth edition of the cultural highlight. SKOA will be attending the festival this year, and each day leading up to the festival we will be dishing out a feature focused on the bands set to appear at Outside Lands. Today, our spotlight is focused on the top three light shows we can't wait to see during the festival.

Every live performance hinges on the talent of the musicians themselves and their ability to convey their music in a live setting, but that's not the only important aspect; a truly great concert reaches that status through the perfect combination of the music itself in conjunction with an absolutely mesmerizing light show. Nothing compares to being front row at a concert and hearing a beloved song live, only to have every kick of the drum met with entrancing flashes of light, each low moment combined with a dimming atmosphere, and every high met with a grand array of colors and illumination. Most concerts have good light shows, but some seem to stand out above the rest. Take a look at the top three picks for this year's Outside Lands Festival after the jump.

Justice: The French electronic duo has made a name for themselves with their grimy, industrial brand of Paris house, and it translates beautifully to the live setting. Justice clearly put a lot of effort into their light show, with every hard-hitting delivery of the drum kick accompanied by pulsating flashes of light, walls of light drawing the drug-fueled crowds into a trance, and colors so vibrant it's impossible not to look away.

What makes their shows truly unique, though, is their use of the cross imagery. It has appeared on the cover of each of their studio full-lengths (both † and Audio, Video, Disco), and during live performances they prop up a massive, illuminated cross right in the middle of their modular synthesizer prop. It's such iconic imagery, and the duo has very intelligently utilized it. What is there to not get excited about?

Sigur Rós: What is there to say about Sigur Rós gorgeous, unique soundscapes? How could I describe my excitement for seeing them live? The Icelandic quartet has been drowning my eardrums in beautiful, ambient music for nearly a decade, and the odd stylings of their music and their personas is what makes their live performances so unique. Jónsi alone is so strange and out there that the allure is beyond questioning.

The idea of witnessing Sigur Rós' live music backed with a colorful, dream-like light show is the truly alluring aspect, though, and online videos aren't enough to satisfy the desire. What could compare to hearing "Sæglópur" amongst a dazzling display of colors and streams of light? I'll just have to see for myself.

Explosions In The Sky: This Texas post-rock outfit might not be the first band that comes to mind when speaking of mesmerizing light shows, but it's the combination of their music and the live setting that excites me. The band has become known for their sprawling, lengthy musical compositions, with echoing guitar riffs, expansive percussion coming together to form beautifully atmospheric and cohesive songs. It's difficult to form such immersive sounds, but these guys pull it off without a hitch. Place this in a live setting, and something amazing is bound to happen.

Explosive percussion, a distant, distorted guitar juxtaposed by a beautifully rhythmic one, captivating sounds coming from all angles amidst a hypnotizing-yet-subtle shower of lights; slow-rising instrumentation building to an eventual frantic climax met with a well-timed burst of illumination. This is what live performances are all about. This is what I want to see.

[SKOA Presents] Some Kind of Awesome's Outside Lands Mixtape

In 10 days, San Francisco will play host to the fifth edition of Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, one of the city's most prominent festivals. With a lineup including acts like Stevie Wonder, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Metallica, Foo Fighters, Bloc Party, Beck, Justice, Jack White, Sigur Rós, Passion Pit, and Franz Ferdinand, it will surely be a highlight of the 2012 festival circuit.

Leading up to the festival, Some Kind of Awesome will be providing preview coverage of what to expect and who we are excited to see, but to kick things off we are offering up a free mixtape for everyone to enjoy. The 22-track Outside Lands Mixtape is comprised of tracks from many of the artists that we can't wait to see live at the festival, all of which have been carefully chosen and organized for your listening pleasure.

Below, you can stream SKOA's Outside Lands Mixtape in full, and make sure to follow us over on 8tracks. As well, the mixtape is available to download for free in two volumes after the jump, where you can also see the full tracklisting for the mixtape.

SKOA's Outside Lands Mixtape from skoablog on 8tracks.

Direct Links:

SKOA's Outside Lands Mixtape: Vol. 1

SKOA's Outside Lands Mixtape: Vol. 2

Tracklists:

SKOA's Outside Lands Mixtape: Vol. 1

01. Franz Ferdinand - "Take Me Out
02. Neil Young and Crazy Horse - "Oh Susannah"
03. Alabama Shakes - "I Found You"
04. Jack White - "Missing Pieces"
05. Yellow Ostrich - "Hold On"
06. Tennis - "Petition"
07. Andrew Bird - "Eyeoneye"
08. Electric Guest - "Awake"
09. Beck - "Que Onda Guero"
10. Big Boi feat. Theophilus London - "She Said OK"
11. Stevie Wonder - "Higher Ground"

SKOA's Outside Lands Mixtape: Vol. 2

12. Fitz and The Tantrums - "Moneygrabber"
13. Tanlines - "All of Me"
14. YACHT - "Shangri-La"
15. Washed Out - "New Theory"
16. Sigur Rós - "Ekki Múkk"
17. Explosions in the Sky - "Human Qualities"
18. Tame Impala - "Apocalypse Dreams"
19. Bloc Party - "Octopus"
20. MSTRKRFT - "Back In The USSA"
21. Justice  - "On'n'On"
22. Passion Pit - "Hideaway"

[News] Outside Lands Festival Reveals 2012 Schedule

Festivals can be difficult to manage, as you're guaranteed to miss at least a few bands you were hoping to see in order to see another. San Francisco music festival Outside Lands is no exception. The official set times for the festival have now been revealed, and you'll have to choose between Beck, The Walkmen, Tennis, or YACHT; Neil Young and Crazy Horse or Justice; Norah Jones or Passion Pit; and perhaps the most difficult of all, Stevie Wonder or Skrillex. Check out the full schedule after the jump, or at the Outside Lands website, and click on the specific day to see a full size version.

Some Kind of Awesome will be present at this year's Outside Lands Festival, so expect some preview coverage in the next couple of weeks, as well as full coverage of the festival before and after it takes place.

Friday:

Saturday:

Sunday: