Foxygen’s 2013 release We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic was easily one of the most surprising releases of this year so far.  The new album, which featured a surprising amount of folky elements, showed how talented the band really could be.  So talented, in fact, that they were booked for a headlining slot at Champaign-Urbana’s Pygmalion Music Festival.  Their show, among many others, is one that I am definitely looking forward to, and I think you should, too.  Pick up tickets for Pygmalion here, look out for WPGU.com’s coverage of the event, and last but not least, stream Foxygen’s new video for their track “No Destruction” below!

Earlier today, The National dropped the first video off of their next album Trouble Will Find Me.  The track, titled “Sea Of Love” is a little more upbeat than I’m used to from these guys, but all in all, I think this album is shaping up to be a good one.  Check back to WPGU.com for an official review of the new album, and in the mean time, check out the new visuals below!

Everyone’s favorite Chicago indie music stars are back with their first video from Soft Will as well as a slew of new announcements.  The new video, for the song “Varsity”, features a young couple “exploring a dream world of young love” as Pitchfork so eloquently puts it.  Along with the new video, which you can watch below, the band also announced the shifting of their album release date from June 11th to June 25th as well as some new tour dates.  Let us know what you think of the Alex Del Rio Ortiz-directed visuals below and click on over to Pitchfork to check out the new tour dates!

Wow is this huge news.  Not only is it huge that Neutral Milk Hotel is reuniting for a tour this coming Fall, but also that they are hitting college towns.  When this announcement was made a couple of weeks ago, I though surely they wouldn’t be coming to UIUC.  It seems that outside of Pygmalion, all of the good fairly large tours seem to pass us by and I’m not sure why.  Not this time, though.  Jeff Mangum and Co. and opener Elf Power are coming to Canopy Club in Urbana on October 15th!  No word yet on when tickets go on sale, but check back to Canopy Club’s website frequently to see when.

Vampire Weekend have seemingly perfected the art of the “lyric video”.  The videos for both “Step” and “Ya Hey” both picture the lyrics laid over picturesque images of New York City (and in this case, popping champagne).  Their third video from their upcoming album Modern Vampires of the City is called “Ya Hey” and is almost certainly destined to be a classic (OK, maybe I’m getting a little ahead of myself here…but it’s damn good).  The album is out on May 14th and can be pre-ordered here.  Check out the video below and let us know what you think!

The good folks over at Pygmalion Music Festival announced some of the headliners for their annual festival in Champaign-Urbana…and damn, is it a good one.  Foxygen, Dawes, Major Lazer, Chance The Rapper, Youth Lagoon, and The Head And The Heart as well as local favorites Elsinore and Grandkids all headline the festival, which runs from September 26th through the 28th.  Check out the official lineup and announcement here.  Tickets will be available starting this Tuesday, with more acts being announced through the early summer.

Here it is, guys.  The moment you’ve all been waiting for.  Though we still have to wait a week for The Great Gatsby to hit theatres, thanks to the good people over at NPR, we how have a full album stream of the soundtrack.  As with most Baz Luhrmann films, the soundtrack is star-studded and impressive, including cuts from The xx, Lana Del Rey, Jack White, and Jay-Z to say the least.  Stream the full album below and let us know what you think!

Stream the soundtrack here!

Kurt Vile’s latest album Walkin on a Pretty Daze has been one of the most pleasant surprises for me this year.  Mr. Vile has a history of making good music, but this album has really stuck out to me for some reason.  The new video for the project is for the song “Never Run Away” and features the long-haired frontman in a white suit standing on top of a school bus (and much more).  Check out the video below and let us know what you think!

What’s better than Vampire Weekend playing a full concert with a ton of unreleased material?  Nothing.  Not a single thing on this world is better.  Last week, we posted about how Vampire Weekend was coming together with Steve Buscemi to put on a live concert for American Express in New York City.  Leading up to the show, the band and Mr. Buscemi put out six hilarious webisodes to promote the show.  The webisodes are hilarious and can be viewed here.  The full stream of the concert is available streaming here, and if you watch the entire thing, I promise you won’t be disappointed.  VW’s new album Modern Vampires of the City is out on May 14th.  Check back to WPGU.com for a full review at that time!

Thom Yorke may be the best musician of all time.  I know I have an English bias, but this man fails at nothing he does.  Radiohead is legendary, and that goes without saying, but Yorke’s solo work and collaborative work with Atoms For Peace has been one of the most pleasant music experiences of this year.  Atoms For Peace just released heir first project, Amok, but with new tracks coming out after, one can only hope that we will have an entirely new album sooner rather than later.  Stream the new track below!