One of my favorite things about summer is all the new, fun, exciting jams that are perfect for the warm weather. I’ve had a lot of luck this time around with having a really easy time finding new music that I like to make this playlist grow into something huge!
I’ve also posted my summer playlists two years in a row (this being the third), so this is a fun tradition for me. Click these links to check out my 2015 and 2016 playlists.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go to Mamby On the Beach, a music festival in Chicago that is just three years old. I had not gone in previous years, although artists appearing on the lineups like LANY, Bishop Briggs, Chet Faker, Phantogram, Betty Who and Gallant (to name a few) caught my interest in years past. I decided to go this year on a whim because once my best friend and I realized that Local Natives was on the lineup, we knew we had to go.
45 months is a long time for an artist to disappear in between their album cycles. It took 45 months (or approximately 1325 days) for Lorde to return to the world, to grace our presence with the release of her second album, Melodrama, following the massively successful debut of Pure Heroine. Any artist taking that long of a break in between albums brings the uncertainty of the sound or direction of an album, and many people wondered how and if Lorde (real name Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor) would be able to deliver a another album as massively powerful as her debut.
There are albums that you enjoy, that you listen to multiple times immediately after they are released and encourage your friends to listen to. There are albums created by musicians that you’ll support on tour and see the live show, you’ll post a tweet or a boomerang of the show and that’ll be that. But there are also albums that you feel are so poignant in your life in the specific moment that they are released that will become staples in your music library for the rest of your life.
September 20, 2010 was an important day for pop culture – even if you don’t know it.
Just over 7.5 years ago, Harry Styles – previously known as one fifth of the massively successful, brilliantly devised boy band otherwise known as One Direction – auditioned for the British television show The X Factor. At just sixteen years old, Styles is hardly recognizable to the multidimensional superstar that he has become – appearing onstage with a mop of brown curly hair, wearing a taupe cardigan and matching scarf, quietly sharing his college plans – (he was going to study sociology, law and business in University) – and that he developed his passion for music after becoming the singer of his high school band, “White Eskimo.”
What do you get when you combine the synths of The 1975, the lyricism of Bon Iver and the voice of Imogen Heap? The Japanese House.
Amber Bain, the mysterious, 21-year-old woman behind the equally as mystery stage name (inspired by her fascination with a property in Cornwall, England where she visited as a child that was reminiscent of Japanese tea houses), has been making waves over the last year for her ethereal, other worldly music that gained the attention of George Daniel of the 1975, who partnered with Bain to produce her music. If you hear familiarities in their sounds, that’s pretty much why. Bain signed with Dirty Hit Records in late 2015.
Another Lollapalooza is among us this year and if I do say so myself, I am so impressed with the 2017 lineup and even MORE impressed at how spot on my predictions were! (Check out the post here: I had 40 out of 67 artists correct, which equates to about 60% accuracy).
Although I’ve heard a TON of mixed opinions on the strength of this year’s lineup, I have to say that I think it’s fantastic for the same reason I always say it’s great, the undercard! While a number of other music festivals like Boston Calling, Bonnaroo and Coachella have strong lineups this year (despite Coachella taking a major blow after Beyoncé backed out of her headlining spot due to her pregnancy), it’s debatable that none of their lineups are as stacked from top to bottom like Lollapalooza’s (in my opinion).
If you have a 1-day pass, multiple one days, or even 4-day pass to Lolla this year and are looking to find some artists to check out, continue to read. I compiled this list after listening to every single person on the lineup (yes I am obsessive) and found some gems to take a listen to. I can definitely state with 100% confidence that I’m going to have a full weekend with a ton of conflicts to sift through.
Below are a few of the MANY artists I would love to see this year at Lolla: some are musicians I have liked before the lineup announcement and some are some gems I discovered while digging through the ridiculously overwhelming lineup.
