The 20 Most Life-Affirming Things That Happened At Hangout Fest
Credit: Caesarsebastian’s Instagram
Come to Hangout Fest for the three-day lineup of live music on the beach, stay for the fried shrimp, friendly faces, the sunsets that’d make a long-dead impressionist painter weep, Stevie Wonder headliners (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), infectiously kind people, and, oh, I don’t know, the two-and-a-half-hour sets by Stevie Wonder and Tom Petty, and the other positively life-affirming things that happened, such as…
+ TWENTY ONE PILOTS DOING THIS:
+ CHRISSY TEIGEN AND DILLON FRANCIS DOING THIS:
Credit: MTV
+ AND THIS:
Credit: T. Kyle MacMahon
+ WOLFGANG GARTNER’S CAT TATTOO:
Credit: MTV
+ THESE TWO CUTE GIRLS IN CAT SHIRTS!
Credit: Justineshan’s Instagram
+ THIS GUY:
Credit: Tamar Anitai/ MTV
+ THIS GUY:
Credit: T. Kyle MacMahon
+ AND THESE GUYS:
Credit: Tamar Anitai/ MTV
+ VINNY PHOTOBOMBING EVERYONE ON THE BEACH!
Credit: Tamar Anitai/ MTV
+ SWAY AND STEVE AOKI DOING THIS: EDM headliner and MTV host, or ’80s buddy cop movie?
Credit: MTV
+ ELLIE GOULDING BEING A STARRY EYED GODDESS:
Credit: T. Kyle MacMahon
+ AND PREACHES CIVIL RIGHTS BEFORE “SAME LOVE”:
+ THE F*CKING ROOTS COVERED “JUNGLE BOOGIE”:
+ VH1′S JIM SHEARER HANDLES BASSNECTAR BALLS!
+ CHRISSY TEIGEN AND KATHERINE WEBB SHOVING SHRIMP IN THEIR PRETTY LITTLE MOUTHS:
+ THIS AWESOME GUY IN A NINTENDO POWER GLOVE!
+ OH YEAH… ELLIE GOULDING NEEDING YOUR LOVE…
CHECK OUT MORE OF OUR FAVORITE HANGOUT FEST 2013 MOMENTS AFTER THE JUMP!
+ BLOC PARTY PERFORMING “BANQUET,” BECAUSE HELLLLLLOOOOO!!!!
… AND, IF YOU’RE STILL NOT TOTALLY CONVINCED, STEVE AOKI MAKING IT RAIN CAKE AND CHAMPAGNE…
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Album Premiere: New Politics, ‘A Bad Girl In Harlem’
New Politics explore single life in NYC on their sophomore release.
Copenhagen rock trio New Politics are naturally gifted at getting hearts racing — just reference their shouty, high-energy tracks like “Yeah Yeah Yeah” and “Nuclear War.” Heck, listen to their entire 2010 self-titled debut while you’re at it, which comes packed with shrieking punk-tinged auditory references to Beastie Boys, Rage Against The Machine, The Hives, and Thirty Seconds To Mars. Now, after spending a few years in New York City and releasing their rowdy garage rock anthem “Harlem” last November, New Politics are gearing up to drop a brand-new album, A Bad Girl In Harlem, which you can listen to in full before its release.
Listen to New Politics’ A Bad Girl In Harlem after the jump.
As might be the case with any new-to-NYC bands, New Politics’ time on the East Coast — in hipster paradise Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to be exact — takes center stage in David Boyd, Søren Hansen, and Louis Vecchio’s latest disc. Largely about David’s newly single life and outlook, Harlem revisits NYC’s historic upper district on its second track, and moves on to contemplate Euro-homesickness and possibly a long-distance relationship in the third track, a “whoa-oh-oh”/hand-clapping pop anthem called “Berlin.” “I miss you, Berlin/ The taste still lingers on/ I hope we meet again, I hope it won’t be long,” cries Boyd. We know you’re homesick, guys, but we DO hope you’ll stick around the States a little longer. If it helps, I have some cute, single friends on speed dial!
A Bad Girl In Harlem streets May 21 on RCA Records. Stream it below!
+ Listen to New Politics’ A Bad Girl In Harlem.
Photo credit: Dave Austria
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MTV Artist To Watch: Jake Bugg
Meet MTV’s latest Artist To Watch: freewheeling alt-folk wunderkind Jake Bugg.
When The Telegraph calls you “an East Midlands Bob Dylan,” you know you’re doing something right. I’m referring to, of course, 19-year-old alt-folk singer Jake Bugg (aka Jacob Edwin Kennedy), a very young artist with a distinctly older, wiser sound. While other guys his age are busy emulating the British invasion via ’90s boy band throwbacks *coughOneDirectioncough,* Bugg seems more interested in re-energizing vintage genres, and sonically channels everyone from — yep — Bob Dylan to The Beatles (albeit LATE Beatles) on his self-titled debut album.
Read more about Jake Bugg after the jump.
Born and raised in Nottingham, England, Bugg started playing guitar at 12 years old with some encouragement from his uncle Mark — AND a particular Simpsons episode featuring Don McLean’s “Vincent (Starry, Starry Night”). Although he enrolled in music courses, Bugg was a more freewheeling type (gosh, who else is like that?), and eventually dropped out to write his own songs. And sure, Jake might shrug his shoulders at those Dylan comparisons (he told The Telegraph, “Bob Dylan’s cool, you know, he’s great, but he’s not a major influence”), but musically there’s just no escaping it: Bugg might as well be singing “Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man” while puffing on a harmonica in the East Village.
Now signed to Mercury Records, Bugg has popped up in all kinds of (mostly British) venues: In 2011, Bugg earned a spot on BBC’s “Introducing” stage at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival, and he opened for Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds at the Belsonic Music Festival in Belfast. To top that off, Bugg’s 2012 self-titled album reached No. 1 on the U.K. charts, and he nabbed a British Breakthrough Act Brit Award nomination to boot.
And speaking of his full-length disc, Bob’s — sorry, BUGG’s — album opener, “Lightning Bolt” comes packed with thumping bass drums, tinny acoustic guitar, and anxiety-ridden lyrics: “Morning, it’s another pure gray morning/ Don’t know what the day is holding/ When I get uptight/ And I walk right into the path of a lightning bolt.” Bugg may also draw further comparisons to contemporary folk-pop singer M. Ward on “Two Fingers,” a jangly, upbeat tune with a grim plotline: “He’s down in the kitchen drinking White Lightning/ He’s with my momma, they’re yelling and fighting.”
Now one of MTV’s Artists To Watch for 2013, Bugg is currently on tour in Europe, but plans to hit the States in early fall with a stop at New York City’s Webster Hall in September. Get your Bugg/Dylan fix below, and give his new album a spin (preferably on vinyl) while you’re at it.
+ Download Jake Bugg’s “Two Fingers.”
+ Watch Jake Bugg perform “Two Fingers.”
+ Watch Jake Bugg perform “Lightning Bolt.”
Photo credit: Mercury Records
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Justin Bieber Pulled A Quick Crotch Grab At The 2013 Billboard Awards (PHOTO)
Justin Bieber cements his Billboard win with a crotch grab.
Justin Bieber had a difficult decision to make while accepting his 2013 Billboard Award for Best Male Artist (!!!): Either let his baggy, drop-crotch pants fall to the stage (keep calm with that visual, Beliebers), or pull a classic crotch grab to keep them up. Well, at least that’s what we think is going on in the above photo. Either that, or Justin is giving a little shout out to Rihanna (’cause we know how much that girl lovvves her crotch grabs). Secret coded crotch grabs are the new wink — pass it on!
The AB-solutely in-shape singer not only took home the coveted Billboard honor, but he also DOMINATED the stage with a performance of “Take You”! And when we say “dominated,” we mean he showed up in a “Spinal Tap”-esque glass capsule thingy and danced like a BAWSE in leather pants. And without getting too gross, we really don’t blame Justin for grabbing himself! Like we said: He’s in leather pants, AND he just danced his a$$ off — obviously that’s one heck of a sweaty work out. Are you putting this together? Leather pants + Sweat = Horrible. Honestly, if we were Justin we would’ve taken off the leather trousers ENTIRELY and accepted the award in our underwear. Or not worn underwear at ALL like Ke$ha! NO ONE deserves that kind of chafing!
Check out more 2013 Billboard Music Awards coverage, including must-see photos and red carpet style, and read up on the night’s winners.
Photo credit: Getty Images
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