sweetgreen | Mixtapes, online

What is the best way to start the summer? A music festival. May 1st, the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, will be hosting the Sweetlife Festival. The venue isn’t bad for being in Maryland. We all remember the Freefest. The weather will be great, unless it rains.

What music do they have in store? Lets find out.

Modern Man

D.C.’s own, Modern Man. You can download some of their songs from their website. ‘The Almost’ is a decent tune. Judgment is still out since they are relatively new to the scene.

U.S. Royalty

Another D.C. homegrown, formed in 2008 and recently released their debut album ‘Mirrors’ at the beginning of 2011. They will be good. Check them out below and other videos on the YouTube, if you like what you hear, you can buy their album in digital form for $8.

Walk the Moon

Walk the Moon from Cincinnati, Ohio. I have been listening to their album about once a day since I started writing this post. (I bought it off of Bandcamp. If you don’t know about Bandcamp, it is great, only takes away15% from the artist as opposed to iTunes who takes like 200%.) ‘Anna Sun’ is the feature here however the rest of the album is equally good. The sound is fresh and upbeat with the perfect infusion of pop, great spring and summer music. I would have too much seasonal depression to appreciate it in the winter.

Theophilus London

Theophilus hit the scene in 2008 with the release of his mixtape ‘Jam!’ and followed it up with ‘Charming Mixtape’ in 2009. You can stay up to date with this upcoming artist at his blog. Previously unreleased track, ‘Century Girl’ (check it out below) was just posted to his blog last week. It is worth a listen or two. Anybody who claims Prince as one of their influences is going to be big.

Ra Ra Riot

Talk about the best use of a violin and cello in an indie rock/baroque pop group, Ra Ra Riot from Syracuse, New York. It is great stuff. A band I heard of in the past, but didn’t really listen to them until writing this piece. The song you will probably recognize by them is ‘You can tell’, another equally as good is below.

I look forward to seeing Alexandra Lawn playing the cello standing up and you should too.

Cold War Kids

Lead singer Nathan Willett certainly has a unique sound. It is definitely indie rock but with a little bit of a blues feeling. Wikipedia tells me they are sometimes labeled as a Christian band. For the nonreligious, whenever one hears of a band that gets labeled Christian, you feel like they are trying to pull one on you and then people make a stink. I say you be the judge. Whatever your thoughts, they have great lyrics and a great sound and will be great at SweetLife.

Crystal Castles

Known for their energetic live shows, they will most certainly not disappoint at Merriweather. Hailing from Canada, you know they are unique and creative. Last year they released a cover of Platinum Blonde’s ‘Not In Love’ featuring Robert Smith of The Cure. Check it out below in a Soundtrack Redux.