Manchester Orchestra Releases New Track "Top Notch" From Forthcoming Album

Photo by Andrew Thomas Lee

We here at Myxem are longtime fans of Atlanta-based alt-rock outift Manchester Orchestra. They've been touring heavily for the past year or so giving fans a tast of their new material and recently contributed a track to the soundtrack of the Oscar nominated film "Dallas Buyer's Club." Today, via Youtube, they released the first official recording from their next album "Cope", which is due to be released on April 1st. The track sounds just like the Manchester we've come to know and love, which leaves us anxiously awaiting their next record. Check out the song after the break.

Shaky Knees Music Fest Announces 2014 Lineup

The Lumineers headlined Shaky Knees '13.
Image courtesy of Shaky Knees

The onslaught of festival lineup announcements continue. This time, it is for the Shaky Knees Fest in Atlanta, Georgia held May 9th-11th. In only its second year, this festival is drawing major names and I would honestly be surprised if this is not a festival we'll be hearing for a while. It has a lot in common with Hangout, as reported earlier, but its differences are most definitely its strengths.

Modest Mouse, Conor Oberst, and Portugal. The Man, swing through Hotlanta before continuing on to Alabama for Hangout, but the undercard and other headliners make this an easy and obvious choice. The National, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Spoon, The Gaslight Anthem and Trampled by Turtles are obvious highlights, but for sake of brevity, I will forego simply typing the entire lineup; with some exceptions: Dawes, Lord Huron, Lone Bellow, Hold Steady, Blitzen Trapper, and the Airborne Toxic Event. There, guys, I'm done, I promise.

As mentioned, Shaky Knees is located in Atlanta, GA. Unfortunately, there is no camping, but I think it may be refreshing to be able to shower and use an air conditioner at a music festival. Staring down the barrel of thirty, I attribute this entirely to my advanced age. The bright side, here, is that tickets start at $150, so even with the added cost of a hotel room for the weekend, you're paying about the same as you would for a larger scale festival with the benefits of a hotel room.

Deer Tick, Man Man, Foals, San Fermin, Apache Relay, Mutual Benefit, Wake Owl, Cold War Kids - I'm sorry, it's just a really impressive lineup. You can find it in its entirety on the Shaky Knees Music Festival's website, as well as purchase tickets and find out a little bit more about the fest.