To start things off, we’ve got DJ Mustar

Founded by Robb Nansal and Justin Oberst in 1993, what is known today as Saddle Creek began as Lumberjack Records.  Taking the name from Saddle Creek Road, a street that cuts through the east side of Omaha, it is the where the beginnings of the scene that propelled the label to early success can be found. Local residents such as Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes, Desaparecidos, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and Monsters of Folk) along with Tim Kasher (Slowdown Virginia, Cursive, The Good Life) were given the opportunity and support to showcase their talent from a very early age.

Saddle Creek Records is credited with creating a style of music known to many as “The Omaha Sound” which in many ways could be attributed to Mike Mogis, whom has produced and performed with many of the labels mainstay acts.

The first release credited to Lumberjack/Saddle Creek was in fact cassette by a 13 year old Conor Oberst in 1993, but it wasn’t until 2001 that the label really began to experience heightened interest. The Faint released their breakthrough album ‘Danse Macabre’, which took them playing to 300 people in their home town to supporting No Doubt on a national arena tour in a matter of weeks. The following year Bright Eyes released his commercial breakthrough, titled ‘Lifted or the Story Is in the Soil Keep Your Ear to the Ground’ which saw him touted as the “new Bob Dylan”. Last but not least Saddle Creek released ‘The Ugly Organ’ by indie rockers Cursive, whom also received a positive reception.

Not restricting themselves to local acts, Saddle Creek have released artists from all over the States, such as the Jenny Lewis led Rilo Kiley , Eric Bachmann (formerly leader of Archers of Loaf and Crooked Fingers),  Two Gallants, Tokyo Police Club and The Rural Alberta Advantage.

In 2005, ‘Spend An Evening with Saddle Creek’, a documentary detailing the first ten years of the record label’s history, was released. The DVD features extensive interviews with the Saddle Creek bands, archival footage, and rare live performances and in 2007, the label opened their own music venue named Slowdown (after the group Slowdown Virginia), located in the very heart of Omaha.

PUJOL – Providence

Releasing a plethora of gritty, garage rock singles and cassettes over the past two years on Jack White’s Third Man Records, Nashville’s Infinity Cat Recordings and Turbo Time Records among others, PUJOL has now partnered with Omaha’s Saddle Creek.

Click HERE for a free download of “Providence”

The Mynabirds – Body of Work

Indie pop act The Mynabirds return with ‘Body of Work’, a new track from their eagerly awaited upcoming album ‘GENERALS’, out June 5th via Saddle Creek Records.

Click HERE for a free download of “Body of Work”

Icky Blossoms – Perfect Vision

Icky Blossoms is Derek Pressnal (of Tilly and the Wall fame), joined by singer Sarah Bohling and guitarist Nik Fackler.  The produce slow-burning pop melodies infused with dreamy electronics.Their self-titled debut LP, which is produced by Dave Sitek, will be out July 17 on Saddle Creek Records.

Click HERE for a free download of “Perfect Vision”

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Doseone starts things off with a beautifully abstracted piece of glitchy synth pop. “End & Egg” is a kaleidoscope of sounds that Doseone manages to pull together. The track has an elegant ebb and flow to it, always changing directions and taking melody in unexpected directions.

Crocodiles follows with something a bit more straightforward. There guitar driven rock is tight and on point on “Endless Flowers.” It’s the kind of song perfect for cranking when you’re driving with the windows down on a sunny day.

Active Child gives Julia Stone‘s “It’s All Okay” a chilling remix, giving it a goth-meets-Kate-Bush type sound. Active Child’s instrumentals a rich and textured but Stone’s vocals are still the star of the show here.

Family Band’s “Night Song” is an exercise in minimal arrangement, building a moody atmosphere from a few powerful elements.

Morgan Page gets the party started with his remix of MEIKO‘s “Leave the Lights On.” A pulsing synth melody and bouncing bassline will get your feel tapping and your head nodding. When MEIKO’s vocals kick in the track takes off like a dancefloor spaceship.

MV & EE bring us back to Earth with their jangly roots rock. “Sweet Sure Gone” is bittersweet and psychedelic. Is the band’s name a set of initals? Perhaps of a now-ex couple? That’s what I image at least. Listening to this song feels like drunkenly ruminating on the sweet times of a relationship that has gone sour.

Pears wrap up our playlist with their sunny, upbeat “Saldanha Bay.” Saldanha Bay is a harbour on the southern cost of South Africa. A lush aquatic environment, it’s a paradise for watersport and is a lush ecosystem of wildlife. “Saldanha Bay” is a bright and fun instrumental track that could easily function as a soundtrack to a nature program about its namesake.

Paper Diamond

Recent Mad Decent label signing Paper Diamond is known for making many different kinds of music. Since starting out in January of 2011, Paper Diamond has been on the rise, soon finding himself on a globetrotting, music making escapade, with non-stop shows, festival plays, and around the clock studio sessions. Sounds pretty great right?

With one EP and a handful of notable remixes under his belt, Paper Diamond‘s hard-nosed work ethic is about to pay off – he has been secretly amassing over 100 original songs/beats/instrumentals and is collaborating with a variety of  artists, singers, rappers, and MCs all over the country. The time has now come for an unveiling.

Paper Diamond‘s new EP Wavesight will be released on Thursday May 3rd 2012 on Diplo’s MAD DECENT/JEFFREES imprint. The EP features three heavy hitting original tracks that show Paper Diamond‘s musical versatility.

MiMOSA

San Francisco producer MiMOSA has a unique style, creating tracks that are somewhere between hip hop beats and UK electronic styles like garage and dub. With a keen ear for sonic experimentation his tracks manage to be loads of fun while sounding like little else out there.

In just a few short years he’s shared the stage with standard-bearers likeBenga,Skream,Rusko,Datsik, Glitch Mob, Pretty Lights, Bassnectar and Flying Lotus. He’s also played festivals and shows across North America, including Coachella, Symbiosis Gathering, Burning Man, Decibel Festival, and Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

Though June 20th is the official first day of summer, to me Memorial Day served as the start to the long, easy days of the season. As a long weekend, Memorial Day is the perfect way to relax and get in the proper mindset to enjoy a slightly slower pace of life.

These songs from MP3.com’s free music database all bring to mind sunshine and laid back vibes.

So whether your headed to the beach or bbq’ing some burgers and dogs – get outside, enjoy the warm weather, and crank some tunes!

Based in Eagle Rock, California the duo have stocked well over 200 releases. Without owning to one genre NNF is applauded for seeking the product of hardworking, soulful, creatively talented people. Both Britt and Amanda agree they have different tastes in music, so finding artists that overlap and they collectively have passion for is vital.

Holy Balm – Take It

Holy Balm are an experimental three-piece who have had a bold evolution into an upbeat and daring live band. Hailing from Sydney, Australia, ‘Take It’ can be found on the groups forthcoming debut album titled ‘It’s You’

Click HERE for a free download of “Take It”

Maria Minerva – These Days

Maria Juur, alias Maria Minerva, is a psychedelic, avant-pop and lo-fi music producer and artist from Tallinn, Estonia, currently based in London, United Kingdom. ‘These Days’ is the opening track from ‘Cabaret Cixous’, released via NNF last year.

Click HERE for a free download of “These Days”

Sapphire Slows – Green Flesh Mob

Tokyo-based bedroom producer, Sapphire Slows began making music early 2011. Recorded simply with one lap top and some keyboards. ‘Green Flesh Mob’ can be found on her debut EP ‘True Breath’ out now.

Click HERE for a free download of “Green Flesh Mob”

White Poppy – In The Window

White Poppy is the experimental solo project of Vancouver based musician Crystal Dorval. ‘In The Window’ can be found on her debut release titled ‘I Had A Dream’.

Click HERE for a free download of “In The Window”

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Electric Forest is notable for the fact that $2 from every ticket sale is donated to the Grant Township Land Improvement Fund, so by attending the festival you are helping to preserve the natural setting in which it takes place.

Electric Forest’s musical lineup focuses on jam bands and electronic music. Bluegrass heavyweights like String Cheese Incident, who will headline for three nights, and The Travelin’ McCourys will provide rustic vibes to match the natural surroundings (the festival, true to its name, does take place in a forest).

When the sun goes down the party will really get started with some of the biggest names in electronic music hitting the decks. To get you ready for the action we’ve got free mp3 downloads from two of the festival’s headliners - Sound Tribe Sector 9 and Bassnectar.

Sound Tribe Sector 9

Since forming over a decade ago in Atlanta, STS9 have become one of the most famous instrumental electronic rock bands in the world. With countless festivals and concerts under their belt, Sound Tribe have a well deserved reputation as one of the most exciting live acts around.

STS9 are a particularly appropriate act for the Electric Forest Festival, as they (perhaps more than any other band) straddle the line between jam band/ bluegrass and electronic music. Sound Tribe will be headlining two nights, so there is sure to be plenty of their uplifting, spacey jams.

Bassnectar

Combining sound and force with weight, the Bassnectar (a.k.a. Lorin Ashton) concert experience engulfs the senses – it is as physical as it is auditory. A Bassnectar show is all about the shared experience of reveling in the power of sound.

As Ashton describes it, “We are so blessed, and so deeply fortunate to be alive and awake right now…it’s a basic truth, but it’s very powerful. I think privilege confers responsibility, and Bassnectar is a reflection of that opportunity to give back; the motion of my cells bouncing back at the world.”

To get a sense of the mind blowing sonic textures of a Bassnectar show, check out this video from his 2011 summer tour:

To check out the full Electric Forest Lineup, click HERE.

To open things up, 2:45 offer their hauntingly beautiful track “The March.” Airy female vocals and beautiful guitar work give this track  an arresting sound.

Gold Fields get the good vibrations going with their infectious song “Treehouse.” A head bobbing bassline  and inventive percussion keep the song moving at a steady clip and the catchy vocals suck you in and bring you along for the ride.

Sunny Ali & The Kid match a heavy beat with lugubrious vocals on “Chai” (an ode to their favorite tea?). In the vocals, uncertainty turns into subtle triumph as the song reaches its climax.

DJ wiz Canblaster gets the party started with his remix of Surkin‘s club track “Don’t Go Away.” Big beats and big drops are sure to get people moving on this one.

Continuing the dancefloor fun are New York house music specialists Still Going. The duo used to be on DFA’s roster but have since branched out on their own with a new label. “D117″ is one of the first tracks they’ve released autonomously, and it’s a massive one. A rolling bassline and funk guitars propel the beat forward as soul diva vocals rise on top, climbing higher and higher until they break through the clouds.

PHILM switches things up a bit with some dark, heavy rock. Ominous with a psychedelic twinge to it, “Held In Light” twists and turn, eventually exploding into and all out heavy rock assault.

Created by London/New York based Robin Carolan (formally a contributor to influential music blog 20jazzfunkgreats) in 2010 after the renowned German based electronic label Kompakt offered him the foundations to start his own label. Tri Angle is credited for taking little know acts and introducing them to the music world with almost unprecedented approval.

Tri Angle’s debut release was titled ‘Tri Angle Records Presents: Let Me Shine For You‘ and included six Lindsay Lohan covers by artists such as Oneohtrix Point Never, Laurel Halo and oOoOO. Soon followed were two EP’s that would shows the labels quality. ‘Sea Birds’ by Pennsylvanian Balam Acab and the difficult to say self titled release by oOoOO, gained great reviews along with contributing to the labels association with ’Witch House’, 2010′s most memorable genre.

Other artists such as Chicago based lo-fi R&B act How To Dress Well and one of the most in demand Hip Hop producers around at the moment Clams Casino have also seen releases in the past year, further cementing the label as varied as it is interesting.

With future releases planned for artists such as Evian Christ, AlunaGeorge and Howse, it is looking like a great year for the ever evolving label.

Howse – VBS

A recent Tri Angle signing, Howse is the project of 22year old Nathaniel Oak from Providence, Rhode Island. Taken from his forthcoming EP ‘Lay Hollows’ out on May 28th, its a track rife with skittering rhythms, chopped vocals and elements of both juke and jungle musical styling.

Click HERE for a free download of “VBS”

Evian Christ – Payo Rent

Formally an unknown producer uploading tracks to YouTube, Evian Christ was revealed to be 22 year old Joshua Leary from the UK. After releasing a free mix tape through Tri Angle a few months ago, fans alike are waiting to see and hear what he does next.

Click HERE for a free download of “Payo Rent”

Water Borders – What Wiwant

Water Borders is a duo based in San Francisco. Taking inspiration from industrial and UK dance productions, ‘What Wiwant’ comes across as a darker, denser relative. Found on the acts debut album ‘Harbored Mantras’ out last year through Tri Angle.

Click HERE for a free download of “What Wiwant”

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Describing his band’s rapid rise to fame, frontman Luke Pritchard said, “It was really quick how it all happened, we did a demo with a mate of ours in London, which we sent off to one guy to get some gigs, and he turned out to be a manager. He rung us up and it kind of went from there.”

What the guys may have lacked in experience, they clearly made up for with natural star power. To wit, when trying to land their first gig, Pritchard and drummer Paul Garred walked into a venue and talked with the manager with nothing more than the clothes on their back to land themselves a spot on the bill. Surprisingly, it worked.

“So we went in to get a gig, we don’t have a demo,” said Garred, “And this guy told us, ‘Well, you can’t get a gig if you don’t have a demo, but I like your hats, so I’m going to give you a gig.”

Must have been some hats!

If you’re attending Bonnaroo this year, be sure to check out The Kooks in what’s sure to be one of the highlight performances of the festival.

For more information on this year’s Bonnaroo and free music from the musicians that will be there, check out our past Bonnaroo coverage.