The end of day two of the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona comes to me almost as a surprise – somewhat like being awakened from a hypnotic trance. You can watch our video summary of day two. Here’s my written reconstruction of what happened:

First was Art Brut, an English and German indie punk rock group named after French painter Jean Dubuffet’s definition of outsider art. Lead vocalist Eddie Argos was keen to add more information to the stories told through his lyrics, such as past adventures in the Van Gogh Art Museum, and how he is no longer afraid of sex. In fact, he joked that most of the lyrics were about taking his clothes off. Drummer Mikey Breyer plays standing up, which might seem unconventional, but at least he’s not hidden behind any cymbals. He uses two high-hats, one open the other closed, to make up for his one-footed drumming style.

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Excitement is hard to contain for the upcoming Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain from May 28-30. The schedule has been released, and tickets are on sale right now. The schedule is ridiculously huge, with simultaneous shows of must-see bands spread out across no less than six stages. A quick look at the lineup immediately presents some difficult decisions.

Some of the highlights on Thursday 28 include Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Marnie Stern, The Jesus Lizard and The Bug. Friday, the Pitchfork stage looks like a good hangout, with The Mae Shi, but don’t stay put for long as you’ll also want to try and check out Shellac and Tokyo Sex Destruction. The festival schedule is available by artist name, stage, and day, or you can take a look at the full schedule (pdf). Tell us your favorite bands after the cut:

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The spastic Los Angeles band, The Mae Shi, has a new video for their staple song “Lamb and The Lion” which is off of their outstanding debut, HLLLYH. As a big fan of these guys, I’d say that a video of knights decapitating one another as they ride on elephants and lions makes perfect sense as a visual from them.

The Mae Shi is really a group of kids who look and sound like they’re on PCP during a live set anyway, so why not make a cartoon that involves swords and blood? Cool! Oh, boys will be boys. Check it out below and let us know what you think!

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The Bronx and TV on the Radio announce American tours, and the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona comfirms over 80 bands of the highest quality. Check out the next live performances:

• If you’re in Europe in May, you should see the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona. The full list of confirmed bands includes: Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, The Bad Plus, The Bug, Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, Bloc Party, A Certain Ratio, The Jesus Lizard, The Mae Shi and well, pretty much every great band there is! Seriously, the list goes on and on, and the festival looks like it’s going to be awesome. Check it out, and feel your jaw go slack. [TMT]
• Following the success of last year’s album Dear Science, TV on the Radio will be touring the US and Canada beginning in May, between their Coachella and performance in April and Bonnaroo show in June. They will pass through Oakland and Vancouver before ending up in New York and Washington D.C., so check out the dates, and be sure to not miss the opportunity! [TMT]
• The Bronx will be supporting their recent release The Bronx (III) with a North American tour starting 23 March. Watch out for their powerful rock in San Diego, LA, San Francisco and New York in April. Here is the full tour list, see where they’re playing near you! [NME]

We’ve picked out favorite bands of the week and give you all the details, but now it’s time for you to pick yours and tell us what you think! Your votes and comments will help us decide next weeks picks.

Here are this weeks FAVs: 3Oh!3, Pendulum, The Presets, or The Mae Shi

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If one were to combine nerds with ADD and rebels who aren’t posers, then feed them PCP, the result would be Los Angeles’ spastic punk band, The Mae Shi. Perfect for the digital clip generation, The Mae Shi write songs that are short enough for a person with the most severe case of attention-deficit disorder, yet contain impressive craftsmanship. With vocals sounding like they’ll be damaged any minute, unwarranted drumming, hysterical guitar riffs, and disorganized song structures that are frustrating because one can’t follow but love because it’s just salacious chaos, this band yields an awesome “holy shit” from any listener.

Check out The Mae Shi in our new BEATCRAVE FAV series where we pick one awesome band a day, give you all the details you could ever want, and then let you vote for you favorite pick every Friday.

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