FILTER likes music. There's no hiding it. We also like our own opinions a whole bunch, so once a week we give the masses a fleeting glimpse into our selective stereos and Internet browsers to let them see firsthand what fuels our endless devotion. We like to think of it as community service. We're selfless like that. So without further ado, here are the official, inarguable, objectively good FILTER Weekly Picks—providing everything from new LPs you should be spinning to the latest good-fer-you videos. Yeah, we're good at what we do:

Talking Heads - "Once In A Lifetime"
Why: Monday was David Byrne's 60th birthday so I'm picking "Once In A Lifetime" by Talking Heads. - Mike Bell





Father John Misty performs "Only Son of the Ladiesman" on Letterman
Why: Even for those of us who have loved J. Tillman's sad-acoustic-folk solo releases over the years, his newest, Fear Fun (under the moniker "Father John Misty"), is a welcome surprise in many ways. Take this captial-P Performance on Letterman last week. In Fleet Foxes, Tillman was the class clown in the back row to a large extent, but now he's come out of hiding from behind his drum kit, exulted by his pipes, storytelling and showmanship. A little bit of swagger and flirt (and, frankly, he's wearing the hell out of that suit) even had Dave blushing. - Breanna Murphy





Stonefly Inn
Why: Best fly-fishing in Montana - Alan Sartirana





Blood Orange - "Champagne Coast"
Why: A friend talked to me about blood orange earlier this year, and I never took the time to check it out.  Then I read a NY Times article about devonte hynes, blood orange and this video.  Why am I such a late player in this game?  He’s the coolest!  I’m obsessed. - Monique Gilbert
 

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Third Man Records never ceases to release the most coveted products, whether albums, turntables, or (now) posters. This week, the label is offering a "Triple Decker" Jack White poster, which was created, designed and printed by Bryce McCloud and Matthew Johnson. 

When the individual posters—one black, one blue, and one white—are stacked on top of one another, they create a silhouette of White's profile and the label's logo in the lower right corner. The black poster is letterpressed with images of a "peacock and vulture egg," and the blue and white posters are laser cut. The white poster dons White's autograph. The label's site describes this "triple decker" as a "new innovation in the visual arts."

However, in order to get your hands on all three posters, you'll need to travel to Nashville. The white and blue posters will be sold at White's performances at the Ryman Auditorium tonight and tomorrow. Only 75 of each will be available per show. The black poster will be sold at Third Man Records today starting at 3 p.m., as well as tomorrow. There will be 75 posters available on both days.

If you can't make it to Nashville, you can watch a short video on the making of the posters below.

Manchester, Tennessee's Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival has announced its lineup schedule. Naturally, there are some scheduling conflicts, but that is to be expected for such a massive roster.

Bonnaroo, which will take place from June 7-10, will feature performances by Radiohead, The Beach Boys, Bon Iver, The Shins, Skrillex, Feist, Santigold, The Roots, St. Vincent, Flying Lotus, and many, many others.

You can check out the festival's schedule here.

MEN
Echoplex (Los Angeles, California)
May 10, 2012

The crowd unleashed a barrage of “I love you"s when MEN took the stage Thursday in their Chicago-Bulls-meets-Pierrot matching outfits. JD Samson and the gang smiled back at their adoring audience before counting in their first song that night at the Echoplex.

Now, the only way I can describe how deep the bass was booming is to say that it not only rattled my ribcage and kicked out my eardrums, but it also seemed to vibrate a hidden space inside my nose. I'm not proud to admit it, but for the first time in my concert-going career I felt it necessary to use earplugs, so after their first song I raced to the bathroom, bought a pair of earplugs from the attendant through pantomime, and made it back in time to catch the last half of MEN's second song. (Thanks, JD, for popping my concert-earplug cherry).

JD introduced their third song by welcoming their new keyboardist and bassist Natasha, and added that the band had only met her in person right before the show. Yet, by the way the group laughed and danced on stage, you would have never of guessed that this was the first time that MEN had ever been a quartet or that JD had doubted whether or not anyone would show up considering that MEN hadn't released a full-length album since their 2011's Talk About Body. But the night's crowd of devotees couldn't care less about that. In fact, it was the crowd which kept shouting out requests for songs from even further back in MEN's catalogue.

One of the songs requested was their 2009 single “Credit Card Babies” which started out with drummer Lee Free double-fisting drumsticks and maracas as he set the tribal beat on a pair of bongos. JD and Natasha produced sweeping synthesized effects as Michael O'Neill's percussive guitar got the crowd dancing.

However, the highlight of the night was “Who Am I To Feel So Free,” a driving electroclash anthem that inspired the crowd to dance while unifying their voices to sing along to the LGBT song of praise. The night continued in similar fashion and it was encouraging to see MEN bring riot grrrl ethics to a genre of music that has traditionally acted as a vacuous backdrop for MDMA-fueled absurdities. But it wasn't until MEN left the stage after their encore that I realized that their goal that night was to prove that LGBT politics could not only be accessible, but that they could also be danceable.

Following the release of Little Broken Hearts, Norah Jones will be making multiple television appearances. On June 13, Jones will appear on NBC's Late Night With Jimmy Fallon; and on June 15, she'll perform on The Today Show. Jones will kick off her 2012 North American tour following these appearances.

Jones will also have an episode of VH1 Storytellers that will air on June 8. A performance of "Happy Pills" will also air on The Rachael Ray Show on Friday, May 18. It seems like no matter what channel you turn to, Jones' face will grace your screen.

Little Broken Hearts, which was produced by Danger Mouse, was recently released to much critical acclaim. Make sure to catch her live performance as her tour comes through your city. Check out the tour dates below.

Norah Jones tour dates:

June
22, Memphis, TN - Mud Island Amphitheater
23m Atlanta, GA - Fox Theater
24, Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
27, Vienna, VA - Wolf Trap
28, Philadelphia, PA - Mann Center
29, Rochester, NY - Kodak Hall

July
01, Boston, MA - Bank of America Pavillion
02, Wallingford, CT - Oakdale Theatre
03, New York, NY - Central Park SummerStage
06, Toronto, ON - Massey Hall

August
07, Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl
10, Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
11, San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands Festival
12, Lake Tahoe, NV - Harvey's Outdoor Arena
15, Bend, OR - Les Schwab Amphitheater
17, Portland, OR - Edgefield Winery
18, Seattle, WA - Marymoor Amphitheater
21, Salt Lake City, UT - Red Butte Garden
23, Denver, CO - Red Rocks

October
07, Minneapolis, MN - Orpheum Theatre
08, Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theater
09, Chicago, IL - Chicago Theater
11, Des Moines, IA - Civi Center
12, Omaha, NE - Orpheum Theatre
13, Kansas City, MO - Midland Theatre
15, St. Louis, MO - Peabody Opera House
16, Tulsa, OK - Brady Theatre
19, Austin TX - ACL Moody Theatre
20, Houston, TX - Bayou Music Center
22, Dallas, TX - McFarlin Auditorium
23, New Orleans, LA - Mahalia Jackson Theatre
 

We have some fortunate news for those living in Los Angeles and New York: Conor Oberst has announced two live dates to his 2012 tour schedule. Oberst will be performing at Royce Hall in Los Angeles on September 27 and at Carnegie Hall in New York City on November 21.

These dates will follow Oberst's reunion tour with Desaparecidos, his Nebraska-based post-hardcore band. The five-piece hasn't toured together since 2002 and have only released one album, Read Music/Speak Spanish. Desaparecidos will perform as their original lineup, featuring Oberst (vocals, guitar) Landon Hedges (bass guitar, vocals), Matt Baum (drums), Denver Dalley (guitar), and Ian McElroy (keyboards).

Tickets for Oberst's solo date at Royce Hall performance will go on sale Friday, May 18 at 10 a.m. Tickets for Carnegie Hall will go on sale Monday, May 21 at 11 a.m.

Conor Oberst solo tour dates:

July
06, Ottawa, ON - Ottawa Bluesfest
24, Bethlehem, PA - Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center *
25, Albany, NY - Swyer Theatre at The Egg
26, Fairfield, CT - StageOne ^
27, Newport, RI - Jane Pickens Theater *^
29, Newport, RI - Newport Folk Festival

September
27, Los Angeles, CA - Royce Hall

November
21, New York, NY - Carnegie Hall

Desaparecidos tour dates:

August

09, Minneapolis, MN - 400 Bar #
11, Omaha, NE - Maha Music Festival
25, Seattle, WA - Showbox at The Market
26, Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
29, San Francisco, CA - Regency Ballroom

*Dawes support
^ First Aid Kit support
# Little Brazil support

On May 25th, FILTER 48 will hit newsstands, but we'll be making our big cover announcement at the end of this week. We can't hardly wait, so we're doing a small pre-unveil of the gorgeous art that accompanies our cover stars.

Inspired by stereoscope images from the turn of the 19th century, we think the art's got a really cool vintage feel to it—though you could never, ever say that about the band itself! Stay tuned for Friday's announcement to see who we nabbed for our summer cover, as well as who else will appear in the pages of FILTER 48, on stands at the end of the month.

Post-hardcore/indie-rockers, Braid, will be heading out on the road this summer and we have decided to present the whole shebang!

Taking the stage about nine times, the Illinois group will hit cities like San Francisco, Philadelphia, NYC, Boston and more with Owen, Aficionado, and TS & The Past Haunts opening the show on select dates.

The influential band that called it quits in 1999 and after a much-needed break, decided to patch things up in mid-2010 when they decided to release something special for Record Store Day. Since then, the group has re-emerged more energized and with plans to release a new Braid album in 2013.

In the meantime, you can catch the guys at the dates below.

August

07 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop  *
09 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom  *
10 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer  *
11 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg  *
12 - Boston, MA - Middle East  *
16 - San Diego, CA - The Irenic  #
17 - Pomona, CA - The Glasshouse  #
18 - West Hollywood, CA - Troubadour  #
19 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's  #

* = w/ Owen, Aficionado
# = w/ Owen, TS & The Past Haunts 
 

It is official; a new Animal Collective album is on the way.

There hasn't been a ton of information given, but we do know that Centipede Hz will be released on September 4th via Domino. Check out the tracklist below and watch a very...interesting teaser video here.

Tracklist:
 
Moonjock
Today's Supernatural
Rosie Oh
Applesauce
Wide Eyed
Father Time
New Town Burnout
Monkey Riches
Mercury Man
Pulleys
Amanita

Iceland's Sigur Rós will be releasing their new album, Valtari, in a few weeks and in preparation, the band has invited fans to participate in Valtari Hour.

So what is Valtari Hour? This is a special time when you can listen to the band's new album via a local radio station, at your local record store, or through a special listening platform that the band built on their site.

NPR affiliate stations will be previewing Valtari as well as posting the full album stream on their websites. For those who choose to listen to Valtari at their local record store with fellow Sigur Rós fans, an album pre-order will score you a limited edition Valtari print, and one lucky winner in each store will receive a Valtari prize pack, which includes a Valtari vinyl test pressing, a copy of the very-sold-out RSD exclusive Hvarf/Heim LP on clear vinyl, and a custom, limited print.

You can get all the details and tune in to the band's special stream right here.

Below you can find a list of participating radio stations (more TBA) and participating retail stores.

Valtari officially arrives May 29 via XL Recordings.

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