CBGB Festival is almost here - WIN TWO PASSES FROM FUCKING NOSTALGIC!!!

With a lineup that includes Guided By Voices, Superchunk, Red Kross, Agnostic Front, Fishbone, David Johansen, D Generation, and tons of other great artists new and old, you could probably guess that we're pretty excited for the inaugural CBGB Festival that takes over New York City next week from July 5-8. The ambitious multi-venue festival's goal is to "help new artists grow, gain visibility and be seen by the music industry." Considering a majority of the 300 bands on the lineup are relatively obscure, it seems that the organizers have done a good job staying true to that goal.

Badges for CBGB Festival are still available over at CBGB's website for very affordable prices. We'll be running an extensive preview to highlight the best of what's going down throughout the four-day festival. In the meantime, you have the chance to WIN TWO PASSES TO CBGB FESTIVAL RIGHT HERE. Details are below...

To win two passes to CBGB Festival: Send an email to chris@fuckingnostalgic.com with "CBGB" in the subject line and your full name in the body by Monday, July 2 at 9am. A winner will be selected at random with instructions on where/how to pick up your two passes. Your email won't be used for anything other than entering the contest. Please make sure you will be in New York City for the festival! GOOD LUCK!!!

CHAPPO released debut LP - win tickets to tonight's record release show!

CHAPPO, the psychedelic-pop four-piece we took notice of a few months ago, released their debut LP Moonwater today (purchase on iTunes). A listen to the album on Spotify yesterday revealed that it's definitely something to get excited about--listen to the album below for yourself. To celebrate, the band will be playing an album release party at Dominion in the East Village tonight. Wanna go? Well we have a pair of tickets to give away! Details are at the bottom of this post.

The band is about to embark on a tour that will bring them down the east coast, including two performances at Bonnaroo, and seven dates with the similarly-natured of Montreal. All tour dates are below. CHAPPO also recently premiered the NSFW video for "Hell No" at IFC.com. You can watch that below as well.

To win two tickets to tonight's show: Email chris@fuckingnostalgic.com with "CHAPPO" in the subject and your name in the body. A winner will be selected at random and contacted by 3pm. Good luck!

Contest: Win a pair of tickets to David Bowie + Elvis Presley's Birthday Bash @ LPR!

Ever wonder what it would be like to celebrate the birthdays of two iconic musicians in a Vegas-style three ring circus setting? If you answered yes, then you probably live a much more lavish life than I. But that also means you'll be thrilled to attend Le Poisson Rouge's party this Sunday (1/15) in honor of David Bowie and Elvis Presley's birthdays!

As per LPR's website:

Oh! You Pretty Things is proud to present a birthday bacchanalia for rock's two greatest capricorns Elvis Presley and David Bowie, This Ambitious Orchestra along with Michael T and the Vanities perform larger-than-life arrangements of hit songs from their catalogue with Formika and Queen V as your emcees for this Vegas- style three ring circus.

The spectacular stage show also features a tribute to the King by Eddie Clendening and the Blue Ribbon Boys from the Broadway hit "Million Dollar Quartet", plus an exciting cast of guest singers including Lady Circus, Hickry Hawkins, Corey Tut, Rob Roth, Saphin and many more, along with burlesque by The Flying Fox and Brewster while DJs Twig the Wonderkid, Rockin' Daddy-O, and James David spin rock n roll, rockabilly, and glam-rock all night.

Tickets are still available for $15 in advance and $20 day of. However, you can easily win a pair of tickets from Fucking Nostalgic! All you have to do is send an email to chris@fuckingnostalgic.com with "contest" in the subject and your first and last name in the body. Don't worry, your email will not be used for anything other than for entering this contest. A winner will be selected at random and notified by 1pm tomorrow.  Good luck!

Future Nostalgia: Win a pair of tickets to CHAPPO @ Mercury Lounge this Saturday

If one were to give just a single listen to Brooklyn-based CHAPPO's extremely addictive "Petrified Sand," off their latest EP Plastique Universe II: Pisces Princess, you'd probably be able to pigeonhole their influences in an instant: MGMT, Neon Indian, even Neil Young. But forget for a second who they sound like on the first track... when you dig deeper into the EP and realize that their sound is ultimately defined by their lead singer's extremely dynamic voice--which delves into a Prince-like falsetto, contrasted by random bouts of Marc Bolan-esque growls--you're reminded of just how few bands these days are willing to take risks that many are afraid of.

Luckily for those of us in New York City, CHAPPO will be headlining Mercury Lounge tomorrow night (12/17), and we have a pair of tickets to give away so you can check the band out for yourself. To enter, all you have to do is send an email to chris@fuckingnostalgic.com with "CHAPPO" in the subject, and your first & last name in the body of the email. A winner will be selected at random by 4pm today and notified with details. Your email will not be used for anything other than entering the contest. Be sure to follow the band on their Twitter page to keep up to date on future shows, and below, check out their video for "Come Home," an undeniably catchy track off their last EP Plastique Universe. Good luck, and see you at the show!

Contest: Win A Copy of "Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History Of Grunge" By Mark Yarm

From great vinyl to freaky-looking action figures of rock icons, Fucking Nostalgic has the goods when it comes to cool giveaways. And in light of all of the recent attention being paid to the early '90s grunge scene due (largely) part to a certain album's upcoming 20th anniversary, there's understandably a lot of interesting writing and analysis of that particular era floating around right now.

Enter Mark Yarm, former senior editor at Blender and author whose name is freakishly similar to that of Mudhoney frontman Mark Arm, who just this week released his long-awaited modern rock history tome, Everbody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge. The book contains exclusive interviews with more than 250 musicians, record executives, and scenesters who all provide their thoughts on the seemingly sudden rise of Seattle as the '90s alt-rock capital of the world in often hilarious, often sad, and always intimate detail. Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Alice In Chains are among the bands prominently featured throughout, and at over 500 pages, Everybody Loves Our Town is sure to make for an engrossing read.

...Which is why we're giving a copy away to one lucky Fucking Nostalgic fan on our Facebook page! As always, go to the corresponding Facebook post to enter - this time around, you'll need to leave the name of your favorite song from a grunge band based out of Seattle during the late '80s or early '90s for a chance to win. For example: "Would?" by Alice in Chains (below). We'll pick a name at random at midnight ET on September 12 and contact the winner for shipping info.

Good luck!

The Stooges have new material, Fucking Nostalgic has an Iggy action figure to giveaway!

If you weren't completely aware, we are absolutely massive fans of The Stooges. Having seen them live at Lollapalooza in 2007, and nearly suffocating in the process, I can say without a doubt they are one of the greatest live bands of all time. Their last record, The Weirdness, was unfortunately not too great--but that doesn't mean word of brand-new Stooges material doesn't excite the bejesus out of us.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Iggy Pop had the following to say of his work on new Stooges material with Raw Power-era guitarist James Williamson (who rejoined the lineup after the death of original guitarist Ron Asheton):

Yeah, we started trading stuff by MP3 back and forth as soon as we started. We actually did get together this spring. He came to my house in Miami and we wrote 10 things. I think we like about half of them. One of the songs, "Requiem For A Heavyweight," is a really nice piece of music that James wrote on the dobro. We played it at a tribute concert to Ron Asheton in Michigan earlier this year. I was so nervous that I sang the first half of it an octave too high by accident. I sounded like I was the singer in America. I've always liked "Sister Golden Hair" and "Horse With No Name," but I'm not that guy.

To celebrate the possibility of a new Stooges album on the horizon, we have a very awesome Iggy Pop action figure to giveaway (I know, it's weird). It was donated to us by FN contributor Geanna Barlaam after spotting it at Toys 'R' Us (I know... it's weird) and we're giving it away to one lucky winner over at our Facebook page. All you have to do is comment your favorite Stooges (or Iggy Pop) song over there and a winner will be selected at random and contacted for shipping details. Good luck!

Contest: Win a copy of the new Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks record

In case you haven’t been able to tell, we’re really excited about the new Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks record, Mirror Traffic. Personally speaking, Malkmus’s Face The Truth was a bit of an obsession of mine when it came out in 2005, and I’ve fervently followed his solo career since. Oh yeah, and he was also in this band Pavement that you might have heard had some sort of reunion last year. Anyway…

What better way to celebrate the release of a new record from one of our favorite artists than an old fashioned giveaway contest? Head over to our Facebook page for details on how you can win a vinyl copy of Mirror Traffic, the double LP (well, three sided) that comes out next Tuesday, August 23. Don’t have a turntable? Well the album also comes with an MP3 coupon so you’re covered. Your record will also come with a free poster and will be shipped directly from Matador Records (shipping only to the United States… sorry!). A winner will be selected at random and contacted for shipping details.

If you want to give Mirror Traffic a listen, head over to NPR where you can stream the album in its entirety. If you’re in New York City next Thursday (8/25), Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks will be playing two “stripped down” performances at two different record stores, which you can read more about here. And there are also still tickets available for their show at Terminal 5 on September 26.

Contest: “Like” this post, win a copy of Deerhoof’s Milk Man on limited edition strawberry vinyl!

If I had to name one band that changed my perspective of indie music post-college, it would definitely be experimental noise-psych group Deerhoof. It was around 2005 when I first heard The Runners Four, probably a suggestion off of Pitchfork I took somewhat hesitantly, and I think it took me a few tracks to understand what they were fully going for, but the song that cinched the deal for me was “Siriustar.” Easily one of the heaviest and, um, “cutest” tracks cut by Deerhoof, the song features one of the most absolutely ear-splitting guitar solos in rock history (sorry to be hyperbolic, but the ending of “Siriustar” is just incredible). If you haven’t heard that album yet, definitely pick up a copy today (the vinyl sounds amazing by the way). And sorry for going off about The Runners Four, since this post is regarding their other masterpiece, Milk Man.

The very awesome Polyvinyl record label has just reissued Milk Man on limited edition “Strawberry” vinyl (a reference to album’s somewhat disturbing artwork) in celebration of Deerhoof’s upcoming performance of the album at All Tomorrow’s Parties London this July (alongside other Fucking Nostalgic favorites Dinosaur Jr. and The Flaming Lips). Only 500 copies of the strawberry wax edition of Milk Man will be available, but you can win a copy directly from Fucking Nostalgic by following the details below! Deerhoof will also be making an appearance at the All Tomorrow’s Parties - I’ll Be Your Mirror Festival in Asbury Park, NJ this fall. As we mentioned on Monday, passes are still available, now with the option to see Jeff Mangum (of Neutral Milk Hotel) play an additional show on the Sunday that closes the festival. Get on that if you haven’t already, because it’s going to be a blast.

Contest details: Head over to our Facebook page and “Like” us if you haven’t already. Then simply “Like” this very post and you’re entered in the contest to win one copy of Deerhoof’s Milk Man on 180g Strawberry Vinyl. Don’t have a turntable? For shame! (just kidding) (sort of) The album also includes an mp3 download code, so you’re set to put this mind-bending album directly onto your iPod. A winner will be selected at random at midnight tonight and contacted for shipping details. Good luck!

Contest: “Like” this post to win a copy of Sebadoh’s Bakesale

If you’ve paid attention to this site, you’d know that we’re pretty huge fans of Lou Barlow, and all things Barlow related; Dinosaur Jr, Folk Implosion, Sebadoh… hell, we even got to interview the guy a few weeks ago. So in celebration of the upcoming reissue of Sebadoh’s classic, Bakesale, we are giving away a copy of the album on glorious vinyl to one lucky fan! Details of the reissue, via Sub Pop’s website are as follows:

“Sebadoh’s 1994 album, Bakesale, was the band’s fifth full-length album, arguably their best and certainly their most acclaimed. For this 2011 deluxe reissue the original album has been re-mastered and a full CD of b-sides, EP tracks and rarities, all from the same era as Bakesale, has been added. All of which was overseen by Sebadoh’s Lou Barlow and Jason Loewenstein. The album is also being reissued on LP for the first time in years and will include the bonus material as a digital download.

If you pre-order the Bakesale reissue, you’ll receive for free (no charge to you, is what I’m saying), a poster featuring the cover art! The poster will have a couple of folds in it from shipping, but it will be resplendent nonetheless.”

How to enter this contest: All you have to do is head over to our Facebook page and “like” this very post. You have until 11:59pm EST on July 13th to get your "like" in. A winner will be selected at random and contacted for shipping details. Bakesale will be released on June 14th. Check out the full tracklisting below. Good luck!

"Like" this post to win a copy of Thurston Moore's Demolished Thoughts

Thurston Moore's brand new solo album Demolished Thoughts comes out Tuesday, May 24th on Matador Records (if you haven't been paying attention, we've brought it up a lot). In support of the the release, Thurston will begin his tour tonight at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, and tickets are still available. He will also play a free show at Other Music at 8pm on Monday, May 23rd at 8pm. Good luck to those who try to make it in.

If you're too low on cash to pick up a copy of Demolished Thoughts, or just feel like winning something, Fucking Nostalgic has a copy of the album on double LP vinyl to giveaway. All you have to do is head to our Facebook page and "like" this post. If you don't have a turntable, hang your head in shame (just kidding), but know that it's okay as the vinyl includes a voucher to download the album in mp3 format. A winner will be selected at random and contacted for shipping details. The contest ends at 11:59pm Monday night. Good luck!

In the meantime, you can listen to Demolished Thoughts in its entirety over at NPR and purchase it at iTunes. Below, take a look at the groovy inner vinyl artwork and the video for lead single, "Benediction."