Summertime is meant for outdoor music festivals all over the U.S. Some are better than others and some just get more hype than others. Personally, the time I look forward to most is when the Pitchfork Music Festival sets up in Chicago's Union Park. A group of my friends and I have gone every year and grab a spot in the shade now known as "Lazy Town". This is where we can rest between sets, eat various deliciousness from the vendors (shout out to Chicago Diner for their amazing vegan options) and stash our bags filled with extra toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Every year I come away with a list of new bands to love and a greater appreciation for bands I'm already a fan of.

This year I'll have to keep my beer drinking to a minimum in order to bring you some coherent festival coverage. The lineup looks great and there are a few bands I haven't seen yet that I'm really excited to check out live. There are too many amazing bands to put into one small blog entry so I'll bring them to you in stages starting with Friday night's lineup which includes:

At 5:00 the Connector Stage will play host to Tortoise whose new album, "Beacons of Ancestorship" was released June 23rd.

Beautiful Love - Tortoise

Catch The Jesus Lizard 7:20 at the Connector Stage. Check out their hard rocking "Nub" off of their upcoming Goat reissue.

Postcoital Glow - The Jesus Li...

Hoboken's finest, Yo La Tengo will be taking over the Aluminum Stage at 6:10. If anyone tries to get in the way of you getting to the front of the stage, just tell them, "I am not afraid of you and I will beat your ass". If they don't get the reference, they have no use for the front of the stage anyway. Download "Periodically Double or Triple" off of their Popular Songs LP.

From A Motel 6 - Yo La Tengo

Headlining Friday's festivities is the always awesome, sometimes hairy, Built to Spill. They'll be hitting up the Aluminum Stage at 8:40.

Randy Described Eternity - Bui...

Tickets were picked up quickly but some are still available for Friday and Saturday. Sunday, Two-day and Three-day passes are all gone so act quickly.

Usher's got a new protégé and he is absolutely adorable. Justin Bieber is about to take the tweeny bop world by storm and pick up where Zac Efron left off. First of all, he's from Canada (which in my mind, can do no wrong). Secondly, for a 15-year-old, he's awfully cute. No, he won't be replacing V-Factory's Nathaniel for my affection, but if he were about ten years older...

Thirdly, the boy can sing. Like the real kind. He is undoubtedly the next big thing - eventhough his watch is bigger than his head.

Today is a remarkably sad day - we've lost two of the most iconic pop culture figures around. We've got Farrah Fawcett, the Charlie's Angels star whose poster adorned the walls of boys and burgeoning lesbians everywhere. And Michael Jackson, whose dance moves, sparkly glove and red leather jacket I aspired to have (um, and his jeri curl too but don't tell anyone).

They will both be missed by the world and my heart goes out to their families. Here is the giant glove experiment's video of MJ in better days and some great old Farrah footage: