L.A. Times - Pop & Hiss — The Roskilde Festival in Denmark, billed as Northern Europe’s biggest music and culture festival, usually coincides with Independence Day in the U.S., and this year, veteran composer-arranger-orchestrator-raconteur Van Dyke Parks decided to weave s... more info

WFMU's Beware of the Blog — Van Dyke Parks is just about the last artist you'd ever expect to see wandering around among the fashionable hipsters ("young moderns" as he calls them), pizza cones, keg backpack-lugging beer servers, and overflowing port-a-urinals at the 3-day-... more info

Guardian Music — This Memphis band are a budget version of the Beach Boys, aiming to capture California's finest in their early glory days Hometown: Memphis.The lineup: Bennett, Al, Ben, Michael and Will.The background: Who would you rather see – the three survivin... more info

Guardian Music — Queen Elizabeth Hall, LondonThe auditorium is pock-marked with empty seats, but then there's something oddly fitting about Van Dyke Parks performing a rare solo show when most of London is looking the other way – their gazed fixed on the football. ... more info

Pitchfork — WHAT: RoskildeWHEN: July 1-4WHERE: Roskilde, DenmarkWHO: Prince, Pavement, Gorillaz, Vampire Weekend, LCD Soundsystem, the National, Robyn, Patti Smith, Dirty Projectors, Titus Andronicus, Beach House, Drake, Them Crooked Vultures, Van Dyke Parks... more info

Pitchfork - Forkcast — Memphis, Tenn., widescreen indie-pop outfit Magic Kids are getting their full-length debut, Memphis, ready for release August 24 on True Panther. "Summer" is our first taste of the album, and it's plenty expansive, complete with string arrangements t... more info

Guardian Music — Jay-Z, Manchester & BirminghamFor all his beef with the band, artistically speaking, Jay-Z has quite a lot in common with Oasis. Like Oasis, he made his name with exciting, aspirational music. And like Oasis, when he achieved the regal status he crav... more info