On April 1st we sent our photographer, Daniel Bartel, to The Bottom Lounge to photograph the bands This is Versailles and Light Pollution. For more pictures from the show visit Daniel’s This is Versailles page and his Light Pollution page.

Well, Chicago currently holds 5% of the overall 122 bands announced for Lollapalooza 2010. However, four of the six Chicago acts are not main stage acts, but a part of the “Spinning At Perry” section of the line-up. Head over to Lolla for the full line-up and feel free to post you complaints about how Soundgarden, Green Day, and The Strokes are no longer relevant.

The Chicago bands at Lolla 2010 are Company of Thieves, Skybox, Felix Da Housecat, BBU, Flosstradamus, and Only Children.

Here is the trailer for the new split album between out bliss.city.east and Vidulgi Ooyoo. The album will be released on June 21st by Chicago’s Fake Label.

I was recently alerted to the latest album from The Dogs. It’s called Free Write and it was released this past December. The album can be downloaded for free from the bands website. The Dogs is a collective of young and talented musicians that play a soulful brand of jam band folk rock. This is the bands second album, their self-titled debut was released in November 2008.

BBU is blasting off! This is courtesy of the big boys at Pitchfork.

Townie Records announced today that they will be releasing the debut full-length album, Star, from Hey Champ on July 13th. The album will include the popular single “Cold Dust Girl” and the track below “Neverest”, and other details will be forthcoming. You can download both of those track from the trio’s website for free.

Maps & Atlases’ debut album will be called Perch Patchwork and will be released by Barsuk Records on June 29, 2010. Here is the tracklisting:

Will/The Charm/Living Decorations/Solid Ground/Is/Israeli Caves/Banished Be Cavalier/Carrying The Wet Wood/Pigeon/If This Is/Was/Perch Patchwork

Band is currently touring with bands like Drink Up Buttercup and Frightened Rabbit. Their next Chicago show will be on May 8th at Metro with Frightened Rabbit. Here is a sneak peak at the album and the song “Solid Ground”.

The Scissors recently released the first video from their latest album, You Can Make It Dangerous. The track is called “Let’s Go”, and the video is great.

You can catch Scissors at Subterranean on April 24th.

At SXSW this year YAWN caught the eye and ear of a lot of folks. Here is some footage of their performance at Levis Fader Fort courtesy of the WILD honey pie. They will be performing at Abbey Pub on April 13th with Caw! Caw!.

Everyone I know who has heard the songs of Daniel Knox has fallen in love with his brand of music. He is an undeniable musicial genius and he is opening for The Watson Twins on April 4th at Old Town School. If you missed it you need to check out his live session with Coach House Sounds.

Cast Spells has been everywhere lately and on May 4th Dovecote Records will release their debut ep, Bright Works and Baton on clear vinyl. There will only be 500 copies pressed so you should preorder your copy today. This 12” edition will include an additional track “All Brass” which was not included on the Sargent House release.

Color Card is a three-piece experimental outfit hailing from Chicago, IL. Formed in early 2009, the band pushes the limits of the "indie" genre by incorporating various styles and instrumentation. Recently, with the help of producer/engineer Ben Kaufmann, just finished recording a few songs at Chicago’s own Engine Studios. They have also just made official plans to record a full length starting in May. Listen to new songs ‘Rigors’ and ‘Tourniquet’ and stay tuned for upcoming shows at the band’s myspace page.