May 1 brought a festival with a difference to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD, as a diverse roster of bands — including the Strokes, Girl Talk, Cold War Kids, Lupe Fiasco, and Crystal Castles — came together to celebrate music in an eco-conscious fashion.

Organized by the DC-based Sweetgreen group, the Sweetlife Festival put the spotlight on organic and locally sourced foods, healthy living, and environmental awareness. The carbon-neutral event drew a huge crowd that remained ecstatic despite intermittent rain, aware, most likely, that the precipitation was as good for the earth as the forward-thinking practices the festival endorsed. Or perhaps everyone was just blissed out on the consistently solid performances from everyone on the bill. [Photos by Gabriela Filasky]

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We all know Girl Talk rips apart the classic tracks of yesteryear to form the classic tracks of today. But who knew just how detailed those mash-up were? Well, thankfully someone does. The Mashup Breakdown site runs through all the tracks on the new Girl Talk album, cueing each new sample as it slips into the mix, creating an awesome visual. In more ways than one.

On our sister site, My Secret Playlist, we invite our favorite musicians, DJs and producers to write about eight songs that are inspiring them right now. You can hear some of the tunes that the artists select and discover a whole heap of cool music along the way. Some of the musicians to compile a Secret Playlist so far include The Dandy Warhols, The B52s, Donna Summer (disco, baby), Girl Talk, Cold War Kids, Moby, The Presets and The Vines.

Murray Lightburn, frontman for Canadian indie group, The Dears, gave us the rundown for our sister site, My Secret Playlist, on the tunes that are currently on high rotation on his inner-ear iPod. He started with the Air song, Mike Mills [listen below]: ‘I’ve been working from my home studio and have a few tracks that I play in it because I am very familiar with how they sound. Mike Mills, aside from being a well-composed track, sounds really good. When the strings come in towards the end, I am wishing that I had written it’. Read the rest of The Dears’ Secret Playlist, along with Playlists by Girl Talk, Cocoon and Weezer, among many ohers.

We invited Greg Gillis, aka Girl Talk, who aside from being the DJ of the moment is also the remix whiz behind tracks from Beck, Tokyo Police Club, and Grizzly Bear, to give us a rundown on the songs he’s wearing out right now for our sister site, My Secret Playlist. He started off by propping Beyonce’s anthemic single, Single Ladies [listen below]. Go figure! ‘This is one of my favorite Beyonce tracks ever. It has so much energy, and the chorus gets dark in a great way. The clapping never stops. The video is a flawless execution of a performance style clip. It’s perfect’. Read the rest of Girl Talk’s Secret Playlist.

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