The long-awaited ASTERISK* MUSIC FESTIVAL is here! It’s our brand-new, genre-blurring musical experience featuring an all-star lineup of the most essential, very real names in music. Finally, a music festival that dares to ask: “Wait… who?”
Grean Been? Making their long-awaited festival debut. Courier Pigeons? Taking flight as we speak. William Nilliam? Back from hiatus and better than ever. Target Demographic? They’re definitely real. One thing’s for sure: you won’t want to miss this. Find out more info about the artists on the lineup and buy tickets below.
Slushie Situation will get us all DRENCHED once again with a comeback festival set for the ages! The New Jersey quartet has won back their diehard fans (Slushheads, natch), with the release of Blue Tongue — their triumphant eighth LP, and first after a six-year hiatus that marked plenty of interpersonal band drama among the old high school friends 23 years into music-making. Here, they’re back to the basics, which means tunes that are frenetic and hopelessly romantic.
William Nilliam | Twelve years after their critically reviled debut …but if I curse you out in front of your grandma, then I’M the bad guy all of a sudden, Aarhus, Denmark based Murderfolk/Goblinjazz octet William Nilliam are back! Their sophomore album Oh, wow, now here you go bringing up old sh*t explores brave sonic territory, with Vocalist/Contrabassoonist Ayodele Houshmazadeh’s signature falsetto throat singing carrying listeners though a journey of self loathing and intense non-GMO rhetoric. Their single “but i don’t WANT to cure cancer, i WANT to turn people into dinosaurs” became the first RIAA certified Diamond² song in February, with sales of over 100 million copies. Harpsichordist Tom Impaler became the first person to be followed by all 1.6 billion users on TikTok.
Abandoned Ambulance | Patchfork says “This combat rap, Andalusian art-flogging duo from Paris capture the sound of plugging a fork into a wall just to see what happens.” The blog’s most famous journalist had planned to write a feature story about how the group’s evolution was reflected in her own emotional journey but a new corporate overlord turned it down in favor of an exclusive interview with a former teen pop star famous for being awful.
Lenticular Wolf | No one liked them in the 90’s when they first came out because literally every other band back then was better than them, but Gen Z has revived interest in their forgotten work. Now there’s an entire NTS Radio channel devoted to bands who cover them.
Internet Pants, the stage name of Dutch singer-songwriter Julia Visser, makes songs as ornate, soft and delicate as a doily. While she rarely raises her pristine voice above a whisper, when she’s amplified the whole universe draws in closely. It’s like a private serenade to sleep, even in a vast field of sweaty festivalgoers. You won’t need earplugs, but you might need tissues for this one.
Grean Been | This Gen Z text-punk band has built a rabid following based on their grammar-free lyrics and meme-coded song titles. Featuring former members of Blue Wail and Yellow Yurt.
Courier Pigeons | This hard hitting duo combine hip-hop and garage rock in a way that never fails to find a home with their message. Drawing from their working class upbringing in Manchester, England, they combine an urbane wit with an extensive love for the Northern Soul culture and, with it, an ability to find celebration in the everyday.
Bathroom Matthew | You’ve heard of bedroom pop, well what about bathroom pop? Bathroom Matthew, aka Bath Mat, thinks smaller, quieter and more echoey. Recorded entirely in the upstairs bathroom of lead singer Annie Gazer’s parent’s summer home in Vermont, Bathroom Matthew’s new album, Vessel is reverberates into the bathtub of our hearts.
Target Demographic | Following in the footsteps of the Hard Quartet and Boygenius, the funk/rock supergroup Target Demographic aims bring their own version of We Are the World to the festival stage catering to all audiences in attendance. Led by Hayley Williams (Vocal), Bad Bunny (Vocals), SZA (Vocals), Kendrick Lamar (Vocals), Chris Stapleton (Vocals) featuring Anderson .Paak (Drums), Brittany Howard (Guitar), Santana (Guitar), Pino Palladino (Bass) with their latest album produced by Jack Antonoff because of course it is.
Ankle Williams | After writing around 60 songs, NBA Star Jimmy Butler is taking a break from his busy 82 game schedule for his emo Americana side project Ankle Williams. Releasing his debut album A Warrior Can Handle the Heat featuring the hit singles “Don’t Trade Away My Love” produced by Dirt Emo icon Ruston Kelly, Butler describes his sound as if Shaq listened to the soundtrack to Oh Brother Where Art Thou.
*If you made it this far, congratulations and happy April Fools’ Day—you’re either extremely gullible or just really committed to the bit. Either way, Asterisk* Music Festival is, unfortunately, not real. But WNXP is, and we rely on real support from listeners like you to keep the music discovery (and occasional jokes) going.
Consider making a donation to our Spring Fund Drive this week to show your support for this very real public station. No fake bands, no slushies or pigeons, just real DJs, playing real music, for real people (like you).
