On July the 26th-28th, the Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island will once again play host to the annual Newport Folk Festival. A staple of both the town and the festival circuit, the Newport Folk Festival was first established in 1959 as a counterpart to the already established Newport Jazz Festival. The festival quickly gained an immense reputation and became renowned for introducing audiences to performers who would go on to become superstars in their respective fields; this is certainly the case for Joan Baez,( who first appeared in 1959 as an unannounced guest for Bob Gibson in ’59), and Bob Dylan, who when appearing (coincidentally as a guest of Baez’s) solidified his reputation and gave, what has come to be regarded as, his premiere national performance. Over the years the festival and caliber of the performers (and their performances) has grown, and this year’s lineup seems equally qualified to raise the bar even further for the festival’s dedicated fanbase, with Feist, Beck, The Mountain Goats, Beth Orton and many more set to converge on Newport over the week. Sputnikmusic is both proud and excited to be presenting an exclusive roundup of the festival, so make sure to stay tuned to the blog over the coming days for a comprehensive account of a festival rich in history and musical culture.

For more on the Newport Folk Festival, including the full lineup and to purchase tickets, please head on over to the official site.

Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of June 25, 2013. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors.

Airhead – For Years (R&S Records)
August Burns Red – Rescue & Restore (Solid State Records)
Author – Forward Forever (Black Box)
Bass Drum Of Death – Bass Drum Of Death (Innovative Leisure)
Booker T.  – Sound The Alarm (Concord Jazz)
Bosnian Rainbows – Bosnian Rainbows (Sargent House)
Bret Michaels – Jammin’ With Friends (Poor Boy Records Inc.)
Bronze Radio Return – Up, On & Over (DigSin) – Irving Tan
Forever The Sickest Kids – J.a.C.K. (Fearless Records)
Frank Lenz – Water Tiger (Velvet Blue Music)
Havok – Unnatural Selection (Candelight)
Hawthorne Heights – Zero (Red River Entertainment)
India Arie – Songversation (Island/Def-Jam)
Light Heat – Light Heat (Ribbon Records)
Lightning Dust – Fantasy (Jagjaguwar)
Little Lonely – Little Lonely (Red Dress Records)
Locrian – Return To Annihilation (Relapse)
Mavis Staples – One True Vine (Anti Records)
Middle Class Rut – Pick Up Your Head (Bright Antenna)
Natalie Cole – Natalie Cole En Español (Verve)
Nate Young – Blinding Confusion (NNA Tapes)
Night Verses – Lift Your Existence (Red Distribution)
Palms – Palms (Ingrooves)
Perhapst – Revise Your Maps (Jealous Butcher Records)
Queensryche – Queensryche (Century Media) – Trey Spencer
Rose Windows – The Sun Dogs (Sub Pop)
Ryan Power – Identity Picks (NNA Tapes)
Skillet – Rise (Atlantic)
Smith Westerns – Soft Will (Mom & Pop Music)
The Transplants – In A Warzone (Epitaph)
Wale – The Gifted (Atlantic)
Wise Blood – ID (Dovecote)

——————————————————————————–

Album Streams:

Airhead – For Years

Bass Drum Of Death – Bass Drum Of Death

Bosnian Rainbows – Bosnian Rainbows

Havok – Unnatural Selection

Mavis Staples – One True Vine

Skillet – Rise

Smith Westerns – Soft Will

——————————————————————————–

SputnikMusic’s Most Played Artists of the Week (according to Last.FM):

Staff :

1. Kanye West
2. Vampire Weekend
3. Zomby
4. Sigur Rós
5. A Tribe Called Quest
6. Thundercat
7. Deafheaven
8. Alice In Chains
9. Modest Mouse
10. Black Swan

Contributors:

1. Kanye West
2. Boards Of Canada
3. Palms
4. Black Sabbath
5. Sigur Rós
6. Meshuggah
7. Slipknot
8. August Burns Red
9. Amon Amarth
10. Nine Inch Nails