Having friends in high places never hurts and Kendrick Lamar has the fascinating fortune to boast a friend in a really high place. In a recent interview, the Compton, Calif.-cultivated rapper described Lady Gaga as “a good friend” — a connection solidified by the Pop bigwig making an appearance during Lamar's set at the recent Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago.  

In the ’30s, German scientist Wilhelm Reich proposed the existence of orgone, a biophysical life force that he postulated was at the root of sexual energy and later conceived as a subliminal living essence connecting everything in the universe.That explanation makes a perfect case for a quintet of talented Los Angeles musicians to have christened their highly charged and deeply grooved Funk outfit after Wilhelm’s fringe theory.   

Exitmusic’s recent Tiny Desk Concert for NPR, in which artists literally perform live amid desks in the media outlet’s office, was anything but tiny. The New York City-based quartet, led by husband-and-wife duo Devon Church and Aleska Palladino, played four songs from the band’s recently released full-length debut, Passage (on Secretly Canadian), all of which were delivered with a majestic sweep — both sonically and emotionally — that belied the modest surroundings that housed them.   

It’s not hard to believe that Hayes Carll is from Houston; it seems he embodies so many great things about the music of Texas. A country drawl mixed with Rock & Roll, Carll’s most recent album, KMAG YOYO, was the Americana Music Association’s No. 1 album in 2011. His strength really lies within his songwriting; his song “Another Like You” won the American Songwriter’s No. 1 last year.   

If you’re looking to dust off your dancing Keds or run a diagnostic test on your pacemaker or combine your aerobic activities with your club regimen, Izzy and the Catastrophics, the pride of Brooklyn, N.Y., should be your soundtrack of choice.   

In the swelling tide of Dance producers with great ears, a metric ton of talent and the laser-focused potential to take Electronic Dance music to an exponentially higher level, few stars shine as bright as Pierce Fulton. Recently spotlighted by genre bible Mixmag in their “Keep An Eye On” column, Fulton is one of the most gifted boardsmen among the Dance scene’s Nu Skool producers, an amazing accomplishment for the 19-year-old Vermont native.   

There isn’t much about Cleveland that Cincinnatians will admit to liking — it’s a bitter rivalry we just can’t move past. Cleveland did, however, offer us one very good reason to love them.Raised in Cleveland, singer-songwriter Joshua Radin quickly rose to success with his soft-spoken lyrics and acoustic guitar.
  

In 1997, members from two popular Notre Dame University bands explored their inner Jam children, concocting a new entity dubbed Umphrey’s McGee. Although UM quacked like a Jam duck, they incorporated more Prog, Metal and Hard Rock influences than their gentler brethren, expanding the Jam palette considerably. In recent years, UM’s Prog leanings have expanded in the studio and he band also showed it could dial things back for the acoustic quietude of 2006’s Safety in Numbers.


  

 South Carolina’s Trevor Hall doesn’t make the kind of music you might expect to come from a native of the American South. Instead, Hall’s music has a Reggae streak, the kind of tunes he may have heard growing up in the beach community of Hilton Head or later at the arts school he attended in California. If you like Jack Johnson and Colbie Caillat and enjoy grooving to Bob Marley on occasion, Hall’s releases would fit nicely in your collection.
  

 Even when spoken slurred and quickly, “Fuck Knights” and “Dark Knight” sound only vaguely alike. But do you think we'd let a thing like that derail us from comparing this gang of Garage Punk hellraisers to Batman? Hell no! Let's begin by assessing drinking habits. When ol' Bruce Wayne does alcohol, he likely sips the finest bourbon in Gotham. The Knights seem more likely to be all about dive bars (the ideal venues for their sound) and finding the cheapest well hooch available.  

At 22, Lydia Loveless is a melodic songstress with the nuance to coax the sweet out of a sugar bowl and the power to start a fistfight between thunder and lightning. Since her 2011 MidPoint Music Festival appearance in Cincy, Loveless has been working up brand new songs and forging them in the fires of her relentless tours. Her Friday gig should be even more incendiary.  

Spirit Song Festival is once again taking over Kings Island. The three-day features two dozen of Christian music’s most famous artists. The lineup includes the likes of Switchfoot, TobyMac, Owl City, Third Day and NEEDTOBREATHE, as well as Cincinnati’s very own Mosteller. With such a mixed and well-known lineup, Spirit Song is might well draw its largest audience yet.  

Any band with decent musical aptitude and a passion for the days of sheet music stores, phosphates and the Charleston can churn out covers of songs gleaned from thrift shop 78s and attract a sizable, loyal audience. The real gift is taking that Hot Jazz/Country Blues/Ragtime/Western Swing inspiration and translating it into original and completely contemporary songs; Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three possess that gift.
  

The city’s embracing of the Pride parade and festival is reflective of the general public’s growing tolerance, something evident in the eclecticism of the musical lineup. One genre still evolving in its tolerance of homosexuality is Hip Hop; there’s yet to be an “out” Hip Hop star in the mainstream. On the CityBeat stage at 2 p.m. you can catch a local duo that is hoping to be one of the first, Swaggz & Hollywood.
  

On their first three albums together, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals impressively balanced influences from four decades ago with a bluesy Rock ethic as fresh as an indie blog posting. On The Lion The Beast The Beat, the quintet amazingly expand their genre parameters without losing the blistering essence of its Blues/Soul/Rock core.