Calvin Harris probably has some pretty sweet headphones. Most folks that know how to make people dance also seem to know how to purchase sweet DJ accessories. I mean sure, his music is meant to be blasted in clubs and rooftops dance parties and basements much more so than confined to headphones, but music has to start somewhere right? And we feel like Cal would agree sometimes the best parties are just you and your headphones anyway. So here’s the deal. Check out this clip of Calvin’s “I’m Not Alone.” Write us a haiku about the sad bear in the video, Calvin himself, what a Calvin Harris/Dizzee Rascal lovechild would really sound like or who really created disco in the comments section of this same post. The best/funniest wins a sweet pair of 33 1/3 Eskuche headphones. Begin viewing/haiku’ing now…

Yesterday the website for the all-female 2010 Lilith Fair tour launched, and the late ’90s came flooding back. They’re offering a free Sarah McLachlan MP3 but it has little in the way of information, however, with only tour stops—not even dates—and absolutely nothing in the form of a roster. So, in lieu of knowing who will actually tour, we thought we’d make a little Fantasy League of the Main Stage acts, featuring some of the artists that are sure to be on the roster and some that we really really wish were. Feel free to do the same in the comments with your real email address, and whoever comes closest wins a Sarah McLachlan CD and a bag of lavender scented bath salts.

TRIPWIRE’S FANTASY LILITH FAIR LEAGUE

SHOO-INS (PAST-YEAR VETERANS AND/OR like, DUHS):
Sarah McLachlan
Tegan & Sarah
Every female act on Nettwerk
The Indigo Girls
Meshell Ndegeocello
Annie Lennox
P!nk
kd lang
Santigold

LIKELY
Peaches
Feist
St Vincent
Christina Milian
The Slits
Evanescence
Chrisette Michele

IF THEY CAN AFFORD IT
Kelly Clarkson
Taylor Swift
Mary J Blige

WHO WE HOPE WILL BE ON IT IF WE CAN GET FREE TICKETS
Nicki Minaj
Bat for Lashes

Okay, there’s a stab. MAKE YOURS! MAKE IT REAL! FOCUS ON THE RELAXING BATH IN YOUR FUTURE!

If you know punk, or even if you used to pretend to know punk at parties to pick up girls, you know BYO Records, even if you don’t realize you do. They were a vital part of the L.A. scene in the early 80s and created a formidable legacy thereafter, putting out records from everyone from Social Distortion to 7 Seconds to NoFX. Now they’ve put together an equally formidable boxset, and you can win a copy courtesy of the ole’ TW. The boxset contains 2 LPs, 1 CD, one documentary DVD and one hardcover book, all chronicling the legacy and music of the label over the last twentysome years.

To win: Write an enclopedia entry defining the band 7 Seconds that you’re quite sure we can read in less than seven seconds in the comments section of this post and leave a way that we can contact you with the goodies (Note: We promise to read at a generally average speed. Use your best powers of logic).

Have you checked out the new HBO show Bored To Death? It stars Jason Schwartzman as a neurotic writer turned private detective who happens to be best buds with Zach Galifianakis. Small world. Schwartzman’s Coconut Records also performs the theme song. And it features the train that comes right by our office (the F, for those of you down with letters.) Weeeeeeeeeeeird. Okay. Regardless, Bored To Death airs Sunday’s at 9:30 EST on HBO, and we’ve got some free schwag from the show (and some other HBO goodies) for you. All you’ve got to do is leave a Schwartzman-centric blurb or haiku in the comments section of this post and you’re in the running. The full piprize pack includes:

Bored to Death Prize Pack:
Flight of the Conchords Season 2
Entourage Season 5
Bored to Death mug
Bored to Death reporter’s notebook
Bored to Death flash drive
Bored to Death posters

Now start those syllables.

Arctic Monkeys’ monster of a third full-length, Humbug, hit shelves this week and we’ve put together something special for y’all. If you live in these United States, simply send us your own haiku review (contests@thetripwire.com) of Humbug, which according to our highly sophisticated mind stretching, should be streaming on the majestic Lala player available below. Your prize will include the following:

- Humbug LP
- “Crying Lightning” 7″ (”Red Right Hand” b-side)
- “Crying Lightning” 10″ (”Red Right Hand” and “You Haven’t Got My Strange” b-sides)
- 4 button badge pack
- 18 x 18 double sided poster

Every now and then, when no one’s looking, we take off our indie rock hats and put something on with a little more swagger. When those moments call, it’s usually to spend some quality headphone time with our good friend Shawn Carter, or, as you might know him Jay-Z. We happen to have a pair of tickets to see Jay perform on September 11th at MSG as part of a benefit show to be televised live and commercial-free on FUSE at 9pm/8c. It’s for a great cause: all proceeds from the concert will go towards New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund, an organization that has been helping New York City families of fallen first responders for over 25 years. So, if you would be so kind, leave us a haiku about your favorite Jay-Z or Blueprint record in the comment section. We’ll do the rest.

Today we here at the ole’ Tripwire offices are all about breaking outside of the little box you assumed we live in. First the Jay-Z contest and now we’re giving away a pair of tickets to Electric Zoo this Labor Day weekend in Randall’s Island Park. We bring our dancing shoes to work too people!

Here’s the deal. Two full days of some of the premier names (Armin van Burren, Benny Benassi, David Guetta, many more) in electronic music and some DJ sets by the likes of James Murphy and Holy Ghost, and all you’ve got to do is write us a few syllables.

What we need: A haiku from you about Armin before noon tomorrow (Friday) in an e-mail to contests@thetripwire.com that also includes your name, phone number and (this one should be a given, we know) an e-mail we can reach you at. So basically, you’ve got a little over an hour a syllable at this point. Get crackin’.

The festival gods are smiling down on you once again fair Tripwire readers—we’ve got 2 tickets to the Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco next weekend. Things get started on Friday the 28th in Golden Gate Park, almighty Pearl Jam headlining the first of three wondrous days by the Bay. To get your paws on said tickets, just shoot us a haiku at contests@thetripwire.com. It’s that simple.

Hey, all you Love and Rockets fans- we have a super sweet giveaway for you! In celebration of the release of a compilation album honoring the group, which will hit stores on July 28, we’re giving away an assortment of Love and Rockets items that you’ll definitely want to take home with you. The winner will receive the following:

1 pair of tickets to the L.A. record release party
1 autographed/framed poster of Shepard Fairey’s cover art
1 copy of the CD- New Tales to Tell: A Tribute to Love and Rockets

E-mail contests@thetripwire.com with “Love and Rockets” in the subject line to claim this cornucopia of goodies for yourself.

Hey remember when we asked you to send in haikus to earn a chance at free Lollapalooza tickets? Yeah, we want you to do that again. Don’t call us lazy! It’s just that the entries thus forth have been pretty rad and we’d like a P4k-related chunk of zen poetry as well. For our fridge. Send them to contests@thetripwire.com and make them good and tickets shall be yours.

So the line-up this year for Lollapalooza is pretty sweet, isn’t it? It’s HUGE. We can barely make out the names towards the bottom! For some weird reason we’ve got a handful of tickets, so if you’d like to attend (takes place August 7-9 at Grant Park in Chicago), shoot us an e-mail at contests@thetripwire.com with your contact info the best haiku you can summon. Make sure your poem’s beautiful and make sure it’s related somehow to the aforementioned lineup. Your deadline is July 20th. Erm.

English musician Adam Freeland released his new album entitled Cope(TM) on June 9th, and the work is said to be Freeland’s most ambitious project, featuring collaborations with Tommy Lee (that’s right, of Mötley Crüe), Joey Santiago (The Pixies), Twiggy Ramirez (NIN, Marilyn Manson), Jerry Casale (DEVO), and Brody Dalle (The Distillers, Spinnerette). We here at The TripWire think that this is exciting–so exciting we’re going to be giving a lucky few of you free stuff. One grand prize winner will receive WeSC ‘Bagpipe’ headphones and copy of the CD, and three runner up winners will each get a copy of the CD. To enter, e-mail us at contests@thetripwire.com and we’ll randomly select winners by next Tuesday, July 7, 2009. If you don’t happen to win, you can still hear and see some cool stuff by downloading ‘Adam Freeland went to Brighton and all we got was this lousy mix tape’ or viewing the video for “Do You”.

The Latin Alternative Music conference is celebrating it’s 10th anniversary across New York July 7-11, featuring performances and panels from Juana Molina, electro-cumbia DJ EL G, Los Amigos Invisibles and Latin rock icons Los Fabulosos Cadillacs among others. More information on the event, including a full lineup and schedule is available here. We’ve also got a handful of tickets to give away, hit us at contests@thetripwire.com with your full name and LAMC as the subject for your chance to win.

Have you seen the line-up for Bonnaroo? No seriously, have you seen it? Eclectic doesn’t even begin to describe a festival that can showcase Merle Haggard and Crystal Castles in the same line-up. Or how about a reunited Phish playing 2 shows in the same arena as The Dillinger Escape Plan? So you have absolutely no reason to not want to win tickets to the 2009 edition of Bonnaroo.

Two lucky winners will be chosen at random to win a pair of general admission tickets to this year’s festival, which officially goes down in Manchester, Tennessee from June 11-14. All you have to do to enter is e-mail us here (contests[at]thetripwire.com) with the subject of “Bonnaroo” and your full contact info*. The contest will run until this Friday, June 5. So enter now and keep your fingers crossed. Oh, and just a tip, be careful if driving through Putnam County, Tennessee.

*Please provide e-mail and full mailing address. E-mail addresses not already on our mailing list will be added. Contest officially ends at 6 p.m. EST on Friday, June 5th.

It is definitely one of the most anticipated releases of the year, so wouldn’t it be nice to know a couple of days before it hits the stores that you have already secured your very own copy of Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest?

One lucky winner will be chosen at random to win both the LP and CD versions of Veckatimest a promo poster and buttons. The album officially comes out on May 26 via Warp Records, but our contest will run until next Friday, May 22, so you will know before it streets if you won the record — and possibly even receive it by the 26 (we take no responsibility for the Post Office).

All you have to do to enter is e-mail us here (contests[at]thetripwire.com) with the subject of “Veckatimest” and your full contact info*. The contest will run until this Friday, May 22. So enter now and keep your fingers crossed.

*Please provide e-mail and full mailing address. E-mail addresses not already on our mailing list will be added. Contest officially ends at 6 p.m. EST on Friday, May 22nd.

The Beastie Boys’ 1992 record Check Your Head became a milestone in the groups career. Reintroducing live instrumentation into the trio’s sound, it has become a must-have album for any music collection. So it only makes sense that seventeen years after it’s original release, the classic album has been remastered and reissued as a 4 LP set with extra B-Sides added into the mix. It was released early last month, but don’t worry if you haven’t got your hands on a copy yet, because we’ve got one you can win it for free.

One lucky winner will be chosen at random to win both the LP and CD versions of the Check Your Head reiussue and the unreleased B-Sides. To be clear, it would be CYH on vinyl (2 LPs) and CYH on CD (2 discs). All you have to do to enter is e-mail us here with the subject of “Check Your Head” and your full contact info*. The contest will run until this Friday, May 8. So enter now, cross your fingers and drool with us over this video of the ultra-deluxe 4 LP 180HQ vinyl version packaged in a fabric-wrapped hardcover coffee table book case and limited to 2000 copies (not the copy we’re giving away unfortunately).

For further info on the reissue, go here

*Please provide e-mail and full mailing address. E-mail addresses not already on our mailing list will be added. Contest officially ends at 6 p.m. EST on Friday, May 8th.

The needles on our record players haven’t stopped spinning from this past weekend of vinyl indulgence — both purchased and listened to on Record Store Day this past Saturday. So, instead of keeping all the greatness that is vinyl to ourselves, we thought it might be nice to give away some free records from our friends at Green Label Sound. And while we’re at it you can have a tote bag as well. After all, the best things in life come in 7″ and 12″ packages.

One winner will be chosen at random to win a Matt and Kim “Daylight” 7″, the Cool Kids “Delivery Man” 12″, and Flosstradamus ft. Caroline Polacheck of Chairlift “Big Bills” 12″, along with a “Big Bills” tote bag. All you have to do to get your hands on these goodies, is e-mail us here with the subject “GLS Contest” and your full contact info*. The contest will run until next Friday, May 1. Here’s a chance to dust off your old record player and listen to some good tunes, and if wax isn’t your bag, you can get all the songs for free on the GLS website anyway. Good luck!

*Please provide e-mail and full mailing address. E-mail addresses not already on our mailing list will be added. Contest officially ends at 6 p.m. EST on Friday, May 1st.

He bears a slight resemblance to one of our favorite bearded acoustic soulsters, but William Fitzsimmons is charting a course all his own. We introduced you to him just a few weeks ago with a sneak peak at his album The Sparrow And The Crow. Now we’re proud the be the presenting sponsor of William’s show in NYC on April 17, and are giving you the chance to see him live.

Fitzsimmons’ first studio LP was released last week on Downtown Records’ newly launched imprint Mercer Street, but before being signed, The Sparrow And The Crow had a digital-only release last fall, debuting at no. 2 on the iTunes Folk Chart. Now you have the opportunity to see why.

One winner will be chosen at random to receive a pair of tickets the April 17 show at the Canal Room. All you have to do to enter is e-mail us here with you full contact info* and the subject of “William Fitzsimmons”. The contest runs through Thursday, April 16 with the winner notified that same evening.

*Please provide e-mail and full mailing address. Contest will officially end at 6pm EST on Thursday, April 16th — please be available to attend the show as you will be notified Thursday evening. E-mail addresses not already on our mailing list will be added.

We’ve been raving about about Screaming Females since we first saw the trio perform live. Their brand of blues-inspired, guitar wankering punk rock has left many mouths agape at the ease by which they wield their self-branded “Queer disco on the moon, with pterodactyls and squid fighting satellite dishes.” That is why we put them On The Cover. Now, with exactly one week until the release of their Don Giovanni debut Power Move, we’re giving away a whole prize pack dedicated to the band and their powerful LP.


[Power Move CD]

["Screaming Females" 7"]

[Screaming Females T-Shirt]

One winner will be chosen at random to receive a copy of Screaming Females Power Move on CD, a copy of their self-titled 7″ and a Screaming Females t-shirt (all shown above) along with a SF poster (not pictured). All you have to do to enter is e-mail us here with you full contact info* and the subject of “Screaming Females.” The contest will run through Tuesday, April 14 with the winner notified that same evening. Good luck!

*Please provide e-mail and full mailing address. Contest will officially end at 6pm EST on Tuesday, April 14th. E-mail addresses not already on our mailing list will be added.

Aside from the fact that she took the time to speak with us about both The Knife and her current persona Fever Ray, Karin Dreijer Andersson’s recent solo endeavor is one of our favorite albums of 2009. So hot on the heels of it’s release last week, we are offering up this Fever Ray prize pack to one lucky person.


[Fever Ray CD]

["If I Had A Heart" 7"]

One winner will be chosen at random to receive a copy of the Fever Ray album on CD, a copy of the “If I Had A Heart” 7″ (both shown above) and a Fever Ray poster (not pictured). All you have to do to enter is e-mail us here with you full contact info* and the subject of “Fever Ray.” The contest will run through Friday, April 3 with the winner notified that same evening. Good luck!

*Please provide e-mail and full mailing address. Contest will officially end at 6pm EST on Friday, April 3. E-mail addresses not already on our mailing list will be added.

Emiliana Torrini is playing her first U.S. shows in support of her latest record Me & Armini, which came out last September on Rough Trade. As we’ve told you before, we’re big fans of the alluring Icelandic singer, so now we are very excited to be giving away a pair of tickets to each of her State-side shows — with one in New York City, one in Los Angeles and one in San Francisco.

We’re proud the be the presenting sponsor Emiliana’s shows in NYC and SF shows, while KCRW will be presenting her at the LA show. These are bound to be three great performances in intimate settings, and that’s why we want to give you the chance to see Emiliana in action.

One winner will be chosen at random to receive a pair of tickets the March 28 show at the Hiro Ballroom in NYC, the March 29 show at The Independent in San Francisco and the March 30 show at The Troubadour in Los Angeles. All you have to do to enter is e-mail us here with you full contact info* and the subject of “Emiliana (city you want to attend)”. To be clear, that means please include the city you would like to see Emiliana perform if you are the winner. The contest runs through Thursday, March 26 with the winner notified that same evening. The dates of the shows are listed below.

*Please provide e-mail and full mailing address. Contest will officially end at 6pm EST on Thursday, March 26th. E-mail addresses not already on our mailing list will be added.

Emiliana Torrini tour dates
03.28.09 – New York, NY (Hiro Ballroom)
03.29.09 – San Francisco, CA (The Independent)
03.30.09 – Los Angeles, CA (The Troubadour)

Both Bloc Party and Longwave put out new material late last year, but it wouldn’t matter if they had records to promote or not, these shows at Terminal 5 next week are already sold out. Lucky for you, we have one pair to give away to the closing show on March 25.

One winner will be chosen at random to receive a pair of tickets to the Wednesday, March 25 show at Terminal 5 in NYC. All you need to do to enter is e-mail us here with the subject line “Long Party” (make sure to include your full contact info*). The contest runs through Friday, March 20 with the winner notified by Monday, March 23. The full Bloc Party / Longwave tour is listed below.

*Please provide e-mail and full mailing address. Contest will officially end at 6pm EST on Friday, March 20th. E-mail addresses not already on our mailing list will be added.

Bloc Party / Longwave tour dates
03.19.09 – Boston, MA (House Of Blues)
03.22.09 – Washington DC (9:30 Club)
03.24.09 – New York, NY (Terminal 5)
03.25.09 – New York, NY (Terminal 5)
03.28.09 – Chicago, IL (Riviera Theatre)
03.30.09 – Minneapolis, MN (First Avenue)
03.31.09 – St. Louis, MO (Pageant)

So last week we told you about an abundance of Ram cover compilations being released in recent days. Turns out the influential Paul and Linda McCartney album isn’t just an inspiration for musicians. Indie T-Shirt company Rotter and Friends loved the album so much, they created this “Ram On” tee that you can win.

Artist Jess Rotter, a woman that promotes rock bands by day at Kemado Records in New York, is the mastermind of the whimsical t-shirt line, Rotter and Friends. The tees’ prints are playful, heartfelt, and inspired by rare music of the 1960s and 70s. Part of the indie-label’s appeal is that the shirts feature hand-drawn, wickedly irreverent illustrated prints. Collections have included sweet odes to Link Wray, Judee Sill, Captain Beefheart, Bob Seger System, and a slew of Rotter’s crazy dancing hand-drawn characters.

Apparently, one of Rotter’s all time favorite records is the McCartney opus “Ram On”, and paid homage to the tune in her Fall ‘08 collection. Two winners (one male and one female) will be chosen randomly — all you need to do to enter is e-mail us here with the subject line “Ram On” (make sure to include your full contact info*). The contest runs through Monday, March 16 with the winner notified that evening. Now’s your chance to look like Natalie Portman, so don’t mess it up. Good luck!

*Please provide e-mail and full mailing address. Contest will officially end at 6pm EST on Monday, March 16th. E-mail addresses not already on our mailing list will be added.

The simple pleasures in life seldom change. Cold beer. Good pizza. Vinyl records and a pair of comfy, rubber-soled shoes. Right now we can help you get your hands on at least two of those (you’re on your own with the beer and pizza) courtesy of The Derek Trucks Band and Simple Shoes.

Two winners (male and female) will score a pair of Simple Shoes and The Derek Trucks Band’s Already Free on vinyl, which is in stores now. You can check out the specs on your potential new kicks here — all you need to do to win them and the LP is check out The Derek Trucks Band’s “Get What You Deserve” video below and then e-mail us here. Make the subject line “Derek Trucks Simple Shoes” and include your full contact info*. The contest runs through Monday, March 9 with the winner notified that evening. Good luck!

*Please provide e-mail and full mailing address. Contest will officially end at 6pm EST on Monday, March 9th. E-mail addresses not already on our mailing list will be added.

“Get What You Deserve”

HBO is promoting their new (and might we add, hilarious) comedy Eastbound and Down starring Danny McBride and also featuring Will Ferrell. The story of Kenny Powers (McBride) as a fading big league baseball player who has offended his way out of every professional club is one of the best new comedies on cable, but since it’s brand new all HBO had to offer us was a foam finger and this video clip below. So we talked them into making a comedy prize pack out of it and now you have your chance to win a package including the Entourage 4th Season DVD, Flight Of The Concords 1st Season DVD, Little Britain USA 1st Season DVD and the Eastbound and Down foam finger!

All you have to do to enter to win the prize pack is watch the Eastbound clip below, then e-mail us here with the subject line of “Eastbound And Down” along with your full contact info*. The contest runs until Friday, February 20, with the winner notified that evening. Good luck!

*Please provide e-mail and full mailing address. Contest will officially end at 6pm EST on Friday, February 20th. E-mail addresses not already on our mailing list will be added.

After captivating British fans for more than four years, London-based Razorlight — fronted by lead singer/guitarist Johnny Borrell — have now turns their sites on the U.S. Razorlight’s third album, Slipway Fires was released in November 2008 in the UK on Universal’s Vertigo label, and will be issued in the U.S. on Mercury in March 2009, coinciding with a major North American tour schedule. And now you have a chance to see them for yourself next Tuesday, February 10 at The Fillmore Plaza in New York City.

The former BRIT and NME Awards nominees, Razorlight will be making three North American dates. Tonight [February 3] in Los Angeles at the Troubadour, Saturday the 7th in Mexico City and finally making their way to NYC next week. The Tripwire will hold a pair of tickets for one lucky fan to see them perform at this rare New York appearance. All you have to do to enter to win the tickets is watch their new video for “Wire To Wire” then e-mail us here with the subject line of “Razorlight” along with your full contact info* and you will be entered to win. The contest runs until Monday, February 9 [the day before the show], with the winner notified that evening. Good luck!

*Please provide e-mail and full mailing address. Contest will officially end at 6pm EST on Monday, February 9th. E-mail addresses not already on our mailing list will be added.

The follow-up to A-Trak’s Nike+ Original Run 2008 release, Running Man, Serato has produced a limited edition 12″ vinyl picture disk with artwork designed by Dust La Rock. While the original release is available worldwide via the Nike Sport Music section on iTunes, only 1,000 promo pieces of the limited-edition control vinyl picture disks were manufactured. The majority of these will be shipped worldwide to Serato and White Label DJs, but now you have a chance to get your very own copy.

The first official Serato picture disk on their White Label imprint also features downloads from the Running Man album, including the single “Say Whoa” and the exclusive single “My Time” featuring Kid Cudi. All you have to do to enter to win your own copy of the A-Trak Serato picture disk is e-mail us here with the subject line of “A-Trak picture disk” along with your full contact info* and you will be entered to win. The contest runs until Monday, February 2, with the record being mailed out that evening. Good luck!

*Please provide e-mail and full mailing address. Contest will officially end at 6pm EST on Monday, February 2nd. E-mail addresses not already on our mailing list will be added.

Matt And Kim are two of the nicest people you could ever meet, and in one week, their second full-length — and first on FADER Label — will drop. Now, thanks to yours truly, not only do you have the chance to get a copy of Grand on vinyl mailed directly to you before the street date, the copy we’re holding for one lucky winner is personally signed by the dynamic duo.

Set to be released next Tuesday, January 20, all you have to do to enter to win a personalized signed copy of Grand is e-mail us here with the subject line of “Matt And Kim contest” along with your contact info* and you will be entered to win. The contest runs until Friday, January 16, with the record being mailed out that evening. Good luck!

*Contest will officially end at 6pm EST on Friday, January 16th. E-mail addresses not already on our mailing list will be added.

With the holidays upon us and music usually near the top of people’s wish list, the fine folks at Zune are offering up this nice package for one lucky winner.

For the next two weeks leading up to Friday, December 19, you can enter to win a Zune 8g device along with a 1-month Zune Pass subscription. All you have to do is e-mail us [CONTEST OVER] with the subject line of Zune contest along with your contact info* and you will be entered to win. Check out the Zune website for more information on their devices and to download the latest music and software.

*Contest will officially end at 6pm EST on Friday, December 19th. E-mail addresses not already on our mailing list will be added.