Should you find yourself in one of America’s most haunted cities this Halloween weekend, check out the the eleventh annual Voodoo Fest at New Orleans City Park. KISS, Eminem and D12 and Lenny Kravitz are headling this year, with Ween, The Flaming Lips, JUSTICE, Jane’s Addiction, Wolfmother, Meat Puppets, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Janelle Mone, Silversun Pickups, K’Naan, The Black Keys, Jello Biafra and nearly 100 others over the next three days.

It’s the only 2009 appearance from the recently-rehabbed Eminem, according to festival producer Steven Rehage. Full lineup here, plus if you just can’t seem to get into enough trouble in the Big Easy, there’s always an afterparty.

And if you don’t believe in voodoo, well, there might be a little something to it.

Let’s throw on our favorite skins and prepare our weekly quest for answers to the most pressing existential sartorial queries. Per usual, we’re rifling through our treasure trove of interviews to Flashion Backward and fish out a vintage gem–the better to explore the strange vortex in which fashion and musicians meet. Today we’re going into hibernation with Bear Hands.

Wesleyan College alums–notorious for their outré fashion sense, oh so zany leftward political leanings and bizarre penchant for cranking out ridiculously talented and wildly successful indie bands (see: MGMT, Amazing Baby)–have surely added Bear Hands to their roster of famous grads for their semi-annual donation drive.

Like their Wesleyan cohorts, Bear Hands seemed to profit from blossoming in relative isolation away from the self-consciously hip land in which they eventually landed–NYC. Their early ability to sort out their sound without subjecting themselves to the cacophony of aggressive attempts at unique avant-garde tonal poems that all end up sounding pretty much the same (which all too often passes for a music scene in my dear city) ultimately produced an album that sounds “splashing” “in the way a sort-of ethnic Talking Heads meeting an unusually relaxed Velvet Underground might sound. The voice is defiantly American, the backing defiantly invigorating.”

Bear Hands’ tambourine and cymbal accented music is as unpredictable, delicious and refreshing as their fashion sense is not. But who cares if they wear standard issue vintage wear, cigarette pants and mildly puffy jackets? While their hats, bad surfer hair and tongue-in-cheek attempts at looking “eccentric” fall as flat as a B note, in their case, I’m giving ‘em a pass.

Substance over style, is after all, the name of their well-played game. Below, check out their educational rant against Rock Band.

Time to get down and stylishly dirty with UI as we Flashion Forward into unexplored regions of time and space: a magical aesthetic land through which we coquettishly zip about the closets of our fave new interviewees and explore their closets to examine the physical and psychological baggage they pack their shizzle in. We’ll also ask ourselves important, meta questions about, ya know, clothes ‘n shit. Let’s probe The xx’s bag of tricks to see what kind of goodies these bad boys and girls are hiding.

That they’re often described as writers of “bleakly minimal songs that are darkly romantic” makes them sound like the next bad one-hit wonder about to go into overplay on Pandora and The WB. But the overly simplistic–if apt–description belies the “singular bleakness” of their debut album, xx, “which sounds like it’s been made by moonlight by a grim team of introverts, half-drunk and lonely.”

And if The xx’s album, featuring tracks that “low together like one epic track with various movements” in a “mesmerizing” “unforgettable debut” that “can break your heart or renew your momentary faith in love” doesn’t hook you, maybe they themselves will.

They’re certainly not your typical young and winsome fashion plate band, but their all-black, strangely accoutered, excessively pale, come-as-you-are-and-be-prepared-to-scowl at the unfairness of it all teenage pose is actually refreshing and strangely innocent. It reminds me of less obsessively airbrushed days in which the music was center stage.

Don’t expect the crew to go all Kelly Clarkson on us anytime soon–they’re here for the long haul, and they’re gonna stick to their black and decidedly non-shiny guns. Below, check out their wiser-than-their-years take on the all-encompassing importance of experiencing the all-encompassing vibe of music fests.

We’ve finally caught our breath after the five-night CMJ Music Marathon in New York City. Hundreds of bands, dozens of venues, multiple late nights and several tasty beverages later, we bring to you the CMJ version of Six Degrees. You know the game–it’s a small world and we’re all somehow related. This theory applies to the music scene as well, no matter what you listen to, where you hang or who you know. We’re just showing you the connections.

School of Seven Bells joined The xx at a sold-out show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

The band everyone wanted to catch this year. The xx played a few official shows, made an appearance at the Apple store and were the secret headlining performers at the Club NME showcase.

Speaking of the NME showcase, the often-mentioned Bear Hands also played.

(MORE SIX DEGREES OF CMJ)

Vampires–can’t escape them this year, and it’s not just because Halloween is around the corner. From “Twilight” to “True Blood,” “Blade” to “Buffy,” it’s clear America is fascinated with the fictional creatures first made famous in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Dracula. (Or are they more than a figment of our imagination?)

But fiction and script writers aren’t the only ones dwelling on the dark side. For as long as history lends itself, musicians have been exploring otherworldly territory in song form that extends beyond the blood-sucking terrors inspired by Dracula. Here are a few of our favorite ghoulish efforts, perfect for freaking out your  squeamish significant others or otherwise unsuspecting roommates. Mwhaha!

Jace Everett sinks his teeth into the music business with one very well placed song.

Say Hi writes an entire album based on vampires. Glenn Danzig would be so proud.

Speaking of Danzig, Crystal Stilts do their best Misfits impersonation.

If the CMJ Music Marathon is the place to discover up-and-coming bands, consider Pete and the Pirates the old friend we knew would make it to the big leagues. The Reading, England-based band recently performed at the fest, where quite a number of media-types found them as charming as we always have–along with, oh, several other thousand people across the pond. In short, there’s a Pete and the Pirates bandwagon, and you’re the next to jump on it.

Released in 2008, the band’s debut full-length, Little Death, garnered praise from the likes of the BBC, Pitchfork and the NME, who said of the band “…They’ll make you realise that, sometimes, all you need is a guitar, a head full of melody and a heart full of romance.” Indeed, the quintet writes poppy rock songs with simple themes and include plenty of handclaps–anyone can relate.

They’re often referred to as indie rock without the snobbery, and such approval could have been the result of combining pure talent and a talented helping hand–producer Gareth Parton (The Killers, The Go! Team, Foals). They earned fan favorites with songs like “Knots” and “Come on Feet,” plus toured alongside Maximo Park and Vampire Weekend.

Pete and the Pirates’ success may also come from good old fashioned elbow grease. There’s something to be said of a band that sets a goal, works on it for 10 years and actually makes it a reality.

Pssst! Want some free music? We won’t tell. Here at Uncensored Interview we round up the best free downloads from across the blogosphere so you can download all in one place, guilt free.

1.Gorilla vs Bear Halloween mixtape
The opening alone lets us know it’s definitely the fall season, plus there’s no track list which is kind of cool. You actually have to guess or humbly ask your friends like the old days.
Download track via Gorilla vs Bear

2. Dam Funk – “Hood Pass Intact”
This dude never ceases pumping out the jams. Perfect for pretending you’re on vacation someplace where the weather is warm, the people are attractive and there’s a party on the horizon.
Download track via XLR8R

3. Lowell Brams – “Dream About Vince Guaraldi”
Trippy, jagged and freakish with a soft, piano-filled (what else?) middle.
Download track via Fluxblog

4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs (A-Trak Remix) – “Heads Will Roll”
A-Trak doesn’t search for the song’s hip-hop roots, but does make it more dance-worthy than the original.
Download track via Discobelle

5. Neon Indian – “Terminally Chill”
Spacey vocals over lo-fi beats and whimsy synth lines from a Mexican-born Texas-raised 21-year-old with three musical identities. Take that.
Download track via Pop Tarts Suck Toasted

6. Bodega Girls – “Ain’t that Cold”
You want these boys to play your next party, trust us. So cold!
Download track via RCRD LBL

7. Clipse featuring Cam’ron – “Popeye’s”
Clipse ride the beat nice and Cam does his usual ridiculousness, including a shout out to your mom.
Download track via FADER

8. Gaslamp Killer – “Baiafro”
We’re not really sure where this is heading but the anticipation builds the whole time, sort of like a confusing foreign film noir where you don’t fully understand what’s going on, despite subtitles. We dig.
Download track via RCRD LBL

9. OOIOO – “OOIAH”
Yoshimi P-We brings a little uplift to the game with her all-female band.
Download track via MBV

10. Lazer Sword – “Koopa Boss Mode”
Remember when you were getting ready to battle the boss in the original Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. and your heart would start racing and you’d look at your friend and squeal and you’d wipe the sweat from your hands right before going in? This is that feeling, twenty years later.
Download track via XLR8R