Las Vegas Weekly

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Lady Gaga, Coldplay and Jay-Z play MGM Grand this weekend, but for left-of-center music fans, the real stars will be at the Cosmopolitan. For two nights, the hip hotel’s Boulevard Pool plays Main Street, U.S.A. for indie listeners, with six Pitchfork-approved acts streaming onto the stage on Friday and Saturday. Some tunes to get you prepared:

TV on the Radio, “Halfway Home” (2008) Brooklyn’s apocalyptic art-rock crew has released—count ’em—three quality albums since last playing Las Vegas in 2005.

Arctic Monkeys, “Brick by Brick” (2011) NME voted the garage-y rockers’ 2006 debut the fifth-best British album of all-time, ahead of everything ever released by The Beatles, Stones, Who, Clash ...

Smith Westerns, “Only One” (2011) Bonus: The Chicago youngsters will bring their mature hooks to the Cosmo pool for a free set on Thursday, September 22.

Bright Eyes, “Bowl of Oranges” (2002) Tempted as we were to include a more recent number from the folky singer-songwriter, it’s tough to beat old-school Oberst in the soul-baring department.

Warpaint, “Undertow” (2010) Haunting dream-pop from four LA ladies that tend to draw comparisons to Mazzy Star, the Cocteau Twins and Lush.

Kurt Vile, “Runner Ups” (2011) Searching for a rising American songwriter who can actually make you feel? Look no further than this Philly native.