Animal Collective launch SoundCity 09

Having already secured the esteemed services of chart-topping White Lies, sonnet starlet Little Boots, as well as Jon McClure and co. from new super group Mongrel for the festival – the Liverpool SoundCity Launch Party on Thursday 26th March will get things going with a bang.

In the underground, innovative and free-spirited style of SoundCity, the headline acts for the launch party – presented by Liverpool-based promoters Evol and Meshuggy – are representative of what the festival is all about.

Animal Collective and Dent May are two names synonymous with creativity and, with both having released albums celebrated for their startling originality in recent weeks, they will take to Liverpool's o2 Academy on Thursday 26th March for the official festival Launch Party

Baltimore's Animal Collective have forged their own uniquely experimental style which segues from indie-rock to psych folk and almost everything between –as illustrated with their heavily acclaimed 2009 album, Merriweather Post Pavilion. Founders of the seminal Paw Tracks label, they are outstanding contributors to and moulders of the American music scene.

Heart-wrenching verse over lost and unrequited love looms large on Dent May's The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele. Employing his favourite instrument to great effect, he has crafted a debut album suffused with penitent moments which has seen him quickly elevated as an artist tipped for greatness during 2009 and his melancholy debut in Liverpool is one to savour.

In total, more than 400 acts from around the world will play to 25,000 people across 30 of Liverpool's most prestigious venues for four days. Early Bird tickets cost £35, with regular tickets £60 in advance and £80 on the door. Festival and conference passes are priced at £99 for Early Bird and at £120 for regular tickets.

SoundCity champions up and coming talent and captured the zeitgeist of 2008 with highlights that included: Santogold, Hercules and Love Affair, Glasvegas, Hadouken, Reverend and the Makers, Laura Marling, The Whip, Iglu & Hartly, Crystal Castles, Ladyhawke and The Wombats.

www.liverpool-live.info