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Coachella 2012 Schedule is UP!

2012-01-09T20:03:00.000-08:00

Coachella 2011 was a fucking disappointment of epic proportions.

Coachella 2012 is looking like it's going to be the complete opposite.

While 2011 had its moments, it never really had what I call "The Moment." That is, the moment when you look at the stage, you look at the crowd, you look at who you came with and say, "This is why we came."

Honestly, if it weren't for Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, Arcade Fire, Cut Copy, Trentemoller and fucking LEFTFIELD, it would have been worth skipping.

But even the worst Coachella was still good. It just wasn't up to the other nine years I've been.

But 2012????!??!?!?!?!? FUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!!!

I'm not sure where to start, but this year's lineup has inspired our faith in the festival.

And while we're not getting any of my top four list (Tom Waits, David Bowie, Everything But the Girl, Lamb), we're getting some pretty amazing acts.

So love us or hate us, we'll be back blogging about the acts you MUST see this year at Coachella.

p.s. If you go to the second weekend, which I still think is stupid as hell, you're going to Makeupchella. NOT Coachella.

Coachella 2011 Review - Sunday

2011-04-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

Sunday seemed like it would be the weakest day overall, but despite a major hole in the schedule in the mid-afternoon, it turned out to have some of the most amazing performances of the weekend. One who was chained to some Jabba the Hutt type villain in Mojave tent all day could do worse for an overall day of entertainment.

Like the rest of the festival-goers, we got off to a very late start, due to a two-day Coachella buildup of too much party, dust and snot. Actually, we were in the best position we'd been in as far as getting out of lot 16, just the third row in. Believe me, you don't want to be anywhere near the middle of that clusterfuck of a parking lot when the music's over, any night.

The first act I really wanted to see was Delorean in the Gobi tent. Sadly, they totally trainwrecked a couple of times. A very strange thing for a live band. Honestly, I'll give them another chance someday, because I think a lot of their performance problems were because they couldn't hear very well. I really like their studio stuff, but they were disappointing overall.

CSS was next, and while they played really well, I wasn't happy with their choice of songs at the beginning of the set. Not sure if they have a new album out, but they tended to play a lot of the songs from their second album, Donkey, that weren't my favorites (Off the Hook, for instance). But after a few songs I wasn't crazy about, they pulled it out and kicked some ass. Plus, the lead singer chick spent most of her singing time crowd surfing. Seriously, I've never seen a lead singer in the crowd that much.

CSS @ Coachella 2011 (photo by M. Conner)

I was really hoping to check out HEALTH next in Mojave, but we had to head out to the car, so we totally missed them. By the time we made it back in, Nas & Damian Marley were just finishing up on the main stage (thankfully) and we were able to get our usual spot for Death From Above 1979. The biggest surprise with these guys is that the one dude plays a BASS guitar, not a regular guitar. The drummer sings most of the time, and they rock. That's about all you need to know about that show.

Death From Above 1979 @ Coachella 2011 (photo by M. Conner)

For our final trick, we tromped across the grounds to the Mojave tent for what turned out to be the trifecta of live electronic dance music. First up, Trentmemøller. I don't know where this guy came from, and I should probably do my research and find out. This guy started slow and heavy, and progressed into a really crazy dance set. It looked like he ran all the sound through his sampler, and at times would take the entire feed from the drum kit, and twist it up all crazy. The crowd started small, but got to pretty much capacity by the end of his set, and he was just having the best time up there. Another artist I'm going to add to my current favorites, for sure.

Trentemoller @ Coachella 2011 (photo by M. Conner)

While I'd seen Ratatat a few times before, I'd never owned any of their albums before seeing them. This time around, I'd bought their latest, and I love it. They did a great selection of LP4, along with some other live favorites I recognized from previous performances at Coachella and when they opened for Daft Punk at the LA Sports Arena. The crowd was extremely cool, everyone dancing and just getting down to what may very well be the best American live instrumental dance-rock band today.

Sunset @ Coachella 2011

As the crowd thinned out, we realized that Leftfield might have a pretty small audience, and so we made a beeline to the front row. Met some very cool people, including Matt from Richmond, VA, and Trent and Jennifer from Dallas, TX, who had come all the way to Coachella to see Leftfield. This was the band that tipped the scales for me in favor of attending this year. I've been listening to them since 1999 or so, and I never thought there would even be an option to see them live. So when they were announced on the lineup, it was at first the ONLY reason, and eventually, the main reason for me to attend this year.

There's nothing I can write to describe what it was like, but I'll try. I'd heard their sets are loud, like ear-splittingly loud. I never thought that it would literally feel like I was getting punched in the nose by the kick drum, but that's the best explanation I can muster. I could honestly feel the inside of my nose vibrating, HARD, because of the sound these guys were unloading on us. They played basically two styles of songs, dub (no, not dubstep you ninny, GOOD MUSIC) and progressive house. The bass and kick drum on both ripped through us like no other for the weekend. They brought out an amazingly sexy singer for Original. The live show far, far, far surpassed my expectations. I only wish two things, that they would have brought out someone like John Lydon or Afrika Bambaataa for some vocals. It's a small criticism for a band that succeeded in basically melting my brain into my skull like a soft boiled egg.

Leftfield @ Coachella 2011

After it was over, I felt it would be good to leave on a high note, so we only stayed to see Kanye do Stronger. It was great, but the partial song we caught before that was one he was singing on, and the singing wasn't great. I've read that it was a very emotional performance, and I'm curious to see how it's reviewed over the coming weeks.

All in all, once again, I've been renewed and reset for another year. I'm more serious about starting a religion around it than ever before, and that's largely because I realize that I'm going to go no matter what. Goldenvoice sucks, but they're going to learn from this one, and hopefully they'll put on a great festival for years to come. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

So what's the takeaway from this year? We boiled it down to basically two statements about the two things you have to remember about the people who go to Coachella:

1. Everyone wants to party and have fun.
2. Everyone who attends Coachella is absolutely, completely, for the whole festival, FUCKED UP.

In spite of or because of these two universal truths, we have our reservations already for 2012.

Conner, you are the man. Happy five-year, brother... and many, many more.

See you then.

Coachella 2011 Review - Saturday

2011-04-18T17:09:00.000-07:00

Each day things start a little later at Coachella. The stages tend to have less good stuff until later, the parking lot is slower to fill up, and our brains idle at "I really should try to get out of this bed and scrub the filth off of me" for an abnormally long time. It's almost a nice change from the very few hours of sleep we get before Friday 'cuz we're like little kids at Christmas, and every stage, every band, every set is a present waiting to be unwrapped.

Denny's, parking lot, sunblock, ut oh, where's my hat? Rookie mistake. Turned out to be OK though, even though Saturday was billed as the hottest day of the festival. But as I followed the weather predictions and actuals pretty closely, I'm happy to report that weather forecasters have no fucking clue what they're doing. (Note to non-goers, the only things worse to forget are: your ticket.wristband, wearing sunblock, sunglasses, and cash.)

Saturday started with EE in the Gobi tent. These guys are just nuts, man, live drum 'n bass, and really good D&B too. Plus, they had poplocking and breakdancing crazies on stage with them. The band members all had painted these thick lines around their arms and legs, all the way up and down them. They looked like some crazy-ass zebras on ketamine or something. I'd see them again, if only for the girl with the Speak-N-Spell sampler type thing that she just kept pushing one key on:

E! E! E! E! E! E!

'cuz, you know, that's the name of the band.

Next up, The Joy Formidable. Hallelujah, we discovered a band we think we truly love at Coachella. I did no research on them at all, but they sounded just amazing. I guess they're originally from Wales, and you know how much I hate the Welsh (that's a joke, what true American knows anything about Wales?). Nice, hard-driving guitars and a lead singer who's both beautiful (for a blonde) and powerful. This band has more hooks than a Uzbekistani fishing boat. Reminded me a little bit of My Bloody Valentine, but much poppier and radio-friendly. You know it's good if I like it and it could be played on the radio. Either that, or I have no idea what's on the radio.

Next, we headed to the main stage to catch bluegrass greats Trampled by Turtles. As Conner pointed out, this is the kind of thing people from this part of the country do. They sit around in their living rooms, playing instruments (read: very, very well) and sing. I wish these guys were sitting in a circle, other than that, I can't think of anything I would have changed about this performance. It took me halfway through the set to realize they didn't have a drummer. The music is so rhythmic, so driving and percussive that it honestly doesn't need a drummer. These guys may have been the most technically gifted group of musicians at the whole festival. I assume they're playing Stagecoach, and if you're going, check them out.

We hung out in the shade of a palm tree for a while and just watched people come in from the parking lot. We'd never done that before and it was actually a pretty cool perspective. The shade kept moving, so we did as well, and when we finally cooled off, we headed back to the main stage for Gogol Bordello.

Gogol Bordello are one of those bands you just have to see to really appreciate or understand. After about five songs I thought to myself, OK, I think I get it. But we stayed for the whole thing and only then did I realize... it's a Gypsy band! What a great concept. Plus, our friend Insky has followed them around almost obsessively, check his site for some really outstanding pictures of these guys in New York. They're totally high energy, you can see why these people are all so damn skinny. Plus, none of them are Americans, so they probably eat less than 5,000 calories a day. That helps keep ya not fat.

Gogol Bordello @ Coachella 2011

I really wanted to catch Two Door Cinema Club, but they were all the way across the polo field, so I didn't get a chance. Instead, we decided to hang out and wait for Erykah Badu. Man, this lady has so much class that it almost makes up for the fact that you're basically wearing sunblock and dirt for 72 hours straight. You could only tell that she was restraining herself after hearing the last song in her set, which showed off her wonderful falsetto. I'm still not all that familiar with her work, but I'm going to remedy that shortly. She was flow personified, like warm milk and honey being poured. And not just her, the band was off the hook. I could listen to instrumentals from them, but then you add Erykah's voice, and, well? Damn.

Erykah Badu and some dickhead with a gray baby on a stick @ Coachella 2011

Sadly, we had to miss Broken Social Scene to head back out to the parking lot. Again, a nice break in the day, but this was the one day I could have skipped it. Then again, a day this hot is made for your own personal cooler of water, beer, and ICE. I took a cube in each hand and let them melt.

Caught about half of Elbow's set in Mojave. I never realized how much his voice sounds like Peter Gabriel. I haven't kept up with the band since I first saw them in 2002. I actually met them at the record store signing and got them to sign my copy of Asleep In the Back. That's the great thing about having a record store on-site. You can buy a band's album and they'll sign it. I really like where they are now, would be willing to get another album of theirs. They're pretty mellow for Coachella, but live they sort of deliver this driving mellow music that no one else I know does.

By this point, the sun was full-on gone for the rest of the day. Good thing, because we were off to catch Shpongle in Sahara. Shpongle was originally billed as "Shpongle Presents the Shpongletron Experience," which I thought sounded pretty cool, but it changed to a DJ set at some point on the poster. When we got there, the stage was all setup, it's one guy DJing in a gigantic Indian-inspired crazy-ass looking thing... oh hell, just watch the video here. I can't even explain how crazy this thing looked. I will say that it had all these videos playing on it, different videos in different sections. And then, all of a sudden, I notice these two shapes sort of going outside the lines of the structure. I don't know where they came from, but these two beautiful angels appeared and started dancing seductively, psychedelically. It took me a minute or two to verify that they were flesh and blood and not just projections. Trippy as hell. The music was phenomenal, started a little downtempo and ended up as a great progressive house / progressive trance set that had the tent rocking. I'm seriously buying all their shit.

We buzzed through the Gobi tent long enough to catch a few songs by Wire. I was never a huge fan of them back in the day, but I know they're pretty well-respected for something, I guess it's their music, I don't know. They were OK. They played well but it's nothing I'm into. I can't say either they nor Big Audio Dynamite were disappointments, because I didn't expect much from either of them. So we'll call that a wash. We only stuck around for 3-4 songs of B.A.D. Let me tell you, I know they were known for pushing boundaries back when they came out, but that shit didn't age well. Neither did Mick Jones.

For our final trick, we went to the main stage to catch Animal Collective and then Arcade Fire. I just don't get Animal Collective. I was talking to Troy from Dallas just before Leftfield Sunday, and he put it that way, and I agreed. I really wish I did, or I wish some other experimental electronic band had made it into the big time, but Animal Collective is blessed for some reason by Pitchfork, and so that's who the kids have been told to love. The best thing about them is the quote I heard from someone the next day, "Man, I don't know what those fucking fans are on, I saw a couple of them at that show... their eyes were rolling back in their heads!" My guess? It's just good old-fashioned stupidity.

Arcade Fire are one of those bands that never fail to deliver for me. This was the fourth time I'd seen them (twice at Coachella, once opening for David Byrne at The Hollywood Bowl), and they still brought me to tears. This year, they had a marquee up in the center of the stage, with the words "Coming Soon - Arcade Fire!" written on it. The show started with some old school previews of coming attractions related to children in the suburbs going apeshit for whatever reason, and some other trailers from like the 1950s for tract housing. Then, the screen announced that it was time for the feature presentation, and Arcade Fire took the stage. They did a great mix of old and new stuff, and the songs on The Suburbs finally worked for me. I'd only listened to the first half of the album, but I definitely recognized several songs from that album in their set. Woven in with classic songs from Funeral and Neon Bible, they seemed to fit better than inside the context of their latest album.

To finish the main set, Win Butler announced, "Why don't you sing this one for us?" as the band launched into Wake Up, with its anthemic wordless chorus. As the song changed tempo, about a hundred three-foot diameter beach balls fell, all white, all with LEDs in them. They were all lit up in a single color at first, but as the crowd batted them around, they changed colors... purple, blue, red... all in time to the music, and all simultaneously. We batted those suckers around gleefully for the rest of that song, and as they walked off stage, everyone grabbed them and held them over their heads during the encore, which included Tunnels (Neighborhood 1) from Funeral.

I tell you, I didn't think they'd move me as much as they had in previous performances, but when everyone started singing along during Wake Up, I couldn't help myself. I don't know why it's such an emotional performance, and on some level I don't care. I'm just happy I haven't become too jaded by all their (well-deserved) publicity and fame.

We passed a long, LONG line of cars on our way back to ours, and made it out of the lot in five minutes. From where we were standing at Arcade fire (pretty damn close to the front) to our hotel room in an hour flat. I took the liberty to gloat about it on Twitter as I read all the tweets about poor souls who were in the lot for more than two hours trying to get out. I regret nothing. Those beers at the hotel tasted pretty damn good.

Coachella 2011 Review - Friday

2011-04-18T15:01:00.000-07:00

Coachella, the ancient Indian word that translates roughly to "thousands of pilled-up teenagers," has come and gone another year. We were there, as always, despite my rants about the evils of Goldenvoice and the suckiness of the lineup. At the end of the day, Coachella provided us a path to stumble down. This year, it just took a lot more work to find our way.

After the first of the weekend's three barely-adequate Denny's breakfasts, we got into line for the parking lot on Monroe Street. We were such eager little beavers that we sat on Monroe between Avenue 49 and 50 for over 30 minutes. We couldn't figure out why the gates weren't open for parking at 10:34 AM when the posted "doors open" time was 11 AM, but oh well. We were definitely not the only ones who anticipated that wrong.

Buttered ourselves up with SPF 50 and trudged from lot 16 all the way to the venue. We anticipated lines for security, but again, the gates weren't open. I think it was about 11:20 before they finally opened the fucking gates, and we started to wonder if the festy had its shit together at all this year.

Per tradition, we headed straight to the Sahara tent. Alf Alpha was up first, that rare breed of DJ that actually plays a wide selection of stuff. Some tracks better than others, but he spun some good beats, and Daft Punk's Around the World was a great choice at such an early stage in the festival.

Tokimonsta was up next, I guess she was having technical problems but I didn't hear them. "Thanks for sticking with me, guys!" she called as the issues were worked out, I guess. I really liked what she was doing, lots of bass, some melody, and you could tell she was really glad to be there.

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears @ Coachella 2011

Next up, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears in Mojave. All I can say is, thank god for Napster, because without that formerly-nefarious service, I never would have known to catch them. The Honeybears are one TIGHT outfit, and Black Joe has a stage presence to rival any front person at Coachella, maybe in history (yes, including Prince).

Watching these guys was almost like being in a rock and roll church or something, straight-up ass shakin' dance around and get stupid music. If they made The Blues Brothers today, Black Joe would be the reverend, and his music would be played in the chase scenes. And the crowd TOTALLY got it. Sorry for the spoiler so early, folks, but this set was the runaway highlight of Friday for us. You couldn't understand a word Black Joe said, but you believed it, believed IN it, because he sold it, and the band closed the deal. The horn section blew the place up, and every single musician was tight.

Except Black Joe Lewis, but that's the genius of it. He's got this sloppy charm going on with his guitar playing that he reins in just at the millisecond he needs to get back in synch with the rest of the band. Catch these guys before they get too big, you won't regret it. They even did this cover of I Got A Right, an old punk song by Murphy's Law:

Headed over to Outdoor Theatre to catch the last few songs by !!! (say: chk chk chk). It sucked that there was a conflict with these guys and BJL&TH but we're comfortable we made the right decision. They closed out their set with one of my favorites, Heart of Hearts from the album Myth Takes. After the set completed, Nic Offer yelled, "Thank you ladies and gentlemen! Three-time reigning Coachella champions, chk chk chk!"

Headed over to Gobi to catch The Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and his solo show. Not great. It really didn't go anywhere, and the singer's voice was annoying.

Caught the last few songs from Ozomatli, who I'd seen at my third Coachella back in 2002 on Outdoor stage. They were still great this year, but in 2002, when they climbed into the crowd with their instruments at the end of the set, it felt a lot more personal. Partially because I was way, way closer to the stage, but also because the crowd at Outdoor isn't divided into four parts the way it is at the main stage.

Warpaint were another highlight from Friday. An all-girl band (I'm just sayin') that rocks the way they do? Yeah, gimmie more of that. And their drummer was just beating those things mercilessly, she was one of the best drummers all weekend. How often do you say that about a band? Their original stuff was fantastic, but they did a really haunting cover of the old Motown classic My Guy that really stuck with me.

Warpaint @ Coachella 2011

Headed back to the main stage to catch what we could of the end of Cee Lo Green's set. Let me tell you, he gave it all he had, and as far as I know the band did too, but you couldn't hear anything but his voice and the drums. Occasionally you'd hear some bass, but the sound was totally, unforgivably FUCKED UP for that set. I'm so sorry, Cee Lo, some asshole passed us screaming "Cee Lo is bullshit!" but he obviously is a turd and doesn't get it. When Cee Lo was about to leave the stage, he called out, "I know you're pissed! I'm pissed too!! Tell 'em!" he encouraged, which resulted in the crowd giving a loud BOO to the soundman. Then the soundman cut his mic, and he walked off stage, and you could tell this man was about as mad as he gets. SPOILER ALERT: The sound was pretty awful on the main stage for several acts.

Tame Impala on the Outdoor stage was next, and they performed very well. I like them live about as much as I like their album stuff. OK. But I'll give them props for playing well.

Next, we took advantage of a recent development at Coachella, INS AND OUTS!! Man, let me tell you, walking to the car and back was better than some bands I've seen (think Sly Stone), and really provided a nice break in the day. Highly recommended if you've got a hole in your schedule and know for sure the world won't end if you don't catch any band during that time.

We got back inside in time to catch a good chunk of Interpol, but we couldn't get anywhere near the stage. We hung out behind the sound booth, and I remember saying out loud that I always forget how much I like them until I see them live. Solid performance with lots of early material from Turn On the Bright Lights and Antics.

Cut Copy were another highlight of Friday's festival. The Mojave tent was spilling over it was so full, and it was the loudest tent crowd for the whole weekend. They did a great smattering of old and new stuff, and I personally like pretty much everything I've ever heard from them, so it was a very solid set from one of the festival's best dance-rock bands.

We caught about three songs from Crystal Castles on the Outdoor stage after that. I'd heard they sucked in 2009, and figured they had something to prove. Their new album is fantastic, so I figured it was worth a shot. Well, it was interesting. The singer threw herself into the crowd during the second song. But as I was discussing with Trent from Dallas (whom I met at Leftfield on Sunday), she doesn't really fit the band very well sometimes. Screaming over electronica is a thing, but it's just not usually a GOOD thing. Plus the wind may have been messing up the sound as we were pretty far back, so I can't dis 'em too much.

Headed to Sahara to catch Sasha's set. I'm really not sure what he's calling the stuff he's spinning these days, but I'd call it "progressive techno" or something similar. Techno is categorized by lots of percussion and absolutely no soul whatsoever, so that's why I'm calling that spade a spade. It was technically perfect, but hey, anyone with a laptop and Ableton or Traktor or whatever can make that happen these days. I wish I could say I liked it, but it was a little disappointing. Sorry Sasha, I love ya for your melodic, psychedelic progressive house (see: Shpongle review on Sunday).

Sasha @ Coachella 2011

Chemical Brothers were the final disappointment of the night. After waiting at the main stage for over an hour, we decided that 40 minutes late was asking a little too much of the fans. Plus, there were half a dozen choads with flashlights poking around stage left, going, "Duh, um, uh, duhhhhh," so we figured it was the Coachella Stage Curse and headed out. Of course ten seconds after we got out of the area proper they started up, but by then I'd made my peace with saying "fuck it," and we headed back to the car.

It took us the longest to get out of the lot Friday, a full 20 minutes, only because Friday's the worst day for everything, pretty much. Coachella really needs to have a little more long-term memory and own the fact that there have been a full MONTH of days' worth of this festival (plus Stagecoach and now this "Big 4" metal and pukefest they're having coming up), and they just need to remember what they did right on Saturday and Sunday that they didn't on Friday.

Coachella 2011 - Answer Key, Version 1.0

2011-04-12T23:18:00.000-07:00

This is what I'm thinking we'll see. Not too many hard decisions, but those are marked with a /:

Friday

!!! / Black Joe Lewis >> Ozomatil / Omar Rodriguez-Lopez >> Cee Lo / Warpaint >> Tame Impala >> Interpol / Cut Copy >> Crystal Castles >> Sasha >> Chemical Brothers

Saturday

Trampled by Turtles >> Long fucking lunch >> Gogol Bordello >> Two Door Cinema Club / Erykah Badu >> Broken Social Scene >> Bright Eyes / Elbow >> Shpongle >> Wire / B.A.D. / Swell Season >> Paul van Dyk / Animal Collective >> Arcade Fire

Sunday

Sleep in / smoke in some fucking tent for hours / wander around >> Delorean / Green Velvet >> Thunderball >> CSS >> Long-ass dinner >> Sven Vath >> DFA 1979 / Joy Orbison >> Trentemoller >> Ratatat >> LEFTFIELD >> Kanye West

Subject to change.

Coachella 2011 Schedule is UP!

2011-04-12T22:59:00.001-07:00

There's a saying, In the world of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

And in the world of the shitty lineup, you don't have too many complaints about missing one act for another.

Set times

More soon.

Coachella 2011 Lineup - WORST COACHELLA EVER

2011-01-18T22:37:00.000-08:00

Have fun, everyone. For the first time since 2003, I won't be there. Maybe I'll see you in 2012.

This is the WORST lineup I've seen in years. It's the only truly BAD lineup I've ever seen, I think. Goldenvoice is just trying to see how much money they can gross. And it's gross.

Guess I'll check out the other festivals.

Sigh.

-m

98 Days 'til Coachella - Glassjaw

2011-01-07T21:18:00.000-08:00

Glassjaw is one of the first bands to be confirmed for Coachella 2011. I can hear why. It's not like they had anything else going on that weekend. Or ever.

I don't know where these guys come from, or where they've been, but I feel the same way about the White Castle wrappers I sometimes find in the street. I'm a little curious, but I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole.

These guys are nothing new, nothing original. At best, I'll be walking by them playing in the Gobi tent at like fucking noon on Friday when no one's there but their families and lesser-known skanks.

Not that you'd be able to tell them apart.

xxx days 'til Coachella - you motherfuckers stole my YouTube account

2011-01-01T00:30:00.000-08:00

Happy new year. Yeah, so you bastards had the "integrity" to have some pseudonym'd fuck called "Bill Fold" call me and tell me, "Yeah, we really want to work with you, we really want your YouTube username, just tell us what you want."

So of course I offered something totally out of bounds because Goldenvoice is a bunch of assholes who like to make money and care about music only as a means to that end.

Well, after several months passed, I got the equivalent of a TSA pat-down without so much as a herpes-laiden smooch. They stole my username without even so much as asking if I'd care to be reasonable.

Well fuck 'em. The Coachella page looks like shit, and of course, they've got a link to MY YouTube account, which they raped me for.

I'm honestly not as bitter as I should be. When this happened, I decided that it was Goldenvoice, not Coachella, who screwed me. And I stand by that. Coachella is an amazing thing. But let us never forget:

GOLDENVOICE IS A FUCKING CORPORATION AND THEY WILL VIVISECT YOUR FIRSTBORN CHILD IF IT MAKES THEM AN EXTRA DOLLAR.

And beyond that, there's no countdown on the homepage, so I can't even tell you how many days it is until the festival. (And NO, smartass, I don't care to count. That's what Web pages devoted to major festivals are for.

All this aside, I've been realizing lately that this will be my tenth Coachella, and unless they do something really amazing (read: BOWIE, BOARDS OF CANADA, EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL, LAMB, TOM WAITS) I may be done with it.

So come on, you bastards, you can roll over the little guy, show me you still care about all the little people out here who are just waiting to see that one band they've never had the chance to see. Don't give us another fucking Red Hot Chili Peppers year. We need something big.

You've got deep pockets.

Use them.

Goldenvoice Sucks and So Does Bill Fold

2010-09-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, Goldenvoice, the ass-faced corporation (read: necessary evil) that promotes Coachella contacted me. Why? Because years go, I setup my username on YouTube as "Coachella." I'd never pretended to be the festival, it was just designed as my way to pay tribute to my favorite gathering of music and art.

So Bill Fold contacted me, and told me they wanted to take over the name. He realized I was a huge fan of the festival, and told me to make them an offer. I said I'd get back to him.

So of course, I called my friend George, an intellectual property lawyer. George told me that there was really no precedent for this, and that it would cost them at least five figures to write up an initial complaint. Based on this information, I asked for what I thought was fair (30 g's, legal fees, and me plus three to all Goldenvoice events forever). This was about three months ago.

So today, I tried to log into my account, only to find it had been suspended. When I went to my old account at www.youtube.com/coachella it was all theirs. They'd successfully fucked me out of my account, all my videos are gone, and there's pretty much nothing I can do about it.

Well, almost nothing.

My new username on YouTube (until it's taken away from me) is "goldenvoicesucks" and I made sure I was the first person to post on their little account.

Fight the power, even if it's with a garden hose against a gaggle of flaming assholes.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - The Music Box in Hollywood, CA February 23, 2011

2010-09-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

Before they dropped off the face of the Earth at the turn of the century, Mediaassassin's Little Helper and I flew all the way to Chicago solely for the purpose of catching their live act. And what a show it was. It was at The Abbey, and we meandered from the floor to the balcony and back as the 11+ piece orchestra wove dirge after dirge against a backdrop of multiple film loops playing behind them, some simultaneously.

It was probably the most expensive ticket for a show I've ever bought, and it was totally worth it. Despite the plane, hotel, rental car, and towing charges for parking in the wrong place after the show, it was all fine in the end.

Now this post-everything collective of musical alchemists is back, and they're playing in Hollywood this coming February. We will be there. And if you can handle the sheer ripping emotion that a show like this will bestow upon you, you should too.

It was all instrumental that night at The Abbey back in 2003, until the very end of the show when Efrim stood in front of the single microphone. The crowd fell silent.

"Right now, somewhere in Iraq, there's a kid holding a gun, he's got a house full of fucking furniture that he bought on credit. And right now, there's a woman in Iraq, she can't go outside her house to buy food because the bombs won't stop dropping. This song is for the two of them."

Presale starts today at 10:00.

Coachella 2010 Review - Sunday

2010-04-20T00:04:00.001-07:00

picture stolen from the Coachella message boards, if you're the genius behind it, let me buy you a cold one

Coachella 2010 Review - Friday
Coachella 2010 Review - Saturday

Usually, Sunday at Coachella is the day we wait for, the day we look forward to the most. Since the festival went from two to three days back in 2007, Friday has always been the weakest day, Saturday kicks it in, and Sunday is amazing. This has been the formula Goldenvoice has made work for the last three years.

This year, they flipped the script. And not in a good way. Sure, there were several acts I was looking forward to on Sunday, but when held up against Friday and Saturday, it paled in comparison. You could see it just looking at the lineup - there were huge spans of time near the end where there was only one pony in the race (the headliners, Gorillaz).

Sure, some of this was because of the volcano and the disrupted travel from Europe and the UK. Delphic and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, both of whom I wish I could have seen, both had to cancel. Neither Yann Tiersen nor Gary Numan could make the trip, either. We prepared ourselves for Sunday being an absolute loss, hoping for some minor miracle.

Spoiler alert: It wasn't a total wash. We started off watching The Middle East on the Outdoor Theatre, a band I'd researched before the festival. They're make extremely mellow, subtle music, reminicent of Sufjan Stevens and Iron and Wine. Usually this is a recipe for disaster at an ADHD-fest like Coachella, but it worked because they were the first band on of the day. I know I'm going to make some enemies when I say this, but that goddamn Do Lab has got to go. I'm not saying get rid of it, because it's a really good idea. However, during the band's more poetic moments, you could clearly hear the THUMP THUMP THUMP from the Do Lab. Castrate that motherfucker or at least move it far enough away that it won't mess up any of the acts WE PAID TO SEE.

Perhaps they could put it between the first and second security checkpoints, another stupid addition this year. I mean, it was great that they allowed ins and outs (how could they refuse when they're branding us with wristbands for the whole weekend?), but come on, people, two security checkpoints? At least the search wasn't too personal this year, as I could walk just fine after we got past them.

Next up was the dreaded downtime we had due to the aforementioned Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland. If you know me, you know I've spent some time over there, and speak quite a bit of Icelandic. As an educational service, I'll now show you phoenetically how to prononce "Eyjafjallajokull":

fuh-KING vol-KAY-no

We headed off to Babasónicos on the main stage. As you might have guessed, they're a Spanish-speaking band, specifically from Argentina. While they weren't quite as engaging as last year's entry from that part of the world that also starts with a "B" (Bajofondo), they were quite good, and extremely diverse. Some of their stuff sounded really dark, some of it more traditional, but none of it sucked, which was refreshing. It's actually really cool to see a show where you don't understand a single word. Well, one word. "Pendejo." I like songs I can sing along to, too.

Next, we headed back to the Outdoor to get ready for Deerhunter. We caught about the last two songs from Owen Pallet. Again, very hard to define, but easy to describe. There were two guys on stage, a violinist (who I assume is O.P.) and a percussionist / pianist. The guy with the piano got something looped and then went back to the drums, while Owen proceeded to bow-beat the hell out of the strings of his violin. He also used it as a percussion instrument.

Next up, Deerhunter. There were some real award-winning assholes behind me for this show, but I did learn from them that the one guy in Deerhunter was Bradford Cox of Atlas Sound. If you've never seen the cover the Atlas Sound album Logos, you won't know what I'm talking about, but if you have, I can tell you, his midsection isn't photoshopped. He was wearing a jacket and said, "My doctor says I have to keep this jacket on so I don't go to the hospital." If you looked closely, you could see that there was almost nothing inside of his jacket, almost not even him. Cox apparently has Marfan syndrome, which is probably partially what drove him to be the creative tour-de-force he is today. I can't say I was blown away by Deerhunter, but as a band on the Kranky label, I bet I'll like them more on repeated listens.

Back to the main stage for Yo La Tengo we went. We got a pretty good spot, I don't think a lot of people knew who they are, they're sort of indie darlings, always the bridesmaid type of a band. And yet, they're usually really highly critically-acclaimed. I don't know if they just don't get no college radio airplay or if they just don't get no respect, but the crowd that did see them was treated to a pretty fantastic show, complete with psychedelic noise-guitar solos, all three band members singing, and even dancing at one point to You Can Have It All.

"We met Sly Stone backstage," Ira began, "and he asked us if we wouldn't mind dancing to the music. Normally, we never would, but..." All three members sang along to a prerecorded track, and Ira and James danced a little synchronized dance.

Next up was Jonsi on the Outdoor Theatre. Jonsi is the lead singer for Icelandic band Sigur Rós. I'm a big fan of SR, but for some reason, I didn't have high hopes for Jonsi. I actually kinda thought he wasn't going to show up, as the massive cloud of buzzkilling volcanic ash originated from his homeland.

I have no idea why I ever underestimated this man. I can tell you right now, this was the tear-up moment of the day for me. His voice is so pure, so clean and so controlled, you could practically hear a pin drop as he exulted this last song, which some angel captured and posted to YouTube:

Blissed out, we floated through the crowd over to the Gobi tent, where Sly Stone was supposed to be performing at 7:00. If you don't know anything about Sly Stone, you only need to know three things:

1. He's a funk legend.
2. He's infamous for blowing off gigs
3. To say he's a drug addict is like saying the antichrist is mean.

We're in a packed tent, chanting, "We want Sly! We want Sly!" as they ran through a meticulous soundcheck. At 7:05, we were informed that the show had been pushed to "a little later." The crowd booed, and I think everyone had a short "I knew it" conversation with a total stranger.

Being no stranger to workarounds and second choices, we headed straight back to the Outdo' to catch Phoenix. This was actually pretty cool, because we were both wishing we could have seen Phoenix. This band has several albums, and I'd never heard of them before they had a song in a car commercial recently. Once I heard that, I couldn't get them out of my head.

Apparently they're pretty popular, because we couldn't get anywhere near them. When they played their hit song 1901, I bet you could hear it over the thumping kick drum in the Sahara tent, nearly all the way across the field.

We waded through the crowd and the darkness to catch Orbital, a pioneering electronic act from the 1990's. I've always been taught to respect Orbital, and I even have some of their stuff, but I really didn't know what we were in store for. In a word, Orbital reminded me that I love good breakbeat music. They turned in a great set of chunky, shake-your-ass dance music, right up until the very end. Well, almost the very end. The last song they played was a remix of Belinda Carlile's Heaven Is A Place On Earth?! WTF!?!? They lost the ENTIRE CROWD! The only other thing I've ever seen similar to that is when Satoshi Tomiie trainwrecked three separate times at the Mayan.

We got into position for Thom Yorke's Atoms For Peace, a band featuring former Simpsons guest star Flea and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. Thom announced that they'd be playing every song from his solo album, The Eraser, and some other songs. While there were some great moments, and some of the songs sounded fantastic, the whole thing felt like a workaround. Like Thom Yorke said, OK, I've got this great STUDIO album, how can I translate that to a live environment?

Let me tell you, Flea detracted from it more than added to it. There were so many people who showed up expecting to see Flea as he usually is, jumping around like a goddamn jackrabbit, mugging and bugging out his eyes. There were some definite highlights, Black Swan sounded great live, and Harrowdown Hill was phenomenal. After the main set, Thom came out and did Airbag, just Thom and an acoustic guitar. After the most appreciative cheers of the night, he walked straight over to the piano and did Everything In Its Right Place, again just him and the instrument.

He brought back the rest of the band to play a few more songs, mostly songs they'd written to perform live. It was quite a difference, as these songs were specifically written with an eye to live performance, and Thom wasn't the only one in the room when they were written. Don't get me wrong, I love Thom Yorke, but his one flaw is he can't play every instrument live simultaneously.

After they finished, an announcement was made, "Ladies and gentlemen, completely unaffected by travel restrictions, Sly Stone will be performing at 10:45 in the Mojave tent."

We had written Sly off. We were all set to see Gorillaz on the main stage. We figured he just blew off Coachella, but something inside of us had to know. We made a decision, and while I stick by it, it was the worst decision I've made at any Coachella in nine years.

We arrived at the tent. It was pretty empty. We looked around, there were maybe a tenth of the people who waited for him at 7:00, when he didn't show up the first time. The soundcheck was epic, a bad sign, we knew. We waited. 10:45 came and went, then 11:00 and then 11:10. Finally, at 11:15, after the backup singers warmed up the crowd, Sly finally made it onto the stage. He was wearing some sort of wig and top hat that made him look like something out of Alice In Wonderland.

He dropped into a chair, told the band to stop playing, and began to inform us of all his legal problems, in a diatribe that lasted easily five minutes. The band kept trying to steer him to start playing, but he wanted to give us a preview of his "new material." He had the keyboard player dial through a series of patterns, stopping him after about 15 seconds of each one. "No, stop!! STOP!! Play the next one!!" he'd shout.

After about five minutes of berating the band, they finally got him to sing part of a verse of Stand. I thought it was ironic because the bastard couldn't. After a few more failed attempts, I turned to a guy in front of me and said, "Well, at least we all shared a moment." This was going nowhere.

Conner turned to me and said, "You realize this isn't going to get any better, right?" In our hearts, I think we all wanted it to get better, wanted Sly to get better, to snap out of the funk (no pun intended) he was in and just tear it up. But much closer to the surface, we knew that it just wasn't going to happen.

At 11:30 PM on Sunday, April 18, 2010, we called it. Coachella 2010 was dead.

Between the two of us, Conner and I have seen easily over 1,000 shows. We agreed that not only was this a gross oversight on Goldenvoice's part, but this was the worst moment in our concertgoing careers. Nothing else even came close. This was a shit-landslide victory. Congrats, Sly. You single-handedly took that wonderful feeling we get when leaving Coachella and wiped your junkie ass with it.

All we could do was drive home, anything but speechless on how we'd essentially been screwed out of our afterglow feeling. Thank god we had a cooler full of beer to help take our minds off of the travesty to which we'd just been subjected.

And so, rather than a pop, Coachella 2010 ended like the air being slowly, painfully and tortuously squeezed out of a balloon.

We're not beat. We're down, but in the end, we refused to let this deter us from looking forward to next year.

And yes, we already heave our hotel reservations.

Until next year,

-mediaassassin

Coachella 2010 Review - Friday
Coachella 2010 Review - Saturday

Coachella 2010 Review - Saturday

2010-04-19T17:01:00.000-07:00

Coachella 2010 Review - Friday

Coachella 2010 Review - Sunday

Yes, Coachella 2010 sold out this year. As far as I know, it's a first. They've had individual days sell out before (Rage Against the Machine, Prince, Pixies days' all sold out) but to my knowledge, the entire festival has never turned people away with such a bottom line. No ticket? Any other year it's "No problem," someone's always trying to get rid of a ticket.

Any other year.

Saturday started with our usual turf nap in the Sahara tent, alternately staring at the schedule and the ceiling. It's an easy life when you're in the shade, well-fed and -hydrated, and the day and the festival are both young. Still, we wondered, was it already a third over?

John Waters, the movie director, performed a monologue in Mojave at 1:00. I foolishly suggested we check it out, and in some ways I'm sorry I did. John Waters was hilarious, no question, but he is to hilarious what The Office is to comedy in a way, you're extremely uncomfortable, but you can't stop watching. At least The Office is safe for TV. I'm not even sure I can tell you what he was talking about here, and I'm fucking filthy.

OK, I'll tell you a few things (these aren't the worst by a long shot). He spoke of Divine, the transvestite actor in many of his movies. He talked about the infamous scene in Pink Flamingos (I won't describe it here, this is a family show, kids). Then he stated, "Even Divine had limits. When we met Richard Simmons, [Divine] told me he felt homophobic!" His greatest quote, "I used to teach in prisons, and most of my students were murders. I showed them Pink Flamingos, and they told me, 'You are fucked up!'" Some of the topics he covered (with all the modesty of a grandmother showing pictures of her offspring's spawn) were very specific gay subcultures ("Don't tell your parents you're a BEAR! That's just cruel!"), thoughts about celebrity necrophilia, and taboos that shouldn't be taboo. He was hilarious, but I felt like I was going to puke, so we moved on. WARNING: Do not watch this.

Next up, we checked out British band Porcupine Tree. I have a few good friends who really recommended their early stuff, but I checked out stuff from their latest, called The Incident. This is mostly what they played, and it's pretty hard stuff, folks. It sounds like Tool taken down a half a notch, with fantastic harmonies and keyboards like Pink Floyd. Apparently their new album is a double, and the first disc is one 50+ minute song. They put on a great show, and I overheard someone say, "If I see nothing else, at least I got to see Porcupine Tree and Fever Ray."

Of course, right after that we were told that yes, Frightened Rabbit didn't make it. Question to Goldenvoice: Did you explore the possibility of beaming these bands in from the other side of the volcano ash plume? There's this thing called The Innernets now, and if you've got more money than god (like you do, GV, come on), you can get it pretty much anywhere. Alls I'm sayin' is, if you didn't at least explore the possibility, that's strike two on you this year (see my review of Sunday's closing act for strike one with a bullet).

Buzzed over to catch the last song from Portugal. the Man. I think these guys are the first band to ever play Coachella from Alaska, but I could be wrong. They needed to take a break after they finished so they could mop up all the minds they melted in the Gobi tent, but it was well worth it. For only catching one song, this band is one that I'll definitely be checking out in the future.

We had some time on our hands, so we couldn't pass up a chance to see Jason Bentley live. Jason has hosted Metropolis on KCRW for years, but I'm not sure if it's still running or not. He spun some amazing housey stuff, including a remix of Radiohead's Everything In Its Right Place, and Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys. I'll check him out every chance I get, but I really wish I could figure out if he's still got a weekly electronic music radio show.

Next, we headed off to the Outdoor Theatre to dig ourselves in for quite some time. The Temper Trap took the stage at 4:00 and just owned the crowd. Apparently they're from Melbourne, Australia, which makes sense because someone was flying a gigantic Australian flag. But then again, someone was also flying a big Canadian flag and a big UK flag as well, so we had no idea where they were from. I guess the tip-off would have been when the singer, Dougie Mandagi, grabbed a hat and yelled, "You know what this says? It says Australia! This one's for Australia!!" I'm not sure how to describe them, other than sweet falsetto vocals and airy, ethereal guitars. A very interesting, unique and overall catchy combination, and they're fantastic live.

photo by M. Conner

Next up, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. I really liked what I heard from them before the festival, and they didn't disappoint me. They reminded me a tiny bit of Arcade Fire, with their many members and family-like feel to performance. But E.S's major chords are as plentiful as Arcade Fire's minor chords. ES&TMZ make extremely upbeat music that's a lot of fun to listen to, and you get the sense that they get at least as much pleasure out of performing it. Four members of the group, including Edward Sharpe, crowdsurfed during their performance. I wondered if this was them saying, We don't know when we'll be able to do this again, and we have the chance, so let's just go for it! They've got a bit of a doo-wop feel to them, despite the fact that Conner stated, "I didn't like it. I just don't like high school drama club music."

photo by M. Conner

Next up were The XX. I wasn't sure about them the first time I heard them, because I was led to believe that they were electronic, which isn't at all true. Well, it's a little bit true. They do have a percussionist who uses pretty much all samples to do the percussion, but he plays it live, with his fingers. The rest of the instrumentation is pretty standard rock band, and they did what they did well. I actually liked their live version of Crystallized better than the one on the album. It will be interesting to see what they do next.

photo by M. Conner

We jockeyed for even better position for the next act up on the Outdoor Theater, Hot Chip. I'm not sure why my expectations were so low. Maybe it's because when we last saw them in the Sahara tent, it was great, but we were pretty far back. This time around, they were on the second-largest stage, and we were right in front of the soundboard. I'm not going to over-analyze it too much, because they were mindblowing. These guys had the entire crowd moving almost involuntarily, their stuff is just so infectious, and they deliver it live with a punch that doesn't come through on their studio stuff. "It's great to see some of these electronic bands we used to see in Sahara (e.g., LCD Soundsystem) out on the main stages," Conner opined. I agreed. Hot Chip didn't ask if you wanted to dance, didn't care. In the end, you moved.

MGMT were up next, but we had needs to fulfill, so we did. Sadly, this had to happen as we were in line to get a killer spot. Even more sadly, those needs we filled didn't include eating food. Anyway, we got back into a spot where we could make a quick exit when it was time to get into position for Muse on the main stage. We caught the first five or six songs, which focused more on material from their new album, Congratulations. They did play 4th Dimensional Transition from Oracular Spectacular, and the last song we caught was Electric Feel, also from that album. I've heard their new record is much different than OS, and I'm willing to give it a try, but I wasn't totally blown away by the new stuff. Then again, I think it's hard for a band you know to bowl you over with new material live, even if it is, um, spectacular.

We broke away and weaved through the crowd to witness Muse. Muse is one of those bands that's absolutely bigger than Christ in most countries, but the US of A has yet to really embrace them. I really wondered if Muse could headline a festival like Coachella, despite the fact they have sold out a stadium as gigantic as Wembley (capacity? like 70,000) across the pond.

Again, low expectations weren't just shattered, they were DISINTEGRATED. These three guys are just exceptionally tight, talented, and they look like they're having a blast. Plus, their stage show was worthy of a Coachella headliner. They were playful, too, breaking into instrumental teasers from AC/DC, and even ripping the familiar intro to Bleach-era Nirvana track, School. Despite the fact that their video effects (which were fuh-nom-uh-null) cut out about 2/3 of the way into their set, they proved that they were the type of band that plays to that size of a crowd, all over the world, every night. I'm estimating about 15,000 of my fellow Coachellans were jumping up and down when they opened with Uprising, when they closed with Knights of Cydonia, and when a gigantic shower of sparks fell in the middle of the stage, between singer Matthew Bellamy at the front of the stage, and Christopher Wolstenholme (bass) and Dominic Howard (drums) at the back.

After Muse (which sure as hell didn't seem like it could have POSSIBLY been 90 minutes long), we headed over to Devo. I was really hoping we'd get a chance to check out at least a few tracks from Flying Lotus, but time moves in one direction, and it sucks more at Coachella than anywhere else in the universe. And yet, a choice had to be made. We stand by it.

Devo were great. I know they opened a lot of doors, and I know the guy who originally signed them probably got fired and deserves a lot of credit for bringing Devo to the world. They put on a great show with a fun video backdrop, and never took themselves too seriously. In short, they stayed true to form that night as they have throughout their careers. They did what they did, as no one else can do it, and did it well. The crowd lost their minds when they played Whip It (of course), and it sounded like the vast majority of the crowd knew the answer to

Q: Are We Not Men?

(for those of you who are curious, A: We Are DEVO!)

Overall, it was a blast, but I couldn't call it a highlight. Sorry to all the DEVOtees out there, and sorry to all of you who hate puns ;)

One thing I didn't mention about Friday before was the fact that getting out of the parking lot was like pulling shark teeth. Painful, time-consuming and stupid (much like Sunday closer, read on if the link is live). While it took us 20 minutes to get out of the lot Saturday night (thanks to Conner's redneck-in-the-Indy-500-like driving skills) and then 40 minutes to get fully free of the clusterfuck of traffic, Saturday night took only half of that. People in the lot were even generally good, letting in one car at every inlet. Luckily, we were able to bypass many inlets because of our fanatical devotion to get to the lot shortly after it opened, and therefore, get out shortly after returning to the car.

Coachella 2010 Review - Friday

Coachella 2010 Review - Sunday

Coachella 2010 Review - Friday

2010-04-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

Coachella 2010 Review - Saturday
Coachella 2010 Review - Sunday

Coachella. It's a festival of sights, sounds, colors, and unfortunately, smells. But just the sound of the name of the nation's biggest and best-loved three-day music festival makes a true music addict pause. It evokes images of the lush green of the polo field and the powder blue sky. It makes one remember the black dust inhaled for three solid days, which then blows from the nose for three more. But of course, Coachella is much more than the sum of its parts, it is what stops me from going completely psycho all the time. In short, it is my raison d'être. Well, that and beer.

This year was a strange one in many different ways. The most obvious from the start was the fact that everything seemed to flow backwards, temporally, as far as the talent. Friday was the best day as far as we were concerned, from top to bottom. We arrived in our usual geeked-out way, early as we could possibly stand it, after a hangover helper breakfast from the Indio Denny’s. I’d listened to literally EVERY band on the roster for Friday, so I felt pretty informed. Sadly, I knew that we’d be missing some great bands, but part of Coachella is about choices, and some of them are pretty tough.

We opted to skip Kate Miller-Heidke in Gobi, because she sounded too much like last year’s highlight Amanda Palmer. We took our usual siesta in the back of the Sahara tent, enjoying the freshest grass we knew we’d be laying on all weekend. After verifying that early Outdoor Theatre participant Alana Grace was “totally uninspired,” as my accomplice Conner state, we hung around for Deer Tick. Deer Tick have this punk alt-country thing going for them that reminds me a bit of Uncle Tupelo. If you don’t know UT, check them out, they’re a precursor to Wilco but more shit-kickin’). Singer John McCauley came out in a dress for some reason, probably more because of the heat than the shock value. I don’t think it affected his performance one way or the other.

Next up, we headed to the Mojave to check out As Tall As Lions. ATAL had a fantastic crowd of supporters, cheering and screaming for every song. The singer started a little shaky, but somehow the melody/harmony vocals were fantastic even at the outset. They pulled things together very quickly, and very nicely, treating us to about 45 mintutes of what I’d classify as shoegazey love songs.

We stuck around for the next act in Mojave, Yeasayer, and so did pretty much everybody else. It’s always great to see true crossover in this way. Too often, you’ll be in a packed situation, watching a band and you can tell that 80% of the crowd are just killing time waiting to jockey for position when the next band comes on, but this wasn’t the case. Yeasayer are really hard to define. Their first song had some messed up, pitch-shifted vocals that made the singer sound like his voice was being played back in slow motion. If you can picture it, it sounded something like Butthole Surfers meets Dead Can Dance (Dead Butthole Dance, anyone?) and I was kind of wondering if I’d researched the right band. However, the rest of the set was what I’d expected: Music with an almost-too positive vibe, bouncy, danceable, poppy and fun.

Here’s where the first pangs of regret come in for missing a band. Ra Ra Riot were up next on the same stage, but we decided to be responsible and eat. We found a truck hosted by Cowboys and Turbans from Silverlake in LA, and ordered two chicken tikka masala burritos. After about 15 minutes and screaming at the idiotic food runner who had no clue what “first in, first out” meant (check his credit score, it’s lower than his IQ, which is saying a lot), we dove into a delicious meal. I have to say, it’s fusion done right, and it was the perfect food for that place and time.

It was time for our first trip to the main (Coachella) stage to see ska legends The Specials. I’d like to say these guys haven’t lost a thing over the years, but I’m not familiar enough with them to make that call. One of them called to the crowd, “You people are beautiful! (cheers from the crowd) Well, most of you. Some of you are fookin’ ugly!” While we both agreed we would have liked to have seen their entire set, we had to leave early to see the artist I was most looking forward to for the entire event, Gil Scott-Heron.

We arrived at the Gobi tent for GSH in just enough time to get nice and close to the stage. The man who some call the godfather of rap music (this is the man who wrote The Revolution Will Not Be Televised) walked out on stage with a microphone and addressed the crowd, “For those of you who bet I wouldn’t show up, you lose!” This prompted a huge cheer from the crowd. He made small talk with the audience for another few minutes before sitting down at a Rhodes piano and mixing his smooth-as-honey vocals with the sweet, sweet sound of that electric piano. You could tell the man had aged from the way he looked, but his music is, to me, timeless in only the way that something that speaks directly to your soul can be.

The last solo song he did before he brought out a sax and flute player, a pianist and a bongo player, was We Almost Lost Detroit, a song that’s very close to my heart and always brings tears to my eyes about a near nuclear disaster about 30 miles from downtown. The four of them jammed for another 20 minutes or so, finishing up with The Bottle, one of his best-known songs. It was a great chorus he repeated, “Gotta celebrate life!” And we all sang along with our bodies if not with our voices.

We scrambled over to Sahara to check out as much as we could of Pretty Lights. I discovered them just before the festival, and I’m so glad I did, because I’ve never seen anyone rock the Sahara tent with straight downtempo before. This music takes all the things I love about hip-hop (the beat, the deep bass, the groove) and minimizes the stuff I hate about it (all vocal samples are short, catchy and usually chopped up or scratched in). Pretty Lights just absolutely killed it in my book, with a fantastic light show as a wiling partner.

I wish I could have stayed for the whole thing, but we knew we had to catch the last half of Grizzly Bear’s set. I had my reservations about whether their music would translate well to a festival situation. I’ve only heard their album Yellow House, which is mostly extremely mellow but always very articulate and precise. I think I only recognized two songs in their set that night, but I’ll be seeing Grizzly Bear every chance I get from now on. How stupid we were to let the tickets sell out for their recent show at The Belly Up in Solana Beach without getting ours. GB are famous for performing different versions of their songs live than in the studio, and with the closer, On A Neck, On A Spit, I could really appreciate how they’d taken a great recorded song and really brought it to life on stage. Their three- (four?-) part harmonies were chilling.

Next, we headed over to catch the rest of Echo & the Bunnymen’s set. I’d heard Ian’s voice was shot, and yeah, it’s pretty shot. Add that to the fact that the sound was at a hush, and it made for a very disappointing set. They did finish up with The Killing Moon and Lips Like Sugar, each of which Ian McCulloch said was one of the two best songs ever written. While it doesn’t sound like he’s phoning it in, his voice sounds like he’s calling from a cell phone that’s been through a goddamn washing machine.

We jetted over to the main stage again to catch the last half of LCD Soundsystem’s set. While I heard somebody on Sunday saying “I just don’t think they’re a very good live band,” I was one of the 10,000+ Coachellans who would disagree. This was a HUGE crowd for a band that plays essentially dance music, and I was amazed not only that everyone in front of me was dancing, but that everyone BEHIND me was dancing as well. For being in the center of a mammoth crowd, that’s saying something.

We first heard the end of Losing My Edge, where James Murphy adlibbed a bit, asking the crowd, “What is so hard about DJing that you can’t use RECORDS!?” alluding to the trend towards an all-digital environment in the booth. Again, to my surprise, the crowd absolutely went apeshit over this question, screaming and screaming for more. They did a few new ones (which were decent), All My Friends and then Yeah (Pretentious Version), which really got the crowd bouncing around, as they said it would be their last song. Somehow, they bargained for “just another six minutes, please,” as Murphy asked over and over, and finished off with New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down, the last track on Sound of Silver. At one point, James told the crowd, “We’re happy to be the, well not the steak in the meal of Coachella, Jay-Z’s the steak. Not even the chicken,” he continued, saying that supergroup Them Crooked Vultures were like “the chicken” in “the Coachella meal. We’ve been over there before,” he said, pointing to the Sahara tent, where all the dance and DJ acts are normally sequestered, “we’ve been the side dish, but we’re happy to be the fish in the meal this time.”

Next, we headed back to Gobi to catch what we could of Brazilian singer Céu. She sounds a little like if Bebel Gilberto listened to people like me and started doing more stuff with a DJ. I had a great conversation with a guy from Fresno, who was there for his first Coachella. He showed me some pictures he’d taken of her at her CD signing earlier that day. “She’s hot,” he said. From the pictures, I couldn’t tell, but when she took that stage, oh man. The guy from Fresno turned to me after the first song and shouted, “Dude, I’m like in LOVE right now!” To which I replied, “You and everyone else in this tent!”

We decided that our last act of the night would be John Lydon’s Public Image Limited. I never saw (or even really truly loved) The Sex Pistols, but the man’s a legend, and we agreed that we’d go ahead and check them out. Lydon made no bones about the fact he wasn’t happy with the volume level of the stage, and he wasn’t at all concerned about being louder than Jay-Z. “Turn it up! Turn it up!” he shouted at the Outdoor Theatre’s soundman, and turn it up he did. It was a blistering set, filled largely with stuff I didn’t recognize. He did play Warrior from their album 9, as well as Bags from the album named either Compact Disk, Cassette or Album, depending on which medium you bought. The band actually went past their appointed stop time, and played pretty much right up until the 1:00 a.m. curfew, which was new for the year.

Again, regrets. PiL was great, don’t get me wrong, but I would have loved to have seen Fever Ray. I overheard a lot of conversation about how great it was going to be, and even more about how amazing it was. Also, I would have loved to have checked out DEADMAU5’s set. I hear he’d been planning it for like a year, and had a stage built by the same people who built Daft Punk’s set (this latter tidbit was in the LA Times, so I assume it’s true). Little Dragon were on my must-see list as well, but we couldn’t make it. I would have liked to have seen La Roux as well, until I encountered her fans pushing their way up to the front as we were leaving Gil Scott-Heron, heading for the back. Hell, I would have seen Jay-Z if there had been nothing else going on, but as I said earlier, Coachella is about choices, some harder than others.

Coachella 2010 Review - Saturday
Coachella 2010 Review - Sunday

4 Days 'til Coachella - Friday preview

2010-04-12T19:29:00.000-07:00

First, let me say that it's pissing me off that they've got a link up to the set times, but when you try to click it, it gives you a "forbidden" error. Here's where the set times will be when they're finally posted:

http://www.coachella.com/event/set-times

EDIT: Link is LIVE!!!!!!!!!

So, I've actually taken the time to listen to some tracks from every single band on the schedule on Friday. Here's the skinny:

Must See

Céu - She sounds like Bebel Gilberto, and I love that. Great voice, I can't wait to hear it filling up the field.
Fever Ray - The singer from The Knife. 'Nuff said.
Gil Scott-Heron - My hero. This man is a god. When his soulful pipes open up, they're going to fill the hole in your life.
Grizzly Bear - Honestly, I have my doubts about a live show at Coachella. I'm concerned that their nuances will be lost on the hordes of people, but I'm willing to take the chance.
LCD Soundsystem - They're just fucking awesome. I hope they're on the main stage this time so the posers will get to see them too.
Little Dragon - Damn, smooth as liquid chocolate, darker than sweet. And the lead singer's nothing to shake a stick at (unless you think that'll work).
Passion Pit - One of the several acts this year I've noted as "weird-good!" Fans of Animal Collective and Mercury Rev, line up.
Public Image Limited - I missed the epic triple-bill they were part of back in 1986 or 1987, the other two bands? Sugarcubes and New Order.
The Cribs - They sound like The Cure but with a little more screaming.
The Specials - These guys are ska legends. I'm not big on ska, but I'll happily watch legends perform if they don't suck.
Yeasayer - Quirky, cool, crazy and worth your attention.

Don't Cross the Field to Piss On 'Em If They're On Fire (ESPECIALLY If They're On Fire!)

Baroness - Dump metal with math. I don't like either of those things.

She & Him - Not only are they on a fucking iPod commercial, they sucked even before they got there.

Alana Grace - Oh, no...

Street Sweeper Social Club - A bunch of swears and that rock/funk/rap/crap bullshit do not an entertaining act make (see also: 311 sucks balls)

9 Days 'til Coachella - Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

2010-04-07T21:57:00.000-07:00

A coworker mentioned that her daughter (who is a high school junior) was really wanting to go to Coachella to see this band, so I was a little reluctant to check them out. However, this girl has given me hope for the youth of this country, as what I've heard is rather good. Also, Saturday's not looking fantastic at this point, so every little bit helps.

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros sound like, as far as I can tell ya, a cross between Arcade Fire and Bright Eyes. But they're neither derivative nor imitative of either. There are little elements of originality here and there, maybe nodding to the aforementioned groups, maybe just coincidence.

A little bit Sergeant Peppers-era Beatles, a little bit sing-a-long campfire shit. Bottom line: I'll be there. I like what I'm hearing, and I like that I'm hearing what suburban high school kids like, and I like that I like what they hear.

11 Days 'til Coachella - Frightened Rabbit

2010-04-05T18:47:00.000-07:00

When I saw the name of this band, I thought to myself, yup. Band names are all used up.

But when I heard these guys for the first time, I realized that the comparisons on their Napster page were apt: Acid-tongued lyrics in the style of Arab Strap, sing-along harmonies similar to Iron & Wine, tied together with the driving guitar rhythms that evoke the memory of Doves.

And yet there's a bit of pop appeal to this act, I can almost imagine Damien Rice and Sufjan Stevens fans slowly gravitating to wherever they'll be playing on Saturday.

Note, the video is NSFW, but if you know what Arab Strap sounds like and you played it anyway, you're probably too stupid to have a job.

11 Days 'til Coachella - Hypnotic Brass Ensemble

2010-04-05T17:32:00.000-07:00

Somewhere buried in that you-could-fit-it-on-a-grain-of-rice sized writing, Goldenvoice snuck in a real gem. As soon as I saw the group's name I was intrigued. These three words were probably never uttered in the same breath before these guys came along, but I'm pretty sure this is going to be one of those acts everybody's talking about.

These guys make music that's somewhere between instrumental James Bond film music, bossanova and trip-hop. I'm really not sure how else to describe them, they sound like maybe Matthew Herbert Big Band(who opened for Bjork at The Hollywood Bowl back on the Vespertine tour) as scored by Kruder & Dorfmeister.

This ain't your grampa's oom pa pa band, folks. I'm not sure when they stashed this excellent act into the lineup, but I'll be there Sunday watching, swaying and getting down with the rest of the groovy people.

Oh, and I found this on the Coachella message boards. This has nothing to do with Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, but it's funnier than shit.

16 Days 'til Coachella - Matt & Kim

2010-03-31T18:06:00.000-07:00

How much do Matt & Kim suck? Read on.

Today, Coachella.com featured Sunday fine print artists Matt & Kim, so I decided to check them out. There are elements about their music I like, like the fact that they don't seem to take themselves too seriously and they can sound a little like Mum if you squint your ears real hard, and elements that I don't like, like the fact that while they're good at what they do, I feel like it's been done before. They've sort of got this 1980's thing going, with nods to acts like OMD and Howard Jones, but with Echo and the Bunnymen playing at the same festival, I'll go with the orignators over the imitators in this case.

I think they could grow on me though. I have to say, it's poppy as a dump Elvis took after gorging on peanut butter and Rice Krispies sandwiches, which isn't all bad.

OK, after three songs, I can't say they're a must-see, but I admire the starry-eyed optimism vibe they've got going, and for that, I'll try to catch them if it's possible. A reluctant thumbs-up, but I kinda hope their performance makes me eat my thumb.

18 Days 'til Coachella - Iglu & Hartly

2010-03-29T19:29:00.001-07:00

Today, Coachella.com is featuring a video by Friday small-print artists Iglu & Hartly. Immediately I felt like these guys could be a guilty pleasure, something that you wouldn't want to admit you liked until you were the only one at the party not talking about how geekily cool they were. They're kind of like a cross of the image Devo portrayed when they came out and the music MGMT is doing is Eminem were goofing over it.

Maybe I shouldn't compare it to hip-hop... the the rapping is more the embryonic talk-over of the early 80's as opposed to the I'm-so-hard-my-shit-cuts-glass-like-a-diamond thing so many idiotic MCs put out there that just sets them up for failure in my mind, musically. I mean, how can you take someone seriously who's talking about all the money, bitches and cars he's got when you know a few months ago he was being told to shut the fuck up by his fellow bus riders?

Not exactly hip-hop, not exactly electro, but these guys take none of it seriously. Except maybe that little tinge of Sign 'O the Times-era Prince that creeps in every now and then that makes you think it's all so very well planned out, maybe they've found the perfect balance between chic and geek.

22 Days 'til Coachella - Yo La Tengo

2010-03-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

Full disclosure: I'm actually a really big fan of Yo La Tengo. I don't have a lot of recent stuff from them, though I'm starting to realize that not having a copy of their latest, Popular Songs, is a phase of my life I need to end soon. The opening track on that album, Here To Fall, is a blistering, 5+ minute psychedelic opus of the perfect kind. Not too long, and you don't need drugs to appreciate it.

I had some reservations about them on paper at first. They're a husband and wife duo, which can really suck, but they proved me wrong. And any band with an album called I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass gets a million points in my book.

The two albums I do own by them, I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One and And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out, are a wonderful mix of dark instrumentation and stark vocal arrangements, with occasional blasts of psychosis (listen to Sugarcube and see if you get the reference). I think I was hooked on these guys from the first few lines of the first track on the latter, Everyday.

All in all, these guys are a a must-see for me on Sunday. I'm guessing they'll be daytime, either very early on the Coachella stage or later in the day on the Outdoor. But who knows? Hopefully Goldenvoice doesn't screw them and put them up against some other must-see act. Fingers crossed, brothers and sisters.

23 Days 'til Coachella - Sleigh Bells

2010-03-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

OK, so I'm a little lazy these days, just blogging about bands that are featured on Coachella's homepage, but as I said earlier, I think it's a really cool thing that they're helping advertise the music of bands who have their names in two-point font on the poster.

Having said that, I think Sleigh Bells could end up being pretty good musically, if you can get past the fact that a lot of what they do live is sequenced. Yeah, they're a duo, female singer and male everything else (production, beats, guitars, etc.) and yeah, that's impressive. The better the music, the less I focus on the fact that they've got a DAT playing onstage with them.

I like what I've heard of the music, largely because it simultaneously nods to hip-hop and thumbs its nose at it. Just when you think someone's going to bust out a fresh rhyme, something quirky and wonderful comes out of the speakers. Like in Infinity Guitars, when you think she's going to sound like some shitty M.I.A. wannabe, she just screams her head off into a mic with some strange pitchshifing effect. Also, I have to give them credit, because pretty much all the videos they have online are of live gigs.

I wouldn't say they're "can't miss," but I'd say you should strongly consider checking out at least some of their set on Friday.

24 Days 'til Coachella - The Soft Pack

2010-03-23T20:14:00.000-07:00

Props to the Coachella.com site for embedding videos of lesser-known bands on their homepage. I think that's going to help these better bands get noticed, and will help those of us who like good music to avoid the shitstorm that usually happens in the tents on Friday early afternoon. BYOTP.

Luckily, The Soft Pack has the potential to be the former. I'm actually being hard on them because they seem to be local (this video has references to a Del Mar Pizza in the less desirable 858 area code), but I think they sound pretty good. They've got a nice, poppy feel that's neither too labored nor ingenuous, and they could end up being the first really good band of the day on Sunday.

I actually hope that's true, and Goldenvoice doesn't put them up against every other must-see band on Sunday, because there are a lot of them.

I've never said San Diego local bands suck. Well, some of them blow dead termites for meth change, but The Soft Pack sounds really cool.

25 Days 'til Coachella - Girls

2010-03-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

For this review, I'd like to paraphrase the first Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode, where Homer is shopping for a present for Bart at the last minute.

AMG says the group makes "druggy, ethereal pop in the spirit of Spiritualized..."

That's GOOD!

"...and Ariel Pink."

That's BAD!

WTF? Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti sounded like they would be really cool at Coachella last year, and they ended up suckin' fire hydrant.

The title track from Morning Light sounded really cool and spacey.

That's GOOD!

But the track Laura from their most recent album, Album, sounded a little too much like the Beach Boys.

That's BAD.

I respect what the BBs did, but I think I was born a little too late, musically to really appreciate it. Plus my friends Jeff Burton & John D'Agostini released an album called Pet Smells that totally fucked Brian Wilson in the ear.

Pitchfork listed Girl's latest as one of their top albums of 2009.

That's GOOD!

But Pitchfork also listed Major Lazer's album on that same list.

That licks the toejam from an undertaker's discount lost and found.

So the jury's out on Girls. The band, not the sex. I kinda think they could be decent but I'm not going to miss, say, a Ready 4 the World reunion to check them out.

p.s. This image is called "Frogurt," but I found it by Googling "the topping contains potassium benzoate."

29 Days 'til Coachella - Talvin Singh

2010-03-18T19:47:00.000-07:00

Aah, I needed a palate cleanser after suffering through the absolutely taint-snarfing Major Lazer, so I dialed up the latest release by Talvin Singh. And now for something completely different. This could be the soundtrack to a Bollywood hit, or something playing at the afterhours at the local curry house.

I think I first heard Talvin Singh a Cafe Del Mar compilation (Volume 6), Kid Loco did a remix of Traveller, and it was a great way to lead-off the album. For what it's worth, those Cafe Del Mar comps are the height of chillout, if you like to chill, definitely check this series out.

This guy plays a mean tabla, which is something I'm a sucker for. I've never heard of him playing live, but I really don't get out too much. This is going to be something pretty unique on Sunday.

I'm actually glad they moved Gil-Scott Heron from Sunday to Friday, as Talvin Singh is now officially my 12th "can't miss" act on the last day of the festy.

29 Days 'til Coachella - Major Lazer

2010-03-18T19:40:00.001-07:00

Hmm, not really sure about this one. They're listed as a collaborative effort between Diplo and Switch, neither of which I'm too familiar with. While I can appreciate the production of the music, I really can't stand the vocals. It just seems like the same note repeated ad-nauseum.

Napster says other members like M.I.A., and I'm pretty sure they would. I can't stand M.I.A. for the same reason I don't like this, so if nothing else, Napster's business intelligence formula is working.

Ugh. I try not to tender a decision on anything until I've heard at least three songs, but this monotonous dancehall shit has got to go. Enjoy the show if you like these guys, I'll be as far away as I can possibly get. This is the epitome of awful.

Spleen United @ Echo Los Angeles, CA 16 March, 2010

2010-03-17T01:44:00.000-07:00

My good friend Martin turned me onto Danish electronic rockers Spleen United nearly three years ago. This was significant, as he'd never specifically made such an effort to turn me onto any other bands in the past. I listened to his copy of Neanderthal, and I was instantly hooked. These Danes know how to rock, I thought to myself. I figured they'd be at Coachella sooner or later, but alas, it was not to be.

I started wondering how obscure they really were, seeing as they were so goddamn amazing. I started trying to track them down, trying to figure out if I'd have to plan a European vacation around one of their gigs (if you know me, or know how fantastic Spleen United are, you know I would do this in a heartbeat).

Long story short, I found out two weeks too late they'd played at Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa at the end of 2009. I vowed that if they ever came to my area again, I'd do whatever it took to see them.

So what can I tell you about these guys? Their album Neanderthal was pretty much instant classic for me. From the first notes of the opening track, Suburbia, to the last warbling pad sound of My Jungle Heart, I was absolutely fixated on what this group had done. I really felt it was a masterpiece of modern electronic music, millennial-era dance music, whatever you want to call it.

Tonight, after I saw them live, my opinion of them went from stellar to godlike.

There are five members in the band. All of them have drums and drumsticks, and aren't afraid to use them. They all jump around on stage like they're actually enjoying what they're doing. There's a certain joy they bring to the stage, and to the crowd.

We drove up from San Diego to see them, and even though they only played for about 40 minutes, we enjoyed every single second. They played pretty much everything totally live, totally analog. They even did a live remix of Do You Realize? by The Flaming Lips that was a pretty mind-bending surprise.

Only about 50 people got to witness this, and when they closed the set with Suburbia, there were only dry throats in the house.

From screaming at the top of their lungs.

Props to opening act Mad Planet, they were mad good in our book. Also look out for an MC they brought up on stage, can't remember his name but his group's called The Milky Way.

If you ever get the chance to see Spleen United, do not pass it up. These guys PERFORM electronic music in ways other acts can only aspire to. Honestly, I'm surprised other, lesser bands weren't there taking notes.

39 Days 'til Coachella - La Roux

2010-03-08T21:45:00.001-08:00

I discovered La Roux from this video. I bought the album, which is great, but nothing quite lives up to this remix. I found it on eBay for about $18.00 USD, including shipping from UK. Worth it.

I really like the album I picked up, regardless of what you call it. Electro, electro-pop, dubstep, I'm not big on any of that shit, but I really like what I hear on this album.

But again, that Skream remix is head and shoulders above the original of In For the Kill.

43 Days 'til Coachella - Little Dragon

2010-03-04T19:53:00.000-08:00

I'm listening to Little Dragon for the first time. The track is "Twice," from their debut album, and I'm hooked from the first minimal, wonderful piano and synth riffs. Then Yukimi Nagano's voice comes in, and I'm still grooving. Halfway through the song, the elements blend together like a drop of food coloring in a glass of water, and I've got goosebumps. By the end of the song, the chills have taken me over, and I'm simultaneously stunned, entranced, and pissed off I haven't heard them before.

Now I'm listening to "Feather" from the new album, "Machine Dreams." Quite a bit different, a downtempo beat and subdued acid-y bassline. Just the fact that it has a beat makes it seem more poppy by comparison, and Yukimi's voice sounds more like Martha Schwendener from Bowery Electric than Lou Rhodes (Lamb).

Yeah, this one's going to be good. Here's hoping they're on early, outdoor stage, and up against no one else.

77 Days 'til Coachella - Phoenix

2010-01-29T18:16:00.000-08:00

We've heard a lot of buzz about Phoenix, the first band on the third line of Sunday's announcement. Checking them out tonight, I can tell why. Listening to their latest, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, reminds me of when I finally "got" The Shins. They've got a similar poppiness to The Shins, but also a little more electronic feel, like the early stuff from The Postal Service.

The second song on the album is 1901, which is pretty familiar as it's been in a car commercial for the past six months or so. I think it's actually in a Cadillac commercial, and I have to once again give Cadillac props. They also used a song by Coachella favorites Justice a couple of years back to great effect. Then there's the Ford commercial that used Band of Horses' song The Funeral. I tell ya, car commercials are doing the legwork for Goldenvoice these days, aren't they?

Of course, I'm kidding. While the snippet on the commercial is catchy, it only winks at the complexity and full-on head bopping vibe of the full version on the album.

If their Wikipedia page is to be believed, they're French.

I'm only halfway through the album and I'm really looking forward to checking out more from them. They're on my list for Sunday, so hopefully they'll get a decent time and stage slot.

78 Days 'til Coachella - My Response to No Single Day Passes

2010-01-28T21:15:00.001-08:00

I received an email tonight from a good friend, it was forwarded from someone who wrote,

"No single day passes this year? FUCK YOU COACHELLA."

I know, this is pretty subtle. But after reading between the lines, I figured out that this particular person was displeased at the fact that, despite in previous years, when attendees could purchase tickets for each day of Coachella, only three-day passes would be issued for Coachella 2010.

This is my response to that particular email.

I gotta say, as I understand it's true, but the comment about the "non exciting" lineup is fucking stupid. This is a FAN's Coachella. No stupid Paul McCartney, Red Hot Shitty Peppers, The Killers, or Jack Johnson to me says hell yeah. This is the best initial lineup announcement I've seen since 2005 or 2006. And I really think they've got an ace up their sleeve for Saturday to boost ticket sales a la Prince in 2008. If I had to guess, I'd say they finally got Bowie, but of course, I dream a lot ;)

As far as no one-day tickets, I sympathize, and I think it will ultimately bite them in the ass. But in a good way for me. You get a wristband this year, I'm told, which means you can't even split the ticket. It's one ticket, you present it the first time you go in, and you get a wristband that you keep for the rest of the weekend.

So yeah, that sucks for my friends who really want to go, just to experience it. But I guess I'd say if you haven't done it yet, you've had ten chances. This is your 11th, so man up or shut up. This is just a different excuse not to go, so take it or leave it.

Now the people I *really* feel for are the ones who live relatively close, and who really, really want to see only one or two nights, and not the third. That's gotta suck. But hey, it's Coachella. And if they need to, they'll release single-day tickets just before the event. Think of it as a band that books a show in LA, and then waits for me and Conner to buy tickets and get a hotel and take off work, and THEN books a show here in San Diego on a Saturday (see Butthole Surfers and The Residents, just lately).

Sorry. Coachella is the closest thing I have in this world to a religion. And I think everyone should be able to get in on it but I also think you have to go for the whole thing to *really* experience it. And it's not like any day sucks, IMHO. There's not a bad day in the whole lineup, and that's just as announced. There will be additions that will make it even more appealing, though it may pit two must-see acts against each other.

Ov course, the true rock stars among us (Danelle, Thomas, I'm looking in your general direction) will get in free, VIP, and stress-free ;) I'll be looking for Thomas and Atousa's little red tee-pee that we saw them hanging out in, in the middle of the polo field, back in 2001.

So there it is. If you're a die-hard or a douchebag, it's likely you'll be there. I'll greet the former with a hearty handshake and a smile, and the latter with a wallet-jacking that will leave you knowing what you've suspected all along.

Viva Coachella, and Viva Coachellans.

87 Days 'til Coachella - Lineup 1.0

2010-01-19T21:23:00.000-08:00

2010 will be the 9th (?!) Coachella we've attended, and I have never been more impressed with an initial announcement as I am with this year's. I've always found a way to have an absolute BLAST when I go. Even last year, which had some amazing acts, but the schedule overall I felt was a bit of a stretch for three days.

This year's totally different. It's a total Coachella fan's lineup. Great reunions (PIL, De La Soul, Sly & the Family Stone), artists I haven't seen but am very much looking forward to seeing (MGMT, Devo, Grizzly Bear) acts I never thought I'd get to see (Gorillaz, Gil Scott-Heron, Orbital), and headliners that totally don't suck or scream "Goldenvoice are total whores!! We have no standards!! We just need money!!".

I mean, take any day. There are bands I'm TOTALLY excited to see on each and every day. My girlfriend asked me how I knew "all these bands" I was telling her about, and I realized that I maybe know half of the acts this year.

The crazy thing is, I'm pretty excited to see everyone I know, very curious to see everything I've only heard about, and anxious to check out all the stuff I've never heard of.

We'll see what the lineup looks like as the weeks roll on. My prediction: The Thin White Duke will end up headlining Saturday. I love Muse, and I think they're totally underrated, but that's also the reason I think they'll need to bring in a real heavy-hitter for ticket sales once we get closer to April and Saturday's still not sold out.

Check back often, comment on what a jackass I am, and then see you on the polo field!

This Week's SHAME: Scott Chipman of Pacific Beach

2009-12-08T22:15:00.000-08:00

"This is truly drug dealers opening up shop in our neighborhoods."

-Scott Chipman on San Diego 6, 08 December, 2009

Hey Scott,

You're WRONG. You're just Palin (oops, I meant "plain" silly me) IGNORANT.

Or maybe the New England Journal of Medicine is wrong. I guess it's possible.

This is MEDICINE. Just like the pills we'd be sure to find if we raided any random Pacific Beach desperate housewife's MEDICINE cabinet.

Are you seeing a pattern here?

The people have spoken. They don't want people to suffer if they don't have to. Can you blame them?

If you want to take issue with that, fine. But we'll take issue with you.

Muse to Headline Coachella 2010?

2009-11-29T00:14:00.001-08:00

I posted this to Stereogum tonight in response to this thread:
http://stereogum.com/archives/muse_to_headline_coachella_2010_102231.html

It might not get approved, but just in case, here's my rebuttal.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ugh, it kills me to see people letterboxing Muse as:

1. A Twilight band
2. A Radiohead ripoff
3. Unoriginal
4. On par with The Killers

Yikes!!

I saw Muse at Soma here in San Diego on their only small venue date for the Black Holes tour, and they absolutely blew the doors off. If your only experience with them live is seeing them as an opening band, it's understandable that you're going to say "They're not as good as (insert headliner here)" because let's face it, most headliners don't want a band that's going to be "better" than them. Then again, anyone who's still listening to fucking U2 has completely missed the point of what music is for. It's supposed to be listenable. U2 *were* great. Now they're just big. And if you're going to compare Muse to anyone, at least compare them to another band with a lot of talent.

I personally watched A Place To Bury Strangers and Bajofondo over Sir Paul for 2009's Friday, and was totally happy with the alternative. Sorry all, Paul McCartney has no place at Coachella. See also Roger Waters.

Saturday, I eschewed The Killers for Jenny Lewis (eh) and MSTRKRFT (better but still eh). In retrospect, I should have hit Atmosphere and then beat it. I really loved The Killers back when my friends in Electroboobies were spinning promo mixes of Somebody Told Me, but shit that was years and years ago. When I heard they were headlining Saturday I honestly asked, "Are they really THAT big?!" Hey, that's cool with me. We drove back to the hotel pretty quickly while they played on.

Sunday this year, I saw Throbbing Gristle and caught the end of The Cure. And make no mistake, that Cure set was epic. So I did catch one of the headliners.

Full disclosure. That's where this opinion is coming from.

Muse is not supposed to be big enough to headline Coachella. I think they're great, they're totally underrated in the US, but they're just not big enough in this country to headline the whole thing, IMHO. Then again, when I heard Prince was headlining Saturday in 2008, I was like, I thought Portishead was headlining?? So these are rumors at best, and even if they're in the big 36-point font on the first release of the poster, nothing's set in stone.

So maybe I'm an old hipster, but I still believe in good music. I'm pretty much never there to see the headliners. 2010 will be my 9th Coachella, and I wouldn't miss it for the world. Because no matter who's headlining, there's almost definitely going to be something as cool and opposite on another stage if you don't like the headliner.

And yeah, I guess if you're going to compare them to Radiohead (just about my favorite band of all time) and Queen, you can compare their ticket sales at Wembley in the UK, for instance. Muse sells out the whole thing, as do Radiohead and what's left of Queen.

And hey, @shoegaze45, I'm all for Blur/Spacemen 3/Lush/Swallow/Fleeting Joys/Swervedriver/The Big Pink/13th Floor Elevators taking over the festy, but let's face it, even after MBV (tied for my favorite band of all-time) FINALLY got booked this year it was to a tepid reception to all but the most hardcore fans (read: ME).

Sure, it's all about money, but it's a balance of making money off of people who just want to see the big bands and keeping the respect of, and selling tickets to, those of us who want to see and hear good music.

Every now and then, those two goals come together, but it's pretty rare.

See ya there.

Cheers,

-m

Joe Wilson is to Politics as Ace of Base is to Music

2009-09-10T20:08:00.000-07:00

OK, so we don't look to Republicans as the be-all end-all of class, though I know many who, despite their abhorrent political views, actually have quite a bit of tact. The same can be said of folks from South Carolina. I spent a considerable amount of time down that way as a kid, and I've met some really amazing people from that part of the country.

But this guy... come on now. No matter what side of the aisle you're on, you have to respect the president. After we quietly endured the wrath of Bushy for eight fucking years, who does this scrotum think he is to disrespect Obama? And before you try to flame me, remember that John McCain urged this bottom-feeder to apologize.

As Ice-T said, "Freedom of speech... just watch what you say."

There's a gentleman who's planning to run against this suck-u-bus by the name of Rob Miller. At the time of this writing, he got over 6,200 donors to contribute over $215,000 to the campaign to defeat this foul cracker over how he treated the president. During the last hour or so, the number jumped about $10,000.

I really hope this Miller guy knocks fuck-o out of his seat as soon as possible.

Joe Wilson's days in politics are numbered. I just hope he's torn apart slowly by rabid pit bulls with AIDS.

Even Laura Bush Approves of Obama's Speech

2009-09-08T19:49:00.000-07:00

Too bad her husband fucked things up for this country so bad it doesn't matter much. Even so, it's true. Laura Bush says she approves of the job Obama's been doing. And this is according to a local news station.

I mean really. Come on people. Most of you morons who were against this speech voted for Bush (twice), and probably voted for McCain. And the former First Lady is not in line with you.

Obama rules. You dumbass redneck bastards and bitches can suck on my freedom.

Coachella 2005 Review

2009-06-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

I was digging around on an old hard drive when I found this, my review of Coachella from 2005. I hope you enjoy it, but if you don't, eh.

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Another year of Coachella has come and gone and we’ve got a pretty damn thorough review for you. We managed to catch substantial pieces of 19 bands’ sets on Saturday and several full sets on Sunday. This year, to help facilitate actually posting a review of both days, we’ve decided to post the reviews in award format.

Band Most Likely to Catch Heat Stroke: None!
While last year’s obvious winner was Thursday, the mid-80’s temperatures for both days set well with bands and concertgoers alike. There may not have been as many crispy Goths as there were in 2004, but there were also fewer shirtless muscledorks.

DJ Spinning Cheesiest Trance : Evil Nine
The caveat here is that Evil Nine was the first DJ in the Sahara tent on the first day of the festival. His skills were respectable, but the tracks were laughable. This poor bastard dropped everything from “Calling Your Name” to a Sandstormesque Darude cut. In his defense, I think he was probably under duress to play such crap.

Most Forgettable Act (Saturday) : Nic Armstrong and the Thieves
Not necessarily bad, but not anything I’d run out and buy.

Most Forgettable Act (Sunday) : Jem
Jem sounds like ugly girls with nice bodies. Good from far, but far from good. This is what the Cardigans would sound like if they could get any more boring.

Best Cover of Another Coachella Act’s Song : Jamie Cullum
While Coldplay’s abbreviated cover of Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt was cute, Jamie Cullum performed a cover of Coldplay’s We Never Change that was heart wrenching despite the fact that he claimed the band had never played it live and might “Totally bollocks it up.”

DJ Most Inspiring to Aspiring DJs : U.N.K.L.E.
While billed as U.N.K.L.E., this was actually a James Lavelle DJ set. What we caught included everything from evil, ambient and flatulent bass lines to Get Ready by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. If any a DJ were to be accused of doing more than just “playing records,” it would be Lavelle. While Ben Watt’s set made us realize that good dance music is still being produced and spun, James Lavelle lived the mix and told a story with a bit more breadth.

Best Main Stage Discovery (Saturday) : Buck 65
A one-man band who can scratch like a dog with VD, Buck 65 was not only the most entertaining thing on in his time slot, but probably the funniest act of the festival. “When I was growing up,” he growled, “people used to ask me what I wanted to be, and I told ‘em door-to-door encyclopedia salesman. That dream didn’t work out, but I wrote a song about it.” Two turntables and a microphone? Seen.

Best Main Stage Discovery (Sunday) : Nine Inch Nails
We thought Goldenvoice was taking a big risk booking NiN after all this time, but what do you know, Trent’s still got it. Unlike The Cure, who were the Sunday headliners last year, Trent’s new material had the same effect on the crowd as hearing the old stuff for the first time. It’s not industrial anymore, but maybe it hasn’t been since Broken. Look for a number-one-with-a-bullet effect this week as With Teeth, the first new full album in ten years is released.

Most Horizontal Audience : Wilco
I don’t know if Wilco fans are stoned or just naturally unmotivated, but just about everyone seemed to be lying down for this one. On the bright side, you could see them really well if you were standing up and 100 rows back from the front of the stage. Jeff Tweedy also gets the award for stupidest utterance by a rock star at a festival. He said, “I don’t like festivals.”

Best Knob-Twiddling Act : Four Tet
I was really hoping to give this one to Swayzak, but Four Tet did more by himself than both the dudes from Swazak combined. He had this intense look on his face most of the time like he was trying to pass a football-sized colon stone. A couple of times he looked up and smiled. As if he had finally passed said stone. You know one of these acts is good when it sounds like they couldn’t possibly know what they’re doing and they then transition into another looping pattern so smoothly that it makes you question your very being.

Most Obnoxious Crowd : None!
This year’s festival had the best vibe since at least 2001 if not ever. People were friendly, vendors were courteous, and security wasn’t too assholey (except for the dick in the parking lot who tried to make me wait to leave even though I was the only car in sight). Between the people and the fact that there was plenty of water, food and hand sanitizer, Goldenvoice may have finally nailed it.

Act We’re Most Sorry We Missed : Bloc Party
While Matmos and Roots Manuva were runners-up, I had to make my peace with missing Bloc Party early on. It would have been a logistical nightmare, and I planned to see the entire Bauhaus show. I don’t regret my decision to see Bauhaus, but I do regret the organizers’ decision to put these two excellent bands up against one another.

Best Comeback : Gang of Four
I hadn’t heard anything from Go4 until I read that they were on the bill, but the recording I managed to snag was a live set from 1979 with a lot of great songs on it, including the first three they played. They opened with Return the Gift; we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect opener than that.

Best Reason to Show Up Even Though Cocteau Twins Bailed : Eisley
I’m not sure where this band came from, but I’m sure glad they showed up. The harmonies are reminiscent of harp strings plucked in a dream sequence in an old and faded cartoon. This is probably the best thing to come out of Texas since LSD, or at least since Seven Percent Solution. While they might be a bit country for some and a bit commercial for others, the comparisons to Transister can’t be easily ignored by someone who’s familiar with both bands.

Best Overall Band (Saturday) : M83
Maybe it’s because it was the first time we’d seen them, maybe it’s because they came all the way from France. Or maybe it’s because they rocked harder than any other band could effortlessly. M83 is one of those bands that has the potential to blow you into the next dimension, but leaves you dangling by a thread somewhere in-between, taunting you. We’re a big fan of both of their LPs and were a little anxious about how it would translate to the live stage. Alex Gonzales et chaque lived up to the “they sound a little like My Bloody Valentine” label without being a rip-off, and completely OWNED the Gobi tent.

Most Technically-Superior Band : Fantomas
Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle) could also have won the award for “Least Listenable Act” as well as the “Act with the Most Fart and Burp Sounds” award. However, we have to give props to the man who has obviously been taking a lot of cues from such experimental masters as John Zorn and Frank Zappa. Part jazz/metal, part thrash and part indigestion, these guys took your Uncle Charlie’s “pull my finger” trick and made it look as complicated as doing calculus with an active nuke up your butt. Equal parts Cobra, bean curd and Mothers of Invention, Fantomas may not be coming to a town near you, but if this floats your air biscuit, check out Suspended Animation, the group’s latest release, containing 30 tracks laced with cartoon melodies.

Crankiest Band : New Order
Would someone please change Bernard Sumner’s diaper? Jeezus. While I was pretty impressed that they opened up with the old Joy Division tune Atmosphere, it was a bit like French-kissing my sister. Incestuous, but exciting (Ed: media assassin does not have a sister, but he French-kissed mine one time). The set was a bit too heavy on the newer stuff (did anyone really buy Republic or that last one? Is anyone going to buy the new one?). The new stuff isn’t bad, but when the only two classic New Order tracks you get are Bizarre Love Triangle and Blue Monday, you can’t help but feel like they’re sticking out their fat little hands and asking for your money. I wouldn’t discourage anyone from checking them out, they are one of the most influential bands of their genre, but just don’t kiss their ass about it. They’re certainly not going to kiss yours.

Best Overall Band (Sunday, and of the Entire Festival) : The Arcade Fire
My expectations were unrealistically high for The Arcade Fire. Having seen them on Conan O’Brien, I thought I knew what to expect. A lot of antics, and a very good live performance, and that’s what we got. How could I be disappointed? Quite the opposite, I was elated. The crowd atmosphere was like a family, everyone was talking to each other, cheering like one big happy family, and when it was over, we all cried out, “That’s IT?! It’s OVER?!?!” While it was over too soon, we were treated to two of the band’s members climbing up the scaffolding and banging their drumsticks on it during Neighborhood 2 (Laika). I have it on good authority that one of them cut his hand pretty badly, bad enough that the blood was POURING onto the keyboard, never missing a note. Their interviews at Los Angeles’ KCRW (www.kcrw.com) state that they want to remind the audience that they’re in the presence of live musicians, and they succeed in this goal. There’s no way you can ignore The Arcade Fire live, and even the most jaded of us have been won over to Funeral, the band’s debut album that has met with nearly universal critical praise. And hell, when you have a band with 11 people in it, you’d think if they sucked at least a few of them would recognize it and go get a job at Denny’s or something.

Upcoming shows

2009-05-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

Cornelius
May 14, 2009, The Mayan, Los Angeles
CANCELED!! AAARRRRGHHHH!!!!!!
This sucks. They canceled because of the swine flu scare. Pussies.

Mogwai
May 15, 2009, Belly Up Tavern, Solana Beach
Mogwai had damn well better not cancel because of swine flu. They could play in a pit of sewage and then rinse off in the ocean after a storm in Tijuana. It would probably make them play better.

The Juan Maclean / The Field
June 3, 2009, The Casbah, San Diego
It's on a Wednesday, but that just means only the truly cool will make it out for this one (I hope I can count myself among them).

Dinosaur Jr.
June 21, 2009, The Casbah, San Diego
A Sunday matinee show that starts at like 3:00 in the afternoon. I'm totally cool with that. Seeing Dino Jr. at the 'bah is going to be, well, fucking awesome. Yes, the video is a cover of the song by The Cure.

'twas the night before Coachella

2009-04-25T08:57:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe that it's been more than a week since Coachella started. As usual, I've been listening to more than my fair share of music this week. Right now, it's the excellent I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness / Fear Is On Our Side LP that I finally found in my stacks this morning. Last night, I continued my Cure listening party with The Head On The Door, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, and Disintegration. I've been doing some shopping on the amazing Tonevendor Web site, but haven't had the guts to pull the trigger on what's in my shopping cart (vinyl copies of the first Scissor Sisters album and A Place To Bury Strangers, and a few other LPs and CDs). I'm thinking record shopping today, probably M-Theory. Luckily, San Diego record stores do not suck.

So Conner will kill me if I don't tell you the story of what happened the night before Coachella. We headed out into Indio, cruising Highway 111, looking for a place to eat. I suggested Chinese, he said no. I said no Italian. He said no pizza.

Fifteen minutes later we found ouselves at our usual haunt in La Quinta, The Beer Hunter. This place is great because it's got lots of sports up on the multiple TVs, and about a thousand beers to choose from. If anything could take our minds off of the wait we had to endure until the next morning, this was it.

So we eat and then head over to one of the area's many Target stores. I'd forgotton my all-in-one shampoo / body wash, so I figured I'd just make do with the cheapest bottle of shampoo I could find. This is a picture of it:

So we walk up to the counter where this pretty young girl is ready to check us out. I put the thing on the counter, she looks at it, she looks at me and says, "Is this for you?!" This amuses Conner to no end, as I immediately turn red and stammer, "Umm, umm, it's for my girlfriend."

She laughed in my face, but it was OK. There's not much that can spoil my mood that weekend.

So big gay mediaassassin's big gay shampoo bottle is sitting in my other bathroom, where it will be likely used by guests and such, and where I'll never have to see it again.

P.S. I am not gay.

P.P.S. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Cure Retrospective and Post-Coachella Blues - Was it all just a dream?

2009-04-23T17:26:00.000-07:00

Today, I worked from home. Normally when I do this, I check out the excellent podcast Deeper Shades of House, but today, I decided to pay homage to The Cure and listen to no less than their first six (American) albums back-to-back. As I suspected, these albums haven't lost a thing for me. I'm still in love with these songs, as much now as ever before.

First up, Boys Don't Cry, which they released as a three-piece, I believe. The band did several songs from this one in that final, infamous encore where they had the power turned off on them.

Next, 17 Seconds, from like 1980. The bands second-last encore consisted entirely of songs from this one, including M (one of my all-time faves), Play For Today, and the great closing song A Forest.

After that, Faith played itself out, and to this day it's one of my favorite Cure albums. I seem to remember that they played a lot of Faith material on the Bloodflowers tour.

The fourth album up was Pornography, which is also the first in the "trilogy" series (including Disintegration and Bloodflowers). Pornography has also long been a favorite of mine. The guts it took to put two nearly-identical songs back-to-back (The Siamese Twins, The Figurehead)! As similar as they are, I have to say I love them both.

Next up was The Top, which I've probably listened to in its entirety less than a lot of their stuff, but it's still a great album. I remember watching the movie The Cure In Orange on the big screen when I was younger, and when they opened it up with Shake Dog Shake, it was explosive, just as they open this album up with it.

Finally, I'm listening to Japanese Whispers, which was actually three singles and five B-sides that they released as an album in 1983. This one includes the high school favorite Let's Go To Bed that we'd always sing to girls at parties, and the all-time classic Lovecats that we used to play on the bass guitar and Glockenspiel back in the same era.

So I'm listening to all of this, and I decide it's time to see if the classic In Orange is available on DVD. Nope. Blu-Ray? Not that either. Well, hell, I've got a VCR/DVD burner, so I just threw that in. I'm not sure if it will work, but I'm going to give it a shot. It would make a great little present for any Cure fan, especially this one.

You know, as you drive back from Coachella, you get on the 10 West or whatever freeway, whatever direction you're driving. You start looking around at the cars around you, listening to that special set of CDs you've prepared for the long trip home, and you wonder, how many of these people were there with us? How many of these people was I standing next to last night, two, three nights ago, in the blistering heat of the Outdoor Theatre in the middle of the day? In the dark, warbling night of the Sahara tent?

As you check freeways off your list like peeling items of clothing before getting into the shower, you start to feel farther and farther away from it all. The reality of Monday is starting to seep into the cracks in this utopian time, displacing the all-encompassing feeling of living in this otherworldly society, this temporary, but very real existence. The people around you in the cars start to look more normal, like they actually could exist outside of the LA club scene, outside of The Casbah.

By the time you get back to your normal existence, you're naked. You're completely stripped of this coat of armor provided you by 50,000 other fanatics, the relative anonymity it provides you, and the total lack of responsibility with the exception of having a unique and memorable experience. You feel a little uneasy, it's startling how easy it is to acclimate to the heat, the dirt, the volume and intensity, the sound and the fury of it all.

It's all so surreal, it's a mirage almost. You get there, you can't believe you're there. Sunday night, you sit around talking about how you can't believe it's over. And Monday, and every day after that for about two weeks, you sit around wondering if it wasn't all just some illusion.

Post-Coachella Blues, Volume 1

2009-04-22T22:23:00.000-07:00

So today, I finally broke down and signed up for Twitter.

Let me be clear. I really think Twitter is to the Internet what some people thought punk rock was to The Decline of Western Civilization. Equivalent.

It just seems like such a stupid thing. You're limited to like 140 characters. The frosted side of me says, well, you just have to be concise. The whole wheat side of me says, it's just pure fuckwittery, and how can anything meaningful happen in 140 characters?

Anyway, I knew I needed to get on the Coachella Twitter thingy because that's how they're doing their updates. Now I actually have to check this shit. Fuck. Plus, Amanda Fucking Palmer asked me to get on her Twitter feed. Not personally, but since I was one of the perhaps 300 people who helped her safely crowdsurf from the stage to the sound booth, I feel somewhat obliged.

Goddamn you, Amanda Palmer. You're so awesome. I hate you.

Coachella 2009 Review - Sunday

2009-04-20T21:41:00.000-07:00

Coachella 2009 - Friday review
Coachella 2009 - Saturday review

Sunday was the day we were looking forward to more than anything else. This was probably due to the fact that My Bloody Valentine, who Coachellans have been screaming for for years, were scheduled to do a 70-minute set. But Sunday, more than any other, provided fewer tough choices and a clearer path from start to finish than any other day. Let's review.

We get through the gates later than ever this year, as usual for Sunday, at about 11:45 a.m. We camel up with water, sit in the shade and wait until about 12:40 to make our move.

12:45 - We join the gathering crowd at the Outdoor stage for Mexico City's Mexican Institute of Sound. These guys prove what my best friend (who grew up there) has been telling me all along: Mexico City fucking rocks.

"Does everyone have everything they need? Sunblock? Water? Girlfriend? Ecstasy?" the singer asked. These chilangos had a good-sized crowd for an early Sunday afternoon, and had them moving despite the punitive heat.

1:30 - We head over to the main stage to check out The Knux. Their DJ was spinning a lot of classic stuff and warming up the crowd before they went on. To be fair, I'm not a fan of hip-hop, so it didn't blow me away, but it wasn't bad.

2:10 - We enter the Gobi tent for Friendly Fires. I'd put them in the same category as White Lies, but maybe not quite as good. They do sound like a band from the '80s that got lost in the shuffle, and they've got a great sound and great energy.

3:25 - We're still in Gobi, watching Sebastien Tellier. He was doing some really cool stuff with a vocoder on his voice, and even though he looked like the missing Allman Brother, I liked what I heard. Until he announced, "This is a song about my bisexuality," and then proceeded to start the song with the lyrics, "I'm..... aaaaa bi....sexxxxx....u....allllllll." Hmm. Not too subtle.

"Typical Frenchman," Conner joked.

"Yeah, dick like a glass of milk," I retorted.

Sebastien Tellier was good, despite some stupid lyrics

But seriously folks, bisexuality is all well and good. Singing about it? Fine. But being so obvious about anything is pretty lame.

Speaking of alternative lifestyles, we wanted to make sure we had a good place to stand for Antony and the Johnsons, so we cut out early and caught the last few songs from Lykke Li. Another act that I liked more online than in person, but I still liked her (or them) and would be willing to check more out. She's got a great voice, and they did live electronic music very well, something I always appreciate (speaking of which, that MSTRKRFT set was almost definitely an Ableton Live thing, which is something I use for my own production as well).

A&TJ ran a little behind schedule due to technical issues with the computer (go figure). Normally, they don't do this type of music, and it's hard enough to categorize/describe this act, so I'll just let you take a look at the last song they did, which I captured in full. I will say Antony was spot-on vocally, trilling and nearly scatting like a great old jazz diva, and I'd compare him to a male version of Bjork as far as his vocal control. Maybe that's why they collaborated on Dull Flame of Desire on Bjork's last album, Volta.

We had just enough time to scarf down some food and almost enough time to refill our water bottles before catching seminal LA punk rockers X. We missed a couple of minutes of their set, but other than that, we were there for the whole thing, and between John Doe, Exene and Billy Zoom, these guys are just fantastic. I'm not sure why people call them punk, it's more like punkabilly. Regardless, they rocked, and the crowd knew it.

X kicked serious ass in the Mojave tent

As soon as X was done, we high-tailed it over to the main stage to get in line to watch the one, the only, My Bloody Valentine. As I've said before, Loveless is the absolute best album of all-time, and like my love affair with The Smiths, I discovered them *just* after they played in the U.S. for the last time. Last November, I got to see MBV, and they exceeded my expectations, which is pretty impressive considering I've been waiting since 1991 to see them live.

Once again, they didn't disappoint. They were loud, not nearly as loud as they would have been in a closed theater, but way louder than anything that's ever been on the main stage at Coachella, for sure. The crowd seemed to be there for them, and not waiting for The Cure, but I was curious to see how they'd handle that last song.

I took advantage to look around during their legendary / infamous set-closer, the 20+ minute You Made Me Realize. This song is about three or four minutes of great riffs followed by over 15 minutes of sheer sonic bliss / torture. Then the band kicks back into the riff and finishes the show.

The funny thing was, there was always someone, maybe only one person, but at least one person cheering, holding their hands above their head, during the mind-numbing psychedelic experience the band refers to as "the holocaust." I saw grimaces, confusion, smiles, and anger, all on the same faces. I laughed at them. I knew how long this storm was going to last, and that's how I managed to get this video.

After the set was over, people staggered out like swatted flies who didn't quite die. I hated to leave and miss The Cure, but I had an agenda, and I had to keep to the schedule. I immediately hit the water station near the big stage where I'd just seen MBV, and heard two girls working at the water booth having this conversation:

Cool Water Chick: "Well, if they SUCK then why have they been around forever and why do they have millions of fans?"

Uncool Water Chick: "I like MUSIC! That's just NOISE!"

I walked up, handed her my bottle to refill and stated with a smile, "They're the BEST!!"

UWC: "No they're not!"

Me: "You either get it or you don't."

UWC: "No, I get it! That's BULLSHIT! Why would they have that much noise during an INTERMISSION?!?"

Me: "That wasn't an intermission, that was part of the SONG!"

UWC: "What?! That's STUPID!!"

Me: "Hey MOM, you must be really smart and all, since you're filling my empty water bottles for a living, so maybe you're right."

She proceeded to hand me my water bottle back and spew a series of obscenities that I think must have been in her employee manual or something, because I think she recited it from memory. I honestly believe in live and let live, but when you're being disrespectful and catch me in one of my moods, well, you should know better.

I headed off to Public Enemy, who rocked. It sounded like it was the original trifecta of Chuck D, Terminator X, and Flavor Flav. FF kept jumping into the audience. "OK, left side? I jump in you gonna catch me? OK, here I come!" Repeat this with the right and middle and you get my drift. Chuck D asked the crowd to hand him back, "He's 50 years old y'all!"

Chuck D also said, "Now that we've got President Obama, it's more important than ever to PAY ATTENTION. We're living in the age of misinformation, people, so any information you get, QUESTION IT! Attention is the cheapest price you can pay in this country, America."

After that, I headed over to check out the last half of The Orb. I'm not sure what it is with me and The Orb, and I know some of my friends won't love me as much for saying it, but I'm not sure I get it anymore. I need to try to listen to some of their newer stuff. I didn't recognize a thing, and it didn't sound that appealing to me, honestly.

10:10 - I'm in the Sahara tent, waiting for the fathers of industrial music, Throbbing Gristle. I figured there would be a huge, weird crowd of people, and I was wrong on both counts. Despite the band starting late after a prolonged soundcheck, the number and freak factor of the crowd were both low. These were very normal-looking people in here. I didn't see a single tattoo nor giant earlobe plug amongst the onlookers. What I did see that freaked me out were a lot of younger people DANCING to TG. I did not expect that.

I also didn't expect to actually find beauty in their music. Sure, some of it is noisy, banging, clanging aggression, but some of it is actually very melancholy and wonderful. The song Hamburger Lady used to freak me out until I heard the lyrics for the first time last night.

I saw a good bit of TG and then headed over to the Sahara tent to catch part of Etienne de Crecy. This guy is like a precursor to Daft Punk and Justice, and I loved what I heard online of him. When I made it inside, he was doing one of the tracks I knew, so I was stoked. His light show was pretty cool, but it was pretty mellow for a Sunday night. I didn't mind, and neither did the thousands packed into the tent, but it didn't seem like he got the crowd going to the level that Justice did last year, for instance. But that's just what I saw.

After a few songs, I realized I'd probably rather check out some more Throbbing Gristle, so I headed back to Mojave. It was getting pretty weird, with Genesys pulling out one of his fake breasts and showing it to the crowd, but he also played to the VIP area on the stage. This was interesting because every other performer had ignored the VIP area to this point.

At this point, I decided to head back to the main stage to see if I could find Conner. It turned out to be pretty easy, and I was happy to catch the last part of The Cure's set. I managed to catch the last two songs of the last encore, If Only Tonight We Could Sleep and probably my favorite Cure song of all time, The Kiss. Both songs from Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. Notable.

Next, second encore. At Night, M, Play For Today and A Forest. I thought that was it, but then they came back on. Robert Smith said, "We're only allowed to play one song. Fuck!" Then they proceeded to play Three Imaginary Boys. We thought it was over. It wasn't.

They played Boys Don't Cry. The small crowd of dedicated fans started to sing along. The festival organizers cut the power to the PA. The band kept playing. The entire crowd sang at the top of their lungs to compensate for the fact that we couldn't hear Robert's voice anymore. We thought they'd stop after that.

They didn't.

Conner turned to me at this point and said, "They said something at the beginning like they'd play until we left."

They started playing Jumping Someone Else's Train. The crowd tried to sing along, but fewer people knew the words. They tried anyway. The organizers cut the power to the amps onstage. The drummer kept playing audibly, and the rest of the band kept playing silently. The crowd cheered. They screamed. They clapped. They sang LOUDER. It was no use.

Coachella was over.

It didn't matter in the end. This crowd was the type of dedicated fans I love to be around. There's nothing quite like having like-minded people around you. When you've got thousands of them around you, all the better. It sucked that we didn't get to hear everything that Smith and the guys had in store for us, but it didn't matter. What really mattered was that we were surrounded by all these people, these men, women, girls and boys, who came for the same reason we did. To experience Coachella to its fullest. To stay until the very end, no matter what that means. This year, it meant something truly special and unique.

Conner may have put it best: "As I reflect more on that final moment with the lights on, sound off and crowd singing... I realize there are maybe a handful of concert moments for me that rank with it in such profound significance. It was so perfect it almost seemed staged. If we were duped, I don't want to know."

Just before Leonard Cohen I met a character who was all over the map with music. A lot like we are. This guy talked about how he schedules his whole life around this thing. I tell him, it's like a holiday.

Just as the band started, he turned to me. He knew as I knew that you don't talk during sets. He looked me in the eye, shook my hand and said, "Happy Coachella."

And this is why we do what we do.

Until next year,

-Mediaassassin

Coachella 2009 Review - Saturday

2009-04-20T18:01:00.000-07:00

Robochrist 's Hand of Man picked up cars, crushed 'em and dropped 'em

Coachella 2009 - Friday review
Coachella 2009 - Sunday review

I won't lie to you, people, we were not excited about the Saturday lineup. Then again, we weren't excited about the Friday lineup either, and that turned out OK, hey? So we do our usual ritual of Monster, water, pills (aspirin), ice (frozen water), beer (Mexican), lime juice (we bought like a 2-liter from the local Food 4 Less), and beef jerky. This was all after our second consecutive breakfast at Denny's on the corner of Highway 111 and Monroe.

The funny thing about that is, on Thursday when we were preparing for the weekend, we watched about three Simpsons and four Family Guy episodes right in a row. In one of the Simpsons, Homer says something to Marge like, "Even though I'm mad on you, I would never take it out on you physically. I'll take it out on my own body. Come on, we're going to Denny's." As we knew we'd be frequenting the place and we were about three sheets to the wind, this made us laugh until we coughed hairballs.

Mmmmm, Coachellaaaaaaaaaa

Got into the venue just a little bit later than the day before. The full body cavity search of years gone by is now tantamount to a friendly handshake and a look in the eyes. I guess they don't need to know the exact diameter of your colon if there's no meathead headliner band, and that's OK with me. The old search really set a negative tone for the event, and this new, more reasonable, respectful search just makes a lot more sense.

We started the (much hotter) day in the shade of the Mojave tent. The annoying flies that were absent the day before had returned as they had in previous years, and seemed to live to pester us humans who had only come hundreds of miles to blow our minds. These things live for like a day and they spend a really big portion of their lives making ours hell. I'm so deep.

So we're sitting in Mojave and Minnesotan rapper P.O.S. comes on. I have to say, for a genre I don't like, I was pretty impressed. He had a very positive message, and talked about the fact that if you love what you do, it doesn't matter how much money you make or how much vacation you get. It's not a new thought, but still a good one. He played guitar as well, sometimes, and made beats on a drum machine at other times. And his DJ was absolutely phenomenal.

Next up in Mojave, a band I was really excited to see, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti. I thought they would sound like Marilyn Manson doing downtempo. Man, let me tell you, I'm not too big to admit that I was wrong. These guys were more like The Beach Boys meets Frank Zappa and The Mothers. There were moments of sheer genius, musically, but the singer is such a fucking tool. Any band that starts out with the singer shouting, "You can all kiss my arse!" had better be able to back it up, musically or physically. Sadly, the only thing these guys had in common with Marilyn Manson is that I bet they got the shit beat out of them in high school a lot, too.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti kinda sucked

It was just as well, because we headed over to the Gobi tent to see Bob Mould Band. This turned out to be a fantastic show, chock fulla hits ("If they were hits," I joked, "we'd be watching this show on the main stage.") from Bob's career with such cornerstone Minneapolis bands as Husker Du and Sugar. Not to mention his like seven solo albums. It was just a barrage of upbeat, uptempo rock and roll from start to finish. And you could just tell that the crowd's high expectations were exceeded every step of the way.

We hurried back over to Mojave to catch the tail end of TheNewNo2, which as it turns out is George Harrison's kid's band. I liked what I heard online a little better than what I heard in person, but I did like what I heard on that stage. I'd like to hear more of them, and Conner agreed.

TheNewNo2 were pretty good

Hit the Outdoor Theatre for the first time Saturday to see Drive By Truckers. Country, but thoughtful country music. Maybe it's actually "western." I don't know, but it's got that certain something that makes me think, this doesn't suck nearly as much as it should.

Drive By Truckers are pretty cool, actually

Bopped over to Paolo Nutini for a few songs, trying to find Tina (who recommended me to A Place To Bury Strangers and also suggested I check out Bajofondo). Bluegrass. Good for what it was, but a little goes a long way.

Paolo Nutini at Coachella 2009

Next up, Amanda Palmer. I had no idea she was the singer for Dresden Dolls, but if I did it wouldn't have mattered much, because this turned out to be The Moment that everyone is going to be talking about for years to come when they talk about Coachella 2009.

We always like to stand dead center in the middle. At Coachella, it's on a polo field, you know, so they bury the "snake," the long cables that connect the soundboard at the back of the tent to the stuff on stage. So you can see where they buried the snake. We like to stand on that strip of sod.

So Amanda Palmer comes out and makes this grand entrance. All these people got all painted up and ran out with her to the theme music from 2001 (whatever it's called, leave me alone, I don't know the title). There must have been 20 of them, all painted up and stuff. So she comes out with another woman who played electric stand-up bass, and just threw down a set that would have been impressive with any of the elements... her voice, her piano playing, or the bass. She regales us with tales of writing songs with Neil Gaiman, her book of photos "shot all around the world," and how one of her songs got banned in the U.K., "for... I don't know what the fuck for... because it was funny," as she described it.

She drank from a bottle of red wine the whole time. She had a filthy mouth. She covered Our Time Is Running Out by Muse beautifully and reverently. She played the piano like she was classically trained. She took a picture of herself and her bassist with a Macbook laptop and had her bassist tweet it on Twitter.com during the set.

She had the crowd in the palm of her hand.

All of that could have been a moment at Coachella. But she made sure that she had The Moment. The one that everyone would be talking about.

"OK, so what I'm going to do now is I'm going to attempt to crowd surf from this point," she started, pointing at her feet, "to that point," she continued, pointing to the soundboard at the back of the tent.

Just over our shoulders.

"Are you gonna drop me?"

"NOOO!!" the crowd roared back.

"Have you got me?!" she asked.

"YEEAAAAHH!"

And with that, it started. She jumped into the crowd, mock-swimming her way over the hundreds of fans who passed her back, slowly towards us and the soundboard, all to the tune of Flight of the Valkyrie. As we helped to hold her up, I managed to take this video.

After that, someone handed her a ukulele. She addressed the crowd, "OK, we're going to try this, is the sound working?" It was. "OK, I need everyone to sing along on this one OK?"

The crowd happily obliged her, as we all, every one of us, sang along to Creep.

Next, we headed over to see Calexico on the Outdoor stage. They were great, but we couldn't get very close at all, and after what we'd just seen, I'm not sure anything could compare. It was like seeing Mogwai. You just can't watch anything else too soon after that, and have it make an appropriate or accurate impression.

We jockeyed for position for Fleet Foxes, who put out an album that Bitchfork named as their best album of 2008. A pretty high honor, really, but you have to take Pitchforkmedia.com with a grain of salt sometimes. If they say something's good, it's probably great, and if they say it's great, odds are it's amazing. But if they say it sucks, well, judge for yourself (note: If I say something sucks, it does. End of discussion).

Fleet Foxes had the most amazing harmonies of any band at the festival. Despite the fact that they claimed to be having problems onstage, you'd never know it. Although, I have to admit, I'd never heard them before. Conner and Pitchfork's recommendations are enough for me to take it in good faith, and I'm glad I did. They sounded better than Crosby, Stills and Nash on their best day at times, and their musicianship shone in the dying light of the day.

Next up, Band of Horses. As Bamoe put it when I described this to him, "There's no middle ground with those guys." Or, to translate it into my language, what I liked, I really liked, but what I didn't like, I HATED." They were just too generic, overall. They could be a band that makes a guest appearance on The OC if it were still around. They could play some stuck-up bitch's pool party and play a sad song when the cute guy from Bumblefuck Idaho doesn't get the cheerleader who's dating the abusive football player or something. I don't know, I've never seen the show. I just know it sucks. But oh well, what was I missing? M.I.A.? Fucking puke. Junior Boys and Electric Touch? Don't know 'em, sadly. Crookers? What I heard of Crookers sounded like the musical equivalent of a sushi fart.

We dug in for Jenny Lewis, who I guess used to be the singer for Rilo Kiley. I don't know anything about Rilo Kiley other than they're supposed to be good. Hearing Jenny Lewis I can guess that might be right. Her voice was amazing. Her drummer was great. She had a guy playing slide guitar and another she was playing off of onstage. But the sum of the parts added up to "I like her voice," and that was about it.

We kind of hung around Glass Candy for a while, and I liked what I heard a lot. Not sure about much with them, other than they covered Computer Love by Kraftwerk, so they get mad points for that, but that's all I know. I wish I'd seen more.

Finally, we were off to see Toronto's answer to all the other big DJ duos in the world today, MSTRKRFT. While I'm a huge fan of their album The Looks, I'm a little slow warming up to Fist of God, which just came out. I'll give it a few more listens, but this just sounds a little too hard and too much like a Justice clone to me at this point.

Unlike Daft Punk, you could actually see these guys. But there was a catch. From where I was standing, you couldn't see them onstage AT ALL. You could see them in the circular movie thingies on either side of the stage, rocking out and chain smoking cigarettes. But then, when you've got a song on your album called 1,000 Cigarettes, you might expect that sort of thing.

The show was a lot like the new album. Though they mixed in stuff from The Looks, it seemed to mostly be harder stuff from that album and stuff from Fist of God. I have hope I'll grow to like the new stuff because I loved their last one so much, but we decided to leave a little early so we could hit the waiting cooler full of Tecate sooner. It turned out to be a good move. We went from Sahara to the motel in 50 minutes. The only sad part was that we were so tired and sore we couldn't stay up long enough to get any serious drinking in, and crashed at 2:15, a full hour earlier than the night before.

Coachella 2009 - Friday review
Coachella 2009 - Sunday review

Coachella 2009 Review - Friday

2009-04-20T14:59:00.000-07:00

Coachella 2009 - Saturday review
Coachella 2009 - Sunday review

It's 3:00 PM on malaise Monday, the day after the last day of The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, 2009. I'm sitting in my place sweating as if I were still on the polo field (apparently we brought the weather home with us), I've just cracked my first beer of the late afternoon, and I'm trying to decide if I'm more content that we made the most of the festival, or more upset that it's going to be 51 weeks until the next one.

These are good problems.

So we got to the event early on Friday, as usual. And, as usual, neither of us got much sleep. Despite destroying a full brick of Tecate and two squeeze limes the night before, miraculously, neither of us has a hangover that a Monster can't cure. We gathered the standard gear for a 12-hour day in the desert, ate a quick meal at the local Denny's, and took Monroe Avenue directly from our new location in Indio to the polo field. On the way, I remember telling Conner, "I can't imagine there's going to be much crossover between Paul McCartney and The Crystal Method," as both of them were scheduled at the same time at opposite ends of the field.

The first person we meet tells us he's hoping Paul McCartney won't play too long, because he and his girlfriend "really want to check out that Crystal Method set, too." Never underestimate the power of 50,000 different people and 100+ bands and DJs.

We get inside, and realize that this may be the most perfect day weather-wise ever. It's supposed to get up to 87 degrees, which is like chilly in Indio, CA. The polo field is fresh, clean, groomed, there are maybe a thousand people there at the time, and we're enjoying the fresh air. The day is ours. This is what we live for.

Switch opened the Sahara tent at noon, but was spinning some extremely hard stuff, so we never actually went into the tent. It was a lot different than the stuff I heard online, so I was a little disappointed.

Next, we checked out a bit of Dear and the Headlights in the Mojave tent. Nothing to write home about. We're not off to a great start here.

Alberta Cross was playing on the Outdoor Theatre, and despite the fact that this band doesn't seem to have a person named Alberta Cross in it, they were a nice surprise. The best way I can describe them is "southern-fried shoegaze." Yeah. I know. I've never heard of that combination either, but it really did work very well, so we stayed for the whole set.

The band, not the man, is Alberta Cross (photo by M. Conner)

We headed over to the Sahara tent to try to catch the last bit of Craze & Klever, but it sounded a lot like Gui Boratto, so either we missed C&K or they didn't show up. Gui Boratto was spinning some very cool progressive house, and we stuck around long enough to hear a song or two before heading out for more water.

Our first trip to the main (Coachella) stage was to see We Are Scientists. I didn't have time to research them before we left, but I'd heard their name many times, and never with the word "sucks" attached to it, so by default we headed over. I can't say I regret it, but I didn't really like them. They just sound too generic. There's nothing that special about them, and I'm not sure how they landed the gig on the big stage, but oh well. I don't wish them any specific harm.

Back to Mojave for Cage the Elephant. They should have been called Kill the Buzz, because as soon as we walked in I realized I was NOT going to like these guys. We stayed long enough to confirm my theory, and after that we had to just sit in the shade for a bit. There was nothing going on we were interested in even remotely until shortly after 4:00. Other than Alberta Cross, this was the highlight so far.

Our second foray to the main stage was for Los Angeles' own The Airborne Toxic Event. I know there's a lot of hype about these guys, and after the first song I could kind of understand why. They had about a four-piece strings section with them, which really sounded nice in the waning heat of the afternoon. After their first song, each song was better than the next, or at least I was liking them less after every song. Not bad, but not fantastic. Just a little too poppy for my tastes.

The Airborne Toxic Event wasn't all that (photo by M. Conner)

Headed over to the Gobi tent for the first time of 2009 to see Los Campesinos!, who were decent. A happy, poppy, yelling type of band with clever lyrics and a xylophone. Sort of reminded me of Belle and Sebastian. They also sounded a little bit like Architecture in Helsinki from last year, but much better. It was a similar formula with a better result.

We caught the first part of The Black Keys' set. A two-piece who started off a little rough for me, but got really good as they went on. The problem was that the first song sounded like they were a two-piece (guitar and drums), but the ones after that were much fuller, so I was more into them.

Mojave was the site for our first really stand-out act of the day, White Lies. These guys sound like some band that recorded an album in the '80s destined to be a mega-hit, but it got shelved for some reason. I'm pretty sure To Lose My Life is their hit single, because when they played it, the whole tent spontaneously erupted, singing the chorus of, "Let's grow old together / And die at the same time!" It was the first moment I felt that family feeling I feel when I'm at Coachella.

White Lies provided a "Coachella moment" (photo by M. Conner)

We caught a little food before heading over to the Outdoor stage for Leonard Cohen. Considering that this guy put out his first album 32 years ago, he sounds fantastic. I recognized There Ain't No Cure for Love and the seminal Everybody Knows, but the things I didn't recognize sounded great as well. The main problem with this set was that it was so quiet, the audience really had to be quiet as well for it to work. Unfortunately, there were two girls behind us who were having a very loud conversation. I tried to tune them out, but after talking through two songs, the one girl decided to call her (probably equally vapid and inconsiderate) friend.

"HEY!!" Do you like LEONARD COHEN?!" she screamed into the phone. I had had enough. If you know me, you know this is a very bad thing. So I turned to her, stuck my face about two inches from hers, looked her in the eyes and explained to her as calmly as possible that other people were trying to watch the show, and would she mind keeping her voice down? (read: "Shut the fuck up! Will you shut the fuck up, please?!"). She gave me the finger as her jaw dropped. Nice reflex, I thought.

"We're sorry," her friend started.

"Thank you, but really, please, just be quiet. I mean, it's for RESPECT," I punctuated.

I should note two things:

First, I whisper-hissed this at them, so as not to add to the annoyance to the rest of the crowd.
Second, they shut the fuck up.

We hated to do it, but we missed the last part of Cohen's set and headed over to the main stage for Morrissey. I've only ever seen Morrissey once before (he was stunning at Cox Arena about 10 years ago), but I have to say that he was the single biggest disappointment of the whole festival this year for me. I was really looking forward to seeing him, and Conner had never seen him before, so it was doubly messed up that he was so fragile up there. After two songs, he complained that the sound was terrible onstage, then a few songs later, he proclaimed, "I can smell burning flesh. And I hope to GOD it's human." Morrissey is a rabid veg, so I can understand his distaste. But come on man, you've done festivals before, suck it up and do your job!

After that, he'd stop in the middle of verses, sometimes recovering, sometimes leaving the stage. Once, after we thought he might have thrown a tantrum big enough to end the set, he came back and cried, "I just can't stand the smell of burning flesh any longer, it's making me physically sick!" I feel for the guy, but come on.

It actually wasn't horrible. Morrissey opened with This Charming Man, also played Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others (from The Queen Is Dead), and a few songs from way back in his career, including Seasick, Yet Still Docked. He also did some more recent stuff, including Let Me Kiss You, in which he took off his shirt. He's reportedly going to be 50 on the last day of May, and dude looks good for his age.

We sprinted back to the Outdoor to catch the last half of LA's Silversun Pickups. Man, these guys rocked it out of the park. Heard a few promising ones from their new album Swoon, which just came out last week, as well as Well Thought Out Twinkles and Lazy Eye from the excellent Carnavas album. I wish we could have gotten closer, and I wish we could have seen their whole set, but how were we to know Moz would blow?

After that, we eschewed Sir Paul's set for two bands we'd only heard of recently, both in the Gobi tent. First up, Brooklyn's A Place To Bury Strangers. These guys sound like a cross between Joy Division, Jesus & Mary Chain and Bauhaus, and one guy in the band makes his own effects pedals. Apparently, U2's The Edge ordered a bunch of them, and the band used them all over their latest album. The stage was completely dark for most of the set, save the movies that were projected behind them. I can't remember what the movies were of, but I remember they didn't provide much light. A wonderfully eerie performance.

We stuck around for the last act of the evening, Argentina's Bajofondo. This seven-piece band blew me away. They were exactly the kind of fun, jump around and dance your ass off band you want to see right before you leave a hard, long, sweaty, sticky day in the desert. They started off with a violin solo that was as beautiful as it was technically perfect, and launched into about an hour's worth of indescribably cool shit. As the singer put it, "We've been making this music for a while now, and we're not really in a rush to put a label on it. Is that OK with you?" To which the crowd simply roared. They could have played all night as far as I was concerned. They had a famously beautiful Argentine woman on the right side of the stage with a computer and a little keyboard, and I don't know what she was doing with it, but I could have watched her dance forever. The guitarist has a voice like a Spanish-speaking Tom Waits, and between their DJ, violinist and accordionist (!?!), just had that winning combination that makes you want to jump up and down.

We headed out and were lost in the parking lot enough to hear that Paul McCartney was doing several encores, playing Hey Jude, Sergeant Pepper's (reprise), Get Back and many, many other songs we would have stuck around for if we didn't want to recharge for the rest of the weekend first. It took a little over an hour to get from the field to the hotel, and we managed to stay up until a little after three AM reminiscing about the day, and planning for the rest of the weekend. Despite our tired legs, feet and ears, we knew it would all be over too soon.

Coachella 2009 - Saturday review
Coachella 2009 - Sunday review

One Day 'til Coachella - Answer Key 2009

2009-04-16T07:32:00.001-07:00

So you want to know who's worth seeing at the big festy this year? You've come to the right place. Our team of experts on crack has researched the living shit out of the schedule, and have come up with our best guess as to the series of events that will leave you with a total aural orgasm.

First, in general:

Get there as early as you can, stay as late as you can. If you tough it out for the whole thing, you'll be happier when it's over.
Try to bring a water bottle with you. Drink it in the parking lot and in line. When it's empty, you can take it into the venue and use it to get free (?!?) filtered water.
Pace yourself. It's a three-day balls-out music festival in the desert. Sure, this isn't Burning Man, but all that means is that there are hospitals nearby.
Watch out for the cops! They are fucking everywhere.
Be courteous to your neighbor and be sure to talk to others when appropriate.
Shut the fuck up when you're watching a band. Your neighbor didn't come to hear you bitch and moan about how hot it is in the Mojave tent.
Have a good time. Even a great time. But remember, we're all out there together, and we're there to experience the wonder that is Coachella.

And now for the daily rundown:

Friday, April 17, 2009

Early

Check out Switch in the Sahara tent. They're the only thing going, but they don't suck.
Wanter around and check out Alberta Cross, Craze & Klever for some turntablism, and Gui Boratto for some good old dance music.
The Airborne Toxic Event could go either way. They're a bit poppy but nothing else appeals to me at that time except for maybe Cage the Elephant.
Los Campesinos! could be god, if not, check out The Black Keys or The Ting Tings.

Middle

Don't miss White Lies. They're gonna rock it.
Next, it's all about choice. NASA if you're into great hip-hop, Leonard Cohen if you're not. There's a huge buzz about Bug/Warrior Queen but that's just a shit sandwich to me.

Late

Next, Morrissey. Sucks about having to miss the first half of Silversun Pickups and all of Ghostland Observatory, but oh well.
After the second half of Silversun Pickups, head over to the Gobi tent for A Place To Bury Strangers. After that, check out a bit of Sir Paul or Patton & Rahzel before heading back for Bajofondo.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Early

P.O.S. and Zizek Club are the only things going early. Luckily they're right next to each other. Mosey between Sahara and Mojave and pick a winner.
Next, check out Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti. They are gonna be fucking weeeeird!!
Bob Mould Band is my pick for the 2:30 slot, it should be great to see this founding member of Husker Du with a full band.

Middle

TheNewNo2 could be good, we haven't heard much from them but they sound promising.
Next, over to the Outdoor Theatre for Drive-By Truckers. Countryish, but in a good way.
Next stop is probably Spearhead on the Coachella Stage, followed by Calexico. I hate to have to miss TV On the Radio, but I've never seen Calexico, and they're just fantastic live.
Next, on to Fleet Foxes. Sorry Thievery Corporation, I'm glad you're on the big stage, but I've just seen you guys too many times.

Late

Band of Horses should be good on the Outdoor Theatre at 8:40, if not, I'm off to Junior Boys.
After that, my friend Conner is all about Jenny Lewis, so I'll check some of her stuff out but will probably bounce between that, Glass Candy, Turbonegro and The Chemical Brothers.
Finally, to round it out, MSTRKRFT in the Sahara tent. If you like hip-hop, check out Atmosphere, they could be really good.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Early

Mexican Institute of Sound at 12:45, though Themselves could be really unique.
Check out The Knux on the big stage for some interesting hip-hop.
The Night Marchers sound pretty cool, but will probably leave early for Friendly Fires.
Skip Fucked Up! for Sebastien Tellier. Good stuff there.
Next, I'd love to check out Lykke Li and Brian Jonestown Massacre, but it's really hard to be in two places at the same time, so I'll probably split it.

Middle

At 5:25, Antony and the Johnsons. Antony's voice is an acquired taste, but they're rumored to be with Matthew Herbert, so it could be a really cool electronic-like experience.
At 6:30, check out legendary LA rockers X.

Late

After X, high-tail it over to the Coahcella Stage for My Bloody Valentine. Your life will never be the same.
Next, the hard choices. Conner's never seen The Cure, and if you haven't, I'd recommend checking them out, but I'll be splitting my time between Public Enemy and The Orb.
After that, do not miss Throbbing Gristle. You thought Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti was weird?!?!
Finally, Etienne de Crecy, who sounds a lot like Daft Punk's grandpa, will be closing it out. This guy is behind so much cool stuff, it blows the mind.

It's Coachella time, brothers and sisters. See you on the other side.

5 Days 'til Coachella - FRIDAY

2009-04-12T21:57:00.001-07:00

So I spent a few hours last night until early this morning listening to / passing judgment on Friday's lineup. My goal is to have one post per day here over the next few days to help you decide what bands to see on each day. Here's my rating system:

Negative numbers are tantamount to their positive equivalents, if you're a fucking idiot.

1-3 I wouldn't cross the street to piss on this act if it was on fire
4-6 I might cross the street to spit on this act if it was implicated in a Ponzi scheme
7 I'm considering seeing this act
8 I'm hoping to see this act
9 I'm planning to see this act
10 If two of these acts are up against each other there's gonna be a fatwa called on Goldenvoice

So here we go, in (mostly) alphabetical order:

A Place To Bury Strangers - 10 - would be a 9 on Sunday, but these guys are the hope for my kinda music

Alberta Cross - 8 - Just heard something from these guys in 3/4 and I'm a sucker for a waltz.

Bajofondo - 10 - They sound like Gotan Project. Me likey

Beirut - 7 - Too much like DeVotchka from last year to really pique my interest, but if the stage show is similar, it will

Buraka Som Sistema - 3 - I mean, they sound like a lot of other shit acts from this part of the world, but probably not the worst. If I could understand the lyrics my rating might move a point in one direction, but I can't say which.

Cage the Elephant - 7 - But only because I've only heard 30 seconds of one song and Friday isn't this year's Sunday.

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band - 8 - Because I like what this kid did with Bright Eyes, and this could be good.

Craze and Klever - 8 - Turntablism. If you like it, see these guys.

Crystal Castles - 0 - because I've got an Intellivision so I don't need to hear the soundtrack to fucking Astrosmash in the Sahara tent

Dear and the Headlights 7 - They're mellow, but could be good. Another one of these bands you have to steal to hear. Not sure they're the most logical act on Friday but it's included in the price of admission.

EL gran silencio - 6 - Hmm, a little too banda for me on first listen, but if you listen to the wrong Cafe Tacuba song you'd think the same thing. And at least they're not some group of rich white peoples' kids. And the accordion is hot.

Felix da Housecat - 7 - I'm not big on electro, but this could be good.

Franz Ferdinand - 7 - I like the message they're spreading to the kids on Ulysses, even though I've really been turned off by their live shows in the past.

Genghis Tron - 0 - pfft.

Ghostland Observatory - 6 - One good song (Sad Sad City) does not a big-font Coachella band make

Girl Talk - 7 - This could be really good or really suck. Either way, it's better than mediocrity.

Gui Boratto - 9 - Nice electronic stuff I just discovered. Chilled out stuff with a beat. When the vocals kicked in on Beautiful Life, my rating went from an eight to a nine. Sounds like New Order as a one-piece band.

Leonard Cohen - 10 - Ever since I heard Everybody Knows in the context of the film Pump Up the Volume, this guy's been my man.

Los Campesinos! - 9 - Fuck yeah. These guys sound like they're from that whole scene from Toronto where they get all the people they know who play instruments in a room to record an album, and it somehow works. OK, they sound a bit like last year's mega-bomb Architecture in Helsinki, but with a lot more energy. Hopefully they can pull off the live show to the point that I'll actually care about it.

M. Ward - 7 - Only because I've heard so much about him. I'm intrigued by what I've heard but not compelled.

Molotov - 7 - Only because they're like the Mexican 2 Live Crew. Not that I'm into that sort of thing, but it's kinda weird that a band with a song called Puto is on the lineup this year.

Morrissey - 10 - I'm hoping I'll be able to say, after I've seen him: Morrissey, You Have Killed Me!

N.A.S.A. - 8 - I like what I've checked out to a certain extent, but not sure what they'll be able to do live.

Noah and the Whale - 5 - If they weren't from the UK, would anyone give a shit?

Patton & Rahzel - 9 - Oh shit, Mike Patton is back. Last time I saw him at Coachella was with Fantomas. That was crazy. I think Rahzel is an MC, but I'll make an exception from the former mastermind behind Mr. Bungle and Faith No More.

Paul McCartney - 8 - I've heard his new stuff is more electronic, so that could be good. But to see him do Beatles tunes at this point would feel kinda creepy.

Peanut Butter Wolf - 7 - I'll come for the turntablism, but I'll stay if the MC sees his shadow and runs back in his hole for six more weeks of downtempo.

Silversun Pickups - 10 - Their Carnavas album is stuck in my CD player. I can't seem to want to get it out.

The Crystal Method - 8 - Saw them on the night of the only time I've ever been fired. Keep Hope Alive played on my car stereo as I drove away from the corporate megafucks who set me free.

The Airborne Toxic Event - 5 - A little too light for me for Coachella, but I might give them a chance.

The Bug featuring Warrior Queen - MINUS 100000 - My pants actually come up to my waist, so fuck these guys.

The Presets - 4 - Meh.

The Ting Tings - 6 - OK, so I really liked a remix of Shut Up And Let Me Go I heard at the gym, but I wasn't so big on some other stuff I heard from them, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Nothing I'm dying for but they could be decent.

White Lies - 8 - I've only heard a little bit from these guys, but they could be pretty good. Definitely dark, still poppy, like a modern Echo and the Bunnymen but with a better vocalist.

The Aggrolites - 1 - If you're high and you don't care what music sounds like, these guys are for you. White reggae. Yeaaaaaaahhhhhh...

People Under the Stairs - 4 - Hip-hop, but not bad for what it is. Plus, I think they might be more than the sum of their parts. Still, I'm not excited.

The Hold Steady - 6 - Sounds like Shane from The Pogues trying to cover Bruce Springsteen.

Ryan Bingham - 4 - While not untalented, I'm not really stoked on the dude who owns the venue trying to push his shitkicker agenda on us.

If I didn't have a goddamn day job I'd have time to review these guys tonight too:

Steve Aoki
Switch
The Black Keys
The Courteeners
The Hold Steady
We Are Scientists

7 Days 'til Coachella - The Killers

2009-04-10T21:22:00.000-07:00

I was first introduced to The Killers in a very unconventional way, back in 2003 or 2004. My good friends Bep & DC (currently known as LA superstar DJs S&Him, and Bep was half of girl DJ duo Electroboobies) and I got together, and I distinctly remember Bep asking me,

"Hey, have you heard of these guys The Killers?"
"Oh yeah," DC cheerfully agreed, "they're great!"
"Yeah? I don't think I've heard them," I answered.

Bep proceeded to sing me the super limited remix of Somebody Told Me they'd received, and just her singing of it stuck in my head as an example of great songwriting. Bep's not a bad singer. But I've never experienced something hitting me like that third-hand before or since.

Having said that, when I saw they were headlining Saturday night, I thought, oh SHIT! Who's going to show up at the last minute THIS YEAR!?!

Last year, I was in heaven when I heard Portishead was the crown jewel of the festival. They were to headline Saturday night. Then, less than a week before the festy (as I recall), Goldenvoice announced that Prince would be the headliner.

"But Portishead is headlining Saturday!" I protested.

After I got over the initial indignation associated with their spotlight being, well, not stolen, but dimmed, I was OK with it. I knew that both acts would put on a great performance, and as you know if you've been following my insane and inane rantings, they all did pretty well.

This year, I felt like it was inevitable that an artist of Prince's stature would show up and swoop down to the main stage Saturday to put the killers in its shadow. However, we're a week out, and it hasn't happened yet. Maybe last year was a fluke, and maybe I'm just a dreamer, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a surprise or two at this year's event.

I remember a post on Mogwai's page. I'm paraphrasing but I believe it said, "If any of our fans also like the band The Killers, please send us back our albums for a full refund. Seriously. They suck."

I'm not so sure that I think they totally suck, and looking on the bright side, I'd rather see them up there on Saturday than the motherfucking Red Hot Chili Peppers YET AGAIN. I'm not really impressed by their latest stuff, but that's probably why they'll be a draw. Much more poppy and polished than Hot Fuss. It's almost like they got a new singer, or their original singer got a lobotomy or something. It's none of my business, but hey. Inquiring minds want to know.

Me? I couldn't give a shit. Put out a good show or fuck off.

8 Days 'til Coachella - NASA

2009-04-09T19:26:00.000-07:00

I started listening to The Spirit of Apollo, which I think is this group's latest effort, and I was thinking, OK, sorta hip-hop, I can feel it coming, even though the first song, Intro, is purposefully spacey and definitely groovy.

The second track, The People Tree, features some decent grooves, beats and scratching, along with some MC'ing that's not too annoying. And what's this? That familiar voice... could it be... David Byrne?!

Reading the album's list of collaborators, you'd have trouble pegging the genre. Sure, overall it's hip hop, but only if you have to pigeonhole it into a category. Some of this stuff sounds like good downtempo with forgivable rapping, but everything I checked out is just full-on head-bopping goodness.

You may have heard Money, which also features David Byrne, Chuck D (Public Enemy), Ras Congo (possibly from London or NYC), Brazilian artist Seu Jorge, and DJ Z-Trip. That many cooks in the kitchen can easily spoil a track, but in this case, it's really something good. You're probably already sick of hearing it, it's so good.

Other contributors include hip-hop dudes Del The Funkee Homosapien, DJ Qbert, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Ol' Dirty Bastard (I thought he was dead?), Kool Keith, genius and "gay fish" Kanye West, as well as George Clinton, and TOM WAITS?!?!

The last track on the album bills itself as a 15+ minute opus called N.A.S.A. Anthem. The first four minutes sounds like it could have easily been done thirty years ago... like there are tons of samples in there, but I can't put my finger on any one of them. Then there's about six minutes of silence and the annoying 1990's "bonus track" thing shows up. Let me tell you, this one would have been a lot better off without the gimmick and without the "bonus" song. It feels really tacked on, like a compromise between two very different forces driving this group.

Overall, it's more than the sum of its parts, but after hearing this last bit, I'm really nervous that their whole live show will be standard MC'ing over standard DJ'ing.

The jury will render its decision next Friday night.

10 Days 'til Coachella - James Morrison

2009-04-07T23:22:00.001-07:00

YAWWW-FUCKING-NNNNNN...........

Look at this guy. What the fuck? He'd be singled out and ritually sacrificed in the pit at a Tool or RATM set. Not that I'm huge fans of those bands, but this guy is totally inappropriate for Coachella.

This year's James Blunt. 'nuff said.

12.5 Days 'til Coachella - A Place To Bury Strangers

2009-04-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

Holy fuck.

These guys are something out of a dream. Take the sonic characteristics of Jesus & Mary Chain add it to the Joy Division-esque basslines multiply it by the Bauhaus-inspired downward pickings of the guitar hooks put it to the power of the trademark shoegaze technique of hiding the lyrics underneath the din of the music, and you've got the motherfucking Di Vinci code of how to throw the aural soul into a blender.

They're from New York, which now that I know that, makes me think of such other amazing, somewhat similar artists as Bowery Electric. But APTBS is pitched up like Spacemen 3 shooting a speedball, with way more depth.

Friday's looking better all the time, y'all.

Special thanks to my pal Tina for pointing me in their direction.

12 Days 'til Coachella - Bob Mould Band

2009-04-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

I've seen Bob a few times, I think I've seen him two and a half times as a solo artist, but never as a full band. I'll explain the half time I saw him.

It was the first time I'd had a chance to check him out, and it was to be him playing solo at Detroit's version of The Casbah, St. Andrew's Hall. This place is like three or four times the size of the 'bah, complete with a second level that goes all the way around the place. I'd say capacity is a little over a thousand.

My friend The Hammer drove us down from East Lansing, where we were going to school at the time. This must have been around 1991 or 1992. On the way into the show, we had a little conversation about how the show would be enhanced for us, and headed inside.

We made it just in time for his set, and when he came on, all eyes and ears were on the man on stage. I remember he went back and forth between an electric-acoustic 12-string and an electric guitar, but it was all just Bob up there, cranking out song after song of heartfelt emotion, thought-provoking lyrics and plain old balls-out rock and roll.

After about five or six songs, my buddy mentioned something about our "conversation" not hitting him right, and that he wasn't feeling entirely himself. In the next seconds, I found out that he hadn't eaten anything since lunch, and that it's very hard for someone of my stature to hold up someone over six feet tall, especially when he's crashing into someone who's minding his business just trying to hold up the left-side wall of St. Andrew's.

I dragged him to the back lobby near the entrance, where we hung out for another song or so before trying to head back in. He didn't feel up to finishing the show, and offered to meet me later, but I wanted to make sure he was all right, so we headed to El Loco, a decent Mexican place just around the corner.

I got to tell Bob this story when he signed my copy of his first solo album, Workbook, at Belly Up in Solana Beach a few years ago. That's the great thing about Belly Up, and about Bob Mould. He's a real person, and Belly Up is the kind of venue where, sometimes, the band sticks around to talk to people. Even when the band is just one man, when it's THIS guy, you hardly notice he's the only one on stage.

Bob Mould has a voice that can fill an arena, and it will be great to see him with a full band. Listen for songs from Black Sheets of Rain along with the new album. Bob's recently gone through some personal troubles, and all indications are that his songwriting and sound are more distinctly and wonderfully him than ever before.

I remember hearing an interview with him where he explained his friends' typical reaction to hearing a new album. He said that friends, upon hearing the last song (usually the angriest, check out Sacrifice (Let There Be Peace) from BSOR for an example), they turn to him and say, Hey, are you all right, man? This guy puts everything he's got and more into his work, and this is a rare chance to see him with a full band. With album titles like The Last Dog and Pony Show, it's hard to know how many more tours he'll embark on.

His new album, Life and Times, will be released this Tuesday, April 7th. Until then, you can stream the whole thing here.

14 Days 'til Coachella - Hercules and Love Affair

2009-04-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

This is not a drill!! I've finally found something to get excited about on Saturday!! Hercules and Love Affair to the rescue. While their site calls their music a "disco love affair," I think they're selling themselves short in favor of brevity. This stuff sounds a lot like Curtis Mayfield or Shuggie Otis, and if you're callin' them disco, well, fine, but not me. This is pretty soulful stuff for a genre that's not supposed to have any, so step up.

Or step side to side. Or just shake it in place. Their 2008 single Time Will features none other than Antony Hegarty on vocals, so they get serious cool points for that. Shimmering stabs, bumping beats and rolling basslines round out this track, and as I mentioned, I'm pretty excited to see what these guys throw down Saturday.

UPDATE: April 5, 2009: Apparently, they've canceled. Fuckers.

15 days 'til Coachella - Morrissey

2009-04-01T23:01:00.000-07:00

My holy trinity in high school was, as follows:

The Cure
The Smiths
Depeche Mode

Well, I've managed to see The Cure from the third row on Disintegration, and DM front row on Violator. 89-90 were good years.

But I never got to see The Smiths.

I remember back in like 1987 when my friend Vince loaned me a tape of Strangeways, Here We Come, the last studio Smiths album for the weekend. I came in that Monday and sought him out.

"Hey Vince, I really love that Smiths album you loaned me."

"Wow, that's too bad, because they're never going to play again," he replied.

I was pretty fucking disappointed.

From then on out, I made a point of getting ahold of all the Smiths stuff I could on CD, with the exception of the really expensive stuff like Hatful of Hollow and The World Won't Listen. I broke down and bought the former in college, but still don't have the latter. I know there are some different versions of stuff on TWWL but goddammit, The Smiths were one of the first bands that made me hate the music I loved, if only because I knew I could never get it all.

Then came Viva Hate, Morrissey's first album. I kind of felt like it was mine, because it was the first thing he'd put out when I was actively a fan, and when so many people around me were denouncing it as "not as good as the smiths." Well, shit. Throw this guy a bone, man! It took forever to get the thing out, and then twice as long to get the follow-up, Bona Drag, to see the light of day. And by the time it did, it was mostly a singles collection. Not that I'm complaining. At the time, the best the US ever got of our Brit idols was of this ilk.

So what about Morrissey?

I saw him back in 2000 or 2001 at Cox Arena here in San Diego. Expectations were low. Like slug shit low. Cox Arena is infamous for shitty sound, and he'd recently released Maladjusted, which I think is probably his worst solo album by a long shot. We had nosebleed seats, and it was a Wednesday night (READ: it may have been any night of the week, but it felt like a Wednesday).

Well, let me tell you, he was a fucking SHOWMAN. He got up on that stage and belted out amazing song after amazing song, from Shoplifters of the World Unite to later favorites from his solo career, and the sound was actually surprisingly good. The setlist was phenomenal, and he pandered to the crowd like a Tijuana barker.

I've only had a few listens through Years of Refusal, his latest effort, and I think it's pretty good. Not his best solo effort, but I could be proved wrong by history. Regardless, it's going to be one helluva show, if the reports I've heard from other shows on the tour hold up.

And remember, this is Coachella. He hasn't played here since the first one back in 1999. He opened in Ann Arbor, MI with This Charming Man. Do you think he's going to do anything less in the desert?

16 Days 'til Coachella - it's not just about the music

2009-03-31T20:04:00.000-07:00

My good friend and partner in crime recently wrote me to say that "Coachella could only impress" him at this point. I have to say, I know where he's coming from in a sense, but take heart, everyone. Keep in mind, I never thought there'd be a year to top Pixies / Radiohead / Kraftwerk, and yet in 2008 we got Kraftwerk / Portishead / Prince. Yes, I'm still talking about both of those, and I'll never forget either one.

This year, so far, I'm totally underwhelmed by the lineup overall. I mean, I'm starting to see the bright side in Friday now, and I really feel that Sunday is so filled with strong artists that there will have to be some overlap that leaves me pulling my hair out. But when I look back at my year in live shows last year, I know why I'm jaded.

This is the list of shows Mr. Conner and I saw last year. This doesn't include anything I forgot, or anything he saw without me:

22-Feb The Album Leaf The Casbah San Diego, CA
24-Mar Saul Williams The Casbah San Diego, CA
25-Apr Coachella 2008* Empire Polo Field Indio, CA
26-Apr Coachella 2008** Empire Polo Field Indio, CA
27-Apr Coachella 2008*** Empire Polo Field Indio, CA
30-May Swervedriver / Film School The Casbah San Diego, CA
24-Aug Radiohead The Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, CA
27-Aug Radiohead Cricket Wireless Ampitheatre Chula Vista, CA
13-Sep The Juan Maclean El Rey Theatre Los Angeles, CA
1-Oct Sigur Ros Copley Symphony Hall San Diego, CA
2-Oct My Bloody Valentine Santa Monica Civic Los Angeles, CA
3-Oct David Byrne The Greek Theatre Los Angeles, CA
14-Oct Antony and the Johnsons Walt Disney Concert Hall Los Angeles, CA
8-Nov Electric Six / Local H The Casbah San Diego, CA
15-Nov Mudhoney The Casbah San Diego, CA

* DJ Mehdi, Midnight Juggernauts, Sebastian, Architecture in Helsinki, Cut Copy, Mum, The National, Aphex Twin, The Verve
** Man Man, DeVotchka, Cafe Tacvba, Hot Chip, Kraftwerk, Portishead, Prince
*** I'm From Barcelona, Stars, Swervedriver, Spiritualized, Love & Rockets, Simian Mobile Disco, Black Mountain, Justice

As I said when I realized this, "It's been a great year, from what I can remember." I stand by that statement 100%.

But this is the thing: It's not just about the music. I remember last year when I started my drive up to Indio, as always, the day before the first day of the festival. I kept thinking, I am one with the cars, I am one with the traffic. I am just part of this great flow, and eventually, I'll drip off of one of these massive concrete petals and splash into my hotel room in the desert. NOTE: I do *not* normally think like this.

All the way up, we always listen to a compilation I make. It's always called Coachella or Bust, and it lasts the whole ride up there. This is all planned. We have victory beers in the fridge waiting for us when we get home, and we've packed the trunk of the car with as many beers, pouches of Pemmican, bottles of water and cans of Monster energy drink as we can fit. We get to the hotel, start drinking immediately, stumble to the nearest place to eat, and then stumble back to our shelter to pass out.

Each morning, it's a ritual. Wake up, drink a monster, get ready, find a decent sit-down place for breakfast where we can load up on salt, and head to the party as early as possible. "We've got an agenda," we say, and we stick to it. Each night, we stay as late as we possibly can, catch as many bands, art exhibits, conversations and do as much freak-watching as we possibly can. Then we head back to the hotel on the back roads, sit around and drink and smoke and eat jerky, reminisce about everything that's happened so far, that day, that year at Coachella, and every year before that.

Why do we do it?

Because even when the lineup isn't the best we've ever seen, when we're pining for a bigger, better Saturday headliner (which I still think we'll get), when we see the initial lineup and think, ehhh... it's still all the Coachella we're going to get for a whole year. You just don't find that exact je ne sais quoi you get, call it community or a shared delusion, when you're sweating, dirty, baked from the sun, tired, aching and having the best time of your life with 50,000 strangers, you don't get that anywhere else.

Not until next year.

17 Days 'til Coachella - Craze and Klever

2009-03-30T22:03:00.000-07:00

It's no secret I'm no fan of hip hop, but this is turntablism, and I'm very into that. I can totally appreciate someone who can turn the turntable into an instrument, and make the rest of us DJs look like we're really "just playing rekkids."

If you know this site, you know I rarely post a video, but I think this best makes my case for checking these guys out, especially on Friday, when there's little else going on other than Morrissey and Sir Paul. And Ghostland Observatory. And Silversun Pickups, and possibly Beirut, though I haven't heard much from them yet. And Leonard Cohen.

Oh shit.

Friday just started looking up.

18 Days 'til Coachella - The Presets

2009-03-29T22:35:00.000-07:00

I keep looking for reasons why I bought a three-day ticket when Sunday could easily suffice as my last day on earth, and I think I´ve found one for Friday, at least. Australia´s The Presets may have come to the rescue here, making for an interesting time the first day of a long, yet too-short weekend.

Or maybe not.

I´m trying to decide here. Pros include their hooky melodies and basslines. Cons include their similarity to the sound of The Killers, who I´m not huge on. Full disclosure, I really need to listen to more of both of these bands beforehand. But honestly, I´m going to be putting current Saturday headliners The Killers under a gigantic microscope in the days to come, and I´ll render my decision here.

I just can´t believe that The Killers are big enough to headline Saturday night. It´s almost like putting a picture of your grandmother on the dining room table for a dinner party when you´ve got the original Mona Lisa stuck to the wall in a half bathroom or something.

I´ll check out The Presets if there´s nothing else going on, but despite their electronic coolness, they don´t sound like a don´t miss to me.

20 Days 'til Coachella - The Cure

2009-03-27T18:09:00.000-07:00

The Cure were my favorite band of all time, until a certain bunch of guys from Oxford put out a ton of great stuff in a row and took over the number one spot. Yes, Radiohead is arguably the best band of our time, but The Cure will always hold a special place in my heart.

I remember my journey to see them for the first time. It started in New Hampshire in June of 1989, where I was visiting my uncle. I was 18, it was the summer before I left for college, and my parents were determined to get some goddamn family time in before that fall even if it killed all of us.

"But I have tickets to The Cure!" I protested, when my mother told me of the planned vacation.

"We're going to see your uncle in New Hampshire, and you're going too!" she crabbed back.

"Well, I'm coming home early," I protested. I've always had this way of getting what I wanted, and deep down, she knew I'd bitch until I was coughing blood if that was what it took to see this band.

The compromise was simple: I'd go with the fam' to NH, but I could take a train from Boston the night before, have some friends pick me up at the train station, get dropped off at my house (sans car) and have my friend Barry pick me up for the show in Auburn Heights, about 45 minutes away from my parents' house.

We got to Boston and I managed to do a little CD shopping. I remember buying three CDs, including my first The The album, Mind Bomb, and my first 10,000 Maniacs CD, Blind Man's Zoo. Somehow, I didn't have a portable CD player with me, so all I could do was read the liner notes and lyrics all the way back to Detroit. If you've ever read the lyrics to Mind Bomb, you'll have a little piece of the puzzle of why I am the way I am.

After a brutal 18+ hours on the Amtrak with no muzzles nor restraints for screaming children, I finally made it to my hometown train station. My friends picked me up, dropped me off at my house, and I eagerly called my concert buddy.

"Are you ready to see The CURE!?!?!"

"I caaan't... I have footall practice," he whined.

"Barry, if I miss the fucking Cure I'm never going to forgive you!" I screamed, slamming down the phone.

I called the first person I could think of, my friend Jen from my high school. Thank god, she was home when I called. Her tone was ecstatic, perhaps she knew what I could offer her for that night.

"I JUST WON FRONT ROW TICKETS TO THE CURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed in my ear.

"Oh, great," I replied, "I'll be in the third row.

Bitch.

"Hey I've got a call waiting, see yo tonight," I hoped.

Luckily, the person on the other line was another Jen I knew, and she was willing to drive to the show, as long as I could get a ride to her parents' place in Plymouth.

Long story short, we finally made it. Walked in between the openers and the headliner, and it was one of the defining moments of my life.

Keep in mind, this was on Disintegration.

Since then, they've had some triumphs, some flops, and some stuff I've never heard. Smith is nothing if not prolific, so some of it can be forgiven. Here's a quick rundown of my ratings of every album since Disintegration:

>> Wish (1992) - a very good sophomore jinx to Disintegration
>> Wild Mood Swings (1996) - the first Cure album that could suck termites from walls
>> Bloodflowers (2000) - renewed my faith in The Cure, it took me a week of having it in the house to finally listen to it because I was so afraid it would suck.
>> The Cure (2004) - still haven't heard it, I took a pass on this one. I know, I suck.
>> 4:13 Dream (2008) - when I first heard it, I thought, it's one of their worst. I still feel that way, but it's so much better than so much other stuff out there that I think it's still more than 50% good.

So yeah, I'll probably be watching them, though I've seen them so many times, I think I'd be OK missing them for a couple of other bands. If you haven't seen them, this might not be the perfect venue for their show, but give it a shot anyway.

21 Days 'til Coachella - MSTRKRFT

2009-03-26T17:33:00.000-07:00

I recently picked up a bunch of CDs, and I have to admit, I bought it solely on a few recommendations. Then when I got it, I was like, Who told me about these guys again?

Whoever it was, let me take this opportunity to kiss your feet, because 2006's The Looks is fantastic. It sounds a little like Daft Punk doing progressive house music. It reminds me a bit of Vitalic's OK Cowboy too, but I think this album is more solid than anything either of the two aforementioned artists has released. It has a psychedelic edge I haven't heard too much in electronic dance music, and it works well.

Don't get me wrong, I love Daft Punk and Vitalic, but I just think that overall the eight tracks on The Looks maintain a level of quality that you don't see on every single track of, say, Human After All. OK, I know that's not considered DP's best effort, but still.

MSTRKRFT are playing Saturday, and given the lineup for that day, there are few acts I'd cry over missing to catch these guys. The Sahara tent will most likely be the site of the pummeling these Canadians are going to bring to the hump day of the festy, so be sure to do your drugs BEFORE you enter the big tent for maximum effect!

Demetri Martin is not Fucking Funny

2009-03-25T22:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry. This guy fucking sucks. There's not even anything funny about criticizing him. It's just sad.

22 Days 'til Coachella - The Gaslight Anthem

2009-03-25T18:16:00.000-07:00

There's something about these guys that doesn't suck, but I can't quite put my finger on it. I mean, they're not bad, and in fact, I can picture them being a decent late afternoon Sahara tent band, or even an early afternoon Outdoor Stage surprise. They've got that poppy, power-punky brewster kinda thing going on, lots of jangling and good hooks. And I think they've got some sort of Irish-type feel as well, but it's hard to tell.

And they kind of sound like The Replacements. Which isn't all bad, but hmmm. The more I hear of them, the more they sound like The Replacements, which isn't all good. It's always weird to see which bands are being referenced, but these guys definitely sound like those guys. Their AMG page compares them to Springsteen, too, and I can see that as well. More the Born to Run shit than the great stuff from Ghost of Tom Joad, fair warning.

So yeah, not something I'd normally listen to, but they would probably be fun live, and I think the kids will like 'em. But since they're on Sunday, they've got the deck stacked against them as far as I'm concerned. I just can't see going out of my way to watch them unless it's very, very early, or they've got naked chicks passing out free beer.

29 Days 'til Coachella - Crystal Castles

2009-03-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

So I'm not totally sure what to think of Crystal Castles, the electronic duo named after the 80's video game. Some of their stuff is pretty cool (Crimewave, Magic Spells), and some of really sucks trailer hitch (Love and Caring, xxzxcuzx me). Like when did AIM become the way to name songs? Aah, you kids today, you don't know music...

It definitely sounds like music from and/or inspired by the video game, or at least video games of that era. It's definitely better than those soundtracks out there to shitty movies that tell you it's got "music from and inspired by the movie" - those are almost always throwaway tracks by second-rate or sucky artists trying to get out of a contract. And then there would be like one good song from one of your favorite artists on there, so you had to tape that song and even then it never sounded as good as all the other stuff you had, so eventually you had to break down and buy it just for that one song...

This is why I love the Internet. If something sucks, fewer people pay for it.

30 Days 'til Coachella - Drop the Lime

2009-03-17T23:26:00.000-07:00

I wanted so badly to write, "Don't drop the soap when you profess your love for Drop the Lime," but I just can't.

I have to say, it blends two genres I don't love, but I have a special place in my heart for. <--- oooh I ended a sentence with a preposition, somebody SPANK ME!

I'm bad.

OK, so the two genres it blends are R&B and old school breaks. It does the latter with a bit of a jungle feel, and the former feels a little phoned in, but I still can't trash these guys. I think they're worth checking out if you're a junglist.

"A junglist will jack ya." - RJ

"Yeah, well the trancers have stolen more than any other group!" -Trae Ann

"TRANCERS?!?! What the fuck?!?" - ix, RJ, Matty

34 Days 'til Coachella - Late of the Pier

2009-03-13T23:42:00.000-07:00

I don't know from under what freak rock / pier these freak rockers crawled, but as far as I'm concerned, don't ask, don't care.

Let this be a lesson to all your font-point-spotters who only look for the big names in the large point type: I've never heard of these guys, don't know a thing about them, don't know where they're from, and have never heard their music before tonight.

They fucking rock.
They take electronic music and make it the math rock crazy shit it can be.

And why shouldn't it be? After all, if there was no math, there would be no electronic music.

They sound like Scissor Sisters stuck their genitalia in an electric socket. And I mean that in the best possible way.

38 Days 'til Coachella - Band of Horses / Cloud Cult

2009-03-09T22:39:00.000-07:00

I've heard a lot about Band of Horses. I heard I'd probably like them. So tonight, I decided to check them out.

Hard to compare them to anything, I'd say they remind me more of Sunny Day Real Estate than anything, though much less emo. This is not necessarily a bad thing, though the reason I love SDRE is that they're so absolutely pouring of emotion, you can't help but get swept up in what they're doing.

Band of Horses takes a slightly different approach, and in a different time, they might be called simply pop or something else.

However, I have to say that I'm a little disconcerted by them being part of the, "Oh I've heard their stuff on the Brand X commercial!!" bandwagon. I mean, it's ok, but at the same time, this is the second band I know of that's contributed to some pretty major commercials this year (the other one being Cloud Cult for the eSurance commercial).

Now, I have to admit that Justice did sell out to Cadillac, but let's face it, Cadillac's use of Let There Be Light was just absolute genius. Ford's use of BoH's The Funeral wasn't quite as visceral or successful, but it was still pretty effective.

But I'll reserve judgment on Cloud Cult until I hear more than the song for the animated car insurance commercial. I consider this a favor to them. I mean, come on, neither of the aforementioned commercials had to print "Music By" on the screen.

Then again, if it wasn't for that visual on the eSurance commercial, I never would have known it was them. Then again, after listening to them on youtube, I can say they get points for the electronic stuff and the live cello. I really want to hate them but the more I hear of Happy Hippo the more I really want to like them. Jury's out. I just hope they don't talk as much as they did on that live clip from YouTube. It was like a 5 1/2 minute clip and the song was like two minutes long. Hey, I'm open-minded, if you can shut the fuck up long enough to sing a good song you might actually get a nod.

Ut oh, spoke too soon. Now listening to Chemicals Collide on YouTube and it kinda sucks. Not as much as their incessant talking, but more so than Mexican radio. But then the stuff that sucks more than Mexican radio could fill a spectrum of bandwidth taller than Johnny Socko's Giant Fucking Robot.

I am blathering like an idiot, so I'll just say that Band of Horses could be worth checking out, especially if you have one of those special passes that let you drive around the polo field in a Ford Edge.

73 Days 'til Coachella - Mastodon

2009-02-02T22:33:00.000-08:00

Hey METULHEDZZ!!

Are you fuckin' pissed off that Tool, RATM and other meathead headbanger bands aren't listed for this year's Coachella?

Well, fear fucking not motherfuckers! Yeah, fuck yeah!! Mastodon is here to appease you and to lower the collective IQ of the entire festival!

OK, and now, a drink recipe from my high school days, the better to rot your brain with this drivel with:

HORSEPISSER

2 oz. Canadian Club whiskey
Mountain Dew

1. Fill a glass with ice
2. Add whiskey
3. Add Mountain Dew
4. Enjoy!

77 Days 'til Coachella - Schedule is UP!

2009-01-30T09:46:00.000-08:00

I am so excited I barely know what to do with myself!!

While I have a few issues with the lineup this year, it's looking like it's going to be a great year in the desert once again. I'll be very curious to hear exactly who was holding out for them to make this announcement, though.

A few thoughts:

My Bloody Valentine!!!! AAAAARHH!!!! I never thought I'd get to see the band that created Loveless, my favorite album of all time, and now I get to see them twice in less than seven months' time. Excellent

Throbbing Gristle??!?!?? This one's a HUGE shocker. The fathers of industrial music are going to freak pretty much everyone out, causing many a chaperon to pull the kiddies out a bit early.

Leonard Cohen!! The rumors were true. Very cool, finally get to see this iconic songwriter. A better poet than a singer, but he's been a part of my life since the cheesy-but-in-a-good-way movie Pump Up the Volume first introduced our generation to him with Everybody Knows.

I've got my ticket, here we go again!!

81 Days 'til Coachella - Even the Radio Stations are Perplexed

2009-01-26T21:01:00.000-08:00

I mentioned that I called 91x in a moment of weakness last week, and that they promised they'd have "all the details" on Coachella on Monday. I have to admit, I haven't listened to anything but the local jazz station in easily five years, but somehow I knew that they wouldn't scoop the innernets.

So I called again tonight, and the "radio personality" (<-- fourletterword) said that they'd been told that they'd be given all the information Monday, but that maybe they were trying to get even bigger acts than they'd already signed.

To steal a phrase from the legendary Gibson Haynes in the excellent Butthole Surfers' Blind Eye Sees All DVD (shot live in Detroit, repruzent):

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Hey, I'm not picky, anyone, anywhere, somebody give me the 1.0 of the lineup. Is that really too much to ask?

Goldenvoice, HAVE YOU LOST YOUR DAMN MIND!?!?!?!?!?

82 Days 'til Coachella - Still Nothing Official

2009-01-25T09:30:00.000-08:00

Well, shit.

There's still nothing official on the lineup for this year's three day music festival in the desert. Rumors now include things as ludicrous as Paul McCartney, but somehow I don't think that's going to happen. After last year's Sunday headliner surprise of Roger Waters, though, anything's possible.

I actually called a couple of local radio stations (yeah, I know, I know, but I'm desperate) to try to get the skinny. 91x told me that they'd have "all the details" Monday (tomorrow), so we'll see. I also spoke to Mike Halloran at 94.9, who's a really cool cat, the last hope for decent radio in this town, and has been for over 15 years. He stated that he "knew some things" but that nothing was final until the announcement was made.

The Orange County Register has some new rumors up as well, including the one about Sir P. McC, but I don't think they're any more valid than the ones that have been put up by bloggers across the 'net who have actually taken the time to check their favorite bands' schedules for allusions to Indio, CA between April 16th and 18th.

If you can't be bothered to click the link (or if my feedback on that page never gets approved), here's part of my response to this article:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It’s all rumors until they post the lineup, and even then, nothing is for sure (see the late addition of Prince last year, the once-posted and then quickly evaporated Cocteau Twins and Future Sound of London a few years back).

Agreed that the RHCP would be a very UNWELCOME act this year, or any other. They’ve outlived their welcome, IMHO. I saw them at Lollapalooza 2 (dating myself) in 1991. That was a good show but enough for me. Then again, I’m the kind of guy who leaves before Tool or Rage Against the Machine gets started because I just can’t be arsed to deal with meathead fans.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the record, I managed to get Tool's Coachella set in its entirety on the ol' BitTorrent, and I have to say it was absolutely amazing.

Hopefully the rumors that the full setlist will be posted tomorrow are true. Stay tuned.

88 Days 'til Coachella - So Where's the Poster???

2009-01-19T19:40:00.000-08:00

While there have been several rumors about "confirmed" acts (including Pitchfork's #1 pick for 2008, Fleet Foxes), nothing has been posted on the official Web site.

Until something's posted officially, I'm reluctant to do much else but complain. So here's a picture a friend of a friend took near here.

My life sucks.

Fox 5 San Diego Sucks Ass

2008-11-30T22:30:00.000-08:00

Fox 6 used to be pretty cool, despite the obvious leanings of some of their more idiot morning show personalities. Their evening news shows used to be pretty liberal - much more "fair and balanced" than your regular Fox News bullshit.

As you probably know, they've replaced 6 with 5, taking over the ex-UPN, ex-WB, ex-WTF station. And don't you know, they kept the "news personalities" from the old station.

The agenda stands. It's your old friends, the anti-freedom, ANTI FUCKING AMERICAN REPUBLICANS that only want to take away your freedoms and scare the living shit out of you so you'll obey.

Even longtime cool chick Chrissy Russo seems to have surrendered to the dark side. Sigh.

Good won over evil this time, after two elections where people just didn't make enough of a fuss about a bullshit result, but it's still not enough.

DO NOT TRUST FOX 5. KEEP PAYING ATTENTION.

Antony and the Johnsons - Walt Disney Concert Hall - Los Angeles, CA

2008-10-15T01:07:00.000-07:00

Wow. I'm really not sure how to sum this up, so I'll use a phrase from my oftentimes concert partner in crime, Mr. Conner:

It was awesome. The musicians were amazing, the venue was amazing and the crowd was amazing.

Antony performed with the LA Philharmonic this evening at Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. This is a truly inspiring venue, both inside and out. Designed by God, or at least God's Assistant, this thing is gorgeous to look at on the outside, and almost scary to be inside of. Kinda like a superstar model.

Antony took the stage at about 8:15 with a group of approximately 18 musicians, a full brass section, oboe, bassoon, piano, percussionist, and clarinet, to name a few. Not to mention the conductor, who was exciting to watch as well. He just did what he did so well.

They played for probably about 90 minutes, including one encore, which included a very long story about one of Antony's role models in New York. He also shared that he'd only met the LA Philharmonic the day before, and had practiced with them twice before the performance. Describing how he explained the songs he said, "I told them, OK, for this one, imagine you're a fish..."

Most of the songs were ones I wasn't familiar with. He only did one song from I Am A Bird Now (For Today I Am A Boy), and I assume most of the other songs were from his recently released Another World EP and from his debut album. However, I did catch his touching, yet somewhat funny cover of Beyonce's Crazy In Love. A bit different than the version David Byrne treated us to with The Extra Action Marching Band at the Hollywood Bowl a while back, but it was still pretty amazing.

Another highlight: 30 seconds of silence during one of the songs. Honestly. Without exaggeration, it was at least that long, and nobody took a breath.

This was one of two shows on this US tour. He plays on 10/16 at The Apollo in NYC(!!!!!), and then two dates in London at the end of the month. Truly, this was a special evening. It's not every day you get to see a transvestite sing torch songs with a miniature symphony.

Oh, I should mention, I went to throw out my gum in what I thought was a trash can, but had to take it outside to find one.

"I thought it was a trash can, but it wasn't, I told my companions."

"What was it?" they asked.

"It was," I started, grasping for a word, "art."

Trifecta Phase Three - David Byrne @ The Greek Theatre Los Angeles, CA

2008-10-04T02:14:00.000-07:00

I just got home from The Trifecta, now complete after watching David Byrne perform songs he and Brian Eno worked on together. Well, mostly. The crowd kept screaming for Psycho Killer, which didn't fit the mold, but neither did Burning Down the House, as he admitted.

The set consisted of about a half dozen songs from the new album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, and the rest of the set seemed to be made up entirely of old Talking Heads songs.

Don't get me wrong, the set was fantastic, complete with three dancers (two of them very, very sexy), three backup singers, two percussionists and another guitar player onstage. However, I was really hoping for something, hell anything from My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. I don't think he played a single song off of that all night, but I'm sure my good friend the Fountain Valley Lounge Lizard will point out if I'm right on that one.

One of the greatest things about the night was that the crowd were absolutely into it the entire time. So much so, in fact, that after two encores, David conferred with the band to see if they'd be up to do one last song. They closed out the night on a bit of a slow note with the title track from the new album.

All in all, three great nights of music, three very, very different shows, and all three exceeded our expectations.

Back to reality now. Sigh.

Look for a more complete review of My Bloody Valentine soon.

Trifecta Phase Two - My Bloody Valentine

2008-10-03T01:45:00.000-07:00

There are two types of people in this world: People who have seen My Bloody Valentine, and people who have not.

I feel like I've evolved.

What can you say?

We all agreed on one thing. That to describe it is next to impossible.

I feel like I've had my chromosomes rearranged without a kiss.

Trifecta Phase One - sigur rós

2008-10-01T23:53:00.000-07:00

"I think, maybe, you all should stand up," the lead vocalist of the Icelandic enigma sigur rós suggested. The band had played nearly its entire set to a seated crowd at San Diego's Copley Symphony Hall, and we happily obliged. The four piece band was joined by four extra drummers, all pounding in unison on individual drums strapped to them as the band played gobbledigook, the opener from their most recent album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (With a buzz in our ears, we play endlessly).

To say they merely played this song robs them of something, as it was a celebration of the entire set, the most energy imparted from the band to the crowd, and vice-versa. The song is in stark contrast to much of the band's beautifully sad, cinematic material, with three members playing acoustic guitars instead of the usual keys, guitar (often with a bow) and bass guitar. As the crowd clapped along happily, two figures appeared at opposite ends of the stage with massive cannons, and, along with two other stationary cannons, produced an orgasmic blast of confetti the likes of which I have never seen.

Keep in mind folks, this video was taken from the balcony. We were SHOWERED in confetti.

Here's one more glimpse of what you may have missed.

Trifecta?

I haven't posted about what Conner and I are calling The Trifecta. The Trifecta is our three-day concert and drinking binge that marks the (almost) halfway mark between now and Coachella. Three shows, three days, three cities. That is, if Santa Monica is a city, which I think it is.

Here's the itinerary:

10/1/2008 - Sigur Ros - Copley Symphony Hall - San Diego, CA
10/2/2008 - My Bloody Valentine - Santa Monica Civic - Santa Monica, CA
10/3/2008 - David Byrne - The Greek Theatre - Los Angeles, CA

The Juan MacLean Rewrites the Manual

2008-09-14T02:12:00.000-07:00

Just got back from seeing The Juan Maclean in Los Angeles. I have to say that overall it was pretty amazing. At their worst, this group highlighted just how hard it is to perform electronic music live. At their best, they blew the doors off the place. I thought the girl from The Octopus Project played a mean theramin, but she's got nothing on Juan. He was like a symphony conductor with that thing.

They opened with a song from their upcoming album The Future Will Come, available "In a month that's not this one." I'm not sure if that means next month or just some month in the future. Hopefully it's coming out soon, because the first song, and many of the other new ones, sound very promising. Wikipedia says 2009 but who knows.

After the second song of the set, a familiar spectre revisited the band. Massive technical difficulties. This time, instead of delaying the start of the show, it stopped it. The band gathered around a malfunctioning device for about five minutes while the small but dedicated crowd heckled the band. Juan responded by being totally transparent.

"We're going to do something now that's really embarassing," he began, "we're going to have to pull out the manual," he finished, holding up the user guide for the synthesizer. The crowd laughed. It felt like the crowd was made almost exclusively of true fans and people who genuinely understood how difficult it is to do electronic music live.

It takes Nancy Whang, Holy Ghost! and Juan MacLean to technically support an ailing device necessary to perform Give Me Every Little Thing 20080913 - The El Rey, Los Angeles, CA

When they finally got the thing going, the crowd came back in full force. Though their biggest track was a little rough, it showed great tenacity for the band to come back from such a long break at the beginning of the set.

There were some great moments and some not-so-great moments during most of the rest of the set. When Juan announced that the band had only one more song to play, "but don't worry", I looked at my watch. The band had only been playing for about 50 minutes, and I wondered if they could possibly have an encore planned. Nope. I have no idea what the last track was, but it was an 18-minute multi-orgasmic opus that started minimal, built to a climax, exploded, went back to climax level, and repeated the pattern over and over.

Juan admitted that it wasn't a perfect performance, but we don't go see The Juan MacLean for perfection. We go see this act because, as one girl at Coachella put it, "We wanna dance."

And dance we did.

The Juan MacLean plays The Casbah in San Diego this Monday night. Don't be stupid. Check it out.

Antony and the Johnsons To Play Walt Disney Concert Hall 2008-10-16

2008-09-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

The first time I heard I Am A Bird Now, the most recent release from Antony and the Johnsons, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Here's a guy with an almost angelic voice, race car driver-like control of trills and a torch song range reminiscent of Nina Simone, but I couldn't see it. Not on the first listen.

Still, I was intrigued enough to listen again. And fairly quickly, again, and again, and again.

It's puzzling to me now, when I can't listen to songs like Hope There's Someone without tearing up, that I didn't get it the first time I heard it. But I knew there was something there, and that kept me listening. His voice absolutely destroys me, makes me hurt in the pit of my stomach as if I'm actively experiencing what he's singing about.

The act has an album due Oct 7, 2008, so it's strange that this tour is so truncated. Using the business model of Radiohead's Kid A tour, there are two dates. One in New York, and one in LA.

If you're up for something truly unique, please, please, please catch this show.

Radiohead

2008-08-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

We managed to catch the Monday show at the Hollywood Bowl and the show at Cricket here in San Diego, formerly known as Coors. Both were sold out, and apparently the Cricket show's attendance was almost 20,000. It's hard to pick which was better, but if pressed, I'll take the Monday show at the Bowl. We got Tell Me Why, a cover of a Neil Young song from the album After the Gold Rush, as well as Go Slowly, a hauntingly moving song from CD 2 of the In Rainbows box, which everyone was calling "the blue song" due to the cool lighting.

We got to Cricket at 3:45 p.m., saw the show, and got out of the parking lot in TWO MINUTES. To put this in perspective, our pal Bill didn't make it out of the lot for TWO HOURS. Yeah. Not only did we get Talk Show Host, Airbag, How To Disappear Completely, Paranoid Android, Climbing Up the Walls, Lucky (damn, so many songs from OK Computer!!), but we made it back to my place in a record 25 minutes. Not too shabby.

I'm embedding a link to Thom and Johnny playing Portishead's The Rip from Portishead's fantastic return to form, Third. Also, here's a link to a YouTube video I made at the Bowl of the end of Karma Police, and the entire closing track, Idioteque.

We'll miss you, Radiohead. Thanks for Webcasting your final show from Santa Barbara. It was a little choppy at first but after the first half it was nearly flawlessly transmitted from the 'net to the lappy to the TV and sound system. To quote Homer Simpson, "A class act, all the way." Then again, he was talking about God, but I'm pretty sure I could worship this band and not be poked with a pitchfork in the afterlife.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI-TRf-Yt0Y

Find more videos like this on w.a.s.t.e. central

The Juan MacLean Coming to The Casbah September 15, 2008

2008-08-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

HELLLLLLS YEAHHH!!!!!

Anyone who waited for their epic soundcheck at Coachella will remember four things:

1. The soundman telling Juan that he "needed to hear the cowbell a few more times"
2. Juan saying, "fuck the cowbell, let's get started!"
3. A woman near the front shouting what was on everyone's mind: "We wanna dance!!"
4. While the set was a skimpy 20 minutes (while the soundcheck was easily double that), it was one of the most memorable moments at Coachella 2006.

Talk about leaving 'em screaming for more. The abbreviated set forced the band to deliver 50 minutes worth of energy in less than half the time. This totally made up for the fact that, when the soundman finally agreed to let the band play, Juan announced, "OK, I gotta go take a piss," and disappeared for a long slash.

Sucks that it's on a Monday, but if you're willing to make the trip to LA, they're hitting the excellent El Rey Theatre on Saturday, September 13. If you can get your lazy ass to San Diego's Finest Venue that Monday, you're in for a very, very rare treat.

And speaking of a treat, here's something from this post that Microsoft Word suggested I change. The world needs teachers.

Film School + Swervedriver @ The Casbah

2008-05-31T02:07:00.000-07:00

It's rare that you get an evening of entertainment as mind-blowing as this in San Diego, but with a sold out crowd, it was clear that the word had gotten around. Swervedriver, a band many of us missed back in the early 90's, attracted a full house of dedicated fans.

As you know, we're pretty big fans of this band, and were pretty pleasantly surprised to find out at the last minute that they'd been added to the Coachella lineup. We'd already purchased tickets for the Casbah show, and it turned out to be a fantastic move.

First up, LA's Film School. I can't remember how I got turned onto these guys, but I found myself listening to their self-titled album about a hundred times in the first month after I got it. It sounded like shoegaze made by people who loved shoegaze.

Film School took the stage a little after 10, and commanded both the stage and the attention of the audience for the duration of their set. Fantastic projections on behind them and ethereal, psychedelic, feedback-drenched atmospheres made me want to go out on a high note. Seriously, I almost decided to leave for fear Swervedriver couldn't top these kids.

I'm glad I stayed. Swervedriver gave a much different performance from the one we saw at Coachella. "It's the venue," said Conner wisely, and indeed it may have been. A Friday night at The Casbah is quite something else than a Sunday afternoon in a tent in the desert. They did a fantastic number of tracks from Mezcal Head (opening with For Seeking Heat, the final encore was Duress) as well as their first album, Raise (Son of Mustang Ford was the first encore, Rave Down was near the end of the set). It was a night of highlights, including Duel, which got the loudest cheers of the evening, and Bring Me the Head of the Fortune Teller, one of the more recognizable tracks from Ejector Seat Reservation.

Honestly, the whole was bigger than the sum of its parts. If you didn't catch Film School, you didn't get the whole picture. I honestly don't remember a bill like this since the legendary Tarantella / Pelican / Mono triple bill a few years back. It was awesome to see a sold out crowd for this one. Swervedriver often gets lost in the list of the original shoegaze artists, even among fans of the genre. Tonight proved that Film School may be the heir apparent of the genre.

Ticketmaster / TicketBastard / TicketRapist

2008-05-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

I am so fucking sick of this.

First, Ticketmaster crashed while I was trying to get Radiohead tickets for my girlfriend's birthday (ok, they were a little bit for me, too).

Next, when tickets for the show I was so desperately trying to get weren't available, TicketMaster suggested I check some kind of motherfucking sister site, that offered last row tickets at the Bowl for that show $140 (normal price was around 1/4 to 1/3 of that).

Now, I get this email from Andrew Hewitt and Bill Silva advertising tickets "at auction" for various events they're promoting.

On the streets, it's called pimping.

On the Internet, it's called capitalism.

I guess BSP also stands for Butt Sucking Pirates.
Or buttfucking succubus puto.

Come on, add your own, it's fun!!

Gentlemen, you can shove your ivory backscratchers up your asses.

One Day 'til Coachella - list of stuff to bring

2008-04-23T22:40:00.000-07:00

Some of you virgins may wonder what you should bring to the festival.

Let me break it on down for you:

Tickets - don't forget these, dingus.
Anything that has to do with your hotel rezzers - have you confirmed in the last five minutes? I have.
Sunblock - This year it's going to be 98-100 degrees each day. Hehehe. Only the strong survive.
Cel phone and charger - 'cuz sometimes you get reception on the field, and when you don't, you can always text
ATM card, credit card, and ID
several pairs of shorts
several t-shirts
PJs
Unna-ma-pants
sox
shoes (not good ones, closed-toe, they're going to get dirty)
any medications you're going to need to make it a comfortable experience
toiletries like toothbrush, toothpaste, contact solution, floss, and for chrissakes, deodorant
extra contact lenses
glasses
music (duh)
reading material
camera and case
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

all other things can be begged, borrowed or bought, brothers and sisters.

It's Coachella time. See you on the other side.

Four Days 'til Coachella - Metric

2008-04-20T22:07:00.000-07:00

OK, first, let's talk about the history.

I discovered Emily Haines, the lead singer for Metric, at Coachella when she sang with Broken Social Scene. She was good enough that I made myself remember her name and look her up after the festy that year.

It was then that I found the band's debut album, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?, which is actually a really fantastic debut album, especially if you're a teenage girl. OK, OK, so I've got of teen chick in me, you got me.

But seriously, it's good.

I listened to it a ton of times, liking it more on each listen. And then I went to see some friends in Detroit and suggested we go see Metric opening up for another band in that whole Canadian cult of bands, The Stills, who I'd only heard of.

Metric opened up and came out strong, Emily using her sex appeal as much as she possibly could during the show, which was fine with me. She's not unattractive. But then she started getting pissed off that the whole crowd wasn't screaming for them. My friends and I were dutifully bobbing along, singing and cheering.

But I guess that wasn't enough. She got more and more flustered throughout the show, and finally ended up storming off, taking her keyboard with her as she left the stage. I know Detroit audiences have a bit of a reputation, but I think the audience was so indifferent towards the band that it was a bit self-aggrandizing for her to even assume that the band would proverbially cross the street to piss on her synth if were on fire.

During the break, she walked into the audience. My friend noticed her and we flagged her down, complimenting her and thanking her for playing. She had this fucking look in her eye like she'd rather be anywhere else in the world at that time, literally tapping her foot as we tried to explain that we were cheering for her the whole time.

Then The Stills came out and blew them the fuck away. I'm always impressed when a band I've never heard takes the stage and completely holds your attention for the duration. The weird thing is, I haven't heard anything of theirs since.

Now, having said that, I saw them at Coachella a couple of years back, expecting to experiencing the same attitude from her. But Coachella is a weird bird. Everyone in a tent is generally there to see the band that's playing. If people don't like it, they have the choice of four other stages/tents, the food courts, the shwag stand, or even the bathrooms to choose from.

Metric really delivered at Coachella, and Emily was much sexier without the "come on, cheer for us!" attitude. I have to admit, I wasn't quite as into the second album as I was the first, but they really made that show at Coachella something to talk about.

And that time, it was about the music, not about the attitude.

Six Days 'til Coachella - Verve

2008-04-18T22:52:00.001-07:00

When the subject of this band comes up, my best friends will tell you not to get involved. Don't discuss this band with him, they warn, you'll see the worst of him.

Let me tell you my tale.

Before they were sued (or whatever) by Verve records, "The Verve" was called Verve. When I first heard of them, I was going to Michigan State University, and I knew several people who worked in the local record store. These guys were the same crew that turned me onto Lush, My Bloody Valentine, Spiritualized, all the bands I've carried in my heart every day since the early 1990s.

Most people don't know that before Urban Hymns, which was total shit compared to everything else they've done, there was A Northern Soul, which was a masterpiece compared to Northern Hymns. Before that was the amazing debut album A Storm In Heaven.

I was introduced to the group when their first three singles came out, All In the Mind, She's A Superstar, and Gravity Grave.

All In the Mind was a bit of a jam for a shoegaze band, which they were back then. It was a great song, complete with driving yet psychedelic guitars and lyrics that were forceful without being angry. But the real surprise was one of the b-sides, A Man Called Sun. Listening to this song was liketaking mescaline in the desert, and even now, it conjures up the feeling of wind and sand blowing through your soul while McCabe's guitar and Ashcroft's lyrics drift through your head.

She's A Superstar is one of those power ballads that alternately soars and explodes. It's almost like Mogwai on quaaludes, a dream for underwater headbanging. Feel, the other track on the single, is even more subdued, and doesn't come close to anything like a rolling boil. It's a great, slow song, best saved for a slow dance with someone at the end of the night after a few bottles of good wine, or a few bowls.

Gravity Grave was the last single the band released before A Storm In Heaven, which was another head shaker. Not quite as rocking as All In the Mind, though more driving in a groove dimension. The b-sides on this weren't quite as strong as the others, including an even more slowed down live version of A Man Called Sun.

When A Storm In Heaven was released, we couldn't believe it. It was at least as good as the singles, and was in line with the sonic flavor Verve had been cultivating throughout the first singles. Somehow, they played Detroit on a Thursday and Grand Rapids on a Sunday, so I knew it was possible to see them twice in four days. I didn't have a car at the time, but drummed up some interest with my roommate Smokey and two other friends, and we took the trip to St. Andrews' Hall. An amazing show.

That Sunday, I was still basking in the afterglow of the show, when another roommate Beth asked me why I wasn't at the show. I told her I didn't have a ride. She grabbed me and two different people and we hopped in her car and headed to the show at The Reptile House in GR.

I remember Acetone opened up, they had this song that blatantly ripped off a riff from Issac Hayes. When Verve took the stage, someone passed Ashcroft a joint. He stepped up to the mic and announced, "Look what someone gave me. Well, we can all share." He hit it, passed it to the band, then passed it back into the audience.

The Reptile House only held about 150-200 people, and makes The Casbah look like an arena. It was one of those shows I'll always remember.

When I saw the group again a few years later at The Palace in Hollywood (now known as Avalon), my friend Jeff and I were all the way up in the balcony. The band had gained quite a bit of notice since we'd seen them back on the first US tour. Something just fell flat with that album and with that show.

I won't go on about how I thought Bittersweet Symphony was one of the worst turns for the band's career ever, or how I pretty much swore them off after that, or what a prick I think Ashcroft is.

Last year, they released The Thaw Session through NME, a UK magazine on par with Rolling Stone here in the states. I downloaded it, and was delighted to hear that it sounded like the old stuff. Not the singles, but sort of like lost recordings between the first and second albums.

I'm actually open to seeing The Verve at Coachella. I know they're going to do some stuff I absolutely abhor, but I have high hopes that they're also going to play some of the amazing songs that I have inside of me despite the sell-out of UH.

I guess the sweet irony is that they never made a dime off of Bittersweet Symphony. Come on, if you're going to steal a song, at least make it good.

8 Days 'til Coachella - Stars

2008-04-16T19:19:00.000-07:00

So tonight, I finally gave a proper listen to Stars, which is frequently referred to as a "Broken Social Scene side project." But let's face it, there's like 50 people in BSS, so it would be like referring to the USA as a United Kingdom side project.

I listened to the band's latest release (to my knowledge), In Our Bedroom After the War, and I have to say I liked it quite a bit. I probably should have listened to Set Yourself On Fire, which has been around longer, has a cooler name, and might be more representative of the group's sound, but fuck it. I'm going to base this review on this particular album.

What I like about it are the not-too-breathy-but-just-breathy-enough female vocals on tracks like The Night Starts Here and Midnight Coward, though same gets a little tired on My Favourite Book.

I like the arpeggiated basslines of songs like this one and the intro, The Beginning After the End. It's instantly catchy, sounding like you might have known this stuff all your life. Maybe that just means it's not the most original chord progression in existence, but if that's true, I don't care. What's original anymore anyway?

Take Me To the Riot sounds like the music Belle and Sebastian *should* be making these days, with its simple yet effective piano riffs and even simpler bass. I should probably comment on the lyrics, but on the first time through I'm just enamored with the catchyness of this track and I don't want to ruin it with too much analysis. I have no idea what they're saying but it doesn't really matter too much. Extra points for using "off" time signatures.

The Ghost of Genova Heights starts a little shaky, but hits strong at the chorus with vox reminiscent of Scissor Sisters, trippy detuned synth and slightly whacked-out delay effects. Yes, me likey that.

Personal is the first track that really gave me goosebumps. It's particularly effective if you've ever had a planned encounter with a stranger. The subdued piano complimented by the warbling pad sound perfectly capture that mixture of excitement and anxiety that accompany one to a blind date. At times it brings to mind that floaty, drugged-out feeling experienced when listening to BSS's Bandwitch.

Stars. Hell yes.

10 Days 'til Coachella - Bond do Role

2008-04-14T23:14:00.000-07:00

Hmmm... not sure what the hell to make of these miscreants because they don't talk English and they sample stuff like Man In the Box by Alice In Chains. Plus they're from Brazil, which is the home of both CSS and the infamous Two Girls, One Cup (read: NOT a band).

Sure, I love samples, dirty words in foreign languages, and even the occasional Alice In Chains song if I'm really, really drunk, but somehow I don't see myself crossing the polo field to piss on this band if they were rumored to be on fire. Or "en fuego," if they spoke Spanish, but since they're from Brazil, I'm guessing they won't.

For those of you who like hip-hop, gabber, or other shitty music, don't miss this group. Me, I'll be staring into the sun to maximize my entertainment dollar.

13 Days 'til Coachella - Swervedriver

2008-04-11T22:30:00.001-07:00

I don't know how I missed this, or when they were added, but Swervedriver is now on the roster for Sunday at Coachella 2008.

I'm still in shock. I mean, shit, it's possible that someone's hacked the Web site and that Swervedriver isn't really going to be there. It doesn't really matter to me anyway, it would just be a sneak preview of what we're in for at The Casbah on May 30. A welcome preview, nonetheless, but still. I'm sure it will be a much different show, for better or for worse, but I'm down to hear both, as long as they're not up against Love and Rockets or Spiritualized or Justice.

Swervedriver went through a progression, like all good bands do. Listening to the transition from Raise to Mescal Head was logical and invigorating. Although Duel was no Sci-Flyer, it's still one helluva track, and has moments of sheer excellence. In fact, both albums have so many killer tracks it's hard to pin the peak of the band's existence on either of the two releases.

Ejector Seat Reservation was much more subdued, but not necessarily in a bad way. I have fond memories of Bring Me the Head of the Fortune Teller, the title track, and especially Last Day On Earth. Progression's a good thing, and while it wasn't quite as rockin' as the band's previous offerings, it was still in line with what I was hoping for, and still kept my interest.

I have to admit a few things here. First, I only own copies of EJS and 99th Dream, their last album. Also, I went to catch them live with a dear friend of mine one night at The Casbah. I offered to drive, and once we parked the car, we decided to get a bit irie. OK, well, more than that. We figured we wouldn't be walking, much less driving anywhere else for some time, so we kinda blew the doors off.

We stumbled several blocks to the venue and saw another band's name on the chalkboard on the door. I asked the doorman, "Isn't Swervedriver playing here tonight?"

He replied, "Dude, I think I'd know if Swervedriver were playing here tonight."

Sadly, we'd misread the San Diego Reader ad for the show. It turned out they were indeed playing that night, but across town at another club. Being far too intoxicated to drive, we decided to kick around the finer alleys of midtown until I was sober enough to navigate us back to his place in Sherman Heights. We drank homebrew and listened to Raise until we passed out, hoping they'd be back again.

Karma has a strange way of paying off. Now we have tickets to see them at Coachella AND The Casbah.

To quote that kid in Animal House when the half-naked girl flies through his window, "THANK YOU, GOD!"

14 Days 'til Coachella - Prince

2008-04-10T21:06:00.000-07:00

What the fuck?!

Prince was added today as the "Saturday headliner." I immediately checked the page to make sure Portishead was still on the bill. Thankfully, they are.

I'm actually really happy that Prince has been added, but I would have loved him to be added to Sunday, the day that everyone's STILL saying has the weakest lineup. Despite such heavy-hitters as Love and Rockets and Spiritualized, Sunday's headliner of Roger Waters is pretty fucked up.

So now we get Prince on Saturday. Prince was the first concert I ever went to. I was in junior high. I bought a white Hanes t-shirt and dyed it purple with RIT in a pot on my mother's stove. My parents made a lot of jokes about that I didn't get at the tender young age of 14.

My friend Phill's mom's boyfriend took me, him and my friend Dean to Joe Louis Arena in Detroit for the seventh show of seven sold-out shows in Detroit. It was the final night of the engagement and the final night of the tour, and we were in the nosebleed seats of the middle "upper bowl," which is JLA terminology for "shitty seats."

This was 1984, the Purple Rain tour. Shiela E opened up, and rocked the place down to the foundations with a ten-minute percussion solo. Gotta love a chick that can bang. On the drums, I mean, hehehe.

Prince delivered one of the most memorable shows I've ever seen, complete with ejaculating guitar solo. seriously, his guitar sprayed some sort of gizlike substance into the audience. I guess that's when I learned that it's not always the worst thing in the world to be out of the spooge range of a rock star's instrument.

Prince plays Saturday, but in my opinion, Saturday is now totally overbooked.

Keep hope alive for My Bloody Valentine making a surprise appearance on Sunday.

Swervedriver / Film School to play Casbah!! May 30, 2008

2008-04-02T21:57:00.000-07:00

Helllllllllllllllllll yess!!!!!! Swervedriver at The Casbah in San Diego.

Back when grunge music was taking over this stupid country, my friends and I were listening to bands you'd never heard of back in 1991. Verve. My Bloody Valentine. Lush. Chapterhouse. Radiohead.

Swervedriver.

Swervedriver was always the dark horse band of all the Shoegaze artists we listened to, but damn, they were something else. And then, before I could see them live, they broke up.

I saw Spiritualized two nights in a row at London Hammersmith on a somewhat misguided trip to catch up with my friend Bill back in like 2001. I remember he didn't show up the first night, but then I hung out near the will-call window the second night, stalking his ass, and heard his unmistakable voice heading in my direction. We spent an hour outside with some distinguished guests trying to get rid of extra tickets, and saw one helluva show from the balcony.

After the gig, Bill caught up with Tim, the keyboard player, who he'd known for some time. Tim got us all backstage for the afterparty, but while we were waiting, Bill pointed out a person of interest to me.

"See that guy," he said, "you know who that guy is, right?" he asked, somewhat rhetorically.

"No, who is he?" I replied.

"That's the lead singer from (the then-defunct) Swervedriver."

"Really?!" I was amazed. "I'm going to go talk to him. You wanna go?"

"Nah," he scoffed, "I got nothin' to say to that guy."

I walked up to Adam Franklin, a little chuffed, and simply said, "Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for all the great music."

He looked at me quizzically and asked, "Who do you think I am?"

I replied, "You're the lead singer from Swervedriver, right?"

He just kind of smiled and admitted, "Yeah, I am."

That was cool.

Now they're back together, and touring with Film School, who proudly and reverently carry the tradition of shoegaze into the modern day.

To quote our own Three Mile Pilot:

"What is the lesson in this? Bliss! Bliss! Bliss! Bliss!!!!!!"

46 Days 'til Coachella - The Black Lips

2008-03-09T22:39:00.001-07:00

There's a lotta hype about these boys from Atlanta, I tell ya, and I'm listening to 'em now. I only listened to a couple of songs, both from their 2007 release Good Bad Not Evil:

Veni Vedi Vici sounds a bit like a song Quentin would have petitioned for the Pulp Fiction soundtrack back in the day.
O Katrina! sounds a little more like the typical three chord monte you come to expect from punk bands, with a dash of surf rock thrown in for the fuck of it. Maybe that's genius irony, maybe it's a little too soon to be joking about it, but either way, it's pretty catchy.

I gotta make this quick, 'cuz I got a Masters degree to finally nab, but I think the poppy, punky tunes, along with their rumored antics onstage, could make for a memorable surprise discovery for those of us who haven't seen 'em live.

60 Days 'til Coachella - Datarock

2008-02-24T11:37:00.000-08:00

I have to say that Datarock is not at all what I'd thought from the name and the look of their (twice) self-titled 2007 album (called Datarock Datarock, that's the name of the band twice, get it?), but then again, it's probably best not to judge a book by its cover.

According to Wikipedia, the band hails from Norway, which isn't too hard to believe. The first track on this album makes it clear that English isn't their first language just because of the heavy Scandinavian accents. The sound of the album is varied enough to be interesting, yet cohesive enough to maintain a certain type of sound. The tracks range in feel from electro pop to power punk and everything in-between. Sometimes sounding like yet another band that nods its head to Talking Heads (no pun intended), sometimes sounding like a band that was somehow overlooked for the soundtrack to Repo Man or Decline of Western Civilization (Part I), but always fun, upbeat, and bouncy, never taking themselves too seriously.

So yeah, I'd recommend checking them out. They could be fun.