34 Days 'til Coachella - Late of the Pier

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

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

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!

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

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

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:

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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.

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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???

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.