House Music Friday (Slight Return)

So let's take a quick break from this Blog-achella business shall we? I'll start on Saturday's lineup next week, because you know who starts a whole new project on a Friday? Crazy people, that's who. Besides, I just recently finally found one of my all time favorite House tracks in digital form...



Apparently Ben Watt of Everything But The Girl was mucking about in the studio one day, accidentally dipped his chocolate into the peanut butter and was hit with the inspiration to mash-up the vocal EBTG's "Wrong", a huge hit, with the music track of Soul Vision's "Come Into My Room", itself a huge record in House circles. The result? Chocolately/Peanut Buttery goodness and a track that for my money is even huger than either of the originals...

EBTG vs. Soul Vision - Tracey In My Room (Lazy Dog Bootleg Vocal) (ysi)

So stick that in yer pipe an' smoke it. That and some weed. Then eat 2 bags of Reece's Pieces... and have a great weekend!

Blog-achella 09: Macca & The Mozzer

In which we complete the Friday lineup with a couple of nice old ladies...

Morrissey



Who he is: Some old queen who used to be in some band... :P

What he sounds like: Here's the thing about Morrissey, and why I haven't really followed him closely post-Smiths... with a voice as unique as his, everything he does is just gonna sound like The Smiths anyway, only minus the Johnny Marr goodness... because it's not like he's changed the sound very much. And since I haven't really kept up, and don't feel uncool for it, here's a favorite jam... from 20 years ago. Fuck, I'm old...

Morrissey - Suedehead (ysi)

What I think: Never seen Morrissey, but I'd love to. LOVE The Smiths! Heck, when I was in college, a running joke between my friends and I when we were depressed was "Morrissey understands me!" What a bunch of homos we were. Anyhoo, just play a lot of Smiths, Mozzer... oh, and this song...



And then finishing out Friday, Paul McCartney, who these days, shit... slap a wig on him and he'd look just like someone's great aunt. Don't really care for The Beatles, call it oversaturation, and quite honestly have no need to hear "Silly Love Song" at Coachella. Hate me if you must.

Let's see if we do better with Saturday, which will start Monday so tomorrow I can do House Music Friday... confused yet?

Blog-achella 09: Dripping with excitement

Sorry I missed you all yesterday... I was, um... snorkeling with Michael Bolton and Kenny G... like fish, those guys, lemme tell ya... yep, that's what I was doing. Anyhoo, hey! We're getting to the top of Friday's lineup. The big names are at the top, right? This is where we're supposed to get excited, right? Right?

(crickets)

Hmmm... well how about The Black Keys? I've covered this guitar/drums duo before, and I'd say my description of them as a less wanky and annoying White Stripes still holds (especially since Jack White has grown ever more annoying in the two years since)... but excitement? Meh.

Okay then... Beirut? A moderately interesting Indie Rock/World Music fusion that for me is ruined by the guy's singing voice. And it's a bit too folky. I think the Hippies would like it... and that's all I need to know to stay away...

So... Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band? They're they guy who used to call himself Bright Eyes and, um... I guess a new band. Or just a new name... don't really know, carn't be arsed to find out. Can you feel my excitement here? Is it palpable?

Leonard Cohen? Well, he's 74 years old, and if they put him on in the afternoon heat, there's a good chance he'll collapse from it. So, that could be kind of exciting...

Oh wait, here's one...

Franz Ferdinand



Who they are: Franz Ferdinand (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Prince Imperial of Austria and Royal Prince of Hungary and Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia. This caused countries allied with Austria-Hungary (the triple alliance) and countries allied with Serbia (the Triple Entente Powers) to declare war on each other, starting World War I. Then, a few years later, he started a snappy little Scottish pop band. Quite and achievement really, considering he was neither Scottish nor alive.

What they sound like: Haven't fully digested the new record yet, but they are definitely "expanding their sound" on this one... i.e. there's more keyboards and stuff...

Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls (ysi)

What I think: With a sturdy little 3 album ouvre under their belts, you know these guys will turn out a solid set, especially compared to the other geriatric headliners...



Check this out... total age of 4 guys in Franz Ferdinand, 130. Meaning, they're not even young as far as bands go. Total age of Macca, Morrisey & Cohen, 189. You'd need two more Ferdinands to get that. I'm just sayin'...

Blog-achella 09: Mash up Maestro

Hard gettin' up the energy to blog today after an insane Cabo party weekend, but I'm fighting through the pain especially for you...

Silversun Pickups are a decent little rock band, but I blogged on them when they played Coachella in '07, so you can click that link to see what I thought then... and I'm reasonably sure my opinion hasn't changed. Actually today's act played that year, too, but he's gonna get himself a shiny new post, because he's quite good...

Girl Talk



Who he is: Mr. Greg Gillis, a laptop mashup guru like no other.

What he sounds like: Kinda like the entire Billboard Hot 100 charts of the last 30 years thrown into a Cuisinart. For instance, this song here samples Big Country, Tag Team, Kraftwerk, The Cardigans, Hot Chip, Flo.Rida, Justin Timberlake, Stardust, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson... oh, just see for yourself...

Girl Talk - Hands In The Air (ysi)

What I think: I think you should go check it out... if you're into stupid stuff like fun. Actually got a whole show from the YouTubes here... dude is out of his mind, in a good way... sorta...



Okay, actually I'm a little scared... that was a lotta sweat I don't want on me... you go ahead up onto the stage, I'll stay clear of the bodily fluids, thank you very much.

Cabo Wabo!

Hey all, I'm off to Cabo for the weekend. I know, sucks to be me. See ya on Monday... have a great weekend!

Blog-achella 09: Ashton Kutcher can eat a bag of dicks

If I seem a bit crankier than usual today, blame it on Ashton Kutcher. No, really. Fuck that guy. I hope he gets mauled beyond recognition by pack of rabid ferrets and then dipped up to his head in a vat of scalding hot urine. Yep, that'd be a good start, at least. And here to take the brunt of my rage are the following...

The Airbone Toxic Event are yet another generic Indie Rock band, but they tried to mix it up by giving themselves a really shitty name... so, yay for them...

Crystal Castles are proof that Electronica can be just as crap as Indie Rock. So of course, they're blog darlings. Bloggers are idiots...

Then we have Ghostland Observatory, whom I listened to for like a half an hour trying to decide if I like them enough to give them a full post... so obviously I don't, although they're not half bad... I'll let ya make up yer own mind on that one...

And finally, The Crystal Method, who had a great album... 10 years ago. I've seen them live a few times and they suck, actually. That's not even coming from my rage place. They really do suck live...

Leave it to some nice Pop music to bring back the nice Tonegent...

The Ting Tings



Who they are: A British boy/girl duo whose name means "a small, cute penis" in Japanese, if you believe Wikipedia. And I believe everything I read on Wikipedia :P

What they sound like: How about a happier version of The Kills...

(MP3 REMOVED BY THE MAN)

What I think: Fun Pop songs to shake about to? I'll take it.



P.S. Psssst! Ashton Kutcher! Suck it hard!

Blog-achella 09: Claremont represent!

Finally, a guitar band at Coachella worth seeing!

We Are Scientists



Who they are: A duo (who used to be a trio) who made the very wise move from the Inland Empire to Brooklyn. Very wise... the Inland Empire is kind of like living in a strip mall inside of a car muffler.

What they sound like: Extremely catchy Indie Pop...

We Are Scientists - Lethal Enforcer (ysi)

What I think: When I first heard these dudes a couple years ago, I went on my Myspace blog and proclaimed them the next big thing... which hasn't exactly happened. I'm not sure why... these guys are so much better than the Interpols and their ilk. I'd compare 'em to someone like XTC... a band that was never sexy, never the biggest band in the world, but no one threw out one perfect Pop hook after another like they could and they were around for a long time and scored a few modest hits. So hopefully these guys can at least match that kinda success eventually. Take that as a glowing recommendation...



I'm sure I'll be back to pasty dudes playing records soon, so I hope you enjoyed the Rawk...

Blog-achella 09: N.A.S.A. Launch

You know how sometimes some little tiny indie movie comes out from some director you've never heard of that has a ridiculous A-List cast? And you're like, wow, is this director the one that you call to take care of the dead hookers and did he decide to call in all of his favors at once? Today's Coachella act is the musical version of that...

N.A.S.A.



Who they are: L.A. producer Squeak E. Clean, who's actually the brother of film director Spike Jonze and Brazilian DJ Zegon... along with apparently every single person they've ever loaned a quarter to for the soda machine while at the studio. Click the Amazon link down there and just look at guest stars on this thing. Everyone from Kanye to Tom Waits. Why are all these people on an album by two guys I've never even heard of before? I'm telling you, soda machine jokes aside, dead hooker removal...

What they sound like: Turns out N.A.S.A. stands for North America South America, and the South American part is represented the sampling of many Brazilian beats. So just call it Handsome Boy Modeling Escola...

Nasa - The People Tree (ft. David Byrne, Chali 2na, Gift of Gab & Z-Trip) (ysi)

What I think: Really, really good album, much like HBMS. Now, how this translates into a live show, I dunno. Which/how many of the guest stars will show up? And why does the only available clip of them show them spinning House music when this is a Hip-Hop record?



Beats me. Hope for the guest star extravaganza. It'd be pretty cool if David Byrne showed up, eh? Either way, looks like it'll be pretty entertaining...

Blog-achella 09: Wonder (what it will sound like) Twins

Sometimes at Coachella, in order to be heard, you need to make some noise!

So I'm going to skip past singer/songwriter-type M. Ward because as I've said before, a dude and an acoustic guitar don't work at Coachella, no matter how good it is. The Sahara Tent eats 'em all alive. Don't believe me? Just ask Beck. Ward's not bad though... give him a listen...

But these two won't be drowned out...

Patton & Rahzel



Who they are: Mike Patton of Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantomas, Lovage and 53 other bands I don't feel like listing and Rahzel, formerly of The Roots and probably the best beat-boxer alive.

What they sound like: That's where it gets tricky. Mike Patton is so weird, who knows what'll happen. These two supposedly have an album coming out... but it hasn't, so the only way we'll know what to expect is from evidence on the YouTubes. We'll get to that in a sec, but here's one from Patton's Peeping Tom project to hit your mp3 fix with...

Peeping Tom - Mojo (ft. Rahzel & Dan The Automator (ysi)

What I think: ... but that Peeping Tom record was supposed to be Patton's idea of Pop. Here's that live footage I was talking about, and it don't sound nuttin' like "Mojo"...



... so yeah, Rahzel's insanely amazing and Patton's insanely insane. There's another clip from this show out there where they cover "Milkshake", so... should be pretty interesting to say the least...

... oh, and Happy Friday the 13th & Valentine's Day (which one is scarier?) and have a great weekend!

Blog-achella 09: Loading the Presets

Let me start off today by giving the gas face to the following...

First off, I can't think of a DJ that excites me less than Felix Da Housecat. If I were to write him up, I'd say exactly what I did two years ago, so you can go read that if you like...

Then we get A Place To Bury Strangers. These guys are the sound of if The Jesus & Mary Chain sucked. But with a name like that, you already knew there was exactly zero chance of them being any good...

A then, there's The Hold Steady, who are currently touring with Counting Fucking Crows, so that's all you need to know about them...

So, moving on...

The Presets



Who they are: An Aussie duo, one of whom looks in that picture like he was just forced to listen to A Place To Bury Strangers.

What they sound like: How about... Junior Boys on 'roids? Some pretty nice pop songs with some pretty fierce dance beats underneath...

The Presets - A New Sky (ysi)

What I think: If only all the songs on the record sounded like that one... it's a pretty uneven affair. I think they have a lot of potential, though. So many bands who attempt this kind of Electro-Pop end up sounding painfully '80s (I blame the upfront male vocals for a lot of that, but really, some of these acts stopped listening to any new music somewhere around Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me). The Presets avoid that... on about half the record. I'm gonna keep an eye on 'em... and I wouldn't be surprised if they were this year's Hot Chip (the unexpected band that stole the show)...



(Seriously, did Hot Chip fuckin' tear the roof off last year or what?)

Blog-achella 09 - Kuduro Korner

As we go through this lineup, remember... some of these acts I'm glossing over are worth a listen. I'm doing it this way partially to save myself from the 3 to 4 posts a day madness of last year, which was quite frankly ridiculous. For instance, go check out this next guy...

Ryan Bingham. He's one of those Alt. Country artists... aka, Country that doesn't totally suck. If you're into that kind of thing at all, definitely worth a gander. He's better than any of the rock acts I've heard so far, so suck on that... but he doesn't get a full post. These guys do, though...

Buraka Som Sistema



Who they are: A bunch of crazy kids from Portugal. Ya know, Portugal seems like a pretty underrated country to me. I mean, everybody's always like blah blah blah France, blah blah Italy, but do you ever hear Portugal get any love? You don't! WTF?!?! Portugal is solid, yo! Don't sleep on Portugal, or you be missin' out!

(This message was paid for by the Portuguese Committee For Not Sleeping On Portugal, Yo! a.k.a. PCFNSOPY)

What they sound like: They are practitioners of Kuduro, a new-ish style of music that I went into my typical half-assed detail about just recently. Although I think I like this one better than that other one. There's even a couple of tracks without the shouty rapping on this record, and here's one now...

(MP3 REMOVED BY THE MAN)

What I think: I think it could get tired after a little while, but if you wanna spend a half hour dancing like a nutjob with something more to look at than a pasty, balding white dude spinning records (although it looks like they do in fact have one of those), here's your solution...



Yep, that looks like reasonably good times... and with this year's lineup as it is, that is a glowing recommendation... :P

Blog-achella 09: Join our (Tango) club

Who would have thought that the act I'm most interesting in seeing on Friday at Coachella has a serious connection to Brokeback Mountain?

Bajofondo



Who they are: A group of musicians from Argentina and Uruguay, led by two-time Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla... how's that for some street cred? Who you got who can roll like that, Animal Collective? Well? I'm waiting...

What they sound like: They actually sound quite a lot like Gotan Project, which is of course a good thing. It's the same basic mix of Tango and Electronica (Tango-tronica!), but if anything, these guys are a bit tougher with the beats than the Gotans...

Bajofondo - Infiltrado (ysi)

What I think: Easily my #1 pick of the entire Friday lineup. Miss this for some Indie Rock band and you have no soul. And probably haven't been laid in years. And probably spend way to much time on the Coachella message boards. I'm just sayin'...



See, told you I'd have a band with real musicians and instruments for ya. No laptop monkey, I!

Blog-achella 09: The Big Bad Wolf

You know what's good for a laugh? Letting the Indie Rock faithful on the Coachella message boards know about this blog. I've documented the hilarity before... and this Friday the results were even more delightful. Those folks really need to lighten up. I'm suggesting a marathon Weird Al sing-along for starters. "Because I'm fat! I'm fat! You know it! Woo!" I'll even bring punch and pie... anyhoo, I'm sure they'll love this post, too...

White Lies are another one of those British bands who want very badly to be Echo & The Bunnymen. Which is fine. Actually I'd say it's worth a listen... I like Ian Mc-- I mean the whatshisname-the-singer-of-White-Lies' voice... but not a full blog post worth of like...

Also British are Noah & The Whale who play some mildly dreadful Folk-y kinda stuff. But here's the thing about quiet little bands at Coachella... all them mandolins and pretty whistling parts are gonna sound just fantastic with the Sahara Tent bumping away in the background. Anyone for the Unintended Club Remix? Pass...

So who we got today?

Peanut Butter Wolf



Who he is: A quite dandy L.A. DJ who gets large amounts of extra props for being the founder of the excellent Stone's Throw Records.

What he sounds like: Expect lots of good Hip-Hop and Funk. He has only released one album of original material that I know of, My Vinyl Weighs A Ton, which was your typical Hip-Hop "producer" album... meaning he did the beats and a whole bunch of different cats showed up to rap. It was quite good, actually. Here's a track...

Peanut Butter Wolf - Styles Crew Flows Beats (ft. Lootpack) (ysi)

What I think: Much like Craze & Klever, expect PBW to get the party started... with video! Yep, he's doing the V-DJ thing now, which is always good for a larf. Check it out...



BTW, I promise that very soon, there will be a Blog-achella video of something other than a white guy standing behind turntables or a laptop. Seriously, promise...

Blog-achella 09: Got The Bug

Note to all Coachella bands... if you lie to me, you shall be summarily dismissed!

Los Campesinos! are not Spanish. They're from Wales, which is not very Spanish at all. Dirty liars! Take your frivolous exclamation point and shove it where the sun don't shine (aka, Syracuse)! It's your basic punky Indie Pop, nothing offensive, but nothing to set them apart from a million other bands...

Alberta Cross is not a chick. They're a band that doesn't even have any chicks in it. Dirty liars! I hope you fall into a manhole full of fire ants! That'll teach ya! It's your basic Indie Rock, nothing horrible, but nothing I haven't heard before from a million other bands either... so today we feature...

The Bug



Who he is: I know what you're saying... you're saying, "Hey Tone, The Bug isn't really a bug. He's a dude! He's a dirty liar, too!" To which I say, "Shut yer facehole!" Like bugs make music. Sheesh. Anyhoo, dude's name is Kevin Martin. He's a London producer that has quite frankly been responsible for a lot of crap (Techno Animal, anyone?) in the past, but has finally come up with a good one.

What he sounds like: Decidedly not like a million other bands, which is why I like it. Dubstep meets Dancehall. I believe I've mentioned that I'm liking the Dubstep more and more lately. When done right, it's one of the more original sounds out there. Of course, done wrong, like anything else, it's crap. The Dancehall vocals might wear on some people, but I ain't one of them. Vocals on this track are by one Ricky Ranking...

The Bug - Murder We (ysi)

What I think: I would rank The Bug as "must see". Here he is in action featuring Warrior Queen, another vocalist from the album who'll most definitely be there for the 'Chella...



Yep, that'd get me goin' for sure. Have a great weekend, folks!

Blog-achella 09: Scratch Nerds

Today's skippable band is Molotov, from Mexico, who play Rock En Espanol. Tonegent is not down with the Rock En Espanol. It's not so much the Espanol that bothers me, it's the sucky Rock being Espanoled...

Which brings us to these two knuckleheads...

Craze & Klever



Who they are: The black dude is Craze, from Miami, and the white dude is Klever, from the A.T.L... they are both DMC Champions (which is a contest for playing the turntable records).

What they sound like: From what I read, these are a couple of guys who, like Z-Trip, will throw anything and everything into the mix at any time, which is usually a good bet for fun. But the only thing they've recorded together is this mix, which is pretty much beats and scratching... for 50 minutes... which is perfectly fine if you're into that sorta thing...

Craze & Klever - Scratch Nerds

What I think: I think the show itself will be much more like this YouTubes...



... and hey, that looked kinda fun. So check 'em out...

Blog-achella 09: Flip the Switch

Hey look, it's the first Blog-achella post where I don't have to gloss over anyone. Don't get used to it... :P

Switch



Who he is: One Mr. Dave Taylor of Essex. Not a handsome man. Kinda looks like an extra from a Guy Ritchie film, no?

What he sounds like: Switch has been expanding his sound lately in a couple of different ways. He did some work on the Santogold record, which is good, but he's kinda veered into the Obnoxio-House sound lately, which is somewhat unfortunate... but his music is better than a great deal of that fidgety crap, so don't be too scared, because when he hits on a good one, he hits hard...

Switch - Get Ya Dub On (ysi)

What I think: Hard to tell... depends how obnoxious he wants to get. I will put Switch into the "worth a look" category... but with potential for being very good. Or sucking balls. Could go either way, really. Now, a live Youtubes even less impressive than yesterday's...



I said I'd give you live vids... I didn't say I give you good ones. I can only work with what's out there, kids...

Blog-achella 09: Get gooey

We're not exactly starting out strong here, but it is the bottom of the bill, after all...

First we have Genghis Tron who play a lovely genre combination... Heavy Metal meets Trance. No, really. I'd say you should give it a listen, just to hear the suck for yourself and be somehow... i dunno, enriched by the experience... but personally I'd rather stick a pissed-off ferret in my ear...

The Aggrolites are yet another SoCal whiteboy Reggae band. I'm not going to completely hate on it 'cuz you know I like the Reggae, but still... they're more Hennessey's Hermosa Beach than Coachella. Just sayin'...

Then there's Steve Aoki, who can eat a bag of dicks. To me he's a poster child for the currently fuck-awful state of the club scene. When the first song on your Myspace player is a "fidget" House remix of Good Charlotte, you need to go die in a hole. And take Paris Hilton with you...

And that's today's snark. Here's the next one to see...

Gui Boratto



Who he is: A Brazilian producer on Germany's Kompakt label. I really hope his first name is pronounced "Gooey", btw...

What he sounds like: This is Techno, but not quite in the minimal style that can be so boring. If you remember The Field from last year, you're going in the right direction - and add a vocal here and there. Actually the new album has just as many downtempo songs on it as dancefloor tracks... but here's a dancefloor track. I hope I don't get in trouble for posting this... it hasn't exactly been "released" yet... :P

Gui Boratto - No Turning Back (ysi)

What I think: Dude's not reinventing the wheel or anything, but compared to Steve Aoki, he's freaking Mozart... and one of your better Sahara Tent choices for Friday. On to the YouTubes and the excitement of live Techno...



... but then again, what did you expect? Just let the tunes and the pretty lights and your recreational lubricant of choice do the work...

Blog-achella 09: A really big BBQ

Okay everyone, Blog-achella time! For those of you who know, it's back. For those of you who don't, here it is. I shall dissect the lineup with surgical precision in hopes that it will educate and entertain us to it's full potential. Or something like that. This year I'm going to do it the way I finished it up last year, i.e. there's way too many bands to do a full post on all of 'em, so I'm only gonna do full posts on the ones I think are worth your time. The others shall be quickly glossed over and snarkily put down, but I will supply links so that you can go check them out for yourselves... because hey, what do I know? Let's begin at the bottom of the Friday lineup, shall we?

This year starts off with the unfortunately named Dear and the Headlights (I'm sure they think it's cute and clever, but it's more FAIL). They are an Indie Rock band from Arizona that are the pure definition of a word very important in Blog-achella lore, and that word is "meh". Get to know it...

Next we have the even worse named Cage The Elephant from Kentucky. Kinda Southern Rock stuff... the first words that popped into my mind were "Black Crowes"... the second were "Kings of Leon"... the third, once again, "meh"...

Then there's The Courteeners, who are only here because they're Morrisey's opening act, and guess what? They sound like they listen to a lot of Morrisey. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Oh, and one of the dudes looks like he could be Hurley from Lost's little brother, so they got that going for 'em...

And then we come to our first blog-worthy act...

People Under The Stairs



Who they are: A Los Angeles duo, Thes One and Double K, both of whom DJ & MC... they multi-task like a mug.

What they sound like: This is good time Hip-Hop from the Pharcyde/Tribe Called Quest mode... the beats are really nice yet laid back, and, well actually so is the rapping. Its perfect backyard barbeque music, and you know how I feel about that...

People Under The Stairs - Anotha (BBQ) (ysi)

What I think: There keeps being less and less Hip-Hop at these things, and that's one of my biggest complaints. I mean, this is pretty much it for Friday Hip-Hop. Oh well, at least the one act they got is a good one. (And don't start in with me about Patton & Rahzel - who knows what that will sound like...)

I'm going to try and find live Youtubes for you this year whenever I can, so here they are in action... I think you'll agree... it's a Hip-Hop show... it's no frills, but the music is tight...



And hey, the dude played the sampler with his face! That's wacky, yo! You tellin' me you don't wanna see a dude play a sampler with his face? You lie!