Blog-achella-geddon 2012!: Needless Brit Bashing

I haven't skipped any bands in, like, two posts! Let's put an end to that with a short parade of British mediocrity...

First off, we have Gardens & Villa, who are a British outfit that's kinda jangly and lo-fi and boring...

Then we have Spector, another British group that kind of sounds like an updated Spandau Ballet, but aren't really as good as that comparison might indicate. Don't front on Spandau Ballet, yo...

Next, to switch things up, we have a British act... with a Swedish guy in it! Unfortunately, Fanfarlo are also painfully '80s-sounding. But I do love one song of theirs, and have posted that on the Facebook page. And let me just say, if you're not all "liked" up on that, you are missing some good shit lately, unless hours of free music isn't your thing...

So, to sum up... three strikes and the Brits are out, making way for some Frenchies... which probably really grinds their gears...

Housse De Racket



Who they are: A stylish Frenchie duo...

What they sound like: To be honest, they sound quite a bit like Phoenix, but I have absolutely no problem with that and neither do you...

Housse De Racket - Chateau (ysi)

What I think: I think Sunday's lineup is kicking ass so far in the "bands I'd never heard of" department. I guess Coachella isn't complete shit yet. Anyhoo these guys make quite a delightful racket (see what I did there?) live as well...



Have a good weekend...

Blog-achella-geddon 2012!: Toront-OH SHIT!

Canadian Hip-Hip... it's not just about Snow anymore...

The Airplane Boys



Who they are: Beck Motley & Bon Voyage, a pair of rappers from that new Hip-Hop hotbed (and I don't even mean that sarcastically), Toronto...

What they sound like: Just good indie Hip-Hop with some nice, original production... so of course, I'll just give you the tune where they rap over a decade-old Radiohead joint...

The Airplane Boys - Ice Age (ysi)

(These guys provide their tunes to you on free mixtapes via their website! Fuck yeah!)

What I think: I think it's funky fresh and not at all wack. Oh, and live band + no hype men? Sign me up...



You know, I think Snow should follow Vanilla Ice's lead and get himself a totally unexpected new career and corresponding reality show. Maybe he could become one of those dudes that catches catfish with his bare hands...

Blog-achella-geddon 2012!: Sharing the love...

Before we delve into Sunday's lineup, cool happenings over at the Facebook page... somebody finally realized that you could post something up there and put up a song. Crazy thing is... it's kinda good. So here it is...



Let this be a lesson to all of you. Sharing is fun! More, please. Now back to your regularly scheduled shenanigans...

Sleeper Agent



Who they are: A shiny new band outta Kentucky.

What they sound like: Punky straight-ahead rock that's catchy as fuck...

Sleeper Agent - Shuga Cane (ysi)

What I think: If you have a rock band and want me to like it, there are some things you need to do. And writing simple, catchy-as-fuck songs is right on the top of said list. Not sounding like another Arcade Fire wannabe jackoff act is also right up there. From The Descendants, to Green Day to (more recently) We Are Scientists, I've always had a weakness for catchy-as-fuck Pop/Punk... every now and then a new band will get the balance right and I'll embrace them for no apparent reason. These guys do just that and I have. They kinda kick ass live, too...



So suck on that...

Blog-achella-geddon 2012!: In which I am predictable...

You may read this and think that I don't like anything. That's not exactly true, but no... I'm not terribly impressed with the top of Saturday's lineup...

St. Vincent's website is has the URL "ilovestvincent.com". I find this to be quite presumptuous. And in my particular case, false....

To paraphrase Denny Green, Godspeed You! Black Emperor is not who I thought they were. I actually quite like the reunited Montreal band's Mogwai-like post rock. I'm gonna do a little more digging on them. You should, too, if that's your kinda thing...

For a minute there, I thought fIREHOSE was FireHouse... that woulda been a weird booking, huh?

The thing about Feist is, well... her stuff makes for great remixes, but I'm not nearly as in love with the originals.

Andrew Bird was rated a "meh" the last time he played the big shinding my favorite music blogger... me. So I'm gonna trust that opinion...

Sebastian Ingrosso is one of the members of Swedish House Mafia and thus can suck a bag of dicks.

Jeff Mangum is the dude from Neutral Milk Hotel, if that means anything to you...

I thought that Miike Snow might be something I would like, but upon listening to a couple of cuts from their new album, I realized that I must have had them confused with someone else... someone who made listenable Pop music...

Kaskade is a handsome man, I'll give him that....

Upon a thorough YouTubing, I gotta say I don't care so much about Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds as it's no Oasis, which will probably chuff off a bunch of people, the first of which being Noel Gallagher. But it's just that Liam's a better singer, dude. Deal with it...

David Guetta should be playing the KISS FM Summer Jam instead of Coachella at this point, no? Or are we just gonna have next year co-headlined by Fergie & Pitbull? Just sayin'...

I'll leave The Shins to Zach Braff...

And I'll congratulate Bon Iver on his Best New Artist Grammy win over J. Cole & Nicki Minaj. Score one for the beardy-stroky set, I guess...

Which brings us to your Saturday headliner...

Radiohead



Who they are: The band your band could smell like.

What they sound like: I guess this header isn't really necessary in this case... here's one off the TKOL RMX comp reworked by new Tonegents fave Jacques Greene...

Radiohead - Lotus Flower (Jacques Greene Remix) (ysi)

What I think: I think they're the best band in the world. But you knew that. Once again, huzzah for the YouTubes... as here's their full set from Glasto '11... in nifty crowd-sourced fashion. Enjoy...



2/3 of the way done. Woot.

Blog-achella-geddon 2012!: Blame Guetta!

First today is our old buddy SBTRKT, who is awesome, but I've already done a couple posts on him, so read those. Also, popped a video up on the Facebook page, so watch that, too...

And Sub Focus is just a combination of every Dance music cliche that's hot these days. Uninspiring, although I'm sure it would be entertaining on the proper chemicals...

As, I'm sure, will be...

Martin Solveig



Who he is: Michael Cera's dad, apparently...

What he sounds like: Blame it all on Guetta, but one-by-one many of his contemporaries are testing the waters of chart Pop... and, of course, doing it much better than Guetta. Martin had his huge hit in "Hello", Bob Sinclar is going to be on the charts this summer with a couple of things I heard off his new album... it's like that shit they said was gonna happen in the '90s about Electronica taking over the world finally happened but in slightly lamer form than we would have hoped. Oh well. Anyhoo, here's one with the dude from Phoenix on vocals...

Martin Solveig - The Night Out (ysi)

What I think: I think it will be a great set, so long as it's not so much like this...



These guys should probably just stop doing TV shows...

Blog-achella-geddon 20102!: In Honor of Robbie Coltrane

Just got paid/ Friday night/ Actually not really/ On a bi-weekly pay schedule...

One band to skip past today, and that is Manchester Orchestra. I was pleasantly surprised by their non-sucky Rock back in '08 and pegged them as a band to watch. Did I watch them? No. Sometimes I kinda suck like that...

But the Friday post goes to...

Flying Lotus



Who he is: Mr. Stephen Ellison, member of the Coltrane family... and if you have to ask which Coltrane family I'm talking about, you probably shouldn't be reading this blog. Maybe this is a little more your speed. Also, I have a second joke for that one... member of the Coltrane family and I'm not talking about the Robbie Coltrane family, although he is indeed a fine actor. HEY-YOOOO!

What he sounds like: As the de facto leader of the L.A. beat scene, Flying Lotus kind of laid the groundwork for what all of the other kids I've been blogging from said scene are doing. Probably. I mean, that sounds like I know what I'm talking about, doesn't it? And hey, if that's good enough for presidential candidates, it's good enough for me. Of course, the thing about FlyLo is that, being a member of the Robbie Coltrane family, he brings a Jazz master's sensibility of, umm... jazz... to the precedings. Someday this kid will be known as the Miles Davis of the sampler. See what I did there? Dick move! Anyhoo, this might be the closest thing to a House track you'll ever hear from him (although the Jazz hits you right from the beginning). Dig it...

Flying Lotus - Do The Astral Plane (ysi)

What I think: Love this guy. And continue to love finding full sets on YouTube... this one starts off as a DJ thang but develops into a full, live jazz combo by the end. Enjoy...



Have a good weekend, all...

Blog-achella-geddon 2012!: Old & White or Young & Black?

Today it's about crusty old British geezers vs. shiny new black rappers...

First, representing the geezers, we have punk legends Buzzcocks, who I've never been all that into. Which shouldn't surprise you. I'm sure it'll be lovely if you're into that kind of thing. I wonder if old punks load up on Viagra before shows to give 'em some extra "oomph"? Makes sense, don't it? Plus they're ready for the the groupies after the show, HEY-YOOOOO!

Now, representing the rappers, A$ap Rocky is supposed to be hot shit right now, but I find his beats to be slow and wack, so suck on that...

Back to the geezers, presenting Squeeze. You heard me... muddafuckin' Squeeze. Pullin' mussels from da muddafuckin' shell, yo. I'm surprised they were able to take a long enough break from the state fair/horse track circuit to "squeeze" this gig in. PUN MUDDAFUCKIN' INTENDED!

Now for the rappers, young gal Azealia Banks seems like a bit of a one-hit wonder at this point, but her one hit is a jam, and I got it for you at the Facebook page...

And then Awolnation are neither geezers nor rappers, but rather sound like a bad KROQ band that was given some keyboards for some reason...

Which brings us to a band rather similar to our last featured dudes...

Kasabian



Who they are: They aren't old enough to be geezers, but they are British... and like Kaiser Chiefs, could definitely be considered Brit-Rock veterans at this point...

What they sound like: Also much like Kaiser Chiefs, Kasabian's embellishes their geetar rockin' with some electronics here and there and they've got hooks by the pound. Instead of a new one, though, I'm gonna go with a classic today...

Kasabian - Fire (ysi)

What I think: I think you'll get everything you need to know from watching this...



Gotta say I'm loving this trend of full concerts popping up on the YouTubes... I only hope it keeps up!

Blog-achella-geddon 2012!: Fuck Rush Limbaugh

No, there's no connection between that fat piece of shit and today's Coachella acts... I just thought it needed to be said. Anyhoo, we're covering exactly one line on the poster today...

And that line starts with The Big Pink, about whom I had some lovely things to say in 2010...

Next come Black Lips, about whom I did NOT have some lovely things to say in 2008...

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals are actually nowhere near as bad as I thought they'd be. I actually have their best song, "Paris" in the DJ Lately rotation and have supplied the video thereof at the Facebook page for your review...

I'm very seriously on the fence about tUnE-yArDs. This chick really rides the fine line between interesting and awful and I just can't quite figure out which one she is. Plus fuck the way she does the random capitol letters in her handle. It serves merely to irk me, girl...

Laura Marling is just a sensitive girl with an acoustic guitar whose music makes me want to kill myself...

... whereas The Head And The Heart are a bunch of sensitive dudes with acoustic guitars whose music doesn't make me want to kill myself quite as much as Laura Marling's, so they got that going for 'em...

And Destroyer is Indie Rock darling and perennial blog-fodder Dan Bejar, who seems to be doing a '70s Soft Rock thing these days. I'll pass, bringing us to...

Kaiser Chiefs



Who they are: They are Brit-Rock veterans at this point, eh?

What they sound like: They've updated their sound with a bit more electronics lately, which always scores some bonus points from me. And although some of the tunes on the new records sound like they are going to fall completely apart at the seams, they still manage to find some of their trademark huge hooks when it's working right. To wit...

Kaiser Chiefs - On The Run (ysi)

What I think: Ever since I saw one of their live shows on the teevee, I've been a fan. And you should be, too...



Now if you'll excuse me, I predict a bowel movement, so I'm out...

Blog-achella-geddon 2012!: The guy from that show...

Today, the best comic-turned-rapper since Eddie Murphy put the boogie (and other assorted items) in your butt. But first...

Grouplove's Indie Pop gets no love because I can't stand the guy singer.

Zed's Dead actually produced a Brostep remix of "Knights In White Satin"... you heard me. And they get rewarded with a gig at Coachella. I cannot sigh heavily or derisively enough to express my exasperation with this...

And The Vaccines sound like they listen to a lot of The Smiths, but that's really about the only thing I can say about them other than "meh"...

So how about a "serious" musician?

Childish Gambino



Who he is: Well maybe we can find one of those tomorrow. Because CG is the rapping alter ego of actor/comedian Donald Glover, one funny motherfucker...

What he sounds like: ... but this record is far from a joke. (See what I did there?) It's funny, sure, but this is not comedy rap. It's a real album. A pretty decent one. It is NOT Chunky A...

Childish Gambino - Fire Fly (ysi)

What I think: I think go see it. For one thing, he's probably got better between-song banter than any other act at the show...



There don't even appear to be any stupid shouting hype men. Major bonus points for that.