Blog-achella X: 2 Birds + 1 Stone = FATALITY!

One of my all-time faves today (and a good guy to boot)... but first...

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes are a bit too much on the folk-y and jangly side for me, so I will walk on past...

The Raveonettes and their Punk/Pop thing are kind of the definition of "meh" for me. Don't love 'em, don't hate 'em...

I have no idea what Les Claypool is up to these days, and quite frankly I don't care. That said, I would be lying, however, if I didn't say that I loved Primus back in the day and got my mosh on to them live on more than one occasion. So in celebration of that, here's some super-old school steez...

Primus - John The Fisherman (ysi)

I also have no idea exactly what famed director John Waters is doing at Coachella. Anyone have a clue? DJ? Spoken Word? Big Gay Cabaret Revue? I would be lying, however, if I didn't say that I loved Serial Mom...

Now, The XX is a super-hot-shit blog darling band these days, and if I was trolling for Hype Machine hits, I would post them... but honestly after listening to a half dozen songs on their Myspace, I have no idea what the hype is about. I find their Electro-Pop to be quite pedestrian, especially compared to some of the acts we have already covered... which brings us to...

Z-Trip



Who he is: In my opinion, the most fun DJ in the world. Oft-imitated... poorly. Seriously, any joker with a copy of Serato and a collection of Now That's What I Call Music hits thinks he can rock it like Z-Trip, but I've seen some of these A.D.DJs and they can all fuck right off. "Look at me! I played 8 bars of 50 Cent and went right into Barry Manilow! I'm so fucking ironic and clever!" Fuck you. Fuck you right in the laptop, dude. Firstly, you're doing it wrong, and secondly fuck your Ed Hardy hoodie and your stupid haircut and the weak-ass hipter standing next to you while you play making vaguely gang-related hand signs every time you change songs. Did I mention fuck you?

What he sounds like: See the video for a short bit of the Z-Trip experience... but here I've got for you a new remix he did for another Coachella act, The Dead Weather. They're the new group featuring Jack White and VV from The Kills and now I've covered them, too. Two birds/one stone, bitches! Also, the remix features a verse from acclaimed white rapper Slug from Atmosphere...

The Dead Weather - Treat Me Like Your Mother (Z-Trip Remix ft. Slug) (ysi)

What I think: Miss it at your own peril...



Plus, he's quite famous for bringing fun guest stars onto the stage with him at the 'Chella... I've seen Beck, Chester from Linkin Park and Busdriver join in the fun, and I only saw him a couple of the times he played there. So keep that in mind... and have a great weekend...

Mellow Yellow Fellows

Once again, I'm going back to the college days for something completely different...



Am I just out of touch or are there no funny bands anymore? I don't mean people like Flight of the Conchords, who are a straight up comedy act, or John Mayer, who thinks he's funny on Twitter... I mean a good band who is funny. Seems back in the '90s there were several acts who could crack you up, but with a finely crafted Pop song... people like They Might Be Giants, Ween, King Missile... and of course The Dead Milkmen. The Milkmen were hilarious, but if you put some "serious" lyrics in there, you'd notice they were damn fine songwriters and musicians. But who wants serious lyrics? It's more just more fun to sing along to a Dead Milkmen song than it is the average Alice In Chains song, and sometimes that's exactly what you need...

The Dead Milkmen - Smokin' Banana Peels (ysi)

I got reminded of this song a couple of weeks back when stories surfaced that Amy Winehouse had been smoking banana peels in St. Lucia... which is one of those stories that's so awesome you can only hope that it's true. Supposedly the whole banana peel thing is a hoax, but I hope not. Y'all go ahead and try this, then get back to me...

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UPDATE: The amazing Donna Lethal just passed this along to me and it is far too amazing not to share...

George Guzman - Banana Freak Out

Be sure and drop by her spot and say "Hello". That's an order...

Blog-achella 08: Do the Indio jig!

Time to get yer drinkin' hat on...

Flogging Molly



Who they are: An Irish band, a real one... which means they will first kick your ass, then buy you a beer, in that order... got it?

What they sound like: A mix of traditional Irish music and Punk... what, you've heard that before? Me, too...

Flogging Molly - Tobacco (ysi)

What I think: Now, I have absolutely no problem with this kind of music... if I'm in an Irish Pub, drinking a Guinness. But at Coachella? Not so much... it ain't Bar-band-chella. Although I guess they could play in the beer tent... I could get behind that!

Blog-achella 08: Scandinavian Leather!

Good Monday to you... if such a thing existed... anyhoo, next on the list of bands is Scars On Broadway, but since they are a System Of A Down side project, and I've already told Serj Tankian to suck it, they can suck it too... and suck it hard. Moving on...

Turbonegro



Who they are: A bunch of Norwegian self-described deviants.

What they sound like: Straight ahead Punk with a sick, twisted, disgusting, homo-erotic sense of humor...

Turbonegro - Turbonegro Must Be Destroyed (ysi)

What I think: You know, I got zero problem with this. It's simple, it's funny, it makes me wanna punch something in a strangely non-angry yet totally fulfilling way. And that's what Punk Rock is about... well, that and tight pants, but I'm not so much into those... my boys like to breathe! Okay, I've said to much...

Two great tastes that go "huh?" together

So, for some reason, this morning as I went about getting ready for my day, I decided that these two songs would go together. Why? Beats the hell outta me...



I don't post a lot of Rock around here, but I've got plenty of it in my collection, because I'm all well rounded and shit. I've always thought black dudes who rock are a bit extra-cool, and D.C. punk legends Bad Brains sure know how to rock out... for a bunch of Rastas, that is. Smokin' all that ganja usually makes folks kinda mellow and Dorito-fiendy, but not these dudes! I think I've always particularly loved this song for the cool a capella intro, but it's pretty damn kick-ass all the way through...

Bad Brains - Soul Craft

Yup, sometimes you just gotta throw on the ol' combat boots and hop in the pit. I used to do that, but because I weigh a buck-40 soaking wet, it didn't work out too well for me sometimes. Dudes would literally pick me up and throw me around like a football. No bueno!

But how about some music you would expect from Rastas... only from a Canadian ex-pat living in the Netherlands...



I'm talking about the heavy heavy dub, and ya can't get much heavier than this record by Twilight Circus Dub Soundsystem. I remember picking up a promo CD of this at a dollar sale that had crayon drawing on it with gold and silver stars stuck all over. Weird. But in it's own way, just as intense as the Bad Brains...

Twilight Circus Dub Soundsystem - The Ride

Talk about a track living up to it's title, eh? So, to recap... um, err... who knows? It's a random kind of week, folks...

Blog-achella '07 - Amy Winehouse (Fri.) / Yeva (Sat.) / The Chuck Dukowski Sextet (Sat.)

You know, I got a bug up my butt. I don't wanna wait for tomorrow... let's finish this today. So now, without further ado, the final 3 acts of Blog-achella '07 (barring any last minute additions)!

Amy Winehouse

Who she is: How is it that some British, Jewish gal becomes the most bad-ass R&B singer to come down the pipe in years? Plus, she's an unrepentant drunk! What's not to love?

What she sounds like: The music... so retro. The lyrics... so now!

Amy Winehouse - Addicted

What I think: Amy Winehouse rules!

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Yeva

Who they are: All I can tell is that they're from Puerto Rico, and that one dude is reeeeeeeallly old.

What they sound like: Seems to be some kinda Rock En Espanol deal... but I can't find a song of theirs anywhere. You can listen on their Myspace up there though.

What I think: Yick. As much as I love almost all Latin music, Rock En Espanol doesn't do it for me. And no, I don't count Kinky as rock. Kinky is awesome.

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The Chuck Dukowski Sextet

Who they are: One of the scariest looking groups of people I've ever seen. Chuck was the bassist for legendary punk group Black Flag.

What they sound like: Sloppy psychedelic rock with some surf and punk influences. Or to some it up in one word... crap. So here's an old Black Flag song instead.

Black Flag - You Bet We've Got A Problem With You

What I think: So this is the only add they've made since the original announcement. Alas, we shall refer to 2007 as the year Coachella stopped trying... sigh.

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And so, there you have it! I hope this little guide helps y'all to maximize your Coachella experience to the point of supreme awesomeness. I'll go through the daily line-ups and make recommendations when the set times come out, and tomorrow this blog will resume it's true direction, delving into my 37,000 song iTunes library and sharing my favorite music with ya. Until then, here's a little bonus track...

Amy Winehouse - Rehab (Hot Chip Remix)

See you tomorrow. Blog-achella '07... over and out!

Blog-achella '07 - Gogol Bordello (Fri.) / Jose Gonzalez (Sun.)

To mosh or not to mosh, that is the question...

Gogol Bordello

Who they are: A bunch of Eastern European types from New York City with funny clothes who named their band after a gay Ukrainian writer from the early 19th century.

What they sound like: They call it "Gypsy Punk"... it's loud and shouty and has accordions and violins and um...

Gogol Bordello - Not A Crime

What I think: Um, err... I don't get it. It's like a mosh-pit broke out in Borat's village or something... oh, wait, no... they like country there...

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Jose Gonzalez

Who he is: Argentine dude who grew up in Sweden, got acoustic guitar, rocked softly, did many cover songs and starred on the latest Zero 7 album.

What he sounds like: I'm not making fun here, I promise, but don't you hear a liiiiiiittle bit of Christopher Cross in his voice? Or is it just me?

Jose Gonzalez - Crosses

What I think: Come on, now... just a little, if you listen real hard? No? Anyhoo, dude is cool in my book, although there will be no mosh pits here, unless people are being, like, super ironic.

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Oh, and despite the fact that I work on one of the offending "celebrity news" shows, I just really wish people would leave Britney the fuck alone. I'm somewhat embarrassed to be even a small, unwilling part of the media's stalking of the poor girl. Who's with me on this?

Have a great weekend, kids.

Blog-achella '07 - Against Me! (Sun.) / Air (Sun.)

All righty, then. Now that we've gotten started there can be no more of this one band a day dilly-dallying. No, siree. We go double shots from here on out... which leads to some very odd pairings of mp3s around here. Like so...

Against Me!

Who they are: Some punks from Gainesville, Florida. Go Gators! (Actually, screw the Gators. First they win the national championship in basketball, then they win the national championship in football, too? Jeez, bet their heads aren't too big right now. Am I just hatin' because my Syracuse teams suck? Of course I am.)

What they sound like: Loud and shouty...

Against Me! - Pints of Guiness Make You Strong (Live)

What I think: One bonus point for excellent song name, which brings their final total of points up to... one. Sorry, just a wee bit too shouty for me. And this is what he sounds like on all the songs, which is rather annoying. Don't get me wrong. I have a bit of appreciation for the punk rock, but you can kinda hear 'em trying to sound like The Pogues here, which in my book is a bad idea. You can't try to sound like The Pogues when you're from Florida. You've probably seen the sun and brushed your teeth at least once in your life (okay, maybe scratch the brush your teeth part... they could be from the swamp, after all... man, I wanna ride one of those dope-ass fan-boat things some day... those are rad... but I digress). And besides, who wants to mosh in 100 degree weather? Dumbasses, that's who.

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Air

Who they are: Well, as you can see in this recent photo, apparently they're like the T-1000 Terminator model, only much more French and sophisticated.

What they sound like: They got the new album called "Pocket Symphony" (love that title) coming out in March, and let's just say it is quite sufficiently Air-y. No experimentations in dubstep or reggaeton here, so don't you worry. Here's a track from it... (if there are new people reading the blog this year, yup, that's how we roll around here!)

Air - Mer Du Japon

What I think: Air's main stage set at sundown a couple of years ago is definitely up there with the all-time legendary sets at Coachella. Will they put them back in that same time slot? They damn well better, or else someone's gettin' a cock-punchin'!

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Oh, and I've uploaded a new song over at my music page. It's called "Low Flowtation", and yes, I spelled it that way to be "cool". Spelling is for nerds. Lemme know if you happen to like it.