Blog-achella 08: Back to Sunday

Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way and I have composed myself, let's get back to what we were doing before the big Purple surprise...

Kid Sister



Who she is: Rapper gal from Chicago, the real-life kid sister of Kanye's DJ, A-Trak, who will be supplying her beats at the big show.

What she sounds like: Fun club hip-hop with an up-to-the-minute electro edge... wait a minute, what the hell was that? Am I writing PR copy now?

Kid Sister - Pro Nails (ysi)

What I think: As long as she does "Beeper", I'm down. If you don't know what I'm talking about... well, find out!

:P

Blog-achella 08: Yes!!!!!!!!!

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

Prince



Who he is: He's Prince, goddammit!

What he sounds like: He sounds like Prince, goddammit!

Prince - Housequake (ysi)

What I think: Wow... nice add, Coachella! Only the guy right up at the top of the list of people I've always wanted to see in concert, and on the one day I was planning to go. There's really not much more to say... Saturday might now be the best single day of Coachella ever. Too excited to type in anything other than sentence fragments... must... find... water...

Blog-achella 08: The White Winehouse

Looking forward into Sunday's lineup, there really aren't too many more bands I'll be glossing over, so don't worry that I'm taking the (super)easy way out, but here's another one. I'm From Barcelona doesn't get the full love because they're not from Barcelona, and I'm not going to tolerate two straight bands that have names that say they're from somewhere when they're not. My mama told me lyin' is wrong, dammit! They're actually from Sweden, there's about 30 people in the band, and although it's kinda catchy, it's the kind of hippy-dippy "Up With People" ass-clownery that makes me wanna punch people... Swedish people. Except for the ones that read this blog, who I will instead hug... :)

Duffy



Who she is: A new singer from Wales.

What she sounds like: Kinda like a white version of Amy Winehouse... and yes, I'm well aware that Amy Winehouse is white (and possibly part condor... think about it), but Amy don't sound white, do she? Duffy has the same throwback '60s Girl-Pop vibe (lots of people are throwing out Dusty Springfield comparisons)... but whiter...

Duffy - Mercy (ysi)

What I think: I'm kinda diggin' it... not as good as Amy though, but hey few are... that girl may be a hot mess, but she can sang! You know, I think its that little dash of teh crazy that separates the true artists from the merely talented singers... discuss...

Blog-achella 08: False advertising?

From the pleasant surprise files, here's our next band...

Manchester Orchestra



Who they are: Well, they're not from Manchester, and they're not an orchestra... so WTF are they? A band from Atlanta... barely out of their teens. Doesn't sound promising, but...

What they sound like: ... a very promising young band. See what I did there? Turned that shit around! Writing, bitches! Anyhoo, these guys certainly surprised me. There's a Brit Rock epic-ness to their sound which I totally dig, the songwriting is real solid... my only qualm is the guys voice, but what do you think?

Manchester Orchestra - Where Have You Been? (ysi)

What I think: Definitely some serious potential here. A band to watch. Maybe even at Coachella!

Blog-achella 08: Super glossin'

Okay, time to tackle Sunday, and due to the fact that I have about two weeks to get this sucka done, I'm gonna have to gloss over a few acts. But I encourage you to click on the links and check 'em out for yourself, although you must remember they're getting glossed over for a reason... that I would rank them as "meh" or worse...

First off, we have Brett Dennen, who seems like another one for the Jack Johnson crowd, with his tepid acoustic flim-flammery and Paul Simon-esque voice. I bid you good day, sir...

Then there's Plasticenes, who are interesting for the fact that they are a French, all-girl garage rock band. Garage rock in French, eh? I thought all the garages in France were full of stinky wheels of cheese... or am I taking that too literally? Anyhoo, the girls are cute, yes, but the music is nothing special...

I went into this morning thinking that Sweden's Shout Out Louds might be deserving of the full treatment, but I guess I had them confused with someone else. Proof that Europeans can make Indie Pop just as "meh" as Americans can...

And, um... yeah, the bottom of Sunday's lineup just isn't as strong as the bottom of Saturday's...

San Diego's Grand Ole Party are a three piece fronted (or possibly behinded) by a girl drummer/singer, who sounds like a female Jack White. Interesting... sorta not really...

And Austin TV continue this year's trend of poorly chosen Mexican bands on the bill. They're instrumental, yet extremely bland. Maybe they should try a singer... or some spicy jalapeno dip...

And now, finally someone who can get the full treatment...

Deadmau5



Who he is: A relatively new and fast-rising producer from Toronto. Apparently, he came up with this moniker when a mouse crawled into his computer somehow and got fried... bonus points!

What he sounds like: Does it surprise any of you that the first Sunday artist I give the full treatment to does House? Well, it shouldn't... pay attention, dammit! Anyhoo, the sound rides between Tech & Progressive House, but with very little cheese. Mouse... Cheese... get it? I kill me!

Deadmau5 - Alone With You (Original Mix) (ysi)

What I think: I'd say it's the cat's pajamas... get it? I'm on fire today!

Blog-achella 08: Power of the P (plus Saturday wrap-up)

And now, your Saturday headliner, a band a lot of us have been waiting a looooooooong time to see...

Portishead



Who they are: Remember when they had that thing called Trip-Hop? Anyone? Well, these guys pretty much perfected and defined it.

What they sound like: I shouldn't have to tell you that... but let's talk about the new record... it's full of that Portishead-y goodness you've come to expect... deep beats, Beth Gibbons hauntedly off-kilter vocals... and a few suprises. Take this track, which leads it off. It's probably the most uptempo, aggressive number they've done...

Portishead - Silence (ysi)

What I think: Are you kiddin' me? I'm down like Charlie Brown, clown!

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

And now, Saturday in a nutshell ("Help! I'm in a nutshell! How did I get into this bloody great big nutshell? What kind of shell has a nut like this?")...

Don't Miss: Portishead, Kraftwerk, M.I.A., Hot Chip, Mark Ronson, The Cinematic Orchestra... Wow! Yeah there's only a half a dozen, but what a half dozen. I've sorta surpised myself by throwing Mark Ronson in there, but I think he's gonna be fun as hell. Now the great thing is, even if it's possible to catch all of the above, you're still gonna have time to choose from a really excellent second tier...

Worth A Look: Death Cab For Cutie, Sasha & Digweed, Kate Nash, Calvin Harris, Junkie XL, The Teenagers, VHS Or Beta, Erol Alkan, Yo Majesty, Bonde Do Role, MGMT, Institubes Paris Terror Club, The Bird & The Bee, Yoav, Uffie... yup, and a couple of these I would almost put in "can't miss", but I'm gonna be a twat and let you figure that out for yourself. So between these two groups, Saturday is officially going to be off the fuckin' hook. But wait, there's "meh"...

Meh: Cafe Tacuba, Rilo Kiley, Cold War Kids, DeVotchKa, Flogging Molly, Turbonegro, Boys Noize, Little Brother, St. Vincent, James Zabiela, SebastiAn, Kavinsky, Dredg, 120 Days, Electric Touch, Yelle... none of which I'd hate myself for catching a couple tunes by, but the need probably won't be there... and finally...

Teh Suck: Dwight Yoakam, Animal Collective, Stephen Malmkus & The Jicks, Scars On Broadway, Islands, Above & Beyond, Enter Shikari, Carbon/Silicon, Man Man, Akron/Family... who should collectively be thrown into a bag and drowned.

So there's that, Sunday to come, and I'm gonna have to burn through it, but get there I will!

Blog-achella 08: Die Mensch-Maschines!

And now to introduce a band that needs no introduction...

Kraftwerk



Who they are: They are the godfathers, the forerunners, the creators... put 'em right up there with James Brown as the two artists who are responsible for all dance music to this day, more or less. They are also robots... and as you can see above, not the most high-tech robots ever. But hey, they were created in the '70s, cut 'em some slack.

What they sound like: Boing peng boom tschak tschak peng, boing peng boom tschak zzzzong, boing peng boom tschak ppppeng, boing peng boom tschak tschak tschak tschak... you get the idea. And here's a treat for ya... their full set from the last time they played the big show (and yeah, I know I posted this before, but c'mon, what better to put up?)...

Kraftwerk - Live @ Coachella 2004

What I think: I saw 'em then and you can bet your sweet ass I'll see 'em now, on the Main Stage, no less! Fuck and yes! Screw your blog-approved flavor of the week and check the real shit, kiddies. You might just learn something...

Blog-achella 08: Curse you, Death Cab!

Hey hey, it's Monday, and today we're gonna wrap up Saturday...

... starting by glossin' right over Cafe Tacuba. Now here's the thing with these guys... they would be a good band if their singer didn't have such a weird-ass voice. He sounds like some sort of troll guarding some Mexican bridge somewhere and he wants a cookie for you to pass. I'm not even talkin' out my butt here... I saw them at the Hollywood Bowl last year, and although the largely Mexican crowd were losing their collective shit the whole time, I was like, "Damn, dude... what's with the troll voice?"... just sayin'... anyhoo, the next band I was tempted to gloss over too, but for one small fact...

Death Cab For Cutie



Who they are: They are the sensitive side of Seattle. They prefer sweaters over flannel, Chai lattes over Red Hook Lagers, and book club readings of David Eggers to banging the shit out of slutty groupies.

What they sound like: Okay, here's the thing... normally these guys are a bit too twee to really do much for me, but dammit if they didn't make possibly the most perfect Pop song of the Oughts... and I hate them for it...

Death Cab For Cutie - Soul Meets Body (ysi)

What I think: If I were to catch 'em, it'd have to be because I psychically knew exactly what time they were going to play that song, and then I'd feel like such a wuss for going out of my way to hear it... so no deal!

Blog-achella 08: The (Pasty, British) Wonder Twins

Now, as much as I think Dwight Yoakam is a pretty cool guy (he was in Wedding Crashers, after all) I'm gonna skip him because he does Country music, and the only Country music recognized here is Johnny Cash. Sorry, just a rule...

And I think I'll skip Rilo Kiley, too, because a) I don't think Jenny Lewis is nearly as cute as most bloggers do and b) they're ultimately kinda boring. Actually I'm pretty sure the Indie Kids only like this pretty boring band because they can rub one out to pictures of it's pretty lead singer... that's right, I went there!

Feel free to check out both band's links though, and give me the business if you think I'm wrong...

But since it's usually House Music Friday around here, I think it's only fitting to end the week with...

Sasha & Digweed



Who they are: They were the first of the superstar Progressive House DJ's, and to this day they are most likely still the best.

What they sound like: And they're the best because they (especially Diggers) for the most part stay well away from the fromage... here's a link from which you can download a 4-hour set, if you wanna go that hard (thanks to Ryhthmism.com)...

Sasha & Digweed Live @ Bonaroo 2007

What I think: As much as I'll take these guys over a million Tiesto VanOakenDyks, since they are likely to being going head-to-head with Portishead and/or Kraftwerk, their chances of being seen by me are exactly zero... too bad, guys...

Have a great weekend!

Blog-achella 08: I'm having an Arulpragasam

To start off your T.G.I.F., it's a return appearance from the artist responsible for one of my favorite Coachella sets of all time...

M.I.A.



Who she is: She is one hot Sri Lankan chick who you do NOT want to fuck with.

What she sounds like: Man, it would be really hard to try to explain what M.I.A. sounds like to someone who's never heard her... let's just say it's kinda like a party in your ears, and everyone's invited...

M.I.A. - Paper Planes (ysi)

What I think: As I said, M.I.A.'s performance at the big show in 2005 was absolutely sick, one of those special Coachella sets where everyone there is so into it and the artist brings the goods and the tent almost gets ripped from it's poles. Here's a clip, which includes bonus footage of a hot chick in a bikini at the beginning, which is always nice...



Miss this one at your own peril, bitchez!