Certain Songs

Just got back to Ohio. My feet are aching, my hearing is almost non-existent, I am sun burned, and I can't wait to do it all over again next year!!

I am really blessed in the sense that I have this amazing group of friends scattered all over the world who make an effort to get together a couple of times a year and hit these beautiful music festivals. None being more beautiful than the three days we spend in the California desert every year. This year may have been the most beautiful yet in fact.

(I am having trouble finding my USB cable, so I will post pictures...eventually.)
It only seemed fitting to kick off the festival with my very favorite band, The Hold Steady. It was a joyous, rocking 50 minutes that set the tone for the fest perfectly. Other highlights included an insanely tight set from Conor Oberst and his Mystic Valley band, a little Morrisey, a little Beirut, and a transcendent set from Leonard Cohen which included what is now maybe my ALL TIME favorite Coachella moment - the entire festival singing alone with the refrain from Hallelujah just as the sun went down. I finished the evening up by sitting on the lawn listening to Paul McCartney...not a bad day one.

Saturday we got there early to check out a bit of Ida Maria, then it was on to a great set from Cloud Cult. Caught a few songs from the Liars then I was off to split time between Blitzen Trapper and Dr. Dog. Then Amanda Palmer's show BLEW ME AWAY. I am not a huge Dresden Dolls fan, nor am I very familiar with her solo stuff...but she put together one of the most enthralling sets of the entire weekend - which ended in a beautiful communal sing along of Radiohead's 'Creep.' Then it was over the big stage for TV on the Radio, then we finished up the night with a triple bill on the outdoor stage with Fleet Foxes, Band Of Horses, and a great set by Jenny Lewis.

Sunday began by chilling out on the lawn, soaking up some sun and some hip hop from Knux. Then an energetic show by Okkervil River. From there we took in a few Gaslight Anthem songs then it was off to hopefully catch a train wreck in the form of Brian Jonestown Massacre. But a trainwreck was the last thing that show was! Anton started on time, barely spoke a word, and the band sounded fantastic - easily my most pleasant surprise of the weekend. My Sunday highlight though had to be Public Enemy. They played the entire 'It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back' album...historic!! They brought a live band and just sounded phenomenal. After that I was zapped...made my way over to the main stage and laid down on my back, gazed up at the stars, and sang along with the Cure for the rest of the evening. Robert Smith and the Cure provied me with another one of my all time great Coachella moments late Sunday night when the festival cut off their sound at exactly 12:30, but the boys kept playing. What could have been a totally frustrating end to a great day was made incredible by seeing all of the people huddle up as close as possible to the stage while helping to sing 'Boys Don't Cry'...chills on top of chills on top of chills.

Best weekend ever.

Leonard Cohen - 'First We Take Manhattan' MP3

Conor Oberst - 'To All The Lights In The Windows' MP3

The Crystal Method


* 'The Name Of The Game' MP3

Brian Jonestown Massacre

I admit that I knew very little about BJM before seeing the now infamous rock documentary 'Dig!'
But I have picked up a few records and several EP's since then and I have grown into a really big fan of their music...maybe not Anton's persona, but definitely the music. They are very high on my curiosity scale for this year's Coachella.


* 'I've Been Waiting' MP3

My Bloody Valentine

Today's Coachella band o' the day is the terribly predictable and thematic 'My Bloody Valentine'...sorry...had to do it.

* 'When You Sleep' MP3

The Horrors

Today is the Friday The 13th Edition of the daily Coachella artist!! Naturally, I went with The Horrors, a great British garage band with an appropriately dark name . And an appropriately dark song title as well..

* 'Jack The Ripper' MP3

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

I felt like checking into another band that I had never heard of for the daily Coachella post...because learning can be fun(click the link above for a full band bio). I learned, for example, that Ariel Pink was the first artist signed to the Animal Collective's Paw Tracks label in 2003. And I learned that while I may not be a huge fan of this music, something tells me the stage show will probably me something to see.

Here is a tune off of the 2006 album 'House Arrest'

* 'The People I Am Not' MP3

Calexico

The more I think about it, the more I am looking forward to seeing Calexico. First of all, they are amazing musicians. And their brand of southwesterny folk rock will sound so perfect out in the desert. That saturday afternoon can not get here soon enough!

I love these guys so much, I am going to post two tunes. The first track if off of their 'Hot Rail' LP, and the second song can be found on 'Garden Ruin'

* 'The Ballad Of Cable Houge' MP3


* 'Cruel' MP3

Noah And The Whale

I loved this band without ever hearing a single note. I was hooked when I heard how they arrived at their name. The guys combined the title of one of their favorite films, 'Squid And The Whale', with the director of said favorite film, Noah Baumbach. I LOVE that movie. And the band absolutely does their ingenious name justice.

Here is a tune off of last year's 'Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down'

* Noah And The Whale - 'Give A Little Love' MP3

Liars

Los Angeles based band Liars have been on my "need to see" list for years. I have read so many great things about their amazing live shows, I can't wait to finally check them this year at Coachella.

Here is one of my favorite tunes off of 2007's self titled release.

* Liars - 'Plaster Casts Of Everything' MP3

Today's Coachella band of the dayis Cage The Elephant, another act I had not even heard of until the lineup was announced.

Cage the Elephant originated in Bowling Green, KY and play a blistering style of all-out rock. I checked out their self-titled debut earlier this weekend and I liked what I heard. Going to make a concentrated effort to catch some of their set in Indio this year.

* Cage The Elephant - 'In One Ear' MP3

I am always humbled this time of year. No matter how much I think I know about pop music, the announcement of the Coachella lineup always reminds me just how little I know! Half the fun of going out to Indio every year is spending the couple of months before hand investigating all of the names on the bill that are foreign to me.

Today's Coachella act of the day is N.A.S.A(North America/South America). ....here is a snippet from their bio:

While N.A.S.A. stands for North America/South America and contains a number of superstar artists from both coasts of the U.S., it is about as far from a tension-building geographical showdown as a record can get. Rather, The Spirit of Apollo was born with the righteous goal of bringing people together through music and art, and that is exactly what masterminds Sam Spiegel (Squeak E. Clean) and Ze Gonzales (DJ Zegon) have done.

And the "superstar artist" cameos are awesome! Tom Waits, Kanye West, David Byrne, and in the track below, the Yeah Yeah Yeah's Karen O:(The album is called 'The Spirit Of Apollo')

* N.A.S.A. - 'Strange Enough' MP3

Here we go...my initial post in a series of what I hope to be 76. I'll post a song a day from an artist playing at Coachella right up until I have to board the plane and head to Indio for my three favorite days of the year.

Here is the opening salvo...and I'll see you in the desert...this one just seems appropriate:

* Yeah Yeah Yeah's - 'Phenomena' MP3

Sooo...my picture didn't come out very well. If you still haven't seen the lineup, you can check it out here:

http://www.coachella.com/event/lineup

And I have to preface my comments with this little bit of full disclosure. I am 100% NOT OBJECTIVE when it comes to this festival. I love it with all of my heart. This will be my fifth year trekking out to California from Ohio, and I don't plan on missing one as long as I am upright and able. So, with that being said, I love this lineup. It's just a beautiful mesh of new and old.

Upon first glance, here are some moments I can't wait for:

- Seeing my favorite band, The Hold Steady, in my favorite place on earth!

- Beirut at Sunset on Friday night!

- Paul McCartney

- Public Enemy...i don't care how old Chuk D is or how many bat dating reality shows Flav does...I still love them.

- Leonard Cohen

- My Bloody Valentine and The Cure to close things out on Sunday night!

Only 77 long days away :-)


* The Hold Steady - 'Your Little Hoodrat Friend'

* Beirut - 'Nantes'

* The Beatles - 'Yesterday'

* Public Enemy - 'Don't Believe The Hype'

* Leonard Cohen - 'Hallelujah'

* The Cure - 'Pictures Of You'

* My Bloody Valentine - 'To Here Knows When'

What started as a trip planned out on a whim out of anxiety over turning 30 five years ago, has turned into an annual pilgrimage for me! The three day Coachella music festival is easily my favorite weekend of the year.

The dates were just released...April 17,18, and 19. See you on the Polo Field!!

Here is a tune from my friend Henry, who is also a super talented singer/songwriter from Denmark recording under the name Me And The Horse I Rode In On. He came with us last year for his first ever Coachella excursion, and was so blown away he wrote a song about it...this new song 'Indio' is available on his new EP 'Home And Other Places I'd Like To Visit'...more information on that and you can hear more of his music here, on his myspace page:

http://www.myspace.com/meandthehorse

The song:

Me And The Horse I Rode In On - 'Indio' MP3