R3hab - Coachella 2012

I feel like the best way to prepare for an electronic artist who will be doing a DJ set and not performing their own stuff live, is to go ahead and get your hands on a recording of one of their more recent DJ sets.

R3hab (Fadil El Ghoul) is a Dutch DJ/Producer who has been doing some really cool remixes for everyone from Lady Gaga to LMFAO to Kaskade, and has had some awesome collaborations with some of the biggest names in house and techno. I have his set from EDC last year and while its decent, I just downloaded his set from Escape From Wonderland and it's far better. Afrojack has seen the potential in this 25 year old, and has signed R3hab to his own imprint label, Wall Recordings.

Wolf Gang - Coachella 2012

A British alternative singer and musician, Max McElligott started Wolf Gang in London in 2009. While Wolf Gang live is a three or four piece band, McElligott did all the recordings for Wolf Gang's debut album Suego Faults, by himself. Released in 2011, Suego Faults is a well composed slice of symphonic rock (I just learned that this is a genre which is rock, based on classical style composition). Sounding similar to some of the electro-pop bands he has supported, including The Naked and Famous, Metric, and Miike Snow, McElligott's voice goes into a falsetto that brings out a feeling of longing in the listener.



http://youtu.be/wvOWcjYdsHQ
http://youtu.be/6bpPyRPnnRs

The Midnight Beast - Coachella 2012

I don't even know where to begin with The Midnight Beast. Doing great parodies of popular songs since 2009, they are hilarious and clever, and internet famous. Probably most known for their Ke$ha - "Tik Tok" parody they have some other pretty amazing parodies, including Jay Sean's "Down", Mirah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You", and Kate Perry's "E.T.". They also do original skits and songs, the best one I've seen so far is "Wands" a song based on being a rejected wizard from the magical world of Harry Potter.



Based out of London, The Midnight Beast is made up of three boys in their early twenties, Stefan James Donald John Abingdon, Andrew Francis "Dru" Wakely, and Ashley Neil Horne. Stefan and Dru have both been involved in music prior to forming The Midnight Beast, while Stefan and Ashley have previous acting experience. Together the three have some great dance routine's and a lot of fun. I look forward to seeing them get the crowd excited on Friday!

Sure to be played at their set:
 http://youtu.be/3PPnub_wyJ0
http://youtu.be/5OlTmTfWXsY

Based on their live videos, I feel too old, and too male, to be one of their fans, but hey they make me laugh, and they have some clever wordplay, so I'll be there with all the teeny-boppers screaming their lyrics.

EMA - Coachella 2012

I started listening to Erika M. Anderson's first solo album Past Life Martyred Saints (2011) last night, its depressing, but in a very beautiful way, roughly in the same way that Grandaddy's "Everything Beautiful is Far Away" is sad yet beautiful. EMA's lyrics don't always make sense, it seems like something stuck between poetry and stream of consciousness, but there is meaning there if you look for it. It must really be tough for a 6 foot tall blonde woman from South Dakota, who may or may not be sure of her sexuality. Her sound is what is really interesting, it kinda sounds like Sleighbells took too many downers and is still trying to perform, I guess this can be attributed to the low quality of the recording equipment they used. I'm sure a lot of people will just think its noise, but its intentionally crafted to evoke a strong inner feeling, and it really gives her vocals a lot more power than if she just sang over a guitar and drums. Its really hard to hear her words sometimes so it helps to read them as you listen. Be warned! You might be even more confused or depressed if you do that.

While I think EMA is really cool, listening to her live in the middle of the day at Coachella does not seem the best setting. She will be playing at Rickshaw Stop on March 1st, and I think I might check her out there.

The standout track of Past Life Martyred Saints is "The Grey Ship":
EMA - End Of Year Bundle by souterraintransmissions

Ximena Sariñana - Coachella 2012

This mexican singer/songwriter was born to producer/director Fernando Sariñana and screenwriter Carolina Rivera, on October 29th, 1985. While this might explain how she began as an actress and  ended up with two solid albums and an EP, it does not take away from the fact that this woman is gifted. Her most recent album, Ximena Sariñana (it's self titled), contains a lot more singing in English than her first album, Mediocre. She has a beautiful voice, reminding me of other strong female artists like Norah Jones and  Michelle Branch. She is much more adventurous with sounds though, adding little bubbly electronics to the background, courtesy of Greg Kurstin (The Bird and the Bee, also one of the producers behind Lily Allen). Also labelled a pop singer, Ximena Sariñana's songs are catchy and melodic in a very cute innocent way. If you want some further insight into her songwriting process on her self titled album, which involves input from members of bands like Rancid, TV on the Radio, and Aqualung, check out this NY Times article, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/arts/music/ximena-sarinanas-self-titled-new-album.html.
While her two albums are very different they are very good in their own ways, and the wider audience gathered from her album Ximena Sariñana, should hopefully launch her onto the international stage with some success. I missed her at Outside Lands so I hope to catch her Friday afternoon at Coachella.





Tell me this song doesn't remind you of Norah Jones: http://youtu.be/ZW11UtCCZVw
Also this cover of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Maps" is amazing!: http://youtu.be/oEKTEnT1MV0

Kendrick Lamar - Coachella 2012

So I'll start off with the fact that I'm not a huge hip hop or rap fan. But there are certain artists that have intrigued me, such as Busdriver, The Beastie Boys, Kanye West, E40, Mos Def, and some others. Kendrick Lamar is a west coast rapper, born and raised in Compton. So it makes sense that his idols are Tupac and Dr. Dre. He has been steadily releasing material since 2003, when he was only 16. He has been heralded as the new prince of West Coast Rap, appearing on stage with Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre, and I wouldn't be surprised if he shows up on stage sunday night to rap a bit with Dre and Snoop. He'll be doing his own set early on friday though. He raps well, and that's about the extent that I can review, raps not my thing, decide for yourselves.



http://youtu.be/QjlFqgRbICY

The Dear Hunter - Coachella 2012

Dear Coachella,
You have impressed me, I can't believe that I have started researching the artists for this year's performance, and all of them so far have amazing potential. Thank you.

Now on to The Dear Hunter, which started out as a side project of Casey Crescenzo who was in the post-hardcore band The Recieveing End of Sirens. Based out of Boston, The Dear Hunter has gone through many member changes, the most current lineup I could find has Casey Crescenzo on Vocals, Piano, and Guitar; Nick Crescenzo on Drums, Percussion, and Vocals; Maxwell Tousseau on Guitar and Vocals; Erick Serna on Guitar and Vocals; Nate Patterson on Bass, and Vocals. Casey Crescenzo had a vision, and put his heart and soul into it starting in 2003, but it wasn't until the first album in 2006 that he was able to bring the ideas to the public. Act I: The Lake South, The River North, began what is to be a six act story arc, all about the birth, life and the abrupt death of a boy(The Dear Hunter) set around the dawn of the 20th century. So far the band has released three acts, and then took an intermission to do something really interesting. They released not one, but nine EPs in the summer of 2011, each corresponding to a color. The entire collection was later released as The Color Spectrum and contains a total of 36 songs.

Having a decently large catalog to choose from, it is tough to pick out any one song to represent The Dear Hunter, especially since their sound varies from emo-punk to alternative rock to beautifully arranged melodies.  Sometimes they remind me of Panic at the Disco, but I think only some of their songs share the same genre as Panic, while the rest is very original and captivating. I'll have to give more of their stuff a listen, but until then I'll leave you with:




http://youtu.be/HSm06SwNI18
http://youtu.be/we7UKVbJX_o
http://youtu.be/wUmzZmngxP4

honeyhoney - Coachella 2012

honeyhoney, obviously a girl and boy band, Suzanne Santo on vocals and other stuff, and Ben Jaffe on guitar and other stuff. Introduced by a mutual friend in LA sometime during 2007, they began songwriting together and released their debut EP Loose Boots and debut album First Rodeo in 2008. They have since released Billy Jack in 2011.  Their sound ranges from crossover jazz to neo-soul to alt-country, and the best way I can describe them is if you took something like, The Submarines or Best Coast, but made it bluesy and  country. They even have some South-of-the-border guitar sounds, which really makes them a diverse sounding duo. While its hard to tell if they will be good live, you should decide for yourself based on this cover of Smashing Pumpkins "1979",



and then give their song Little Toy Gun a listen.

Hello Seahorse! - Coachella 2012

With a name like Hello Seahorse! I immediately hoped I would like this band. While I was expecting something strange and actually Japanese(Don't ask me how I got there, I guess seahorse's remind me of Japan?), I stumbled upon maybe the third Spanish singing band that I instantly liked(the first was Manu Chao, then SKA-P). Formed in Mexico City in 2005, Hello Seahorse! is a four piece, Lo Blondo(Denise Gutierrez), Bonnz!(Gabriel G. De León), Oro De Neta(Fernando Burgos) and Joe(José Borunda). Described as Rock-Pop, I would say they had a bit more electronic sounds than this title implies, but not to the point of being an Electro-Pop band. They are a strange bunch, I was going to attempt some translation of their songs but read a blurb somewhere that it's pointless because their lyrics are surrealist anyways. Checking out their offical youtube videos gives you a sense of what a surrealist modern rock band from Mexico is like...


Also not to be missed:
http://youtu.be/mqb2C9LmeDg
http://youtu.be/ImDMgtnrHTM

Having three albums and an EP, and starting in 2005, you'd think I was mixing up the info from The Sheepdogs, but I triple checked it, and I am not. Interesting band, I also want to check out their set, looks like they won't let down live. Oh and according to an interviewer of Lo Blondo, the name is something you might exclaim if you ran into an underwater equestrian, or for that matter anything pleasantly surprising in life. Sounds good to me, it certainly caught my attention.

http://soundcloud.com/helloseahorse

I must also confess the name reminded me of Drinking out of Cups, Seahorses foreva!

The Sheepdogs - Coachella 2012

This rock group from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada(somewhere north of Montana to give you an idea) focuses on melody, harmony, guitar solos and general feel-goodery. Comprised of Ewan Currie(Guitar and Vocals), Leot Hanson (Guitar), Ryan Gullen(Bass and Backing Vocals), Sam Corbett(Drums and Backing Vocals); these rockers pull their influence from 60's and 70's rock. They really have that old timey heavy guitar rock sound down, some nice riffs and a solid melody. The vocals aren't lacking either. Something similar to The Black Keys actually, they just don't have the discography to compete or the amount of good songs, but with three albums and an EP they are gathering momentum. Formed in 2005, they have had time to realize what makes a live performance good, and judging from youtube videos I think they have it figured out. Expect a good rock show while you sip the first beer of friday.








They also have some great inspired by iconic rock song songs! check out
http://youtu.be/fAnHVTiB0pk (Pink Flyod's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond")
http://youtu.be/tEKP2ZNWoTA (The Who's "Who Are You")

LA RIOTS - Coachella 2012

"Formed on the 15th anniversary of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, the group was named as a reflection of their aggressive and rebellious sound."(soundcloud.com/lariots) The duo of Daniel Le Disko and John O'Brien, who started mixing together in 2007, are some of the first DJs in Los Angeles to create a blend of dance and indie music for the club. With years of experience behind each of them, they bring a level of expertise to the DJ booth that is much appreciated. Unfortunately the duo split amicably in 2009, when LeDisko wanted to expand into further genres, while J.O.B. wanted to focus on production. Fortunately LA RIOTS lives on with the chance meeting by LeDisko of DJ/Produce Jon Pegnato in San Bernadino in late 2009. The group now focuses a bit more on the techno and drum and bass, but have also found time to create their own productions.

With remixes of songs from artists like Crystal Castles, The Ting Tings, Chromeo, Soulwax, Nero and Justice; they are poppy and indie and electronic all at once. In a live performance they keep the energy of the crowd at a constant level. It's too bad they'll be pretty early in the day on friday, but expect a dedicated crowd to be dancing anyways.

If you haven't given them a listen yet, I would highly recommend a 45 minute mix they did back in 2008:

LA Riots Remixes Vol. 1 by LA Riots

and then check their soundcloud for newer releases.