Coachella Day 3

The Thrilling Conclusion to a Three Part Saga!!!!

Sunday was easily my favorite day.  Although I really only saw five complete acts, they were easily the best acts of the weekend, and having them back to back made them that much better.  

Local Natives

(Not So Great) Photo by Me

I started off the day with Local Natives, one of my favorite up and coming bands.  They hail from LA, and on stage they admitted that they had dreamed of playing Coachella as teens, and that this was a fantastic experience.  The same could certainly be said for the crowd.  They absolutely packed the place, not to mention the fact that it was 2 in the afternoon and they were competing against Owen Pallett, King Khan and the Shrines, and (sort of) Rusko.  They played their set with lots of fire, which was certainly fueled by their excellent double percussionist set up.  All the songs were packed with energy.  Some of the slower songs were still sung with lots of passion, and the (on some songs) four (!) vocalists' harmonies played off each other perfectly, making them certainly reminiscent of an LA-Indie Grizzly Bear or Fleet Foxes.  My two favorites on the album ("World News" "Camera Talk") were sped up a little bit, giving them lots of pep and getting the crowd moving.  Songs like "Airplanes" had the crowd "Ooohhoohhhhing" with the band.  "Sun Hands" though, which is a very good song on the album though not the best (IMHO), was by far the largest stand out and concluded the show with a bang.  They played an extended six minute version of the song, and when they broke it down, the vocals turned into a yell  which the entire crowd picked up on.  As soon as the break was over and the guitar riff comes in, the crowd went crazy.  It was a perfect finish to a nearly flawless show.  They really showed how much potential they have with this show, packing a tent with not just LA people but people from all over.

Rusko

Although I really like dub (dubstep), I realize I have never really talked about it on the blog, and I sort of think I never really will.  I'm not quite sure why; partly because I don't really know how to describe it and partly because as much as I love it it sort of all sounds the same to me.  This show though I will write about, just because it was the first time I have seen dub live and secondly because it was plain fun.  The setting: the Sahara tent, completely packed, 3:00, hotter in the tent than out.  The music: lots of dub with some more samples/electro in between that made it go so much harder when the dub dropped.  Tons of people their to have fun.  Lots of the typical dub funky dance.  Truckloads of mindless fun.  I actually worked my way all the way up to the front, which was quite a feat considering I started all the way in the back.  It was a fight, but it was worth making it to the point where the music rumbled your clothing.  A comedic thing from the show: watching people trying to figure out how to dance to a new beat after a shift in the music.

After Rusko I saw a little bit of Deerhunter (whom I love) from afar.  I also saw a little bit of Yo La Tengo.  Unfortunately, I found them to be very disappointing.  It seemed to my like they didn't really care to be there, and I think when you perform there is a certain pride you should take in your music, and it just didn't seem to show, but that's just me.  Don't get me wrong, I love them, but I just didn't enjoy what I saw (the first three songs... I was too disappointed to stay).  

This is where the day got incredible; from here on out I was at the Outdoor Stage (not the main stage) for the next three bands, probably the best streak of bands in the whole festival (In My Opinion).

Jonsi

Jonsi and his backing band (Photo by None other than...me!)

More Jonsi (and a guy's ear) Photo by Me

Jonsi was fortunately unaffected by the volcano eruption that occurred in none other than his homeland, Iceland.  For those of you who don't know, Jonsi is the lead singer of Sigur Ros, and this show was in support of his solo album Go, which is an excellent one just released recently.  He of course had a backing band though.  The show was eccentric and passionate, which I think are two words that completely capture the style of the album.  He of course used his invented "Hopelandic" (its not really lyrics that are givverish... it's more just to turn the vocals completely into an instrument in his words) on some songs, wore a strange tasseled (I think that's how you would describe it... take a look at the picture).  All the songs really had the slightly mystical feel that is achieved by the foreign "lyrics" (some were also in icelandic), strangely pitchshifted samples, and Jonsi's falsetto, as well as the excellent use of non traditional instruments  (I think there was a theremin in there but my friend says there wasn't...).  Anyways, I think the crowd, who seemed as if they were there early for Thom Yorke/Atoms for Peace and Phoenix was really surprised by a great show.  

Phoenix

Photo by Me

This show brought the crowd down if you will.  Of all the shows I saw (with maybe the exception of some of the shows in Sahara, the Rave tent), the crowd was probably the most into this one.  This was probably the most "sought after" show in terms of bands/celebrities... Jay-Z, Beyonce and Solange were all sitting right in front of me (I was front row for all three shows), as well as the singer from Passion Pit, Russell Simmons (although he came late and seemed to be there more for Thom), Muse (!) (They also came late though and seemed to be there for Thom) and more.  When Phoenix came on everybody went crazy.  They played through every song on Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix as well as a few older hits ("Consolation Prizes" and I think they also played "Run Run Run" sorry I didn't write down the setlist) that were some of their more rock oriented roots.  I've seen Phoenix before, and they played a great show then, but that show paled in comparison.  

This was one of the best shows I have ever seen - that's how good it was.  Part of it was because the crowd was so into it and knew virtually ever lyric to every song, part of it because they really played to what the crowd wanted I think/their strength by playing all of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, their poppiest/synthiest album.  The thing that's so great about that album is that every song on that album (except for maybe the three slower songs which are all in a row) could have opened the concert, so when they were all played, it was like a new wave of energy/joy was going through the crowd.  They of course opened with "Lisztomania" and closed with "1901."  Besides being a joyous/happy/poppy show, it was also in some ways a very humble show.  Their light/set guy was stuck on the other side of the pond because of the volcano, but instead of getting a new set design guy to do a new setup for the stage, they decided to just stick with a sparse stage and lighting; there were just a few white lights that occasionally moved over the band and once over the audience when they said "We want to see these people!"  As lead singer Thomas Mars said, "Tonight, it's just about the music."  

This was probably my favorite shot from all of Coachella.  Photo by me

Photo by Me

There were two very beautiful images in this show... the sun setting behind Phoenix and once when Thomas Mars asked the tech guy who was there to dim the lights, and when they came back up Thomas Mars was standing right over the crowd on the barricade singing to them.  Besides those two moments and all the massive sing-a-longs (so pretty much the whole concert...), my other favorite moment was probably "Love Like A Sunset, Pts. 1 & 2" which was also one of my favorites when I saw them before.  It was a long ten minute synth soundscape, that, now that I think about it, was coupled with a just finished sunset.  Pretty incredible sight.

Thom Yorke/Atoms for Peace

Photo by Me

As incredible as all the shows on Sunday were, this was hands down the best show of the weekend.  After waiting for an hour and the installment of some cool light fixtures, Thom Yorke, Flea, Nigel Godrich (Radiohead Producer), Mauro Rafosco, and Joey Waronker walked on stage to one of the largest crowds of the whole weekend despite inexplicably not being on the main stage (which resulted in me missing Spoon and Pavement, but there were absolutely zero regrets there, seeing as I got to see two incredible shows before hand and I was front row).  They started out (yes, this was just the beginning) by playing all of the Eraser straight through.  It was a completely different take though, and didn't really even feel like they were playing an album because of the style they used.  It was completely focused on the rhythm section, and with the two percussionist coupled with Flea's incredible slap bass skills, it took on a very funky/groovy (as in lots of rhythm grooves not as in "groovy baby") feel. 

Thom Yorke and Flea grooving to the rhythm based show (Photo by Me)

When they were playing through the Eraser, every song would start out as a just that, the song, but then would turn into long 5 to 10 minute jams.  Although Thom Yorke is incredible, in the Eraser part of the show it was Flea and the Rhythm section that really shined the most.  It was more of Thom Yorke's stage presence and almost his "MCing" that made him great in that part of the show.  Thom Yorke is normally very dour on stage, moaning the Radiohead lyrics, but here he was, to use a British word to describe a Brit, jolly, telling jokes and having fun on stage.  He pranced and writhed around the stage, grooving to the music just as much as the crowd was.  Flea also did his signature freak-out weird funky dance thing... very enjoyable to watch.  Oh his hair was also blue...  Nigel Godrich's synths, although not showy at all and staying mostly in the background, were played with the precision and thoughtfulness (i.e. they sounded like they were designed to perfectly complement the rest of the band's style) that could only be achieved by Radiohead's producer.

This photo illustrates how I (and most of the crowd) experienced Atoms for Peace/Thom Yorke: either grooving along to the music with my eyes closed, or having the intricate light fixtures meld with the music and the performers.
(Photo by Me)

This photNot one song in particular in the first half of the show really stood out because they were really just awesome jams.  It wasn't in stark contrast to the Phoenix concert right before; instead of tightly choreographed pop songs with 30,000 people singing, it was people closing their eyes and just entering their own world with the loose, spontaneous feeling grooves.  After playing straight through the Eraser, they took a brief leave.  Thom Yorke came back to open the encore, the rest of Atoms for Peace joining him later on.

Thom Yorke harmonizing with himself
Photo by Me

He started off with a brand new Atoms for Peace song, although this one was really just a brand new Thom Yorke song.  This song, if you didn't like the funk/rhythm style of the Eraser portion of the show, would certainly make you love the show even if you didn't like anything else in it.  It was Thom Yorke, an acoustic guitar, and a layering pedal.  It was an incredibly beautiful song, and it really showed why Thom Yorke is such an incredible and talented musician.  He harmonized with himself many times over in real time by using the layering pedals, all while crooning over a slow acoustic guitar piece.  It was truly beautiful.  Oh and it's called "Giving Up the Ghost," and let me tell you, it is a bit better than the similarly titled "Giving Up the Gun" (that was sarcastic because the Thom Yorke song is about a thousand times better than the Vampire Weekend one). 

 I will embed the video below, but I did not actually take it (I was actually a lot closer).  My only hesitation in embedding the video is that because it is from youtube, you won't get to experience it in its full glory/sound quality, but oh well it is worth it, and the AV quality is really good anyways. 

T

he person who took this video actually has great videos of every song in the show, which if you are like me and are a diehard Radiohead/Thom Yorke fan and want to experience all over again/for the first time, they are worth watching.

He than went on top lay some Radiohead tunes, namely the ballad "Airbag" (which they actually didn't play when I saw Radiohead at the Hollywood Bowl), and one of the great/"shocking" (when it first came out) opening songs for an album of all time, Kid A's "Everything In Its Right Place."  Then the band came back out for a rendition of Radiohead's "Paperbag Writer," returning to some of the more bass oriented roots of the first half of the show.  They finished up with "Judge Jury and Executioner" (it wasn't the Radiohead song though Myxamatosis, which has that in the name), and then the two songs from Thom Yorke's Twilight single, "The Hollow Earth" and "Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses" (which are both excellent songs despite being associated with Twilight).  They went out with a bang (more like a sonic boom...) with those two songs, getting really down and funky.  The whole show was really one of the best shows I've seen, but it was sort of hard to write about because of the fact that it was composed of long, funky grooves/jams.  

Afterwards, we walked over to see the Gorillaz, but we were just so blown away (as one of the people befriended at the show said "I can now die happily.")  by Atoms that we knew Gorillaz would sort of feel like  a letdown, which as much as I love them they did.  They just seemed a little boring from what we saw (a few songs).  We then went over to see Sly Stone (after his 5 hour delay), but it was just awful.  He just seemed so messed up.  Not that I ever would anyways, but it makes me not want to ever do cocaine...

And  so we went home without seeing all of the Gorillaz, but we had an incredible weekend and had just seen an incredible show.  Plus I had school the next day... 

To sum up my Coachella experience (I was thinking of doing a "People of the Coach" picture gallery, but I think it would be a little cheesy...): 75,000 people without a care in the world, just there to have fun and experience good music.  Lots of diverse people... if you can imagine or conjure up any strange style, I guarantee there was somebody like that there.  I was thinking of writing something like "I've never seen more... multicolored rayband wayfarers, bros without a shirt on, rave finger light gloves, fat men with ponytails, skinny men with ponytails, folk beards, etc." but I realized I could put absolutely anything in that spot because there were so many different types of people.  

In Six Words: 

The Best Weekend of My Life

-- A Teenage Elephant

Coachella Day 2

So, Day 2!
I started off Day 2 with two of my friend's choices, but both were enjoyable.  The first was RX Bandits, a sort of metal band with ska/reggae influences from Long Beach California.  Not really something I would ever listen to on its own, but at a concert it was pretty fun.  They drew a very large crowd for a noon show, as did the next band, Porcupine Tree, a pretty famous prog/psych rock band from the ?80s?.  This one I just sort of laid down on the field not to far from the stage and just took in Coachella as a whole plus some sort of trippy music from the band.  Nothing too special I thought, but I do think everybody should check them out because I do think they have a very interesting style.

Camera Obscura

Photo by Me

Camera Obscura played of course a lively show, but they were definitely dwarfed by Girls, who were playing the next tent over.  I opted to see Camera Obscura as I have seen Girls already (review here), and I got a front row spot for Camera Obscura which set me up for front row for Beach House.  The band meshed well together, playing to the crowd's pep on an early Saturday afternoon with songs like "French Navy," their ultra poppy/happy tune that got everybody singing.





Beach House

Photo by Me

Photo by Me

 Beach House finally realized their potential with Teen Dream, and it really showed in their performance.  The place was jam packed, with hundreds of people spilling out of the tent and into the sun.  Victoria Legrand's deep vocals echoed out across the tent over the crowd, putting everybody into what I like to call "the Grizzly Bear Trance"... everybody sort of closes their eyes and just sways to the music.  They were one of the few day bands that had set design, which consisted of these strange different sized pinata looking things dangling from the ceiling behind them.  Not quite sure what I thought of them, but whatever.  The music itself sounded straight off the record; lots of reverb and soaring vocals.  The most interesting part of the show I thought was how the music was actually played.  The guitarist had something that he was playing with his feet, which I am embarrassed to say i didn't what it was, although it looked/sounded like a "foot organ" if you will.  It created a very interesting performance aesthetic; Victoria Legrand with her wild tousled hair moaning out to the crowd, the relaxed, smiling with the eyes closed drummer, and the focused, sitting guitarist/samplist/foot organist.  Songs like "10 Mile Stereo" and "Gila" really seemed to move the crowd.  They even did one "new" song, a cover of Gucci.  Unfortunately I missed Temper Trap at Beach House, but it was definitely worth it.

Photo by Me

Photo by Me

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes

Before we go any further, there is a funny (and embarrassing) story to be told, involving me and a faux pas (committed by none other than yours truly).  So as I have said before (I think), I was front row for Camera Obscura and Beach House.  As you can see from my photos, there is an area in between front row and the stage where photographers/band members can enjoy shows.  In between Camera Obscura and Beach House, a pretty girl who was clearly from a band by her look/a person taking a photo with her sat down right in front of me in the area for bands/photographers.  I knew she was in a band and she looked a lot like one of the girls from Camera Obscura, but I wasn't sure.  My friend said "Yeah that's her," so I say to her "You guys were great!"  She gives me this incredibly strange look as if I am tripping or something and says after a long pause "I like your glasses."  It was a pretty strange response and I didn't know what to say so I just sort of said "Um, thank you" and she kept on looking at me and laughed.  A few minutes later I heard someone say to her "You guys are on next right?"  and she responded "Yeah, but I am so excited for Beach House and I just have to see a few songs."  And wham! it dawns on me... she was looking at me funny because she hadn't played yet!  Now, fast-forward an hour or two and switch locations to the Outdoor Stage (not the mainstage though).  You may be asking "What does this have to do with Ed Sharpe?"  Well here's the kicker.  I am a big Ed Sharpe fan, but had never seen a picture of them.  My friend and I get to the Ed Sharpe stage just as they are starting and look who is on stage... none other than the girl from my faux pas!  It was Jane of Ed Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, who just about every Ed Sharpe fan/male Ed Sharpe fan worships!  I thought it was fairly funny, so I figured I'd include, but looking back on it I realize just how awful a story teller I am...

Photo by Me (I can put another shot up with Jane if you like)

So, back to the concert itself.  This concert was about as close to a Summer of Love concert as I think you are going to get from any contemporary band.  Lots of long hair, songs about love, lots and lots of people on stage, kids on stage, a singing, joyful crowd, etc.  It was a very hippie crowd, but also a very dedicated crowd.  Every song the entire crowd seemed to know the lyrics, and when Alexander (the lead male for those of you who think the lead is Edward Sharpe) and other members (including Jane) ventured out into the crowd, it seemed as if everybody swayed in to embrace them.  "Home" of course brought the house down.  Comedically, the crowd replaced the classic whistling with humming... I don't think the crowd was quite skilled/sober enough to whistle.

The xx

As much as I love The xx and as much as the crowd seemed to love them (it was mobbed), it wasn't really a thrilling show.  The music is enjoyable live just because it is good music, but slightly static and pretty much different in no way whatsoever from the album.  This wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that it is not really interesting music to play live in my opinion.  There was one very interesting thing in an otherwise boring show (In My Opinion...) they didn't wear all black for what must be the first time!  Instead... they wore white!  

Photo by Me

Well I left the show after just a few songs, partly because it wasn't wonderful and partly because my friend (and I) had some plans for the rest of the day... unfortunately they did not involve that stage, which had an incredible lineup that day: The Temper Trap, Edward Sharpe, The xx, Hot Chip, MGMT.  This meant that I would miss Hot Chip and MGMT, as well as the Dirty Projectors who were on another stage.

So what are these plans we had that made me miss three bands that were all supposed to have had amazing shows?  To understand, we must first... TAKE ANOTHER TRIP TO STORYLAND.... (and this one will definitely get my friend mad... he hates this one).

Rewind three years.  2007.  I am twelve years old, have never been to a concert.  My friend and I are both obsessed with Muse.  We have tickets to go see Muse at the Forum in Inglewood.  His brother is taking us, along with one of his friends.  Make a long story short, we get there and as we are going in, we realize there are only three tickets, and four of us.  My friend gets the boot.  For the past three years, my friend has been dying to see Muse.  Muse at Coachella is a chance to fulfill his dream.  So how would we make up for not getting to see the concert three years ago (almost to the day)?  Getting front row for Muse at Coachella.

Muse

Now, I would like to say one thing real quickly.  I'm not as obsessed with Muse anymore, especially there new album which for the most part is awful (with the exception of the symphony), but they are still a fantastic band, in particular their early material and their live show.  They aren't really this blog's type of band though, but I still had to see this show.

So how did we get front row?  We got there straight after leaving the xx and stocking up on water... we were two and half+ hours early.  This meant we had to sit through Coheed and Cambria, who were awful in my opinion, and Faith No More, who I knew nothing about and put on one of the stranger shows I have seen (which was still pretty bad, and included Danny DeVito running half naked across the stage... writing that sentence was very enjoyable, seeing it was not).  What it also meant though was that we were front row for Muse.  And Muse is the type of band were front row is synonymous with epic.

Matt Bellamy rocking out on his Kaoss Pad-embedded guitar.
Photo by Me

Matt Bellamy on a Beautiful Piano.  Clear Cover, Light Up Keys
Photo by Me

Muse, as usual, put on an extremely rockin' show that managed to pull off things like green rave lasers, a keytar, light up shuttershades (!?), and weird robot animations (which they actually had the first time I saw them) without making it seemed over produced or cheesy.  Well maybe the robots/some of the other images on that were a little cheesy but whatever.  They really are a stadium/arena rock band.  The show featured some ballads (the always beautiful piano/megaphone piece "Feeling Good" - possibly my favorite song of the night), some rockers ("Uprising", which as bad as it is on the album is pretty fun live, and "Knights of Cydonia") and some tortured love love songs ("Time Is Running Out" "Hysteria").  Every synth sounded perfect, every riff sounded tight, every solo sounded creative and epic... all in all it was a Muse show.  One more thing that demonstrates just how cool Matt Belamy is... he is cool enough to pull off a change from neon pink pants to neon blue pants mid show.... The song "New Born" really demonstrated their range; it started off with the frantic keyboards, and then it changes to the dirty guitar sound midway through the song seamlessly.  There was some great jamming in between songs thanks to Matt Bellamy's Kaoss-Pad-Guitar, but not as much as at one of their own shows.  The only real disappointment was that they didn't get to play as much stuff as I would have liked because it was not their own show (which generally would last about 3 hours and two encores), although they did enjoy an encore.

Matt Bellamy.  Plus some lasers.  And a keytar.
Photo by Me

Unfortunately, also had to miss Major Lazer and Flying Lotus (whose new album is coming out... it's fantastic.).  We did stay for Tiesto, which featured some awesome bass drops and great trance/house music, but not much else.  Oh and bass that could be felt for miles.

All in All, Day 2 was a day were I got to see some great bands in the morning, and despite missing some great bands in the evening, still had a great concert experience.

-- A Teenage Elephant.

Coachella Day 1

 Hey Yall--
First of all you can check out all my photos from this and the coming posts here (I took over 300 but most of them weren't that great).
Yeasayer
So I arrived at the Empire Polo Club (the grounds that Coachella is on) at around 3:30, and after cutting about two and a half hours of line and avoiding the logistics nightmare, I made it to the Mojave tent just before Yeasayer started playing (they started at 4:20), so I was towards the back.  They packed the tent commanded the stage well and definitely got the crowd in a trance by starting with the slow, distorted opener from Odd Blood, "The Children."  At times, the synths didn't quite come through and the vocals sounded a little overwhelmed by the drums, but overall they played a crowd pleasing psych show, my personal favorites being their tried and true songs "2080" and "Ambling Alp."  Unfortunately, it was during the day and at Coachella, so the crowd wasn't treated to their signature light show, but it was still a very enjoyable first concert, even if it wasn't a perfect show.

Photo by Yours Truly

 Afterwards, I wandered into the Sahara Tent (the electro/rave/dub tent) for a few minutes of Aeroplane, which was essential just some good DJ-ing, but the tent wasn't packed as it would be for the rest of the weekend and the crowd wasn't as into it, so it just sort of felt like any other set by an electro/DJ artist.  When they did their remix of Friendly Fire's "Paris" they did get the energy levels up.

I saw one song by Ra Ra Riot, so I don't really have too much to say, except they looked like they were 16!

Then I saw the Specials, a really big ska band from the 80's (I did not know that, my friend told me that... I don't know if you guys knew or not so I included it...).  They had lots of energy and they were very danceable (I mean they are a ska band come on), but it didn't stand out to me in particular to write about on this blog, just because I don't love to listen to ska when it's not live.

Unfortunately, after that I had to miss two bands I would have loved to write about on here, Passion Pit and Grizzly Bear.  Over the course of the weekend I saw lots of bands that my friend didn't want to see, so I saw some bands he wanted to see.  We each tried some new stuff.  In this case it was Them Crooked Vultures.  It wasn't my style of music (harder rock), but it was certainly fun to see just because the crowd was really into it, plus John Paul Jones (of Led Zeppelin for my less musically educated readers) can rip it up on any instrument whatsoever, and Dave Grohl (of Nirvana) is such a rocker that it was still pretty fun, despite the loss.

LCD Soundsystem

Photo by Sam Wolk (the Teenage Elephant)

This was a show I was dying to see for pretty much ever, as LCD Soundsystem was one of the first bands that I liked when I started liking the music I like now when I got the album Sound of Silver when it first came out.  The show featured some of James Murphy's goofy antics, an all white getup and some excellent music.  The songs really emphasized the band's style of using repetitive drum beats for minutes on end and vocals that are usually essentially just spoken and then repeated in a shout.  If you dig LCD's style than the show was awesome; the music grooved like no other and everybody was dancing under a massive disco ball that hung over an otherwise sparsely lit stage.  At the back of the stage, Jay-Z's equipment loomed in the background, and when James Murphy was told he only had time for one more song when he still had three left, he went into a nearly 15 minute long rendition of "Yeah" that to me seemed essentially like a big "Fuck You Jay-Z" as people in the crowd either starting throwing up the Jay-Z diamond or dancing like there was no tomorrow.  After that he played yet another song, "New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down" before yielding the stage to Jay-Z's roadies.  The best songs were definitely "Yeah" and the always moving "All My Friends."  Other favorites were the new song "I Can Change" and the long, comedic "Losing My Edge."  Unfortunately he didn't play "Someone Great," the first song I ever heard by him and one of my all time favorite songs.

After that, unfortunately I didn't get to see Vampire Weekend (my friend really dislikes them, so we didn't see them), but hearing them from afar they did sound like they put on a good live show.

Sahara Tent
After we went to LCD we went to Sahara.  This is when the tent starting heating up, both literally and figuratively (even though it was 11 at night).  The tent was absolutely packed when we got there with Benny Benassi mid way through his set; there must have been about 20,000 people there.  Lemme tell you (it's hard to say that without sounding pretty stupid...) this tent is all about partying and nailing the bass drops.  It was very fun, though nothing in particular to write about, besides the fact that you get REALLY tired.  We left at around 11:30, which was before Deadmau5 went on, which we would have liked to have seen but we were just too tired and we knew we would have a big day on Saturday.  We then saw a couple of Jay-Z songs and left.

So despite missing a few bands and not seeing too many shows, Friday was an enjoyable day and served as great warmup for the front row madness that would be Saturday and Sunday.

--A Teenage Elephant

PS Yall should check out the Antlers cover of The xx... very interesting.

This Is Happening Right Now (Get it?)

Hey yall --

SUPER quick post.

Not too much going on, except LCD Soundsystem's third album is now available to listen to!  Head over to his site HERE.  I suggest you click over right away!  I'm really digging Dance Yrself Clean, I Can Change, and You Wanted a Hit right now.  Also the new MGMT album is AWESOME.  More on it later.

Also, I will be attending Coachella this weekend... yeah.  More on that soon!!!!!

Back from the Break!

Sorry for having no posts in the last two weeks I've just been busy with finals but now I am done.  Here's some stuff that's been going on!  The biggest thing these past few weeks has been the release of two of the most generally anticipated albums of the new year, Transference and Contra, so I will start out with those.

Spoon :: Transference

On Tuesday Spoon released their 7th studio album, Transference, which is a follow up to their first big commercial success, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.  In this album, they still maintain the distinct Spoon sound, but they are more adventurous with it as well, perhaps banking on the notion that they are now big enough and have enough of a "completist" fan base that they will sell plenty of records regardless of whether people like the different sound.  I thouroughly enjoyed listening to this album, although in my opinion, it is not quite as good as say Kill the Moonlight or Girls Can Tell, which are both excellent in my opinion.

mp3: Got Nuffin'  (in other news this song was featured heavily in Josh Schwartz' tv show Chuck's most recent episode.  Spoon actually gained some of their initial recognition from "That's the Way We Get By" being played in another one of Schwartz' show, The OC.  If you haven't seen Chuck, I recommend it.)
(Update: Sorry I got requested to remove my link...)

Vampire Weekend :: Contra
 This came out on the 9th, but I didn't get a chance to write about, so now that I have listened to it fairly thoroughly I can give you my opinion on it.  While there are songs that are good on the album, such as "White Sky," "Taxi Cab," "Run," and "I Think Ur a Contra," on the whole the album feels like it doesn't quite know what sort of sound it is going for, which in this case takes away from it.  "White Sky" and "Taxi Cab" both sound very similar to Discovery, Ros Botmanglij's electronic summer side project with Ra Ra Riot's Wes Miles.  "Taxi Cab" and "I Think Ur a Contra" are both slower, more ballad-like tunes, which certainly outshine some of the other frantic, all over the place songs on the album.  I think that this capacity for songs that seem slower, more deliberate and planned out do show some growth in the band, but songs like the completely uncoordinated "California English," which I won't even get into how much I dislike, and the inane "Holiday" turn an album that could have been a fairly good one with a couple of filler songs into an album that leaves a feeling of missed opportunities and definitely not wanting more.

Even the naming of the song "I Think Ur a Contra" takes away from the album for me; the song is good, but the obnoxious use of "Ur," even if Vampire Weekend are trying to be annoying on purpose (which they probably are), is just pretentious and unfortunately takes away from a good song.  It's part of the whole "We try and alienate people on purpose because we have our own style" deal, but I'm just not buying into it.  I will say though that I do like the naming of "Diplomat's Son," which has almost got to be a reference to the great Creedence Clearwater Revival song "Fortunate Son" (it has a lyric "I ain't no senator's son / no).  Normally naming of songs doesn't make a difference to an album, but for this album it seemed to have a strange impact.

Bottom line: an album with a couple of good songs that are certainly in a new direction, but overall it does not live up to the previous album.

mp3: White Sky
(Update: Sorry I got requested to move my link...)

-- A Teenage Elephant

In Other News
The Coachella lineup was officially announced, and it's excellent this year.  Tickets went on sale yesterday.


Benefits
All of Radiohead are playing a special benefit show for Haiti at the Music Box here in LA on Saturday.  They have also said that they are currently in the studio in the middle of recording new material... 
Bon Iver, Britt Daniel of Spoon, and St. Vincent will all be playing a special benefit show in Brooklyn on Saturday.

Album News
Owen Pallett (formerly Final Fantasy) released his new album Heartland.
mp3: Lewis Takes Action

OK GO released their new album Of the Blue Color of the Sky.
mp3: This Too Shall Pass

RJD2 released his new album Colossus.
mp3: Games You Can Win

Surfer Blood released their new album Astro Coast.
mp3: Swim

The New Pornographers announced May 4th as the official release date for their fifth studio album Together.

She & Him (i.e. singer-actress Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward) will release their second album, Volume Two, on March 23rd.
mp3: In the Sun

Photo by Taea Thale