To be honest the past year hasn't seen very much good fresh indie music. Sure you have groups like Grouplove and Gotye that really broke through quick but that didn't really happen till the tail end of the year. Other than that though there really hasn't been a lot of good new talent coming out that has had the potential to do really well. First time I saw Harriet was a couple months ago while reviewing a show for Chasing Kings. Harriet was the opener and by the time they finished their set I was scurrying over to find the band to ask the name of their band. Few weeks after that they released an EP that was so damn good I can't stop listening to it. Every track on it is incredible and the best part is they are letting people download it for free from their website here. They also just released a music video for the first track off their EP. Cool video, boobies, drinking, Hawaiin shirts. Can't go wrong with that combination.
I remember in 2010 I saw Dada Life at EDC where they played this song unfamiliar to me that had incredibly catchy vocals, great structure, and big drop. First thing that came to mind was either A. This song is someone else's that their mixing or B. Unreleased track. I assumed the latter because if the track was already out it would have garnered a lot of attention. So I did what I always do when I hear something that I like and don't know what it is. Jot down notes to be able to track it down later. Only problem is I never was able to find anything. Until now, February 2012. At first all I could find were a multitude of videos of them playing it live but never an MP3. It drove me fucking insane! Recently Cazzette did a remix of the song which has just become known as "Rolling Stone T Shirt" yet I have never read a single damn thing about why this song was never officially released. Still no original song out just this remix which is still very good and has managed to calm me down a bit. But I still wonder WHY! Maybe they ran into some legal issues with the track, who knows. Even finding a link to download this remix was somewhat of a hassel. The only thing I know is if the original version of this song is ever released it's going to be a monster track. It will definitely get Dada Life much more attention. Check out them performing the orignal live and the remix below.
I've posted about Luke Holland before but it looks like he's once again strayed from his normal metalcore drum covers to do a dubstep cover. Pulls it off pretty well, watch it below and check out some of his other videos on his Youtube channel.
Well the official Coachella lineup got released yesterday so thought I would dive into some of my initial thoughts of the lineup. Obviously I can't cover every band and whether or not it was a good choice but I will go over some of the highlights for each day going from top to bottom of the lineup.
Day 1
The first day headliner is Black Keys. Personally I've never really got into the band. I think they are a great band but I can't really get my rocks off to them. It's a little disappointing to be honest. Yes, the band is good and has been around for about a decade but they didn't really start blowing up till about 8 months ago. Swedish House Mafia will obviously headline the Sahara tent (dance tent) and I saw them at EDC 2 years ago and I'm sure they will go balls out and kill it. Definitely the buzz band of the day goes to Refused. They broke up in 1998 and are one of my favorite bands so I'm sooooo pumped to be able to witness them getting back together for Coachella. Insanely influential band to music so fingers crossed they kill it. Also, if they bring out the Bloody Beetroots to do that song they did together I'm punching whoever is closest to me in the face. Afrojack playing again....big woop...get to see him do his shitty fist pumps again and watch thousands of college kids roll their faces off. Very excited for M83, they've recently seen a ton of success with their hit 'Midnight City' and very excited to see a big crowd for them. Amon Tobin will be the talk of the day most likely. His live set is mind boggling.
One of the most interesting artists on the lineup is Madeon. He's a 17 year old producer that found a lot of success briefly for some of his remixes and a mashup he did that went viral called 'Pop Culture'. The crazy thing is his name is pretty high up on the lineup, which doesn't always 100% mean they are playing way later in the day but it's a pretty damn good indication. The thing that is crazy is he is above Alesso, Sebastian, Datsik, and Feed Me..... Going to be hard trying to follow up those well established djs. Sebastian btw is insane live and Alesso is one artist that I am most excited to see.
Day 2
Radiohead headlining which is fitting. I love Radiohead and I saw them a few years back and to be honest it wasn't as good as people hyped it up. They were still great but people speak of Radioheads live performance like it was seeing your new born baby for the first time or something like that. Bon Iver is going to be unbelievable, I've heard he's insanely good live so pumped to see that. Not a very big fan of David Guetta but I will admit his live set is pretty damn awesome. Kaskade is a toss up, saw him in 08 at Coachella and it kicked ass and then saw him at EDC 2 years ago and it blew. Miike Snow will be fucking awesome, saw them in LA about a year ago and it rocked my world. Manchester Orchestra hot off of the Pac Tour with Deer Hunter and I missed the tour but excited to catch them both at Coachella. Grouplove will be great, they've been blowing up and I hope Coachella reflects that by giving them a great set time.
Day 3
Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, this will be interesting. Having hip hop artists perform is always a very risky move because they aren't showmen. They don't know how to dress up an act and make it spectacular which is typically what Coachella headliners do. I know critics will say "well it's about the music" and sure I agree but when you are playing a festival where the majority of the artists sink a great deal of resources into live visuals, props, costumes, and just overall creating another element to their live performance hip hop acts often don't get remembered among the rest. This is the last day of Coachella and they are headlining which instantly puts the pressure of sending people home with a bang on their shoulders. If they plan on just strolling across stage with microphones in their hands with just a banner behind them and bringing out random hip hop artists no one knows it's not going to go well. Kanye pulled it off last year but he went all out with his stage production. Also, I think people are assuming Dre will stick to The Chronic and 2001 and Snoop Dogg will perform Doggystyle. Let's hope so. This has the potential to be really damn good but also a disaster. I'm curious to see if Justice or Avicii headline the Sahara tent. Avicii has seen an insane amount of success this past year and Justice released an album as well but sidetracked a little from their electro style towards a rock sound. I could see Justice being on mainstage and Avicii headlinging Sahara. At the Drive In back together after 11 years, shit is going to get wild for that, way pumped. La Roux not sure about that, she's kind of dropped off and she also performed last year. I'm curious to see if The Weeknd pull it off, cool story to the band and performed for their first time in September and for some reason I have a feeling they are going to go all out. Girl Talk, meh, let's be honest people are over the whole mashup thing. He's awesome live, but I think everyone is tapped out on mashups. The Hives are hands down one of the best bands I've ever seen. Only band I've ever seen where I was so impressed that I went and saw them the next night of their tour. Vey excited for Dada Life seeing how much success they've had this past year and I'm incredibly happy for both of them. Flux Pavillion and Doctor P are performing together which is fucking crazy. Two of the best dubstep artists on stage at the same time is going to be unreal.
Overal lineup is awesome. The headliners could have been a bit better but other than that two thumbs up. I was kind of expecting Birdy Nam Nam to be on the lineup since they came out of a 4 year hiatus and wrote a new album that kicks ass. I also started to believe Foo Fighters were playing which would have been amazing. Very excited though, tickets go on sale Friday if you didn't get presale. Get tickets for the first weekend, who the hell wants sloppy seconds.
If you've never heard of Sensation it's a renowned rave in Europe that's always been praised as mixing some of the best DJs in the world with the most cutting edge live production techniques in the world. It's like Cirque Du Soleil on steroids meets House music. It's elegant, masterfully put together, and highly respected. I have mixed feelings though about it coming to America. Sure it will be successful simply because electronic music festivals and just the music in general is flourishing in America. Hell you could throw a rave at a landfill and it would probably sell out. The part that bums me out is the electronic festival scene in America has become so diluted by drugs and the focus on the music has kinda been lost. I don't particularly like going to festivals anymore just because it seems the magic is gone so to speak. Sensation is the complete opposite. The focus is so much about the production and the beauty of the show that their purpose may fly over the heads of people here. I guess we shall see. Here's the teaser trailer for it.
Skream just released a new video for his song Nefariousa which is on his new EP that he did with Benga for Scion (yes the car company). The song is alright, personally I'm more of a fan of his slower stuff like "Where You Should Be". The music video though is amazing and mildly disturbing. Basically just a clown losing his mind. Reminded me of another disturbing dubstep video by Son of a Kick called "Playing the Villain". Check out both below.
The Swedish duo thought they would release their new video for their highly successful single since it's remained #1 on beatport. The video is what you would expect from them. Weird, hilarious, epic. Very cool to see musicians who are always able to stay upbeat, fun, and appreciative of their fan base especially with their immense success over the past 6 months.
Miike Snow just released their new song and video that will be featured on their new 2012 release. Check it out below (warning the video is super boring).
On Monday on the side of the Millbank Tower in London Nokia partnered up with Deadmau5 to put on this crazy projection light show to help promote the new Nokia phone. This is just another move by Deadmau5 partnering up with massive companies, the other being Puma with the Deadmau5 shoe ($150 price tag). It's pretty unreal that they were able to set this up. I guess Deadmau5 has become the best new marketing tool out there. Check out the video below of what Nokia was able to set up to hype a phone.
The epic British indie rock band Editors have finally announced they are beginning to work on their 4th album after being MIA for some time. With their last release being 3 years ago I remember getting that album the day it came out and how upset I was so hopefully they can rekindle what they were able to create on their first 2 albums. If you've never heard this band they are definitely one that takes some getting used to. I've always liked to think of them as Frank Sinatra meets Interpol. Give them a listen below and get pumped.
