Sunday 25 Mix – Best of Coachella: Bright Eyes, The Strokes, Animal Collective, Arcade Fire, Foals, The National, Lauren Hill

Coachella
Fans dance while listening to DJ HeavyGrinder at the Coachella. (Luis Sinco, Los Angeles Times / April 17, 2011)

by Max Silver
Indio, Calif.
Filed: 4/16 8:00 p.m.

Finally, the desert of southern California is twisting away from the blazing sun, and a nice coolness is settling in. As night descends, everywhere you turn to look there cellphone lights on, like thousands of futuristic glowing jelly fish floating on the dark and calm sea. The colors of the sky, way off in the distance, fade from wisps of oranges and reds to shades of blue, purple and black.

Overhead, and seemingly closer than the night before, the magnificently bright full moon pours out its milky glow on every surface of the valley, along the edges of the sloping camel back mountains and against the towering palm trees, like ancient pillars to the gods.

Night time is falling on this the second day of the music mecca known as Coachella. Tens of thousands of people sleeping under the stars by night, and dancing, eating, drinking and listening to music by day. The majestic Ferris wheel off in the distance gets brighter as the long expanse of the heavens above turn darker, a much welcomed relief from the searing sun.  COACHELLA-2011

The sounds of electric, wood, and wind sail over this massive configuration of people, stages, vendors, skyward artworks, and palms. The air changes from odors of pizza and BBQ chicken to cannabis and incense.

The experience of being at a music festival in the middle of the desert, at the mercy of the sun by day, but under the Milky Way by night, is thankfully not a once-in-a-lifetime event. (continued at end of page)

On the main stage, Broken Social Scene were on earlier, and now Bright Eyes is rocking the masses. Coming up are Animal Collective, Mumford & Sons and Arcade Fire.  That’s a pretty sweet chunk of time featuring an A-list of indie bands, gratefully, all from the same stage. So, in celebration of Coachella, this Sunday’s S-25 Mix is dedicated to the bands, fans, and crew that make Coachella a blast to last.

“Shell Games” Bright Eyes from The People’s Key (2011)

“Taken For A Fool”The Strokes from Angles (2011)

“My Girls” Animal Collective from Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)

“Black Gold” Foals from Total Life Forever (2010)

“Tighten Up” The Black Keys from Brothers (2010)

“Sprawl II” Arcade Fire from The Suburbs (2010)

“Afraid of Everyone” The National from High Violet (2010)

“Your Hands Together” New Pornographers from Together (2010)

“Do You Want It All?” Two Door Cinema Club from Tourist History (2010)

“Obstacle” – Interpol from Turn On The Bright Lights (2002)

“Never Follow Suit” The Radio Dept from Clinging to a Scheme (2010)

“Round and Round” Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti from Before Today (2010)

“Lover’s Spit” Broken Social Scene from The Reminder EP (2008)

“Not In Love” (with Robert Smith) – Crystal Castles from Crystal Castles II (2010)

“You Know What I Mean” Cults from 7″ single (2010)

“Ex-Factor” – Lauren Hill from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)

“Stay Close” Delorean from Subiza (2010)

“Around My Head”Cage the Elephant from Thank You Happy Birthday

“Bushwick Blues” Delta Spirit from History from Below (2010)

“Frank, AB” – The Rural Alberta Advantage from Hometowns (2008)

“Santa Ana Winds” Cold War Kids from Behave Yourself (2010)

“A Place We Like”- Twin Shadow vs. Hooray for the Earth

“Four Score and Seven (Part One)” Titus Andronicus from The Monitor (2010)

“Take Me Over” Cut Copy from Zonoscope (2010)

“Undertow” – Warpaint from The Fool (2010)

“Helena Beat”Foster The People from Torches – out May 24th

“Can’t Tell Me Nothing”Francis and the Lights from Guilt By Association, Vol. 2 (2008)

“Great Pan Is Dead”Cold Cave from Cherish the Light Years (Bonus Track)

The Coachella Experience

In a few hours, the last day of Coachella will have arrived. It’s always strange how fast it all goes by, but it’s always a blast. For so many people, there’s the sense of dread when late Sunday afternoon rolls around. It means the last few hours of Coachella for another year.  We will all go back from sharing this amazing experience to our regular lives

Coachella is, for some people, the ultimate experience, even a religious experience, not simply for all of the great music, but also because is shows that, for the most part, tens of thousands of different people from different lives, places and backgrounds, can come together and celebrate a common love for music and good times, to get along and respect one another, way out in the middle of the desert, detached from the ‘real world’ for a few days. Sure, it sounds really cheesy, but I think it’s what a lot of people love about Coachella.

You’ve really got to give it to all the folks that make Coachella such an awesome experience each year. And year after year, it gets better as the organizers and crews, security and operations people learn, tweak, evolve, and improve. Just for a logistical stand-point, it’s an enormous undertaking.

The one thing that we hear the most is how great the music sounds. That’s for sure – the folks that set up and manage the sound systems at Coachella are the best in the outdoor sound arena. Sure there have been glitches and imperfections, but it’s amazing to see how far music festivals like Coachella have come in the area of sound quality over the past decade.

But ultimately, it’s the bands and the fans that make the whole thing possible.  And if you think about it, live performances are really the one leg of the “music industry” that remains firmly intact. You just can’t enjoy a concert or a festival sitting on your ass streaming it on YouTube.

Coachella 2009 Line Up: McCartney, The Killers, The Cure and More

click the image to enlarge poster

The official line-up for Coachella 2009, April 17 – April 19, has been released on the official Coachella website and it looks like another great year for the fest. While southern California is in the midst of a three-year drought, there is no drought in talented artists lined up for this year’s Coachella fest.

Headliners include Paul McCartney, Morrissey, Franz Ferdinand, Beirut, Conor Oberst, Crystal Castles, The Killers, TV on the Radio, Thievery Corporation, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes, Black Keys, Dr. Dog, Calexico, M. Ward, Hold Steady, Girl Talk, The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Paul Weller, Peter Bjorn and John, Okkervil River, No Age and a rare appearance of that pesky, infamous band from San Francisco The Brian Jonestown Massacre. The list goes on and on.

Tickets for Coachella 2009 are now on sale. Don’t forget, camping passes go quickly. The popular three-day passes are priced at $269.00 and single day passes, which usually sell out the fastest, are $99 per day.

Many people complain about the cost, but if you look at the line-up and think of the enormity of the event – a lifetime memory – I think it’s still worth it. In a disastrous economic situation across the nation, chances are the festival will still sell out or come close to it.

“Eraser” No Age from Nouns
“Strange Times”The Black Keys from Attack & Release
“White Winter Hymnal”Fleet Foxes from self-titled debut Fleet Foxes
“Lost Coastlines” Okkervil River from The Stand Ins
“Cape Canaveral”Conor Oberst from self titled debut Conor Oberst

Coachella 2008 Video Performances and Weekend Line-up

Coachellians poured in to the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, California today in the hot sun to see artists like Portishead, Prince, DCFC, Hot Chip, Rilo Kiley and others. Check out the lineup for Saturday and Sunday below.

The YouTube videos from Friday’s Coachella performances are already being posted. Sifting through them, here are some of the best, including The Black Kids, The Raconteurs, Aphex Twins and Fatboy Slim.

The Black Kids performing “I’m Not Going to Teach Your Boyfriend” at Coachella on Friday, April 25:

The Raconteurs – “Consolers of the Lonely” – Friday Coachella show

The Raconteurs – “Attention” – from AT&T BlueRoom Broadcast (FYI: This may be deleted by YouTube)

Aphex Twins – Live set at Coachella, Friday, April 25, 2008 (song title anyone?)

Fatboy Slim – “Green Supernova” – Friday night, Coachella 2008

The following is the line-up for artists and bands playing Coachella Saturday and Sunday. Check out the stage and set times for more information.

Saturday

Portishead, Prince, Kraftwerk, Death Cab for Cutie, Cafe Tacvba, Sasha & John Digweed, Rilo Kiley, Dwight Yoakam, M.I.A., Hot Chip, Cold War Kids, Animal Collective, Kate Nash, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, DeVotchKa, Flogging Molly, Mark Ronson, Turbonegro, Scars on Broadway, Islands, Does it Offend You, Yeah?, Above & Beyond, Enter Shikari, Calvin Harris, Boys Noize, Junkie XL, Cinematic Orchestra, The Teenagers, VHS or Beta, CarbonSilicon, Erol Alkan, Man Man, Yo! Majesty, Little Brother, Bonde Do Role, St. Vincent, AkronFamily, MGMT, Surkin, Curses!, Para One, Orgasmic, James Zabiela, SebAstian, Kavinsky, Minus the Bear, Dredg, The Bird and the Bee, 120 Days, Yoav, Electric Touch, Yelle, Uffie featuring DJ Mehdi

Sunday

Roger Waters, Love and Rockets, My Morning Jacket, Spiritualized, Justice, Gogol Bordello, Chromeo, Metric, Danny Tenaglia, Simian Mobile Disco, Booka Shade, Murs, Dimitri from Paris, Autolux, Stars, The Field, Linton Kwesi Johnson, The Cool Kids, Sons & Daughters, Sia, Holy F*ck, Black Mountain, Annuals, Kid Sister with A-Trak, Modeselektor, Duffy, I’m from Barcelona, Manchester Orchestra, Deadmau5, AUSTIN TV, Grand Ole Party, Shout Out Louds, Plasticines, Brett Dennen

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Coachella 2008 Official Line-Up Includes Roger Waters, Portishead, DCFC, Shout Out Louds, My Morning Jacket

Organizers of the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival have released the official line-up for this year’s event, slated for April 25-27, 2008.

Pink Floyd founding member Roger Waters, Kraftwerk, Portishead, My Morning Jacket, Death Cab for Cutie, Love and Rockets, Spiritulalized, Hot Chip, Madness and Fatboy Slim are just some of the headliners for the three-day music fest and art show. Nothing that great really.

Here is the full line-up in its entirety:

April 25 – Jack Johnson, the Verve, the Raconteurs, the Breeders, Fatboy Slim, Tegan and Sara, Madness, the Swell Season, the National, Animal Collective, Slightly Stoopid, Mum, Pendulum, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Stars, Battles, Aesop Rock, Midnight Juggernauts, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Minus the Bear, Spank Rock, Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobies Pip, Diplo, Adam Freeland, Santo Gold, Jens Lekman, the John Butler Trio, Vampire Weekend, Dan Deacon, Architecture in Helsinki, Sandra Collins, Busy P, Cut Copy, Black Lips, Datarock, Professor Murder, Reverend and the Makers, the Bees, Porter, Rogue Wave, Modeselektor, American Bang and Lucky I Am.

April 26 – Portishead, Kraftwerk, Death Cab for Cutie, Cafe Tacuba, Sasha & Digweed, Rilo Kiley, M.I.A., Dwight Yoakam (this year’s token country act, also appearing at Stagecoach the following weekend), Hot Chip, Cold War Kids, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, DeVotchKa, Flogging Molly, Mark Ronson, Turbonegro, Scars on Broadway, Islands, Enter Shikari, Calvin Harris, Boyz Noise, Junkie XL, Cinematic Orchestra, Jamie T, the Teenagers, VHS or Beta, Carbon/Silicon, Erol Alkan, Yo Majesty!, Bonde Do Role, St. Vincent, Akron Family, MGMT, Institubes DJs, Surkin, Para One and Orgasmic, James Zabiela, Sebastian, Kavinsky, Dredg, the Bird and the Bee, Grand Ole Party, New Young Pony Club, 120 Days, Yoav, Eletric Touch and Uffie.

April 27 – Roger Waters, Love and Rockets, My Morning Jacket, Spiritualized, Justice, Gogol Bordello, Chromeo, the Streets, Metric, Simian Mobile Disco, the Horrors, Danny Tenaglia, Booka Shade, Murs, Dimitri from Paris, Autolux, the Field, Linton Kwesi Johnson (in a spoken-word appearance), Les Savy Fav, the Cool Kids, Sons and Daughters, Sia, Black Kids, Black Mountain, the Annuals, Kid Sister with A-Trak, Man Man, Duffy, I’m From Barcelona, Manchester Orchestra, Deadmaus, Austin TV, Shout Out Louds, Plasticenes and Brett Dennen.