Coachella Track of the Day: Joseph Arthur - "Speed of Light"

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Joseph Arthur is one-third of Fistful of Mercy, who plays Sunday at Coachella. Just a quick post, this is my favorite version of my favorite Joseph Arthur song of all-time. From his gig at The Red Room in Vancouver on October 11, 2006. The full show can be downloaded here. I paid $10 for it, and I normally don't purchase music save for an actual ticket to see someone play.

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Coachella Track of the Day: The Strokes - "Reptilia"

Got a little behind on this due to a busy weekend and missing my laptop for a few days, but I am getting back on track. Today's Coachella Track of the Day comes from Sunday's lead act The Strokes, who will be putting out a new album. This is a double whammy Track of the Day as also featured is the new single they are putting out called "Under Cover of Darkness".

But first, "Reptilia". The Strokes may be one of the best modern rock bands today and their reformation following Julian Casablanca's solo effort "Phrazes For the Young" [2009] which was an excellent EP in its own right. "Reptilia" is the track that I may have enjoyed playing more than any other in Rock Band when I played it on my roommates' PS3. Just a catchy as hell track with some great guitar and vocals.



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Classic Coachella: Rage Against the Machine - "Guerrilla Radio" [1999]

This Coachella Classic track comes from the inaugural festival held in 1999. Rage Against the Machine was one of the bigger acts to partake in the event back when it was a two-day venture. Rage headlined the second day along with Tool. Longing for some old Rage style music? Don't be alarmed. Frontman Zack De La Rocha will be bringing his little used side project One Day As A Lion to this year's festival and will be performing Saturday. Read more!

Coachella Names You Didn't Know You Knew

If you take a closer look at this year's list of Coachella acts, you may realize you know far more of the music being played than you were first aware of.

Familiar with The Killers? Bloc Party? Ben Harper? Their names may not be printed on the bill, but aspects of each are partaking in the weekend's festivities, you just may not have known.

For instance, Brandon Flowers of The Killers plays a solo set Friday. I for one am not always aware of the names of lead singers of even some of my favorite bands. I couldn't tell you who the head guy of The Strokes was until Julian Casablancas released his debut solo effort last year. Kele Okereke of Bloc Party will be doing a Friday solo set as well.

Ben Harper has achieved commercial success over the years despite his natural line of music being outside the normal acceptable mainstream radio stuff. Well, minus "Steal My Kisses". He is part of the three guitar supergroup Fistful of Mercy, which includes Joseph Arthur (a personal favorite of mine) as well as Dhani Harrison, son of George of The Beatles. They play further down the bill on Sunday night, but are a must see for me personally. Note that when they rolled through San Francisco late last year I saw the average price to see them was about $150, which makes them a bargain as part of a three day festival. I wouldn't be totally surprised if Eddie Vedder didn't drop by unexpectedly as he had on the band's tour. Also note that Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello performed with the band on Conan as well.

Lauryn Hill should be recognizable due to her Grammy slaying debut album, but for those not remembering she was part of The Fugees and a reunion would be the perfect way to beef up her set Friday.

Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis will be bringing her collaboration with beau Johnathan Rice to Coachella Saturday. The two released an album this past year as Jenny and Johnny, and between the two of them they have enough high profile friends [think Death Cab's Ben Gibbard and his girl Zooey Deschanel] to possibly make an already interesting set more interesting.

Big Audio Dynamite, Mick Jones' first post-Clash project, is reuniting for the festival. Other acts from the post-pop punk scene of the '80s Duran Duran and Wire will be partaking as well.

Rarely seen Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack De La Rocha's side project One Day As A Lion plays Saturday. Jimmy Eat World is being forgotten by most despite them being one of the early '00s most successful rock bands. They have always been known to put on a killer show as well.

So take a closer look at the lineup, there are tons of hidden gems out there waiting to be discovered. Gems you did not realize you were already familiar with.
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Coachella Track of the Day: The Black Keys - "Girl Is On My Mind"

The Black Keys are a band that had been recommended to me a number of times by various people whose musical tastes are similar to mine, but for whatever reason it wasn't until they were announced as part of this year's Coachella that I really began to dig deep and I figured out that they may be one of the better mainstream sounding rock bands out there today.

What makes them stand out is that it is a two-man band...guitarist/singer Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney, who also produces. Auerbach has a pretty damn good stage presence as evidenced in this video. "Girl Is On My Mind" was the first of The Black Key's tracks to really stick with me, gotta love that old school guitar sound.


The Black Keys will be performing on the Friday of Coachella and will likely be pretty high up the bill. Expect them to go on later in the evening.


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What Would You Do for a Coachella Ticket? A Threesome?

Miss out on some Coachella tickets this year? Are you a female [18+] that has always been a female? Have a friend [18+] that has also always been a female? No incurable STDs? There's a great deal on the table for you!

From KiJiJi:

Date Listed 02-Feb-11
Price Swap / Trade
Address Calgary, AB T2J 0L8, Canada
View map
I have a pair of tickets for the 2011 festival.
I'm unable to attend now, and am putting them up for grabs.

All I'm asking for is a threesome.
To be considered for the tickets you must meet the following criteria

A) Be two girls (18+)
B) Both must be better than 6's
C) No un-cureable STD's
D) Must have always been female


Please email me if interested, and we can arrange an exchange of photos and work out stipulations.

I'm very serious about this.
(I'm not a virgin)

--------------

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The Pop Buzz: Coachella Music Videos

Head over to this link on The Pop Buzz where they have a bunch of YouTube links posted to some music videos by various bands performing at this year's Coachella.

Acts included: Arcade Fire, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, The Chemical Brothers, Cut Copy, Delorean, The Drums, Duran Duran, Empire of the Sun, Erykah Badu, Fedde Le Grand, Kanye West, Marina and the Diamonds, Monarchy, Morning Benders, PJ Harvey, Sleigh Bells, The Strokes, Suede, Warpaint, Yelle, !!!



Gotta love the all girl group Warpaint as well as Erykah Badu.

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Coachella Track of the Day: The Swell Season - "When Your Mind's Made Up"

I first heard of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irkglova after renting the musically inspired film, "Once", which starred the two playing struggling musicians who have a chance meeting where friendship and possibly more is kindled. Even more interesting is real love was brought together between the two.

Originally, writer/director John Carney was to cast actors who could somewhat play music [Cillian Murphy was in mind for Hansard's role] but later thought it would be more authentic to include real musicians who could somewhat act. It was a choice that I along with many others are glad he made.

Their Grammy Award winning song "Falling Slowly" was a huge success and garnered the soundtrack a lot of publicity. But it's this track from the two that left the biggest imprint on me when I finished the film.


The Swell Season will be playing the Saturday of Coachella and should top your list as an act to see if you are into a lighter more folky sound. Recommendations as far as tracks aside from their Grammy winner and this one include "Lies", "Leave", and "Fallen From the Sky". They haven't released an album since 2009's "Strict Joy" which featured lovely track "In These Arms".




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Classic Coachella: John Frusciante - "Songbird" [2007]

At the 2007 Coachella music festival, the iconic Red Hot Chili Peppers headlined the Saturday gig. In between their set, legendary former Chili Pepper guitarist John Frusciante played a solo cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Songbird", it really showed how incredible his vocals are, not just as a backup vocalist but on lead. Frusciante even changed the line "But most of all I wish it from myself" to "But most of all I wish it on myself". Take a listen if you have the time. The Chili Peppers won't be the same without Frusciante. I mean does anyone remember how bad they were with Dave Navarro manning the lead guitar?

As far as John Frusciante's solo career goes, it's worth a look. His most recent album "The Empyrean [2009]" has a bunch of more than solid tracks, and I also recommend "Shadows Collide With People [2004]" and "Curtains [2005]".

The track "Before the Beginning" is maybe the best instrumental track I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. It belongs in a movie. Check it out for yourself here.

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Coachella Track of the Day: PJ Harvey - "Hook"

Props to an old school chum of mine Andrew for turning me onto PJ Harvey quite a number of years ago. I remember him sending this track to me via AIM File Sender [remember those days?] and being blown away by her vocals.

She is someone who longtime followers of the Coachella festival have been clamoring for, and finally they will get their wish as PJ Harvey will play Sunday, April 17th.

She is set to release a new album February 15th entitled "Let England Shake", which explores the political terrain of her homeland for the first time in her career. She has setup a tour surrounding Coachella and will be playing in San Francisco on February 14th at The Warfield.


Source: PJ Harvey "It's important to address the issues of our lives" [Examiner.com] Read more!