Also makes a good Mac ad.

Coachella was an experience. A two hour drive through the desert to join around 60,000 other people to see way too many great bands. Some of my favorite performances:

LCD Soundsystem: Packed tent full of people rocking to a nice mix of songs new and old. Glad this was a night show. The disco ball in the middle of the room and shown on two screens in the front combined with three lasers throwing crazy lines on the ceiling made for an amazing show. I didn’t think much of the “North American Scum” performance on Letterman but here it was great to be packed in with a crowd shouting the chorus.

Arcade Fire: A very well done performance on the main stage that kept on going with an excellent mix of songs from Neon Bible and Funeral. Kept up with the tradition of hammering on random stuff and rocking hard.

Ratatat: Two dudes on guitars and a guy on a keyboard never rocked out so hard. Trippy patterns and imagery on a screen beside the guys worked really well. “El Pico” especially blew ‘em/me away.

The Jesus and Mary Chain: I’d never listened to these guys much before but I really enjoyed their first show together in however many years. Also: Scarlett Johansson showed up for a backup vocal on “Just Like Honey” and… well, she wasn’t all that good. But still! Scarlett Johansson!

Interpol: Wow. I’ve always loved their music but had no idea the show would be so good. Very dark and moody and these were some incredibly well-dressed guys. Made me wish I could wear that kind of clothing to work except then 1) I wouldn’t be able to afford to eat and 2) I would spontaneously combust in the Southern California heat. Not a lot of banter but great guitaring, occasionally with lit cigarette in mouth, and all the hits. Also a decent song off the just-announced third album.

Other bands I saw: The Fratellis, Hot Chip, Willie Nelson, Amy Winehouse, Rodrigo y Gabriela (including a cool singalong version of “Wish You Were Here” and some Metallica covers), Tokyo Police Club, Tilly and the Wall (three hot girls and catchy tunes? yes please), Peter Bjorn and John, and CSS. I wished I could have seen the New Pornographers and the Decemberists but neither is an infrequent tourer so I think I’ll be okay.

Also: Rage Against The Machine fans don’t much care for Crowded House. All I can say is that some Rage fans tried to put themselves in the running for biggest jackass festivalgoers ever at Coachella. The Rage reunion concert itself was good, both for the performance and the chance to duck out and escape the parking lot before the masses descended.

It was hot. Friday was hot, Saturday felt hotter, and Sunday had a little wind and was a bit cooler. No sunburn on my pasty white skin thanks to oh-so-refreshing spray-on sunscreen. The major casualty was my feet from so many hours of standing. I’ve now got blisters that will give me a slightly more awkward gait than usual for a few days. Food wasn’t great or cheap. Water was $2 a bottle and was downed in great amounts, almost as much as organic fruit smoothies (delicious).

Overall, people were cool. Occasionally a cloud of herbal haze would descend on me while in a tent packed full of people and I’d need to move to avoid desert madness. I bailed out of the Fratellis concert early to get some fresh air and drink some water and otherwise felt fine. I did see one woman faint and get carried off by her man to get medical help and occasionally heard/saw the emergency golfcart speeding away somewhere.

I doubt I’ll be doing the whole three-day thing again anytime soon. I’d consider doing one day for a band I really wanted to see, but if there was a band I really wanted to see I’d much prefer just seeing them in their own concert. This was a great opportunity to see a bunch of bands I like in a very unique setting, though, and I’m glad I went.

First:

Awesome.

I had been considering getting a Wii since I seem to have this compulsion to own every Nintendo system, barring the Virtual Boy and the Game Boy Micro, but so far there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot that interests me. I even had a hot tip on when and where Wiis would be available (my insider source being The Internet) but then I realized that pretending to play guitar on my roommate’s Xbox would be a guaranteed return on investment versus the risky venture of the Wii, re: ratio of dollars spent to joy obtained. Them’s the breaks.

Second:

Coachella cometh on Friday. It’s my first music festival and it will be a good one. If LCD Soundsystem doesn’t tear the place down with waves of sheer greatness, I’ll be surprised. It will be a treat to see the Decemberists in a venue more suited to them (which would be anywhere other than the only place I’ve seen them). The Comedians of Comedy, while not being a band, will be great to see. Also many others. Can’t wait.

no I do not just sit around all day in my underwear watching music videos on youtube

Pop Levi – Sugar Assault Me Now
These guys have the moves and they’ll be at Coachella! Other that I don’t know much about Pop Levi.

Klaxons – Golden Skans
I have only vaguely been aware of Klaxons but I think I need to start paying more attantion.

LCD Soundsystem – North American Scum
Space battle! I may like the new album Sound of Silver even more than the first self-titled album. Needs more listens to be sure. Bonus performance on Letterman.

Fujiya and Miyagi – Jaguar Commercial
An actual Jaguar commercial since I couldn’t find any music videos.

Snowden – Like Bullets
Not my favorite track off their album Anti-Anti (”Counterfeit Rules”) but still pretty good

That’s all for this time. Keep reaching for the stars!

The whole politics thing is finally paying off for the first group of senators to receive Apple’s wondrous portable music player as part of IPac’s “Your Senator needs an iPod” program. Oregon’s own Senator Gordon Smith was among them and will soon be legislating to the beats of Chuck D and the Beastie Boys, among others. From the press release:

“I am thrilled at the support we have received from regular Americans who are concerned with the innovation tax that Hollywood cartels have imposed on American companies and creators. We hope to open the eyes of America’s leaders to the importance of having sensible information policy. When recorded music conglomerates are installing malicious spyware on our computers, Senators should understand that it’s time to balance the public’s rights against copyright holders,” said Jake Fisher, IPac’s Executive Director.

Expect Congress to become a sea of white earbuds soon. Maybe in the future the Senate won’t ever have to convene, just subscribe to the podcasts of the other senators and vote for bills on EZCoolPollz.com.

Senator Smith is a standout for this program because he introduced the Digital Content Protection Act which would place any new features added to consumer electronic devices under government scrutiny to decide if it’s okay or not. I don’t know if iPods will mean the difference in the fight but at least Smith may be grooving to some Thievery Corporation as he slaps the manacles on our media-lovin’ mitts.

• Antlerand, a band out of Portland with a pretty unique sound, formerly Invisible. I grabbed a couple of songs off their website and would have already bought their first full length, Branches, if I hadn’t been making so many non-essential purchases lately and taxes hadn’t screwed me over so much. The name seems nonsensical but whatever.
• The Little Ones, some guys from L.A. To me they sound kinda like Ben Gibbard 2.0 with a more interesting backing band, based on the two songs I’ve heard so far. You can also get download those from their website, “Cha Cha Cha” and “Lovers Who Uncover”. Ain’t the Internet great?

Also, The Boy Least Likely To seems most likely to get big soon (a horrible pun likely to see many a hack music journalist near you). They were on Morning Becomes Eclectic last Thursday and had a thing in Rolling Stone that doesn’t seem to be on RS’ website. It’s a little under a year since the Pitchfork review went up that introduced the Boy to me so it’s taken awhile but I hope they make it big.

Two of the guys have blogs, here and here. Adam Chetwood, the man behind the second, isn’t much for spelling but makes up for it with candor and brevity, as in the entry from the 4th titled Portland, Oregan:

Another night sleeping on the tour bus and waking up to arrive in a very sunny Portland.Spring is in the air and there are springs underneath the floorboards of the audotorium.Richard Cole bass player for the ‘Revolutionary Love Army’ lives here, im just going to attempt to contact him.

There’s an interview up from Charlie Rose with Jack and Meg White on Youtube (friend to moochers everywhere). I found it pretty interesting since Jack’s a unique guy, putting out great music but not full of himself. Also he has a straw hat and seemed very intent on toying with his cane. Meg even speaks a few times. One thing they touch on is that their American fans are different than their fans in other parts of the world, specifically that America has a distinctive hipster crowd that aren’t long term fans, instead likely to come and go.

I know there are those people and wondered if I was like that. I know I do tend to get really into a band and then move on but I still keep them in my rotation and don’t get tired just because they’re not the hot thing of the moment, but I want to hear lots of new stuff so it doesn’t allow really deep fandom of any group for long.