READ IT AT BILLBOARD (in print too)
Music is weird. Prince Royce is a huge star in the Spanish-language market now eyeing crossover success with English-speaking audiences. The thing is, he was born in New York. Spanish is his second language. English is Royce’s mother tongue, but career-wise, he’s starting from scratch. Well, unless you count that Snoop Dogg collaboration and the army of label handlers stressing over his every move. Somehow, they let me go to vocal lessons with the guy.
It was Aural Standards’ ninth Coachella (and tenth, counting Weekend Two), but it may have been our most memorable yet. While Sacramento’s Death Grips left a deep, seeping impression in our minds (boot-shaped) and Hologram Tupac enjoys a second life as a lasting meme, it was the reunions that did us in. Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and Refused’s The Shape of Punk to Come are two of our favorite albums of all time (At the Drive-In’s Relationship of Command flies high on that list as well), but never did we imagine we’d witness those songs performed live by the folks who actually made ’em (NMH auteur Jeff Mangum was billed as a solo act). Cheers to the folks at Goldenvoice for throwing scads of money at the problem until it resolved itself. Here are our five faves from each of the first three days. Below is a list of what we covered with excerpted bits. Click on the DAY to read full reviews at SPIN.
FRIDAY
1. Refused: thick, primal slabs of punk that seemed to rattle the scaffolding…
2. Death Grips: Run DMC meets Aerosmith, cranked on incredibly foul PCP…
3. M83: doors opening infinitely to bigger and bigger doors, a galactic gasp…
4. Frank Ocean: for the line about Coachella, the screams were deafening…
5. The Rapture: rogue groups of get-down circles spilling from the sides…
SATURDAY
1. Jeff Mangum: he opened his mouth and for 50 minutes, we were his…
2. Flying Lotus: a wild genre-crushing journey, heady but head-knocking…
3. Black Lips: Cole dropped trou and executed a searing solo with, well…
4. Azealia Banks: fast-rapping and boasting over minimal sub-bass rumble…
5. A$AP Rocky: a perfect storm of N.W.A., Public Enemy and Bone Thugs…
SUNDAY
1. Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg: who rose from below the stage but Tupac himself…
2. At the Drive-In: a high-octane inferno of post-hardcore mania…
3. AraabMUZIK: conducting a symphony of melody, effects and percussion…
4. Le Butcherettes: she ran out into the field, arms out like an airplane…
5. Gotye: the massive human traffic jam stretched 50 yards in every direction…
Tomorrow, we get caught up with Weekend Two.
Coachella Weekend One begins TODAY! Aural Standards will be silent through the big hoopla, but I’ll be reporting on all that glorious madness over at SPIN.
Damon Albarn FTW. A lifer makes a masterwork.
Had the pleasure of witnessing the Gorillaz circus when it came to town back in October and among what must be close to a thousand concerts witnessed, this one is now permanently lodged in my personal top five. No joke. Damon Albarn has done something magical with music (and a huge effing budget). I had the added pleasure of speaking with him and his Gorillaz cohort Jamie Hewlett for Spin’s year-end cov’g. Here’s an excerpt:
“It’s like a juggernaut once it starts,” says Damon Albarn. The peculiar pop project he and illustrator Jamie Hewlett founded 12 years ago in a shared London flat has grown from a virtual band of comic-book characters to a traveling spectacle of Barnumesque proportions. “There’s no stopping it,” says Albarn. “The magic is in the way it mesmerizes, brings you into its world.
Boyz Noize remixes the Chemical Brothers' "Swoon"
Quick bloggy bits from around the L.A. underground (and up). Share ’em.
* “The Chems have gotten noisier on their new album, but one of the smoother tracks is first single “Swoon.” Apologies, but this is not an electro megamix of the 2009 album by Silversun Pickups.”
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via L.A. Weekly)
El Guincho rides again.
Quick bloggy bits* from around the L.A. underground (and up).
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via LA Weekly)
*If you like it, then you better put a tweet on it.
Quick bloggy bits* from around the L.A. underground (and up).
Snoop and The Grammys, before the beef (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via LA Weekly)
*If you like it, then you better put a tweet on it.
Quick bloggy bits* from around the L.A. underground (and up).
Durlin Lurt's 'Him Jenson'
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via LA Weekly)
*If you like it, then you better put a tweet on it.
Quick bloggy bits* from around the L.A. underground (and up).
Mia Doi Todd in her new Gondry-directed video
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via LA Weekly)
*If you like it, then you better put a tweet on it.
Quick bloggy bits* from around the L.A. underground (and up).
Durlin Lurt's 'Him Jenson'
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via LA Weekly)
*If you like it, then you better put a tweet on it.
Quick bloggy bits* from around the L.A. underground (and up). We’ve got some catching up to do, people. Your patience shall be rewarded with MP3s and tips on fresh talent.
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via LA Weekly)
*If you like it, then you better put a tweet on it.
Barely related bonus: The wife and I were quoted in this L.A. Times article.
Quick bloggy bits* from around the L.A. underground (and up).
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via LA Weekly)
*If you like it, then you better put a tweet on it.
Chris Writes Things 