Coachella 2010 Lineup!

Finally the 2010 Coachella Lineup has been announced. This year I am going with my friends Kurt, Dan and Mikey and a couple of other friends of theirs. This is my 40th birthday gift to myself. The rumor mill was churning for months and most of the rumors were true, and there were several other surprises that are very exciting.

For me, the acts I am most excited to see are the following (in no particular order):

Friday:

LCD Soundsystem
Vampire Weekend
Grizzly Bear
Public Image Ltd (no Jah Wobble and Keith Levene though)
Specials
Echo and the Bunnymen
Fever Ray
Grace Jones!!!
La Roux
Yeahsayer
White Rabbits

Saturday:

Muse
Devo
Hot Chip
Dirty Projectors
The xx
Mew
Flying Lotus
Girls

Sunday:

Gorillaz
Pavement
Thom Yorke
Phoenix
Orbital
Sly and the Family Stone!!!!
De La Soul
Gary Numan!!!!
Deerhunter
Yo La Tengo
The Big Pink
Rusko
Florence and the Machine
Miike Snow
Ceu
Delphic!!!

Friday and Sunday are going to be complicated owing to the large number of bands I want to see. I might have to make some last minute executive decisions. I am just hoping that most of the bands are not playing at the same time.

I haven't been this excited for a trip in ages. I will definitely be doing lots of posts and pics from the festival so stay tuned for April 16-18!

Videos of the Week

Here are the latest videos that are drawing my attention:



After 10 years, Sade have returned with a new album and a wonderful lead single. The best thing about Sade is that they don't chase trends; they do what they do best, put together meaningful songs.



Single from Three Trapped Tigers. Sound is slightly reminiscent of Aphex Twin, but is still memorable. The images in the video are taken from a typically bizarre Japanese program. Must be the wasabi that makes them think up this stuff.



Just like Sade, Maxwell makes music for himself and not by committee or focus group. He stayed away from the music industry for 8 years in order to just enjoy life. I envy that. Here is one of the first singles from his latest cd.



Amazing dubstep from Kode 9 featuring Spaceape. I never really watched the video all the way through until a friend commented on how disturbing it was. I was completely unaware of the violence. Makes for a disturbing viewing.



Speaking of disturbing, this is the latest single from Massive Attack. The video has to be seen to be believed.



New single from Engineers after a protracted dispute with their label. The cd is fantastic and has a very old school Slowdive, shoegazer feel. Highly recommended.



One of my favorite singles from last year. An amazing song with a very positive message.



Interesting video from Tune-Yards showing how a song is built live using a loopstation. Makes me want to get one.



Awesome glitchy dubstep from Darkstar. Another one of my favorite singles from last year. Amazing use of texture.



Wild Beasts were a phenomenal discovery last year. This was my favorite song of their cd. I hope to get to see them live soon.



Another band that keeps putting out strong releases year after year. I didn't even get this cd until the last few weeks of 2009, but it has become a favorite.



The production duo of Bloodshy and Avant put together their own alternative band, Miike Snow, and have beguiled me. This is one of my favorite songs off their debut cd.



Memory Tapes was my favorite electronic act of last year. There is so much going on in this song, and yet it still seems minimal.



Brett Anderson of Suede just released his new cd which sounds like he has been listening to a lot of Talk Talk. While the music is more organic, the voice remains the same.

Non Sequiturs

New year, new non sequiturs. Was all prepped for a great start to the year, until I found out my new insurance plan doesn't have separate prescription coverage so it is all lumped in together. So, with a $2000 deductible and then a 70/30% split for the next $3000, it looks like I will pay $5000 out of pocket until the plan covers 100%. Looks like it will be a belt-tightening year. I'm hitting 40 in 35 days, and I am hoping that will be the start of something new and positive. I can't handle anymore bad news or bad luck.

I am in between projects at the moment, and while this normally would send me into a stress induced tailspin, I am trying to be more zen about it and just going to enjoy the time off. I have plans this week to see several movies: Broken Embraces, A Single Man, and An Education. I haven't seen this many movies in ages. Just saw Broken Embraces and it was phenomenal. Almodovar does it again.

Very cold here this week, lows in the teens and highs in the 20s. Not used to it being this cold for such a long period of time. We usually have a few days of it each winter, but this has been going on for a couple of weeks and it is scheduled to be even colder this weekend with a possible hit of snow on Friday. On a positive note, the sun has been out strong.

Lyrics Rattling Around My Head

"Now it's the funeral I become a serial killer of us all
no I, dont wanna get thrown in your ocean
dont try, you know that we already know you
it's over

at your own burial, dont forget to cry"

Miike Snow
"Burial"

"What you want is just outside your reach
You keep on searchin'
You're walking down that Pensacola beach
You keep repeatin'
While you're waiting for that sound
Apparatus to the ground
You're stealing from the lost and found
But what you find
ain't what you had in mind
Until you find your Rolex in the sand
You won't be stopping
Until that solid gold is in your hand
You won't be happy
Nah, call your office on the phone
You can't say you won't be coming home
You fell into vacations"

Real Estate
"Beach Comber"

"I've lost the use of my heart
But I'm still alive
Still looking for the life
The endless pool on the other side
It's a wild wild west
I'm doing my best"

Sade
"Soldier of Love"

Appealing Things

Hope
Wii Tennis
True Blood
Julie and Julia

Annoying Things

Crappy healthcare insurance

Happy New Year!

First post of the New Year and unfortunately I don't have much to say. 2009 was a interesting year for a variety of reasons and I for one am not sad to see it go. But on the positive side of things, without its trials and tribulations I would not be who I am today.

So here is to a brand new year and a new decade (ok, technically the new decade does not start until next year, but I am not going to get into a long argument over numbers), and the last days of my 30s. 36 days left until I hit the big 4-0!