A collaboration between guitarists Omar R. Lopez (The Mars Volta) and John Frusciante (now ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers) recorded in ’04-’05 has finally been released. You can stream/download it for free here. They are accepting donations, all of which will benefit “Keep Music In Schools” programs.
The Coachella music festival is quickly approaching. This is my first year going to this particular festival, but I’ve been to more than my share of music festivals in the past… Enough to know that I won’t end up seeing even half of the bands that I wanna see.
Why? It just isn’t possible. Half the fun of a music festival is partying in the camping area, and pregaming for the big acts. That being said, here are the bands I’d like to see each day. I’ve got a few schedule conflicts in there, nothing too crazy though.
Friday: Baroness, Deer Tick (?), Avett Brothers, Yeasayer, Aeroplane, Dillinger Escape Plan, Them Crooked Vultures (?), Grizzly Bear, LCD Soundsystem, Fever Ray, Deadmau5 (or Jay-Z)
Saturday: Porcupine Tree, Old Crow Medicine Show, Beach House, the XX (or Coheed & Cambria), Faith No More, MGMT (?), Muse, Flying Lotus (or Les Claypool, or The Dead Weather… Crap), Die Antwoord, Tiesto (?)
Sunday: Rusko, De La Soul (or The Glitch Mob, or Jonsi), Spoon (or Phoenix, or Miike Snow, or Infected Mushroom… Crap), Orbital (or Pavement), Thom Yorke (or Plastikman), Gorillaz
If you’re bored, take a look at the lineup and let me know if you think I’m missing out on any must-see acts, as there are quite a few on there that I’ve never heard before.
This is the first festival that I’ve attended where camping passes were sold separately from the festival passes. I slacked on buying one, and they sold out. Within hours, people were selling the camping passes on eBay for $700-800. I lucked out and found someone on Twitter who sold me hers for $50… So hopefully that isn’t fake. She seemed nice enough. I suppose I’ll find out in 2 days…
The people running Wikileaks have some serious balls. This morning, they leaked a classified US military video of 12 civilians being murdered in New Baghdad – 2 of whom were Reuters journalists.
Obviously, the video isn’t for the faint of heart. You can see it here, though I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t online for very longer.
This is important stuff, and I think it’s great that it is all very well documented, so that when the guys running Wikileaks disappear, we’ll know why.
Yesterdays post about Brokencyde was a weak attempt on my part as an April Fool’s joke. That band is awful.
I do find it kind of funny that I react so negatively to that music, when in actuality it’s no worse than all of the other mass produced pop garbage out there. Some kids took the “crunk”/hip-hop sound an added a “screamo” twist to it, which in its own way is unique. It still blows, though, and watching their music videos makes me want to rip my own eyes out. Not really sure what I’m getting at here… I promise I don’t have any Brokencyde posters in my room. Crap.
Anyway, I hope none of you actually downloaded their album If you did, I’d like to make up for it.
The latest Deftones album, “Diamond Eyes”, made its way onto the web. It actually leaked about a week ago.
I’m pretty impressed with it… I like it a lot more than their last album, ““Saturday Night Wrist”. My favorite tracks so far are “Royal”, Beauty School”, “Sextape”, and “Risk”.
Check it out if you haven’t already. Also: Mirror #1, Mirror #2. Happy Friday!
I think I may have posted about the band Brokencyde in the past, and I may have even spoken negatively of them. Allow me to redeem myself.
Brokencyde is classified as “crunkcore”, and some would say that they’re the forefathers of this wonderful blend of techno, screamo, and club hip-hop.
The track “Bree Bree” was my introduction to crunkcore. The first time that I heard this genre, I was overwhelmed. The sound is so creative and unique… It was unlike anything I had ever heard before. My immediate reaction was to push it away… As humans, we do tend to criticize that which we don’t understand.
Subsequent listens allowed me to really develop a taste for this genre, and appreciate the intricacies that I had initially overlooked. Over time, I realized how special Brokencyde really was.
I wanted to take a moment to share their latest album with you. “I’m Not a Fan but the Kids Like It” is the long-awaited followup to their “BC13 EP”, and they definitely don’t disappoint.
Instead of writing a long-winded, Pitchfork-esque review, I’d like to allow the music to speak for itself. Here’s the latest video from this revolutionary ensemble, for their song “Freaxxx”. Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life.
If you feel overwhelmed by the beauty of this piece, you’re not alone. I’d encourage you to give the song a second listen to let it really soak in.
I struggle with referring to Brokencyde as “artists”. I’d rather call them warrior poets. I see them as soldiers in a battle against the tyranny of unmixed genres. Listen as they herald in a new generation of blended greatness that not even Jamba Juice can claim.
This album changed my life, and its only right that I do my part to share it with the rest of the world. Enjoy.