That Music Festival Way Out West: Coachella Unveils 2010 Lineup

The 11th annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival recently announced their initial artist lineup. The first big outdoor music festival of the year will take place Friday, April 16 thru Sunday, April 18 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Let the 2010 festival season begin!

Five Picks from Each Day:

Friday

Jay-Z
If you know me well, then you would know that hip hop isn’t my first choice of music to listen to. However, I am familiar with some of Jigga’s catalogue (Hard Knock Life, Black Album, American Gangster) and I have to say that he’s probably the best rapper out there now, although he has been for awhile. Sorry Kanye. Whether he’s spitting out rhymes fast or slow, I can certainly respect what Jay-Z does, both as an artist and as an entrepreneur.

Vampire Weekend
By now I’m sure everyone knows who this band is; and if you’re not sure, chances are you’ve probably heard one of their older songs in a number of commercials but might not have known it. Well, they just released a new album (Contra) a week ago, which is currently sitting in the top five of all the major music charts. This time though, they go beyond basic electro-pop by throwing in their influence of reggae, ska and world music.

Grizzly Bear
I hate how it always seems like I discover a band long after they’ve been doing great things. Although this experimental folk band from Brooklyn has been around since 2004, I didn’t discover them until last year, with their album Veckatimest, which earned nods on many “best of” lists (including mine, obviously). Because I didn’t know about them, I missed them when they came to Cincinnati a few years back as part of the MusicNOW Festival, and I even missed my chance to see them last summer at Bonnaroo, due to a scheduling conflict (they played against the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, if you can believe or understand that). I won’t be attending Coachella this year, so I hope a stop somewhere in the tri-state area is on their agenda for 2010.

Passion Pit
Not only did these guys put on one of the best performances in the middle of a thunderstorm at Bonnaroo last year, but it was one of the most energetic sets I’ve ever seen. It’s a shame I didn’t know about them when they came to town a couple years back, when they played the tiny Northside Tavern. If you’re looking for music that I can guarantee will put a smile on your face, look no further than Passion Pit.
 
The Avett Brothers
Hard to believe these guys have been around for ten years now, and have put out ten studio albums. And once again, I found out about them because of their first major label release/critically-acclaimed album from last year (I and Love and You). For years they were a DIY kind of band, not that they aren’t anymore, but this is the album that will change the direction of this band forever, possibly bringing bluegrass and roots music to the mainstream side of things.
 
Saturday

Muse
Often thought of as “another Radiohead”, these guys have evolved into anything but. Sure, they’re both alternative rock bands from England and they both have great vocal harmonies, but the muse of Muse lies in heavy, aggressive rock. 

MGMT
Like Passion Pit, MGMT is one of the best, hottest, most popular electro acts of the past couple years. Although they don’t use as many synths as Passion Pit does, MGMT finds a way to create a psychedelic, synth-pop, Flaming Lips-like sound with the use of a lot more guitars.

The Dead Weather
Jack White’s latest band acts more as a supergroup, featuring Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age and former Greenhorne/fellow Raconteur Jack Lawrence. Jack’s still got his love for bluesy, garage rock, but this time he gets out of the spotlight and behind the drumkit.

Dirty Projectors
Again, here’s another band that’s been around for a longtime (doesn’t 2002 seem like a longtime ago?) that I didn’t discover until last year thanks to Bonnaroo and David Byrne. Byrne collaborated with them on the first song of the Dark Was the Night compilation, “Knotty Pine.” They’ve got a large cast of male and female musicians, who play a bit of every instrument you can think of, for a sound you will hear nowhere else.

The xx
Familiarize yourself with this London band, because everyone is saying that 2010 will be their breakout year, despite that they’ve been together for five years. They’ve recently gone from a four-piece to a trio, they’ve got dueling vocalists and a love for dancey, electro-pop and psychedelic punk rock.

Sunday

If you think the first two days of Coachella look great, just wait until the last day.

Gorillaz
Oh where, oh where, oh where has this cartoon band been for the past several years? Well, creator and frontman, Damon Albarn, has been involved in a couple projects over the past five years; he collaborated with Danger Mouse for The Good, the Bad and the Queen, a band consisting of Simon Tong (The Verve, Gorillaz), Paul Simonon (The Clash) and Tony Allen (Fela Kuti’s band, Africa 70). He’s also worked as a producer for several world music artits, such as Amadou and Mariam. The return of this real band designed to look like a fake cartoon band has everyone talking, as it appears to be the hottest show to see in 2010.

Pavement
Gorillaz aren’t just the only reunion that is generating a lot of buzz. One of the most influential and most popular indie rock bands from the 90’s is returning for, well, no one really knows. Don’t expect it to be a permanent thing, and don’t expect finding tickets to be easy. The first couple of shows they booked for 2010 (New York’s Central Park in September), sold out in just two minutes. They’re rumored to play a few festivals this year, and that may be the easiest ticket to acquire to see Stephen Malkmus and his reunited bandmates who’ve also played in bands like Sonic Youth and Silver Jews.

Thom Yorke
Well if you can’t land Radiohead, I suppose getting their frontman is the next best thing. On the lineup, several question marks actually appear after his name, leaving everyone dumbfounded. Rumor has it that has to do with his not-yet known backing band, but that it will likely include Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and producer Nigel Godrich.

Phoenix
Going back to the whole “discovering a band a little too late but just in time”, we have one of my new favorite bands. Sure it was the catchy singles (“1901″, “Lisztomania”) from last year’s album (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix) that first hit me, but the rest of the album quickly grew on me. Now it’s just a matter of going through their back catalogue and seeing where this band has been for the past decade.

Spoon
Britt Daniel formed this band in 1993 and of course I wouldn’t discover them until 2007, with their album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. I’ll be honest and say it was a “slow grower” or that it took quite a bit of time to enjoy every track, but it’s become one of my favorite indie rock albums of all-time. Even the other albums this band has put out in the past have taken (and are still taking) some time to grow on me; but I think that as soon as I pick up their latest album (Transference, released today, appearing on the Late Show tonight), I’m hoping that I’ll feel so familiar with this band that the sound of the new songs will hit me instantly.

Bonus Pick:

Sly and the Family Stone
I would’ve never been able to forgive myself if I would’ve left Sly Stone off of this list. After all, they were one of the most important bands in the development of soul, funk and psychedelic music. Sure, they only released a few singles, but they’ve won a lot of awards, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, and simply had a ton of hits (“I Want to Take You Higher”, “Dance To The Music”, “Everyday People” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin”) are among my favorites. It’s also said that they had one of the best performances at the original Woodstock Music Festival. I’ve always said that I should’ve been around in that era. Here’s hoping they get booked at the modern day Woodstock…Bonnaroo.

Going to Coachella? Let me know what you think about the lineup at nate@brokenmic.com

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