Coachella Line Up Released

We wouldn't really be a music blog if we didn't post this within 24 hours of the line-up being leaked - its the 2013 Coachella line-up.  Digest it and discuss amongst yourselves.  More tickets go on sale here Tuesday.

Tonight in L.A. (October 18, 2012)

Staring at the concert calendar has me a bit jealous that I'm in NYC for CMJ as there is a handful of sonic dopeness hitting you Los Angelenos tonight.  

From the massive wobble and bass drops of Bassnectar, Gramatik and Gladkill at Hollywood Palladium to the free indie sounds of Diamond Rings at Amoeba Records - Thursday night is looking good.



The lucky and informed patrons of Troubadour will be indulged by the lovely ZZ Ward - as she headlines a sold out show just two days after the release of her record.  AB & The Sea and Jared Lee support.  Another lovely vocalist - Twin Shadow takes his talent to Fonda Theatre with support from Haim and KCRW's Mario Cotto.  Can't go wrong their either.





For those that work traditional hours and thus might miss Diamond Rings free show at Amoeba - have no fear, they play Mayan later at night with Stars.    While there is not much other music to catch in the downtown neighborhood - head up the 101 to Silverlake or Echo Park and you 'll find The Whigs and The Record Company rocking the Bootleg Bar, comedian Neil Hamburger celebrating 5 years of laughter with friends at The Satellite and Echoplex busting open their new Thursday night FREE speakeasy. 



Other notables include Kendrick Lamar at Fox Theater in Pomona, Los Campesinos! at El Rey Theatre and the weekly VS dance party at The Central SAPC.   We're giving away a pair of tickets for Los Campesinos! so holler at contest@supergoodmusic.com or shout us out on twitter if you're interested.   For a full list of shows - see below.

• Bassnectar, Gramatik, Gladkill @ Hollywood Palladium

• Josh Turner, Peter Brandon @ Club Nokia

• Stars, Diamond Rings @ Mayan

• Diamond Rings @ Amoeba (FREE)

• Plotz @ bluewhale
• Twin Shadow, Haim, Mario Cotto @ Fonda Theatre

• Victor Mala Espina, The 454’s, Vida Boulevard, Rockero5, Puerto aereo @ House of Blues – Sunset Strip

• ZZ Ward, A B & The Sea, Jared Lee @ Troubadour (SOLD OUT)

• Los Campesinos!, Lovely Bad Things, Moses Campbell @ El Rey Theatre

• Garfunkel & Oates 4^th Anniversary Show @ Largo

• Royale Blood, Spoon To The Moon, Hillary Jones, Electric Landlady, Salvation Camp @ On The Rox

• Chris Rene, Cris Ruff @ The Roxy

• Free Dominguez, I Will Never Be The Same, Teleskopes, Scariletta @ The Viper Room

• Terminal, Without Satellites, Alright Alright, The Vim Dicta @ Silverlake Lounge

• The Whigs, The Record Company, Criminal Hygiene @ Bootleg Bar

• Neil Hamburger’s 5^th Year Anniversary Show: Jon Daly, Andy Kindler, Rob Delaney, Brody Stevens, Marcus Monroe, Josh Fadem @ The Satellite

• Woods, White Fence, Randy Randall @ The Echo

• Echoplex Speakeasy w/ DJ E13 @ The Echoplex (FREE)

• Kyle McNeill, Johnnyswim, Stolen Silver, Derek Fawcett, Strand of Oaks @ The Hotel Cafe

• Eric Lumiere, Liz Longley, A Great Big World, Greg Holden, Javier Dunn @ Room 5 Lounge

• Hollywood Roses, Dirt, Stone Temple Co-Pilots @ Saint Rocke

• Charlene Kaye, Jay Stolar, Stephen Lowell, Mellissa Brett @ The Mint

• VS @ The Central SAPC

• Alvin Risk, Mossberg Pump @ Yost Theater

• Molly Nilsson @ Detroit Bar

• Me & Mr. Cassidy, Elizaveta, Nicki Bove @ WitZend

• Harlow Gold @ Harvelle’s

• Skyline Piegons,  Johnny O’Donnell & Sacramento @ Harvard & Stone

• Austin Peralta @ Del Monte Speakeasy

• Taj Mahal @ Coach House

• Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, Stalley, Fly Union @ Fox Theatre

• Bad Luck Bandits, Rudo Movimiento, Sandbox Bullies, La Infinita, Kill Café @ House of Blues – Anaheim

• Skid Row, Kix, Dokken, Warrant, L.A. Guns @ Citizens Bank Arena

• Bambu Station, Inna Vision, Kicks @ SLO Brew

• Leon Russell @ Canyon Club

Bassnectar's Dubstep 101

Are you one of those people that thinks electronic music all sounds the same? Or that dubstep isn't its own genre?

Learn from a beat wizard, Bassnectar, on what makes subgenres of electronic music....

Bassnectar's Dubstep 101

Are you one of those people that thinks electronic music all sounds the same? Or that dubstep isn't its own genre?

Learn from a beat wizard, Bassnectar, on what makes subgenres of electronic music....

11 ACTS TO CATCH AT NORTH COAST MUSIC FESTIVAL

The second installment of North Coast Music Festival is filled with artists both big and small - but there are 11 current, former and future chart toppers that we think make the return of the festival an extra special one. This collection of artists have been bringing thier A game to stages for years - and we expect nothing less from them this weekend in Chicago.

1. Thievery Corporation - 8:30 - 10:00 Sunday; Red Bull Grove Stage -

With a new album under their belt – “Culture of Fear” – that continues the massive groups reign as the quintessential eclectic world influenced chill music. From “Stargazer” to the title track – the new record is a winner and maintains the Corporation’s position as one of the better composition groups out there. With an ensemble that can exceed a dozen people – its not so easy to find a stage suitable for the Corporation – but North Coast is providing that platform (they also play a late show on Sunday). Check out this youtube video for "Free" off of the new record.

2. Bassnectar - 8:30 - 10:00 Sunday; North Coast Stage -

Squaring off against Thievery, this may be the toughest decision of the festival. But Bassnectar has been crushing the festival circuit this summer. Arguably at more big or legitimate festivals than any other electronic artist/DJ this summer, Lorne has been throwing the bass down on stages around the country at lightning pace. With a progressive and coordinated visual performance to compliment his tunes, and always with something to say to the crowd before an epic drop, a Bassnectar festival set is not to be missed. If you do have to miss it - he is going on a national tour.

3. Common - 7:30 - 8:30 Saturday; Named After Groupon Stage -

With rumors circulating of a new album coming soon and a recent series of Rock The Bells performances of his record “BE”, Common is again part of the buzz in the hip-hop community. His conscious, eloquent, creatively crafted lyrics compliment almost any beat he is given and there is no doubt the Chi-Town native is probably cooking up something wicked. With a festival performance in his hometown – I certainly wouldn’t miss it. The potential for a cameo or guest to show up is realistic and whether one does or doesn’t, Common can carry a performance from coast to coast any day.

4. Rusko – 6:30 - 7:30 Saturday; North Coast Stage

Producer extraordinaire Rusko brings his preferred bass drops to NCMF and I couldn’t be more excited. After unfortunately missing him at Camp Bisco (he cancelled) and his absence from some of the most major festival line-ups (Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza) – catching a Rusko set this summer has not been that easy. The 26 year old dubstep juggernaut has produced for M.I.A., Britney Spears and recently Mike Posner’s "Shut Up."

5. David Guetta - 8:30 - 10 Friday; North Coast Stage

The man that popularized electro-soul-house headlines tonight and, rightfully so. Owning multiple #1 hit records, including a recently released album “Nothing But The Beat” that is crushing charts on just about every continent, Guetta is at the top of his game. With lasers, robots and hot drops galore at any Guetta show – he is the perfect act to end the first night of a hopefully epic weekend.

6. Lettuce - 4:30 - 5:30 Saturday; North Coast Stage

These ambassadors of funk have been playing together for over a decade - hailing back to their days at Berklee School of Music. Each member has their own viable bad ass offshoot - from Deitch's Break Science and stint with Pretty Lights to Krasno and Evans' Soulive - they all do their thing separately. But when this super group gets together - its about as dirty as funk gets. While each man in this band is an all star - it is a toss up as to who the anchor is. I'm a big fan of Jesus, their bassist, who has smacked the strings on some classic hip-hop records as well as stages around the world. Check out a sampling of their live energy and a little background on the band in these two youtube videos:

7. Major Lazer - 6:00 - 7:00 Saturday; Red Bull Grove Stage

Major Lazer brings together super producer Diplo and producer Switch into a baile-funk, dancehall inspired island flavored beat creating duo. With one LP, one EP, a mash-up record with La Roux (Lazerproof) and a handful of mixtapes in the last three years - Lazer has been very active on the recording side of things. They've also been active on the festival circuit - although I haven't caught them yet this summer. Saturday will change that. Here's "Pon De Floor" - one of their more popular cuts that appears routinely in other people's DJ sets.

http://youtu.be/g2nmgcVbfKE

8. The Budos Band - 3:30 - 4:30 Sunday: Named After Groupon Stage

This Daptastic crew of funky soul brothers hail from Brooklyn and make funk that is one half afrobeat, one quarter soul and all parts bad ass. Distinctively different from Lettuce, as well as other funk NCMF performers The New Mastersounds, The Budos Band's commitment to tribal rhythms and sounds is evident on each of their three records, including their most recent release, 2010's The Budos Band III. Their unique afro-soul usually comes in a 10+ person package, and who knows just how many will don North Coast's stage. Check out "Up From The South" which was the theme song for the NFL network several season ago.

9. Little Dragon - 5:30 - 6:30 Sunday; Named After Groupon Stage

Swedish synth pop darlings have been all the rage in 2011, especially since their release of Ritual Union, the groups third album, on July 25, 2011. With a handful of festival appearances since then, including Outside Lands, and this weekends appearance at North Coast as well as Bumbershoot, Little Dragon is enjoying their much deserved success as much as possible. Spearheaded by Japanese singer Yukumi Nagano, the group has been around since 1996 and is finally getting their justified dues. Post festival season they will be touring with Friendly Fires and Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

Check out them performing "Ritual Union" on KCRW. And check out Syd The Kid of Odd Future remixing one of their tracks here.

10. Zeds Dead - 3:00 - 4:00 Saturday; Red Bull Grove Stage

Progressive electronic dubstep duo made up of DC and Hooks from Toronto make what I like to call disco dubstep at times. It definitely gets your ass moving. A favorite of and frequent appearance in many DJs sets - these industry darling child's performances are quite the jam. Plus - their name is a homage to Pulp Fiction. Don't miss!

11. Break Science - 3:30 - 4:30 Saturday; Named After Groupon Stage

RJD2 is a DJ in the vein of Shadow, Jel and others that blend great samples with drum machines and make beats and compositions that have a classic hip-hop feel as well as broader appeal. Break Science is the magical duo of Adam Deitch and Borahm Lee - making glitch break beat electro jams out of NYC and delivering them to the world. While you may not have heard of their project - you've certainly heard Borahm at any of Kanye's more recent shows and Deitch has been a mainstay drummer on the scene since the 90s when he played drums with the Fugees. These two party starting forces collided at this years Camp Bisco and look to continue the magic here at North Coast. (they also play a late show Saturday)

'Roo Day Two!

Awaking to the feeling of frying like bacon in my own tent, I knew I was camping at a music festival. It just so happened that festival was Bonnaroo and it was my first morning waking up in Manchester. After a much-needed shower and some phone juicing, press orientation was my first scheduled activity within Centeroo.

A great place to see who is doing coverage for the weekend and meet some other scenesters from around the country, I chopped it up with old friends and made a few new ones (shout outs to Eric with Dope on Plastic) before doing my first scheduled interview of the weekend with Kerry from Superfly.

The co-founder of Bonnaroo, and curator of the new Food Truck Oasis had a lot to share about the chow, as well as a discerning palate. What I learned, and more on the food we sampled, will come in a follow up post that focuses on the improved eating options at Bonnaroo. The soundtrack to our meal was the talented Sharon Van Etten. Not someone I’d planned on hearing – but certainly glad I did.

Unfortunately, I missed Jessica Lea Mayfield and Graveyard, both of whom I’ve heard good feedback about. But, honestly, I was letting all the food truck grub soak in before catching the original line-up of Bela Fleck & The Flecktones. An initial plan of seeing it live got diverted to the Sports Bar on the basis of the head index alone – the air conditioned Sports Bar provided welcome refuge from the heat as well as an opportunity to get updated on the fact that the Heat lost game 5 to the Mavericks.

Despite group encouragement to see the gorgeous and talented Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, I was persuaded by the possibility of more air conditioning in the Bonnaroo Comedy Theatre. Lewis Black was the MC, but really just an introducer of some up and comers – Tim Minchin, Kathleen Madigan and Hannibal Buress. Minchin and Madigan had me laughing out loud frequently, but Buress lost me early on. Madigan’s crowing moment was a joke about DUI laws being based on nationality. Priceless. See this lady if she is in your town, but wear a diaper because you might pee your pants.

I emerged from the AC’d hilarity oasis to the sounds of Matt & Kim booming from This Tent. A substantial crowd had gathered to see the energetic duo and I got swept up in the frenzy. Making my way close to the front of the stage – I got to hear Kim boast about how great the festival was before reminding women to never forget vagina wipes and urging guys to generously apply Gold Bond. I wish I’d caught those quotes on audio. True words of wisdom. The duo then busted out into “Lessons Learned” – the song for which they recorded a music video naked, follow by some amazing renditions of their indie culture, pop friendly music, including hits “Daylight” and “Cameras.”

The massive Matt & Kim crowd were getting pretty rowdy and the energetic, especially when Kim handed out some balloons to the crowd. But, the enthusiasm unfortunately turned the tent into a baking inferno and I needed water, cold air and some deodorant once their show was over. Thankfully they left me just enough time to head to camp and swoop back for Atmosphere.

By far one of my favorite live performers – Atmosphere, or more particularly the MC known as Slug and his band that features producer/DJ Ant, rarely disappoint and Bonnaroo was no exception. The Minneapolis group’s expansive catalog lends itself well to live performances and ensures that no Atmopshere (or Rhymesayers) performance will be the same. Slug commanded the This Tent crowd with relative ease – weaving through classics from Overcast to God Loves Ugly, When Life Gives You Lemons to The Family Sign.

While it is strange for me to leave any Atmosphere show early, I’d heard good buzz about Givers, an indie rock outfit from Louisiana who were performing on a much smaller stage – the On Tap Lounge. The crowd that gathered was not insubstantial, and when I approached the stage – I quickly realized why.

The entire band had tremendous energy; the lead vocalist literally appeared to be reaching to the depths of his body to pull out their riveting performance (several times his eyes rolled to the back of his head so all you could see were the whites). Givers were not only my delightful surprise of the day, but for the entire festival. I’m sad I missed their most recent L.A. performance and only hope that they return sometime soon…

Givers @ Bonnaroo 2011

Givers gave way to the much hyped L.A. indie artist Hanni El Khatib. Having seen Hanni before, I took it as a cue to regroup at camp and catch some rest for the long night ahead. After brief visits to performances by Ray Lamontagne (Which Stage), Florence & The Machine (This Tent) and My Morning Jacket (What Stage), I was ready for Primus on the Which Stage.

If you’re familiar with Les Claypool’s catalog – you’d know him as the genius behind Primus, as well as several other bands. His versatility is impressive and the Bonnaroo performance of Primus united him with the same people he performed at the ‘Roo with in 2004. Here is a video, posted by audioperv, of their performance.

Primus’ performance was stellar as usual - the band paraded through many of Claypool's penned fan favorites. Their bass heavy groove gave way to the sounds of Arcade Fire, who had people descend toward the main stage on parachutes. Not quite the spectacle of lights with bulbs inside them from Coachella, but still kind of cool. Nonetheless, having seen them in Indio, I didn’t feel inclined to indulge their entire set in person. Instead, I enjoyed some of it from the comfortable chairs in the press/guest hospitality area. I needed to ensure my feet had the stamina to endure the action packed post midnight performances from Lil Wayne, Big Boi, Bassnectar, Pretty Lights, Ratatat and Shpongle.

It was easy to tell when Arcade Fire was finished because I could almost immediately hear the bass drone emanating from This Tent where Bassnectar was slated to perform fora few hours. The crowd was massive - too difficult to penetrate to get to the press area for a few minutes. People had even climbed the rafters of This Tent and dangerously perched themselves above the crowd for prime viewing. Lorin Ashton captured the crowds energy and threw it right back at them.

From 'Nectar I planned on going to Lil' Wayne - but I'd misjudged the time and realized that I could catch a few Big Boi songs first. I stumbled onto a funky rendition of his #1 single "The Way You Move," before he dropped the Outkast classic "Player's Ball" from Southernplayalisticadillacamuzik. Check out a video of the show from Audio Perv below:

Having seen Big Boi in February, I quickly obtained a dosage of some favorites and knowing I'll see him again later this year - I dashed to Which Stage for my first ever Weezy F Baby show.

Mannie Fresh was at the festival and on stage (as well as Wayne's lil brother) - and they provided some support on a variety of Wayne's hits including "Go DJ," produced by Mannie Fresh. From "Lollipop" to "A Milli" off of Carter III to newer songs like "Swagga Like Us" and "6 Foot 7 Foot" - Lil Wayne rocked the crowd - many of whom knew the lyrics. Wayne continuously reminded the fans of three (really two things) - his love for God and that he is nothing without the fans and that he is nothing without you (meaning the Bonnaroo crowd). For someone whose graced the front of Rolling Stone and had an album that went triple platinum when many artists of good pedigree can't even break gold - they felt like humble words and, in comparison to Eminem's attempted massaging of the crowd the following night, much more genuine.

Weezy ended and sent me to Pretty Lights who allegedly had a new lighting installation, but no drummer (disappointing). While I very much enjoy Derek Vincent Smith's music - the addition of a live drummer to his electronic themed hip-hopish beatathons was one of the things that made his shows so special and epic. The energy (and beat) were more raw and natural. Opting for an easier set-up (not so much of a soundcheck required without a drummer) - Pretty Lights delivered a bunch of his fan favorite cuts as well as his latest remixes (the Radiohead and Nirvana mash-up was pretty sick). Unfortunately - a lot of the tunes sounded almost identical to his recordings, as if he was not doing anything behind his facade of lights and elevated platform. The absence of effort was confirmed by the fact that for what seemed like more than half of the show - Derek's hands were above the decks and visibly not touching anything. Perhaps that flew past much of the crowd due to their intoxication level - but come on dude...at least pretend like you're doing something back there. Especially if you're going to ditch the drummer. While the lights and production were dope - they were not enough of a substitute for the absence of effort or drummer Adam Deitch.

In part due to my disappointment and in part because I've seen PL at least ten times, I darted to Ratatat at The Other Tent and luckily caught a few greats like "Seventeen" before briefly watching Shpongle and his Shpongletron Experience before heading to bed.

Up soon....our final two days at Bonnaroo and special coverage of the Bonnaroo cuisine scene.