COACHELLA PART 2

Second weekend of music from the Coachella 2013 music festival.

THE xx
The xx are a Mercury Prize-winning trio formed in 2005 in London, United Kingdom and signed to Young Turks. The band members are Romy Madley Croft (vocals, lead guitar), Oliver Sim (vocals, bass guitar), and Jamie Smith, known as Jamie xx (beats, MPC sampler). Second guitarist and keyboardist Baria Qureshi was dropped from the band mid-tour in 2009. The reasons behind her ousting remain unclear. On 17 August 2009, the group released their debut album xx on Young Turks label. The album was recorded in a small garage and produced by the band. It garnered critical acclaim and has been generally well-received, scoring an average of 86/100 based on 24 professional reviews. Also it ranked on “best of the year” lists with Rolling Stone placing it at #9 and NME placing it at #2.

Download it here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/4ofpp5ppu6e3/n/XX_Coachella_Indio_CA_April_12_2013_mp3

NEW ORDER
New Order are an alternative rock/electronic dance band which formed in 1980 in Salford, England, United Kingdom by the three remaining members of Joy Division. The band’s classic lineup consists of Bernard Sumner (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Peter Hook (bass, electronic percussion), Gillian Gilbert (keyboards, guitar) and Stephen Morris (drums, keyboards). The group effectively disbanded in 1993 but reformed in 1998. Gilbert left in 2001 to look after her and Morris’ children and was replaced by guitarist/keyboardist Phil Cunningham. Hook left acrimoniously in 2007 and declared the band to be defunct. Initially, Sumner, Cunningham and Morris denied the band had split up, but in 2009, following the release of the trio’s Bad Lieutenant album, they admitted that that they could not continue on without Hook and officially disbanded. However, the band reformed in 2011 for a pair of charity dates without Hook, with Gilbert returning to the fold and Tom Chapman replacing Hook on bass. Pioneers of dance music in the 1980s and one of the first bands to effectively and popularly synthesize keyboard- and guitar-based music, New Order’s members hailed from Salford and Macclesfield, England out of the ashes of Joy Division, are noted as being one of the first bands to bridge the gap between post-punk and dancefloor.

Download it here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/1owksyzv5lgj/n/NO_Coachella_Indio_CA_April_13_2013_mp3

FRANZ FERDINAND
With their foppish good looks, skinny trousers and sly, sexy post-punk tunes, Franz Ferdinand were one of the U.K.'s best pop exports in the 2000s, four suave Scotsmen who helped indie kids learn to dance. The Scottish quintet first scored a minor U.S. hit with "Take Me Out," which combined a spiky riff with a shout-along chorus, and subsequent singles — including the blatantly homoerotic rocker "Michael" — only upped the pleasure principle.

Download it here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/38ry4sn5p05t/n/FF_Coachella_Indio_CA_April_14_2013_mp3

VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Vampire Weekend is an indie rock band which formed in February 2006 in New York City, New York, United States. The band consists of Ezra Koenig (vocals, guitar), Rostam Batmanglij (keyboards, guitar, vocals), Chris Baio (bass) and Christopher Tomson (drums). The band has released two albums: Their successful 2008 self-titled album and 2010’s “Contra”. The band has gained positive comparisons to such artists as Paul Simon, Haircut 100 and The Walkmen. Vampire Weekend received much buzz from local blogs throughout 2007 during their rise to a record deal with indie label XL Recordings. Rolling Stone placed Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa at number 57 for the top 100 songs of 2007.

Download it here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/7czrhto2yg0d/n/VW_Coachella_Indio_CA_April_14_2013_mp3

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk rock and psychedelic rock. When played live, they incorporate many aspects of jam band due to the improvised nature of much of their performances. Currently, the band consists of founding members Anthony Kiedis (vocals) and Michael "Flea" Balzary (bass), longtime drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who joined in late 2009, following the departure of John Frusciante. Red Hot Chili Peppers have won seven Grammy Awards, and sold over 80 million records worldwide.[2] The Red Hot Chili Peppers came in at # 30 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. The Chili Peppers ranked # 72 on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists, as well as placing # 128 on the Top Pop Artists of the Past 25 Years chart. In 2012, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band's original line-up featured guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons, alongside Kiedis and Flea.

Download it here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/1pxp8wtre1sn/n/RHCP_Coachella_Indio_CA_April_14_2013_mp3

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

Following up on last weeks concert, I was wanting more of The Naked and Famous, having purchased their debut album, Passive Me, Aggressive You, released on 6 September 2010 in New Zealand, where it debuted at number-one.  I finally got to hear some more of their lyrics!

Combining poppier elements of bands like MGMT and Empire of The Sun, The NaF are all about clever songs and catchy power-pop tunes, with distorted synths and a combination of boy-girl vocals. But it’s also fair to say that a portion of the band’s commercial appeal probably lies with its very polished too-cool-for-school hipster chic.

It would be no exaggeration to suggest that the bulk of those responsible for propelling The NaF to the top of the charts are – much like the band itself – barely out of school uniform. Or at the very least, under the age of 25, and certainly not yet cynical or world-weary enough to start wondering about long term prospects and use-by dates.

http://everythinggonegreen.blogspot.com/2011/06/album-review-naked-and-famous-passive.html

Their refusal of all things feel-good only adds to the stylistic tension. There’s lots of mental anguish, psychic bruises and “Tearing at the seams” on ‘Frayed’; their most ecstatic hit tune, ‘Punching In A Dream’, concerns violent nightmares; and at the very least ‘Spank’ details a global pandemic, at worst a zombie apocalypse. ‘The Sun’ is all paranoia, recriminations and the terror of lost narcotic hours, while closer ‘Jilted Lovers’ teeters into all-out psychosis, with Alisa’s sublime coo cracking: “Voices in my head multiply/I am such a mess”. A classic case of ugly and beautiful: TN&F’s passive melodicism and aggressive innovation clash in a dazzling blaze of psych/sonic fireworks.

http://www.nme.com/reviews/the-naked-and-famous/11895
 

Go out and buy it!

It was a relatively short virtual concert this evening, having gotten a late start and being tired from a full day of work.  The evening closed with Echo and The Bunnymen, July 29th, 1982at the Rock 'Ola in Madrid, Spain.  A very good recording, playing before a very enthusiastic audience.  "I love you!"  Kind of reminded me of the young audience at The Naked and Famous show! 

Download it here:
https://rapidshare.com/#!download|33|4077255310|Madrid__Spain_Rockola_July_29__1982.rar|71172

One of the young guys standing close to me during The Naked and Famous show said that he really, really liked The xx, "an English indie pop band, formed in London in 2005.  The group released their debut album, xx in August 2009. The album ranked highly on many best of 2009 lists, placing number one on the list compiled by The Guardian and second for NME.  In 2010, the band won the Mercury Music Prize for their debut album." This recording I found was from the July 12, 2010 show at The Roundhouse in Camden/London during the iTunes Festival.

If you’re after atmospheric indie rhythms and electrifying live frisson, don’t miss out on southwest London trio. The moody vocal harmonies of Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft on tracks such as Crystalised and Heart Skipped A Beat (taken from acclaimed 2009 album XX) generate a seductively edgy magic, fuelled by creative guitar and electro production techniques.

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/music/iTunesFestival/831246-itunes-festival-2010-the-xx-and-wild-beasts-are-rated-indie-talent#ixzz1t6dHb0M2

Sultry elodies and single note riffs reverberated over a tidal wave of rumbling bass, picked out by the husky voiced front-duo of Romy Madley-Craft and Baria Qureshi, while the band’s beat-master Jamie Smith provided a satisfyingly solid backstop behind them. Although the trademark black garb and drowsy composure were in place, there was an endearing bashfulness in the performance of the band, who seemed genuinely delighted with the crowd’s almost rapturous reception to tracks like Heart Skipped A Beat and Islands. The simplicity of The XX’s sound benefits from the exposure of a larger space, allowing their quietly emotive lyrics on modern love and loss to resonate with a glacial clarity. A difficult act to categorise, the band’s reliance upon throbbing beats and bass nods heavily towards the influences of urban music, and they have become renowned for their downbeat covers of r’n’b artists like Aliyah.

Read more: http://amyrosedawson.blogspot.com/2010/07/review-xx-at-roundhouse.html

Download it here or find it and buy it:
http://www.divshare.com/download/12556840-cf7

More Iggy Pop and The Stooges, please!  Tonight it was the Columbia/Legacy's new reissue of their album Raw Power.

Released in February of 1973, it was an instant flop, commercially speaking, but as with so many records adjudged to be iconic after the fact, it still found its way into the hands of the right people. Musicians who'd soon be instrumental in kickstarting Punk: artists in New York City, Cleveland and L.A., and across the pond in London and Manchester, and even Down Under in Sydney and Melbourne. Picking up the baton and bolting with it, those bands would in turn serve up sonic mentorships for thousands and thousands others down through the years. There's no guarantee that the budding young garage combo practicing in that storage shed down the street from you has heard Raw Power or either of its two predecessors, 1969's The Stooges and 1970's Fun House. But there's no question that the Stooges are in those kids' DNA in one form or another.

Read more: http://blurt-online.com/reviews/view/2045/

Pilheads back, just in time for the upcoming Public Image Limited tour happening this summer in the UK.  He has provided us with more songs PIL performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southebank Centre in London on March 6, 2012, a few of which I had recorded during a webcast a week or two ago.  Greta sound and a great performance by Uncle Johnny.  I still wish I had the entire show, but I am expecting those bootleg recordings will show up later in the year from the upcoming tour.

Thank you Pilhead:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/7jwhest6x3iz/n/Queen_Elizabeth_Hall,_Southbank_Centre,London_16.03.12.mp3