Ambulance Ltd. |
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Tue. April 26.2005 12:00 AM EDT |
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Coachella PreviewThe bands at this two day music-fest are gonna make you sweat! Literally. A preview of Coachella, where tens of thousands of blissed-out music fans get their swerve on in the desert. by Dimitri Ehrlich |
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(Capitol Records) |
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Every generation has had its Woodstock. The Woodstock generation had--well, Woodstock. For the grunge era, it was Lollapalooza. The generation Y kids had the Warped tour. And those young enough to stand for hours in the heat rocking out to the sound
COLDPLAY With their rather stunningly good new album, X+Y, coming out in the US June 7th, this ubiquitous quartet will solidify their place at the top of the rock pantheon when they headline Coachella on April 30th. Somehow managing to make mopey sentiments and slightly paranoid lyrics sound like really good tracks for car commercials, Coldplay will attempt, but fail, to add a mood of regal British melancholia to the cloudless Cali skies. It's not that we don't take Chris Martin's pain as real. But when you're going home to Gwyneth Paltrow and your every melody is pre-certified platinum, you've got a cred problem when it comes to selling gloom. Records, on the other hand, you can move like hotcakes. THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS First of all, they're not really brothers. But they sure as heck do know how to work a drum machine. The duo -- Ed Simon and Tom Rowlands -- were among the first artists to capitalize on electronica by supplying hip remixes and production assists to the likes of Beth Orton, Oasis' Noel Gallagher, former Verve singer Richard Ashcroft and Flaming Lips front man Wayne Coyne. Their biggest hit, "Block Rockin' Beats," is a thumping mix of old school hip-hop with just the right tinge of industrial noise and rock guitars--a formula the Chem sibs have been repeating for ten years and will no doubt unleash again on the grateful crowd at Coachella. It will definitely thrill those old enough to remember when the first time they heard techno, and perhaps even gain a few new fans among the teeming youngsters who were still in braces back when raves didn't have corporate sponsors. WILCO Wilco not only have some pretty rootsy music to their name--they have a great story. Born in 1994 from the ashes of alt country pioneers Uncle Tupelo, they cranked out really fine, shabby chic Americana for years in relative obscurity, like a bunch of guys sitting on their porch and whittling wood while sipping moonshine, as if no one was listening. Then one day, the cruel and money- grubbing record industry establishment (played this time by Warner/Reprise) got fed up with the fact that, according to the corporate beancounters, no one really was listening, and dropped their poor country asses. But Wilco bought the masters for their album Yankee Foxtrot Hotel, back from Warners for $50 G's, released it on a small indie label, and BOOM! They had a huge hit. And now they're playing at Coachella. Moral of the story: drink more moonshine and don't worry if The Man tries to hold you down. SAGE FRANCIS Say you like your hip-hop without all the bling, the mindless materialism, the violence, and the woman-hating. In other words, say you don't really like hip- hop. Then you'll love Sage Francis. This underground innovator rocks intense, politically driven rhymes, with complex messages about self help and the value of literacy. In other words, he has no place in the rap world. And he should fit in just fine at Coachella. AMBULANCE LTD For all the talk about how great New York City's music scene is, with the exception of The Strokes and Lou Reed, very few national acts ever really manage to emerge from the hyper-competitive city. But Ambulance might have a shot at it. Of course, the fact that none of the band members are actually from Gotham might have something to do with it as well (members come from as far a field as Belfast, Northern Ireland, Santa Monica, California, Eugene, Oregon and New England). While Ambulance have all kinds of jazz skills, the good news is, you'd never know it. They make swirling atmospheric rock that teeters somewhere between new wave and prog rock, but somehow manage to come off as fresh. It is to Coachella's credit that Ambulance are included on the bill as they surely deserve a wider audience. THE SECRET MACHINES Since psychedelic drugs are strictly verboten at Coachella (if you have a prescription, you'll need to bring ID that matches the name on the pill bottle and even that has to be stored in a special medical tent) it's wise that the concert's organizers invited a few bands who can make music that induces a sense of hallucination. Few do it better than this threesome, who fuse Pink Floyd's shape-shifting, majestic soundscapes with intricately arranged rockers that are perfect for contemplating your place in the cosmos. On The Secret Machines' debut, Now Here Is Nowhere, they display a fetishistic obsession with the crackly tube warmth of old analog gear, so it will be interesting to see how much of that arcane sound they can manage to pull off live. But based on their recordings, they are certainly worth seeking out. If you can't manage to sneak a few hallucinogens in to the concert grounds, these guys should help alter your mood. If not, according to some very desperate folks we know, standing under the baking sun with a bit of shoe polish on your forehead (so that the chemicals melt into your brain) is supposed to work, too. NINE INCH NAILS On Sunday May 1st, as Coachella hits its halfway point, a disagreeable old man named Trent Reznor will trot out his brash and angry brand of noise and pretend to be tormented by some inner demons for what will seem like (and might actually be) several hours. We suggest going to the concession stand. Okay, we admit, Reznor has been known to do interesting things with a synthesizer, inducing it to spit out some bloated shards of sound with a fascinating capacity to both attract and disturb at the same time. But honestly, the self-obsessed, mechanized trenchcoat mafia soundtracks seem hard to swallow at this point. And dude--does your use of adolescent goth angst still require you to wear black leather gloves under a sunny California sky? I mean, even KISS took off their make-up at some point, broham. Must your joyless industrial assault strangle every last drop of good cheer from our day? BRIGHT EYES Bright Eyes is actually a guy named Conor Oberst from Omaha, who writes folk songs almost as fast as he can sing them and seems to have no internal editor, so he releases them all on records--approximately one a month, it seems. Live, though, his intensely inward, ultra-confident, hyper-emotional, sensitive-guy performances are mesmerizing. While he strums his acoustic guitar and howls about broken hearts (his and maybe, on occasion, someone else's) you find yourself caught up in the two-chord and ten minute chronicles of emotional torment. Just when you start to feel embarrassed for not having a cynical bone in your body, Oberst delivers one of his sharp, simple lyrics and it skewers you through the chest like a scalpel, and you look to your left and right, and find you, too, have unwillingly joined the cult of sullen, pale Conorites. This is music that gets nerds laid. Rock on, Conor. RONI SIZE Remember Roni Size and Reprazent? We didn't think so. Just a few years ago, the poor fella seemed like he was about to ride the sound of drum n' bass into the American heartland, with his jittery high-speed beats, jazzy arrangements, and cool hairdo. And then... nothing happened. His frenetic beats and huge, throbbing sub-bass tones will still get your heart pounding, and the good news is, you should have plenty of room to dance, since he now draws about six people to his shows, and that includes him and his band. BRITISH SEA POWER British Sea Power was once the key element that allowed a tiny island to dominate most of the world for about 500 years, until the burdens of colonialism, shifting global alliances, and changing technologies gradually stripped her Majesty's fleet of its vaunted capacities. Oh, and it's also a really cool English band. They sometimes perform in WWI uniforms, on stages strewn with stuffed owls, and make music that's just as weird and compelling. Eccentric, original, and possibly great, British Sea Power are worth seeking out, if only to stare at for a while and wonder just what the hell it is your are watching. |
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Coldplay |
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The Chemical Brothers |
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Wilco |
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Sage Francis |
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Ambulance Ltd. |
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Secret Machines |
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Nine Inch Nails |
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Bright Eyes |
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Roni Size |
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British Sea Power |
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