coachella lineup (since i have nothing else to do right now)...

Let's just admit it. It was a little bit frusterating when we realized that the rumors circulating stating that Radiohead was headlining were false. Right? A little bit disappointing.

It was even MORE disappointing when we realized that JACK JOHNSON was headlining. I mean really? Who in the fuck picked Jack Johnson? He hasn't created anything original since the history of... history.

BUT

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. If those two bummers are going to ruin your whole weekend then you shouldn't even be coming in the first place. So don't buy a ticket. More room for me. The rest of the lineups make up for these 2 semi-disasters, and we will be okay.

Here is where I will be at every second during the weekend, FYI. My picks for the best shows, shows to skip out halfway through, and breaks for beer and shade.

FRIDAY (Jack Johnson Night)

Head in around 12. Bum around. Drink two gallons of water on the drive there. Piss immediately.

1:30 - 2:15 / Rogue Wave plays.  If you feel like dancing immediately, Midnight Juggernauts are amongst the others playing at the same time. However, in my opinion, there is a lot more killer dance to be heard later on. Conserve your engergy and check out Rogue Wave.

2:15 - 2:50 / Check out Luckyjam. 

2:50 - 3:25 / Take a break 

3:25 - 4:10 / BLACK KIDS. Super stoked. Do not miss this act.

4:25 - 5:15 / Architecture in Helsinki.

5:15 - 5:40 / Catch a little bit of Cut Copy's set. 

5:40 - 6:30 / Vampire Weekend

6:55 - 7:40 / THE NATIONAL. Another act to definitely hang around the Outdoor Theater for.

*I should note that between these 2 acts, if you follow my lineup you will be missing Goldfrapp. I might cut out early from the Raconteurs for them. I might even ditch the Raconteurs all together.

7:45 - 8:30 / Run to the Coachella Stage to catch most of the Raconteurs set.

8:30 - 9:15 / Get your ass back to the Outdoor Theater for The Swell Season or over to Mojave for Aesop Rock.

9:15 - 10:10 / Back to Coachella Stage for The Verve

10:50 - 11:40 / Mojave Stage for the Black Lips

SATURDAY (What a day, Rockin' all night with youuu)...

12:30 - 1:10 / The Bird and the Bee. Tiny act, but amazing.

1:30 - 2:20 / The Teenagers

2:45 - 3:35 / Minus the Bear. This act would not go on my lineup should I not be forced into going by my friends. Kavinsky will be DJing at this point, which seems the better option.

3:40 - 4:30 / MGMT. Word. Ditch out on set halfway through to get to Cold War Kids.

4:15 - 4:50 / Cold War Kids. 

4:55 - 5:45 / Kate Nash.

OKAY. Here's where we hit some speed bumps.

6:10 - 7:00 / Hot Chip. 

or

6:30 - 7:20 / Death Cab for Cutie. I have seen Death Cab once before, but my friends have not. And to their credit, they put on a completely fucking amazing live show. 

I guess I vote cut out on Hot Chip early to catch the majority of Death Cab's set. Bum bum bum.

7:20 - 8:10 / Rilo Kiley

or

7:10 - 8:00 / Islands. Same dilemma as the Hot Chip vs. Death Cab fiasco. Fight it out, babies.

Mark Ronson vs. MIA

8:20 - 9:10 / MIA

or

8:35 - 9:25 / Mark Ronson 

In all honesty, no matter how gorgeous Mark Ronson is, MIA will probably defeat him. Which means maybe half and halfsies.

9:15 - 10:15 / Portishead. Obviously.

10:45 - ??? / PRINCE. 

SUNDAY (JUSTICE & CHROMEO)

12:30 - 1:15 / Brett Dennen.  Love love LOVE him.

1:45 - 2:25 / Annuals

2:45 - 3:30 / I'm from Barcelona

vs.

3:00 - 3:50 / Shout Out Louds

Shout Out Louds will win the battle because this just in: I'm from Barcelona is playing @ The El Rey the Monday after Coachella for dirt cheap. Word.

3:45 - 4:35 / Manchester Orchestra. For my good friend Mike.

4:15 - 5:05 / Cut off Manchester Orchestra (sorry Mike) to catch STARS's entire set @ the Coachella Stage

5:00 - 5:50 / Autolux

5:10 - 6:00 / Cut off Autolux early to catch the majority of Does It Offend You, Yeah's set back @ the Gobi stage.

6:15 - 7:05 / Metric

7:45 - 8:35 / Sia

9:00 - 9:50 / Murs

10:00 - 10:50 / CHROMEO

11:00 - ??? / JUSTICE

Definately saving the best 2 acts of the entire weekend for last. If I am still alive and breathing at this point, I can almost guarentee that by the end of the last 3 hours, I will not be. But, what better way to go out than by doing the D.A.N.C.E. (1 2 3 4 5)....

So that's it. Changes will be made. Sets will be skipped. New bands will be introduced and I will be better for every moment of it. Except the porta potty moments. But, regaurdless,

See you in Indio, bitches!!!!

coachella checklist

cCoachella is approaching at light speed and thank fucking god about that, honestly. It's only 2 weeks into the new quarter and I can already feel my sanity / motivation spiraling downwards. 

Anyway, I figured I ought to comprise a checklist of shit not to forget whilst I lose 5 pounds from sweating off the countless bottles of water I consume.

COACHELLA 2008 CHECKLIST:

1) 100 dollars for water, which is 4 dollars a bottle. So, if Coachella is 3 days long, waterbottles cost 4 dollars, and you have 100 dollars set aside solely for purchasing h2o, the age old question is introduced:

HOW MANY BOTTLES OF WATER WILL YOU BUY?

100 ÷ 3 = 33 dollars per day. 

33 ÷ 4 = 8 bottles of water per day.

8 bottles of water per day = inarguable trips to the porta potties. love.

2) My shitty ass digital camera. It's tiny, light, and already in crap condition which gives me the freedom to either drop it or lose it, either of which is inevitable and will eventually result in me purchasing a new camera.

3) Good friends. everybody knows that if you have to watch Animal Collective because a certain somebody enjoys "music" comprised of a bunch of crap sounds and high pitched noises, you might as well adore the person forcing you into the situation in the first place.

4) Your favorite Radiohead t-shirt. Oh wait. Radiohead isn't headlining...

5) Clothes that breathe freely, allow movement, and will not show sweat stains. Sundresses, thrift store tanks, booty shorts, swimsuits. Little tiny pieces of clothing aren't skanky, but practical.

It's the hottest, dirtiest, most exhausting weekend of the year, assholes. Style means nothing. Long live the music.

6) Tolerable mix CDs, jerky, cigs, and boxed Franzia for the drives there and back from the hotel every morning and night.

7) Sunscreen with SPFS you've never heard of and desert proof headgear (ie: hats, scarves, bandanas, sweatrags, what have you)... Skin cancer and wrinkles are so not ever going to be in style. 

8) Sunglasses in every shape, size, and color. Possibly the only fashion statement one is able to make in such conditions. Will protect your eyes during peak hours of the day, mask a bit of the haggardness that is your face, and make you look extremely cool when the sun goes down. Right?

9) Cell phones. No matter how fucking badly it is going to suck when a punkass ringtone interrupts The Bird and the Bee, you gotta keep connections. Lost in the midst of mass hysteria = not seeing your ride again for the rest of the weekend. Mute them, but keep them close.

10) Positivity. Duh. This is the best and most expensive weekend of the year 2008, and you are going to enjoy every goddamn second of it.

I will see you lovlies there.

I want to dance with all of you. I want you to step on my feet in attempts to get a better view of Prince on Saturday night. I want to use the porta-potties, spend 2 hours trying to get back to the hotel, pass out from heat exhaustion. I want to finally be admitted into the 21 and over beer gardens during off time. I want to see fucking Vampire Weekend, so sue me. I want to meet the uber-trendy unknown DJ.

But most of all, I want to stand next to my beautiful friends in the 100 degree weather, covered in sweat and drinking ridiculously overpriced water, listening to the bands that really have, throughout the past years, turned the world in which we live into a tolerable, even beautiful, place.

More lineup info coming soon, probably. I'm going to tell you the top bands and stages to be at, and you are going to be there.

Love, love love.

i got nothin

Dragging our feet down the shoulder of Highway 1,
We are soaking wet.
The sky tastes like salt and death and big league chew.

The cars consider asking where we're going,
But if we knew, we wouldn't be here.
Walking somewhere.
Soaking wet.

I think, and then I wish,
That you become some omnipotent thing,
Just watching to make sure we let someone merge before us on the interstate.

I swear -
This afternoon will wash away to gold.
And the world won't turn without us.
Worries fading into those arrowhead shaped rocks
And even-spotted ladybugs -
The same we wished upon as babies,
When our lights went out, and we knew no better.

Now, again,
Let us know no better.

you fucked up bad, america

An Attempt to Tip the Scales

For you.

Now: Without further delay; immediately; at once.

The generation is now. Patience is a virtue of the past. We need what we need and we need it now. What we want has somehow warped itself into what we simply cannot live without, and with every passing day, accessibility has never been so easy. 

Nor terrifying.

Here is a city where some people will work forever without any sort of glimpse of credit or recognition. Others will gain success by complete and total chance. Some will sleep in gutters. Some will live off trust funds. Some will simply live. In what might be considered the most revolutionary city in the world, careers are handed out on golden platters now, now, now, and an industry, a city, once so respected can ultimately eat itself away. Thus leaving us with an ego, lines and lines or strategically placed palm trees, a false sense of reality, and a distorted perception of measurements of time. 

The recent acceptableness impatience.

Is it necessary to have constant connection to those around you? To give unto others what they want the very moment it is expected Feeding the fire that is burning down industries and families now, now, now. 

Good intentions, bad outcomes. Bad intentions, shittier outcomes. No intentions, create your own goddamn ending. 

Without instant connection, I wonder, would you or could you ever really disappear? Can you ever truly live for the moment without breaking that moment for thoughts of another.

 Past or future, does the present even truly exist in a world that is constantly evolving towards the future?

And yet, our generation is now. It would be unfair to focus on the negatives, because isn't hope solely about concentration on the positive? Putting any glimpse of faith into what might still be good. People still care and people will always care because without this compassion, we would not exist. 

Daily, there are innumerable contributions to society from people all around the world. The now generation presents us each with the invaluable opportunity to begin our lives with each new second of each new day. To change. To create. To take a stand. To reach out. Thus, there is beauty found within the now. 

Photograph, smile, tear apart and paste together, look up, sketch, cry for what is, hope for what is not. Dream. 

And know that it is okay. 

Everything is okay. 

It is shit, but we are okay.

So let's bum around and make out for hours in stuffy parking garages with shitty skyline views. Let's smoke our cigs to the filters and cheers to the nights that last until mornings. Let's drive with our windows down and no destination in sight - walk for the sake of walking and breathe for the sake of inhalation.

 Enjoy your food. Speak your mind. Write your name in the sand and who gives a shit if the water washes it away.

To continuously evolve is only human nature, but instant answer Wikipedia bullshit is not. 

So find the answers for yourself. Experience. Take the time to research. Learn something new and take pride in the fact that you are that much better for every single second. 

Work for what you want. Get hired, get fired, and find a new goddamn job. Experience is the basis of any success. Learn. Grow. Deserve.

Viva la revolucion. What revolution? Go start one. Now.

Long live every single notch on the clock. Every second of every moment of every hour of every day.

And above all things, long live hope.

All the while remembering that we would not know hope without hopelessness. We would not know ignorance without intelligence. In the contrast, we find our strength. And we will be okay. 

We are okay. 

We are now. And while that is demanding, that is life.

Long live, live long, and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy every goddamned second.

4/7/08 Indie 103.1 Presents @ Viper Room

So Monday night @ the Viper Room totally rocked it, props to Indie 103.1 for picking a brutally decent lineup. 

(Golden Animals, The Growlers, My Pet Saddle)

Golden Animals opened. 

They said they weren't used to the city lights yet and even though I've lived here for six months now, I know how they feel. It's really overwhelming to feel so tiny standing in a city with a sky that stays orange trapping in the lights that never go off. It used to terrify me, I think, the fact that I was virtually nothing in a city that already has everything. But shows like this and bands like Golden Animals make me realize that there is so much beauty in the tinyness.

If we can all stand next to each other, each one of us small and intimidated and entirely clueless, then through that togetherness we become something so much bigger. Music is such a fantastic way to highlight the significance found in being somewhat insignificant, and the bands just got it so so right.

Love, love, love is everywhere and I am right in the center of it all.

Anyway, everybody should check out Golden Animals. They sounds like what it would feel like to be driving through the desert at night time with the windows down and the radio quiet, and then pulling over to have sweaty, dirty sex on a kaftan your grandmother knit a million years ago, listening to another heart beating almost as loudly as your own.

http://www.myspace.com/goldenanimals

My camera wasn't cooperating during their set, but here they are loading their shit into their badass van and being totally friendly with all the drunkasses outside.

The Growlers followed. So different that anything I've ever been into before, but the greatest thing about LA music is that it really doesn't matter. You can throw away any standards or preferences you've ever had, and going to concerts becomes so entirely liberating. Anywho, The Growlers had a yummy lead singer with a real bluesy/soulful/twangy sort of voice, not to mention the sickest dance moves I have ever, ever seen. Killer suspenders (Alaska Logger) + 2 free CDs = beauty beauty beauty.

http://www.myspace.com/lbcgrowlers

My Pet Saddle closed and they were super fun. I love the girl on tambourine and vocals and the bassist who seriously never stopped smiling. The best part of going to shows here is literally being able to feel how stoked that musicians are to be playing for you. To be a part of some crazy LA scene and just knowing that everybody is watching them united by the same exact thing. I think that's fucking beautiful. Check them out kids.

http://www.myspace.com/mypetsaddleband

All in all it was a fantastic show. Crowd was great and booze was cheap, music was brilliant and my best friends where by my side. 

Life is beauty full.