Tag Archives: coachella

homecoming

18 Apr

Coachella 2012: Gotye proved to have ample talent beyond being somebody someone used to know, The Head and the Heart played a goose bump eliciting old song I hadn’t heard yet amongst my usual favorites, Madeon kept my feet off the ground for an entire set, and I learned that the rumors are true–Florence is a every bit a goddess on stage.

The weather was nothing like previous years and a bit like Goldilocks and the three bears: Friday was brrrr-chella, Saturday was mild-chella and Sunday was just right in the low 80’s. I would take this trifecta over the 106 forecast for next weekend any day, but I did find myself questioning if I had really left SF a few times. Now it’s a week of hibernation to rest up for STS9 on Saturday at the Fox. We don’t miss a beat.

Today’s Indie: Eyes Wide Open / Gotye

‘we walk the plank with eyes wide open’

State of the Art / Gotye

‘invite the neighbours around / start the bossanova beat and limbo from the living to the kitchen’

We made our way to the Mojave tent on Sunday evening to hear some of Gotye’s set and to see if the Aussie was headed for one hit wonderland or had the swagger to keep up with his hype. I had my answer with the performance of his opening track, Eyes Wide Open. Dazzling. With strong, wistful vocals, a catchy chorus and sprawling drums, the song elicits a similar feel to Somebody that I Used to Know, but a few songs later Gotye proved that his sound is anything but cookie cutter. His trippy State of the Art and its accompanying video felt like it came from a totally different state of mind / planet. Great indie to close out the last day of the festi. #indie/tory

Today’s Untz: Fluffy Amadeus / Filipsson & Ulysses

We’re back from the desert and now fully engaged into city life once again. This year my experience at Coachella was way different than years past. For one, I saw a ton more indie music than before, which is in part due to the non-eclectic nature of this year’s untz portion of the lineup (in my humble opinion, of course). I tend to stay away from some of what I would consider “standard anthem house” acts since I’ve caught enough of that over the years, and to be fair, I missed acts like Modeselektor, Flying Lotus, Beats Antique and Sbtrkt to catch some of Tory’s shows.

I did have the pleasure of catching a 17 year old Madeon absolutely crush the Sahara Tent with his upbeat dance floor heaters. Justice did a great job although their performance was delayed by technical difficulties, and M83 blew me away with their epic and soaring instrumental parts that at times had me reminiscing of a Disco Biscuits jam. Martin Solvieg had his moments until he dropped the standard new age American “Dubstep” bass farts and of course Girl Talk was standard fare. With all said and done, I didn’t have one single moment where I didn’t enjoy myself.

Surprisingly, my most intimate and favorite electronic moments of the weekend occurred around our daily pool parties each morning. From summer time pool party disco to atmospheric deep house, the untz ran strong with our crew. The track featured today has nothing to do with the actual lineup, but has everything to do with my Coachella experience. In my own warped head, this is the ANTHEM of the weekend. This immediately brings me back to a pool engulfed in sunshine, surrounded my palm trees and mountains. What could be better? #untz/tom

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national harvest

22 Apr

Story time:

I grew up in a house where we referred to Neil Young on a first name basis. I learned about Crazy Horse while playing with My Little Ponies, and I subconsciously memorized the lyrics to all of his songs by age 10, including some I really shouldn’t have (I wish I was a trapper / I would give a thousand pelts / to sleep with Pocahontas / and find out how she felt.’ Neil was an inescapable fixture in our home, from our tape deck in the volvo station wagon to our family holiday soundtrack, when my dad would try to slide Rust Never Sleeps into the CD player in the place of Handel’s Messiah whenever my mom stepped into the garage to grab more ornaments.

Accordingly, I hated Neil Young with a fiery passion throughout the majority of my life.

In the past few years though, things have changed. I caught a couple of Neil’s Bridge School Benefit Concerts at Shoreline, and was impressed with his dedication to his family and the enormous respect he has garnered from his peers. When I go back to Oregon I no longer cringe when I am greeted with Rockin’ in the Free World (which also happens to be our home internet password), and these days I find the vanity license plate “Walk On” more amusing than annoying.

As my musical tastes have matured, Neil’s whiny voice sounds a little more palatable and his once gibberish laced lyrics now make at least a little sense. In the end, I have come to realize my dad showed me what it meant to love music before I knew how. Today’s untz may not be an actual Neil song, but this is as close as the TUATE is going to get.

Today’s Emo: Exile Vilify / The National

‘does it trouble your mind / the way you trouble mine?

I lost my shit during The National’s set on Sunday night, so imagine my delight in the release of a new track on Tuesday to help cure my ever aching Coachella withdrawal. While I wasn’t won over by the group’s release of Think You Can Wait last month, I instantly fell for this one… I am such a sucker for piano, and I can picture fingers rolling lazily but deftly across keys in this intro, leading me into the song.

Exile Vilify has all the elements that make The National my favorite band: a mini orchestra, flawless melodies, and Matt Berninger’s signature baritone, which is somehow both calming and haunting, chilling and comforting at the same time. The strings cut everything up and then smooth it together, and I am lost on repeat. #emo

Today’s Untz: Harvest Moon (Neil Young Cover) / Teen Daze


‘because I’m still in love with you / I want to see you dance again’

I will go so far as to admit I actually like a few Neil songs now, and with its simple, cut to the heart lyrics, and swaying on the dance floor rhythm, Harvest Moon is one of my favorites. Although my father may find it slightly sacrilegious, this Teen Daze cover has me smitten… with soft vocals and dreamy rolling beats, the original version is hardly traceable, but isn’t lost here. At this point in life, I must have heard this song a thousand times, but I’ve never heard it like this. #untz

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stay close and hold me

18 Apr

So Coachella happened. And it exceeded the highest of expectations on all counts. I was tireder, happier, crazier, and loved my friends more than I imagined possible. I cried during The National’s performance of Terrible Love at sunset and had to calm myself so I didn’t hyperventilate during the Twelve’s set while dancing my face off in reckless abandon in bright 2 pm 90 degree sunlight. It was truly a beautiful weekend that embodied all of me that is both untz and emo.

Even though I averaged 4 hours of sleep a night thanks to campground parties til the wee hours of the morning followed by a very glaring wake up call at 7 with the sun, I feel invigorated. We drove through Sunday night, I drifted into a coma from 5-11 this morning and have been watching my favorite sets and all that I missed on YouTube since. Today’s post features a couple songs from of an endless list of highlights from the weekend. Back to real life tomorrow.

Todays Emo: Stay Close / Delorean


‘I could never stand not being closer‘

Started day 3 of Coachella with Delorean’s set. They opened with their single Stay Close, and it was the perfect way to start the day, shake off sleepiness, settle into the couple beers I had with breakfast and soak some energy back up.

Delorean is an indie pop quartet from the Basque Country who have been together since 2000, but this is the first I have caught of them. The group was so happy to be there and I loved watching them show it, even though the lead singer’s teeth are distractingly terrible. From open to close the song itself pours out happiness, with cooing female echos chopped into layers of dreamy synth and steady beats. If you need any further reason to lose yourself in the glow, watch a few minutes of the song’s splashes of summer music video. #emo

Today’s Untz: You Used to Hold Me (Laidback Luke remix) / Calvin Harris


‘knocked down with everything I tried to do / that sounds something like me holding you’

It was a weekend of artists being playful and sampling a lot of their comrade’s work, so while Calvin didn’t come lay his original version of this track out, Luke nailed it Saturday evening a little before sundown in the Sahara tent. Epic lights, epic energy, Luke sliced in a bit of Robyn’s Indestructible before slipping seamlessly into his remix of You Used to Hold Me. Not the best sound quality but you can get a good feel for the experience here. Also funny people start booing at the end of this clip when LBL starts a mix of Viva La Vida. Coachella untzers were simply NOT down with Coldplay. #untz

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