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
theuntzandtheindie 