SS Coachella: Hot Chip's Ahoy!

Totally catching me off guard, earlier this week it was announced that in December there will be a Coachella Cruise.  The SS Coachella, if you're nasty.  Following in the footsteps of Weezer and 311, Coachella is embarking on an all-inclusive, hipster cruise experience.

The critic in me is very skeptical of this endeavor.  If it was thought that doing two weekends of Coachella proper was a cash grab, this has to be thought of in the same light.  The line-up is very small (of course; how could a traditional Coachella line-up fit on a ship along with the entire audience?) and not very diverse in tone; almost all groups are hip hop or electronic dance acts.  Nothing wrong with that, but Coachella always has had the reputation for an eclectic mix of all music genres (Old Crow Medicine Show, anyone?).  But the setting has a lot to do with that.

With SS Coachella, you're going more for the atmosphere than music.  It seems to me like it will just be background noise while you're getting drunk at the pool, not a real focal point.  The cruise will be a success because it has the name Coachella attached to it.  As much as I hate to admit it, Coachella is a brand name that seems to gain more power with each passing year.  Hell, I've definitely bought into it myself.  Seeing Refused and Rage Against the Machine have been highlights of my life, all thanks to Coachella.

But where is the line drawn between art and commerce?  Whenever art is monetized, it definitely loses it's appeal.  It doesn't mean the art is any less special, it just means that certain motivations have changed.  Is Coachella's main goal still to organize amazing acts, or is it now just a guise to make as much money as possible?  Should we expect a Coachella Safari next?  Where else can Goldenvoice take it, or a better question, where else should they take it?  Will they team up with Virgin Galatic and do a "Coachella In Space"?  Ok, I admit, that would be awesome.

Don't get me wrong, I do admire the tenacity of Coachella spreading it's wings past the Empire Polo Fields and trying something different.  I'm sure it will be an awesome time, but I can barely afford one Coachella a year, let alone a cruise.

What's your opinion of the SS Coachella?  Do you think it's awesome or should it go the way of the Titanic?

Bon Voyage!

When Is Enough Really Enough?

July 18th, 2012 was a very musically satisfying day for me.  In the evening I was lucky enough to catch the one-night-only theater viewing of the LCD Soundsystem documentary, "Shut Up And Play The Hits".  Then I caught the very first American television performance of Refused on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.


Though very different in sound, Refused and LCD Soundsystem are two bands that have an undeniable intensity and passion for music.  Their records are classics and each groups' live shows are mind-blowing.  I've been fortunate to see both acts live; LCD on their retirement tour, and Refused on their reunion tour.  Hearing James Murphy of LCD speak about ending his band in the documentary and watching Refused destroy the place on TV in the midst of their comeback tour, it really got me thinking about the lifelines of bands in general.  When is it time to call it a day?  When is it time to resurrect yourself?  Can this work for all bands or is there a fine line that not all artists can tread?  Let's ponder these questions, shall we?

Refused at Coachella 2012

I'll start with Refused.  This is a band that is near and dear to my heart; Refused are quite possibly my biggest musical influence.  They ended their run as a band in 1998 after they released the seminal album, "The Shape of Punk to Come".  The final show they performed before their split was a basement show in Harrisonburg, Virginia that was broken up by the police.  Tension had been growing in the band before that last tour.  Refused had put everything into making "The Shape of Punk to Come" and were disheartened by it's poor reception.  Ultimately, inner band turmoil and the feeling of being underappreciated for their efforts killed Refused.  They were tired, plain and simple.


The timing of when I started getting into Refused was maybe a month before their break-up.  I remember seeing the music video for "New Noise" on 120 Minutes and being blown away!  I had never seen anything like it, and then in the blink of an eye, Refused ended.  At the time I had no idea what the circumstances of their break-up was, but I was hooked.  I bought up every piece of music I could get my hands on; all the albums, EPs, demos...everything!!  I listened to it all on repeat and couldn't get enough.  It was such a bummer to realize I would never see Refused live.  They had such strong convictions and ideals that I never thought it would be possible for them to reform.  The sentiments from the band members' points of view are articulated very well in a documentary that guitarist Kristopher Steen made called "Refused Are Fucking Dead".  Definitely worth the watch.


Jump to the beginning of 2012.  Fake Coachella posters start making the rounds on the internet and Refused is included on many of the fictitious rosters.  The day comes for the real schedule to be released, and bold and centered is the name Refused!!  I couldn't believe it!  Never in my craziest dreams did I ever think they would reunite, but it was blasting in my face.  14 years later, Refused was back!

What changed to make this reunion a reality? My simple theory is this.  In their 14 year absence, Refused garnered an insane following of avid fans.  Being on Epitaph Records, they were included on a few Punk-O-Rama compilations after their split, slowly getting a younger audience to discover them.  And then there's the internet, that crazy thing.  A fervor made by people like me found it's way to the ears of Refused, and at a snail's pace, Dennis Lyxzen, David Sandstrom, Kristopher Steen, and Jon Brannstrom put their egos, ideals, and differences aside as they realized they had made an impact.  They may have had to swallow a healthy serving of pride, but their reunion shows have vindicated all the work Refused has done, bringing release to literally tens of thousands of hardcore hungry fans all over the world.

LCD Soundsystem's Final Show at Madison Square Garden

At the opposite end of the spectrum, we have LCD Soundsystem led by James Murphy, who ended the band's tenure in April of 2011 at the height of it's ever-increasing popularity.  And in such grand fashion:  a sold-out, 3.5 hour performance at Madison Square Garden interspersed throughout with special guests such as Arcade Fire and Reggie Watts.

The big question:  Why?!?!?  To get some sort of answer I would definitely recommend watching "Shut Up And Play The Hits".  The documentary cuts back and forth between Murphy being interviewed by Chuck Klosterman, live footage from LCD's final show, and following Murphy around the day after the show.  Klosterman is an expert interviewer and really tries to dig deep into James' reasoning and motivation to kill the band.

The root of what Chuck gets down to is James dealing with being self-conscious about how he'll be perceived with every decision concerning the band.  Murphy is so much in his own head that he's not even sure if ending LCD Soundsystem is the right course of action.  However, he doesn't want to be in his 50's repeating the cycle of album, tour, and interviews, feeling as if he's the "college guy going to high school parties".  Murphy's ideals that he's accrued throughout his music career are shaping how he wants his legacy to live on, but he's also aware that he really has no control over how he's remembered.

One band lives, the other band dies.  Have they made the right decisions?  Would Refused be better off if they had just stayed broken up?  What would it be like if LCD Soundsystem had kept making music?  These are questions that will never have an answer.  As people age, they change, and there's always a chance for redemption or failure. All I know for sure is that in music, nothing ever stays gone forever.  

Gig Machine 5000: John Coltrane

I plan this to be the first of a recurring type of post that I'll be calling "Gig Machine 5000".  The concept is this - Everyone who's a fan of music has said at least once in their life, "Man, I wish I had a time machine so I could go back and see blah,blah, blah".  We have all come across bands that we will never be able to see perform live caused either by a death or break up of a band.  With Gig Machine 5000, I will talk about such an artist or band and explain my own reasons for needing to jeopordize the space/time continuum by traveling to the past and seeing them.  Get it? Great.  So without further ado...

My first trip in the Gig Machine 5000 will bring me to John Coltrane, one of the biggest musical influences in my life.  First, let's start out by listening to some Coltrane, shall we?  This is On Green Dolphin Street.

When I was a freshman in high school and MTV still was interested in music, they had an ad campaign featuring seminal artists talking about their influences in little snippets.  I saw one particular commercial with Iggy Pop talking about John Coltrane.  At the time I had only a vague idea of who Coltrane was, but Iggy's description of his impact really peaked my interest.  Iggy talked about listening to Coltrane blaze on the sax and how frenetic and energetic his delivery was.  The ad then showed a classic early 70's clip of Iggy Pop performing live, twisting and writhing with reckless abandon, while a Coltrane song (the exact one used escapes me right now) played over the image.  Then the thing that captivated me the most was what Iggy said next, "Once I heard John Coltrane play the way he did, that was it for me.  From then on I tried to move my body around on stage the way that Coltrane played his sax."  Not an exact quote since I saw this ad over a decade ago, but that's the version I've manifested in my brain.  I was sold.  The next day I went and bought Coltrane's classic, My Favorite Things. 

I still get chills listening to this record.  At the time I was 2 years into playing the drum set and this was primarily in my school's jazz band.  In my drummer infancy, I played jazz music so straight and safe that when I watch home movies of myself playing from that era, I cringe.  After I put on My Favorite Things, my perception changed.  Coltrane's drummer, Elvin Jones, made it seem so easy to just throw in extra hits in random places and make them fit while maintaining the groove effortlessly.  Coltrane, himself, was all over the map in the best possible way, weaving these tapestries of sound from outer space.  He heard things differently and exploited that ability.

For the first time, I actually heard the swing in jazz and understood it.  My musical world was altered forever.  I began applying my new understanding of technique and took more risks.  I implemented these jazz elements into all styles of music I attempted and developed in to a more rounded musician.  John Coltrane is who I have to thank for that.


Here is a clip of the gig I would have loved to see.  It's a performance in Belgium in 1965, an outdoor show in apparently freezing weather.  The give away that it's so cold is that the players have steam rising from their bodies, their heat mixing with the weather makes for such a killer set.  Enjoy!

Who's an artist you would use the Gig Machine 5000 to see?

If You Really Looked...

I am in the thick of listening to the new album by the Dirty Projectors, Swing Lo Magellan.  In no way am I ready to post a review of this album, but I felt compelled to mention it because God Damn! it's good!  Get this record and hear for yourself.  Give me a little time and I'll have a review up in the near future.  Here's their lead single, Gun Has No Trigger to whet your palette.

Happy Birthday Jack White!!

Happy 37th birthday to the man, Jack White III!!

My first memory of Jack White was seeing the video for The White Stripes' "Fell In Love With A Girl".  All those Legos swirling red, white, and black all over the screen with that gritty guitar and Meg White's child-like drumming.  It was sensory overload and I was enamored.  My first live experience was at my first Coachella in 2003.  The White Stripes played the main stage and somehow made the Empire Polo Fields feel like a 200 person capacity bar crammed with 50,000 audience members.  I got to see them once again, after the tremendous Elephant came out, in my home town of Las Vegas.  Jack walked on the stage, bit into a bright, red apple, tossed it into the voracious crowd, and hammered out "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground".  His showmanship was beyond compare and still is.  

Since then, Jack White has been in a number of crazy, successful bands (Raconteurs, Dead Weather), opened up his own label, Third Man Records, collaborated with artists ranging from Beck to Insane Clown Posse, and become a household name.  He's a musician's musician with mainstream appeal, a tight-rope walk that barely anyone can pull off.

Jack does music for the right reason: because he has to!!  It's his life.  It's not blood that flows through his veins, but pure musical talent.  I can't think of another performer besides maybe Prince or Beck that can pick up any instrument and play it like a master.  I just want to be his friend one day and pick his brain, ha!!

In Jack White's honor, here's a song by Son House called "Grinnin' In Your Face".  Jack has referenced this song in many interviews as his all time favorite tune.  So here's to you, Jack White!!  Many more birthdays and incredible music to come, I'm sure.