Radio Free Berry 2.01.06
Posted by Brian Berry on 02.01.2006
Coachella line-up announced, Grandaddy quits, and new releases by She Wants Revenge & The Flaming Lips all in the issue #10.
IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS…
Welcome to the tenth edition of Radio Free Berry. You can look to RFB for the freshest indie/college rock reviews, up to the minute news, tour and new release dates, and as always pockets full of disorganized running-at-the-mouth on music related issues.
I'm jamming out of the East Bay in a bit for a day or two in Santa Cruz so let's get this shit underway…direct all comments and questions to me via e-mail. The link resides at the bottom of this page.
1. MANY COACHELLA 2006 PERFORMERS ANNOUNCED
On April 29/30 in the Palm Springs desert, nearly 100k young people will drop an obscene amount of money to see the "next big thing" at the Coachella Art & Music Festival in Indio, California. As previously stated, I've gone to Coachella twice in the past five years. I love & hate this 48-hour mess of sweltering heat, expensive beer, broken bathrooms, and TONS OF GREAT BANDS! Coachella leaked many of the performers for this year, which you will find below.
Depeche Mode is set to headline day one while returning Coachella act Tool will close the second night. As earlier rumored, The Smashing Pumpkins are not set to reunite for the festival. Line-up is subject to change.
Coachella Line Up:
Day 1:
Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand, Sigur Rós,Common,Damian Marley,Atmosphere,Carl Cox,My Morning Jacket,Ladytron,Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!,Tosca,Cat Power,Animal Collective,Hard-Fi,Devendra Banhart,She Wants Revenge,The Walkmen,The Juan Maclean,Audio Bullys,Lady Sovereign,Deerhoof,The Duke Spirit,Editors,Stellastarr,Lyrics Born,The Zutons,White Rose Movement,Colette,Wolf Mother,The Living Things,Nine Black Alps,Youth Group.
Day 2:
Tool,Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bloc Party, Paul Oakenfold, Scissor Sisters, Matisyahu, James Blunt, Mogwai, TV On The Radio, Sleater-Kinney, Gnarls Barkley, Coldcut, Digable Planets, Amadou and Mariam, Little Louie Vega, Mylo, Seu Jorge, Phoenix, Wolf Parade, The Go! Team, Metric, Imogen Heap, Art Brut, Dungen, The Dears, Jamie Lidell ,The Magic Numbers, Los Amigos Invisibles, Jazzanova, Michael Mayer, Mates of State, Gilles Peterson, Gabriel & Dresden, The Subways, Minus the Bear, Be Your Own Pet, Giant Drag.
2. GRANDADDY ES MUERTE
The best band from Modesto, my second least favorite city in Northern California (don't worry Pavement, I didn't forget about Stockton), have decided to throw in the towel following their upcoming album. On May 9, Grandadd will release Just Like the Fambly Cat on V2 records (home of The White Stripes). The band has decided to leave on good terms and not tour for the album. Grandaddy, who formed in 1992, were often likened to indie heavyweights such as Pavement and Eels with their brand of early lo-fi recordings, later evolving into a more expansive, manicured sound.
Lytle told Pitchfork earlier in the week, "We've seen an erosion happening…I use the word ‘erosion' in the most natural way I possibly can. It's not entirely such a bad thing. We have just, throughout the years, always looked at every album coming out as ‘Wow we've got another album, now what?' So that's still going on right now, it's just that it's a lot different. We're not jumping on that big rock n roll conveyor belt that happens when the album's done…Everybody has been set free to pursue whatever it is they want to pursue, whether it be amateur poker playing, or [becoming] veterinarians, or working in a hot dog stand. For whoever gives a shit, they can rest assured that it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's no sadder than...I'm likening it to the natural crumbling of canyon walls. It can be sped up or done in by artificial forces. I just think we saw the opportunity to bring it to an end, to do it and still remain friends."
For an introduction to the band, check out The Sophtware Slump from 2000.
3. SELL YOUR LIVER FOR TICKETS TO…
Go to these shows. If they suck, I'll buy you an ice cold 40 oz. provided you're of age. Otherwise, it's Yoo-Hoo chocolate drink for ya'.
Cat Power 2-14 New York, NY - Town Hall *
2-18 Boston, MA - Berklee Performance Hall *
2-20 Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre *
2-22 Los Angeles, CA - Wilshire Ebell *
2-23 San Francisco, CA - Palace of Fine Arts *
2-24 San Francisco, CA - Palace of Fine Arts *
2-26 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre *
3-04 London, England - The Barbican *
3-08 Paris, France - Grand Rex * Of Montreal
1-31 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey *
2-01 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom *
2-03 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall *
2-04 Los Angeles, CA - TBA
2-05 Tempe, AZ - The Clubhouse *
2-07 Dallas, TX - Granada *
2-08 Oklahoma City, OK - TBA
2-09 Austin, TX - Emo's *
2-11 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse *
2-15 Gainesville, FL - TBA #
2-16 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder #
2-17 Orlando, FL - The Social #
2-18 Miami, FL - PAC #
2-19 Jacksonville, FL - Jackrabbit's #
2-22 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Music Hall
2-23 Nashville, TN - The End
2-24 St. Louis, MO - The Gargoyle
2-25 Columbia, MO - The Blue Note (True False Film Festival)
2-26 Newport, KY - Southgate House
2-28 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle %
3-01 Charlottesville, VA - Satellite %
3-02 Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom %
3-03 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom %
3-04 Portland, ME - Space Gallery %
3-05 Cambridge, MA - Middle East %
3-06 Hanover, NH - Fuel Rocket Club %
3-07 Montreal, Quebec - Le Tulipe
3-08 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club
3-09 Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig
3-10 Chicago, IL - The Metro
3-11 Urbana, IL - Canopy Club ^
3-12 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground ^
3-13 Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck ^
* with Grand Buffet, MGMT, DJ Jester the Filipino Fist
# with the Late B.P. Helium, James Husband
% with the M's
^ with Saturday Looks Good to Me
Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco/Uncle Tupelo)
1-31 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
2-02 Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre
2-03 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
2-04 Eugene, OR - McDonald Theater
2-06 Arcata, CA - Humboldt State University
2-08 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
2-09 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
2-11 San Diego, CA - Spreckels Theatre
2-12 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater
3-12 Sunrise, FL - Langerado Music Festival
4. COLLEGE MUSIC CHART
This week, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah held onto the top spot for the second week in a row. The college kids continue their support of Wilco's live album, which remains at #2 for the second week in a row. We Are Scientist and Morningwood, two bands I ripped into a few weeks ago for their contrived & bland retro dance rock, have tapped into the collected conscious of the college kids. If only I still worked in college radio…if only…
College Music Journal Radio Chart: Issue 946
1. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (self-titled)
2. Wilco-Kicking Television: Live In Chicago
3. Bell Orchestre-Recording A Tape the Colour of the Light
4. We Are Scientists-With Love and Squalor
5. Morningwood-Morningwood
6. Nous Non Plus-Nous Non Plus
7. Various Artists-This Bird Has Flown
8. My Morning Jacket-Z
9. Subways-Young For Eternity
10. Tristeza-A Colores
Courtesy: College Music Journal
6. NEW RELEASES TO SPEND YOUR $$$ ON (…OR NOT)
There were a ton of new releases that came out last week. I dedicated my January 25 column to placing these newbies under the Radio Free Berry microscope. In case you missed it, click here.
As for this week, I found two releases of note to the non-mainstream rock world…
Released January 31-
· The Flaming Lips -The Soft Bulletin (Warner Bros.)
This 1999 album is their best. On The Soft Bulletin, The Flaming Lips became a more accessible band, expanding their sound into something much more sonic and layered. Moving away from psychedelic fuzz punk and into Mercury Rev-esque dream pop territory helped the band land on 60 year-end "best of" lists, finally garnering the band a great deal of critical acclaim.
This version of the album includes a CD & DVD edition where home theater can listen in Advanced Resolution Surround 5.1, with added videos, outtakes, alternate recordings, and other goodies. This set includes a booklet written by Wayne Coyne, the band's frontman. If you're looking to get into The Flaming Lips, this is the place to start!
· She Wants Revenge -She Wants Revenge (Geffen)
She Wants Revenge are Joy Division & Interpol thieves from Southern California. Their vocalists pipes lend more toward Interpol's Paul Banks while their sound attempts to replicate the droney synth-rock of Joy Division. Needless to say, this is going to be huge (see other shitty bands panned by me lately: Morningwood, We Are Scientists, Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins). Unoriginal, tepid, heartless bullshit.
8. PARTING THOUGHTS/PLUGS
· Santa Cruz awaits. If I develop a heroin and/or methamphetamine addiction this week, don't be surprised (come on, you must know the Santa Cruz set Lost Boys vampiricism storyline was actually an allegory for drug use, right?).
· I'm going to see Of Montreal on Friday night at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. I caught them last year and they blew the roof off for a sold out crowd. This will be their second sold out show in the Bay Area this week.
· If you liked Radio Free Berry, you'll love:
- Editors concert review by Dave Schilling. I agree wholeheartedly with Dave's take on this "next big thing" band coming out of England. They will likely do some major damage on the U.S. charts when their album drops in a couple months. Are they worthy of the hype? Read Dave's concert review and see for yourself.
- Guns ‘N Roses is the latest victim of Steven Mogan's The Untouchables column. Steven weighs the pros and cons of Guns ‘N Roses career and legacy.
-Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell E.P. review by Morgan Marx. Do the ex-Queens of the Stone Age /Screaming Trees vocalist and ex-Belle and Sebastian chanteuse have the chemistry worthy of a full-length album? Read this album review and find out.
· Send feedback to Radio Free Berry by clicking the link below.
