Coachella 2012 In Photos (Friday Edition)

April 25, 2012 By 3 Comments

One of my favorite things about attending festivals is taking pictures. I do not subscribe to the philosophy that you must lose yourself in the music at all times. No, I want to lose myself in the music and take pictures so that I can remember the event long after the music has faded.

The first day of Coachella provided some sweet picture-taking opportunities. I was close to the stage for shows by GIVERS, GIRLS, and WU LYF. For later shows like Frank Ocean and M83, I was probably a good 200 feet from the stage, not to mention darkness had descended on the polo grounds.

Below are my favorite pictures from Friday of Weekend 2. Also, you can read my Friday recap here.
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On Coachella’s 1st Weekend And Spoiling My Dinner

April 16, 2012 By 1 Comment

Dancin' my ginger ass off!

I spoiled my dinner Friday night, according to friends. For the record, I drank a yellow 32-oz Gatorade, a monster bag of pepperoni-flavored Combos, and a slightly more petite bag of Welch’s grape snacks.

How did I spoil this, um, dinner, you ask.

I watched the first night of Coachella 2012 on YouTube via webcast. I am attending the mega festival’s second weekend with my boo, Kerry. That did not stop me from vegging out on the webcast. It was both enjoyable and a learning exercise to better decide who to see on the festival’s first day.

Here’s what I learned from watching Coachella’s Friday webcast. I did not watch either Saturday or Sunday. Kerry convinced me to not spoil my dinner any further.

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Coachella 2012 Playlist (Friday Edition)

April 6, 2012 By 2 Comments

Christopher Owens of Girls

Two weeks from today, I will be in Indio, Calif., for the mega-festival known as Coachella.

Coachella’s organizers have not released the schedule for the weekend yet. It’s driving me nuts. I want to fret over the tough decisions I am sure await.

The bands I listed here are bands I would see if everything were equal. Scratch that last sentence. Nothing is equal at a major festival. I’ll be lucky to see three of these bands.

Of the nine bands/performers I listed the only two I have seen live are up and coming Cali rapper Kendrick Lamar and indie darlings Girls.

I need to see WU LYF. I don’t understand why. It’s like a compulsion. I need gibberish rock’n'roll. I just do. Oh, and I need to see the Black Keys and get wound up and jump up and down like a kangaroo.

Click the link to play tunes!

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Cajun Tomato’s 2012 Coachella Must-See Acts

March 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Look what came in the mail today!

This week, a 1,000 bands and seemingly 10,000 blogs invaded Austin, Texas, for South by Southwest. That’s all well and good, but my focus is square on a little music festival taking place next month in Indio, Calif.

I received my Coachella bracelets today in a stylish box with a poster/calendar, welcome guide, and stickers. When I opened the box, the sun appeared in all its glory and kicked the shit out of Portland’s sadsack winter weather.

Below are 10 bands, in order of interest, I am deeming must-sees at Coachella this year. Nine of the 10 bands I have not yet seen live. Hopefully, schedule permitting, I will get to see as many of these as possible.

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Setlist+Pictures From My Internet Radio Debut

April 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Ben Lundin and I spinning the hits.

I had the pleasure of co-hosting a radio program Friday night on salemfm.com with my friend and Cajun Tomato guest blogger, @ben_lundin. We played an hour setlist, during which we played 14 new-ish songs and discussed why we selected those cuts. Esteemed journalist Kelly Williams-Brown followed us by “redeeming disco.”

Thanks to Sean Mulrooney for having us on his show!

I know most of you did not hear the show so here is our setlist. I selected the odd numbered tracks. @ben_lundin selected the even numbered ones.

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My Favorite Albums of 2011 (1st Quarter Edition)

March 20, 2011 By 1 Comment

The ultra nostalgic Frank Ocean

I’ve been slow to warm up to 2011′s crop of albums. Maybe it’s because the two that I anticipated the most — Lupe Fiasco’s LASERS and the Strokes’ Angles — turned out to be disappointments. Or maybe it’s because I haven’t spent much time with albums from artists whose work I’ve previously enjoyed (i.e., Toro Y Moi, Lykke Li, Cut Copy, Destroyer, etc.)

Whatever the reason for this year’s slow start, I am hoping 2011 picks up steam in the next few months with the release of Tv On The Radio’s new album, Nine Types of Light, Fleet Foxes’ second album, Helplessness Blues, and Kanye West and Jay-Z’s collaboration Watch The Throne. I’m also intrigued by the new Pains Of Being Pure At Heart album.

Here, listed below, are the albums that grabbed me the most during the first three months of 2011. They are my favorite albums of the year so far. That does not mean they will definitely be on my year end list.

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Filed Under: Dig This Tomato, Yo!, Lupe Fiasco, Music Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

ON BLAST: Frank Ocean's Nostalgia/Ultra

March 4, 2011 By 5 Comments

Check out this mixtape NOW!!!

There was a time not so long ago when musical artists flocked to MySpace to showcase their latest efforts. The site was particularly important for up-and-coming acts.

These days Twitter is a growing hub to find out about new music, if not listen to it. Granted, the site does not offer a music player like MySpace or Facebook. But it does feature links out the wazoo and interesting dialogue between artists (see: Tyler, the Creator and Pusha T of Clipse and Tyler, the Creator and Kanye West).

I first heard about R&B rookie Frank Ocean, he of the polished sound and Odd Future pedigree, through a tweet from hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco saying he had listened to Ocean rather than Radiohead during a flight to Atlanta. (NOTE: Odd Future is known for its left field raps; Ocean does not rap on Nostalgia/Ultra)

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