Here's the Coachella poster

Sunday's lineup

Roger Waters ("Dark Side of the Moon")
Love & Rockets
My Morning Jacket
Spiritualized
Justice
Gogol Bordello
Chromeo
The Streets
Metric
Danny Tenaglia
Simian Mobile Disco
Booka Shade
Murs
Dmitri From Paris
Autolux
The Field
Linton Kwesi Johnson
Les Savy Fav
The Cool Kids
Sons & Daughters
Sia
Holy F---
Black Kids
Black Mountain
The Annuals
Kid Sister with A-Trak
Man Man
Duffy
I'm From Barcelona
Manchester Orchestra
Deadmau5
The Horrors
Austin TV
Shout Out Louds
Platiscenes
Brett Dennen

Saturday's lineup

Portishead
Kraftwerk
Death Cab for Cutie
Cafe Tacuba
Sasha & Digweed
Rilo Kiley
Dwight Yoakam
M.I.A.
Hot Chip
Cold War Kids
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks
DeVotchka
Flogging Molly
Mark Ronson
Turbonegro
Scars on Broadway
Islands
Enter Shikari
Calvin Harris
Boyz Noise
Junkie XL
Cinematic Orchestra
Jamie T
The Teenagers
VHS or Beta
Carbon/Silicon
Erol Alkan
Yo Majesty!
Little Brother
Bonde Do Role
St. Vincent
Akron Family
MGMT
Institubes DJs: Surkin, Para One and Orgasmic
James Wabiela
Sebastian
Kavinsky
Dredg
The Bird and the Bee
Grand Ole Party
New Young Pony Club
120 Days
Yoav
Electric Touch
Uffie

Friday's lineup, from the poster [coming soon]

Jack Johnson
The Verve
The Raconteurs
The Breeders
Fatboy Slim
Tegan and Sara
Madness
The Swell Season
The National
Animal Collective
Slightly Stoopid
Mum
Pendulum
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Stars
Battles
Aesop Rock
Midnight Juggernauts
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Minus the Bear
Spank Rock
Dan Le Sac Vs. Scoobius Pip
Diplo
Adam Freeland
Santo Gold
Jens Lekman
John Butler Trio
Vampire Weekend
Dan Deacon
Architecture in Helsinki
Sandra Collins
Busy P
Cut Copy
Black Lips
Datarock
Professor Murder
Reverend and the Makers
The Bees
Porter
Rogue Wave
Modeselektor
American Bang
Lucky I Am

Coachella 2008 might not rock, but it will roll.

While the roster for the ninth edition of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival feels a little light on straight-ahead guitar music, there's enough heavy-hitting dance talent -- starting with imports M.I.A. and Justice -- to light the night skies over Indio.

M.I.A., the London-born singer whose album "Kala" earned critics' plaudits worldwide in 2007, earned kudos as a festival performer with energetic performances at last year's Lollapalooza and Siren festivals.  The French duo Justice played two recent DJ sets in Los Angeles, a middling show at the Detour Festival and a wildly received performance at the Hard NYE festival in downtown L.A.

Here's a partial roster as it is being announced in Mexico City this afternoon:

Roger Waters
The Verve
Portishead
The Raconteurs
My Morning Jacket
Rilo Kiley
Jack Johnson
Death Cab for Cutie
Kraftwerk
Justice
M.I.A.
Love & Rockets
The Breeders
Sasha & Digweed
Cafe Tacuba
Fatboy Slim

More to come ...

More coverage at Soundboard.

Photo of M.I.A. at Lollapalooza last year by Steve C. Mitchell.

A crazy morning from the airwaves to the Internet:

Prince, rumored to be one of the headliners at Coachella, will not play the festival, a source says.

Roger Waters will, reprising his "Dark Side of the Moon" show.

And I'm pretty sure that Yvonne Velasquez, the DJ at Star 98.7 (KYSR-FM) in Los Angeles, just "announced" a Coachella lineup from one of the fake posters. For her sake, I hope I'm wrong. But she sounded serious, and she said Radiohead and Muse were playing. Which ain't true.

My Morning Jacket, Rilo Kiley, the Raconteurs and the Verve will be announced later today as a few of the big names for this year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, but unless promoter Paul Tollett and gang have some aces up their sleeves, the ninth installment of the desert blowout is shaping up to be the most ho-hum in its illustrious history.

I mean, Jack Johnson?

Yes, there will be a couple bigger names (see Geoff Boucher's story in today's Times here, and please watch this space later today), but some of the focus at today's news conference in Mexico City will revolve around a planned three-day festival in Jersey City, N.J., in August. Tollett's Goldenvoice and partners AEG Live are behind that one too, and Radiohead and Johnson have been reported as headliners for that.

But barring surprises (and there have been some in the past), Radiohead and the likes of My Bloody Valentine and David Bowie -- the latter two of which were hot names on the rumor mill -- will not be making the trek to Indio for the April 25-27 festival.

Besides MMJ -- admittedly a dynamic force live -- the lineup will include one veteran act, and perhaps another marquee name or two. No Doubt's name is still hot on the rumor mill (can't confirm that as of now, sorry), and so is Portishead's. And last week I posted a list of several smaller bands (two or three of which I got erroneous information on) who will play the festival.

More later.

Photos: My Morning Jacket by Danny Clinch; Rilo Kiley by Allen J. Schaben / LAT

The Photoshop geniuses have been at work again, crafting those nifty faux Coachella posters (yeah, that's one of the fakes below). And the website hasn't even started the countdown yet.

Next week, you can expect an announcement of the roster, which I was told cryptically might include a surprising veteran act or two (not David Bowie) -- and will not include the rumored set by the reunited My Bloody Valentine. Meanwhile, message boards and blogs are bursting with names of the acts heading to Indio for the April 25-27 festival, but precious little information has leaked regarding headliners. Among the bands expected below are hotshot locals Cold War Kids and Autolux. That's a nice start. Here you go, in no particular order -- comment away ...

Death Cab for Cutie
The Breeders
Justice
Jens Lekman
Junkie XL
The Verve
UNKLE
Cold War Kids
Chromeo
Autolux
Spiritualized
Portishead
VHS or Beta
Dan Deacon
Brett Dennen
The Cinematic Orchestra
Battles
Kid Sister
Crystal Castles
Louis XIV

[Guest blogger August Brown rallies 'round the family, with a pocket full of shells.]

It’s hard to think about Rage Against The Machine in 2007 without remembering 1992. Clinton was in office, on his way to Oval Office, the economy was about to start sailing, and yet they still found plenty of reasons to be furious at The System. The group's headlining set on Sunday was probably the most anticipated set in Coachella history; everything from riots to bona fide revolution seemed possible, judging from the hyperbole about their reunion. How would their serrated funk-metal play in a decade where there’s more legitimate reasons to take to the streets, and when few musicians seems to know how to talk about them?

For the first three songs at least, it played awfully sedate. Nearly every weary body on the grounds champed at the bit for the band to come out (sorry, Evan Dando and Spank Rock). But in one of the year’s biggest anti-climaxes, Rage emerged to a muddy and anemic mix that knocked the wind out of Tim Commerford’s basslines. For a minute there, it seemed that the Machine would win out by cutting off Rage from their best weapon- their skull-cracking riffs.

But the soundboard pulled it together, turning up the master mix three songs in, and the band scorched. As did a few small bonfires near the right guardrails, but outside of a few rogue lighting rig climbers, the only really dangerous explosions were happening onstage. Zack de la Rocha spat venom at consumers, Christians and the shoppers on Rodeo Drive (one his better metaphorical punching bags) but kept the stage banter non-existent. Tom Morello, one of the last real guitar heroes left in America, conjured Hendrix’s solos, Public Enemy’s brittle DJ scratching and squeals of feedback in between Sly Stone-via-Dante’s Inferno funk licks. Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk were as martial as ever, and era-defining hits like “Bulls On Parade” and “Bombtrack” have held up astonishingly well.

The only time de la Rocha broke the fourth wall was to give everyone what they wanted- a deliberate and forthright rebuttal to the last six years of neocon politics. “This administration should be tried, hung and shot,” he said, as if one form of execution wasn't enough. It may have been ham-fisted, but to hear it from the mouth of a rock singer today, de la Rocha may well have set the dam loose for political music at the tail end of the Bush era. Even if he didn’t though, the spectacle of 60,000 fans pounding their fists in unison closer “Killing In The Name Of" "Killing in the Name" was a reminder of better times for openly political music, or at least more hopeful ones from years past.

Corrected post; thanks to readers for keeping us on the ball.

Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images.

[Guest blogger Margaret Wappler admits that she's annoyed with Rage for spawning the Korns of the world even though that's not really fair.]

You want to know how to fill up the Gobi tent when you're one of Coachella's sacrificial lambs? Start off by looking like Pharrell if reared by Kurtis Blow in Jamaica. Then add in some potty talk about the bathing suit areas of both genders. Oh, and some bongo players and ladies in braids who will pop and lock with big grins on their faces. And let's not forget the secret sauce: some mostly empty talk about the races rioting on the dance floor that will make you sound intelligent but is pretty much a ruse. But hey, whatever. Spank Rock isn't trying to gather the intelligentsia for a poetry reading.

Some of us like our festival closers blissfully stoopid, thank you very much.

Waters, Love and Rockets, MMJ carry Sunday lineup

Sunday's lineup

Roger Waters ("Dark Side of the Moon")
Love & Rockets
My Morning Jacket
Spiritualized
Justice
Gogol Bordello
Chromeo
The Streets
Metric
Danny Tenaglia
Simian Mobile Disco
Booka Shade
Murs
Dmitri From Paris
Autolux
The Field
Linton Kwesi Johnson
Les Savy Fav
The Cool Kids
Sons & Daughters
Sia
Holy F---
Black Kids
Black Mountain
The Annuals
Kid Sister with A-Trak
Man Man
Duffy
I'm From Barcelona
Manchester Orchestra
Deadmau5
The Horrors
Austin TV
Shout Out Louds
Platiscenes
Brett Dennen

Saturday's lineup

Portishead
Kraftwerk
Death Cab for Cutie
Cafe Tacuba
Sasha & Digweed
Rilo Kiley
Dwight Yoakam
M.I.A.
Hot Chip
Cold War Kids
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks
DeVotchka
Flogging Molly
Mark Ronson
Turbonegro
Scars on Broadway
Islands
Enter Shikari
Calvin Harris
Boyz Noise
Junkie XL
Cinematic Orchestra
Jamie T
The Teenagers
VHS or Beta
Carbon/Silicon
Erol Alkan
Yo Majesty!
Little Brother
Bonde Do Role
St. Vincent
Akron Family
MGMT
Institubes DJs: Surkin, Para One and Orgasmic
James Wabiela
Sebastian
Kavinsky
Dredg
The Bird and the Bee
Grand Ole Party
New Young Pony Club
120 Days
Yoav
Electric Touch
Uffie

Friday's lineup, from the poster [coming soon]

Jack Johnson
The Verve
The Raconteurs
The Breeders
Fatboy Slim
Tegan and Sara
Madness
The Swell Season
The National
Animal Collective
Slightly Stoopid
Mum
Pendulum
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Stars
Battles
Aesop Rock
Midnight Juggernauts
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Minus the Bear
Spank Rock
Dan Le Sac Vs. Scoobius Pip
Diplo
Adam Freeland
Santo Gold
Jens Lekman
John Butler Trio
Vampire Weekend
Dan Deacon
Architecture in Helsinki
Sandra Collins
Busy P
Cut Copy
Black Lips
Datarock
Professor Murder
Reverend and the Makers
The Bees
Porter
Rogue Wave
Modeselektor
American Bang
Lucky I Am

Coachella 2008 might not rock, but it will roll.

While the roster for the ninth edition of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival feels a little light on straight-ahead guitar music, there's enough heavy-hitting dance talent -- starting with imports M.I.A. and Justice -- to light the night skies over Indio.

M.I.A., the London-born singer whose album "Kala" earned critics' plaudits worldwide in 2007, earned kudos as a festival performer with energetic performances at last year's Lollapalooza and Siren festivals.  The French duo Justice played two recent DJ sets in Los Angeles, a middling show at the Detour Festival and a wildly received performance at the Hard NYE festival in downtown L.A.

Here's a partial roster as it is being announced in Mexico City this afternoon:

Roger Waters
The Verve
Portishead
The Raconteurs
My Morning Jacket
Rilo Kiley
Jack Johnson
Death Cab for Cutie
Kraftwerk
Justice
M.I.A.
Love & Rockets
The Breeders
Sasha & Digweed
Cafe Tacuba
Fatboy Slim

More to come ...

More coverage at Soundboard.

Photo of M.I.A. at Lollapalooza last year by Steve C. Mitchell.

A crazy morning from the airwaves to the Internet:

Prince, rumored to be one of the headliners at Coachella, will not play the festival, a source says.

Roger Waters will, reprising his "Dark Side of the Moon" show.

And I'm pretty sure that Yvonne Velasquez, the DJ at Star 98.7 (KYSR-FM) in Los Angeles, just "announced" a Coachella lineup from one of the fake posters. For her sake, I hope I'm wrong. But she sounded serious, and she said Radiohead and Muse were playing. Which ain't true.

My Morning Jacket, Rilo Kiley, the Raconteurs and the Verve will be announced later today as a few of the big names for this year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, but unless promoter Paul Tollett and gang have some aces up their sleeves, the ninth installment of the desert blowout is shaping up to be the most ho-hum in its illustrious history.

I mean, Jack Johnson?

Yes, there will be a couple bigger names (see Geoff Boucher's story in today's Times here, and please watch this space later today), but some of the focus at today's news conference in Mexico City will revolve around a planned three-day festival in Jersey City, N.J., in August. Tollett's Goldenvoice and partners AEG Live are behind that one too, and Radiohead and Johnson have been reported as headliners for that.

But barring surprises (and there have been some in the past), Radiohead and the likes of My Bloody Valentine and David Bowie -- the latter two of which were hot names on the rumor mill -- will not be making the trek to Indio for the April 25-27 festival.

Besides MMJ -- admittedly a dynamic force live -- the lineup will include one veteran act, and perhaps another marquee name or two. No Doubt's name is still hot on the rumor mill (can't confirm that as of now, sorry), and so is Portishead's. And last week I posted a list of several smaller bands (two or three of which I got erroneous information on) who will play the festival.

More later.

Photos: My Morning Jacket by Danny Clinch; Rilo Kiley by Allen J. Schaben / LAT

The Photoshop geniuses have been at work again, crafting those nifty faux Coachella posters (yeah, that's one of the fakes below). And the website hasn't even started the countdown yet.

Next week, you can expect an announcement of the roster, which I was told cryptically might include a surprising veteran act or two (not David Bowie) -- and will not include the rumored set by the reunited My Bloody Valentine. Meanwhile, message boards and blogs are bursting with names of the acts heading to Indio for the April 25-27 festival, but precious little information has leaked regarding headliners. Among the bands expected below are hotshot locals Cold War Kids and Autolux. That's a nice start. Here you go, in no particular order -- comment away ...

Death Cab for Cutie
The Breeders
Justice
Jens Lekman
Junkie XL
The Verve
UNKLE
Cold War Kids
Chromeo
Autolux
Spiritualized
Portishead
VHS or Beta
Dan Deacon
Brett Dennen
The Cinematic Orchestra
Battles
Kid Sister
Crystal Castles
Louis XIV

[Guest blogger August Brown rallies 'round the family, with a pocket full of shells.]

It’s hard to think about Rage Against The Machine in 2007 without remembering 1992. Clinton was in office, on his way to Oval Office, the economy was about to start sailing, and yet they still found plenty of reasons to be furious at The System. The group's headlining set on Sunday was probably the most anticipated set in Coachella history; everything from riots to bona fide revolution seemed possible, judging from the hyperbole about their reunion. How would their serrated funk-metal play in a decade where there’s more legitimate reasons to take to the streets, and when few musicians seems to know how to talk about them?

For the first three songs at least, it played awfully sedate. Nearly every weary body on the grounds champed at the bit for the band to come out (sorry, Evan Dando and Spank Rock). But in one of the year’s biggest anti-climaxes, Rage emerged to a muddy and anemic mix that knocked the wind out of Tim Commerford’s basslines. For a minute there, it seemed that the Machine would win out by cutting off Rage from their best weapon- their skull-cracking riffs.

But the soundboard pulled it together, turning up the master mix three songs in, and the band scorched. As did a few small bonfires near the right guardrails, but outside of a few rogue lighting rig climbers, the only really dangerous explosions were happening onstage. Zack de la Rocha spat venom at consumers, Christians and the shoppers on Rodeo Drive (one his better metaphorical punching bags) but kept the stage banter non-existent. Tom Morello, one of the last real guitar heroes left in America, conjured Hendrix’s solos, Public Enemy’s brittle DJ scratching and squeals of feedback in between Sly Stone-via-Dante’s Inferno funk licks. Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk were as martial as ever, and era-defining hits like “Bulls On Parade” and “Bombtrack” have held up astonishingly well.

The only time de la Rocha broke the fourth wall was to give everyone what they wanted- a deliberate and forthright rebuttal to the last six years of neocon politics. “This administration should be tried, hung and shot,” he said, as if one form of execution wasn't enough. It may have been ham-fisted, but to hear it from the mouth of a rock singer today, de la Rocha may well have set the dam loose for political music at the tail end of the Bush era. Even if he didn’t though, the spectacle of 60,000 fans pounding their fists in unison closer “Killing In The Name Of" "Killing in the Name" was a reminder of better times for openly political music, or at least more hopeful ones from years past.

Corrected post; thanks to readers for keeping us on the ball.

Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images.

[Guest blogger Margaret Wappler admits that she's annoyed with Rage for spawning the Korns of the world even though that's not really fair.]

You want to know how to fill up the Gobi tent when you're one of Coachella's sacrificial lambs? Start off by looking like Pharrell if reared by Kurtis Blow in Jamaica. Then add in some potty talk about the bathing suit areas of both genders. Oh, and some bongo players and ladies in braids who will pop and lock with big grins on their faces. And let's not forget the secret sauce: some mostly empty talk about the races rioting on the dance floor that will make you sound intelligent but is pretty much a ruse. But hey, whatever. Spank Rock isn't trying to gather the intelligentsia for a poetry reading.

Some of us like our festival closers blissfully stoopid, thank you very much.

Portishead, Kraftwerk, Death Cab headline Saturday

Saturday's lineup

Portishead
Kraftwerk
Death Cab for Cutie
Cafe Tacuba
Sasha & Digweed
Rilo Kiley
Dwight Yoakam
M.I.A.
Hot Chip
Cold War Kids
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks
DeVotchka
Flogging Molly
Mark Ronson
Turbonegro
Scars on Broadway
Islands
Enter Shikari
Calvin Harris
Boyz Noise
Junkie XL
Cinematic Orchestra
Jamie T
The Teenagers
VHS or Beta
Carbon/Silicon
Erol Alkan
Yo Majesty!
Little Brother
Bonde Do Role
St. Vincent
Akron Family
MGMT
Institubes DJs: Surkin, Para One and Orgasmic
James Wabiela
Sebastian
Kavinsky
Dredg
The Bird and the Bee
Grand Ole Party
New Young Pony Club
120 Days
Yoav
Electric Touch
Uffie

Friday's lineup, from the poster [coming soon]

Jack Johnson
The Verve
The Raconteurs
The Breeders
Fatboy Slim
Tegan and Sara
Madness
The Swell Season
The National
Animal Collective
Slightly Stoopid
Mum
Pendulum
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Stars
Battles
Aesop Rock
Midnight Juggernauts
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Minus the Bear
Spank Rock
Dan Le Sac Vs. Scoobius Pip
Diplo
Adam Freeland
Santo Gold
Jens Lekman
John Butler Trio
Vampire Weekend
Dan Deacon
Architecture in Helsinki
Sandra Collins
Busy P
Cut Copy
Black Lips
Datarock
Professor Murder
Reverend and the Makers
The Bees
Porter
Rogue Wave
Modeselektor
American Bang
Lucky I Am

Coachella 2008 might not rock, but it will roll.

While the roster for the ninth edition of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival feels a little light on straight-ahead guitar music, there's enough heavy-hitting dance talent -- starting with imports M.I.A. and Justice -- to light the night skies over Indio.

M.I.A., the London-born singer whose album "Kala" earned critics' plaudits worldwide in 2007, earned kudos as a festival performer with energetic performances at last year's Lollapalooza and Siren festivals.  The French duo Justice played two recent DJ sets in Los Angeles, a middling show at the Detour Festival and a wildly received performance at the Hard NYE festival in downtown L.A.

Here's a partial roster as it is being announced in Mexico City this afternoon:

Roger Waters
The Verve
Portishead
The Raconteurs
My Morning Jacket
Rilo Kiley
Jack Johnson
Death Cab for Cutie
Kraftwerk
Justice
M.I.A.
Love & Rockets
The Breeders
Sasha & Digweed
Cafe Tacuba
Fatboy Slim

More to come ...

More coverage at Soundboard.

Photo of M.I.A. at Lollapalooza last year by Steve C. Mitchell.

A crazy morning from the airwaves to the Internet:

Prince, rumored to be one of the headliners at Coachella, will not play the festival, a source says.

Roger Waters will, reprising his "Dark Side of the Moon" show.

And I'm pretty sure that Yvonne Velasquez, the DJ at Star 98.7 (KYSR-FM) in Los Angeles, just "announced" a Coachella lineup from one of the fake posters. For her sake, I hope I'm wrong. But she sounded serious, and she said Radiohead and Muse were playing. Which ain't true.

My Morning Jacket, Rilo Kiley, the Raconteurs and the Verve will be announced later today as a few of the big names for this year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, but unless promoter Paul Tollett and gang have some aces up their sleeves, the ninth installment of the desert blowout is shaping up to be the most ho-hum in its illustrious history.

I mean, Jack Johnson?

Yes, there will be a couple bigger names (see Geoff Boucher's story in today's Times here, and please watch this space later today), but some of the focus at today's news conference in Mexico City will revolve around a planned three-day festival in Jersey City, N.J., in August. Tollett's Goldenvoice and partners AEG Live are behind that one too, and Radiohead and Johnson have been reported as headliners for that.

But barring surprises (and there have been some in the past), Radiohead and the likes of My Bloody Valentine and David Bowie -- the latter two of which were hot names on the rumor mill -- will not be making the trek to Indio for the April 25-27 festival.

Besides MMJ -- admittedly a dynamic force live -- the lineup will include one veteran act, and perhaps another marquee name or two. No Doubt's name is still hot on the rumor mill (can't confirm that as of now, sorry), and so is Portishead's. And last week I posted a list of several smaller bands (two or three of which I got erroneous information on) who will play the festival.

More later.

Photos: My Morning Jacket by Danny Clinch; Rilo Kiley by Allen J. Schaben / LAT

The Photoshop geniuses have been at work again, crafting those nifty faux Coachella posters (yeah, that's one of the fakes below). And the website hasn't even started the countdown yet.

Next week, you can expect an announcement of the roster, which I was told cryptically might include a surprising veteran act or two (not David Bowie) -- and will not include the rumored set by the reunited My Bloody Valentine. Meanwhile, message boards and blogs are bursting with names of the acts heading to Indio for the April 25-27 festival, but precious little information has leaked regarding headliners. Among the bands expected below are hotshot locals Cold War Kids and Autolux. That's a nice start. Here you go, in no particular order -- comment away ...

Death Cab for Cutie
The Breeders
Justice
Jens Lekman
Junkie XL
The Verve
UNKLE
Cold War Kids
Chromeo
Autolux
Spiritualized
Portishead
VHS or Beta
Dan Deacon
Brett Dennen
The Cinematic Orchestra
Battles
Kid Sister
Crystal Castles
Louis XIV

[Guest blogger August Brown rallies 'round the family, with a pocket full of shells.]

It’s hard to think about Rage Against The Machine in 2007 without remembering 1992. Clinton was in office, on his way to Oval Office, the economy was about to start sailing, and yet they still found plenty of reasons to be furious at The System. The group's headlining set on Sunday was probably the most anticipated set in Coachella history; everything from riots to bona fide revolution seemed possible, judging from the hyperbole about their reunion. How would their serrated funk-metal play in a decade where there’s more legitimate reasons to take to the streets, and when few musicians seems to know how to talk about them?

For the first three songs at least, it played awfully sedate. Nearly every weary body on the grounds champed at the bit for the band to come out (sorry, Evan Dando and Spank Rock). But in one of the year’s biggest anti-climaxes, Rage emerged to a muddy and anemic mix that knocked the wind out of Tim Commerford’s basslines. For a minute there, it seemed that the Machine would win out by cutting off Rage from their best weapon- their skull-cracking riffs.

But the soundboard pulled it together, turning up the master mix three songs in, and the band scorched. As did a few small bonfires near the right guardrails, but outside of a few rogue lighting rig climbers, the only really dangerous explosions were happening onstage. Zack de la Rocha spat venom at consumers, Christians and the shoppers on Rodeo Drive (one his better metaphorical punching bags) but kept the stage banter non-existent. Tom Morello, one of the last real guitar heroes left in America, conjured Hendrix’s solos, Public Enemy’s brittle DJ scratching and squeals of feedback in between Sly Stone-via-Dante’s Inferno funk licks. Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk were as martial as ever, and era-defining hits like “Bulls On Parade” and “Bombtrack” have held up astonishingly well.

The only time de la Rocha broke the fourth wall was to give everyone what they wanted- a deliberate and forthright rebuttal to the last six years of neocon politics. “This administration should be tried, hung and shot,” he said, as if one form of execution wasn't enough. It may have been ham-fisted, but to hear it from the mouth of a rock singer today, de la Rocha may well have set the dam loose for political music at the tail end of the Bush era. Even if he didn’t though, the spectacle of 60,000 fans pounding their fists in unison closer “Killing In The Name Of" "Killing in the Name" was a reminder of better times for openly political music, or at least more hopeful ones from years past.

Corrected post; thanks to readers for keeping us on the ball.

Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images.

[Guest blogger Margaret Wappler admits that she's annoyed with Rage for spawning the Korns of the world even though that's not really fair.]

You want to know how to fill up the Gobi tent when you're one of Coachella's sacrificial lambs? Start off by looking like Pharrell if reared by Kurtis Blow in Jamaica. Then add in some potty talk about the bathing suit areas of both genders. Oh, and some bongo players and ladies in braids who will pop and lock with big grins on their faces. And let's not forget the secret sauce: some mostly empty talk about the races rioting on the dance floor that will make you sound intelligent but is pretty much a ruse. But hey, whatever. Spank Rock isn't trying to gather the intelligentsia for a poetry reading.

Some of us like our festival closers blissfully stoopid, thank you very much.

Johnson, the Verve, Raconteurs headline Friday

Friday's lineup, from the poster [coming soon]

Jack Johnson
The Verve
The Raconteurs
The Breeders
Fatboy Slim
Tegan and Sara
Madness
The Swell Season
The National
Animal Collective
Slightly Stoopid
Mum
Pendulum
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Stars
Battles
Aesop Rock
Midnight Juggernauts
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Minus the Bear
Spank Rock
Dan Le Sac Vs. Scoobius Pip
Diplo
Adam Freeland
Santo Gold
Jens Lekman
John Butler Trio
Vampire Weekend
Dan Deacon
Architecture in Helsinki
Sandra Collins
Busy P
Cut Copy
Black Lips
Datarock
Professor Murder
Reverend and the Makers
The Bees
Porter
Rogue Wave
Modeselektor
American Bang
Lucky I Am

Coachella 2008 might not rock, but it will roll.

While the roster for the ninth edition of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival feels a little light on straight-ahead guitar music, there's enough heavy-hitting dance talent -- starting with imports M.I.A. and Justice -- to light the night skies over Indio.

M.I.A., the London-born singer whose album "Kala" earned critics' plaudits worldwide in 2007, earned kudos as a festival performer with energetic performances at last year's Lollapalooza and Siren festivals.  The French duo Justice played two recent DJ sets in Los Angeles, a middling show at the Detour Festival and a wildly received performance at the Hard NYE festival in downtown L.A.

Here's a partial roster as it is being announced in Mexico City this afternoon:

Roger Waters
The Verve
Portishead
The Raconteurs
My Morning Jacket
Rilo Kiley
Jack Johnson
Death Cab for Cutie
Kraftwerk
Justice
M.I.A.
Love & Rockets
The Breeders
Sasha & Digweed
Cafe Tacuba
Fatboy Slim

More to come ...

More coverage at Soundboard.

Photo of M.I.A. at Lollapalooza last year by Steve C. Mitchell.

A crazy morning from the airwaves to the Internet:

Prince, rumored to be one of the headliners at Coachella, will not play the festival, a source says.

Roger Waters will, reprising his "Dark Side of the Moon" show.

And I'm pretty sure that Yvonne Velasquez, the DJ at Star 98.7 (KYSR-FM) in Los Angeles, just "announced" a Coachella lineup from one of the fake posters. For her sake, I hope I'm wrong. But she sounded serious, and she said Radiohead and Muse were playing. Which ain't true.

My Morning Jacket, Rilo Kiley, the Raconteurs and the Verve will be announced later today as a few of the big names for this year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, but unless promoter Paul Tollett and gang have some aces up their sleeves, the ninth installment of the desert blowout is shaping up to be the most ho-hum in its illustrious history.

I mean, Jack Johnson?

Yes, there will be a couple bigger names (see Geoff Boucher's story in today's Times here, and please watch this space later today), but some of the focus at today's news conference in Mexico City will revolve around a planned three-day festival in Jersey City, N.J., in August. Tollett's Goldenvoice and partners AEG Live are behind that one too, and Radiohead and Johnson have been reported as headliners for that.

But barring surprises (and there have been some in the past), Radiohead and the likes of My Bloody Valentine and David Bowie -- the latter two of which were hot names on the rumor mill -- will not be making the trek to Indio for the April 25-27 festival.

Besides MMJ -- admittedly a dynamic force live -- the lineup will include one veteran act, and perhaps another marquee name or two. No Doubt's name is still hot on the rumor mill (can't confirm that as of now, sorry), and so is Portishead's. And last week I posted a list of several smaller bands (two or three of which I got erroneous information on) who will play the festival.

More later.

Photos: My Morning Jacket by Danny Clinch; Rilo Kiley by Allen J. Schaben / LAT

The Photoshop geniuses have been at work again, crafting those nifty faux Coachella posters (yeah, that's one of the fakes below). And the website hasn't even started the countdown yet.

Next week, you can expect an announcement of the roster, which I was told cryptically might include a surprising veteran act or two (not David Bowie) -- and will not include the rumored set by the reunited My Bloody Valentine. Meanwhile, message boards and blogs are bursting with names of the acts heading to Indio for the April 25-27 festival, but precious little information has leaked regarding headliners. Among the bands expected below are hotshot locals Cold War Kids and Autolux. That's a nice start. Here you go, in no particular order -- comment away ...

Death Cab for Cutie
The Breeders
Justice
Jens Lekman
Junkie XL
The Verve
UNKLE
Cold War Kids
Chromeo
Autolux
Spiritualized
Portishead
VHS or Beta
Dan Deacon
Brett Dennen
The Cinematic Orchestra
Battles
Kid Sister
Crystal Castles
Louis XIV

[Guest blogger August Brown rallies 'round the family, with a pocket full of shells.]

It’s hard to think about Rage Against The Machine in 2007 without remembering 1992. Clinton was in office, on his way to Oval Office, the economy was about to start sailing, and yet they still found plenty of reasons to be furious at The System. The group's headlining set on Sunday was probably the most anticipated set in Coachella history; everything from riots to bona fide revolution seemed possible, judging from the hyperbole about their reunion. How would their serrated funk-metal play in a decade where there’s more legitimate reasons to take to the streets, and when few musicians seems to know how to talk about them?

For the first three songs at least, it played awfully sedate. Nearly every weary body on the grounds champed at the bit for the band to come out (sorry, Evan Dando and Spank Rock). But in one of the year’s biggest anti-climaxes, Rage emerged to a muddy and anemic mix that knocked the wind out of Tim Commerford’s basslines. For a minute there, it seemed that the Machine would win out by cutting off Rage from their best weapon- their skull-cracking riffs.

But the soundboard pulled it together, turning up the master mix three songs in, and the band scorched. As did a few small bonfires near the right guardrails, but outside of a few rogue lighting rig climbers, the only really dangerous explosions were happening onstage. Zack de la Rocha spat venom at consumers, Christians and the shoppers on Rodeo Drive (one his better metaphorical punching bags) but kept the stage banter non-existent. Tom Morello, one of the last real guitar heroes left in America, conjured Hendrix’s solos, Public Enemy’s brittle DJ scratching and squeals of feedback in between Sly Stone-via-Dante’s Inferno funk licks. Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk were as martial as ever, and era-defining hits like “Bulls On Parade” and “Bombtrack” have held up astonishingly well.

The only time de la Rocha broke the fourth wall was to give everyone what they wanted- a deliberate and forthright rebuttal to the last six years of neocon politics. “This administration should be tried, hung and shot,” he said, as if one form of execution wasn't enough. It may have been ham-fisted, but to hear it from the mouth of a rock singer today, de la Rocha may well have set the dam loose for political music at the tail end of the Bush era. Even if he didn’t though, the spectacle of 60,000 fans pounding their fists in unison closer “Killing In The Name Of" "Killing in the Name" was a reminder of better times for openly political music, or at least more hopeful ones from years past.

Corrected post; thanks to readers for keeping us on the ball.

Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images.

[Guest blogger Margaret Wappler admits that she's annoyed with Rage for spawning the Korns of the world even though that's not really fair.]

You want to know how to fill up the Gobi tent when you're one of Coachella's sacrificial lambs? Start off by looking like Pharrell if reared by Kurtis Blow in Jamaica. Then add in some potty talk about the bathing suit areas of both genders. Oh, and some bongo players and ladies in braids who will pop and lock with big grins on their faces. And let's not forget the secret sauce: some mostly empty talk about the races rioting on the dance floor that will make you sound intelligent but is pretty much a ruse. But hey, whatever. Spank Rock isn't trying to gather the intelligentsia for a poetry reading.

Some of us like our festival closers blissfully stoopid, thank you very much.

M.I.A., Justice bring the party to Coachella

Coachella 2008 might not rock, but it will roll.

While the roster for the ninth edition of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival feels a little light on straight-ahead guitar music, there's enough heavy-hitting dance talent -- starting with imports M.I.A. and Justice -- to light the night skies over Indio.

M.I.A., the London-born singer whose album "Kala" earned critics' plaudits worldwide in 2007, earned kudos as a festival performer with energetic performances at last year's Lollapalooza and Siren festivals.  The French duo Justice played two recent DJ sets in Los Angeles, a middling show at the Detour Festival and a wildly received performance at the Hard NYE festival in downtown L.A.

Here's a partial roster as it is being announced in Mexico City this afternoon:

Roger Waters
The Verve
Portishead
The Raconteurs
My Morning Jacket
Rilo Kiley
Jack Johnson
Death Cab for Cutie
Kraftwerk
Justice
M.I.A.
Love & Rockets
The Breeders
Sasha & Digweed
Cafe Tacuba
Fatboy Slim

More to come ...

More coverage at Soundboard.

Photo of M.I.A. at Lollapalooza last year by Steve C. Mitchell.

A crazy morning from the airwaves to the Internet:

Prince, rumored to be one of the headliners at Coachella, will not play the festival, a source says.

Roger Waters will, reprising his "Dark Side of the Moon" show.

And I'm pretty sure that Yvonne Velasquez, the DJ at Star 98.7 (KYSR-FM) in Los Angeles, just "announced" a Coachella lineup from one of the fake posters. For her sake, I hope I'm wrong. But she sounded serious, and she said Radiohead and Muse were playing. Which ain't true.

My Morning Jacket, Rilo Kiley, the Raconteurs and the Verve will be announced later today as a few of the big names for this year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, but unless promoter Paul Tollett and gang have some aces up their sleeves, the ninth installment of the desert blowout is shaping up to be the most ho-hum in its illustrious history.

I mean, Jack Johnson?

Yes, there will be a couple bigger names (see Geoff Boucher's story in today's Times here, and please watch this space later today), but some of the focus at today's news conference in Mexico City will revolve around a planned three-day festival in Jersey City, N.J., in August. Tollett's Goldenvoice and partners AEG Live are behind that one too, and Radiohead and Johnson have been reported as headliners for that.

But barring surprises (and there have been some in the past), Radiohead and the likes of My Bloody Valentine and David Bowie -- the latter two of which were hot names on the rumor mill -- will not be making the trek to Indio for the April 25-27 festival.

Besides MMJ -- admittedly a dynamic force live -- the lineup will include one veteran act, and perhaps another marquee name or two. No Doubt's name is still hot on the rumor mill (can't confirm that as of now, sorry), and so is Portishead's. And last week I posted a list of several smaller bands (two or three of which I got erroneous information on) who will play the festival.

More later.

Photos: My Morning Jacket by Danny Clinch; Rilo Kiley by Allen J. Schaben / LAT

The Photoshop geniuses have been at work again, crafting those nifty faux Coachella posters (yeah, that's one of the fakes below). And the website hasn't even started the countdown yet.

Next week, you can expect an announcement of the roster, which I was told cryptically might include a surprising veteran act or two (not David Bowie) -- and will not include the rumored set by the reunited My Bloody Valentine. Meanwhile, message boards and blogs are bursting with names of the acts heading to Indio for the April 25-27 festival, but precious little information has leaked regarding headliners. Among the bands expected below are hotshot locals Cold War Kids and Autolux. That's a nice start. Here you go, in no particular order -- comment away ...

Death Cab for Cutie
The Breeders
Justice
Jens Lekman
Junkie XL
The Verve
UNKLE
Cold War Kids
Chromeo
Autolux
Spiritualized
Portishead
VHS or Beta
Dan Deacon
Brett Dennen
The Cinematic Orchestra
Battles
Kid Sister
Crystal Castles
Louis XIV

[Guest blogger August Brown rallies 'round the family, with a pocket full of shells.]

It’s hard to think about Rage Against The Machine in 2007 without remembering 1992. Clinton was in office, on his way to Oval Office, the economy was about to start sailing, and yet they still found plenty of reasons to be furious at The System. The group's headlining set on Sunday was probably the most anticipated set in Coachella history; everything from riots to bona fide revolution seemed possible, judging from the hyperbole about their reunion. How would their serrated funk-metal play in a decade where there’s more legitimate reasons to take to the streets, and when few musicians seems to know how to talk about them?

For the first three songs at least, it played awfully sedate. Nearly every weary body on the grounds champed at the bit for the band to come out (sorry, Evan Dando and Spank Rock). But in one of the year’s biggest anti-climaxes, Rage emerged to a muddy and anemic mix that knocked the wind out of Tim Commerford’s basslines. For a minute there, it seemed that the Machine would win out by cutting off Rage from their best weapon- their skull-cracking riffs.

But the soundboard pulled it together, turning up the master mix three songs in, and the band scorched. As did a few small bonfires near the right guardrails, but outside of a few rogue lighting rig climbers, the only really dangerous explosions were happening onstage. Zack de la Rocha spat venom at consumers, Christians and the shoppers on Rodeo Drive (one his better metaphorical punching bags) but kept the stage banter non-existent. Tom Morello, one of the last real guitar heroes left in America, conjured Hendrix’s solos, Public Enemy’s brittle DJ scratching and squeals of feedback in between Sly Stone-via-Dante’s Inferno funk licks. Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk were as martial as ever, and era-defining hits like “Bulls On Parade” and “Bombtrack” have held up astonishingly well.

The only time de la Rocha broke the fourth wall was to give everyone what they wanted- a deliberate and forthright rebuttal to the last six years of neocon politics. “This administration should be tried, hung and shot,” he said, as if one form of execution wasn't enough. It may have been ham-fisted, but to hear it from the mouth of a rock singer today, de la Rocha may well have set the dam loose for political music at the tail end of the Bush era. Even if he didn’t though, the spectacle of 60,000 fans pounding their fists in unison closer “Killing In The Name Of" "Killing in the Name" was a reminder of better times for openly political music, or at least more hopeful ones from years past.

Corrected post; thanks to readers for keeping us on the ball.

Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images.

[Guest blogger Margaret Wappler admits that she's annoyed with Rage for spawning the Korns of the world even though that's not really fair.]

You want to know how to fill up the Gobi tent when you're one of Coachella's sacrificial lambs? Start off by looking like Pharrell if reared by Kurtis Blow in Jamaica. Then add in some potty talk about the bathing suit areas of both genders. Oh, and some bongo players and ladies in braids who will pop and lock with big grins on their faces. And let's not forget the secret sauce: some mostly empty talk about the races rioting on the dance floor that will make you sound intelligent but is pretty much a ruse. But hey, whatever. Spank Rock isn't trying to gather the intelligentsia for a poetry reading.

Some of us like our festival closers blissfully stoopid, thank you very much.

Coachella, the info frenzy: Roger Waters in, Prince not

A crazy morning from the airwaves to the Internet:

Prince, rumored to be one of the headliners at Coachella, will not play the festival, a source says.

Roger Waters will, reprising his "Dark Side of the Moon" show.

And I'm pretty sure that Yvonne Velasquez, the DJ at Star 98.7 (KYSR-FM) in Los Angeles, just "announced" a Coachella lineup from one of the fake posters. For her sake, I hope I'm wrong. But she sounded serious, and she said Radiohead and Muse were playing. Which ain't true.

My Morning Jacket, Rilo Kiley, the Raconteurs and the Verve will be announced later today as a few of the big names for this year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, but unless promoter Paul Tollett and gang have some aces up their sleeves, the ninth installment of the desert blowout is shaping up to be the most ho-hum in its illustrious history.

I mean, Jack Johnson?

Yes, there will be a couple bigger names (see Geoff Boucher's story in today's Times here, and please watch this space later today), but some of the focus at today's news conference in Mexico City will revolve around a planned three-day festival in Jersey City, N.J., in August. Tollett's Goldenvoice and partners AEG Live are behind that one too, and Radiohead and Johnson have been reported as headliners for that.

But barring surprises (and there have been some in the past), Radiohead and the likes of My Bloody Valentine and David Bowie -- the latter two of which were hot names on the rumor mill -- will not be making the trek to Indio for the April 25-27 festival.

Besides MMJ -- admittedly a dynamic force live -- the lineup will include one veteran act, and perhaps another marquee name or two. No Doubt's name is still hot on the rumor mill (can't confirm that as of now, sorry), and so is Portishead's. And last week I posted a list of several smaller bands (two or three of which I got erroneous information on) who will play the festival.

More later.

Photos: My Morning Jacket by Danny Clinch; Rilo Kiley by Allen J. Schaben / LAT

The Photoshop geniuses have been at work again, crafting those nifty faux Coachella posters (yeah, that's one of the fakes below). And the website hasn't even started the countdown yet.

Next week, you can expect an announcement of the roster, which I was told cryptically might include a surprising veteran act or two (not David Bowie) -- and will not include the rumored set by the reunited My Bloody Valentine. Meanwhile, message boards and blogs are bursting with names of the acts heading to Indio for the April 25-27 festival, but precious little information has leaked regarding headliners. Among the bands expected below are hotshot locals Cold War Kids and Autolux. That's a nice start. Here you go, in no particular order -- comment away ...

Death Cab for Cutie
The Breeders
Justice
Jens Lekman
Junkie XL
The Verve
UNKLE
Cold War Kids
Chromeo
Autolux
Spiritualized
Portishead
VHS or Beta
Dan Deacon
Brett Dennen
The Cinematic Orchestra
Battles
Kid Sister
Crystal Castles
Louis XIV

[Guest blogger August Brown rallies 'round the family, with a pocket full of shells.]

It’s hard to think about Rage Against The Machine in 2007 without remembering 1992. Clinton was in office, on his way to Oval Office, the economy was about to start sailing, and yet they still found plenty of reasons to be furious at The System. The group's headlining set on Sunday was probably the most anticipated set in Coachella history; everything from riots to bona fide revolution seemed possible, judging from the hyperbole about their reunion. How would their serrated funk-metal play in a decade where there’s more legitimate reasons to take to the streets, and when few musicians seems to know how to talk about them?

For the first three songs at least, it played awfully sedate. Nearly every weary body on the grounds champed at the bit for the band to come out (sorry, Evan Dando and Spank Rock). But in one of the year’s biggest anti-climaxes, Rage emerged to a muddy and anemic mix that knocked the wind out of Tim Commerford’s basslines. For a minute there, it seemed that the Machine would win out by cutting off Rage from their best weapon- their skull-cracking riffs.

But the soundboard pulled it together, turning up the master mix three songs in, and the band scorched. As did a few small bonfires near the right guardrails, but outside of a few rogue lighting rig climbers, the only really dangerous explosions were happening onstage. Zack de la Rocha spat venom at consumers, Christians and the shoppers on Rodeo Drive (one his better metaphorical punching bags) but kept the stage banter non-existent. Tom Morello, one of the last real guitar heroes left in America, conjured Hendrix’s solos, Public Enemy’s brittle DJ scratching and squeals of feedback in between Sly Stone-via-Dante’s Inferno funk licks. Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk were as martial as ever, and era-defining hits like “Bulls On Parade” and “Bombtrack” have held up astonishingly well.

The only time de la Rocha broke the fourth wall was to give everyone what they wanted- a deliberate and forthright rebuttal to the last six years of neocon politics. “This administration should be tried, hung and shot,” he said, as if one form of execution wasn't enough. It may have been ham-fisted, but to hear it from the mouth of a rock singer today, de la Rocha may well have set the dam loose for political music at the tail end of the Bush era. Even if he didn’t though, the spectacle of 60,000 fans pounding their fists in unison closer “Killing In The Name Of" "Killing in the Name" was a reminder of better times for openly political music, or at least more hopeful ones from years past.

Corrected post; thanks to readers for keeping us on the ball.

Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images.

[Guest blogger Margaret Wappler admits that she's annoyed with Rage for spawning the Korns of the world even though that's not really fair.]

You want to know how to fill up the Gobi tent when you're one of Coachella's sacrificial lambs? Start off by looking like Pharrell if reared by Kurtis Blow in Jamaica. Then add in some potty talk about the bathing suit areas of both genders. Oh, and some bongo players and ladies in braids who will pop and lock with big grins on their faces. And let's not forget the secret sauce: some mostly empty talk about the races rioting on the dance floor that will make you sound intelligent but is pretty much a ruse. But hey, whatever. Spank Rock isn't trying to gather the intelligentsia for a poetry reading.

Some of us like our festival closers blissfully stoopid, thank you very much.

My Morning Jacket, Rilo Kiley confirmed for Coachella

My Morning Jacket, Rilo Kiley, the Raconteurs and the Verve will be announced later today as a few of the big names for this year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, but unless promoter Paul Tollett and gang have some aces up their sleeves, the ninth installment of the desert blowout is shaping up to be the most ho-hum in its illustrious history.

I mean, Jack Johnson?

Yes, there will be a couple bigger names (see Geoff Boucher's story in today's Times here, and please watch this space later today), but some of the focus at today's news conference in Mexico City will revolve around a planned three-day festival in Jersey City, N.J., in August. Tollett's Goldenvoice and partners AEG Live are behind that one too, and Radiohead and Johnson have been reported as headliners for that.

But barring surprises (and there have been some in the past), Radiohead and the likes of My Bloody Valentine and David Bowie -- the latter two of which were hot names on the rumor mill -- will not be making the trek to Indio for the April 25-27 festival.

Besides MMJ -- admittedly a dynamic force live -- the lineup will include one veteran act, and perhaps another marquee name or two. No Doubt's name is still hot on the rumor mill (can't confirm that as of now, sorry), and so is Portishead's. And last week I posted a list of several smaller bands (two or three of which I got erroneous information on) who will play the festival.

More later.

Photos: My Morning Jacket by Danny Clinch; Rilo Kiley by Allen J. Schaben / LAT

The Photoshop geniuses have been at work again, crafting those nifty faux Coachella posters (yeah, that's one of the fakes below). And the website hasn't even started the countdown yet.

Next week, you can expect an announcement of the roster, which I was told cryptically might include a surprising veteran act or two (not David Bowie) -- and will not include the rumored set by the reunited My Bloody Valentine. Meanwhile, message boards and blogs are bursting with names of the acts heading to Indio for the April 25-27 festival, but precious little information has leaked regarding headliners. Among the bands expected below are hotshot locals Cold War Kids and Autolux. That's a nice start. Here you go, in no particular order -- comment away ...

Death Cab for Cutie
The Breeders
Justice
Jens Lekman
Junkie XL
The Verve
UNKLE
Cold War Kids
Chromeo
Autolux
Spiritualized
Portishead
VHS or Beta
Dan Deacon
Brett Dennen
The Cinematic Orchestra
Battles
Kid Sister
Crystal Castles
Louis XIV

[Guest blogger August Brown rallies 'round the family, with a pocket full of shells.]

It’s hard to think about Rage Against The Machine in 2007 without remembering 1992. Clinton was in office, on his way to Oval Office, the economy was about to start sailing, and yet they still found plenty of reasons to be furious at The System. The group's headlining set on Sunday was probably the most anticipated set in Coachella history; everything from riots to bona fide revolution seemed possible, judging from the hyperbole about their reunion. How would their serrated funk-metal play in a decade where there’s more legitimate reasons to take to the streets, and when few musicians seems to know how to talk about them?

For the first three songs at least, it played awfully sedate. Nearly every weary body on the grounds champed at the bit for the band to come out (sorry, Evan Dando and Spank Rock). But in one of the year’s biggest anti-climaxes, Rage emerged to a muddy and anemic mix that knocked the wind out of Tim Commerford’s basslines. For a minute there, it seemed that the Machine would win out by cutting off Rage from their best weapon- their skull-cracking riffs.

But the soundboard pulled it together, turning up the master mix three songs in, and the band scorched. As did a few small bonfires near the right guardrails, but outside of a few rogue lighting rig climbers, the only really dangerous explosions were happening onstage. Zack de la Rocha spat venom at consumers, Christians and the shoppers on Rodeo Drive (one his better metaphorical punching bags) but kept the stage banter non-existent. Tom Morello, one of the last real guitar heroes left in America, conjured Hendrix’s solos, Public Enemy’s brittle DJ scratching and squeals of feedback in between Sly Stone-via-Dante’s Inferno funk licks. Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk were as martial as ever, and era-defining hits like “Bulls On Parade” and “Bombtrack” have held up astonishingly well.

The only time de la Rocha broke the fourth wall was to give everyone what they wanted- a deliberate and forthright rebuttal to the last six years of neocon politics. “This administration should be tried, hung and shot,” he said, as if one form of execution wasn't enough. It may have been ham-fisted, but to hear it from the mouth of a rock singer today, de la Rocha may well have set the dam loose for political music at the tail end of the Bush era. Even if he didn’t though, the spectacle of 60,000 fans pounding their fists in unison closer “Killing In The Name Of" "Killing in the Name" was a reminder of better times for openly political music, or at least more hopeful ones from years past.

Corrected post; thanks to readers for keeping us on the ball.

Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images.

[Guest blogger Margaret Wappler admits that she's annoyed with Rage for spawning the Korns of the world even though that's not really fair.]

You want to know how to fill up the Gobi tent when you're one of Coachella's sacrificial lambs? Start off by looking like Pharrell if reared by Kurtis Blow in Jamaica. Then add in some potty talk about the bathing suit areas of both genders. Oh, and some bongo players and ladies in braids who will pop and lock with big grins on their faces. And let's not forget the secret sauce: some mostly empty talk about the races rioting on the dance floor that will make you sound intelligent but is pretty much a ruse. But hey, whatever. Spank Rock isn't trying to gather the intelligentsia for a poetry reading.

Some of us like our festival closers blissfully stoopid, thank you very much.

Coachella roster slowly takes shape (and getting misshapen)

The Photoshop geniuses have been at work again, crafting those nifty faux Coachella posters (yeah, that's one of the fakes below). And the website hasn't even started the countdown yet.

Next week, you can expect an announcement of the roster, which I was told cryptically might include a surprising veteran act or two (not David Bowie) -- and will not include the rumored set by the reunited My Bloody Valentine. Meanwhile, message boards and blogs are bursting with names of the acts heading to Indio for the April 25-27 festival, but precious little information has leaked regarding headliners. Among the bands expected below are hotshot locals Cold War Kids and Autolux. That's a nice start. Here you go, in no particular order -- comment away ...

Death Cab for Cutie
The Breeders
Justice
Jens Lekman
Junkie XL
The Verve
UNKLE
Cold War Kids
Chromeo
Autolux
Spiritualized
Portishead
VHS or Beta
Dan Deacon
Brett Dennen
The Cinematic Orchestra
Battles
Kid Sister
Crystal Castles
Louis XIV

[Guest blogger August Brown rallies 'round the family, with a pocket full of shells.]

It’s hard to think about Rage Against The Machine in 2007 without remembering 1992. Clinton was in office, on his way to Oval Office, the economy was about to start sailing, and yet they still found plenty of reasons to be furious at The System. The group's headlining set on Sunday was probably the most anticipated set in Coachella history; everything from riots to bona fide revolution seemed possible, judging from the hyperbole about their reunion. How would their serrated funk-metal play in a decade where there’s more legitimate reasons to take to the streets, and when few musicians seems to know how to talk about them?

For the first three songs at least, it played awfully sedate. Nearly every weary body on the grounds champed at the bit for the band to come out (sorry, Evan Dando and Spank Rock). But in one of the year’s biggest anti-climaxes, Rage emerged to a muddy and anemic mix that knocked the wind out of Tim Commerford’s basslines. For a minute there, it seemed that the Machine would win out by cutting off Rage from their best weapon- their skull-cracking riffs.

But the soundboard pulled it together, turning up the master mix three songs in, and the band scorched. As did a few small bonfires near the right guardrails, but outside of a few rogue lighting rig climbers, the only really dangerous explosions were happening onstage. Zack de la Rocha spat venom at consumers, Christians and the shoppers on Rodeo Drive (one his better metaphorical punching bags) but kept the stage banter non-existent. Tom Morello, one of the last real guitar heroes left in America, conjured Hendrix’s solos, Public Enemy’s brittle DJ scratching and squeals of feedback in between Sly Stone-via-Dante’s Inferno funk licks. Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk were as martial as ever, and era-defining hits like “Bulls On Parade” and “Bombtrack” have held up astonishingly well.

The only time de la Rocha broke the fourth wall was to give everyone what they wanted- a deliberate and forthright rebuttal to the last six years of neocon politics. “This administration should be tried, hung and shot,” he said, as if one form of execution wasn't enough. It may have been ham-fisted, but to hear it from the mouth of a rock singer today, de la Rocha may well have set the dam loose for political music at the tail end of the Bush era. Even if he didn’t though, the spectacle of 60,000 fans pounding their fists in unison closer “Killing In The Name Of" "Killing in the Name" was a reminder of better times for openly political music, or at least more hopeful ones from years past.

Corrected post; thanks to readers for keeping us on the ball.

Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images.

[Guest blogger Margaret Wappler admits that she's annoyed with Rage for spawning the Korns of the world even though that's not really fair.]

You want to know how to fill up the Gobi tent when you're one of Coachella's sacrificial lambs? Start off by looking like Pharrell if reared by Kurtis Blow in Jamaica. Then add in some potty talk about the bathing suit areas of both genders. Oh, and some bongo players and ladies in braids who will pop and lock with big grins on their faces. And let's not forget the secret sauce: some mostly empty talk about the races rioting on the dance floor that will make you sound intelligent but is pretty much a ruse. But hey, whatever. Spank Rock isn't trying to gather the intelligentsia for a poetry reading.

Some of us like our festival closers blissfully stoopid, thank you very much.

All the rage for all the right reasons

[Guest blogger August Brown rallies 'round the family, with a pocket full of shells.]

It’s hard to think about Rage Against The Machine in 2007 without remembering 1992. Clinton was in office, on his way to Oval Office, the economy was about to start sailing, and yet they still found plenty of reasons to be furious at The System. The group's headlining set on Sunday was probably the most anticipated set in Coachella history; everything from riots to bona fide revolution seemed possible, judging from the hyperbole about their reunion. How would their serrated funk-metal play in a decade where there’s more legitimate reasons to take to the streets, and when few musicians seems to know how to talk about them?

For the first three songs at least, it played awfully sedate. Nearly every weary body on the grounds champed at the bit for the band to come out (sorry, Evan Dando and Spank Rock). But in one of the year’s biggest anti-climaxes, Rage emerged to a muddy and anemic mix that knocked the wind out of Tim Commerford’s basslines. For a minute there, it seemed that the Machine would win out by cutting off Rage from their best weapon- their skull-cracking riffs.

But the soundboard pulled it together, turning up the master mix three songs in, and the band scorched. As did a few small bonfires near the right guardrails, but outside of a few rogue lighting rig climbers, the only really dangerous explosions were happening onstage. Zack de la Rocha spat venom at consumers, Christians and the shoppers on Rodeo Drive (one his better metaphorical punching bags) but kept the stage banter non-existent. Tom Morello, one of the last real guitar heroes left in America, conjured Hendrix’s solos, Public Enemy’s brittle DJ scratching and squeals of feedback in between Sly Stone-via-Dante’s Inferno funk licks. Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk were as martial as ever, and era-defining hits like “Bulls On Parade” and “Bombtrack” have held up astonishingly well.

The only time de la Rocha broke the fourth wall was to give everyone what they wanted- a deliberate and forthright rebuttal to the last six years of neocon politics. “This administration should be tried, hung and shot,” he said, as if one form of execution wasn't enough. It may have been ham-fisted, but to hear it from the mouth of a rock singer today, de la Rocha may well have set the dam loose for political music at the tail end of the Bush era. Even if he didn’t though, the spectacle of 60,000 fans pounding their fists in unison closer “Killing In The Name Of" "Killing in the Name" was a reminder of better times for openly political music, or at least more hopeful ones from years past.

Corrected post; thanks to readers for keeping us on the ball.

Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images.

[Guest blogger Margaret Wappler admits that she's annoyed with Rage for spawning the Korns of the world even though that's not really fair.]

You want to know how to fill up the Gobi tent when you're one of Coachella's sacrificial lambs? Start off by looking like Pharrell if reared by Kurtis Blow in Jamaica. Then add in some potty talk about the bathing suit areas of both genders. Oh, and some bongo players and ladies in braids who will pop and lock with big grins on their faces. And let's not forget the secret sauce: some mostly empty talk about the races rioting on the dance floor that will make you sound intelligent but is pretty much a ruse. But hey, whatever. Spank Rock isn't trying to gather the intelligentsia for a poetry reading.

Some of us like our festival closers blissfully stoopid, thank you very much.

Spank Rock: What does that mean, anyway?

[Guest blogger Margaret Wappler admits that she's annoyed with Rage for spawning the Korns of the world even though that's not really fair.]

You want to know how to fill up the Gobi tent when you're one of Coachella's sacrificial lambs? Start off by looking like Pharrell if reared by Kurtis Blow in Jamaica. Then add in some potty talk about the bathing suit areas of both genders. Oh, and some bongo players and ladies in braids who will pop and lock with big grins on their faces. And let's not forget the secret sauce: some mostly empty talk about the races rioting on the dance floor that will make you sound intelligent but is pretty much a ruse. But hey, whatever. Spank Rock isn't trying to gather the intelligentsia for a poetry reading.

Some of us like our festival closers blissfully stoopid, thank you very much.