Jenny and Johnny @ Coachella (4/16)

(Photo credit: Natasha Aftandilians)

The alt-country duo Jenny & Johnny opened their show with the whimsical and lyrically entertaining “Committed,” followed by “Slavedriver,” and “Switchblade,” all of which sounded fantastic, smooth, and effortless both instrumentally and vocally. Throughout the show the duo maintained a true chemistry that I always appreciate in male-female bands (think Alex Ebert and Jade Castrinos).

While Jenny Lewis is an extremely talented artist, she’s the type that I would rather listen to at home then watch on stage, where she seems very aware of herself. When the screens of the Mojave stage froze a few songs in, I didn’t really mind after seeing one too many trying-to-be-cute-nose scrunches. Despite the technological mishap the band maintained an adorably upbeat energy, thanking their keyboardist “Farmer Dave” before bringing out an older, true country song called “Carpetbaggers.” Overall the music was terrific, the harmonies were absolutely charming and the crowd seemed to truly enjoy themselves.

MP3 Jenny and Johnny – Committed

Video: Hooray for Earth – True Loves

LA-based directing team Young Replicant made waves a couple years back when they won M83’s video contest with their spectacular clip for “We Own The Sky”. They followed it up last year with a gorgeous video for Baths “Lovely Bloodflow” and they continue to impress with this epic new music video for Hooray for Earth‘s “True Loves”. The genre-bending clip starts with a guy in an medieval garb being chased by a beautiful woman on horseback with a bow and arrow into a smoke portal that transports him to a deserted beach filled with Roman-era sculptures. I would continue but it gets slightly confusing after that. Even so, the visuals are fantastic and the SFX (especially the disintegrating woman at the end) are pretty incredible for the presumably low budget they had to work with. Check out the video above and stream the synth-pop tune below.

Cults @ Coachella (4/16)

(Photo credit: Chrissy Mauck)

I only recently began listening to Cults (after reading about them on this site—thanks Taylor!) but I quickly became obsessed. I was thrilled to see them on the lineup a few weeks ago, and forced my friends arrive at the Polo Field far earlier than they wanted to so that I wouldn’t miss them. Unfortunately for Cults, being a relatively new and less-known band, they were scheduled to play in the Gobi Tent, which is not known to have the most pristine sound. The duo opened with the ever-popular “Go Outside,” which is lyrically a great song, if you can hear the lyrics, but frustratingly the instruments, especially percussion were far too loud and drowned out the vocals.

As far as I could tell, the poor quality was by no means a result of the bands talent, and the sound did get a little better the closer you got to the stage. I moved up for “The Curse” and then ran to the front to hear my favorite “You Know What I Mean,” which was great despite of the poor sound, but still more enjoyable to listen to recorded. Female singer Madeline Follin was tiny but forceful, and the climactic ending of “You Know What I Mean” was just as vivid and powerful in person as I had hoped. I ended up leaving about halfway through the set, but am looking forward to Cults’ return to Coachella, hopefully on a better stage.

MP3 Cults – You Know What I Mean

Boom! Boom boom, cha! (Vol. IV)

Early last year, I posted a mix of songs that used the most iconic and recognizable drum beat in pop music history, the Phil Spector-penned / Ronettes-performed “Be My Baby” intro. That led to two more mixes (which we lovingly call “Boom! Boom boom, cha!” after that striking drum sound) bringing the total up to about 60 songs worth of “Be My Baby” beats. Just when I thought I had exhausted the subject a new crop of songs from this year have started popping up using the beat, whether it be from the indie pop stylings of Cults and Pains of Being Pure At Heart or the dance-leaning Cut Copy and Lykke Li.

For volume IV of this mix, I’ve compiled 20 more songs with “Be My Baby”-inspired drum beats. Some of the tracks here use slightly different variations of the beat or feature the “boom, boom boom, cha!” in the middle of the song instead of the intro. I again have to thank commenters from the last post for pointing me in the direction of some of the tracks that made it on here. If there’s any more “Be My Baby” drum beats out there that I’ve missed, let me know in the comments. Enjoy!

MP3 The Ronettes – Be My Baby
MP3 Cults – Abducted
MP3 The Shins – Phantom Limb
MP3 La Sera – Never Come Around
MP3 The Kills – London Hates You
MP3 Mercury Rev – In A Funny Way
MP3 The Aislers Set – Fire Engines
MP3 Cut Copy – This Is All We’ve Got
MP3 Veronica Falls – Starry Eyes
MP3 Talulah Gosh – Just A Dream
MP3 Lykke Li – Sadness Is A Blessing
MP3 The Clientele – (I Want You) More Then Ever
MP3 Javelin – Mossy Woodland
MP3 Las Robertas – Street Feeling
MP3 The Concretes – Say Something New
MP3 Still Corners – Endless Summers
MP3 Vivian Girls – Tension
MP3 The Positions – Back To Me
MP3 The Legends – Your Song
MP3 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Anne with an E

***

If you can’t get enough “Be My Baby” drum beats, check out the first three mixes!

Download “Boom! Boom boom, cha!”
Download “Boom! Boom boom, cha! Redux”
Download “Boom! Boom boom, cha! (v3.0)”

Note: Okkervil River’s “Rider” from their new album I Am Very Far also uses the beat, but I didn’t want to include it prior to the album’s release.

Cut Copy @ Coachella (4/15)

(Photo Credit: Vans66)

Cut Copy without a doubt had one of the greatest, most energetic audiences of the entire weekend. Throughout the show the crowd never stopped dancing and clapping along with the rhythm, making it impossible to leave. During the largely instrumental and sped-up version of, “Saturdays” my friend leaned over and exclaimed, “They’re very 80s aren’t they?” no doubt due to the simple beats and dial-tone-like sound effects. However despite the song’s simplicity, when the band shouted to the crowd, “I want everybody in the audience to let loose, and by let loose I mean jumping and going crazy,” the crowd listened.

The bands absolutely stunning performance of “Lights and Music” undoubtedly turned anyone who was unfamiliar with the band (like my friend) into devout fans. Coinciding with its namesake, the performance had outstandingly stellar lights, especially following the suspenseful crescendo into the chorus.  By the end of the song, the singing of the crowd almost overpowered the music, with the audience ferociously jumping up and down at an even more accelerated rate than they had been throughout the entire show. Cut Copy’s performance had such an unforgettable atmosphere that now every time I hear “Lights and Music” it transports me back to the Mojave tent, putting them close to the top of my list of shows I must see again.

MP3 Lights and Music

(Photo Credit: Vans66)

See more pictures from Coachella at the musicforants.com flickr page (courtesy of Morgan Miller / Eric Snyder)

Warpaint @ Coachella (4/15)

(Photo credit: Chrissy Mauck)

After seeing Warpaint for the first time in Boston last fall, I was so impressed I knew it would be worth it to brave the heat of the Outdoor stage in order to see them perform again at Coachella. Although I’m not typically the biggest fan of all-female bands, Warpaint really hits the spot with their rough yet dreamy, non-bubblegum, sultry sound and varying pitches.

The hypnotic vocals of the echoing “Elephants” created the perfect mellow environment in preparation for an evening full of dancing. Unsurprisingly, the highlight of the show was the ethereal performance of “Undertow,” with it’s and killer guitar and bass that vibrated throughout the entire field. Between their gorgeous harmonies and pure instrumental talent, Warpaint is definitely a show worth seeing twice.

MP3 Undertow (edit)

(Photo credit: Chrissy Mauck)

See more pictures from Coachella at our flickr page (courtesy of Morgan Miller / Eric Snyder)

MP3: Handsome Furs – What About Us

Dan Boeckner’s work with Wolf Parade has produced some of my favorite songs of the last decade, from “This Heart’s on Fire”, “Modern World”, “Language City” to last year’s masterful “Yulia”. For some reason though, I’ve never fully immersed myself in Boeckner’s own band with his wife Alexei Perry, Handsome Furs. I’m vowing to break that streak this year with their new album, Sound Kapital largely because of the incredibly solid first single, “What About Us”.

The inspiration for the album is the industrial / electronic music that was coming out of Eastern Europe in the late 70’s / early 80’s. This makes for a dark, synth-heavy sound and pulsating groove. The song begins with dynamic, throbbing keys and urgent vocals before transitioning mid-way to melodramatic, high-pitched synths and a beautifully cathartic melody. Download the track below.

MP3 Handsome Furs – What About Us

Pre-order Sound Kapital at Sub Pop Records.

Crystal Castles @ Coachella (4/15)

(Photo credit: Vans 66)

Crystal Castles was another performance near the top of my list for Friday, despite having heard extremely mixed reviews from friends who have seen them in the past. What makes Crystal Castles so enticing is partially the captivating beats, but more than anything the other-worldly and somewhat frightening vocals of singer Alice Glass. Unfortunately for me, standing about 100 feet behind the Outdoor stage (which isn’t very far) I could hardly hear her voice over the beats. I assume the festival was trying to compensate for their ’09 performance where according to many, Glass spent 45 minutes practically shrieking at the audience, many of whom felt as though their ears were going to bleed.

Despite the upgrade from a tent to the Outdoor stage, the performance still missed the mark, just on the opposite end of the spectrum. The best song of the evening, or at least the song that was the most audible was “Alice Practice” (no doubt due to its extra-terrestrial-like synthesizers). The audience seemed to consist of fans like myself, who were extremely excited to be there but lost a little enthusiasm with the less-than-stellar production. Hopefully they’ll have the sound right by the next time they play here and put on the performance I know they’re capable of doing.

MP3 Crystal Castles – Not In Love (feat. Robert Smith)

Cold War Kids @ Coachella (4/15)

(Photo credit: Chrissy Mauck)

Cold War Kids have had a special place I my heart for quite a few years now, and I was overjoyed to see them on this years lineup. Although I had planned to see each band for no more than 30 minutes in order to see as many shows as possible, I allotted myself an entire hour in order to see Cold War Kids in their entirety, and I don’t regret it one bit.

The band opened with Mexican Dogs, a little bit of a surprising choice, but I suppose they wanted to build up to their best. The band had the perfect set time at the Outdoor stage right as the sun was beginning to set, allowing to audience to focus entirely on the music instead of trying to keep themselves cool under the sweltering rays. The three songs that stuck out to me were “Audience,” “Hospital Beds,” and “I’ve Seen Enough,” all of which were filled with an enormous amount of soul. Lead singer Nathan Willett then told the crowd, “This is our second time here, and we played this song last year and it seemed to go over pretty well,” as the band led into “Hang Me Up To Dry,” causing the audience to go wild.

(Photo credit: Chrissy Mauck)

During the performance the band played two new songs, one called “Bulldozer,” that was pleasurable to listen to, but nothing amazing. The biggest surprise of the show was the bands decision to play a set sans “Santa Ana Winds,” which undoubtedly would have sent the largely Southern-Californian crowd into a frenzy. Ending with the classic “Saint John,” the entire show maintained the sense of purity that hooks most Cold War Kid fans who appreciate a break from the “Hollywood glam” seen with so much music today. The bands performance seemed as second nature to them as breathing. Overall and unsurprisingly, Cold War Kids managed to steal my vote for best performance of the day.

MP3 Hang Me Out To Dry

(Photo credit: Chrissy Mauck)

See more pictures from Coachella at our flickr page (courtesy of Morgan Miller / Eric Snyder)

Video: Manchester Orchestra – Simple Math

DANIELS are the groundbreaking music video directing team behind last year’s videos for FM Belfast and Hundred In the Hands (both of which made my top videos of 2010 list). With the video for Manchester Orchestra‘s new single “Simple Math”, they have created their best work yet, and easily the best music video I’ve seen thus far in 2011. This video has already garnered heaps of praise as well as comparisons to works of Michel Gondry and Christopher Nolan for it’s technically incredible, emotionally powerful storytelling.

The video revolves around a excruciating car accident and the “life flashing before your eyes” moments that the driver experiences while suspended in mid-crash. The storylines are brilliantly intertwined with the characters in his flashbacks experiencing the crash (using some very Inception-like gravity shift effects) at the same time he does, creating a spectacular dream-like experience. Manchester Orchestra’s muscular post-emo indie rock provides just the right amount of emotional punch to accompany the stunning imagery. This is one you’ll want to watch again and again. Watch above, listen below.

Pre-order Manchester Orchestra‘s third album, Simple Math at their website.