Show review: Atlas Sound - Great American Music Hall, Nov. 3

“Don’t worry – we’ll do some weird shit later,” proclaimed Atlas Sound frontman Bradford Cox a few songs into his band’s set at the Great American Music Hall on Tuesday.

Known for the loud, fuzzy, purely pop yet sometimes utterly strange sounds that fill both his solo Atlas Sound records and those of his primary band, indie rock darlings Deerhunter, Cox decided to go "normal" for a night and took the stage with an acoustic guitar, bright white lights shining down onto his crisp, white, buttoned-down shirt, and launched into a stripped down version of "My Halo" from his latest album, Logos.

This set the tone for a show that found Cox and his four-man backing band offering new interpretations of  Cox's recorded work. Many songs transformed into soft pop lullabies, yet still allowed room to throw in a bit of the aforementioned "weird shit" and rocking climaxes. “Quarantined” and “Recent Bedroom” were blended into a hushed acoustic-based medley, buffeted by spacey sound effects, of course, while“Walkabout” lost some decibels but retained its chirpy pop melody, with Trish Keenan from co-headliner Broadcast on backing vocals in place of Animal Collective's Noah Lennox, who sings on the album.

At the show Cox proved he's easily one of the most engaging performers in the live spectrum these days. For one, he keeps the surprises coming musically and is malleable to last-minute song requests. And then there's his endearing loquaciousness -- he offered commentary between each song and responded freely to the audience, so it felt more like a friend was up on stage rather than some musician worshipped so devotedly by bloggers worldwide. But what's most refreshing is his sincerity. This is a guy who's driven by his passion for making interesting, and beautiful, music, and isn't trying to bullshit or get one over on anyone. 

Playing the encore alone, Cox strapped on his acoustic guitar with harmonica attached for a rendition of "Logos."

Mr. Cool Indie Rock Guy suddenly became Bob Dylan. It was totally unexpected, and totally just right.

Album review: Volcano Choir - Unmap

It's nice to leave your body every once in awhile, so cue up Wisconsin's Volcano Choir.

The side project of Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and folks from Collections of Colonies of Bees put together a breezy but stellar debut record, Unmap, that just may conjure an out-of-body experience.

The band immediately contradicts any references its name might suggest of loud explosions on the opener "Husks and Shells," an acoustic track recorded as if not to wake the children. But the choir part’s true, with Vernon’s ethereal howls, and sometimes just animal noises, offering a dreamy overlay to the band’s rhythmic instrumentation.

Less folky and reliant on lyrics than Bon Iver, Volcano Choir incorporates more experimental and worldly sounds into its arsenal, as on the restrained Japanese feel of "And Gather"; "Cool Knowledge," which is full of weird vocal stylings reminiscent of Bjork's Medulla album; and then there's ambient instrumental pieces like "Dote." 

Underneath it all there's a spiritual energy at work, particularly on "Youlagy," a soulful version of “Amazing Grace,” and the album's best track, "Seeplymouth," an epic seven minutes of delicate but propulsive percussion and Vernon's angelic falsetto serenade.

It's lovely enough to leave the ground behind.

Check out "Island, IS":

Island, IS - Volcano Choir

Pavement chooses enlightenment, taps Enablers to play ATP

News of Pavement’s reunion is exciting enough. Add that they’ll be curating their own All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in Minehead, England on May 14-16, and a flurry of schoolgirl giddiness bubbles over. But that the band tapped none other than San Francisco’s Enablers to play ATP --- along with krautrockers Faust, the Fall, Portland’s Quasi, and New York’s Endless Boogie – gives a good reason to turn into a bunch of unbridled bed-jumpers on sugar highs. How delightful – ‘90s indie rock heroes sure have good taste.

Holy shit: The new Flaming Lips album will rip you to shreds with its amazingness

Never been the biggest Flaming Lips fan and only listened to the band's new record Embryonic today to kill the sound of dead office while at work.

But it's totally badass.

The Flaming Lips crafted an album to be experienced -- a weird, spacey, mind-expanding, fuzzy psychedelic rock opus wonderland of awesomeness.

And a double album at that.

As fate would have it, they're playing in San Francisco this Sunday, Oct. 18, at the Treasure Island Music Festival.

A punk! Vampire Weekend tour to bite the Bay Area

Afro-poppers Vampire Weekend announced this week it will launch a California tour in November rolling through such off-the-beaten-path cities as Visalia, Lomita and Pioneertown., hitting the Bay Area on Nov. 7 at the Lafayette Town Hall Theatre and on Nov. 8 at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz. Tickets go onsale Friday, Oct. 9, at noon. The New York four-piece’s second album, Contra, hits stores Jan. 12, but lord knows it’ll get leaked before by damn impatient Internet scum, I mean, eager fans. In the meantime, this week the band unveiled its first single from the impending album. Imbibe “Horchata”: November Cali tour: 11/2 Long Beach - The Art Theater 11/5 Pioneertown - Pappy and Harriet's 11/7 Lafayette - Town Hall Theatre 11/8 Santa Cruz - Catalyst 11/09 Visalia - The Cellar Door 11/10 San Luis Obispo - Downtown Brew 11/12 Bakersfield - Chencho's 11/14 Lomita, CA - VFW Hall

Show review: Thom Yorke Band, Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles, Oct. 4

Standing ovations typically come at the end of a performance, but Thom Yorke was greeted with one before he even launched into his first song Monday at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. Needless to say, this was no ordinary concert. Yorke drew a mega-sold-out crowd of eager Radiohead fans, some with Hollywood faces, to the debut show (after a warm-up gig Friday at the Echoplex) of his new, non-Radiohead backing band formed to realize his solo material live and possibly/probably/undoubtedly collaborate with otherwise. ??????, as the marquee out front deemed the group without a name, pairs Yorke with bassist Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beck/dozens of bands' drummer Joey Waronker, Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco, and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich "on everything else," as Yorke put it. With such a stellar batch of musicians up on stage, it wasn't surprising that the show's execution proved to be as exciting as its concept. The band ran through Yorke's 2006 album The Eraser in its entirety, each song getting a face-lift of sorts: the soft electronic glitchiness of the record was replaced by more rhythmic, carnal sounds in this live incarnation. Tracks took an altogether different shape under Yorke's beefed up rhythm section. “The Clock” lost its urgent ticktock and morphed into a menacing amalgam of bass and percussion; “Black Swan,” still retaining all of its despondent glory, fell under a spell of Refosco's tribal beat; and “Skip Divided" made the biggest transformation of all, with Yorke's ominous hum on the album replaced by Flea's melodica for a mysterious Middle Eastern feel, the song stripped to its barest of parts. Just before the latter song, Yorke prompted the crowd to stand. After all, The Eraser was intended to be a dance record and what, did the audience want to continue to act as if it were at the cinema? It seemed as if Yorke couldn't stop dancing. As he alternated between jumping on the piano, jumping on the guitar, and just plain jumping, he flitted around the stage like a madman infected with some sort of can’t-keep-still bug, even slithering his hips like Elvis during the more grooved up parts. And Flea was Flea, which is to say that he was rocking and bobbing onstage the entire time and a total badass on bass, breathing life into songs like "Harrowdown Hill" and the new Yorke track "Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses." As if the show wasn't special enough, what with the surprise backing band, the performance of The Eraser album, new songs and a rendition of Radiohead B-side "Paperbag Writer," which Yorke dedicated to Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood sitting in the audience, Yorke also played three new tracks on his own during the encore, two of which, "Open the Floodgates" and "Super Collider," Yorke played back-to-back on piano. The peak of the show came at the beginning of the encore with "Lotus Flower" a.k.a. "Moon Upon a Stick" (Yorke hasn't decided yet), a chill-inducing piece Yorke has been working on with Radiohead. Just Yorke's beautiful melody and an acoustic guitar, the song harkened back to Radiohead B-side “Follow Me Around.” Here's a pretty high-quality video of "Lotus Flower" shot by YouTuber Methanosktrr at the following night's show: Monday was a special night - for Yorke, Flea, Waronker, Refosco, Godrich, and most of all, the audience. Setlist The Eraser Analyse The Clock Black Swan Skip Divided Atoms For Peace And It Rained All Night Harrowdown Hill Cymbal Rush Yorke solo encore: Lotus Flower (Moon Upon A Stick) Open The Floodgates Super Collider Encore with band: Paperbag Writer Judge, Jury & Executioner The Hollow Earth Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses

Pure giddiness: Thom Yorke's playing two shows in L.A. on Oct. 4-5

Ladies and gentleman, prepare your fingers for clicking on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 10 a.m. Thom Yorke announced he'll play Eraser songs + more at two intimate shows at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles this Sunday, Oct. 4 and Monday, Oct. 5, with tickets onsale Tuesday on Ticketmaster. Yorke's put together quite the backing band for these dates-- Joey Waronker, Mauro Refosco, Flea and Nigel Godrich (all cozy in the above pic). About 2,000 lucky spectators each night will have the privilege of catching one of these rare non-Radiohead Yorke performances. May the force be with you.

Get smitten: "All For the Best" by Thom Yorke

Yeah it's a cover song, but it's still the best thing I've heard all year.

Album review: Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti... Is Skyscraper

Interpol singer/guitarist Paul Banks takes a vacation from the land of four-piece bands on his solo debut as Julian Plenti, Julian Plenti... Is Skyscraper. Banks, or should I say, Plenti, takes the dark, post-punk rock sound of his dayjob group and perverts it with layers of piano, synth, acoustic guitar, strings and drum machine on the album's 11 tracks. Here Banks revives the part of the sexy cad on gloomy pop gems like "Games For Days," where he employs his commanding baritone, but also plays the role of Mr. Lonely on downcast tracks like "Madrid Song." "Only If You Run" gets my vote for being the album's best track, but maybe that's because I'm a sap. With its familiar but endearing melody, it's one of the best mac 'n' cheese songs of '09. Stick a fork in me. There are messy parts, too. I just can't get into "Fun That We Have," which sounds like instruments competing rather than meshing, while "Fly as You Might" crash lands into stilted drum machine oblivion. And survey says "Girl on the Sporting News" shouldn't have made it into the studio if only for its lyrics: “Girl don’t buy that dress on lonely street.” Indeed. This isn't an album to really sink your teeth into, but it's worth a listen for fans of dark Interpol-style music, obviously. And with today's announcement that Banks will tour far and wide this fall as Julian Plenti, it was also learned that a San Francisco stop is planned for Nov. 18 at the Great American Music Hall.

Awesome shows in San Jose this week!

I barely check MySpace anymore but I did for the first time in a couple weeks and discovered ... the most fantastically sickest of the ickest band around these here San Jose parts *Worker Bee* is playing a free show at the Blank Club on Wednesday, July 8. It's also a record release show, hallelujah. The new stuff is freaking evolved & amazing loveliness. Kids best recognize. and my favorite San Diego band *Lanterns* is actually playing a show in San Jose on Thursday, July 9 @ someplace called Smile Factory. It's their second stop on a pretty long cross-country tour, so South Bayheads should take advantage.

Half full or half empty? Outside Lands single-day lineups out

Wiggah please. All Points West gets My Bloody Valentine and Tool, and the left coast gets Jason Mraz and Tom Jones? All bitching aside, San Francisco's very own summer music festivus gigantus, the three-day Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival happening Aug. 28-30 in Golden Gate Park, has a pretty solid lineup if you take only Saturday and Sunday into consideration. Earlier today the promoters unveiled which bands play each day --so lemme break down how this will play out. Friday is all about Pearl Jam --expect the park to be teeming with tens of thousands of Pearl Jam fanboys who very well may amass the largest gathering of facial hair this side of the Mississippi. Oh yeah, and there's also bands that nobody cares about like Incubus, Thievery Corporation and Tom Jones. And don't forget the Silversun Pickups, a.k.a. this year's Jack Johnson a.k.a. the group that seems to ubiquitously stink up every festival lineup in the universe. I skipped 'em at Sasquatch and I'll skip 'em at Outside Lands, thank you. Let us appreciate, though, some of the amazing smaller bands like Autolux and the Dodos who truly add value to an otherwise stale lineup. And if I do go Friday, I'll have to give a shoutout to that band featuring that dude who used to sell me weed back in high school. Holla! Saturday kinda isn't fair to the other days because, starting at noon, there's a few more slots on the schedule for an expanded lineup. Dave Matthews Band, Black Eyed Peas and Jason Mraz headlining aside, I'll have me a helping of Mars Volta, Deerhunter, TV on the Radio, Os Mutantes, Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, Bat For Lashes, Mastodon and Street Sweeper Social Club. This day will surely sell out of single-day tickets. Sunday is "the past meets the future" day where you've got the Beastie Boys, Ween, and Modest Mouse as headliners -- all a bit beyond their heydays, but still kicking, and definitely the best batch of headliners of the fest -- mixed in with fresher acts like M.I.A., The Dead Weather and Atmosphere. So will I attend, and if so which days? As it's looking now, I'm going to try to win tickets because I have a few months to get lucky. As the festival gets nearer, I may decide to buy a single-day ticket for Saturday, but only if I can get one for face value and without any goddamn "convenience" fees. My third and final option will be to sneak into the festival -- I've got my fence-climbing shoes ready. But I highly doubt I'll fork over the cash for a three-day pass -- unless a heap of Radiohead, a dose of Mogwai or a touch of Entrance Band are added into the mix.

Picking through the lineup of the Sasquatch Festival

When it comes to attending a music festival with multiple stages and numerous bands playing at the same time, difficult choices must be made. Bon Iver or Yeah Yeah Yeahs? Zach Galifianakis or TV on the Radio? Erykah Badu or Girl Talk, or, a little bit of both? Well at the Sasquatch Festival up in Washington state, I narrowed my three-day weekend down to 32 acts, and out of the following, a few each day particularly stood out.

Saturday, May 23

• Champagne Champagne
• Gaslight Anthem
• Doves
• Maria Bamford: Not only was the Comedy Tent the coolest (read: shadiest) stage on the festival grounds, but for a non-comedy-following person such as myself, I actually witnessed a few comedians who I would seek out as a paying customer, the first being Maria Bamford. Ms. Bamford’s forte is voices, and with these voices, which ranged from her high-pitched, high-strung “normal” voice to the ones she employed impersonating her snarky New York agent or a smooth, black 4-1-1 operator, she slayed. This woman can joke.
• King Khan and the Shrines: These guys were a total spectacle. I don’t think I’d buy this band’s records, though their swinging ‘60s soul and garage rock sound is capable enough, but live, King Khan shouldn’t be missed. King Khan, who I presume is the potbellied frontman dressed like an Indian chief from the head up and a scantily-clad gay glam rocker (bare chest, gold cape, blue lamé booty shorts) from the neck down, leads an engaging brigade of musicians that includes a pom-pom-throwing cheerleader backup dancer. However I could’ve done without the dude onstage who dropped trow and tucked his dick in between his legs during that one song – that was just gross.
• Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band
• Animal Collective
• Mos Def
• Bon Iver
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Kings of Leon: OK. Despite the somewhat annoying K.O.L. fanboys infesting the Sasquatch festival grounds in matching neon green T-shirts and their insistence upon high-fiving every man, woman and child who crossed their paths – and the fact that Kings of Leon’s sound used to be really cool and gritty, especially on their first two albums, until their recent foray into radio-friendly arena rock – I have to say the Kings whipped out an impressive catalog of songs at the Gorge. I don’t know why they opted to slow down their early, more rocking tracks like “Molly’s Chambers,” but overall the Kings brought it and one would be hard-pressed to ignore this band's overall talent.

Sunday, May 24

• Mike Watt & The Missingmen
• Street Sweeper Social Club: It could be easy to dismiss Street Sweeper Social Club as Rage Against The Machine 2.0 since they pretty much resurrect Zach de La Rocha & Co.'s sound exactly, and the fact that Tom Morello is up onstage playing guitar just like Tom Morello. But the bottom line is: These guys rock, and they brought a much-needed dose of loud guitars and riot-, or rather, protest-inciting lyrics to Sasquatch. It also didn’t hurt that they endeared themselves to the audience fairly quickly with a cover of MIA’s “Paper Planes.” I would deem them one of my favorite discoveries of the festival. And thanks to numerous forewarnings throughout their set, I am quite familiar with the precidse date their album comes out.
• The Walkmen
• Calexico
• St. Vincent
• Aziz Ansari
• Zach Galifianakis: Who the hell decides to attend a music festival in a different state because of a comedian? Though Sasquatch’s musical lineup certainly seemed enough, it was the elusive comedic talent of one Zach Galifianakis being present that proved to be the tipping point for me to whip out my credit card and give yet more of my $ to Ticketbastard, Alaska Airlines and Hotwire. I wasn’t even sure he would show up cuz dude is notorious for canceling shows. But he came! And he was hella funny! Zach worked off all the classic bits I know him for, playing a little piano, doing impressions (e.g. the New Yorker obsessed with cargo shorts “Hey, what are those, cahhhgo shorts?”), his whiteboard with slogans at the end, and he even brought special guests onstage including St. Vincent. I like my comedians weird, and with that said, Zach is the king of weirdos.
• TV on the Radio
• Nine Inch Nails: My most anticipated band of the festival not surprisingly put on my favorite performance at Sasquatch. NIN drew from a totally classic setlist of songs that spanned their entire discography. I'm talking "Terrible Lie," "Wish," "March of the Pigs, and even more obscure tracks like “Gave Up” and “Burn.” Trent Reznor and band completed the festival for me, making all the other acts I had yet to see icing on the cake. And damn if that wasn't the best rendition of “Hurt” I've ever heard.
• Jane’s Addiction

Monday, May 25

• Heartless Bastards
• Deerhoof
• Grizzly Bear
• Santigold: Don't believe the hype, Public Enemy told us, but in Santigold's case it may be wise to disregard old rap star truisms. Over the past year or so I have been forcefed by just about every magazine and "in-the-know" radio DJ how amazing the Brooklyn singer Santigold was, only to find out, she is. She's kind of like a cross between MIA and Gwen Stefani, tearing through different genres, from hip hop to ‘80s to punk and reggae. Santigold proved to be one of the most engaging acts of the weekend from the moment she hit the stage, riling up the audience to dance and truly, speaking to the audience, even if some of it was sagely singer advice about forgoing Burger King pre-performance.
• Gogol Bordello
• Fleet Foxes
• The Knux
• Girl Talk
• Erykah Badu: Unfuckitwable. Though I missed much of Erykah Badu's set because of those aforementioned scheduling conflicts, the four songs or so of hers that I did see were enough to make me regret spending so much time at the Wookie stage. Backed by a solid band and sporting a Public Enemy sweatshirt and leather pants, Ms. Badu didn't need dramatic vocal theatrics or choreography to pull of a wicked show. She just had to be herself, bringing her honey voice, anti-bullshit lyrics and general untouchable demeanor. I swear she's gotta be the coolest human being on the planet, and really, the one artist I plan to listen to a whole lot more after the festival.
• Explosions in the Sky: There were high expectations, here, with Explosions in the Sky being the closing band of the festival for all those with taste (sorry Ben Harper). Besides being total rock guitar-shredding badasses, Explosions in the Sky also remind me of film scores in a way. You know how when you're watching a dramatic movie and, though the scene or dialog may be affecting enough, it's when the music kicks in that the tears start welling up and, goddamnit, you're crying. That's what Explosions does for me. They make me want to burst and drip, they're so good.
• Chromeo

Get smitten: Moggs

I fucking love when this happens. I'm innocently browsing The List for some show of worth to take place the coming weekend, skipping over the same old same old all-punk/all-metal bills that dominate many a San Francisco dive bar lineup, scanning through the Celine Dions and the Coldplays stinking up the HP Pavilions out yonder until I can pare The List down to the nitty gritty: bands that I kinda sorta am familiar with yet am still hesitant about investing more time/money in, and bands that I know absolutely nothing about. This is how I found Moggs. How the hell I hadn't heard of the Petaluma duo before now is an anomaly seeing as how they've toured the Bay Area religiously since 2001. I spotted their scheduled appearance March 15 at the Hemlock Tavern and wandered over to their MySpace page, where I was blown away upon first listen of "Smoke, Mirrors," a brooding rock groove that conjures the off-kilter guitar riffs and percussive blitzkrieg of Slint along with the unemotive (a good thing) vocals and fuzzy shoegaze wash of Autolux. Clean and pure dirty art rock at its finest. I think some covert music society may have been keeping guitarist/vocalist Justin M. and drummer/vocalist Cara LP a secret to keep this totally sparkling local band all to themselves. It's good to explore the unknown ...

Disco - Moggs

Best show of February: Deerhunter @ Mezzanine, Feb. 24, 09

They were just getting warmed up.

Deerhunter's playing a free show in SF!

I missed Deerhunter when they played the Great American Music Hall in November for a very good reason (Wintersleep made an extremely rare excursion to S.F. from the faraway land of Canada). But the gods of rock 'n' roll must be on my side, because here the Atlanta-based band is coming back, three months later to play another show ... for free. The bitch part is that I'll have to wait in a thick queue of rabid indie-rock-lovin, tight-pants-wearers, with no guarantee of even getting in. But I'll try. Tuesday, Feb. 24 @ Mezzanine, Noise Pop '09 kickoff-party. RSVP here to put yer name on the list, if that'll even help.

Tennessee, here I come: Bonnaroo's lineup is the shit

Holy guacamole, Batman. The Bonnaroo 2009 lineup was leaked tonight ... an it's not for the faint of heart. June 11-14 in Manchester, Tenn., check it: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Phish Beastie Boys Nine Inch Nails David Byrne Wilco Al Green Snoop Dogg Elvis Costello Solo Erykah Badu Paul Oakenfold Ben Harper and Relentless7 The Mars Volta TV on the Radio Yeah Yeah Yeahs Gov’t Mule Andrew Bird Merle Haggard MGMT moe. The Decemberists Girl Talk Bon Iver Béla Fleck & Toumani Diabate Rodrigo y Gabriela Galactic The Del McCoury Band Of Montreal Allen Toussaint Coheed and Cambria Booker T & the DBTs David Grisman Quintet Lucinda Williams Animal Collective Gomez Neko Case Down Jenny Lewis Santogold Band of Horses Robert Earl Keen Citizen Cope Femi Kuti and the Positive Force The Ting Tings Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 Grace Potter and the Nocturnals Kaki King Grizzly Bear King Sunny Adé Okkervil River St. Vincent Zac Brown Band Raphael Saadiq Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Crystal Castles Tift Merritt Brett Dennen Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue Toubab Krewe People Under the Stairs Alejandro Escovedo Vieux Farka Touré Elvis Perkins In Dearland Cherryholmes Yeasayer Todd Snider Chairlift Portugal. The Man. The SteelDrivers Midnite The Knux The Low Anthem Delta Spirit A.A. Bondy The Lovell Sisters Alberta Cross

The Coachella 2009 lineup is a tragic disappointment

Behold, below, the 2009 Coachella lineup. I've bolded the bands I actually would want to see.

FRIDAY, APRIL 17: Paul McCartney, Morrissey, Franz Ferdinand, Leonard Cohen, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Beirut, The Black Keys, Girl Talk, Silversun Pickups, The Ting Tings, The Crystal Method, Ghostland Observatory, Crystal Castles, The Airborne Toxic Event, We Are Scientists, N.A.S.A., Patton & Rahzel, M. Ward, The Presets, The Hold Steady, A Place to Bury Strangers, Felix da Housecat, Buraka Som Sistema, Ryan Bingham, Bajofondo, Peanut Butter Wolf, Noah & the Whale, White Lies, The Bug, Alberta Cross, Los Campesinos!, Craze & Klever, Molotov, Switch, Gui Boratto, Steve Aoki, The Aggrolites, People Under the Stairs, The Courteeners, Cage the Elephant, Dear and the Headlights.

SATURDAY, APRIL 18: The Killers, Amy Winehouse, Thievery Corporation, TV on the Radio, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes, MSTRKRFT, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Atmosphere, Mastodon, TRAV$DJ-AM, Henry Rollins, Crookers, Turbonegro, Hercules and Love Affair, Superchunk, Glasvegas, Dr. Dog, Drive-By Truckers, Booker T & the DBT’s, Amanda Palmer, The Bloody Beetroots, Surkin, Para One (Live), Calexico, Liars, Bob Mould Band, Zane Lowe, Electric Touch, Blitzen Trapper, James Morrison, Drop the Lime, Glass Candy, Thenewno2, Gang Gang Dance, Billy Talent, Ida Maria, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Zizek, Cloud Cult, Tinariwen.

SUNDAY, APRIL 19: The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Throbbing Gristle, Lupe Fiasco, Paul Weller, Peter Bjorn and John, X, Antony & the Johnsons, Roni Size, Public Enemy, Jenny Lewis, Groove Armada, Paolo Nutini, Christopher Lawrence, Lykke Li, The Kills, Okkervil River, M.A.N.D.Y., Clipse, Sebastien Tellier, Fucked Up, Perry Farrell, The Horrors, Late of the Pier, K’naan, Junior Boys, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Supermayer, No Age, Vivian Girls, Shepard Fairey, Themselves, Gaslight Anthem, The Knux, Mexican Institute of Sound, The Night Marchers, Marshall Barnes.

Looks like I'll be saving $300+ on April 17-19.

Modest Mouse coming to Fox Theatre

Check it out, y’all. As I await those bastardly Coachella people to satiate my all-encompassing need to know the festival’s lineup, I stumbled upon some other good news in my inbox today. It appears Modest Mouse will play a special show at the Fox Theatre in Oakland on Feb. 22 – an intimate venue for a huge band that recruited none other than the Smiths’ Johnny Marr to join its ranks. Presale tomorrow, Thursday, Jan. 29 at 10am (Hint: the password is fox). Be there or be circle.

Rant: Where for art thou Coachella lineup announcement?

I awoke today giddy like a tot on Christmas morn, as today was the day the Coachella lineup was to be revealed! So I checked the Internet before I left for work around 8 a.m. Nothing up yet. Once (chained) within the confines of my "cubicle," I started seeking the info at various sites supposedly in the know around 10 a.m., the time when good things usually seem to happen (you know, ticket onsales, traffic-free highways, etc.). No go. All day I searched, and I and sought, and I hunted, only to find nothing but dissatisfaction and frustration, eventually learning that the announcement was postponed until tomorrow. I guess that makes this very moment that I'm writing this Christmas Eve. A last-minute delay certainly doesn't bode well for the lineup. But if it takes an extra day (or seven, or 21) for the promoters, Goldenvoice, to sort out a kickass batch of headliners, so be it. But only as long as that Paul McCartney: headliner, remains a rumor, thank you. To tide myself over, I checked out the Coachella message board which is teeming with all kinds of fun folks. Best message board thread ever: click here.

Belated appreciation: Animal Collective

So now I'm all caught up in this whirlwind of Animal Collective, the indie band du jour who on Jan. 6 released Merriweather Post Pavilion, their ninth album. Ninth album, yeah. Where the hell have I been? I'm excited to stumble upon a band with such a prolific back catalog to explore. While I'm still absorbing and evaluating Merriweather, which is so far an elevating mix of experimental electronics that would appropriately designate band members Geologist, Avey Tare and Panda Bear as "weirdos," blended with pop harmonies that totally remind me of the Beach Boys, I'm positively, unequivocally stuck on "My Girls," the first single. It's straight up candy. Peep the video: Animal Collective will play the Fox Theater in Oakland on May 26 and the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur on May 27.

Don't tell grandpa: Radiohead to perform on Grammys

Mark your calendars, kids, cuz Radiohead will play the Grammy Awards ceremony this year, making for an astonishing addition of talent to an otherwise bland lineup of live performances from the likes of Coldplay, Carrie Underwood, the Jonas Brothers, Kenny Chesney and Katy Perry (and the very unbland Lil Wayne and Jennifer Hudson, too). The Grammys, live from lalaland, will air Sunday, Feb. 8, sometime in the early evening on channel whatever. Along with potentially scoring in the Best Album and Best Alternative Album categories for In Rainbows, Radiohead's Best Rock Song nominee "House of Cards" is up against Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie and Kings of Leon (who, with "Sex on Fire," have the most rocking song in the category in my semi-humble opinion, though you won't see me revolt if HOC takes the prize):

An eye on early '09 releases

Pitchfork did the legwork and compiled winter 2009 release dates for albums of note. Here's where my money's going: Jan. 6 Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion [Domino] [vinyl release] Jan. 20 John Frusciante: The Empyrean [Adrenaline Music] Thom Yorke: The Eraser Rmxs [XL] [Japanese release] Feb. 10 Dan Auerbach: Keep It Hid [Nonesuch] Feb. 17 Beirut/Realpeople: March of the Zapotec/Holland [Pompeii/ Ba Da Bing] [U.S. release] Morrissey: Years of Refusal [Attack/Lost Highway] [U.S. release] Telepathe: Dance Mother [IAMSOUND] March Grizzly Bear: TBA [Warp] April 21 Tortoise : TBA [Thrill Jockey] And whenever it comes out Yeah Yeah Yeahs: TBA [Interscope]