tony

It must suck to be known solely as "that guy who did the Bowie covers in Portugese in that Bill Murray movie."

However it must really suck not to be known at all, and seriously how many current Brazilian singer/songwriters are in your iTunes playlist?

Seu Jorge came from the favela (Portugese for "slum" or "ghetto") of Rio where he lived on the streets and hustled and learned guitar and made his way out of that poverty through acting and music where others fell into crime and drugs.

Never forgetting his roots, on his 2005 critically acclaimed cd "Cru" he declares "Eu Sou Favela" which translates not to "I'm From the Slum" but more passionately, "I AM the Slum." Cru, by the way, translates to "raw" and Seu Jorge is the epitome of that with stark instrumentation, razorsharp lyrics, and subject matter that ranges from the serious to the sublime. How many records do you know where the dude is singing about the evils of breast enlargement trendiness in a way that also reaches the critics.

"A rebirth of cool" - Pop Matters, "Cru stands as a statement by a  serious new talent," - BBC who nominated him for a 2006 World Music award, "a gorgeous reclamation project and prime girlfriend-mixtape material" - Pitchfork writing about the Elvis Presley cover "Don't".

Jorge has brought it in English, Italian, and Porteguese over 4 full length cds "Cru" "Carolina" "Ana & Jorge" and the Life Aquatic record. He brings the funk, the soul, the sexiness, and the silk.

He isn't known to tour in the USA very much so anyone lucky enough to catch his set at Coachella better jump at that opportunity and if you do prepare to hear that Elvis cover along with some of those Bowie hits that made him hot here in the states.

They only have one album and it's not even released in the United States. They're called Art Brut but nobody in the band is named Art. The singer's name is Eddie.

They don't care if they're considered a joke band, they don't care if people call them ironic, they don't care if people don't get them or understand the genius of starting off the show with a sloppy cover of Metalica's "Enter Sandman." Art Brut is determind to have fun and if it's a joke they're going to be laughing all the way to the bank.

The British indie band was formed in 2003 and immediately wrote a tune called "Formed A Band" which was discovered by a journalist who had heard a collection of Art Brut demos called "Brutleg" and sent an MP3 to Rough Trade records who quickly offered the group a deal and then released "Formed A Band" as a single in 2004. It peaked at #52 on the UK charts.

Then they were signed by Fierce Panda who released a double A-side single at the endo of 2004 that made it to #49 on the UK charts, which was quickly followed up by the full length cd Bang Bang Rock & Roll - which is available in the US as an import only.

Sounding a bit like a saner King Missle and looking like a thinner and clothed Har Mar Superstar, Art Brut takes the stage like a younger Roxy Music but instead of romance, fun is the drug they're thinking of, which is best exemplified on their highest charting single "Emily Kane."

"People think songs like 'Emily Kane' are hysterical, but in Germany, they kind of understood them, like 'Oh wow, you still love that girl. You're a bit funny, aren't you?'", singer Eddie Argos told the Onion. "I'm not joking with 'Emily Kane' and 'Rusted Guns' [a song about his alleged impotence]. I'm singing about things that are true, really, and you have to look at them with humor, or you're gonna go mad."

Even though Argos is the star of the show, having previously fronted The Art Goblins which included Art Brut guitarist Jasper Future, the band behind him are masterful and the secret weapon.

Stereogum described them beautifully this week while reviewing the show they delivered on Tuesday in New York,  "Eddie's backers are lethal assassins, to a tee. Drummer Mikey B leads the onslaught, with fills born of double stroke rolls and muscular tom patterns. His perfect posture behind the kit belies the reckless abandon of his playing: smashing crash-cymbals in chorus, intricate closed-hat snare patterns in verse. The outfit's guitarists - Ian Catskilkin and Jasper Future - are a perfect art wave tandem: weaving power chords and angular guitar lines, wearing impossibly tight tops, stumbling in feigned intoxication. Unless it was true intoxication."

Check out the hype and the magic and the fun:

Art Brut on Tour

April 7 - Philidelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
April 8 - Haverford, PA - Haverford College
April 9 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
April 10 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
April 11 - Brooklyn, NY - TBA
April 13 - London, UK - Insomniac's Ball
April 30 - Indio, CA @ Coachella Festival
May 3 - Tucson, AZ @ Plush tbc
May 4 - Salt Lake City, UT @ tbc
May 5 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge/ Hi Drive tbc
May 6 - Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck tbc
May 8 - Austin, TX @ Emo's/ The Parish tbc
May 9 - Houston, TX @ Walters/ Prolatariat tbc
May 10 - New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks tbc
May 11 - Atlanta, GA @The Earl/ Drunken Unicorn tbc
May 12 - Orlando, FL @ The Social tbc
May 13 - Athens, GA @ 40 Watt tbc
May 14 - Carrboro, NC @ Cats Cradle tbc
May 15 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar tbc
May 17 - New York City, NY @ tbc

It's raining here in Los Angeles. An LA winter rain during the first weeks of spring. It's dark in the daytime its dark in the nighttime. Cars crash into each other when its nice outside but when its rainy its nearly manditory.

If there was a soundtrack to freeway collisions in the rain it would be that of Mogwai, equal parts moody and cinematic and instrumental and climatic, but in an indie rock way somehow. Imagine if Sonic Youth in the middle of one of their spaced out jams got super sleepy and sad and confused and introspective and wanted to try out a piano player.

And then imagine if it didnt make you sad.

Last night it was cold and my fireplace was running out of wood and it was really late and Mogwai was doing me right. I wanted to learn everything I could about them. But then I got hungry.

Mogwai is a Scottish quintet that has released 9 albums and 14 EPs since 1995. Their first single came out this year and reached #38 on the UK charts, nearly impossible considering there is very little thats pop or mainstream about this truly independent outfit that mixes driving guitars with piano and at times thunderous drums together seamlessly, usually with no lyrics.

At Coachella the best way to listen to this band might be while waiting for a beer, or while trying to find a friend in an art sculpture garden. You might want to roll in the grass as they jam. You might want to pee. Or if youre smart you might want to lay on your back with a big hat over your face while holding hands with your date and close your eyes and let this music from another place take you to a different world. A world where when there are words mixed with the music theyre short and whispered and matter-of-fact, rarely sung, rarely important, never dominant. If anything a reminder that the microphone is on, but thats it.

It's really about the piano. It's really about the dual guitar attack of chords rarely notes. It's really about the melody not the solo. There arent any solos. This band is really about the band. This music is really about the music. And that's why they're at Coachella and that's why nobody in America knows them

unless its something that they hear coming out of  a smashed import on a rainy day in the middle of the freeway.


video of "Haunted by a Freak" from "Happy Songs for Happy People"

There are two buzzworthy critically acclaimed bands playing Coachella starting with "Wolf" in their names that you should know about and know how to recognize.

Luckilly for you they're quite different.

• They've both released two EPs in the last two years
• Neither group are from The USA
• Both bands use keyboards as a somewhat major part of their sound
• Indie-rock is championing both of them
• Pitchfork has gone ga-ga for each of them
• Each group impressed sold-out audiences at this year's SXSW.
  

Whoops, thats what makes them similar, other than their names. So lets break down their differences.

• Wolf Parade is a five-piece from Montreal, Wolfmother is a trio from Australia
• Wolf Parade recorded their upcoming full-length cd in Portland Oregon, Wolfmother recorded their upcoming full-length cd in Hollywood California.
• Wolf Parade is much like the other huge indie band of their hometown of Montreal, Arcade Fire: experimental, nerdy, and far less interested in guitars than any other instrument.
• Wolfmother is much like the biggest band to come out of their homeland of Australia, AC/DC: heavy, guitar orientated, riff-rooted, and steeped in the love of 70s classic-rock.
• Wolfmother will rock your ass, Wolf Parade will rock your mind.
• Wolf Parade's two EP covers look like posters from a modern art museum
• the covers of Wolfmother's two EPs, one import CD, and one single look like murals on the side of trippy liquor stores in 1976 Detroit rock city
• Wolf Parade sounds like a combo of Talking Heads and a crystal-meth induced Modest Mouse
• Wolfmother sounds like one freshman playing Boston from his dormroom competing with his neighbor blasting Yes, both of whom are being whomped on by the rich kid across the hall playing two Black Sabbath records at the same time.
  
• Wolf Parade plays on Saturday at Coachella, Wolfmother plays on Sunday at Coachella
  

When people first talked about the illicit drug Ecstasy the women would describe it as a touchie-feelie "love drug" and the men would  raise their eyebrows and promise that if i did it with a "special lady" id be getting action all night long! Whoo-Hoo!

Turned out the drug taught me a whole lot about sex And love, namely that sex involved a certain degree of agression and what could almost be described as violence. Whereas love was a far more gentle, caring, and peaceful state of mind.

And Ecstasy, like the women had explained was something that took the voilence out of everything, meaning that even if you had the hottest sexiest young lady on campus in your bedroom youd be just as content to hold her hand and feel her hair - or the carpet - as you would to giggle while chewing bubble gum and watching it explode on your face.

You'd wake up in the morning with her, nude, smiling, with a regained innocence and later realize that you never once had coitus with her, nor did you care.

The Mates of State are not only like E but theyre also the music you'd want to play and the gum you'd rather be chewing. This duo can sing about anything under the sun but what comes out of your speakers are rainbows and lollipops.

Don't believe me, listen to their new single "Fraud in the 80's" about bands that steal from bygone eras and tell me it doesnt make you wanna tap your feet and shake your hands around like you just dont care.

A married couple, on organs and drums, Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel chrun out the positivity a lot like the Polyphonic Spree minus the creepiness of that Jim Jones meets the Hari Krishna kool-aid gulping giddiness. Almost like a sweeter version of the Flaming Lips without guitars.

"Bring It Back" is the Connecticut couple's fourth full-length album whose catalogue includes several singles and two EPs. This offerring however is from Barsuk Records, the Seattle label that helped launch Death Cab For Cutie and is home to They Might Be Giants, John Vanderslice, Nada Surf, and the first Rilo Kiley album.

Perfect daytime music Mates of State is known for their joyous live shows that are impossible not to dance to, but after they perform dont be surprised to see Gardner in the Sahara Tent grooving to the Material Girl.

"Madonna's playing!" Gardner recently told MTV. "I'm excited, and it's going to be rad to be around good music all day."

Mates of State on Tour in April

4/3 - Urbana, IL @ Canopy Club

4/4 - Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews

4/5 - Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater

4/6 - Chicago, IL @ Metro

4/7 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick

4/8 - Notre Dame, IN @ Legends of Notre Dame

4/9 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom

4/12 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom

4/20 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos

4/21 - Vancouver, BC @ Plaza Club

4/28 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall

4/30 - Indio, CA @ Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival!!!

INTERVIEW w/ Brian Chase & Karen O by Eyeball Skelton.

EYEBALL SKELETON is:
Charlie Brown: bass, vocals, age 9
JJ Brown: vocals, guitar, age 10
Dad: guitar, beats, age unknown

Karen O (K): Hey JJ, Hey Charlie
Eyeball Skeleton (EBS): Hey
EBS: Um, first of all is…do you know any doctors?
K: (Laughing) That's the one I was most interested in. Um, yeah, um I think
my cousin's a doctor. She's like…she just became a doctor and um her
parents are both doctors, and then, like, my best friend, her mom and her
dad are doctors too and uh
EBS: Yeah, cuz we…I break a lot of bones. Like, I have a cast on right
now…because from like from skateboarding and all that and snowboarding.
Brian Chase (B): Wow
K: Wow, how many…how many bones have you broken?
EBS: Let's see (counting to himself)…like seven or six
K: Oh my God! Wow, wow so, um…I've never broken a bone before, but, uh, I
broke my jaw once…so I guess that's a bone.
B: Whoa
EBS: Ow..That's painful.
K: Yeah
B: Did you have to wear the metal brace…the, uh, contraption. Did they wire
your jaw shut?
K: No but I had to drink um strawberry milkshakes for like about two weeks
and that was all I ate for about two weeks was strawberry milkshakes. Yeah,
so, um that's all the doctors I know. Do you know any doctors Brian?
B: Um, my Dad's a dentist.
K: (Laughs)
B: So, I don't know JJ, do you think a dentist counts as a doctor?
EBS: What?
B: Do you think a dentist counts as a doctor?
EBS: Yeah
B: Yeah, I think so too.
K: Yeah, I think so. I agree with all of you on that one.
B: Yeah
K: So what's your next question?
EBS: How high can you count?
B: Oh man! How high? Let's see, that's a tough one because it just kind of
keeps going doesn't it? So, um, I guess if you can count really high you can
say you can count to infinity:
EBS: Yeah
K: But I don't know what comes after, I think I can count only, I don't know
what comes after a trillion. I know there's like Millions, billions,
trillions, but I'm not exactly sure what happens after trillions.
EBS: I think it's like a google or something.
B: It's a google
EBS: I learned about google last year.
K: Oh really?
EBS: Yeah
K: Wow. Well that's new to me. Um, yeah, I think that uhh thats where my
counting skills stop. At a Google.
EBS: Thanks, what's your favorite season?
K: I think this is my favorite season. Fall, because, like, because I think
it's the best holidays which is, for me, I like Halloween a lot, and I also
like…even though I'm really bad at picking costumes, um, I still like
Halloween a lot because of all the candy and stuff but I also like
Thanksgiving a lot because you know…I'm a really big fan of stuffing…turkey
stuffing, so…
EBS: Yeah, I love turkey. And its not too hot and its not too cold either.
K: As long as you're not wearing sandals and shorts, you're all right.
(Laughs) And, uh, it's a good season to be breaking bones in, I think,
right? The Fall? No actually, I think the winter is the best season to
break bones in because there's all that ice around and stuff so if you go
skateboarding, you know?
EBS: Um yeah.
K: (Laughs) or snowboarding, that's probably the season that you break the
most bones in I'd say.
EBS: Okay. Are you planning to go on Cribs?
(Laughter)
K: Yeah, I watch that show all the time and, um, I'm thinking that right now
wouldn't be a good time to go on Cribs because, uh, I live in a two bedroom
apartment. But, um, I was thinking that I'm going to on one of those shows
one day when I live in, like, a big building on the beach that all my
friends live in too, you know?
EBS: Uh huh
K: That's the day that Karen O will be on Cribs. So…
EBS: Yeah
K: (Laughs) and there will be…I don't know what else would be in it, but I
know that there would be an indoor planetarium in there, you know…
B: Oh wow!
K: …where I could sleep under the stars every night, but I could be really
indoors and still sleep under the stars every night.
EBS: That sounds cool.
K: Yeah, yeah, that's kind of my, that's kind of my dream. So, uh, Cribs
will have to wait until I have an indoor planetarium and the apartment
building on the sea with all my friends living in it.
EBS: What time do you go to bed?
(Laughter)
K: Brian, what time do you go to bed usually?
B: Um…
K: I know that we're different
B …I usually go to bed, usually around like two in the morning. But when I
was, like, eleven, I always went to bed when I was told. (Karen laughs) So I
guess that's my story.
EBS:Um we go to bed at like 9:30 because we have to wake up at like six to
go to school.
EBS: Yeah, we catch the bus at 6:30
B: Wow, you get the bus…that's so early, you get the bus at 6:30 huh?
K: Is it still dark out at 6:30 or is it…has the sun come up yet?
EBS:It's still dark.
K: Wow
EBS:Yeah
K: When I'm in New York, I like to go to bed around five in the morning, so
I think its just about like , you know, an hour or two away from the sun
coming up.
EBS: Uh huh
K: But when I'm in Los Angeles I go to bed around 9:30pm , you know?
EBS: cool
K: Same time as you guys.
EBS: So, do we go to the next set of questions?
K: Yeah do it.
EBS:Okay, um…do you like Chinese food?
B: Yeah I like, I'm a big fan of Chinese food. You know how the Chinese do
it? They eat, like eyes and stuff like that.
EBS: They do?
B: They do, yeah, totally. Yeah, like fish eyes are supposed to be good
luck.
EBS: That sounds gross.
B: Yeah, would you ever eat a fish eye?
EBS: (Laughs) um do you have a jackhammer?
B: Do I have a jackhammer?
EBS:Yeah
B:Um Yes, I have a jackhammer. I have to use my jackhammer instead of a
knife, so like when I'm at the table and I need to cut my food I just take
out my jackhammer.
(Laughter)Or if I ever need to crack open an egg or anything, instead of
using my knife, I just use my jackhammer…Do you guys have a jackhammer?
EBS: Yeah I got one and it's in my room
B: Wow. Does you dad like it when you use the jackhammer?
K: um… So..is your…does your dad I'm sure your dad likes to make sure
um you know that he's around when you use the jackhammer, right?
EBS: Uhh, Yeah
K: you don't want to be breaking any bones with the jackhammer or anything
like that.
EBS: Yeah…Um hold on... OK the next question is "Can we be done yet"
(Laughter)
B: Um yeah well, Can we be done yet? What do you mean?
K: Yeah, I'm having a pretty good time I'm not so nervous any more
EBS: My dad just just, we had like 40 questions so I asked him if we could
be done yet, and he just wrote it down, and I asked him if we could erase it
but he wouldn't.
B: yeah that's a good one, usually, yeah That's a question we wish more
people would ask. Yeah cause like sometimes you know, you just kinda
wanna, you get bored and you want to do something else. You know. And
uh, you know.
EBS: What's your favorite TV show?
B: Um, I dunno Karen, what's your favorite TV show?
K: My favorite TV show? Yikes. Um, I really like that show, um, its on HBO
its called Curb Your Enthusiasm. Um, I think I dunno if you guys know it,
its for um, older, more sort of grumpier adults like to watch the show so I
dunno if you guys would be interested in it but I think right now its like
my favorite TV show that's on television.
EBS: We like the Simpsons
K: Ooh Yeah
B: Oh yeah
K: Alright I take that back, that might be my favorite tv show too.
B: you can't top the Simpsons, that's probably be the best TV show ever
made.
K: whose your favorite Simpson's character?
EBS: Hmm… Millhouse and Bart and I like Homer, he's funny.
K: Yeah Homer's really good.
EBS. We have one more left. We already did that one. "How high can you
count" was on there twice"
B: Oh yeah?
K: alright well…
B: I can only count to twenty cause you know I have 10 fingers and 10 toes.
K: So like uhhhh…do you guys know how old we are?
EBS. Uh-uh.
K: So how about you guys guess how old I am and then you guess how old
Brian is? I'm just curious if you know…
EBS: hmmm….
K: No cheating, you know? just you know go with whatever comes to your
head about how old we are.
EBS: 32?
K: (Laughs) oh ok, is that how old you think I am? How old do you think
Brian is? Like about the same?
EBS: yeah um… 80?
B: 80!?
EBS: I'm just kidding
B: I sound like an old man?
K: well I don't feel so bad now about being 32 Brian.
EBS: 33?
K: well that's not too far off. Yeah well, I'm 26 and Brian is 27. So you
don't get the jar of eyeballs that Brian was talking about.
EBS: We can't really see you that good cause we're looking at the CD
B: Ohh Wow, ok, what CD?
EBS: Um, Fever To Tell?
K: Wow, we were yeah, I think we should do something about that if we're
looking like 80 years old or 32 years old on the cover.
EBS: It's just blurry, I can't really see it.
B: Yeah a friend of ours did the drawings and maybe he wanted to make us
look a little older.
EBS: Yeah the snakes are cool.
B: yeah
EBS: How they're like poppin' out.
K: yeah they are cool. I like those snakes.
B: do you guys have a favorite animal?
Charlie: hmmm I like dogs and penguins
EBS: I like um, ducks and snakes
B: Yeah, ducks and snakes
K: Nice, those are good animals. And um, do you guys like uh, we just
wanted to let you know how much we like your band as well. Eyeball
Skeleton.
EBS: Yeah we were just listening to that Power Puff Girls song.
EBS: yeah that song's cool.
K: Good good good. Yeah well I'm really glad we got to talk to you guys.
You guys are the the coolest…what do you think Brian? Do you think they
might be the best interview we ever had.
B: Yeah I think so yeah. Yeah definately.
K: And we're really, we're dead serious when we say that. We're completely
serious.
EBS. Cool Thanks.
B: Yeah, yeah. Cool, Its been a pleasure, its been great getting to talk to
you guys. Thanks for all your hard work for you know asking us these
questions.
K: yeah thanks for coming up with 40 questions. Sorry we only answered 10 of
them. But we have a question for you and that's like "can we be done yet?"
EBS: OK
K: Ok cool. Alright Thanks boys!
B: thanks Have a good night
K Yeah have a good night…say hello to your dad for us.
B: Yeah totally Yeah definately
EBS: Ok
K: Have a good one.
EBS: Ok.

INTERVIEW w/ Nick Zinner by Eyeball Skelton.

Eyeball Skeleton: Are you a pryro?
Nick: Um…I like fire a lot but, um no, I'm not a pyro. Are you?
EBS: I am…
N: Really?
EBS:…but I don't like to burn houses
N: Burn what?
EBS: I don't like to burn houses or anything
N: Probably a bad idea…but small things like paper, I guess, are kinda fun.
EBS: ok. Whats your favorite hobby besides playing music?
N: Well I like to take pictures, and um, I like to travel also.
EBS: What?
N: Oh I like to take...take photos. And um, travel. And um, I guess that's
about it.
EBS: Excellent, I love taking pictures.
N: You do?
EBS: Mmmhmm.
N: Cool. Do you have a camera?
EBS: Umm, yeah, my dad has one, but I use it a lot.
N: That's good. What do you like to take pictures of?
EBS: Umm, like, when kids I know do skateboarding tricks…
N: Rad
EBS: and when we go hiking.
N: hmm, that sounds good.
EBS: Do you have any pets, like tarantulas?
N: uh no I don't, well, I have a bat skeleton, but I don't think that really
counts cause its dead….I want to get a cat though, I want to get a
sphynx which is a hairless cat, cause they look like little monsters.
EBS: It's hairless?!
N: They're weird, it's like a naked cat.
EBS: That sounds funny!...what time do you go to bed?
N: MMM..You know, I'm kind of nocturnal, usually I go to bed at like
maybe 4 or 5 in the morning.
EBS: Wow…that's late!
N: Yeah. Pretty late but sometimes if I'm having a night in, reading, or
studying, then maybe I'll go to bed at midnight, or one in the morning…but
usually pretty late…what time do you go to bed?
EBS: Um I really have to catch the bus at like 7..
N: Wow that's pretty early .
EBS: I know, so I have to go to bed at like 9, but on the weekends I get
to stay up.
N: Wow. I bet you miss a lot of your favorite TV shows. Or maybe
not. Um. Cool well, that sounds good. Oh, how's your band doing?
EBS: Doing good, we're about to record some songs…
N: Cool I can't wait to hear.
EBS: And we're going to play a concert in New York and Philadelphia…
N: …Oh Okay Cool, well it was nice talking to you guys…and…I hope to
talk to you soon.
EBS: Okay...

EYEBALL SKELETON is:
Charlie Brown: bass, vocals
JJ Brown: vocals, guitar
Dad: guitar, beats

PS. Thanks to Lizy for telling me about this!

What a difference a continent makes.

In the UK Hard-Fi are the chart-topping fancy boys whose life is a broken cash machine spitting out euros willy nilly.

Finicky NME named their 2005 debut "Stars of CCTV" Album of the Year calling it "tirelessly inventive, genre-splicing genius"; The Times of London called it "As close to a five-star record that I've heard all year," adding "there have been some
terrific debut albums by British bands this year, but this rough diamond by Staines' Hard-Fi is the best yet"; and Q magazine deemed the group "the next major British band."

"Stars of CCTV" entered the UK charts at #6 in July 2005, and hit #1 in January of 2006.

They earned two Brit Award nominations for Best British Band and Best British Rock Act.

But in the States, the record, which has only been out for two weeks peaked at #7 on the Modern Rock charts and is currently #15 on that chart, not even making the Billboard 100.

Infact the best thing that has happened to the likeable rock band with gritty tunes with a pepped up pop sensibility was the rumor that singer Richard Archer was Scarlett Johansson new beau. Turned out that Archer's luck with American bombshells was just as bad as his band's first two weeks on the US charts - something that quite possibly could happen in the future, but aint happenin right now.

Fortunately the video "Cash Machine" is getting played on MTV, Hard-Fi is touring the states, and they're playing on the best bill in America: Coachella.

And if things don't work out this spring for the group they still have each other - and England. Hard-Fi has already sold out London's Brixton Academy for five nights in a row. A feat that has only been matched by the likes of Bob Dylan, The Prodigy, Massive Attack, and The Clash. Only the Chemical Brothers have sold out the historic venue six nights in a row.

APRIL US & Canadian tour dates
1 Brooklyn, NY Warsaw
2 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
4 Montreal, QUE Le National
5 Toronto, ONT Phoenix Concert Theatre
6 Cleveland, OH Agora Ballroom
7 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
22 Vancouver, BC Plaza Club
24 Seattle, WA Chop Suey
25 Portland, OR Berbati's Pan
27 Sacramento, CA The Boardwalk
28 San Francisco, CA Slim's
29 Indio, CA Coachella Music & Arts Festival!!!

Easilly the most interesting story this year is that of Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah. A group of five young men with pop tunes, high ideals, and a strong indie DIY backbone.

Here's your scorecard: Alec Ounsworth, guitar and vocals, Sean Greenhalgh, drums and percussion, Tyler Sargent, bass and backing vocals, Lee Sargent, guitar and keyboard and backing vocals, Robbie Guertin, guitar and keyboard and backing vocals.

Except for Ounsworth, everyone is from Brooklyn, Alec is from Philly.

Long story short, they played small clubs once a week in NYC for a little while and then the word spread among MP3 blogs... yes blogs... that they were the shit.

Most Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah historians point to these very short reviews on the music blog Said The Gramophone as being the first to get the hype going

this song is 5 minutes and 43 seconds long. the more prepared you are, the better.

It starts off normal enough, but you don't realise what kind of voice is waiting to stretch its legs. Striding alongside, pretending to catch up but being perfectly capable of running circles around the music, the vocals and the melody play like two brothers.

What's so great about it is how normal it is. It sounds like so many bands, but just way better. - about "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth"

This has that restrained, rumbling power that gives me tingles when I'm walking down the street/trying to not be me. It stands behind you and puts its hand on your shoulder; you and the song can wait together for the awful things that are just up ahead. You can both watch trouble tie its laces. - regarding  "Details of the War"

Soon David Byrne and David Bowie were spotted poking their noses into clubs to check out the band, then came the labels, then came the agents. Strangely the boys turned their backs on all of them and first re-printed their selfmade cd, and then finally signed with the UK indy Witchita Recordings (Bloc Party, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bright Eyes) proving that they're one of the last of the real independents.

Media darlings rarely live up to the hype, The Strokes were able to withstand it, as were the White Stripes. Of the bands at Coachella who will be under the cynical scrutiny of music snobs and the curious alike, no one will be under the microscope more than Clap Your Hands And  Say Yeah.

Rarely does Pitchfork give a glowing review, so the question everyone will be asking about CYHASY is are they this good:

Jangly, processed guitar, shimmering cymbals, and vocalist Alec Ounsworth's chorused vocals meet somewhere between a much poppier pre-Loveless My Bloody Valentine and the conventional indie songcraft of the Arcade Fire. So basically we're trying not to piss ourselves. - Pitchfork

While most people focus on the headliners, Coachella founder Paul Tollett advises that you also keep your eyes on the smaller bands. Last year for example Coachella was host to groups like The Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, and M.I.A.

"When the ad came out last year, maybe those bands weren't so big, but when the day came around, they'd blown up," Tollett told Billboard last month. "People will be surprised when they sift through all the band names this year."

He's not kidding, already huge in the underground scene playing Coachella this year will be Animal Collective, Art Brut, Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah, Hard-Fi, Mates of State,  The Go! Team, The Like, The Magic Numbers, The Subways, Wolf Parade, and Wolfmother.  Not to mention two artists who currently find themselves surprisingly in the Top 40:  Matt Costa, (who is on the Curious George soundtrack) and hasidic reggae-phenom Matisyahu,

Last year I had the good pleasure of talking with Tollett who was downright giddy at the NIN/Weezer/Wilco lineup.

After six years of trying to get Nine Inch Nails to headline the two-day event, Tollett finally got a yes out of one of his favorite bands.

"They were the first band I ever tried to book (for Coachella)," Tollett said from his Goldenvoice office on the Miracle Mile. "Trent really delivers live. He's a big show guy."

So I asked him then why would he book the middle of the road Coldplay?

"They're also really good live," said Tollett, who  President of Goldenvoice, the much-loved LA punk and alternative promotions company who was bought by AEG Live. "I was at the Hollywood Bowl and I was blown away with what I saw."

Despite the fact that Coachella has become the premiere US festival it's still not that easy to cherry-pick a lineup of great bands simply because you want them, Tollett explained.

"You can beg and beg but sometimes people are busy recording or touring and just can't make it here. It's not like we're making the bands play for free, but the world is such a big place and there's a lot of things these people are committed to do other than playing festivals."

Not only do bands beg to be part of Coachella, but Tollett said that the fans also flood the company's email box with requests for their favorite artists. What band gets the most email requests? Weezer. Who last year played their second Coachella.

Fans who have been to the festival before was experienced an improvement that they probably didn't expect. Traffic going in and out of the polo grounds ran much smoother. Tollett predicted this in our chat a year ago.

"Each year we try to improve on the year before. It's a sense of respect for the fans. One year it was how to get the tickets torn quicker, this year it's about getting traffic in and out to run smoother," he said, adding that the city is working with the company to figure out solutions using more lanes of the road and engineering the parking lots so that traffic will flow better.

In the 21 years that Depeche Mode has been around they've played 880 shows. Coachella will be their 886th gig with four warm-ups in some arenas in the UK (including two at Wembly) and a show at Shoreline in No Cal a few days before making it to Coachella.

Depeche Mode has played in the LA area 31 times including an historic show at The Rose Bowl in 1988 where they sold out all 80,000 seats. Two years later they sold out Dodger Stadium two nights in a row and in 1993 they played to five sold-out audiences at the Fabulous Forum.

Here's a quick run-down of all of their performances in and around LA over the years.

See You Tour 1982
Sat, May 15, 1982     Pasadena  -  Perkins Palace                
Sun, May 16, 1982     Los Angeles  -  The Roxy

Some Great Reward Tour 1985
Sat, March 30, 1985     Los Angeles  -  Palladium                
Sun, March 31, 1985     Irvine - Irvine Meadows     

Black Celebration Tour - 1986
Sun, July 13, 1986     Los Angeles - The Forum                
Mon, July 14, 1986     Laguna Hills  -  Irvine Meadows                
Tue, July 15, 1986     Laguna Hills  -  Irvine Meadows


Music For The Masses Tour - 1987-88          
Fri, December 4, 1987     Los Angeles  -  The Forum                
Sat, December 5, 1987     Los Angeles  -  The Forum
Sat, June 18, 1988     Pasadena - The Rose Bowl

World Violation Tour - 1990
Wed, August 1, 1990     Universal City - Universal Amphitheatre                
Sat, August 4, 1990     Los Angeles  -  Dodger Stadium                
Sun, August 5, 1990     Los Angeles  -  Dodger Stadium

Devotional Tour - 1993
Sat, November 20, 1993    Los Angeles  -  The Forum                
Sun, November 21, 1993   Los Angeles  -  The Forum                
Tue, November 23, 1993   Los Angeles  -  The Forum                
Wed, November 24, 1993  Los Angeles  -  The Forum                
Fri, November 26, 1993       Los Angeles  -  The Forum

Exotic Tour - 1994
Fri, May 20, 1994   Irvine - Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre                
Sat, May 21, 1994  San Bernadino -  Blockbuster Pavillion

Ultra Party -  1997
Fri, May 16, 1997  Los Angeles - Shrine Exposition Hall

Singles Tour - 1998
Wed, Dec 12, 1998 Los Angeles, CA - Shrine Exposition Hall
Tues, Dec 18, 1998 Los Angeles, CA - The Forum
Wed, Dec 19, 1998 Los Angeles, CA - The Forum
Thur, Dec 20, 1998  Anaheim, CA  -  Arrowhead Pond
Sat, Dec 22, 1998  Anaheim, CA  -  Arrowhead Pond

The Exciter Tour - 2001
Mon, June 4, 2001  Los Angeles, CA  -  The Roxy (warm up / rehearsal)
Tue, August 14, 2001     Los Angeles, CA  -  Staples Center Arena     
Wed, August 15, 2001     Los Angeles, CA  -  Staples Center Arena     
Sat, August 18, 2001     Anaheim, CA  -  Arrowhead Pond     
Sun, August 19, 2001     Anaheim, CA  -  Arrowhead Pond     

What will Depeche Mode play at Coachella? Who knows, but these tunes are almost guarenteed as they are the most-played numbers over the years:

1. Everything Counts - 554 Times
2. Never Let Me Down Again - 499 Times
3. (tie)Enjoy The Silence / Personal Jesus - 398 Times
5. A Question Of Time - 389 Times
6. Just Can't Get Enough - 340 Times 

One of the most appealing things about Annie Hardy is her dry sense of humor and refreshing honesty, however if she doesnt like going out to the desert I wonder why she accepted the invite to play Coachella?

In December of 2005 the Colorado Springs Indy asked her if she was looking forward to playing the fest in the desert.  While typically that would create the perfect opportunity to blow smoke up their ass, Hardy spoke what could only be seen as honestly

Indy: You're playing Coachella in 2006. How are you feeling about that?

AH: I don't know. I never liked going to it. I hope playing it isn't as bad as going to it. I'm not a big fan of festivals because there's so much going on at once and it's so hot. I can't handle it.

That's quite different than what she told NME earlier this year.

"We are super excited to play Coachella this year," she said. "I love that there are so many different bands that you can see in one place. There's nothing like it over here."

Perhaps she's had a spiritual awakening. Take a gander at what she wrote on their website at GiantDrag.com last month about the festival:

"We are so excited about coachella that we are prepared to eat the entire contents of a porto-potty through a crazy straw and then mosh our asses off to Tool! "

mmmm delish! make sure to stock up on crazy straws on Sunday.

Although she could have performed on the main stage, Madonna chose instead to rock out in the much smaller Sahara dance tent with a scaled-down presentation including a live band.

The Sahara tent has been host to such techno artists as Kraftwerk, The Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, Underworld, and Fatboy Slim but never anyone as huge as the 47 year old Material Girl, whose appearence at Coachella is also unprecendented for the woman who you'd have thought had done everything in her 20+ year storied career.

"I've never performed at a festival," Madonna said in a statement earlier this month. "And I'm especially excited about playing at Coachella before I start my own tour."

Goldenvoice President and Coachella founder Paul Tollett told NME.com that scoring Mrs. Guy Ritche to rock the tent was a dream come true. "We've got Daft Punk headlining the Dance Tent the first night and we were looking for something else that good," he said. "It just came up and we're super excited. She's so dance oriented right now."

Although the booking of the pop queen is considered risky by some of the promoters as Coachella has established itself by steering clear of mainstream commercial icons (although theyve had no problem  retaining their street desert cred with headliners like Weezer, NIN, and Beck), Tollett told MTV that regardless of her fame, checking out Madonna in a tent isn't something that happens everyday.

"I love things you don't see all the time," Tollett said. "And we're always trying to make it so it's something you don't see anywhere else."

A minute with My Chemical Romance:

A minute with Wolfmother:

thirty seconds of Gogol Bordello:

three minutes with Gomez:

One of the most refreshingly spunky bands of SXSW were the Aussie trio The Grates.

Grates Patience (singer), Alana (drummer) and John (guitar driver) dared you not to smile and clap and tap your foot, and they rarely lose dares cuz there we all were tapping our feet and smiling. I even saw a few people <i>dancing</i> omg.

Seriously this Brisbane band was so sweet and earnest and Ms. Patience stood up there in here springtimey dress with her hands outstretched and sold every phrase as if she was singing to her lover who was running towards her from the gate at the airport.

Alana helped out on vocals a tad and John had his hands full providing all the music but it never seemed thin or too much work. It was pretty and girlie and happy and nice.

The type of kids you'd want to babysit your infant on a warm summer night when you wanna take a long walk with your special lady.

The Grates on the Road:

Mar 24 2006 8:00P	JJ's House of Rock	Wichita, KS
Mar 25 2006 8:00P	Hi Dive	Denver, CO
Mar 28 2006 8:00P	Crocodile Cafe	Seattle, WA
Mar 29 2006 8:00P	The Red Room	Vancouver
Mar 30 2006 8:00P	Doug Fir Lounge	Portland, OR
Mar 31 2006 8:00P	Independent	San Francisco, CA
Apr 1 2006 8:00P	El Rey Theatre	Los Angeles, CA
Apr 2 2006 8:00P	The Casbah	San Diego, CA
Apr 20 2006 8:00P	Prince Of Wales Hotel	Bunbury
Apr 22 2006 8:00P	Rosemount Hotel	Perth
Apr 23 2006 8:00P	Newport Hotel	Fremantle
Apr 26 2006 8:00P	National Hotel	Geelong
Apr 27 2006 8:00P	Karova Lounge	Ballarat
Apr 28 2006 8:00P	Corner Hotel	Melbourne
Apr 29 2006 8:00P	Adelaide Uni Bar	Adelaide
May 3 2006 8:00P	ANU Bar	Canberra
May 4 2006 8:00P	Woolongong Uni Bar	Woolongong
May 5 2006 8:00P	Metro Theatre	Sydney
May 6 2006 8:00P	Cambridge Hotel	Newcastle
May 10 2006 8:00P	Great Northern	Byron Bay
May 11 2006 8:00P	Coolangatta Hotel	Coolangatta
May 12 2006 8:00P	Tivoli Theatre	Brisbane
May 14 2006 8:00P	Sol Bar	Sunshine Coast

Hey Rockstars,

My name is Tony, i'm the community manager of Buzznet.

As you know Buzznet was in full force last week at the biggest music festival in the world: South By Southwest (sxsw) where 1,300 bands played.

Because we knew how strong the My Chemical Romance community was here at Buzznet we made damn sure that we had a good location to take pictures at the show. I, myself, took over 300 pictures.

Hours after the show I put up about 35 for you, then Tuesday I put up another 30, well today I put up 130 in its own folder tony-mcratsxswatemos.buzznet.com

If you guys like what I did and there's enough demand I will put another 100+ pics up from last week's show. Otherwise we'll call it even with this. But for those of you who werent at the gig, you might find it interesting to see the pictures in rapid procession like you now have.

Your band was great, I had always liked them but I had never seen them live, and they were quite impressive, which is a tough trick at a place like SXSW where there are soooo many cool bands of different styles: Matisyahu, Beastie Boys, Morrissey, The Go Team, Of Montreal, Gogol Bordello, Honky, Neil Young, Metric, Belle & Sebastian, and the Bellrays just to name a few.

Anyways, enjoy the pics, tell your friends about this treasure trove here at Buzznet, and savor them because it doesnt sound like MCR is going to be playing live again anytime soon since theyre in the studio making a new record.

Keep rockin,

Tony

The typically snide, cynical, anti-pop, too-cool-for-school Pitchfork found themselves at Emo's on St. Patrick's Day in the middle of the 1300-band fiesta of SXSW surrounded by up-n-coming artists and international phenoms and experimental hipsters and cozied up to listen to My Chemical Romance and... loved it.

Yes, I saw My Chemical Romance at SXSW. No, I'm not going to apologize. It was fucking awesome.

The pop-punk superstars played a short set at the Shirts for a Cure breast cancer benefit on Friday evening at Emo's (yes, yes, emo at Emo's, very funny, haha). Shockingly, the place wasn't even at capacity; I guess everybody at SXSW is too cool for this band. But not the adorable teenagers in eyeliner and Hellogoodbye t-shirts moshing around me as MCR ripped through "I'm Not OK", "Helena", and a bunch of other songs I don't know the names of because I'm a total poseur. Watching those little girls running up on stage to give Gerard Way a kiss, and then diving back into the maelstrom, I almost wished I was still that young and that in love with the idea of rock stardom. Almost.

Gotta say i'm shocked. Pitchfork can be prudes when it comes to doling out props, but they're rarely wrong and at least this time they were honest. It was a great show and the teens were pretty damn adorable.

Taking a break from recording their new album, chart-topping rock band My Chemical Romance took the stage to wild shrieks from the capacity crowd at Emo's, one of the more famous clubs in Austin, Texas.

In order to benefit The Shirts for a Cure Project the New Jersey quintet headlined the 6 hour concert that also included  legendary punk band Lifetime for the free show that only asked for donations to support breast cancer research.

Hundreds of MCR fans had waited for hours for the doors to open at noon to get a good spot to see the group, and they weren't disappointed. Not only were all the hits performed with passion and sweat and enthusiasum but after the 45-minute set was over, climaxing with "Helena", the crowd chanted "one more song" and after 15 minutes the band returned to the stage surprising many who had left and all who were still in attendence.

"We're going to regret this," singer Gerard Way smiled adjusting the mic before introducing the encore number, explaining that what they were about to play was a new song called "Father" which the band hadn't quite nailed down yet.

Needless to say, no one at the SXSW event complained with the unexpected bonus whose intro sounded faintly like Pink Floyd, but soon errupted into the MCR trademarked rock frenzy.

Way sported a curious ensemble of a leather jacket, on top of two or three other shirts and black leather pants. Curious because Austin was one of the warmest towns in all of the USA on 3/17 with temperatures outside the club nearing 80 degrees and inside the club, particularily onstage creeping much higher. It was also humid from the light drizzle of the afternoon. The singer also had the word Wolves written across his sweaty neck.

Circa Survive, Drive By, Head Automatica, The Loved Ones, The Receiving End of Sirens, Hit The Lights, and The Fall of  Troy were also on the bill  that took place on two seperate stages that did not require a SXSW wristband.

Emo's is an iconic small rock club in Austin, a town known for its fine selection of live music. Founded by a man named Emo, the club has been around for decades. After Johnny Cash played their they hoisted the stool that he performed on to the ceiling in honor of that fine performance.

Because of their multi-platinum success, the likelihood of MCR playing a club like Emo's was relatively small. But combined with the invitation by the charity and the 20th aniversary of the 1,300 band music festival, one of the more popular "emo" bands around was able to perform at Emo's sparking ironic jokes all along the noisy streets of Austin.

sometimes all it takes are a few pictures to tell the whole story

rock kicked my ass and i kicked back.

ten straight days and nights of partying and drinking and rocking out to some of the finest music in the world does take its toll which is probably why the skies opened up tonight here in austin with thunder and lightening and sheets of rain so as to wash the sins from the streets.

never made it to the roller derby because my wife miss amerikill let her cousin be her plus one even though she promised it to me last night. ah women.

so instead i took in three local punk bands at room 710: castle siege, the fuckemos, and finally punk. apparently the fuckemos got so big at one time that they started playing at emos. the reunited this year and played some shows at sxsw.

the fuckemos singer is actually in several bands including the uss friendship and castle siege who opened the night's lineup with a cross section of metal punk and marriachi. led by a guy who really cant sing very well. and hes quite fat. and when hes fronting the fuckemos he pulls out a trombone on one of the numbers.

finally punk is an all girl teenage punk band whos singer leapt offstage to slamdance with the boy she was singing about while singing. the kids are alright.

because that wasnt enough i went back to emos as the rain started coming down to enjoy the neil diamond tribute band the diamond smugglers.

a very nice cleansing of the pallet. especially while walking home in a weak drizzle as the band played daydream believer to a crowd who sang along to every word.

its 230am my rooms a mess, i havent packed and i have to be out of my room by 9am i figure. so im setting my alarm for 8. i can do this.

austin is a beautiful town where the birds scream in the trees and the bands scream wherever theres a stage.

i blame most of my debauchery to two entities, the red bull house and the texas roller derby girls. for if either of them werent around i would never have stayed up so late and drank and drank and drank.

i blame the rest of my fun to all the people who came up wanting to smoke weed with me, and whats so interesting is just as many offered the miracle herb during the interactive days as during the music days.

and yes i did see Lifetime before the my chemical romance show. not bad but i dont get the hype.

i will be back next year and i will plan out my day much better now that i know whats going on. and unlike the masses who fled town tonight, next year i will stay on the sunday night of sxsw just like tonight because the local bands are well worth the attention.

theres a deepness to the souls of black folks thats different from the rest. and theres something even deeper to the souls of black women. particularily black women who are no longer girls but women.

Lisa Kekaula is tina turner returned from the dead. she wears high heels and a tight skirt and picked out her afro as big as she can upstairs at room 710 which is the backstage dressing room slash office at the club that asher owns.

shes a dark skinned nubian princess destined to be queen and the longer it takes her to get their the more emotional and wild and soulful her singing and performances get.

i was lucky enough to catch a show of theirs two years ago at spaceland and i was blown away by the mixture of punk thrash with her soulful vocals. and i was twice as shocked that somehow theyve upped the ante with something that can only be described as heart.

ms kekaula shook her ass, shook her cha-chas got on her knees, jumped on the stage and sang with the people and even bent over backwards to let us in on what soul music is all about while her band kept a steady beat and a tight rock melody. she told us cheer only if we wanted to only if we felt it only if it was true. and then she reminded us that clapping along helped us feel the spirit it helped us get into the groovy it helped us be one with the power of love.

and then she belted out a song that made us keep clapping because we wanted some of whatever that was. and if you ask me, that was the begining of the end to the evil that was inside me. yes i had been excorcised by rock n roll.

after the inpsiring and devistating performance i asked her to pose for a picture with asher and sara and dan and i was so nervous because she is really the real deal and all 50 people who were at the show knew it and the picture turned out blurry because i couldnt think straight and before she left i hugged her. she was sweaty i was sweaty but i did feel the magic and i wanted to hug the source. i had to. and i did.

i thought i was complete after the one-two punch of gogogogo bordello and honky but im often wrong and sometimes its great to be wrong about things.

way more pics of the show here