Real Estate / photo by David Greenwald

Coachella 2012 will run on two weekends in a row, an expansion that feels like it could backfire: will Radiohead’s second headlining set feel as meaningful for those who’ve already watched the videos on YouTube and Pitchfork.tv? Will the bands, festival paychecks in hand, snooze through their second performance? Or will the divided dates return Coachella to the chill glory of its pre-Hills invasion early years? (More importantly: will someone give me press passes to cover all six days? Do I have enough sunscreen? Will Destroyer’s set get anyone pregnant?)

I’ve got questions. Answers will have to wait. In the mean time, the festival announced a pretty serious lineup last night. Find the full list on Coachella’s Facebook page and the bands I’m most excited about below:

Friday: Pulp, Refused, Mazzy Star, Frank Ocean, James
Saturday, what a day: Radiohead, Jeff Mangum, Andrew Bird, Feist, St. Vincent, SBTRKT, Flying Lotus, Buzzcocks, Destroyer, Laura Marling, Gary Clark Jr.
Sunday: Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg (!), At the Drive-In, Justice, Beirut, the Hives (still a band!), Wild Flag, Real Estate, the Gaslamp Killer, First Aid Kit, Wild Beasts.

Notes: There are lot of great bands buried at the bottom of Sunday’s list. I’m surprised Wild Beasts likely aren’t positioned for a sunset 6 p.m. slot — their music is dark and romantic and totally compelling in a way that 2 p.m. heatstroke won’t help. Then again, Deerhunter were stuck with the same billing in 2010. My must-see here is At the Drive-In, the late ’90s/early ’00s emo titans who fractured into the painfully inferior Sparta and the Mars Volta. If they can recapture the magic, it’ll be the most visceral show of any 2012 weekend. It’s great to see a Jeff Mangum California date, finally, though billing him a line below Bon Iver feels unforgivable. Day 2 in general looks spectacular: my only concerns are that groups such as Destroyer and St. Vincent and Laura Marling will wind up 1) off of main stages and 2) all playing at the same time. If I can see Dan, Annie, Laura, Andrew, Jeff and Thom in the same day, while simultaneously playing Portlandia on my iPad, I’ll pee myself. For eight hours straight.

Stream: Coachella 2012 Rawkblog Picks (Spotify)

Will you go this year? Any bands you’re excited about?

Here are my picks for the week in Los Angeles show-going:

Monday, Jan. 9: Princeton’s free residency kicks off at the Bootleg with TV Girl; chamber-folk act Seasons’ free residency starts at the Echo. Highly recommend catching both bands this month.

Tuesday, Jan. 10: Punk upstarts FIDLAR play the Smell.

Thursday, Jan. 12: Radiohead acolytes Masxs play the Bootleg Bar; Robert Schwartzman (of Phantom Planet) and Princeton spin-off Sleeping Bags are at the Satellite, free; the reasonably charming garage-rockers of La Sera play the Echo.

More dates on the monthly calendar after the jump. You can click the buttons below to add my picks to your feeds. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo by David Greenwald

Monday: Big Moves wrap up their residency at the Bootleg. I caught them last week; expect them to go out with a bang. Ben Folds plays a last-minute show at Bardot.

Tuesday: Country legend Emmylou Harris plays the Greek Theatre. Bring a hankie. More after the jump.  Read the rest of this entry »

Big Moves / photo by David Greenwald

As usual, here are my recs for the week:

Monday: You can see three of L.A.’s best unsigned bands at the Bootleg Bar tonight: Big Moves, LA Font and yOya. Free! Go, and give them money.

Tuesday: Laura Marling and U.K. colleagues Alessi’s Ark bring their must-see folk to the Troubadour. Read the rest of this entry »

Sharon Van Etten / photo by David Greenwald

Here are my recommendations for this weekend, which will see a nice mix of touring acts and local favorites hitting L.A. stages. Read the rest of this entry »

Broken Social Scene at Coachella 2011 / photo by David Greenwald

Assuming Goldenvoice works its logistical magic, Saturday’s FYF Fest could be the best non-SXSW music festival of the year. Below you’ll find my planned itinerary; if you skip Olivia Tremor Control or Guided by Voices, it’s time to consider your life choices. Look at this fucking lineup: Read the rest of this entry »

The One AM Radio / by David Greenwald

Here are my L.A. concert recommendations, short and sweet, for the week. Only things I actually would like to see. On days with multiple listings, they’re in descending order of priority. Click below to add the ongoing calendar to your Google Calendar, iCal, etc. Read the rest of this entry »

Lord Huron / photo by David Greenwald

Here are my Los Angeles recs for the coming days:

Friday: The Fiery Furnaces’ Eleanor Friedberger wraps up her three-night Los Angeles run with a free show in the Origami Vinyl loft; Thurston Moore and Kurt Vile play the Troubadour.

Saturday: Lord Huron plays a free show at the Getty’s Fridays Off the 405 series before heading off to summer festivals.

Sunday: Grass Widow brings its spiderweb guitars to the Echo.

Monday: Princeton pop off at the Troubadour; Stone Darling get funky, lo-fi style, at the Satellite.

Coming up in August: Future Ghost, Summer Darling @ Satellite 8/5, Deerhunter @ Wiltern 8/9, Califone @ Satellite, 8/14, John Vanderslice @ the Echo 8/26, Craft Spells, Seapony @ the Echo 8/28. Keep an eye on our ongoing concert calendar for every essential show.

Eleanor Friedberger – “My Mistakes”: mp3
Lord Huron – “The Stranger”: mp3