Go INDEEp Music

Tycho is the moniker for ambient music extraordinaire Scott Hansen.  Based in San Francisco, Mr. Hansen has released five studio albums, the most recent being 2016′s Epoch.

Scott’s been making ambient avant-pop psychedelic-instrumental-post-rock tunes since 2002, and has a full band touring with him since 2010.  Using the term ambient is fun, who knew!

Scott is also known as ISO50 for his photography and design work.

Tycho is making its second Coachella appearance, they also hit the festival back in 2015.  I remember watching Tycho’s Weekend 1 performance on the YouTube live stream that year.  I really wanted to check out that show during my Weekend 2 visit, but had a conflict with Jack White’s headline set.  Hopefully, there won’t be any conflicts to speak of this year.  Tycho is schedule to perform on Saturday.

Enjoy some of Scott’s ambient melodies below:

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Guess when Phantogram is scheduled to perform?
Yep, Friday.

Not to beat a dead horse, but I can’t help but wonder how many of my Top 19 bands I won’t get to see.  Conflict Day is right around the corner.

Phantogram is the Greenwich, New York-based duo consisting of Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel.  The two “friends” play an electro-rock vibe that has recently appealed to the masses.

The act has been around since 2007 and is FKA Charlie Everywhere. Fun facts are fun!

Mr. Carter and Ms. Barthel have dropped three studio albums and a handful of extended plays.  Their latest album Three came out last October.  Personally, I prefer the band’s earlier material over what surfaced last year.  Maybe hearing the new stuff live will change my mind.

My records indicate that this will be the band’s second Coachella appearance.  They last played the festival 2011, I missed them, wonder why…

Here’s a full KEXP performance below.  If you don’t enjoy when I attach KEXP performances, I copied and pasted some traditional music videos below it.

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I’m utterly shocked that Local Natives aren’t playing on Friday as well, seriously.

Despite seeing Local Natives three times in the past, the Los Angeles-based indie rockers are worthy enough to crack my Top 10 of must-see bands.

As a thirteen-year veteran of the Coachella Music Festival, I can honestly say I’ve seen a shit-ton of shows in The Promised Land.  If I ever get around to making a list of some of my faves, that badass set from Local Natives back in 2013 will definitely make the list.

The quintet is truly an underappreciated indie band, and it’s on full display by the line-four placement on the Coachella poster this year.  When you examine all the acts on Saturday’s offering, how in the hell is Local Natives not on line-two? What a travesty!

The band is three albums deep into their career.  Their catalogue includes last September’s release Sunlit Youth, 2013′s Hummingbird, and the 2010 indie classic Gorilla Manor.

I’d be down with these dudes right where I saw them the last time, on the Outdoor Stage at sunset.

Enjoy some of their beautiful tunes below:

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After - the 530am wake up call, countless IPA’s, the blazing hot sun, standing for 14 straight hours, very little to eat, and a potential sand storm looming, I can’t think of anything more invigorating than another two hours on my feet …

Over the years I seen my share of epic headliner sets at the Coachella Music Festival.  However, if I don’t have to make that trek over to the Main Stage late at night, I’m good.  Thankfully, this year I’ll only traipse over there once, and that’s only if I don’t have any conflicts on my loaded Friday schedule.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to catch the Radiohead show, but I’ve already seen them three times in the past, twice as a Coachella headliner.  I can only imagine all of the conflicts I’m going to have to face on Friday.

Radiohead is back for a third time, this time showcasing their latest album Moon Shaped Pool, released last summer.  You gotta give these dudes credit for remaining as relevant as they have during today’s music landscape.  The legendary alt rockers, dare I say Heritage Act, have released nine studio albums overall, all to critical acclaim.

What’s your favorite Radiohead tune?  Mine’s “Packt Like Sardines In A Crushed Tin Box” from my favorite Radiohead album Amnesiac.

Let me see if Thom allows for any of their music on the youtubes …

Lookie what I found!

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I need to be in the right mood to listen to the English indie electronic act The Xx.  I hope I’m in the right mood on that Friday night of Weekend 2 at the Coachella Music Festival.  I’m speculating a 9:15pm set from the Main Stage, however, closing the Outdoor Stage up against Radiohead’s headline show, isn’t out of the question.

The Xx have released three studio albums, xx in 2009, Coexist in 2012, and I See You which dropped in January.  The tune “On Hold” was one of the best tracks I heard in 2016, and the tune “I Dare You” is one of the best from this year, so far.

The trio is making their third Coachella appearance.  I caught the first four tunes of their 2013 set, that was the year of the trifecta (The Xx, Two Door Cinema Club, Franz Ferdinand).  I researched the set they played back in 2010, just to figure out xxactly why I wasn’t in attendance.  Come to find out, that was the day we took up residency in the Gobi Tent and caught Portugal The Man, Girls, Band Of Skulls, and The Raveonettes.  That was a fun afternoon!

I was on hand for Jamie Smith aka Jamie Xx when he played the festival back in 2015.

Here’s some of The Xx finest:

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Today is bittersweet.

Today I’ll finally cut the 2016 Coachella Music Festival Weekend 2 wristband off my RIGHT wrist, fortunately, I’ll immediately replace it with my freshly activated 2017 Weekend 2 wristband.  Today also marks the day that I’ll go from never-ever using a Day-Timer to always using one, at least for the next year.  Gifts from Goldenvoice are fun! Embracing change is fun!

Do you know what else is fun? ….. Tacocat

The Seattle-based pop punk band Tacocat formed in 2007.  The quartet has released three studio albums, with their most recent Lost Time dropping on April Fools Day 2016.  Their 2014 release NVM is also worth a spin when you have time.

I haven’t looked up “indie buzzband” in the dictionary lately, but if I did, I’m positive that picture of Tacocat is right there.

Hopefully, Tacocat will be scheduled open the Outdoor Stage on Friday and kickoff my 2017 Coachella Weekend.  My dream scenario would be… IPA’s in the parking lot - Master Slice of Happy Waitress – Tacocat.

Palindromes are fun!

X-Files fan? check this out!

More from Tacocat below:

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Today is the day that Preoccupations enter my countdown of must-see bands at this year’s festival.  Preoccupations FKA Viet Cong is a Canadian post-punk band that formed in 2012.

After the disbanding of the Canadian band Women, two of its members formed the band Viet Cong.  Following nonstop controversy from individuals that enjoy creating nonstop controversy, Viet Cong changed their name to Preoccupations in 2015.

The band issued this statement: “We are a band who wants to make music and play our music for our fans.  We are not here to cause pain or remind people of atrocities of the past.”

The band has released two critically acclaimed self-titled albums, Viet Cong in 2015, and Preoccupations dropped last fall.

If you enjoy listening to some decent post-punk jams from one of today’s best indie buzzband, Preoccupations is for you.  Hopefully, those tunes will be on display shortly after sundown on Sunday in the Mojave tent.

BTW, did you see they added Florence and The Machine to the lineup?

Preoccupations/Viet Cong vids below:

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With each passing day, I become more and more curious to know which Friday bands I won’t get to see because of set time conflicts. Set time conflicts suck, set time conflicts make me sad.  Conflict Day is tentatively scheduled for April 11 this year.

Tennis is another one of those bands on a loaded Friday schedule.  My Friday is so loaded, I might not have time for any Craft Beer and Spicy Pie.  I’m definitely not riding the wheel on Friday.

Tennis is a Denver, Colorado husband-and-wife indie pop outfit.  Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley started the band back in 2010 and have released four studio albums.  Their latest effort Yours Conditionally hit record stores and streaming platforms a few weeks ago.

Play Tennis below:

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Yep, Empire Of The Sun #16.  You need to be extremely confident in one’s sexuality to make a bold statement like that, huh?

Empire Of The Sun is the collaboration of Luke Steele (The Sleepy Jackson) and Nick Littlemore (Pnau). The electronic music duo formed in Sydney, Australia in 2008.

The two have released three studio albums; the award-winning 2008 release Walking On A Dream, 2013′s arrival Ice On The Dune, and the most-recent 2016 effort Two Vines.  In my opinion, the track “High and Low” was one of the best tunes from last year.  2016 was a busy year for the duo, in addition to releasing their third album, Steele and Littlemore took a job with Honda to help boost Civic sales.

The glam rockers have been compared to MGMT early in their career, however they cite Phoenix and Daft Punk as their inspiration.

I hope to debut some of my new flamboyant headdress for the occasion.  I’ll include that on the “What To Bring” so you don’t forget yours.

2017 marks the act’s third appearance Coachella Festival, they also hit the stage back in 2014 and 2011.

Test your confidence below:

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King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard is a Melbourne, Australia psychedelic rock band that formed back in 2011.

The seven-piece drops albums at such a rapid rate it puts Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall to shame.  Their ninth studio album Flying Microtonal Banana hit record store shelves last month.  The plan is to release five, yes five, albums in 2017.

KGATLW is one of many band bands on my Friday itinerary, hopefully I’ll make it over to the speculated set on the Main Stage.  This show would be fun right after consuming about four double IPA’s in parking lot, right?

Here’s one of those KEXP performances:

& a vid:

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