Month: January 2012

Coachella lineup for 2012 announced!

MaxK

Famed music festival Coachella has announced its lineup this year, and it’s a doozy. The short version: if you downloaded an mp3 from an artist this year, they’re probably playing. The long version: Radiohead, Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg, the Black Keys, Afrojack, Swedish House Mafia, M83, Bon Iver, David Guetta, Feist, At The Drive-In, Girl Talk, Justice, La Roux, Florence and the Machine, Calvin Harris, Dragonette, the Shins, and that’s not even the half of it.

Check out the official lineup below, as posted by the official Coachella twitter feed.

Nicole Scherzinger’s AMAZING opera voice!

MaxK

In songs like “Beep” and “Buttons,” Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger proved she could look good in a music video and get the party started at anything from a wedding to an urban nightclub. Here’s something that shocked us, though: she’s actually got an amazing, amazing voice.

In this live, Auto-Tune-less performance at the Royal Variety Show, Scherzinger showcases a set of chops her Top 40 efforts so far haven’t let her let loose with, tackling the theme from “Phantom of the Opera.” Just wait until 3:30, when she unleashes her pipes on an amazing series of high notes which continue through the end of the song.

Wow. Just… wow.

New Music Alert: “Pass The Mic, Tom” (Rush vs Beastie Boys)

MaxK

Since the heady days of Girl Talk and the Grey Album, mashups have declined in popularity. That doesn’t mean they’re over, though – a pair of songs expertly combined can be hilarious, snarky, or just plain awesome. It’s a little of the first and a whole lot of the last with this track from artist Jay Braun. Mashing up Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” with the Beastie Boys’ “Pass The Mic,” this is a little under 4 minutes of genius.

BEASTIE BOYS VS RUSH: PASS THE MIC TOM from Jay Braun on Vimeo.

What’d you think? Let us know in the comments!

New music alert: Mac DeMarco (Makeout Videotape)’s solo project

MaxK

Vancouver artist Mac DeMarco, formerly the brains behind the critically-accaimed art-pop project Makeout Videotape, has returned with a solo effort under his own name and an upcoming EP on Captured Tracks, and a song from the album has gotten the thumbs-up from the tastemakers at Pitchfork Track Reviews.

The song is dreamy, shoegaze-influenced, surf-y lo-fi rock, and would be reminiscent of Blonde Redhead if it weren’t for DeMarco’s voice: a low, sensual, Elvis-like croon complemented by a falsetto harmony on the chorus.

Take a listen to “Baby’s Wearing Blue Jeans” over at Pitchfork, and let us know what you think in the comments.