Pick Your Poison: Friday 1-25-13

Okay, it’s time for me to weigh in very briefly on this year’s Coachella lineup. In case you’ve not yet seen the massive list of artists playing the two weekends of April 12-14 and April 19-21, go to the website and check that out. To my eyes, Friday night looks to be great, with The Stone Roses and Blur acting as co-headliners. I’ve heard The Stone Roses aren’t exactly a great live band, especially recently with their reunion dates, but I could be wrong on that. Still, their recorded output is small but highly impressive, and given that they haven’t really played in the U.S. in quite some time, it feels like a good get. The same goes for Blur, though I have a much greater passion for that band and their catalogue. Saturday’s headliner is Phoenix, and to me that seems a little premature. Sure, Phoenix is a great band that has risen to quite a bit of fame, but are they headliner material? They didn’t even get much attention until 2009’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix came in and blew everyone away. It’s been close to four years since then, and though their forthcoming record is much anticipated, one hit record with two hit singles (“1901” and “Lisztomania”) do not a headliner make in my opinion. Sunday night’s headliner are the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who haven’t been great since John Frusciante left, and even when he was still around seemed to have trouble finding their footing since 2002’s By the Way. They may still have songs on the radio, and their back catalogue is largely legendary, but they’re also a bit played out as a festival headliner. I’d like to know what happened to their supposed deal with the Rolling Stones. I’m sure that would have built up far more excitement than the relative drivel the rest of this lineup boasts. Okay, so it’s great to see The Postal Service back for some live shows, and projects like New Order, Jurassic 5 and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds are nothing to brush off. I’m starting to wonder if music festivals in general are headed for a slump the next few years. Then again, you look at a lineup like Primavera Sound and can’t help but be impressed even if they spent a fortune to get some of those bands. We’ll have to wait and see what Bonnarroo will be offering in 2013, though as always my money is on the Chicago fests of Pitchfork and Lollapalooza. More on that in the coming months. Now then, let’s get this weekend started right with some good Pick Your Poison tracks. Recommendations today go to Dada Trash Collage, Dan Friel, Othello Woolf, Scott & Charlene’s Wedding, Screaming Females, Thinking Machines and Y La Bamba. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, you can stream new stuff from Julian Lynch, Mount Moriah, Olof Arnalds and Young Galaxy, among others. Have a great weekend!