Coachella Band Preview: the Neighbourhood, alt-J, BØRNS, Odesza, & Hayley Kiyoko

It’s only been 2 days since my last post, but that’s okay. This week I’ve decided to do two blog posts because there’s still a ton of bands to talk about and not much time left. So let’s talk about five bands who I’ve written about before that are playing the festival this year. Two of them are actually 3 of my top 4 must-see sets of Coachella 2018.

A lot of time has passed since I wrote about the Neighbourhood in the fall of 2015. Since then, there hasn’t been much news surrounding the band until late last year. In September they released their first new music since 2015’s Wiped Out!, the EP Hard. Then in early January the band dropped a second EP To Imagine followed by the release of their third album, The Neighbourhood, on March 9th. With a bunch of new music out, playing Coachella for the first time in 5 years seems fitting. They play on Friday. I’ve never seen them live and I’ve been obsessed with “Sweater Weather” since 2013. It was probably my favorite song of that year. There’s no doubt I’d love to check them out if I had the time making them 1 of the 3 bands on this list that are must-sees for me. If you plan on checking them out, here’s a few songs to get you ready:

1. Sweater Weather
2. Afraid
3. Daddy Issues
4. Scary Love
5. Sadderdaze
6. R.I.P to My Youth
7. Cry Baby
8. You Get Me So High
9. Stuck With Me
10. Let It Go

alt-J are no strangers to Coachella. They’ve played twice but haven’t been back to the Indio desert since 2015. Since their last Coachella, alt-J has released a new album. It came out last June. I reviewed it here. I’ve also written about alt-J two other times on this blog. Once previewing them for Coachella in 2015, where I saw them live for the first time and another time reviewing a concert I saw them play in Philly in September 2015. I really like alt-J and I love how different their music sounds from other stuff I like. They played Panorama last summer and I was able to catch part of their set. If it wasn’t for my work schedule and several other concerts I already spent money on in the fall, I would have seen them play again. They’re a band that I would rarely turn down if I had the opportunity to see, making them another one of my top choice sets for Coachella 2018 along with Haim and the Neighbourhood. They play Saturday and probably at night on either the Main or Outdoor stage. What would be the biggest heartbreak is if they overlapped with Haim. Here’s my recommendations for you if you decide to follow my lead and check them out:

1. Left Hand Free
2. Breezeblocks
3. In Cold Blood
4. Every Other Freckle
5. 3WW
6. Tessellate
7. Fitzpleasure
8. Deadcrush
9. Something Good
10. Hunger of the Pine

BØRNS is back at Coachella after a year break from the famous Southern California music festival. He just released his second album, Blue Madonna, back in January. The album features a collaboration with Lana Del Rey as well as plenty of new music from the “Electric Love” writer. I saw BØRNS play live in 2016. It was kind of a last-minute decision since my friend and I bought tickets about a week before the performance. It was a fun set, so I’d definitely want to see him perform again if I had the chance. He plays on Saturday as well. I would guess BØRNS would be a late afternoon-early evening set, but we’ll see what happens. These are the songs you need to prep for his set:

1. Electric Love
2. Seeing Stars
3. 10,000 Emerald Pools
4. God Save Our Young Blood
5. Sweet Dreams
6. American Money
7. Past Lives
8. I Don’t Want U Back
9. Faded Heart
10. The Emotion

I only got into Odesza about 6 months ago because of planning to see them in NYC with my friend, but getting into them definitely wasn’t a waste of my time. The concert we went to in December was incredible so I have no doubt that their Coachella set predictably on Sunday night at the now larger Sahara Tent will be just as good and a large draw amongst festival-goers. I would guess they headline the Sahara and overlap with Eminem as the overall headliner Sunday evening. Initially, I believed Odesza would be my Sunday night choice no question, but the inner early 2000’s middle-schooler in me has been fighting hard. Odesza will no doubt put on an incredible live performance, but I just saw Odesza. I’ve never seen Eminem nor do I think I’d ever buy tickets or choose to see Eminem, but I used to be a fan at one point. It’s definitely up for debate. What would be ideal is to be able to catch parts of both sets. However if you so choose to skip out on the Real Slim Shady, here’s a few Odesza tracks you should hear:

1. Sun Models
2. Higher Ground
3. Across the Room
4. Say My Name
5. Falls
6. Line of Sight
7. A Moment Apart
8. All We Need
9. It’s Only
10. Late Night

The artist I’m most excited for who is playing Coachella this year is Hayley Kiyoko. From seeing her a little over a year ago play a tiny venue in Philly that wasn’t even sold out to playing the most well-known U.S. music festival, my stoke level couldn’t be higher for Hayley Kiyoko. Her debut album, Expectations, came out today! Until this point, she’s only released EP’s, but those have gained a huge appreciation from her small, dedicated fan base. The new album builds on Kiyoko’s previous hits with bangers like “Curious” and “Feelings”. It’s got a mystical, feel good sound giving true meaning to Kiyoko’s dreampop style. As an openly gay singer, the theme in her music involves being in love with girls and complications that may arise with being gay and falling for girls. This new album is consistent with Hayley’s style that her fans have grown to love over the past few years. (I just had to give you a mini-album review here too.) She plays on Sunday at Coachella. I will definitely try my hardest to catch her set one of the weekends making her the 4th and final must-see for me. My guess would be an early Sunday afternoon set, but you never know. She may play later in the day at Gobi or Mojave. We’re a little over a week from the schedule release and probably a few days from the food vendor list, then the official planning can begin. In the mean time, check out Expectations along with these other songs:

1. Girls Like Girls
2. Cliff’s Edge
3. Gravel to Tempo
4. Palace
5. This Side of Paradise

(On Expectations, pay special attention to “Curious”, “Feelings”, “Sleepover”, “Let It Be”, and “What I Need (ft. Kehlani)”)

 

Coachella Band Preview: Haim

2 weeks to go! Anticipation is building. Fashion is being planned. The Sahara Tent is even being moved (Yes! You can check out this article to hear about the new location.) Most importantly though, music is being listened to. I was about to do my blog post of bands I’ve already blogged about when I had a realization. I’ve never actually written a whole post about Haim. I thought I had because I reviewed their album over the summer. I was mistaken, which means it’s time to finally do that.

Haim, a Los Angeles based band comprised of sisters Este, Danielle, and Alana all with the last name Haim, decided to form a band in 2007. Growing up they were encouraged by their parents to play music. Danielle played guitar and Este played bass. They even joined their parents as a band to play benefits and church gigs while growing up. Danielle and Este also were part of the band Valli Girls, who were featured on the soundtrack to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants with their song “Always There in You”.

When Haim initially formed, each sister was involved in their own projects. They stuck to playing local shows because of it and didn’t receive much attention in their early days. Este went to UCLA and graduated in 2010 with a degree in Ethnomusicology. Danielle was noticed by musician Jenny Lewis, formerly of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley, and was asked to join her touring band. That lead to touring opportunities with The Strokes’ lead singer, Julian Casablancas on his solo tour. She even joined CeeLo Green’s all female backing band for a short time, but ultimately decided she’d rather make music with her sisters.

After playing SXSW and releasing their debut EP Forever in 2012, the group started receiving attention from the music industry. They signed with UK label Polydor Records in June 2012 and from there began making some noise in the industry, in Europe in particular. They toured there that year both on their own and opening for Florence and the Machine. They then returned to SXSW in 2013 as a more experienced and slightly better known act.

2013 was spent working on their first album in between live shows. The sisters played Glastonbury that summer and released the first single, “The Wire”, from their album on July 29th. The album, Days Are Gone, was released on September 30, 2013. The album has since received accolades from media oulets Pitchfork, NME, Consequence of Sound, Spin, and Rolling Stone, among others.

Haim spent the spring of 2014 touring the U.S. As part of that tour, the band made their first Coachella appearance. The end of 2014 featured a few collaborative projects with Fleetwood Mac lead singer Stevie Nicks and Calvin Harris, but until last summer Haim had yet to release new tunes themselves aside from contributions to movie soundtracks from Insurgent of the Divergent series and Mockingjay – Part 1 of the Hunger Games trilogy. They joined their friend Taylor Swift on her 1989 World Tour in the summer of 2015 for a few dates and also received a Grammy nomination that year for Best New Artist. The band spent 2016 hyping upcoming new music by playing a few festivals including Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Governors’ Ball, Boston Calling, and Austin City Limits. Then finally last summer on July 7th Haim released their second studio album, Something To Tell You, which I reviewed shortly after its release.

Since finding out about Haim in early 2014, I’ve always thought their music sounds like late 80’s/early 90’s pop rock. Surely enough, they’re considered a pop/indie rock band. All three sisters harmonize in their songs and are proficient in more than one musical instrument, but for live shows sake, you’ll see Este on bass, Danielle on lead guitar and lead vocals, and Alana on rhythm guitar, keyboards, and percussion. Their sound has been compared to Fleetwood Mac. Although I can’t think of a specific band to compare them to I still feel like their sound replicates bands of the 80’s & 90’s. One song that comes to mind that reminds me of Haim is the 1986 hit by Bruce Hornsby “Every Little Kiss”. There are definitely others too so if you can think of any specific songs or bands let me know!

For about 2 years since I discovered them, I desperately wanted to see Haim live. My desire began after I saw them perform on the Coachella 2014 live stream. I actually debated seeing them perform a few weeks after that, but ultimately passed on it because of having a few other conflicting travel obligations. Fortunately, I was able to work Lollapalooza in 2016 and caught them performing there. They were incredible live. Although they’re not a jam band, they do like to jam onstage and add special musical aspects to their live performances. For instance at Lolla, all three sisters played different rhythms on a giant drum at the same time right before their set ended. It was super cool. Their musical ability shines through in their live performances making them one of my top must-see artists this year at Coachella. They’re also one of my favorite bands, which puts them to the top of my list too.

Haim plays Saturday at Coachella. I’d expect a late day set on the Main or Outdoor stage from them, particularly as the sun sets or maybe even as the darkness encompasses the polo fields. If I’m able to, I definitely plan on seeing them, but if I can’t I won’t be that disappointed either because I have tickets to see them this spring. They’re embarking on a world tour that I couldn’t pass up on. If you want to see Haim, which I highly recommend you should, here’s the songs you need to listen to:

1. The Wire
2. Don’t Save Me
3. Want You Back
4. Little Of Your Love
5. Falling
6. My Song 5
7. Forever
8. Right Now
9. Nothing’s Wrong
10. Ready For You

Coachella Band Preview: Declan McKenna

Another week down and three more to go! Anticipation is building at a strong pace for me right now, as I’m sure it is for many others. The Coachella Valley is soon to become a mecca for festival-goers as it has almost annually since 1999. That means your time to prep by listening to this year’s acts is rapidly decreasing. So without further adieu, this week I’m previewing an artist who came on to the scene around 2015.

Declan McKenna is a British musician/singer/songwriter. At just 19, the young artist will be playing his first Coachella this spring after dropping out of last year’s festival, but he’s not new to the festival scene. He has gained plenty of recognition in the UK since winning Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent Competition in 2015.  Along with Glastonbury, he has played Lollapalooza and Reading and Leeds Festivals among others.

After winning the talent competition in 2015, McKenna signed a record deal with Columbia records and released singles until the release of his debut EP Stains in March 2016. His second EP Liar was released two months later. His debut album What Do You Think About the Car? was released this past July. Each of his releases include his hit single “Brazil”, which he wrote as a political protest song about FIFA (soccer/football’s governing body) and the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. All three releases also included his song “Paracetomal”.

Declan McKenna plays indie rock music. As a young developing and emerging artist, his sound is still growing though, so you might hear other styles of music in his songs too. To me, his sound is comparable to another British indie rock band, The Kooks.

I first heard of Declan McKenna from Spotify. I found his song Brazil on a playlist in 2016. When the lineup dropped this year, I recognized him from that song. Since then though, I’ve listened to some of his other stuff. I enjoy his music. He’s got some solid tunes. Although he’s been around for a couple years now, he freshly released his debut album less than a year ago and he’s been highly praised as being the next big thing on the British music scene. So he’s definitely worth checking out this year at the festival.

Declan McKenna plays on Saturday this year. Saturday’s lineup is pretty stacked in my opinion, so I’d expect McKenna to play an early to mid afternoon time slot. Another reason to expect him to play then is that he’s also not billed very highly on the lineup poster. Of course it’s only a matter of time before you’ll be able to plan out who you’ll be seeing at Coachella, I highly recommend checking out this kid. Here’s a few songs you might want to know beforehand:

1. Brazil
2. Paracetomal
3. Isombard
4. Bethlehem
5. Why Do You Feel So Down?
6. The Kids Don’t Wanna Come Home

 

 

 

Coachella Band Preview: LANY

So just FYI Coachella Weekend One is officially in 1 month! Yes, that’s right. One month today and its Day 1 of Coachella 2018. Just soak that in for a second……sigh. Until then though, there’s a few more bands I want you to know about before you bust out those flower crowns. This week you need to check out LANY.

LANY based out of Los Angeles, California is comprised of members Paul Klein, Charles Leslie “Les” Priest, and Jacob Goss. The band’s name, pronounced LAY-NEE, is actually the acronym for Los Angeles & New York (L.A., N.Y.). The band formed around 2014 and started to receive buzz from their SoundCloud release “ILYSB” off their first EP Acronyms. They anonymously released the EP, but revealed themselves after releasing two more singles on SoundCloud “Made in Hollywood” and “Bad, Bad, Bad”. In 2015 they toured in support of Twin Shadow, Tove Styrke, X Ambassadors, Troye Sivan, and Halsey. They also released a second EP I Love You.

Later in 2015 they signed to Polydor Records. They released the EP Make Out under their new label which consisted of all the songs they released before I Love You. In 2016, LANY toured in support of Ellie Goulding on her UK tour and Troye Sivan. They also announced their first U.S. headlining tour. LANY played several music festivals in 2016 in addition to two headlining tours which included Bonnaroo, Firefly, and Outside Lands.

In 2017 the band released their debut album, LANY, on June 30th. They spent the majority of 2017 touring worldwide and also playing music festivals. Their appearance at Coachella this year will mark their first visit to the Empire Polo Fields.

Their music style is mostly indie pop or dream pop. Although they’re described as being indie pop, their style is a soft kind of indie pop. It really is a strong mixture of that style and dream pop. A lot of their songs have themes involving love and romance, but honestly those themes fit their sound because their tracks are perfect make out jams or baby-making music.

I found out about LANY through my favorite soccer player’s monthly playlists that she made available to fans. After finding out about LANY, I would occasionally download a song once new singles were released. I never had a desire to see them perform live, but I think a festival is the perfect opportunity.

LANY plays Sunday at Coachella. As for timing, your guess is as good as mine. I’d expect to see them at Gobi or Mojave if they play later in the day. If they’re playing in an early afternoon time slot, they could possibly be performing on the Main Stage or Outdoor as well. As long as they do play earlier, they’d be an act I would love to catch since I’ve been following them here and there for the last 2-3 years. If an early set time is the case, I highly recommend you check them out. The only Sunday act in a similar set time scenario that I’d recommend over them would be Hayley Kiyoko. That’s because I’m biased, but I’ll get into her again in a week or two. For now, here’s a few song by LANY to get you ready for their first Coachella set:

1. Super Far
2. ILYSB
3. Good Girls
4. yea, babe, no way
5. Where the Hell Are My Friends?
6. pink skies
7. 13
8. current location
9. Bad, Bad, Bad
10. like you lots

Coachella Band Preview: Illenium

I swear the 3 months between the lineup release and Weekend One of Coachella always fly by. Now, once again, here we are just over a month away from the festival. As always once March hits, time is winding down. I’m sure plenty of attendees have begun the planning process of fashion and travel. It’ll be a few weeks before the set times and food vendors are announced though. I hope your planning process also includes jamming to some bands and artists playing the festival this year, otherwise why am I even posting this?! Regardless, at least you’re finding some info out about the music world, I guess? But let’s be real, I hope you’re using these to prep for Coachella. This week I’m previewing an electronic artist that hopped on to the scene around 2013. Since then he has quickly rose in the EDM rankings.

Denver’s Nick Miller, better known to the world by his DJ alias, Illenium, has made a notable impact on the electronic music scene recently. He was inspired to start recording music after he saw Bassnectar perform at Red Rocks in 2012. He released his first EP in 2013 and his debut album, Ashes, in 2016 under his own record label Kasaya Recordings. Ashes peaked on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums Chart at number 6 and on the Billboard Top Heatseeker’s Chart at number 19. About six months ago, he released his second album, Awake.

Illenium was originally a melodic dubstep/trap artist, but his latest album strays from that a bit. Several songs are more downtempo and have an atmospheric type sound similar to what you might hear from Odesza or Gryffin. It’s a definite progression from his debut, but still incorporates his signature sound. He’s stated that he plans on straying from that dubstep/trap sound in his live performances as well by sticking to more of his own music and playing less of others’.

I first heard of Illenium last year when I heard his collaboration on the track “Feel Good” with Coachella 2017 performer Gryffin and vocalist, Daya. After the release of his latest album, I spent a week or so listening to it as part of my work out routine, eventually downloading and adding a few songs to my typical work out playlist. I really liked his more recent sound and I definitely felt like he was an artist I would want to check out at a festival over the next year. Luckily that might happen!

Illenium plays on Sunday at Coachella. I’d guess his set to be at the Sahara Tent. He might even play there before expected Sunday Sahara headliner, Odesza, plays. If I’m free, I’d definitely want to drop in to his set for a bit. The only conflict for me would be if Portugal. The Man plays around the same time. Honestly, I’d probably go see Portugal. The Man. But if you’re trying to maximize your Coachella experience, you may want to catch a little of both sets. If you want to check out Illenium’s set, here’s what you need to hear first:

1. Feel Good
2. Fractures
3. Sound of Walking Away
4. Crawl Outta Love
5. With You
6. I’ll Be Your Reason
7. Don’t Give Up On Me
8. It’s All On U