This Nashville rock band of brothers, plus a cousin, has already managed to grab a number of headlines this year. In January alone, Kings of Leon canceled a number of dates on their Australia and South Africa tour following drummer Nathan Followill’s sailing injury, and a Twitter war ensued between Nathan and Glee creator Ryan Murphy over KOL’s refusal to allow their music to appear on the show. Murphy has since apologized. At this year’s Coachella fest, the four Followill boys, whose band is named after Nathan, Caleb, and Jared’s father, Leon Followill, will kick off the weekend, headlining Friday’s slate of talent. Songs that will get the crowd roaring, no doubt, are “ Sex on Fire” and “ Use Somebody,” from their fourth album Only by the Night. Next, look out for the band’s documentary about their Pentecostal upbringing, Talihina Sky, which has its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival next Thursday.
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One of the now famous lyrics of his popular song, “F— You,” aka “Forget You,” for the PG-13 crowd, became known the world over as everyone’s favorite expletive. From the Gwyneth Paltrow version on Glee, to William Shatner’s bleeped-out R-rated version on Lopez Tonight, to a few YouTube covers, Cee Lo Green has hit—and hit big! But this isn’t Cee Lo’s first success. In the mid-’90s, he entered the music scene as an original member of the Atlanta hip-hop group Goodie Mob and broke out as a solo artist in 2002 with Billboard Top 200 singles “ Closet Freak” and “ I’ll Be Around.” In 2005, he and DJ Danger Mouse formed the dynamic duo Gnarls Barkley, which found success with the single “ Crazy.” And if Cee Lo Green’s performance of “ Forget You” at the Grammys is any indication of what you’ll be seeing come this Friday at Coachella, you’ll be in for a treat—perhaps even with the original lyrics.
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The gritty, blues-rock sound of The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, from Akron, Ohio, seems to be sweeping the nation lately. In February, they took home three Grammy Awards for their sixth studio release, Brothers, in a double upset win over rock faves Arcade Fire. Given the band’s recent success, including a No. 1 single, “ Tighten Up,” on Billboard’s Hot 100, what might be surprising to some mainstream music fans is that the band has released six albums since 2002. Their first release, The Big Come Up, which was recorded on an eight-track tape recorder in Carney’s basement, contained the single, “I’ll Be Your Man,” which would, in 2009, become the theme song for HBO’s comedy drama Hung. With their high-voltage presence, it’s no doubt the duo will rock the crowd at Coachella this year.
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In the late 1990s, this Swedish pop sensation, then a teenager, shot to fame with her debut album Robyn Is Here and hit U.S. gold with the single “ Do You Know (What It Takes),” and later with the international remix hit “ With Every Heartbeat.” But now Robyn has reemerged as an indie music lovers’ favorite with the release of her Body Talk compilation, and the Madonna-esque single “ Indestructible.” Robyn’s an energetic performer, dancing around to the beats of her uplifting dance songs, which she actually sings live. At a recent show her band dressed as lab technicians in white garb, while she sang covers of songs by Norway’s Royksopp, who had previously featured her in a few songs in 2009.
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On her long-awaited recent tour across the U.S., Ms. Lauryn Hill hasn’t had the kindest of reviews—mostly because of her extremely tardy appearances on stage. Luckily for fans, Coachella maintains a set schedule within each 24-hour period. But if her upcoming performance is anything like that of her current tour, audiences will be hearing revamped versions of songs from her debut solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, including the hit singles “ Everything Is Everything,” “ Doo Wop (That Thing),” and others from her five-time Grammy winning album. And, of course, a show with Hill just wouldn’t be complete without a few hits from her Fugees period, like “ Ready or Not” and “ Killing Me Softly.” While Hill’s repertoire consists of songs released more than a decade ago—as far as she’s showed lately—her presence and performance skills are always a force to be reckoned with.
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Be prepared to go into a mind-bending, intergalactic trance during this British electronica duo’s set. Childhood friends Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have been making music together for two decades, turning the 1990s rave sound of big beat electronic dance music into a mainstream success. In the U.K., The Chemical Brothers, formerly known as The Dust Brothers, have had more than 15 Top 200 singles, and in the U.S., eight of their albums have made it to the Billboard Top 200. Their single “ Setting Sun," reached Billboard’s Hot 100, and the songs “Do It Again,” “The Salmon Dance,” and newest single “ Swoon,” from their latest album release, Further, are just a few of the songs that have made fans, well, swoon over the years.
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What is OFWGKTA? A sort of anarchic, goth Wu-Tang Clan, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All—for short, Odd Future—is a large group of skater-punk youths from Los Angeles ranging in age from 16 to 23. Led by the ubercreative mind of Tyler the Creator, the hip-hop group hit the ground running in the music biz and have put fear into the hearts of parents whose kids listen to rap. Members include The Creator, Hodgy Beats, Earl Sweatshirt, Left Brain, Jasper Dolphin, Domo Genesis, Matt Martians of the Super 3, Mike G, Syd, and Taco. The Creator has already issued challenges to well-known artists such as B.o.B., Bruno Mars, and Kanye West. In February, Jimmy Fallon brought the group into the homes of people across the nation when they performed their indie single “ Sandwitches,” which made its album debut with the 19-year-old Tyler the Creator’s release of Yonkers.
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Maybe Rosie O’Donnell had never heard of this Canadian band before they took home Album of the Year at the Grammys in February, but that doesn’t mean Arcade Fire didn’t deserve their award. Their performance that night of “ Month of May," which included trick bikers zooming across the stage, showed audiences just what a high-powered indie band of rockers could do. The band, which includes the husband and wife duo Win Butler and Regine Chassagne, and five other multi-instrumentalists, released their third studio album, The Suburbs, in 2010, holding their position on the Billboard charts for 14 weeks, with a peak at No. 1. Fans will likely hope to see this headlining band perform songs like “ Rebellion,” and “ Wake Up,” from their first album, the critically acclaimed Funeral, and the now ever-present single, “ Ready to Start,” from The Suburbs.
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Who could FORGET Mumford & Sons, The Avett Brothers, and Bob Dylan on stage together at the Grammys this past February, performing Dylan’s “ Maggie’s Farm?” Mumford & Sons’ folk rock sound, created with a banjo, accordion, dobro, and upright bass, is exactly what mainstream music has needed for quite some time. Following a string of EPs, this British foursome released their first studio album, Sigh No More, in 2009, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard charts and earning two Grammy nods. The audience at Coachella is no doubt looking forward to lead singer Marcus Mumford’s raspy renditions of “ Little Lion Man” and “ The Cave".
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This male-female duo of Alison “VV” Mosshart and Jamie “Hotel” Hince has been compared to The White Stripes. The Kills—one part American, one part British—made their debut in 2002 with the EP Black Rooster, followed by their first album, Keep Your Mean Side, which earned them rave reviews, and a number of favorable comparisons to artists like PJ Harvey and the Velvet Underground. Their success has been mostly confined to the U.K. and indie rock and punk fans, but with the 2011 release of their fourth album, Blood Pressures and single “ Satellite,” VV and Hotel have got U.S. music magazines talking. On a side note, Alison Mosshart is also one-fourth of another band, The Dead Weather, with The White Stripes’ Jack White.
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This band, from Bowling Green, Kentucky, is known for its high-energy performances. Cage the Elephant scored a record deal after showcasing at SXSW in 2007; two years later, the band of five came out with a self-titled debut album, and the songs “ Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” and “ Back Against the Wall” quickly became alt rock favorites. The band, fronted by Mathew Shultz, released a second album, Thank You, Happy Birthday, this January, reaching the No. 1 spot its first day out on iTunes and debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 Chart. Radio stations across the country are playing them constantly, and the song fans will most likely want to hear on Saturday is the new single “ Shake Me Down.”
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The Strokes’ long and fabulous ride has had its ups and downs. But what can anyone expect from a band that started at the top? Fronted by Julian Casablancas, son of model king John Casablancas, and rounded out by childhood friends Nick Valensi and Fabrizio Moretti, then joined by Albert Hammond, Jr. and Nikolai Fraiture, The Strokes’ critically acclaimed beginnings in New York led to a bidding war among five major record labels, with RCA winning out. If fans have their way this Sunday, when the band co-headlines with Kanye West, they’ll hear favorites from all four albums, including “ Last Night” and “ Someday,” from their first album, Is This It, “ Reptilia,” from album No. 2, “ Juicebox,” off of First Impressions on Earth, and from their latest album, Angles, “ Under Cover of Darkness.”
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Following Jay-Z’s lead last year as the first hip-hop artist to headline Coachella, hip-hop’s bad boy, Kanye West, is scheduled to perform Sunday night. But when his name was announced in January as a headlining artist, many longtime festival goers were none too pleased. West first rose in the music biz as a producer for Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Fella Records. In 2004, he released his debut album as an artist, The College Dropout, and his first single, “ Through the Wire,” written after a near-death accident left West with his mouth wired shut, reflected his passion for art and life. The following year, his single “ Gold Digger,” featuring Jamie Foxx, held the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 list for nine weeks, and the rest is history. Despite his oafish hijacking of Taylor Swift’s VMA speech in 2009, West’s is a show you don’t want to miss—whether he plays “ Stronger,” from the album Graduation, or his newest single, “ All of the Lights”.
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In the ’80s, these Brits—Simon, John, Nick, and Roger (plus Andy)—were plastered on young girls’ walls around the world, and everyone else sang along to songs like “ Rio,” “ The Reflex,” and “ A View to a Kill.” Now, 13 studio albums later, the Duran Duran fans knew and loved back then is here again with a sound that’s strangely familiar—and that’s a good thing. They’ve had 22 singles earn Billboard Hot 100 spots, most of them in the ’80s, and the last time they reached Billboard lists was in 2004. But with DJ-producer Mark Ronson at the helm of Duran Duran’s newest album, All You Need Is Now, and many newer artists' penchant for ’80s sounds, it seems the band may have another hit. Their first single, and title track, brings to mind another ’80s favorite, “New Moon on Monday.”
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Some may think of PJ Harvey as a shape-shifter, an artistic chameleon, or a woman of many faces, since every time she comes out with a new album, her look changes to match her sound. But one thing most everyone can say about her is that she’s brilliant. Since 1992, she’s brought the rock world to its knees, with Kurt Cobain naming her first album, Dry, one of his top 20 favorites. A Los Angeles Times journalist called her latest album, Let England Shake, “ patriotic folk,” and the U.K.’s NME compared her album’s war ballads to a musical version of Francis Ford Coppola and Ernest Hemingway. So what is it about PJ Harvey that makes her so mesmerizing? If you happened to catch her performance of her new single, “The Last Living Rose,” on Conan this week, you may have seen an angelic image in white, heard the voice of a siren’s song, and listened to the poetry, all at once.
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