HEAVY COACHELLA-A-A-A
I swear...it may as well be a holiday the day Coachella releases their line-up. It's the one universal cheer heard around the country it seems. How can cheese go moldy when there's Coachella!? How can socks go missing when there's Coachella?! How can anyone be mad at anything when there's Coachella!? Now that being said, this year is one helluva line-up. I'm super excited to see some great old school bands in the mix along with a few of my friends tacked into the roster. Super excited for Matt & Kim, Sleigh Bells, Gossip, The XX, Major Lazer and our own IAMSOUND family Little Boots and Florence & The Machine. These three days in the desert might be the best to date.
On another high note, our good friends The Heavy rocked Letterman last night. When the hell has Dave ever asked a band to do an encore!?

These guys are amazing...you might remember one of their tracks from a year back as part of the Shadowscene videobooth. The newest album, The House that Dirt Built, is phenomenal so get on that now! Check out some classic pics from their show in San Diego on the last Shadowscene tour and back in Los Angeles for mayhem.
And when in doubt...Coachella!

SMASHED BASHINGS
Welcome to the Shadowscene recap of this years CMJ. Okay, it's really not all that formal. I'm just going to lay it out and tell you what bands you need to be watching. Oh, and I might bitch a little bit about having my window smashed in. Let's start there.
Two weeks ago in Philly Carney told me to get my damn pennies out of the tray; because I may as well be asking for it. Pennies. Threw those things into a "give a penny, take a penny" jar and moved on. A week later in New York I park the Shadow-mobile in Brooklyn. Bresnitz helps me clear it out of anything remotely important (robots, cardigans, box of almonds) also enforcing the "smashed window shenanigans". 48 hours later I have a smashed window. And the typical thoughts ensue: wtf!? why!? and why didn't they bother to take anything?! I mean seriously. If you're gonna go the mile of busting in a window and causing all that mess, at least take something. Even the rearview mirror. An air freshner maybe? Make it worth my time. The loose pieces from the console were strewn about on the sidewalk and all we figured was they broke in because the shadow-mobile came with a stupid garmin sticker on it. Thanks pre-owner. Bresnitz and I decided to just cut that piece of the dashboard with the sticker on it right out and then half heartedly attempted to tape a garbage bag to the window...with tape that didn't want to stick. Naturally. After a year of the worse car luck ever, I may as well start leaving my keys in the ignition with the windows down. Maybe even a sign...take me, please.
Now take this. Moving on to the real point of CMJ...bashes with smashed people and music clangs. I hit up the IAM Sound showcase which was listed by Stereogum as the best showcase of CMJ, the High Rise PR fiesta with Via Tania and Midnight Juggernauts, Dovecote Records bash, Green Label Sound with Chromeo and a bunch of random running arounds including the Santos Party House, Fader Party and Brooklyn Bowl. I fortunately rolled a strike in my Dr Martens. I got drenched in the rain and was completely content with it since it was 78 degrees. I ate way too many pork chops thanks to Bobby Flay. I watched the mural for Dinner With the Band take up a wall in Brooklyn: step by step. Drank a shitty chai latte. Drank way too many screwdrivers.

After a week of nonstop music and car repair here are Shadowscene's picks for the top artists to watch based upon my galivanting: Restless People, Apache Beat, Suckers, The XX, Yacht, Duchess Says, Sleigh Bells, and Fools Gold.

But the best part is, I spent the week defrosting and ended it with a nice even thaw.

Check out this video from The XX: