Name:? MSTRKRFT
Genre: Dance
Day: Saturday

Wikipedia sez: “MSTRKRFT (read as “Masterkraft”) is an electronic music group from East York, Ontario, Canada who are signed to Last Gang Records. The group was started in 2005 by Jesse F. Keeler formerly of Death from Above 1979 and Al-P (Alex Puodziukas) formerly of the Mississauga electropop group Girlsareshort. Al-P was also the producer for Death from Above 1979’s debut album You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine as well as several of (Jesse’s former band) Black Cat #13’s records. MSTRKRFT also produced Die Mannequin’s first E.P., How to Kill.”

Previous to researching info on MSTRKRFT, I had only heard of their remix of Wolfmother’s Women which was all kinds of crazy. In one way it’s refreshing to hear that the rest of their music is just that frantic, although it will turn people off. One listen of a song like Work on You and you will notice all sorts of things - robotic vocals, hard electronic drum beats and electronic organ tunes just to name a few. Their music makes you just want to stand there and nod your head, it’s easy to catch onto and sticks in your head after listening. So far, so good.

Likelyhood of Seeing at Coachella: Maybe, not sure.

Read on to view MSTRKRFT live videos…

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Name: Mike Relm
Genre: Electronic
Day: Saturday

Wikipedia sez: “Mike Relm is a Chinese American DJ, turntablist, and VJ from San Francisco, California. He has performed with notable hip-hop artists Money Mark, The Gift of Gab, and D-Sharp. In 1999, he won the International Turntablist Federation’s USA competition. More recently he toured as part of Mike Patton’s Peeping Tom project. As a solo artist, Relm is known for live performances which feature a series of audio mashups paired with video images, manipulated in real-time with a turntable-like device (e.g. Pioneer DVJ1000).”

I don’t really know what to write about Mike Relm given he is better if you see him in action. Relm is a split DJ/VJ, combining all types of music (think Cut Chemist/Shadow - Product Placement) along with video, so you get yourself video samples from movies, cartoons, television shows and even some home movies of the musician in action. From what I’ve heard so far his stuff is really scratch heavy (I don’t mind that, but prefer to the songs more then hearing scratching) and I imagine his set at Coachella will focus on the video side. The downside to that is that I imagine you will need to be standing near the front to see everything going on, which only the hardcord will do.

Likelyhood of Seeing at Coachella: Eh I’m not crazy about it, but I may check it out.

Read on to view Mike Relm live videos…

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Name: Mika
Genre: Pop
Day: Sunday

Wikipedia sez: “Mica Penniman (born August 18, 1983), known by his stage name MIKA - informally written as Mika - is a London-based singer who has a contract with Casablanca Records and Universal Music. In January 2007, he came top of BBC News’s Sound of 2007 poll. His first single was a limited 7″/download release called “Relax, Take It Easy” (2006), which features the melody of “(I Just) Died in Your Arms” by Cutting Crew. It was playlisted by BBC Radio 1 in the United Kingdom, and was also made Record of the Week by DJ Scott Mills. The Dodgy Holiday EP is also available for download. His song Billy Brown was available for free download for a week from the iTunes Music Store. Universal Music released his single Grace Kelly by digital download on 8 January 2007, and it reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on 21 January 2007.”

There are a lot of similarities between Mika and Freddy Mercury (Mika mentioning himself that he “will try a little Freddy” in single Gracy Kelly), but the two artists are different, with most of Mika’s tracks being more Scissor Sisters meets George Michael then Queen for modern times. The good thing about Mika is that they have an excitement about them due to tracks like Gracy Kelly filling up your ear drums with a full bodied sound with Mika’s falsetto clear evidence that the guy can sing, and sing well. From what I’ve heard so far, his music would carry to big crowds too as a bonus.

Likelyhood of Seeing at Coachella: Depends on clashes, but I like what I’ve heard so far.

Read on to view Mika live videos…

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Name: Manu Chao Radio Bemba Sound System
Genre: World
Day: Sunday

Wikipedia sez: “Manu Chao (born June 21, 1961 in Paris) is a French Latin singer of Galician-Basque Spanish origin. Chao and other bandmates from Mano Negra formed a new group, Radio Bemba Sound System, featuring artists from widely varying groups such as Tijuana No! (from Mexico), Skank (from Brazil), and Todos Tus Muertos (from Argentina). The goal was to replicate the sound of street music and bar scenes from a variety of cultures; to that end, Chao and the group spent several years travelling throughout South and Central America, recording new music as they went. The resulting music differed drastically from Mano Negra; the songs were primarily sung in Spanish with far fewer French tracks, and the musical style had shifted from punk and alternative styles to the street vibe Chao was aiming for.”

I’ve been seeing a whole lot of talk about Manu Chao on the various Coachella related blogs and message boards, so I was a bit worried that Radio Bemba would disappoint. At first I thought they were just okay, but the more I listened to the more I liked. Songs like Por El Suelo will begin in one direction with a bit of Spanish reggae, stay in that direction for a little while then smack you in the face with a ska-like chorus, totally unexpected only to slow back down again. Other tracks like Hamburger Hills give off a punk rock feel that you just want to chant along with. Mano Chao Radio Bemba Sound System make songs that grow on you, they have for me in the little bit of time I’ve listened to them and if they are playing on Sunday night I might make a point of seeing them.

Likelyhood of Seeing at Coachella: Should be good.

Read on to view Manu Chao Radio Bemba Sound System live videos…

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