Name: Pharoahe Monch
Genre: Rap
Day: Saturday

Wikipedia sez: “Pharoahe Monch (born Troy Donald Jamerson on October 31, 1972) is an American hip hop artist from Queens, NY. He is known for his complex delivery and multi-syllabic rhyme schemes. Pharoahe Monch’s name is derived from the monkey doll Mon Chi Chi. After receiving a bad haircut, which left Monch looking like a “chimpanzee”, girls in Monch’s High School class began calling him “Mon Chi Chi”, which was later shortened to “Monch”. Monch adopted the “Pharoahe” prefix after meeting future Organized Konfusion partner Prince Po. He chose the Pharaoh title while studying Egypt.”

Pharoahe Monch was on indie rap label Rawkus Records in the late nineties along with a host of the biggest underground names in rap such as Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Skillz and Common, so I’ve heard a few of his tunes in the past. Unlike some Monch is a poetic MC, focusing on clever wordplay and thoughtful rhymes rather then how fast he can spit or appealing to the masses. His songs also feature beats not often heard in tracks as he adapts (Push being a decent example), but he makes them work quite well. I gotta listen to some more of this guy, but so far I’m liking it.

Likelyhood of Seeing at Coachella: Yeah I think so.

Read on to view Pharoahe Monch live videos…

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Name: Peter Bjorn & John
Genre: Indie
Day: Saturday

Wikipedia sez: “Peter Bjorn and John are a Swedish indie rock band, formed in Stockholm in 1999. The current members are Peter Morén on vocals, guitar, and harmonica; Björn Yttling on vocals, bass and keyboards; and John Eriksson on drums, percussion, and vocals. To date they are best known for the 2006 single “Young Folks”, which featured Victoria Bergsman of The Concretes and was a top 40 hit in the UK Singles Chart. It was also named NME’s second best track of 2006, beaten only by “Over and Over” by Hot Chip. In Australia it was voted number 16 in the annual Triple J Hottest 100 for 2006.”

Young Folks was one of those classic summer songs that will be remembered for the ages due to it’s insane levels of catchiness. The rest of their album followed the same trend, with fantastic straight up rock tunes like Detects On My Affection and Roll To Credits or pop friendly songs like Paris 2004. It’s so refreshing to hear them in interviews to, these three guys play music for themselves and if people like it, they consider it a bonus. If they are as good live as their last album was, Peter Bjorn & John will be one act to catch at Coachella.

Likelyhood of Seeing at Coachella: Yes!

Read on to view Peter Bjorn & John live videos…

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Name: Peeping Tom
Genre: Experimental
Day: Friday

Wikipedia sez: “Peeping Tom is an experimental collaboration album by Mike Patton. It was released May 30, 2006 on Patton’s own record label, Ipecac Recordings. The set was pieced together by swapping song files through the mail with collaborators like Norah Jones, Kool Keith and Massive Attack.”

When reading about Peeping Tom, I had a bit of a smirk as I read that they were booed off the stage three times on three separate dates when performing as the warm-up act for The Who. Headed by ex-lead singer of Faith No More Mike Patton, Peeping Tom are experimental if experimental means a metal guy singing over hip-hop beats. Sure Mike may be happy with this album, but personally it really doesn’t work, with a really messy sound due to everything sounding out of place together. I can see why they were booed.

Likelyhood of Seeing at Coachella: No thanks.

Read on to view Peeping Tom live videos…

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