[Dynagroove] Let's Talk About The Pope. (not the dub version)

[aaron at tohzt.com]

Coming home to Los Angeles yesterday afternoon, the downtown skyline
looked beautifully wide and tall. This year I was considering selling my
tickets to Coachella on Craigslist, but those thoughts were nailed away
when I saw that people were dropping 2 day tickets for like 50 bux.  My
excitement grew as Saturday got closer, though and I decided that the
value was in the experience.   Say what you will about the big
festival/rave thing.  I dig it. There’s something amazing about being
somewhere with 50 thousand other people.  It turns out the trip out to the
desert was well worth the time and effort.  If for nothing else than for
the chance to see a bigger sky with no buildings and some planets; I even
saw a couple falling stars and a witch riding around on a bike.



I was going to give a play by play by artist, but I took the day off
yesterday so I have some work I need to catch up on and can’t be spending
my time writing another one of these fucking emails.  Sara calls them
cries for help.  Please, help me.  I love music too much!  So, I’ll just
dabble a little bit in my personal highlights.



I heard different people talking all this mess about how the
Electronic/Dance lineup was not so hot this year.  I have to disagree. 
Maybe it’s cause I’ve been on this whole electro/clash buzz the past year,
but the dj lineup could have cooked a tri-tip in my opinion.  Swayzak,
Tiga, Matthew Dear,  Z-Trip, Miss Kittin, Roni Size, Junkie XL
..  Coming
in, I was most excited to hear Tiga.  Tiga is like the Justin Timberlake
of the electroclash loving homo world, for real.  I think I had too great
of expectations, cause I left feeling like his Canadian ass was just
.OK. 
I wasn’t blown away.  Matthew Dear was a louder bomb for me.  He tore that
shit up and burned it in the trashcan.  I guess I’m a damn hippie raver,
but I LOVE it when a beat drops and you can hear the cheers of the crowd
and see raised arms and people’s sass spilling all over the place.  Good
times.



On that note, a friend and I decided that someone should have a Heartthrob
DJ Contest/Event.  You can give 30 minutes to an hour to each contestant. 
A winner will be judged by overall volume and duration of audience
applause.  I’m sure they have some sort of machine that can monitor this. 
The DJs have to do whatever it takes to keep the applause going.  WHATEVER
IT TAKES.  Shirtless, in a thong, on stilts, juggling, Madonna remixes,
sure
.WHATEVER IT TAKES.  Winner gets the title
.America’s Heartthrob DJ. 
 Maybe it can be a reality show too.  The second season will be all
females.



Less sexuality more music
  (crying for help) Getting back to that,  I
must say that the Chemical Brothers played an amazing show.  I saw them a
couple years back at Coachella, and I thought they sucked.  It was
probably cause the sound was shitty or maybe it was cause I was acting
like a snobbish house person who thinks all mainstream electronica is
lame, who knows.  This year they played in a tent and the sound was great.
 I’m all about the obscure and eclectic, but honestly they and The Faint
were at the top of my list of best performances.  I’ve seen The Faint
twice before, and for some reason I still can’t get tired of seeing them
play.  The Bravery, Bloc Party, and Kasabian were all damn great to hear
again also.  As far as stuff I hadn’t heard, I was impressed by Gram
Rabbit and Pinback.  I went straight to Tower this morning and picked up
their cds.  That’s GRAM RABBIT and PINBACK.



And now for the lowlights
..  I expected more from MIA.  Her beats were
nice, but her vocals were not strong/loud enough.  The galang only sounds
good in the studio just like the boyfriend only looks good from certain
angles.  And what the hell was up with her homegirl in that cap. She
needed to rethink her outfit.  It was almost as bad as that fool wearing
my old Iowa t-shirt.  I’ll say this though, the crowd seemed into it.  On
the MIA tip, there is some good stuff from Jah Waggie to check out.  Do
it, now, and let MIA grow some stronger vocal chords and get the boyfriend
some work done on that busted nose.  Yes, I’m talking to you.  That's JAH
WAGGIE.



Also, I was stoked for the opportunity to hear New Order, but it ended
with pretty much just a laugh.  I sat through their whole performance and
left wanting to hang myself with a scarf.  I just didn’t feel the energy;
I felt like I was more excited to see them than they were to be playing. 
They did play the Kylie Minogue version of Blue Monday though.  That was
cool.  During New Order, I was laying on the grass in front of a group of
three 50ish year old ladies and behind of group of 20 somethings on
ecstasy.  I know they were on ecstasy, cause, well, a pro can always tell,
you know.  I was having alone time and people watching.  Anyway, the three
old ladies were talking.  I wasn’t listening at first, but I started when
I heard, “So, Rose, what kind of high is this?”  Rose says, “Margerie,
it’s more of a mellow high.  Not like yesterday.  That was psychedelic.” 
At this moment, I wished that I could have taken a sip of the special
punch they had in their thermos.  You weren’t even supposed to be allowed
to bring in containers.  They probably said they were all diabetics and
needed their special punch.  Shelby, drink the juice
DRINK THE JUICE.  I
had to settle for eating one of those $5 lemon slushy drinks to get me
high.  Those old ladies were cool.  I hope I become a cool old lady. 
Festival
FOREVER!  (sung like “Fiesta, forever
.all night long
all night)



But, being back home feels greater than ever, as it should.   There’s only
a small trace of post-coachella depression.  That’s not to be confused
with post-E depression.  That shit is deadly.



I came home and reread the email about the new WEDNESDAY NIGHT, and got
even more excited.  I started to overanalyze it and came up with this:  A
good Wednesday night house party is necessary for this city.  We know this
one is going to be blessed just based on the lineup.  What is hotter than
having Doc christen the weekly?  We gotta do this up with some champagne,
like we’re getting a new pope.  Break the bottle on the curb to cut a
bitch.. Oh, that’s a beer bottle, nevermind.  Anyway, take a tip from Mr.
Big L and go to MOVIN.  Take another tip from him and BUY BLACK CDRs. 
They’re just
..better.



Roger that. Over.out.



<3

Aaron (the party weirdo)



Don’t rely on this to get you high.  Get yourself high.