Hasta La Ideas

The 17 bands most likely to play the mother of outdoor festivals next year

by Matt Spangler

A few weeks after Coachella some bands have loaded their gear into buses and are back on the road, while others head to studios to try and capture the energy of the festival for next year’s hit songs. I myself have been replaying performances to packed audiences by the likes of Crystal Castles, Cut Copy, Chromeo and Afrojack (with Beatles legend Paul McCartney getting into the fun on the side of the stage) in my head.

Thinking about what acts might take the stage at Coachella 2012, we based the following predictions on the festival’s history of sticking to what they know—successfully blending electronic, dance and indie rock, with a sprinkling of eclectic stadium-selling artists for the masses.

At The Tents

Holy Ghost

Opening for Coachella faves Cut Copy and on the powerhouse label DFA, look for Holy Ghost to easily bag a Gobi tent spot. If the guys in the band are anywhere near as charismatic as their dads, who appear in their latest video for “Wait & See,” they’re a lock.

Dillon Francis

Diplo’s label Mad Decent has been putting out some crunky dance music lately with artists like Major Lazer and Rusko, and newcomer Dillon Francis follows suit releasing his EP “Masta Blasta” on the label. His sick remixes and dubstep sound are the perfect fit to satisfy the drum-and-bass crazed fans in the Sahara tent.

Young Galaxy

Considering the prominence of Montreal-bred music this past year at Coachella, including Chromeo, A-Trak and Duck Sauce (though they’re all from the same family), it seems logical that next year will produce a representative from just across the border. On their third album Young Galaxy (pictured above right) had the help of Dan Lissvik to produce their best record yet, and a dance-inflected pop sound that’s pitch-perfect for the Coachella crowd.

Bag Raiders

Record label Modular Recordings is no stranger to Coachella bands and it’s likely that next year the Sydney dance duo, Bag Raiders (Chris Stacey and Jack Glass, pictured above) will represent the imprint in the Mojave tent. Their remix prowess has given them additional exposure to the dance crowd, and they’re in Europe now honing their live sound. Now it’s just a matter if anyone can tell the difference between them and their Melbourne brethren and label-mates, Cut Copy.

Morning Parade

Like Two Door Cinema Club this year, Morning Parade (not pictured) is a popular dance-driven rock band with a sound that appeals to the tents. Hailing from Essex, the boys should get a push from EMI this year leading up to the fest and a tour that could build enough stateside buzz to book them an appearance.

The Naked and Famous

With catchy hooks filling in around pretty vocal melodies, New Zealand quintet The Naked and Famous (above) make this an easy call. Signed with Fiction Records—alongside Elbow, one of the more talked about acts from this past year—The Naked and Famous are ones to start loving now.

Mona

After an old-fashioned bidding war for their major label debut and an inspired run of small shows in NYC last winter, it’s likely that you’ll see the foursome behind Mona (not pictured) appear on a Coachella stage in 2012. While their rockabilly look and southern religious roots make it tough to escape Kings of Leon comparisons, Mona’s sound borders more on Jack’s Mannequin than that of the Followill brothers. They’re scheduled to play bigger and more diverse festivals in the U.K. this year, but they’ll need more buzz stateside by early next year to get a booking.

Dom

Like Beach House before them, Dom has a chance for an early day tent slot. Grungy electro sound, check. Dance-y synthesized beats and hooks, check. Female lead singer, check…wait..no, that’s actually a guy singing those parts. Color us surprised as well. All signs point to this trio from Massachusetts taking the stage with the help of their booking agency Ground Control Booking, who has a history of booking acts at Coachella, including four bands from this past year.

The Japanese Popstars

Insanely catchy dance music beats, tripped out video animations and a collaboration with Robert Smith from the Cure seems like the perfect pieces to add up to a Coachella appearance. With a new label deal on Virgin as well as a well-crafted and talked about live show experience, we predict The Japanese Popstars will be getting a prized night-time slot in the tents in 2012.

The Sleepy Jackson

If its one thing that Coachella loves it’s its lead singer spin-offs. Two years ago it was Thom Yorke’s Atom’s of Peace collaboration with Flea and this past year it was Brandon Flowers. After Luke Steele gave Empire of the Sun a triumphant tour of the US in 2010, he’ll take his solo project, The Sleepy Jackson out on the road in 2011…likely ending with an outdoor stage appearance at Coachella 2012.

At The Outdoor Stage

Fleet Foxes

The perennial Coachella favorite haven’t hit the Festival in two years, nor had a new album in nearly the same amount of time. With their new record already garnering solid reviews since dropping yesterday and a tour sure to follow, they’re a likely sure thing for either the main stage or a headlining slot at the outdoor stage.

Lykke Li

With her Wounded Rhymes just starting to get some buzz and a summer tour around the U.S., it’s likely that Lykke Li (not pictured) will make a return to Coachella since her last appearance in 2009.

Bon Iver

Justin Vernon was the only guest star of note that Kanye West trotted out during his Coachella performance…perhaps a calculated nod to the audience. With his latest release For Emma slated for a 21 June 2011 release, it’s likely that a year from now Bon Iver will be making a victory lap with significant billing at the 2012 Coachella lineup

Metric

Nothing the Coachella crowds like better then dance driven electro-rock bands led by charismatic female singers. With their new album likely out in early 2012, you can bet on Metric (not pictured) being on next year’s bill.

Ryan Adams

Based on his recent surprise opening for Emmylou Harris in Los Angeles, Ryan Adams has a slate of new songs and could be ready to release them this year. He is a near-perennial at Coachella, having been one of the acts purported to play who canceled when he broke up with The Cardinals.

At The Main Stage

Justice

If there is a band that currently defines the Coachella audience, then Justice might be it. With their crossover appeal and club kid cred, there is little doubt the French duo would draw some of the biggest crowds at the Festival. Their new album is slated to drop in late 2011, with its single “Civilization” recently featured in the Adidas brand campaign directed by Justice collaborator Romain Gavras, so they should be primed and ready for a headliner appearance. We’re calling it for Saturday night.

Beastie Boys

File this under automatic. With Hot Sauce Committee Vol. 2 out soon, and their viral celeb-studded films “Making Some Noise” to promote their new album blowing up the Internet, there’s no doubt that the boys from Brooklyn will be ready to commandeer the Sunday night headliner spot next year.

Thumbnail image by Jason Lester Photography

Hamish Bowles and Diane von Furstenberg at last night’s Pratt Institute Fashion Show in Manhattan. (Photos: UnBeige)

We’ve had the pleasure of hearing Hamish Bowles, Vogue‘s European Editor at Large, enrapture a crowd with his knowledge of fashion history, of taking in his most recent curatorial triumph (“Balenciaga: Spanish Master,” now on view at the de Young Museum in San Francisco as “Balenciaga and Spain”), and of reading his books and articles, including those delightful fish-out-of-water pieces for Vogue that see the dapper Brit take on everything from pro basketball and surfing to Outward Bound-style adventures and “urban foraging.” But who knew he could sing? Bowles’ apparently boundless talents were highlighted last night as Pratt Institute honored him with its Fashion Icon award at its annual fashion show.

A video montage featured Bowles capably crooning a Cole Porter tune and shooting hoops with New York Knicks power forward Amar’e Stoudemire amidst tributes from the likes of Anna Wintour, Harold Koda, and Grace Coddington. According to Diane von Furstenberg, who presented Bowles with the award, he can also dance and draw. “He’s a true Renaissance man,” she told the crowd. “And because he can do anything, Anna asks him to everything.” Von Furstenberg, who received the inaugural Fashion Icon award in 2006, went on to compare Bowles to a sponge. “He takes it all in and then he knows how to bring it out,” she said, before closing with a push for Bowles to try his hand at one more thing. “I hope, Hamish, that one day you will dare to be a designer.”

Bowles accepted the award graciously, crediting his mother and father for encouraging his early interests in art and design. “I’m not sure every parent would indulge their ten-year-old child’s Christmas wish list request for a subscription to Vogue,” he said. Another critical influence was his education at Central Saint Martins, where he learned as much from fellow students as he did in the classroom—all while assembling legendary nightclub ensembles. Bowles praised Pratt for its own commitment to providing students with exposure to a variety of creative fields, whether they’re majoring in fashion design or film production. He ended by thanking Wintour, seated in the front row and with sunglasses at the ready for the imminent runway show, for a job that is in turns thrilling, challenging, terrifying, and fulfilling. “Thank you, Anna, for the gift that keeps on giving.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Fasten your fascinators, design fans, because the royal wedding is but a week away. Bidding is still open for those mod takes on commemorative plates we told you about earlier this month, and today we bring you a window into the highly anticipated nuptials from Liberty, the 136-year-old London department store. This week saw the debut of “A Right Royal Affair,” a window of Liberty’s iconic Tudor building that features such wedding finery as a Mini filled with gifts (homegoods, rose-scented toiletries, a couple of rather creepy ceramic cats), flags, stuffed Corgis, and a three-tiered, Liberty-print cake topped with a figure of the Queen, who clutches her handbag and offers a signature wave. The car is adorned with cheeky bumper stickers, including “Granny Knows Best,” “My Other Car is a Horse and Carriage,” and “Have a Nice Day…Off.” Meanwhile, inside the store, there are plenty of souvenirs on offer. We like London-based designer Simeon Farrar‘s “God Save The King and His Queen” tote bag, a riff on Jaime Reid‘s famous Sex Pistols album cover. At £85 ($140) price, think of it as an Earth Day present to yourself.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Last night, NYC Tech Connect hosted its first Technology You Can Touch mixer—a networking event aimed at engineers and inventors with the goal of fostering “the development of a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem in NYC.” While New York is currently awash in incubator and startup support for artists and new media technologists, organizer Shari Ford is particularly committed to nurturing endeavors in bioscience, cleantech, material, and other hard sciences—which are less served outside of university or college settings. The Technology You Can Touch event looked to start assisting this community by focusing on identifying non-university support and resources available for those in the hard sciences in New York City.

To that end, the inaugural meet-and-greet included working industrial designers from companies like ECCO Design, entrepreneurs with projects ranging from a solar-powered grill to laser-cut false eyelashes and representatives from a variety of labs, incubators, and other resources in New York City where people turn their designs into reality via 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC machines, work spaces and most importantly, community.

A few of the representatives were:

Peter Semmelhack of Bug Labs which develops open source “snap together” electronic components so that artists, designers and engineers can easily create the devices they need without an EE degree. Additionally Bug Labs has their Test Kitchen—an open R&D lab that hosts classes, workshops or provides individual workspace. buglabs.net

Bre Pettis of MakerBot envisions “world cooperation via 3D printing.” MakerBot Industries doesn’t provide 3D printing services, but instead (in the truest teaching a person to fish intention) creates open source DIY kits of affordable, desktop, 3D printers: MakerBots. makerbot.com

Russell Durrett and Sung won Lim of Genspace helped create the first “hackerspace for biologists” last year by building an open, nonprofit, community laboratory in downtown Brooklyn. Genspace is a fully equipped, membership-based lab that provides a safe, Biosafety Level 1 compliant facility, as well as classes, workshops and a strong biotechnology community. genspace.org

Additional resources for designers and fabricators include:

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If good fences make good neighbors, then just think of the possibilities where chunky steel walls are concerned. Chicagoans are about to reap the benefits, as Valerie Carberry Gallery and Wright have teamed up to present “Wall,” Tony Smith‘s monumental work of 1964. The 18-foot-long, black-painted slab goes on view May 6 at Wright and marks the the first presentation of a major work by Smith in Chicago in over 40 years. And as if that weren’t enough Wright-related excitement for one day, the auction house is hosting a May 3 reception to kick off the first annual Architecture and Design Film Festival in Chicago. At said bash, they’ll be showing artist Sarah Morris‘s Points on a Line, a stunning film (in fact, the best one we saw in 2010) in which she explores the Farnsworth House and the Glass House, Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson (including a peek inside the latter architect’s Rolodex, preserved for posterity), and the role of the architect and curator. Among the 39 films to be screened at the festival itself are Citizen Architect: Samuel Mockbee And The Spirit Of The Rural Studio, Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight, Eye Over Prague, and Visual Acoustics, Eric Bricker‘s portrait of Julius Shulman.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.