Donald Trump Armageddon Playlist

Well, at last it finally happened after years of systematically dumbing-down the population through bad education, superstition, and cellphones, the Electoral College has followed the will of those who resist facts, are dubious of science, fear research, avoid inquiry, love incendiary fake news, and like to pretend their life is an undignified reality show. Trump is now President of the (no longer United) States of America. He's a quantifiable idiot, continuously indicted by his own words and tweets, lapsing into self-parody whenever he's in front of a camera, and dangerously clumsy with every aspect of foreign policy. His people love it all - the spectacle, the simplicity, the implied permission to be an asshole, the dictionary (jk about that one), and now we're locked into four years of his unreadable transcripts and possible escalating nuclear tensions. To many Christians, Trump represents the fulfillment of God's will, although they'd be hard-pressed to tell you exactly WHY, but that question is banned from most churches, or there'd be no churches. They love anything that hastens their imaginary "Rapture" and are willing to stoop to self-fulfilling prophecy.

They can fuck off, right? Anyway, with WWIII around the corner (where only the poor die, and the rich get richer), I present to you a party playlist for the end of the world. Because we might as well have some fun and dance our way into oblivion. Thanks for listening. I love you.

Winter Indie Music Playlist 2016

These are stressful times, now more than ever. Hope these candlelit tracks ease your burdens. Feel free to comment, subscribe and share with friends. Playlist is written out below in case any of the Youtube vids disappear.

WINTER CHILL 2016
1. Plants and Animals - No Worries Gonna Find Us
2. Sunflower Bean - Easier Said
3. Andy Shauf - The Magician
4. Niki & The Dove - Play It On My Radio
5. Woods - Morning Light
6. Case/Lang/Veirs - Atomic Number
7. St. Paul & The Broken Bones - I'll Be Your Woman
8. The Head & The Heart - All We Ever Knew
9. Rihanna - Same Ol' Mistakes
10. The Monkees - Me & Magdalena
11. Kacy & Clayton - Springtime Of The Year
12. Helado Negro - It's My Brown Skin
13. Emma Pollock - Don't Make Me Wait
14. Whitney - Light Upon The Lake
15. Adrian Younge ft. Karolina - Winter Is Here
16. Sea Pinks - Depth Of Field
17. Fruit Bats - Absolute Loser
18. Amber Arcades - Right Now
19. Cass McCombs - Medusa's Outhouse
20. Trashcan Sinatras - I Want To Capture Your Heart

Summer Indie Music Playlist 2016

Well, it took beyond the summer before I collected enough happy uptempo songs to make a playlist. I've been saying it for years: almost all indie musicians are either totally fucking miserable people, or it's just easier to write a slow song when you're stoned. Anyway, please absorb the sunshine from these tracks, and maybe the photosynthesis will inspire you to make a classic summertime album of your own.



SUMMER INDIE MUSIC PLAYLIST 2016
1. White Denim - Mirrored In Reverse
2. Nice As Fuck - Door
3. Islands - Weekend
4. Giant Dog - Sleep When Dead
5. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Wish
6. St, Paul & The Broken Bones - Midnight On Earth
7. Crying - Wool In The Wash
8. Public Access TV - End Of The Era
9. Computer Magic - Dimensions
10. Aaron Neville - Be Your Man
11. Little Scream - Love As A Weapon
12. VULPECK - Back Pocket
13. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me
14. Whitney - No Matter Where We Go
15. Beck - WOW
16. Warpaint - New Song
17. Woods - Can't See At All
18. Emma Pollock - Parks & Recreation
19. Kevin Morby - Dorothy
20. C.W. Stoneking - We Gon' Boogaloo
21. Rostam - Wood

EVERY COACHELLA 2016 BAND REVIEWED WITH SNARK AND BREVITY

Though it's my own objective opinion, I'm right. Trust me. Here they are, and in alphabetical order, with a star-rating where appropriate (no stars = forgettable):

AC Slater - pedestrian House music
Adam Beyer - ambient beat repetition
Alessia Cara - over-emotive dime-a-dozen lady soul-pop
Algiers - political post-electro punk (***)
Alunageorge - cutesy electro-soul (***)
Alvvays - lady jangle-pop (****)
Amine Edge & Dance - repeated sample House music
Anderson.Paak - imaginative retro-funk hip-hop (****)
The Arcs - neo-psychedelic roots rock starring Dan Auerbach (****)
Autolux - revamped ponderous quasi-shoegaze
Baauer - non-starter trap crap
Badbadnotgood - organic kid jazz spaceout with Flying Lotus as a fan (****)
Bat For Lashes - avant-garde ice queen (***)
BORNS - glammy electro-pop (****)
Beach House - Ethereal dream-jangle with better early albums (***)
Black Coffee - vibey, palm tree, up-with-people, soul DJ (***)
The Black Madonna - melodic forgettable EDM
Bob Moses - long-winded mopey MOR Starbucks techno
Calvin Harris - pulse-quickening rave maestro who keeps finding T-Swift's hair in his suitcase (****)
Carla Morison - Spanish weepy torch singer Adele wannabe
Cassy - beat-centric repetitive House music
The Chainsmokers - more fucking mellow electro
Chris Stapleton - unlike Sturgill Simpson, actual sentimental country pap
Christin & Queens - French female version of Perfume Genius
Chronixx - neo-dub reggae (***)
Chvrches - one-note, over-emotive, overrated, anthemic pop-wave nonsense
Claptone - sensitive electro-pop man-child
Cloves - elegaic vocally-affected lady soundtrack music (***)
Cold War Kids - corporate-sounding over-produced anthem rock with good hooks (***)
Courtney Barnett - tuneless rock chick with great rapid-fire lyrics (****)
Crystal Fighters - upbeat hippie tribal hackeysack wincing earnestness (***)
The Damned - old school Goth punk here to show kids how it's done (*****)
De Lux - post-punk infectious grooves with vocal dead-ringer for David Byrne (****)
The Dead Ships - self-conscious garage rock (****)
Deafheaven - the only representative of symphonic black metal this year (****)
Death Grips - sneering violent hip-hop intensity mocks palm trees
Deerhunter - lo-fi hipster glam with a history of hooks (****)
Disclosure - world class techno-pop (***)
DMA's - post-punk power-pop with an emo-core center (****)
Edward Sharpe & Magnetic Zeros - neo-hippie mid-tempo freakout (***)
Ellie Goulding - ethereal, postured, pop songstress
Epik High - Korean emo-pop-punk
Ex-Hex - lady rock riffing, essentially The Donnas-lite (****)
Flume - trap conformity with ubiquitous guest vocalists
Foals - epic drama-rock (****)
Frances - sob-worthy as Adele's old boyfriend pillow
The Front Bottoms - over-enunciated Verizon Amphitheater rock
Fur Coat - bland as bathwater House anti-revival
Gallant - slow-ass sex jams for virgins
Gary Clark Jr - guitar god still building his throne (****)
George Fitzgerald - pedestrian Sahara tent automation
Girlpool - low-fi atonal indie-girl posturing for college freshmen
GoGo Penguin - pensive authentic classical jazz (****)
Goldroom - decent rave-shit with guest vocalists (***)
Grimes - compelling weirdo astral avant-pop lady (****)
Guns N Roses - the oxymoron of being both non-lethal and old smelling despite their name
Halsey - another blanket-clutching slow-ass crybaby
Haelos - boring trip-hop with female whining
HEALTH - aggro-techno, like if NIN and The Big Pink had a baby (***)
The Heavy - retro-soul grandpa with tight band and minimal range (***)
Hudson Mohawk - majestic and varied dubstep trap (****)
Ibeyi - mid-tempo melodrama with typewriter beats for kokopellis
Ida Engberg - overlong extended trance remixes
Jack U - dubtrap supergroup falling short of greatness (***)
James Bay - bring a sleeping bag for the Lunesta vibe, and earplugs for his voice
Joey Bada$$ - boasty forgettable rap shit
John Digweed - trancey housey name-brand electro
Joywave - not too shabby budget Hot Chip (***)
Justin Martin - upbeat sun-splashed electro (***)
Kamasi Washington - cosmic longform jazz aka the real deal (****)
The Kills - razorblade guitar distortion duo with sneering lady vox (***)
KSHMR - diverting ethno-techno (***)
Lapsley - more Adele-inspired tear-stained tissue pop
The Last Shadow Puppets - neo-noir 1960s Britpop w/ Arctic Monkeys frontman (****)
LCD Soundsystem - un-retired indie-dance darling with undeniable hookage (*****)
Lemaitre - top shelf dubtrap with special guests (****)
Lido - continuously-sampled voice-modulated trap flavor-of-the-week (***)
Lord Huron - indie folk epics for pensive Voltaire long-hairs (****)
Lost Frequencies - mellow DJ, enough said
Louis The Child - genre-hopping electro-technician with a few tricks (***)
Lush - upbeat 90s lady-led shoegaze reunion (****)
M83 - bedroom studio to arena, drama-queen new-wavers (****)
Maceoplex - cold impenetrable tiresome House music
Major Lazer - beat-hopping spider with multiple house-party guests (*****)
Mano Le Tough - sleepytime chamomile techno from a distant tent
Marco Carola - is merely another DJ
Matoma - pop techno where all the songs are sad about something
Matt & Kim - nursery rhyme indie chant-pop (***)
Matthew Dear - dark trance with a humid Amazonian vibe (***)
Mavis Staples - soul grandma with killer pipes who loves her Jesus (***)
Mbongwana Star - wheelchair-bound Congolese minimalist groove-crafter (***)
Meg Meyers - more teen diary drama, overwrought vocals, and an album actually called "Sorry"
Melody's Echo Chamber - ghostly psychedelic Franco-pop (****)
Miami Horror - poolside chillout disco (****)
Miike Snow - slick indie synth pop (***)
Mint Field - Spanish Goth rock with senorita singer (***)
Moon Taxi - sentimental commercialized indie with a great name
Mr. Cormack - home studio remixing stuck in a soundcloud
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - retro-grooving bear on a dusty porch (****)
Nic Fanciuli - indistinguishable House repetition
Nicole Moudaber - spooky industrial extended plays
Nina Kraviz - euro-cool electro-pop singer/DJ (***)
Nina Las Vegas - twiddling knobs and trying to remember where the car's parked
Nora En Pure - chillwave vibes for beach gazebos (***)
Nosaj Thing - lugubrious indie hip-hop for the fedora set
Of Monsters & Men - blandness with epic aspirations
Parov Stelar - EDM for flappers and ragtime liquor salesmen (***)
Pete Yorn - past-his-heyday emo-folkie
Phases - Bouncy 80s-retro Tron-pop with femme vox (***)
Prayers - darkwave electro-Cholos
Protoje - neo-reggae toasting to your dirty espadrilles (***)
Purity Ring - stadium-ready lady drama for budding Jon Green readers
Rae Sremmurd - upstart chest-puffing boy rappers with mad hooks (***)
Rancid - 90s ska punkers with one good album (***)
Rufus Du Sol - pedestrian cabana tunes for after hours lounging
Rhye - yet another girl with eyelash boogers from crying so hard
RL Grime - welcome music for cities built by machines for machines (***)
Robert DeLong - indie singer/songwriter winking at his irrelevance
Run The Jewels - industry-standard dorm room hip-hop with Bernie supporter Killer Mike
Sam Feldt - will be sitting unrecognizable with other DJs on the shuttle bus
Sasha - will also be there saying, "But, hello, I'm Sasha".
Savages - sexy butch noise rock for dimly-lit frottage parties (****)
SG Lewis - just another number called at the DMV of heartbroken emo-electro
Shamir - foppish rapping Urkel
Sheer Mag - lo-fi garage rock fronted by your friend's hard-partying sister (****)
SIA - hook-tossing pop singer in indie clothing, but it's a spectacular wardrobe (****)
Silversun Pickups - are picking up where Smashing Pumpkins left off (***)
Skepta - mid-tempo grime rapper with obligatory guest singers
Skin - 90s hair band from Obsoleteville
SNAILS - off-the-hook fatty dubstep delivering sub-woofer incontinence (***)
Snakehips - filed along with many others under "mid-tempo EDM with vocals"
SOPHIE - rubbery industrial avant-pop strangeness (***)
Soul Clap - someone who plays funk, but I mean "plays" it on a turntable or iPod
Steady Holiday - noirish cinematic female with nice flourishes (****)
St. Germain - head-bopping low-key ethnocentric pastiche
Strangers You Know - Ambien-soaked crybaby pretty boys
Sufjan Stevens - legendary quasi-religious folkie with a warm sleeping bag (****)
Swarvy - sample-laden sunny DJ good times (***)
SZA - didn't realize how many other women were weeping on their drum machines
Tchami - read the memo about mellow EDM crap and signed up
Tei Chi - eerie lady vox soundscapes
Tensnake - funky dance man for dancing funky and just letting go, man (***)
The 1975 - slinky hormonal pop boy band named a decade too early (***)
Thomas Jack - more electro-emotional DJ-ing where dancing isn't expected
Tokimonsta - lady touches machine and chill music comes out
Underworld - reunited 90s industrial band hopes you saw "Trainspotting"
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - psychedelic think-funk ascension (****)
The Vandals - beer punk for 80s skaters
Vanic - add tepid pop to trap, which is just slowed-down dance music
Vince Staples - rapper with dragged-down tempos and more n-words than "Hateful Eight"
Volbeat - budget Queens Of The Stone Age for karaoke bros
Wolf Alice - clever female-fronted indie rock with a bagful of nuance (****)
Years & Years - boy pop marketed for tween brains
Young Fathers - thought-provoking blend of post-rock and hip-hop (****)
Zedd - panoramic EDM with wild impulses (***)
Zella Day - electro chanteuse with a photogenic face
ZHU - moody electro-soul-pop with falsetto vocals

My Favorite Movies of 2015

As I do every year, I'm complaining about one-word or vague titles. I'll never understand how a film can experience any longevity or repeat viewings with titles like: True Story, Joy, Spy, Max, Room, Legend, Sisters, The Intern, The Gift, The Walk, The Visit, etc.

Anyway...

1. Mad Max: Fury Road

2. The Revenant

3. Room

4. Love & Mercy

5. Ex Machina

6. Diary Of A Teenage Girl

7. Sicario

8. Brooklyn

9. Goodnight Mommy

10. What We Do In Shadows

11. The Martian

12. Spotlight

13. The Gift

14. End Of Tour

15. Steve Jobs

16. Phoenix

17. The Walk

18. Tangerine

19. Trainwreck

20. The Big Short

21. Ant Man

Coachella 2016: The Small Print

Each year I celebrate the bands at the bottom of the Coachella poster instead of the headliners. Here are my favorite videos by some of the underdogs.