Here’s my ultimate music festival and it would be either on a remote island, or at Golden Gate Park in August. There are old and new, alive and dead, and everything in between, so I can only dream. Oh yeah, there would only be 500 people because that way I am less likely to be standing next to the drunk girl that keeps talking, the guy with his shirt off pointing his index finger randomly in the air, or the couple that just ate some chocolates and laughs at everything slow and dark.

I am truly excited about Coachella on Sunday. I will actually get to experience a Plastikman show, see Sly & The Family Stone and Thom Yorke as well as Talvin Singh in one evening.

FRIDAY – The Replacements, Bjork, New Order, Glenn Gould, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Archers of Loaf, Sugar, The Afghan Whigs, Aphex Twin, At The Drive-In, Wighnomy Brothers, The Blood Brothers, Boris, The Books, Shawn Smith, Nick Drake, The Brand New Heavies, Adam Beyer, Burial, Cat Power, Peter Gabriel, Charles Mingus, Everything But The Girl, False, Fennesz, The Go-Betweens, Grant Lee Buffalo, Matthew Herbert, Iron & Wine, Jah Wobble, LCD Soundsystem, Ornette Coleman, The Outfield, Pan Sonic, Tool, Peaches, Pinback, The The, Thelonious Monk, Tune-Yards, Venetian Snares

SATURDAY – Radiohead, The Beastie Boys, Outkast, Nina Simone, Jeff Buckley, Boards of Canada, Lamb, Matias Aguayo, Animal Collective, Arcade Fire, Liars, The Avalanches, Joseph Arthur, Basehead, Ben Sims, TV On The Radio, Big Audio Dynamite, Bon Iver, Buffalo Tom, Talk Talk, Built to Spill, Chris deLuca & Peabird, Noze, Richard Devine, Neutral Milk Hotel, Speedy J, Ricardo Villalobos, Crowded House, Danger Doom, Madvillian, Battles, Deadbeat, Red House Painters, Detroit Grand Pubahs, Dirty Projectors, dj /rupture, Fever Ray, Fink, Flight of the Conchords, Spiritualized, Kangding Ray, aus, Skyphone, Mikkel Metal, Mochipet, Kode9 & Spaceape, Ride, Stewart Walker, The Stranglers, World Party

SUNDAY – The Stone Roses, Plastikman/Richie Hawtin, Sigur Ros, Akufen, Ani DiFranco, Bill Hicks, Beans, A Tribe Called Quest, The Goats, Seam, Aretha Franklin, Soul Coughing, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Murcof, Joe Jackson, Autechre, Spank Rock, Beirut, American Music Club, Sonic Youth, Caribou, Modeselektor, Catherine Wheel, M.I.A., Fiona Apple, Monolake, Flying Lotus, Four Tet, Squeeze, Girl Talk, Jamie Lidell, Jose Gonzalez, Morphine, The Antlers, The XX, Pole, Prefuse 73, Quicksand, The Wonderstuff, Xymox

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Here are some of the performers for that Sunday at Coachella:

Sly & The Family Stone – Que Sera Sera – From the incredible 1973 release Fresh, a cover that exceeds the original as well as the soundtrack to the ending of Heathers.

Plastikman – Ethnik (Paco Osuna Remix) – Off of the Plus 8 100 Remixes release. This is the moniker that started the devastation and the following that continues to evolve and can only be experienced in a live setting.

Talvin Singh – Piya Milan (Radio Edit) – A producer and master tabla player who makes some of the most challenging yet accessible music.

Thom Yorke – Hearing Damage – A new track that clearly steals, or was heavily influenced by the Modeselektor buzzy bass line.

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A great invention: The Split Ring Key

For fans of The State, which is now, finally out on DVD, there is a new series on Comedy Central from two members of The State called Michael & Michael Have Issues. Members of the cult comedy, The State which aired on MTV, have also gone on to create Reno 911.

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Jeff Buckley – We All Fall In Love Sometimes (Elton John & Bernie Taupin) – From the soundtrack to My Sister’s Keeper,  a movie that would definitely give me a case of the nods, comes this cleaned up, unreleased song which is actually played live for WFMU’s Music Faucet program.

Bill Janovitz – Little Mascara – A classic from The Replacements, by the front man for Buffalo Tom. A release from his website.

Plastikman – Contain – In 1998, Richie Hawtin created an album, Consumed, that continues to influence in the form of minimal techno, dub techno and ambient music forms. This particular track is one I can’t wait to play at my upcoming Aquarium gig. I hope the fishes are ready.

Nina Simone – House Of The Rising Sun – This is a live track from At The Village Gate, and I love how it’s slowed down to nice simmer which brings out all of the flavor, especially the soul that is Simone’s voice.

Thanks to everyone who voted for my quick remix of Nude. My personal favorite was the Spor Remix. I liked the pitch and tempo change and how he kept the overall feel of the song.

Martina Topley-Bird – Razor Tongue (Downtempo) – one of the most anticipated releases, at least for me, for this year. still waiting for the doves and madvillain. and like the others that have come and gone (lidell, portishead), it disappoints. well, at least compared to her previous release. another danger mouse production. geezus, this guy is everywhere. there are some good songs, but what mtb had on quixotic/anything was that smokey flavor. it was like you were let into a door for a seedy, sultry, almost dangerous experience. maybe that’s why greg dulli covered a track. here, you get a collection of post lexapro pop songs. i do like this track which has more of that past quality. (correction: the track is not Poison, it was labeled incorrectly)

Santogold – I’m A Lady (featuring Trouble Andrew) (Pop) – she’s been everywhere and has Bjork as a major fan. she’s rapped alongside Spank Rock and been compared often to MIA from the few tracks that have been out there. these comparisons are true for the tracks heard, as they were reworkings by the same producers that have worked with MIA in the past. for her first release, miss santi white shows her 80′s chops with almost every genre covered including dub, punk, rock, hip hop, beats, etc.. the track above is a pop song which also features mister trevor andrew, pro snowboarder extraordinaire and leader of the band trouble.

Plastikman – Spastik (Dubfire Rework) (Techno) – take a member of the progressive house group Deep Dish, have him release a track (Rib Cage) off of what is arguably one of the best, and most influential techno labels (m-nus) and then have that label head, (Richie Hawtin) play said track for the final track of the 2006 Detroit Electronic Music Festival. And then to further add the imaginary fuel to the fire, have this member of Deep Dish rework a classic track for a series of special releases (Nostalgik 3) from the Plastikman days. It’s kind of like having Radiohead ask Coldplay to play on one of their albums, and then have them cover Let Down and release it as a song on a Radiohead single. the backlash has begun. “house music all night long ? say what ?” people are raising their hands in the air and waving them because they do care.

Troy Pierce’s latest release, the Gone Astray EP on m-nus continues his string of dark and brooding minimal techno releases that have made him one of the most reliable producers in music today. He is a rare commodity in that he matches his stellar productions with a live offering that equals his precision in the studio. The track ‘Even It’s Alone (Black Acid)’ harkens back to old Plastikman days in melody with a slight reverberated or delayed kick drum to make it sound fresh today. There’s not a weak track on this 10 track EP which shows that he is one of the few techno artists that creates tracks for his live sets and makes it work. So, is he a dj, or a producer, or something equally both to make the whole great ?

A live set from 2006 of one the only techno parties in the Bay Area, KONTROL

Troy Pierce – Live @ Kontrol, San Francisco June 21, 2006

in my quest to record my vinyl sources into a digital format, leaving in the hisses and scratches, here are some more treats, i believe that are difficult to find outside of the vinyl medium.

Digable Planets – Nickel Bags (Sneak A Beshu Mix) (Hip Hop) – from the 1992 12″ of ‘nickel bags’. nothing major added or taken away here, maybe a crisper hand clap?

Digable Planets – Where I’m From (Aural G. Ride 12″) (Hip Hop) – from the 12″ in 1993 of this title cut. a nice dark bass and sax addition to this mix.

A Tribe Called Quest – Check The Rhime (Skeff’s Mix) (Hip Hop) – this 1991 mix has a piano and sax to replace the great bass line from the original. i still prefer the original, but it’s still great to hear any version of this great song.

Plastikman – Afrika (Test Kut) (Techno) – from a 1998 m-nus vinyl release with ‘hypokondriak’ on the other side. this is a real departure for hawtin in that he uses actual organic instruments or organic sounding instruments for his presentation of minimal rhythmic beats.

Bjork – I Miss You (Dobie’s Rub Part Two – It’s Hip Hop Thing) – a 1996 vinyl release and a rare version where most have part 1 of this mix.

Joseph Arthur – Papa (Singer Songwriter) – off of the now, supposedly out of print, ‘and the thieves are gone’ release from 2004. eerie, haunting, combining guitar with electronics and everything else that makes arthur such an interesting artist . if you ever have a chance to see him perform solo, please do so. he samples on the fly with sounds and rhythms he creates using his guitar and voice to create this wall of sound to accompany his angst.

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flash over at flash vegas has a great live set from amy winehouse at the paradiso in amsterdam from february the 8th.

stereogum has the trailer for “control”, the new movie by anton corbijn about ian curtis, the former lead singer of joy division. it apparently won the best european film at cannes this year and stars newcomer sam riley in the lead role as well as samantha morton. corbijn was featured on the director’s label series from palm pictures which showcases the works of visionary directors in the music video realm, but it also collects together some of the most visionary directors in feature films as well. michel gondry with “eternal sunshine of the spotless mind’, jonathan glazer with “sexy beast” and “birth”, spike jonze with “being john malkovich”, mark romanek with “one hour photo”, and now, corbin with “control”. i’m still waiting to see what chris cunningham will do next. pure genius.