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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Contakt @ Sonar, Barcelona, 2008

The world of techno has a revolving door of faces and styles, but over the last 10 years a constant has been the M-nus label. Founded by Richie Hawtin, the label has flourished as of late with a roster of talent that continues to push the boundaries of techno. One of the new stars of the label is Heartthrob, aka Jesse Siminski. His melodic yet dark productions, as well as his live sets have made him a standout in the already stellar M-nus group. Heartthrob’s new album Dear Painter, Paint Me will be released June 30th.

Here’s an interview I did recently with Heartthrob. If you’re lucky to be in any of the towns below, go check out an experience you will soon not forget. Your mind will thank you, later.

FoeWeel: How has your environment, from living in a small town in Michigan, to New York, and now to Paris affected your music ?

Heartthrob: The track’s that appear on Dear Painter, Paint Me were written in Paris. The feel of the city, mostly the experience of being an outsider influenced the way they sound. Paris is a very romantic museum of a city, but it also can be cold place at times, especially after living in New York for 8 years. Being on the road constantly also had a hand in how the songs turned out.

Heartthrob: Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” Both are very powerfully emotional records.

Heartthrob: I use a computer abelton live and a sequenced synth/ drummachine. I do a lot of stuff on the fly which sometimes becomes elements of new tracks and I always play new unreleased ideas live.

Heartthrob: I love Fabric in London, Paradiso in Amsterdam, Rex in Paris and Watergate in Berlin. These cities all have great venues and very eager crowds.

Heartthrob: Confession is the most complex tune on the record and took the most time arranging. I made a real effort to layer the musical elements to create a rich atmosphere while keeping things more of less stripped. Its more epic than the other tracks and has a few twists and turns…

FoeWeel: Thanks for your time. We look forward to your appearance in San Francisco on the 30th at 103 Harriet.

MINUS ANNIVERSARY TOUR

RICHIE HAWTIN, MAGDA & HEARTTHROB live

MAY 24 detroit @ st. andrew’s hall
MAY 25 detroit @ demf
MAY 28 vancouver @ celebrities
MAY 29 portland @ holocene
MAY 30 san francisco @ 103 harriet st
MAY 31 los angeles @ cinespace

Richie Hawtin’s Concept 1 series was a revolutionary achievement in terms of creativity, and the distribution by means of 12″ monthly singles limited to 2000 copies make it an expensive and quite sought after commodity to this day. The CD version has been remastered by one Stefan Betke (Pole) as well as the Variations by Thomas Brinkmann which is included in this double CD pack. The Concept series marks a moment of minimalism in music that still fits in nicely to the nature of techno today. The Brinkmann reworking with a custom made two-arm turntable, slowing the speed and separating the right and left channels brings out more of the genius contained in these recordings. Listen up, because these recordings are part of the reason that we are here right now in techno.

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now, for the music:

Aretha Franklin – The Happy Blues (Let Me In Your Life Outtake) – from the ‘Rare & Unreleased Recordings From The Golden Reign Of The Queen Of Soul”, these recordings show a more stripped down version of songs from most of aretha’s career. it also displays the diversity of music from jazz, to standards, to soul and beyond.

Bangers & Cash – Loose featuring Amanda Blank – spank rock and benny blanco are on this 5 track EP which samples the work of 2 live crew. most of the tracks have been all over the interweb, but the sound quality has been pretty low. once you can hear the music especially the bass, this EP is the party continued. spank and amanda blank are two of the best mc’s out there right now.

The Celebration – Tame The Savage – the organ based drama is still there. guests from tvotr and the yyy’s are all here. the songs seem to be there, but katrina ford’s vocals seem to be lost or muddled in the mix. it’s hard to listen to the whole album.