Coachella Lite: 10 Picks From The 2023 Lineup
10 fire recs on the roster followed by five recs that are just plain fire
Welcome friends to the second edition of Writer’s Brain! So happy you’re still with me.
Will keep the intro brief on this one as I want you to dive into my Coachella recs ASAP, but wanted to give an update of where this newsletter will be going in the future.
We’re looking at a rhythm of two newsletters per month, generally one every two weeks, coming out Thursday evenings, and I’m going to alternate between listicles like this and longer essays like the debut.
Also, there will be separate add-ons for each style as well. The listicles will include a section called “Writer’s Recs” which are just recommendations for (the best) music (ever in history). New and old, nothing is off limits.
Then for the longer essays, there is going to be a surprise addition that you will see next time, but you’re in for a treat.
Again so unendingly grateful to anyone who even opens these emails, let alone reads what I wrote.
Y’all are the best.
Guys big news! Coachella isn’t sold out yet!
(At least it wasn’t when I wrote this).
If you follow Coachella even slightly you’ll know that the idea of tickets still remaining a month after the sale begins is fucking crazy. Weekend one didn’t even sell out immediately after the sale opened either. Are we in the upside down?
Coachella is the event where, traditionally, within an hour everything would evaporate. GA, VIP, camping, both weekends, all of it vanishing under the cloud of hype that still contains the eddying ghosts of Daft Punk’s pyramid and Tupac’s hologram.
There are myriad conclusions to be drawn from such a radical occurrence materializing as homeless wristbands. Some I’m pitching for an actual reported feature, some that will go into a second newsletter entitled “Coachella Heavy” to this one’s “Coachella Lite” wherein I will debunk the banal and jejune critiques and prove that it’s actually the best music festival ever and everyone who disagrees…
…I’m getting off track. Look out for that newsletter in April.
But one conclusion I draw from the remaining batch of tickets that won’t require a visit from the dreaded side-scrolling smurf who informs you of your proximity to the light of heaven, is that this is the best lineup the festival has booked since 2015 (was anyone else there when J.E.S.u.S. played Yuma?), and one of the best in its history.
Side note: Of course, those motherfuckers would book such a good lineup the one year I was actually planning not to go (“was” being the operative linking verb).
While it’s a fair assessment to say that Coachella wouldn’t always sell out in a blink purely because of the lineup, this particular roster has so many obscure and esoteric treasures on there that no one could justify the ticket price just for the lolz or just for the gram.
This is a lineup for the heads. The kind of lineup where, sorry, I don’t have time to say hi or grab a beer unless you want to trail me as I bounce from stage to stage through the Great Escape caliber network of proverbial tunnels I’ve opened through years of proverbial digging that remove lines and congestion from my experience entirely.
Should anyone be ready to join me on such a bountiful excursion, find me at any and (hopefully, but that schedule has power, man) all of these acts:
1. Dinner Party
Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, 9th Wonder. Jazz has always had a presence in the Coachella-sphere. St. Germain knocked my socks off in 2016 (I had never even seen half the instruments his band was playing) and on the 2020 this-is-so-good-its-actually-foreshadowing-a-global-pandemic roster, Ezra Collective had a slot and I pray they make it back in 2024.
But a jazz supergroup? That’s new. I’ve seen Kamasi. I’ve seen Robert. I’ve seen Terrace (actually with Kamasi), but together…and with 9th Wonder…minds will be changed.
2. Eric Prydz Presents: HOLO
There are a few epic dance music performances that are floating around social-media-content-land these days, and one of them is HOLO from Eric Prydz.
I’m not a member of the Prydz army that keeps track of all the IDs he’s been playing over the last 15 years (if you go to his Reddit page it’s actually wild how dedicated they are), but his music is great, and it pairs so well with the floating spaceman and the blue whale and all the other virtual wonders he sends out into the crowd.
One of the best things about Coachella is it attracts so many coveted artists to bring their absolute A-game. And so while out in the world, a HOLO show would sell out in seconds and the tickets would be 30% of a Coachella ticket anyway, now I’ll have the chance to check it out with no extra hassle.
3. Rebelution
Something you may not know about me is I smoked a fair amount of mary jane when I was in high school and college. Something else you may not know about me is I commend Rebelution’s songwriting even when I’m not stoned.
Yes, they have songs about smoking weed and all the traditional upstroke-driven subject matter, but there’s a certain kind of flair and finesse to it. Not many artists can manage that. I can’t physically compare Rebelution to The Specials, but I think Terry would like their music.
4. Bakar
I’m pretty sure Bakar was first on the lineup in 2019? I know he didn’t end up playing whichever year it was, and if that was 2019 I was still bummed for everyone who was there (even though I wasn’t).
Bakar is an artist who approaches the term “alternative” with courage and verve. His music has so much of the holy spirit in it. And when I say that, it doesn’t mean his music is religious in any way.
I see the holy spirit as the source of creation in all of us. We all have the ability to make something out of nothing. Bakar is aware of that power and he uses it well.
5. Björk
Quite a few years ago now (must be more than ten) I saw Björk live at the Hollywood Bowl when I was working there.
The Bowl does this thing where if major artists don’t sell enough tickets to fill up the back sections, they move all the patrons closer and put up potted trees so the artist from the stage can’t see the empty seats in the back.
I only ever saw this happen for Björk.
Then I saw her perform and I had no fucking clue as to how the auditorium wasn’t filled to the brim.
It was just her on stage. Belting her notes with such sharpness that the frequencies most likely cut through the space-time continuum to where they reached her nordic ancestors and within them catalyzed a profound sense of pride in their native daughter.
Above her hung the gigantic contraption that was essentially the combination of an hourglass and a bug zapper. It was astounding. And that was when I didn’t know shit about her music.
Now I know more than shit, and she’s bringing an orchestra to the Coachella stage.
6. boygenius
“Phoebe’s just a person. Julien’s just a person. Lucy’s just a person.”
I wrote this affirmation because there is a chance, an actual chance, something I don’t want to jinx will happen that will put me on the same Zoom call with boygenius. I can’t say what it is, but you can probably figure it out.
And if that thing happens I will need to meditate beforehand to keep my composure.
And if that thing happens and I do keep my composure, my experience of watching them live at Coachella will be enhanced so far beyond the already guaranteed sob fest to the point that I can’t actually fathom it.
7. Wet Leg
“What are you doing sitting down?”
“You should be horizontal now!”
8. Saba
My relationship with rap music is interesting right now.
With ignominious false idols like Travis Scott and Kanye West—and undercard sycophants to those idols known solely for dealing out banal club tracks that have trouble maintaining balance as they walk the line between petulant yet lethal indignation and dangerous amounts of lean in those repulsive styrofoam cups—I fully believe we are in the worst period for the genre in its history.
So when a festival lineup drops all I really need is a solid one-hand-finger-count or less of rappers who are invigorating the roots of the sound (especially in the year when hip hop is celebrating 50 years).
On the Coachella 2023 roster, the oh-so-smooth flow of Saba is satisfying that requirement. His latest album, Few Good Things, and the one prior, CARE FOR ME, are studies in the relationship between rhythm and rhyme. They even throw in an upright bass every now and then which is audio velvet.
9. 1999.ODDS
Soon after the lineup came out (and I thought I was capable of not taking my yearly sabbatical in heaven) I was searching on Spotify for random names I didn’t recognize. One of those names is 1999.ODDS.
But the thing about this name is it didn’t come up on Spotify either. Is Coachella going that heady? I mean this is the year when they’re hosting Jai Paul’s first set literally ever (he’s not on the list cause TBH I’m not familiar with any of his music. I’ll see him if there’s no conflict) so pulling artists out of the void seems possible right?
Anyways, I went to Coachella’s website where they have all the artist’s links. There are no links and no pictures for 1999.ODDS. What the fuck?
Then I google “1999.ODDS Coachella” and find myself in the source of all knowledge and wisdom on the internet (Reddit) and apparently, there was a link to an Instagram at one point that led to an artist who goes simply by 1999.
Through that link, I found their Spotify. 416 monthly listeners at the time of writing, and some of the most swell Lo-Fi beats I’ve ever heard, and I am not a huge Lo-Fi fan whatsoever.
There’s still a chance that 1999 isn’t even the artist who is going to perform. Could just be another Coachella surprise. But either way, I will be at that set.
10. Frank Ocean
According to setlist.fm, Frank Ocean has performed eight times since 2016 when he released the best album of the 2010s
Yes, that album is Blonde, and yes I can’t believe I actually agree with something Pitchfork said.
But anyways, I was there for one of those performances. FYF 2017 in Los Angeles. The last FYF ever. Up until the moment he came on, there were still doubts that Frank was gonna bail like he bailed at the last minute for his FYF 2015 set.
Lo and behold, Frocean did show up, and let me tell you, I have never been more enthralled by a performance, ever. It’s not my favorite gig I’ve ever seen. Nor is it the best gig I’ve ever seen.
But I was mesmerized. Something about the way he was carrying himself was fascinating.
Instead of in-ear monitors, he was wearing big headphones, and he was kinda lackadaisically sliding around the stage while not a single drum beat was played throughout the whole set.
It was as if the spirit of a geriatric saint bernard entered a human body, and was still doing that thing dogs do where they chase everything they can, except the dog is so old that he can’t move fast so he’s changing directions and just aimlessly walking about, but is still so filled with utter elation.
It was a lot to take in. There was so much emotion, and emotion is always welcome at Coachella, especially in the form of new Frank Ocean music (because rumors are expecting a new album soon).
Writer’s Recs
Wet Leg - “Chaise Lounge” (Unknown Mortal Orchestra remix)
Wet Leg is already on this list, and UMO is putting out incredible releases this year. Check out his whole page after listening to this remix.
Deathprod - Compositions
If there’s any genre that I’d say is an “acquired taste” it would be ambient. And I’ve acquired the fuck out of that taste.
The Arcs - Electrophonic Chronic
This is a fitting addition to this list because The Arcs were the best set I saw at Coachella 2016, and this new album is not only wonderful, but it’s now like 90% likely the band will play Coachella 2024.
Alex Silva - Mind Pattern Exploder
Shoutout to my dear friend Débora for posting this album on her IG story. It’s like this happy combination of jazz percussionisms (yes, I made up that word to sound more worldly) and adept electronics.
Amoa, us & Sparkles - Silver Linings
At a later date, I’m going to write a newsletter about how indie labels are the lifeblood of the music industry, and also the premier method for finding new music. This release came out on a German label called Radicalis Music which has this simply delightful habit of amalgamizing funk, soul, and electronic with the energy of a broody European utumn evening