Tuesday, January 22, 2008

2008 Lineup (and Winners) announced...

The moment you've been waiting a month for has arrived!

Everything changed this year. Last year's winner had a big fall. Two rookies had a strong showing. Portishead actually scored points for a lot of people. The only thing that hasn't changed is my ability to continuously fail to even break into the upper 50 percent. But the contest marches on! Here are the winners...

WINNER!

Omar:
  1. REM
  2. Portishead (46)
  3. Underworld
  4. The Breeders (40)
  5. The Verve (42)
  6. Death Cab for Cutie (44)
  7. My Bloody Valentine
  8. Simian Mobile Disco (26)
  9. Rabbit in the Moon
  10. Okkervil River
  11. Magnetic Fields
  12. VHS or Beta (22)
  13. A Tribe Called Quest
  14. Cafe Tacuba (43)
  15. The National (35)
Number right = 8

FINAL SCORE = 298		Brad:
  1. Coldplay
  2. The Verve (42)
  3. Death Cab for Cutie (44)
  4. Simian Mobile Disco (26)
  5. Chemical Brothers
  6. Love & Rockets (35)
  7. The Breeders (40)
  8. Portishead (46)
  9. My Bloody Valentin
  10. Mogwai
  11. Broken Social Scene
  12. Animal Collective (34)
  13. A Tribe Called Quest
  14. Caribou
  15. The Knife
Number right = 7

FINAL SCORE = 267		Jessica:
  1. Death Cab for Cutie (44)
  2. REM
  3. My Bloody Valentine
  4. Portishead (46)
  5. PJ Harvey
  6. The Verve (42)
  7. Feist
  8. VHS or Beta (22)
  9. The Breeders (40)
  10. Band of Horses
  11. Dwight Yoakam (40)
  12. Autolux (22)
  13. Chemical Brothers
  14. Moby
  15. Rabbit in the Moon
Number right = 7

FINAL SCORE = 256		Alex:
  1. The National (35)
  2. Spoon
  3. Death Cab for Cutie (44)
  4. Portishead (46)
  5. Radiohead
  6. Besnard Lakes
  7. MIA (39)
  8. Okkervil River
  9. Les Savy Fav (19)
  10. Beirut
  11. Caribou
  12. Jens Lekman (18)
  13. Goldfrapp
  14. Stephen Malkmus (36)
  15. My Bloody Valentine
Number right = 7

FINAL SCORE = 237
Brian:
  1. The National (35)
  2. Feist
  3. Spoon
  4. Menomena
  5. Band of Horses
  6. Okkervil River
  7. Beirut
  8. Dinosaur Jr.
  9. The Breeders (40)
  10. Muscles
  11. Battles (28)
  12. Justice (32)
  13. Chromeo (30)
  14. The Verve (42)
  15. Smashing Pumpkins
Number right = 6

FINAL SCORE = 207		Stacey:
  1. Radiohead
  2. REM
  3. Stone Temple Pilots
  4. Smashing Pumpkins
  5. The Breeders (40)
  6. Tegan and Sara (38)
  7. MIA (39)
  8. My Bloody Valentine
  9. Queens of the Stone Age
  10. Eagles of Death Metal
  11. Rilo Kiley (41)
  12. Portishead (46)
  13. PJ Harvey
  14. Kenna
  15. The Mars Volta
Number right = 5

FINAL SCORE = 204		James:
  1. Portishead (46)
  2. My Bloody Valentine
  3. Les Savy Fav (19)
  4. Los Campesinos!
  5. The Wombats
  6. Wale
  7. Boys Noize (27)
  8. The Dodos
  9. Kate Nash
  10. SebastiAn (10)
  11. Justice (32)
  12. Foals
  13. Chromeo (30)
  14. Erol Alkan (20)
  15. Muscles
Number right = 7

FINAL SCORE = 184		Jen & Lawrence:
  1. Are
  2. Probably
  3. Glad
  4. They
  5. Sat
  6. Out
  7. This
  8. Year
  9. Full
  10. Of
  11. Upsets,
  12. But
  13. Are
  14. Still
  15. Kinda Lame
Number right = 0

FINAL SCORE = LAZY		 


click to enlarge.


Congratulations to Omar, whose unique Cafe Tacuba pick put him ahead by a wide margin, and to Brad for pulling out Love and Rockets' headlining spot for just a few more points than Jessica's third place list. Hope everyone had fun and comes back next year. Winners will receive prizes promptly.

Some further thoughts/analysis... we had a much tighter points race, and higher points overall this year, but the top three all had a lot fewer correct picks than last year's winners. is that fewer leaks, or just weirder band choices?

Also on a personal note, I think future lists will all have to lean a little more heavily on electronic acts, not necessarily the indie-pop or indie-folk du jour. I suppose in my heart I didn't really see Beirut or Spoon playing a festival with such deep roots in rave culture and could have gone with safer bets like Simian Mobile Disco, Calvin Harris, or Dan Deacon, who all got switched out at the last minute. Oops. Maybe '09 will be my year.

Thanks for playing everybody!

posted by Brian at 10:12 AM |

Thursday, December 20, 2007

2008 Coachella Picks: Portishead and My Bloody Valentine could anger or delight most of the field.

Well, thanks for sending in your picks in a timely fashion, and thanks to our two newcomers for joining our game from as far away as Northern California and the Southwest. Should be a close fight this year assuming not all of those rumors you've been reading are totally baseless (*coughportisheadcough*). Let the shit-talking begin!

Alex:
  1. The National
  2. Spoon
  3. Death Cab For Cutie
  4. Portishead
  5. Radiohead
  6. Besnard Lakes
  7. MIA
  8. Okkervil River
  9. Les Savy Fav
  10. Beirut
  11. Caribou
  12. Jens Lekman
  13. Goldfrapp
  14. Stephen Malkmus
  15. My Bloody Valentine
Brad:
  1. Coldplay
  2. The Verve
  3. Death Cab For Cutie
  4. Simian Mobile Disco
  5. Chemical Brothers
  6. Love & Rockets
  7. The Breeders
  8. Portishead
  9. My Bloody Valentine
  10. Mogwai
  11. Broken Social Scene
  12. Animal Collective
  13. A Tribe Called Quest
  14. Caribou
  15. The Knife
Brian:
  1. The National
  2. Feist
  3. Spoon
  4. Menomena
  5. Band of Horses
  6. Okkervil River
  7. Beirut
  8. Dinosaur Jr.
  9. The Breeders
  10. Muscles
  11. Battles
  12. Justice
  13. Chromeo
  14. The Verve
  15. Smashing Pumpkins
James:
  1. Portishead
  2. My Bloody Valentine
  3. Les Savy Fav
  4. Los Campesinos!
  5. The Wombats
  6. Wale
  7. Boys Noize
  8. The Dodos
  9. Kate Nash
  10. SebastiAn
  11. Justice
  12. Foals
  13. Chromeo
  14. Erol Alkan
  15. Muscles
Jessica:
  1. Death Cab For Cutie
  2. REM
  3. My Bloody Valentine
  4. Portishead
  5. PJ Harvey
  6. The Verve
  7. Feist
  8. VHS or Beta
  9. The Breeders
  10. Band of Horses
  11. Dwight Yoakam
  12. Autolux
  13. Chemical Brothers
  14. Moby
  15. Rabbit in the Moon
Omar:
  1. REM
  2. Portishead
  3. Underworld
  4. The Breeders
  5. The Verve
  6. Death Cab For Cutie
  7. My Bloody Valentine
  8. Simian Mobile Disco
  9. Rabbit in the Moon
  10. Okkervil River
  11. Magnetic Fields
  12. VHS or Beta
  13. A Tribe Called Quest
  14. Cafe Tacuba
  15. The National
Stacey:
  1. Radiohead
  2. REM
  3. Stone Temple Pilots
  4. Smashing Pumpkins
  5. The Breeders
  6. Tegan and Sara
  7. MIA
  8. My Bloody Valentine
  9. Queens of the Stone Age
  10. Eagles of Death Metal
  11. Rilo Kiley
  12. Portishead
  13. PJ Harvery
  14. Kenna
  15. The Mars Volta
Jen & Lawrence:
  1. Are
  2. Not
  3. Playing
  4. This
  5. Year
  6. Cause
  7. They
  8. Are
  9. Big
  10. Fat
  11. Lazy
  12. Lame
  13. Wads.
  14. (OH
  15. SNAP!)

posted by Brian at 9:05 AM |

Monday, December 17, 2007

2008 picks due tomorrow!

Hope you're having as much fun as I am forum-crawling, crossing out and rewriting guesses in your 15 slots. Just remember, the picks are due tomorrow by midnight.

Once we get all the picks we'll sort through them Wednesday and probably have the lists up here by Thursday morning. That way you can come back and start berating me for my blind loyalty to the belief that somehow my all-time favorite band HUM will reunite for Coachella. Sigh...

Just kidding. OR AM I?

posted by Brian at 9:51 PM |

Friday, November 30, 2007

2008 Contest Are Go!

alright folks, let's kick off this here coachella pool, right?

not much to explain here... the rules are the same as last year. ten bucks, 15 picks, big bands count for more points.

i'd really love to get a bigger turnout this year, so please PLEASE feel free to send this out to any of your other friends, coworkers, pen pals, facebook stalkers, etc. after all, the more players, the bigger the winnings. plus if we can at least crack 10 players, we'd have enough to justify 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, not just winner and runner-up.

final thing: if you're planning to play, please email us at some point, so we can be sure to track you down and make sure to get your picks before the 18th. we'd hate you to spend 10 hours trawling through internet rumors just to miss the deadline because we left for christmas without seeing you.

good luck everybody!... you're gonna need it. jessica's pretty damn sure that this is her year.

posted by Brian at 10:11 AM |

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Can't Wait for '08?

as i'm sure everyone already saw, the 2008 coachella dates were announced.

while you're debating whether to camp out, reserve a motel now, or commit to driving home at 3am, don't forget to start thinking about those picks.

the 2008 pool begins very soon.

posted by Brian at 10:49 AM |

Monday, January 22, 2007

And the winner for 2007 is...

The moment you've all been waiting for...

and James takes it by a Digitalism! We'll email you guys offline about awarding prizes, but for now, check out the final tallies and curse yourself for not thinking of this or that band.

WINNER!

James:
  1. LCD Soundsystem (30)
  2. Hot Chip (24)
  3. Lupe Fiasco (7)
  4. Digitalism (17)
  5. Silversun Pickups (10)
  6. Arcade Fire (38)
  7. Air (34)
  8. Lily Allen (21)
  9. Bloc Party
  10. We Are Scientists (18)
  11. Klaxons (10)
  12. Lavender Diamond
  13. Arctic Monkeys (30)
  14. Spank Rock (18)
  15. Modest Mouse
Number right = 12

FINAL SCORE = 257		Jessica:
  1. REM
  2. Wilco
  3. Arcade Fire (38)
  4. Lemonheads
  5. The Shins
  6. The Decemberists (36)
  7. LCD Soundsystem (30)
  8. Modest Mouse
  9. Silversun Pickups (10)
  10. Lupe Fiasco (7)
  11. Portishead
  12. Hot Chip (24)
  13. Sonic Youth (28)
  14. Air (34)
  15. The Good, The Bad, and the Queen (35)
Number right = 9

FINAL SCORE = 242		Lawrence:
  1. David Bowie
  2. REM
  3. Smashing Pumpkins
  4. LCD Soundsystem (30)
  5. Hot Chip (24)
  6. Modest Mouse
  7. Arcade Fire (38)
  8. Portishead
  9. Regina Spektor (25)
  10. Air (34)
  11. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
  12. Lupe Fiasco (7)
  13. Beck
  14. Silversun Pickups (10)
  15. Rodrigo y Gabriela (17)
Number right = 8

FINAL SCORE = 185		Joe:
  1. LCD Soundsystem (30)
  2. The Hold Steady
  3. The Shins
  4. Of Montreal
  5. Cold War Kids
  6. Modest Mouse
  7. The Decemberists (36)
  8. CSS (11)
  9. Band of Horses
  10. Air (34)
  11. Arcade Fire (38)
  12. Islands
  13. Hot Chip (24)
  14. Silversun Pickups (10)
  15. Smashing Pumpkins
Number right = 7

FINAL SCORE = 183
Brian:
  1. The Decemberists (36)
  2. LCD Soundsystem (30)
  3. Maximo Park
  4. Arcade Fire (38)
  5. The Thermals
  6. Tapes n' Tapes (9)
  7. Voxtrot
  8. Hot Chip (24)
  9. The Shins
  10. Islands
  11. Asobi Seksu
  12. Raconteurs
  13. The Hold Steady
  14. CSS (11)
  15. Arctic Monkeys (30)
Number right = 7

FINAL SCORE = 178		Alex:
  1. Air (34)
  2. Arcade Fire (38)
  3. Bad Brains
  4. Beck
  5. Bjork (33)
  6. Blur
  7. Interpol (32)
  8. LCD Soundsystem (30)
  9. Mercury Rev
  10. Spoon
  11. Sufjan Stevens
  12. Ted Leo
  13. The Fall
  14. Ween
  15. White Stripes
Number right = 5

FINAL SCORE = 167		Jen M:
  1. LCD Soundsystem (30)
  2. Rodrigo y Gabriela (17)
  3. Konono #1 (25)
  4. Lupe Fiasco (7)
  5. Air (34)
  6. Digitalism (17)
  7. RJD2
  8. Hot Chip (24)
  9. Modest Mouse
  10. The Shins
  11. Klaxons (10)
  12. Van She
  13. Cornelius
  14. Underworld
  15. Portishead
Number right = 8

FINAL SCORE = 164		Stacey:
  1. Morrissey
  2. Arcade Fire (38)
  3. Gorillaz
  4. Silversun Pickups (10)
  5. Shiny Toy Guns
  6. Nelly Furtado
  7. Gwen Stefani
  8. The Stooges
  9. The Shins
  10. Oasis
  11. Regina Spektor (25)
  12. Lily Allen (21)
  13. Cold War Kids
  14. Mickey Avalon
  15. Muse
Number right = 4

FINAL SCORE = 94		 


click to enlarge.


[UPDATE: Just a few more places that found our blog, which I still find highly amusing. A thread on the Coachella forums picked up the game for themselves (minus the complicated math), and another LA-centric blog, Franklin Avenue also mentioned us. Thanks for the links all -- if any of you make it back here, you should enter next year!]

posted by Brian at 11:19 AM |

Here I come, penguin.

Looks like the list of quote/unquote confirmed bands is starting to trickle out, and a lot of us have done pretty well for ourselves so far. Obviously nothing can be decided until we can start assigning points to correct picks, but a few of you are looking pretty hot right now...

If you guys want to help me put together a list here of who's confirmed, we can keep it updated for easy reference and further talking of the smack. Of course since anything can change up until they post, it could still come back to bite someone in the ass.

So far (in no particular order)...

[Update 1: a very long list i will cross post for easy reference from the LATimes.com Buzz Bands blog.]

The preliminary lineup, subject to changes and additions: Tiesto, the Arcade Fire, Interpol, Manu Chao, Willie Nelson, Air, Happy Mondays, Decemberists, Faithless, Gotan Project, the Good, the Bad and the Queen, Paul Van Dyk, Arctic Monkeys, Roots, Jarvis Cocker, Sonic Youth, Crowded House, Placebo, Satellite Party, Stephen Marley feat Jr. Gong, Kings of Leon, DJ Shadow, Kaiser Chiefs, Kokono No. 1, LCD Soundsystem, Nickel Creek, Travis, Damien Rice, Black Keys, Blonde Redhead, Infected Mushroom, New Pornographers, Peeping Tom, Placebo, Rufus Wainwright, the Rapture, Explosions in the Sky, Richie Hawtin, !!!, Benny Benassy, Felix Da Housecat, Hot Chip, Jacks Mannequin, Julieta Venegas, Lily Allen, Lupe Fiasco, Ozomatli, Peaches, Ghostface Killah, Jose Gonzales, Amos Lee, Brazilian Girls, Fountains of Wayne, Regina Spektor, VNV Nation, Coco Rosie, Cornelius, Gillian Welch, Junior Boys, Pharaohe Monche, Roky Erickson and the Explosives, Soulwax, Sparklehorse, the Kooks, Tilly and the Wall, Andrew Bird, Peter, Bjorn & John, the Frames, Gogol Bordello, Comedians of Comedy, Justice, MSTRKRFT, We Are Scientists, Yeva, Grizzly Bear, Amy Winehouse, Avett Brothers, Circa Survive, the Coup, the Cribs, CSS, Digitalism, Erol Alkan, Evil Nine, Girl Talk, Klaxons, the Noisettes, Spank Rock, Tapes 'n Tapes, Fields, Tokyo Police Club, Rodrigo Y Gabriella, DJ Heather, the Feeling, Fratellis, Mike Relm, Silversun Pickups, Busdriver, Brother Ali, Nightwatchman, Bojones, Mika, Pop Levi, Anathallo and Fair to Midland.

posted by Brian at 9:24 AM |