New arrivals to the Zoo were treated to a variety of talent which spanned several genres over the course of three days. Co-founder of the New York based Fools Gold record label, Nick Catchdubs, broke the seal on the Red Bull Riverside stage, where a highly innovative stage design was ready to be shown off. The Red Bull Riverside stage, which was now a repeat visitor to the Zoo, played host to many artists whom have worked alongside the Red Bull Music Academy in the past, including Kid Sister, Egyptrixx and SBTRKT to name just a few. The French model of a current renaissance man, Busy P, was set to lead into one of the most anticipated sets of the weekend, the US debut of Ed Banger label-mate Sebastian’s LIVE set. Adding his own live instrumentation and visuals to the already impressive stage set, Sebastian’s LIVE set was greeted with a packed and anxious tent.

The cream of the dance music crop made appearances over the weekend. With the recent bleeding over of dance producers to the pop music arena, acts such as Benny Benassi, David Guetta, Afrojack, and even Diplo were able to play their recent popular productions, that when combined, include contributing vocals from Chris Brown, Beyonce, Akon and even fellow Electric Zoo performer, Snoop Dogg.

If a 12 hour party was not enough to satisfy your musical palate, official after parties were scheduled for each of the three days at the premier New York hotspot, Pacha. When Fatboy Slim, the UK electronic legend which Q Magazine listed as being one of their “50 Bands To See Before You Die”, is booked as an after-party headliner, all conflicting time and/or sleep constraints seem to disappear. A rarity in the US, Fatboy Slim played to a Pacha full of those who found themselves wide awake and ready to keep the party going until the sun forced them out for day two of Electric Zoo.

Skrillex, the poster-child of a growing demand for Americanized dubstep, joined fellow producer 12th Planet on stage during his packed Red Bull Riverside performance Saturday. Bringing an aspect to his live show that was inevitably made popular by rock music fans, 12th Planet surprised the first few rows with an intimate crowd surfing session. Add in fellow dubstep producers Excision & Datsik and your bass music fix for the weekend was met.

Stylish electro rockers Chromeo made their mark on the Sunday main stage. Sporting attire from a recent trip to Paris, P-Thugg and Dave 1 changed the gears of the main stage with their unique blend of funk and disco infused music. When asked about their upcoming tour and production agenda, Dave 1 revealed that they would be touring nonstop until entering the studio sometime in January to begin writing their follow-up to the 2010 album, Business Casual.

Closing out the Hilltop Arena on the final day of the Zoo, a back-to-back helping of Diplo and Boys Noize left a lasting impression on those who would set off back to reality once the day was over. Diplo, the DJ and producer who has produced acts ranging in sound from metal to k-pop, played a set heavy on familiar classics and introduced several exclusive tracks to which we can only hope they see the light of day. Boys Noize was up next and he proved once again as to why festivals all over the world have him close out their stages. His extensive catalogue of original productions and remixes allow for a new and exciting set every time he steps behind the CDJ’s. Towering above the crowd on a gigantic LED wall, Boys Noize seemed to be hypnotizing the dancing crowd into a nonstop mass of flesh and neon colors.

Words by Alexander Rose. Photos by Sam Allen

Coachella might be known as one of the world’s finest rock festivals, but since it’s inception all the way back in 1999, the event’s promoters put as much focus on LA rave culture as they did catering to the alternative nation (now called the indie rock masses). From Daft Punk to Kraftwerk, many of Coachella’s greatest moments over the years have come from electronic music titans. Here’s a collection of sets from artists playing this year’s festival. The perfect collection of beats to get you warmed up for the desert.

Major Lazer – Coachella is a sort of hometown gig for Baltimore and London natives Diplo and Switch, both of whom rellocated to Los Angeles in recent years. Last years Major Lazer release party found Spank Rock, Amanda Blank, Santigold and Andy Milonakis on the mic—and that was just a private party. Imagine what favors they might call in for their Coachella spectacular.

Aeroplane – This Belgian duo have been almost single-handedly responsible for bringing the word balearic back into dance music’s vocabulary, with breezy remixes of fellow Coachella performers MGMT, as well as Grace Jones (who mysteriously disappeared off of this years line-up).

The XX – This UK three-piece (formerly a foursome) have created huge waves with their gentle melanchloy sound. Find out what selections they chose for their Headphone Highlights session.

LCD Soundsystem – When not providing the vox and drums for LCD Soundsystem’s headlining performances worldwide, James Murphy and Pat Mahoney are two globe-trotting wax masters who’s Special Disco Version parties intorudced a whole new generation of hipsters to the wonders of vintage disco hits, played on vinyl rather than laptop.

Flying Lotus – One of this years most anticipated performers, the nephew of the infamous Alice Coltrane is putting Los Angeles on the map when it comes to mind-bending experimental electronic music. Even Thom Yorke has taken notice, bring FlyLo out to open on all of his Atoms For Peace U.S. tour dates.

DJ Craze & Klever – On their own, DJCraze and Klever are two championship winning turntablists who have wowed crowds for over a decade. Together, the present a dueling DJ party performance like no other.

Passion Pit - More rockers who are unafraid to take to the turntables when the afterhours calls, Passion Pit pony up DJ Shadow, Friendly Fires and Ace of Base (!?) in this special Headphone Highlights session.

Hot Chip – The last time Hot Chip played Coachella in 2007, their mid-afternoon set in the Sahara tent was so packed that the heat made their vintage analog keyboards malfunction in weird and wonderful ways. All five memeber have thriving DJ careers when between Hot Chip tours, which keeps their selection skills unparallelled.

Club 75 – Ever since Daft Punks dominant 2006 Coachella performance, no Coachella has been complete without a healthy helping of French dance dons. This years installment comes in the form of Club 75, the new all-star DJ unit featuring Coachella vets Justice, Busy P and DJ Mehdi, plus french house legends Cassius.

Plastikman – The most infamous production handle of techno superstar Richie Hawtin, this live performance pushes the barriers of audience participation with an interacitve iPhone app among other technological breakthroughs. Check out this Fire Side chat for a taste of Hawtin’s minimalist vision of electronic music.

Rusko – Another SoCal immigrant, Rusko now leads the global dubstep invasion, taking the London sound and applying it to LA radio, new tunes by M.I.A. and now the fields of Coachella.

Musicians carry a fraction of diva within their core. It is one of those unwritten laws that no matter how down to earth (or buried within) they may seem, there resides a chunk of entitlement in their bones that screams “gimme this” or “double wrap that.” As long as we don’t have to endure it constantly (read: be Kanye West’s personal assistant), it’s easy to push on the back burner and let it cook — considering it slightly, but never holding such pretenses against the artist. Busy P broke these rules on Monday evening when he slammed his designer headphones (and then his microphone) at the beginning of his set when something went wrong with the sound, and proceeded to scream in a mixture of French and English at the crowd and also at that poor, unfortunate sound guy (who seemed relatively unaffected by the whole ordeal).

Some of the crowd dissipated, heading back into the rest of the festival grounds, while others stayed to see if Busy P would smile and, you know, play a decent set. Considering Busy P’s past and present — manager of Daft Punk for over twelve years, currently resides of Ed Banger Records, which is home to Justice, DJ Mehdi and fellow Red Bull Music Academy performer Krazy Baldhead — it was no surprise that his temper did, in fact, cool and that his performance struck a highly stylized, electro-boutique chord with the mobs of Movement patrons who, in fact, returned.

What is electro-boutique, you ask? It’s an honest question, so take that guilty look off your face and quit sobbing into your cereal bowl. Electro-boutique is exactly what Busy P brought to the Red Bull Music Academy stage after his brief but brutal outburst of French emotion — a slick chrome variety of sexually charged, minimalist yet fierce beats that sample only the finest, most erotic records you’ve ever rubbed your lustful little fingers on. We’re talking about walking into a warehouse in that oh-so-historic (for the wrong reasons) district of your fine city, and having all those suspended strobe lights and spinning disco balls reflect bright flashes of light off of hundreds of shiny, androgynous black boots into your innocent, sparkling eyes. Like the crowd at Movement ’09, your slightly overwhelmed, but your body just keeps moving to the rhythm and your libido is consistently rising at pulsating rates you’ve never quite felt before. You kind of like this place, don’t you? The crowd straddling the stage sure did, too … especially with the heavy dose of Justice-meets-Daft Punk (appropriate reference, right?) nitty, gritty hunks of heaping bass Busy P threw into the equation for the ultimate money shot effect.

In our humble opinion, Busy P’s set came to a close a little soon (although he technically played over). As soon as we were about to hit climax, our nasty little daydream (and the daydreams of hundreds of others) snapped back into reality and Busy P was heading off with Krazy Baldhead in tow to grab his check and the next flight back to Europe. A bit of a diva? You just can’t argue the facts. An international DJ with the credentials and steamy, sexual live show to match? Like we said, you just can’t argue the facts.

Words by Ryan Patrick Hooper, photos by Joe Gall

During Coachella 09, the french electro artists from Ed Banger Records (Justice, Busy P, So Me, Medhi, Fafi, Gaspard, Sebastian, Kavinsky, etc) descended upon LA with their new clothing brand, Cool Cats, first ever pop up store in the US at De La Barracuda on Melrose in Mid City. On Monday, April 20th, 2009 A.C. (After Coachella), the social chameleons of the LA scene journeyed through the heavily trafficked LA arteries to an afternoon of relaxation in fashion and friendship with drinks provided by Red Bull, Belvedere IX and Colt 45s, and the side act of guest DJ sets from Medhi, So Me, , Sebastian, and Busy P (On his Birthday!) From the fashion side, limited edition presses of their apparel were on sale to grab up for all the trend setters to take back to their boroughs of the city and dawn on Tuesday. Surprise surprise: appearances from Guy Manuel of Daft Punk, Digitalism, Artist Darren Romanelli, Editor Jamie O’Shea, Photographer Lionel DeLuy (who for the fun of it, set up a photo booth for the day) and more. The result, a celebration of french music and fashion in LA. A good time had by all…

Some Cool Blog Recaps:
http://barracudashop.com/blog/?m=200904 (Halfway down the page)
http://youtellconcerts.com/?p=323
http://migueld.thelechuga.com/2009/04/23/cool-cats-barracuda/
http://www.findinternettv.com/Video,item,167620017.aspx
http://trashageyo.blogspot.com/2009/04/cool-cats-pop-up-store.html

Words by Josh Greenberg, Photos by Zoetica Ebb