Line up and subscriber tickets offered for Golden Plains 2010

With its big brother Meredith Music Festival still a month away, Golden Plains (held at the same Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre) has released its first announcement for the March 2010 affair.

The first round of subscriber ballots were released today, which means only one thing: Golden Plains 2010 lineup is now out!

For the first announcement from the renowned boutique festival comes an eclectic bunch:

PAVEMENT, DINOSAUR JNR, DIRTY PROJECTORS, THE BIG PINK, MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS, TAME IMPALA, SUPER WILD HORSES, OPTIMO, CALEXICO, MONOTONIX, GASLAMP KILLER, NASHVILLE PUSSY, JEFFREY LEWIS AND THE JUNKYARD, THE CRUEL SEA, CRAYON FIELDS, RANSOM, ANDEE FROST, WOODEN SHJIPS, ROYAL HEADACHE

Pavement
Yes it’s still a fact, Pavement are reforming and playing at Golden Plains, as part of their Australian Tour in March 2010.

Pavement disbanded in 1999 after releasing several masterwork albums, leaving a legacy as bona fide kingpin icons of what is now a massive worldwide scene. That legacy has expanded exponentially to reach gigantic subcultural proportions, so the announcement of their reformation has seen an explosion of modern joy from discerning music-lovers all over the globe. Golden Plains will be one of their very first shows back. They play the first nite. Wowee Zowee. 

Dinosaur Jr 
Truly legendary. Worshipped. One of the world’s greatest living rock bands. So idiosyncratic, nobody can sound like them. Original lineup, J Mascis, Lou Barlow, Murph. It seems too incredible to be real that in 2010 you can actually go see Dinosaur Jr play live. A rare treat indeed. (that you deserve).

Consider the albums that made them the ultimate grunge era cult band (Dinosaur, You’re Living All Over Me and Bug) were recorded 20+ years ago, then that the original trio got back in the studio and actually ADDED to their legend with 2007’s ‘Beyond” and to now have one of 2009’s best albums in “Farm”* (get it)….so cool, so mind-blowing. EVERYONE rates Dinosaur Jr

*At times wholly 70’s guitar-epic, at times perfect for sitting by a babbling brook with Joni and Neil, Farm encompasses Dinosaur Jr.’s signature palette – soaring and distorted guitar, unshakable hooks, honey-rich melodies – songs that get into your head and, bouncing around happily, stay there.

Dirty Projectors
You might be struck by the strange song structures, the phenomenally skillful guitar playing, the occasional bizarre burst of yelling by the singer Dave, or the beguiling sweetness of the harmonies and indeed the faces they come from. You might try to work out where the band fit in, how on earth they write this stuff, or who they ‘sound like’. You might read that they re-imagined a whole Black Flag record into some kind of folk music, or created a rock opera ‘about’ Don Henley. You might hear about ‘polyrythmic’, or ‘David Byrne’ or ‘Best New Music’. You might be charmed by the scout-group-like oneness of the players’ vibe, all parts of the one whole, being its own reward. You might also think too many people wank on about music too often. You may or may not be right, but there’s one extra point to make about this band, currently one of the planets bluest-hot acts: their thrilling music is a lot of things, (sometimes within the same bar) but certainly it is deeply, naturally soulful, and will stand the test of time. It is a nebulous wonderland of new experiences; if you like sonic adventure, you’ll hit sensory overload here. Joyous.

The Big Pink
Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell are The Big Pink. Both from London, Milo is behind the celebrated Merok label, which has helped to launch both Klaxons and Crystal Castles, while Furze made a name for himself in such industrial behemoths as Panic DHH and Alec Empire. Their epic debut album, A Brief History of Love, is a sound-world that combines melody and beautiful noise in equal measure – it’s exquisitely produced atmospheric emotional music. Some might say shoegaze-meets-pop. It’s gonna sound good out in the ghost gums. Shoegum.

Tame Impala
This is a no-brainer callback to the Supernatural…there’s nothing but admiration out there for these cats, they play trippy power rock with great pop hooks, they’re unassuming but assured, they got a real cool sound (think late Sixties, when pop became psychedelia; or perhaps the Hendrix Experience before they took to wearing moccasins. Bands got smaller, amps got bigger and the sound got A Whole Lot Heavier), a mountain of people dig them (sold out 3 Corners) and they’re a bona fide primetime attraction. In the wild.

Midnight Juggernauts
It only seems like yesterday we were watching the Juggs play to fifty-odd punters in local pubs. With a little help from the French electro syndicate, they have taken themselves on what seems like an endless world tour helping them become the Most Blogged Band In The Universe recently. The MJ juggernaut duly hits warp speed with new single This New Technology and Golden Plains is thrilled we’ll all be having a close encounter of the first kind.

Calexico
There’s going to be something very golden about experiencing Calexico’s golden music in the vast golden plains of the Golden Plains Shire, even though it’s a long way from the myths and iconography of the American West and its Spanish speaking neighbor Mexico and indeed the town on the California border that Joey Burns and John Convertino borrowed for their band’s name. Tía potable en el sol y escuchar a Calexico domingo por la tarde la hace muy muy feliz.