Coachella is back, for two desert weekends this year, April 13 to 15 and April 20 to 22. Our massive team of writers and photographers will be covering everything from the performances to the fashion trends to the drug-induced tomfoolery. More than 140 artists are performing -- we've got the full list below. But, you may be wondering, who the hell are some of these people? To help you out, we've got stories on many of them culled from our sister Village Voice Media papers around the country. You'll learn about that time Flying Lotus pretended to be a UCLA physics major, Seun Kuti's first Minneapolis performance as an 8-year-old, even the mysteries of Merrill Garbus and why Chuck Klosterman can't handle her. Dig in!
-Ben Westhoff
Abe Vigoda
Alesso
Amon Tobin : ISAM Live
Andrew Bird
AraabMUZIK
*Q&A: araabMUZIK On His Influences, His Name, And Filling His Records With Crazy Beats
Arctic Monkeys
At The Drive-In
Atari Teenage Riot
AVICII
AWOLNATION
Azealia Banks
Band of Skulls
Beats Antique
Beirut
Black Lips
Bon Iver
*Bon Iver wins two Grammys, and "Bonny Bear" is born
*Bon Iver "kind of said 'f*ck you' a little bit" to the Grammys
Borgore
Breakbot
Buzzcocks
Calvin Harris
Childish Gambino
Company Flow
Dada Life
Datsik
David Guetta
Dawes
Death Grips
Destroyer
Destructo
DJ Shadow
Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg
Dragonette
EMA
Fanfarlo
Feed Me
Feist
fIREHOSE
First Aid Kit
Fitz and the Tantrums
Florence and the Machine
Flux Pavilion & Dr. P
Flying Lotus
*The Time Flying Lotus Pretended To Be A UCLA Physics Major
*Flying Lotus Rising: Could spiritual electronica be the next great California sound?
Frank Ocean
Gardens & Villa
Gary Clark Jr.
Girl Talk
*Girl Talk Is the Best at What He Does: Audiences aren't sick of mash-ups yet, not when they're as sophisticated as Gregg Gillis' work
*Girl Talk's Greg Gillis Says Irony Is a Waste
GIRLS
GIVERS
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Gotye
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Greg Ginn and The Royal We
Grouplove
Hello Seahorse!
honeyhoney
Housse de Racket
Jacques Lu Cont
James
Jeff Mangum
Jimmy Cliff with Tim Armstrong and the Engine Band
Justice
Kaiser Chiefs
Kasabian
Kaskade
Keep Shelly in Athens
Kendrick Lamar
*Born and raised in Compton, Kendrick Lamar Hides a Poet's Soul Behind "Pussy & Patron"
*Kendrick Lamar's Section 80 tops LA Weekly's list of best LA Albums of 2011
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Laura Marling
Le Butcherettes
Lissie
M. Ward
M83
Madeon
Madness
Manchester Orchestra
Martin Solveig
Mazzy Star
Méa
Metronomy
Miike Snow
Modeselektor
Morgan Page
Mt Eden
Neon Indian
Nero
Noel Gallagher's High-Flying Birds
NOISIΛ
Oberhofer
Other Lives
Porter Robinson
Pulp
Pure Filth Sound
R3hab
Radiohead
Real Estate
Refused
Santigold
SBTRKT
SebastiAn
Sebastian Ingrosso
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80
Spector
Squeeze
St. Vincent
Sub Focus
Suedehead
Swedish House Mafia
The Airplane Boys
The Big Pink
The Black Angels
The Black Keys
The Dear Hunter
The Gaslamp Killer
The Growlers
The Head and the Heart
The Hives
The Horrors
The Rapture
The Sheepdogs
The Shins
The Vaccines
The Weeknd
Thundercat
Tijuana Panthers
tUnE-yArDs
*tUnE-yArDs tops the Village Voice's Pazz and Jop Critics Poll
*Chuck Klosterman irks tUnE-yArDs' fanbase, while likely enlarging it
Wallpaper
We are Augustines
We Were Promised Jetpacks
Wild Beasts
Wild Flag
Wolf Gang
WU LYF
Ximena Sarinana
Yuck
Zedd