I know it's strange to be thinking about October right now, but whenever I write, in a way that's always where I am. Growing up in Connecticut, it always held a special place in my heart — "a rare month for boys," as Ray Bradbury begins Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Ian St. Pe of the band Black Lips performs at this year's Coachella festival in Indio, Calif. Like many of the artists on the bill, the band agreed not to book other shows in Southern California within months of the event.
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Radiohead's headlining set on April 14 featured many songs from their album The King of Limbs, and an excellent ponytail on the head of singer Thom Yorke (right).
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After Explosions in the Sky played Coachella in 2007, says guitarist Munaf Rayani, the band went from "playing in rooms that were 400, 500, maybe a thousand people," to "the Palladium in L.A., which [has a capacity of] 4,000, and filled it up." Explosions in the Sky, seen here at Coachella on April 13, were booked by Goldenvoice, Coachella's promoter, to play a set at The Glass House in nearby Pomona on April 18.
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During a set by Sunday night headliners Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog, a holographic image of Tupac Shakur, who died in 1996, performed for the crowd. In a YouTube message to fans, Dr. Dre said, "This was not done for a tour. If a tour happens, we'll see."
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Performers at Coachella, like Gotye, seen here April 15, were subject to a "radius clause" that prevented them from playing in the immediate area of the festival. So that they didn't waste the week between the festival's two weekends, Gotye's booking agent, Tom Windish, scheduled performances for his clients in locations like San Francisco and Las Vegas.
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Florence Welch, of Florence and the Machine, performs April 15 at Coachella.
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Santi White, aka Santigold, performs onstage at Coachella on April 15.
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"Honestly, we would like to play ... while we're in L.A. ... but they told us not to," Black Lips guitarist Cole Alexander told NPR. "So we're like, 'Whatever, we'll just record.' " The band found a new friend (and potential collaborator) during their week off: the pop star Ke$ha.
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Ke$ha in the audience at Coachella on April 15.
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Other guests who performed with Dre (at left) and Snoop during Coachella's first weekend included Eminem, 50 Cent, Wiz Khalifa and Kendrick Lamar.
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James Mercer performs with The Shins on April 14 at Coachella.
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Concertgoers attend the Black Lips performance April 14.
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Rihanna performs during a set by DJ and producer Calvin Harris, who produced the singer's hit "We Found Love," during the first weekend of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif.
The massive Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival came to a close in California on Sunday after two weekends worth of sold-out shows by over 150 artists.
One of those acts was the Austin, Texas, band Explosions in the Sky, which first played Coachella back in 2007 and has seen its profile grow since then.
This artist rendering shows Solicitor General Donald Verrilli speaking before the Supreme Court. Verrilli argued Wednesday that Arizona's immigration law steps into federal territory.
A majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices signaled Wednesday that they will uphold at least part of Arizona's controversial immigration law. Four provisions of the law were blocked by a federal appeals court last year, and while even some of the court's conservatives expressed skepticism about some of those provisions, a majority seemed willing to unblock the so-called "show me your papers" provisions.
Eccentric Soul: A Red Black Green Production (the cover detail of the album is above)revisits the influence of producer Robert Williams on the 1970s soul scene in Washington, D.C.
Most people wouldn't think of Washington, D.C., as one of R&B's great cities. Despite the fact that soul music greats Marvin Gaye and Roberta Flack grew up in D.C. neighborhoods, the city never had the equivalent of Detroit's Berry Gordy and Motown, or Memphis' Willie Mitchell and Hi Records. But in the early 1970s, D.C. did have producer Robert Williams and his Red, Black and Green Productions. A new compilation album called Eccentric Soul: A Red Black Green Production revisits Williams' influence on the sound of R&B in D.C.
The idea of exploiting the natural resources on asteroids has been around for more than a century. But a new company called Planetary Resources has the financial backing of some big names in high tech, and hopes to launch specially-designed prospecting spacecraft within two years.
President Obama kicked off a three university tour on Tuesday at UNC-Chapel Hill. Student debt now surpasses credit card debt in the U.S., and Obama is pressing Congress to pass an act that would keep interest rates on those loans from doubling this summer. Robert Siegel talks to Scott Horsley.
President Obama wants Congress to extend the 2007 College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which would freeze interest rates on subsidized Stafford student loans for one year. Melissa Block speaks with Mark Kantrowitz, a student loan expert and publisher of FinAid.org for a primer on student loans and repayments.
In politics, video tracking has become normal. And it's a growth industry. There are trackers working for campaigns, political parties and, increasingly, political action committees.
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
And I'm Melissa Block.
President Obama toured the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington today joined by Holocaust survivor, author and Nobel Laureate, Elie Wiesel. Mr. Obama said the U.S. must never again allow such atrocities to take place.
As NPR Don Gonyea reports, the president also announced new tools to punish countries that use technology to track and target their citizens.
