The B-List

Making noise just below the must-see level is a crowded roster of artists worth taking that extra step to see, either for the curiosity factor or for a reliable dose of quality.

CHARLATANS U.K.

You might want to visit the Charlatans’ set simply as a sympathy vote. The English group’s snake-bitten career has been waylaid by arrests, embezzlement and death, but they bounced back last year with “Wonderland,” an album that combined their classic Stones/Faces vibe with the grooves of their hometown, Manchester. Their recent Palace concert captured the against-the-odds spirit that’s become their subtext. Saturday. --R.C.

DAN THE AUTOMATOR

Concept-happy producing whiz Dan “The Automator” Nakamura has been a force in many innovative acts over the last decade, including cartoon hip-hoppers Gorillaz, the mock-suave Handsome Boy Modeling School and alt-rap icon Kool Keith’s lascivious Dr. Octagon character. Recently Nakamura toured as his Modeling School persona, Nathaniel Merriweather, to present the tongue-in-cheek seduction of “Lovage: Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By,” a collection blending cocktail-culture mating rituals and thoroughly modern mixology. And his new “Wanna Buy a Monkey?” is a mix album underscoring his fine DJ skills. Whatever he does should be intriguing. Saturday. --N.N.

FOLK IMPLOSION

After 10 years and four albums (the most recent being 1999’s “One Part Lullaby”), the lo-fi duo of Sebadoh’s Lou Barlow and friend John Davis is calling it quits after the Coachella appearance, according to Barlow’s Web site. Best known for the song “Natural One,” featured on the soundtrack of the 1995 film “Kids,” F.I. has employed a couple of dozen instruments, including cookie sheets and glasses of water, in its charmingly homemade music. Barlow has formed a new, as-yet-unnamed band. Saturday. --S.H.

FOREST FOR THE TREES

Carl Stephenson, who co-wrote “Loser” with Beck and who records under the name Forest for the Trees, battled a brain disorder five years ago to release a long-awaited debut album that was a striking mix of exotic musical textures and moods. He’s now completing his follow-up, and this is a rare public performance. Saturday. --R.H.

JACK JOHNSON

The pro surfer and surf filmmaker has become a music phenom not with the shredding metal and punk of extreme sports, but with a positive, beachcomber vibe in his easygoing yet sharp-eyed songs.

The Hawaii-raised, Santa Barbara-based singer-songwriter’s debut album, “Brushfire Fairytales,” has been a steadily growing success since it was released by tiny Enjoy Records last year, initially sold mostly in surf and skate shops. Now, with screaming girls crowding his concerts and radio play starting to come, he’s been picked up by major Universal Records. Saturday. --S.H.

JURASSIC 5

The flagship of L.A.’s progressive/alternative rap scene released its debut album in 2000. “Quality Control” is a freewheeling but purposeful collection driven by rhythmic insistence and a restless originality. Saturday. --R.C.

KRS-ONE

KRS-One (real name: Kris Parker) has been around almost as long as rap itself, and he has as profound an understanding of the music’s creative and social history as fellow New Yorker Chuck D. His early albums under the Boogie Down Productions name, including the trailblazing “Criminal Minded,” were essential building blocks in hip-hop.

On last year’s well-received “The Sneak Attack,” the socially conscious KRS-One, who likes to think of himself as a teacher as much as a musician, demonstrated that he remains one of the genre’s most gifted and illuminating figures. Saturday. --R.H.

LIQUID TODD

The disc jockey has become a star in New York through his own radio show. Before celebrity came, though, Liquid Todd was shaking up dance floors with his mix of big beats and large trance hooks. Saturday. --S.B.

PHARCYDE

Not as big on the national scene at it might have been because of the group’s infrequent appearances over the years, the Pharcyde nevertheless remains a major part of the local scene. The rap group’s brash and irreverent rhymes are always a crowd-pleaser. Saturday. --S.B.

PRINCESS SUPERSTAR

New York’s Princess Superstar (a.k.a. Concetta Kirshner) is hip-hop’s answer to Ani DiFranco. Along with writing and producing such hilariously lascivious collections as last year’s “Princess Superstar Is,” she runs her own label, the Corrupt Conglomerate. Such playfully X-rated material as “Bad Babysitter” is good fun, but the Princess also cleverly twists pop-culture references into sharp critiques of wannabes (“You Get Mad at Napster”) and the music biz (“Trouble”). Live hip-hop can be an iffy proposition, but this is worth the gamble. Saturday. --N.N.

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE

Nobody on the bill will be closer to home than the Queens, whose key members hail from nearby Low Desert communities. The band’s seriously hard and heavy rock has drawn a small, intense audience, but the Queens have suddenly taken on an added luster with the arrival of the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl as their current drummer. Grohl, who’s playing with both bands this weekend, helped make the Queens’ recent Troubadour performance one of the town’s most buzzed-about club shows of the year. Saturday. --R.C.

SAUL WILLIAMS

The New York hip-hop poet’s 2001 debut album, “Amethyst Rock Star,” was produced by Rick Rubin and shows the intense, erudite Williams as part of a social-critic lineage running from the Last Poets through Public Enemy, with a live band featuring cello and viola giving him distinctive musical contexts. Saturday. --S.H.

THE VINES

Needing a drummer while recording its upcoming debut album in L.A. recently, this young Australian group reportedly tried to get Ringo Starr. They weren’t successful, but their love for the Beatles (circa the “White Album”) is evident in the record--in equal measures with a debt to Nirvana, as Craig Nicholls’ mid-range voice switches between giddy glide and grunge growl. The mix of polish and power has made the band an early sensation in England alongside fellow imports the Strokes and the White Stripes, and has created an anticipatory buzz here, with the album “Highly Evolved” due July 16. Saturday. --S.H.

BLONDE REDHEAD

Japan’s Kazu Makino and Italian twins Simone and Amedeo Pace specialize in melodic yet dissonant indie-pop. Makino’s high voice might grate on some, but the moody, poignant 2000 collection “Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons” has a breathless, muscular charm. Sunday. --N.N.

BT

Despite his assertions a few years ago that he is not a DJ, trance star Brian Transeau has been making some rounds on the DJ circuit, including a recent stint at Miami’s Winter Music Conference. BT knows his grooves and how to work a crowd, so he should make an impression at Coachella. Sunday. --S.B.

DJ DAN, CUT CHEMIST, SANDRA

COLLINS, MIXMASTER MIKE,

DJ BABA G--SOUNDZ OF THE

ASIAN UNDERGROUND

Los Angeles fans can take pride in the DJs representing the local scene at this year’s Coachella. Trance stars DJ Dan and Collins, above, and turntablists Cut Chemist (of Jurassic 5) and Mixmaster Mike should be among the highlights of the festival. Chemist can be counted on for some quirky selections and skilled scratching, and Collins should be up for the opportunity to show hometown fans she can compete with the international stars. DJ Dan may be the sleeper. At last year’s Electric Daisy Carnival, his dramatic rises filled the cavernous Hansen Dam area, meaning he’s prepared for the challenge of the large spaces beyond the Coachella stages. Saturday (Baba G) and Sunday (the rest). --S.B.

FOO FIGHTERS

Dave Grohl will be doing double duty at Coachella, fronting his own Foo Fighters on Sunday and drumming Saturday for the Queens of the Stone Age. But Grohl pledges that the Foo Fighters remain his priority, and the new album is due in the fall. It’s been easy to take the Foo Fighters for granted, both for the persistent shadow of Nirvana (in which Grohl was the drummer) and for the consistent craft of his songs. But Grohl and the Foos have regularly transcended both, carving out their own power-punk territory adjacent to but not overlapping with Nirvana’s sacred ground and imbuing the song-craft with intelligent and subtle depths. Sunday. --S.H.

GALACTIC

Bringing New Orleans funk to the jam band circuit, Galactic ranges from instrumental jazz-fusion grooves a la Medeski, Martin & Wood to soul-blues when vocalist Theryl “Houseman” DeClouet steps out front. Sunday. --S.H.

HERBERT

Matthew Herbert has been a prolific artist in the experimental world since the 1990s, releasing tracks under the name Herbert, Doctor Rockit and Wishmountain. Coming from the same vein as Mouse on Mars and Plaid, Herbert takes all sounds electronic--house, techno, synthesizers--and melds them into his own style. Sunday. --S.B.

MARS VOLTA

If At the Drive-In hadn’t broken up last year, the explosive El Paso band might well be one of the headliners this weekend. The band’s “Relationship of Command” album mixed punk and classic rock sensibilities in spectacular fashion. Singer Cedric Bixler and guitarist Omar Rodriguez hope to recapture the spark in their new band. Sunday. --R.H.

MOS DEF: BLACK JACK JOHNSON

Rapper Mos Def isn’t one to be fenced in. He’s acting on Broadway in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Topdog/Underdog,” and now he wants some rock action too. The Black Jack Johnson Project--whose long-anticipated album has yet to be released--aims to tear down the walls between black music and rock music, and Mos Def has the right band for the job. Bassist Doug Wimbush and drummer Will Calhoun were the rhythm section of Living Colour, which undertook a similar mission in the early ‘80s, guitarist Dr. Know hails from the legendary black punk-reggae band Bad Brains, and veteran keyboardist Bernie Worrell played with the genre-blending Parliament-Funkadelic. Sunday. --R.C.

OZOMATLI

A live setting is the best way to experience East L.A.’s funky Afro-Latin hip-hop rockers, who fuse messages of unity and protest with traditional and modern styles for a get-the-party-started/keep-the- party-going groove. Singing and rapping in Spanish and English while wielding horns, guitars, drums and percussion instruments, the players don’t hesitate to swarm the audience, creating a street-style camaraderie. Sunday. --N.N.

PAUL OAKENFOLD

Of the royal court of DJs, this Englishman has made the greatest inroads into the mainstream, including an accolade as Rolling Stone magazine’s Hot DJ in 2000 and a gig scoring last year’s John Travolta-Halle Berry flick “Swordfish.” At last year’s Coachella, Oakenfold was on the main stage before Jane’s Addiction. Because of the large crowd and a poor setup for decks, his set fell below the standard of his reputation. Presumably, that experience, and a successful stint ushering in this past New Year on Hollywood Boulevard, have prepared Oakenfold for the large setting. The talent and drive are there, so expect the king of trance to fill the night sky with the kind of larger-than-life grooves that fans have come to expect. Sunday. --S.B.

PETE TONG

Though not a household name in the States, the British DJ is a star in his native land. The host of the influential BBC radio show “Essential Selections,” Tong first brought house music to the U.K. in the mid-’80s. Since then he has remained at the forefront of the dance world, so expect his Coachella set to showcase cutting-edge music from around the globe. Sunday. --S.B.

PING PONG BITCHES

Their crude, hard-hitting electro-punk may be only slightly above karaoke quality, but these three Englishwomen in leather and stiletto heels have gained support from Creation Records founder Alan McGee, Sex Pistol Steve Jones and Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera (both of whom contributed to their EP) and noted sensationalist Malcolm McLaren (who managed them briefly). Sunday. --S.H.

SOUND TRIBE SECTOR 9

Glow sticks or tie-dye? Take both for STS9, a Bay Area band that weaves electronica aesthetics with jam band interplay. The resulting organica at times echoes Miles Davis’ early-’70s explorations. Sunday. --S.H.

TIESTO

The Netherlands’ Tiesto, perhaps the fastest-rising comer on the DJ scene, finally gets a proper coming out in Southern California. Though he’s spun at Giant and local raves, this will be the first chance for many to lose themselves in Tiesto’s mind-expanding trance hooks. Sunday. --S.B.

TRIPLE THREAT

Triple Threat has taken its years of experience competing on the turntable circuit and fused them with a party mentality that utilizes the music of dancehall, hip-hop, soul, funk and more. Sunday. --S.B.

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The C-List

Coachella has steered clear of any real must-avoids, but there is a layer of artists who are too familiar and/or a little unremarkable to call for an extra effort.

THE BETA BAND

If you know the Betas only from the scene in “High Fidelity” in which record store customers can’t resist the group’s sweeping melodic charm, you may have the wrong idea about the group. As it showed on tour last year with Radiohead, the Betas’ music is as quirky and unpredictable as it is winsome. It can be intriguing but not always essential. Saturday. --S.B.

CAKE

Didn’t somebody say irony was dead? Maybe that was premature, given the success-at-last of these under-the-radar Sacramento spoof-rockers’ single “Short Skirt/Long Jacket.” Achieving maximum hyphenation with its alternative-funk-hip-hop-Latin-new-wave- jazz-pop romps, the group can be wry to a fault and strangely bland despite it all. But at least it doesn’t take itself as seriously as the Dave Matthews Band. Saturday. --N.N.

CITIZEN COPE

On his recent debut album, D.C.-reared Clarence Greenwood, a.k.a. Citizen Cope, goes a little heavy-handed with biblical imagery (a confrontation with a Porsche-driving devil in “Salvation”), eccentric characters (the street-hustler portrait “200,000”) and a wearily jaundiced vocal delivery on the street-life short stories and snapshots. Still, citing Randy Newman and Stevie Wonder among his influences, he balances quiet despair with hope, echoed in the somber keyboard textures and understated rhythms. Saturday. --S.H.

G. LOVE & SPECIAL SAUCE

Taking folk-blues to Generation X, Philadelphian Garrett Dutton can’t match the real thing, but there’s an attractive earnestness to his and his backing duo’s easygoing shuffles. Saturday. --S.H.

GROOVE ARMADA

In its studio work, the London-based duo of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay is all about style. The pair’s two albums, including last year’s “Goodbye Country, Hello Nightclub,” feature slick ambient and techno beats best suited to a late-night club. If that doesn’t bode well for their appearance in the large, outdoor areas of Coachella, the pair’s last L.A. gig, at Vynyl, offered a glimmer of hope in the form of surprisingly accessible disco tunes and pop hooks. It’s hard to know what Groove Armada will bring to the table, but whatever it is, fans can be sure it’s at least worth checking out. Whether it’s worth staying around for depends on the style. Saturday. --S.B.

LEE BURRIDGE

Another product of the U.K. scene, Burridge brings a global flavor, courtesy of training in Hong Kong, to his house mix. There will be a lot of dancey and disco-esque beats, but expect them to be cut with less predictable sounds. Saturday. --S.B.

MIGUEL MIGS

Expect the Santa Cruz-based DJ to provide the kind of dance-heavy house flavor found on his recent “Nude Tempo, Vol. 1.” Saturday. --S.B.

PETE YORN

Yorn is frequently included on lists of promising young singer-songwriters, and in his hit “Music for the Morning After” album he shows that he knows how to craft a tune. The question is originality and depth. If you measure him against the woeful pop-rock norm these days, Yorn stands out. If you up the standards to a reasonable level, he tends to melt away. Putting him under the huge expectations of the Coachella festival spotlight is a gamble. If he connects with the crowd, he may deserve critical reevaluation. Saturday. --R.H.

Z-TRIP

The turntablist will display his scratching skills against an array of hip-hop beats. Saturday. --S.B.

BAD BOY BILL

The DJ specializes in hard-house, which means the friendly and warm dance beats of house will have a drum-and-bass edge. Sunday. --S.B.

CIRRUS

One of the few live electronic acts on the bill, the Long Beach quartet mixes trip-hop, acid house and other electronic sounds in a hybrid that, while not revolutionary, should be interesting augmented by live instruments. Sunday. --S.B.

DILATED PEOPLES

A steady presence on the L.A. alt-rap scene, but its last album, “The Platform,” is surprisingly faceless, despite guest spots from B-Real and Tha Alkaholics. Sunday. --R.C.

DJ PERETZ

Though Peretz doesn’t have the name recognition of many of his fellow DJs (unless he goes by his real name, Perry Farrell), there’s no questioning his love and support of the electronic music scene. Sunday. --S.B.

ELBOW

“Prog without the solos” is the English band’s much repeated description of its music, which exudes much of the hyper-sensitive feel of the Doves, Coldplay and many others across the Atlantic. Its “Asleep in the Back” album has been acclaimed, but the lyrics add little to the atmospheric sheen, leaving the music feeling incomplete. Maybe they’ll fill in some of the blanks live. Sunday. --R.H.

FAIRVIEW

The Orange County band has spread its name with lots of touring in the past two years. Its melodic, sometimes punkish rock doesn’t stand out from the field, but singer-keyboardist Grace Peters is a rare female presence in the genre--and at the entire Coachella Festival, for that matter. Sunday. --R.C.

ROCK STEADY CREW

That these hip-hoppers released their first single on influential dance label Backspin says a lot about where their beat-laden rhymes come from. --S.B.

SAVES THE DAY

The New Jersey band, above right, tells coming-of-age stories, with high, yearning vocals riding a throbbing stitchery of guitar and drum. The lyrics can be provocative, but the sound makes youthful rites of passage seem more like a school picnic than a fight for life. Sunday. --R.C.

WAGNER

The three-piece from Riverside plays power-pop/rock with a decidedly indie bent. Sunday. --S.B.