Artisanal, hearth-baked, hand-crafted, organic, local–the bywords of our culinary landscape have been so obsessively politicized, sometimes it’s tough to see the forest for the trees. Especially when we’re talking about very real, life-and-death implications.

The people on Africa’s Ivory Coast are too busy trying to put something–anything–in their bellies amid the bloodshed and instability of ousted President Laurent Gbagbo’s belligerent power grab to worry about the socio-agricultural implications of noshing on non-CSA/Alice Waters/Green Peace-approved comestibles.

About 25,000 Ivorians have beat feet to Liberia in the wake of Gbagbo’s reign of terror (he was officially voted out in November of last year, but refuses to step down), and the country is now on the brink of civil war.

Cocoa is the country’s only significant export (about 685,000 tons left the Ivory Coast between Oct. 1 and Jan. 9, according to the International Cocoa Organization), and if chocolate companies refuse to play nice with Gbagbo, he will no longer be able to fund his army of mercenaries.

Some of the biggest names in chocolate, like Hershey’s, Nestle and M&M/Mars are all still doing business with the dictator, according to Avaaz.org.

That’s where all of the composting, kombuchi-brewing foodies come in.

(MORE AFTER THE JUMP)

Coachella has announced the highly speculated lineup for the 2011 festival, held April 15, 16 and 17 in Indio, California. Kanye West, The Strokes, Arcade Fire and Kings of Leon headline, while dozens of other musicians including The Black Keys, Lauryn Hill, PJ Harvey, Cee Lo, Animal Collective, Duran Duran and more will also perform.

Information on festival passes, camping and surviving the desert can all be found on Coachella’s website. And of all the music festivals, Metric tells us why Coachella is the most fun for artists.

Ah, performance art. A thing of riotous, lively beauty. Like Ivana Trump, what it lacks in subtlety it makes up for in sheer, toothy verve.

Grande dame of the form Marina Abramovic has pushed every boundary even casually imposed on the–by definition–almost boundless métier, and this time she’s done it with food.

In one genre-exploding move, Abramovic has created a dessert for Upper East side restaurant Park Avenue Winter.

Pastry chef Kevin Lasko will be doing the actual leg work. Abramovic merely provided the brain-work. Her creation, dubbed, rather histrionically, the “volcano flambe,” is a highly noshable combo of dark chocolate ice cream, meringue, spun sugar, a hopefully ironic dusting of gold leaf and a generous flambé bath in rum.

Those who order her creation also receive an mp3 player with Abramovic guiding them through the sensory experience of chewing and swallowing, and a collection of her favorite recipes, called “Spirit Cooking.” Bonus: The proceeds go Creative Time, a nonprofit that commissions public arts projects.

To warm up for what will certainly be a bracing intellectual exercise in digestion, check out the question Abramovic recently asked of Lady Gaga.

Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and composer Atticus Ross won the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for the “The Social Network” last night. Download a five-track sampler EP from the film here.

“A year ago I had no idea I’d have the opportunity to score a film,” Reznor said. “The idea of standing up here to accept this award is surreal.” He later Tweeted “Holy shit!”

Check out Pitchfork’s interview with Trent and film director David Fincher about avoiding an orchestral score in favor of Reznor’s experimentation, as well as technology and social media in the music industry.

Röyksopp pack up the van this spring for a North American tour that hits the U.S., Mexico and Canada all in one month.They’re on the road in support of their latest full-length, Senior, which they need a little help with.

For fans out there with video skills, the Norwegian duo is hosting a contest. Winners who create the best video to accompany songs on the album can bank $1,000 to $3,000. Enter before January 17 on Röyksopp’s site.

And if you don’t win, you can still show your appreciation in the form of a little nudity.

March 18 – The Guvernment – Toronto
March 19 – Club Soda – Montreal
March 21 – Webster Hall – New York, NY
March 23 – 9:30 Club – Washington, DC
March 24 – Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
March 26 – Hipodromo de las americas – Mexico City
March 27 – Ultra Music Festival – Miami
March 28 – Grand Ballroom @ Regency – San Francisco
March 29 – The Wiltern – Los Angeles

Sharks–those slick, otherworldly creatures of deep, serve as mobile Rorschach blots for our cultural obsessions and our most neurotic, deep-seated anxieties.

It comes as no surprise that Gordon Ramsay–everyone’s least-favorite land shark–should feel an especially keen affinity for his sea-faring brethren. The chef (whose financial shenanigans, alleged facelifts and ritual humiliation have made him more famous than the food that initially foisted him into the spotlight) recently launched an expose on the underbelly of the shark-fin trade.

While investigating illegal shark finning (in which fins are cut off the shark and its body left to rot in the sea, much like the practice of cutting off elephant tusks and ditching the carcass), he was doused in gasoline and set on fire by alleged fin-traders. No word yet on whether a BBQ’d Ramsay will appear in the documentary–it airs on January 16.

Until then, check out how Gordon got his fearsome rep.

San Fran’s Dodos have a new album titled No Color out March 15 via Frenchkiss Records, with several songs featuring additional vocals from The New Pornographers’ Neko Case. The band also teamed up with John Askew, who produced their first two records. A tour will follow, though no dates been yet been announced.

Tracklisting:
1. Black Night
2. Going Under
3. Good
4. Sleep
5. Don’t Try And Hide It
6. When Will You Go
7. Hunting Season
8. Companions
9. Don’t Stop

And if you’ve ever wondered how guitarist Meric Long fingerpicks his way though albums worth of material, it’s because he’s got one dedicated manicurist.