I am going to do a couple of posts giving you the low down of some of the best festival around the UK this summer. This is part 1!
Glastonbury
The Daddy of all festivals. And the best. Glastonbury has of course, sold out, but for those with tickets you are for sure in for a real treat. So much more than a music festival, and with an atmosphere which you cannot recreate anywhere else. In my opinion it is one of the most wonderful places on earth, it completely changed my life and long my it carry on doing so. Theres no Glastonbury for 2012, so 2011 is set to be a big one!
Tickets: SOLD OUT!
Dates: 22-26th June
Headliners: U2, Coldplay, Beyonce
I recommend: Paul Simon, Bright Eyes, Laura Marling, Mumford and Sons, Fleet Foxes, Anna Calvi, Caitlin Rose, Treetop Flyers, The Spirit of 71 stage and the Park special guests.
T in the Park
I’ve never been to T but it boasts a pretty impressive line-up this year with 6 massive headliners.
Tickets: SOLD OUT
Dates: 8-10th July
Headliners: Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, The Strokes, Beyonce, Pulp
I Recommend: Bright Eyes, Villagers, Eels, Noah and the Whale, Grouplove, Blondie.
The Big Chill
A wonderful festival, with a great atmosphere and really eclectic line-up. Big Chill is about so much more than the music though, its about the lifestyle and the incredible night life!
Tickets: £165
Dates: 4-7th August
Headliners: The Chemical Brothers, Kanye West, Rodrigo Y Gabrielle
I Recommend: Robert Plant, Warpaint, Janelle Monae, Wild Beasts
Latitude
Last year Latitude boasted one of the best line-ups of the summer, and this year I think it has done it again! I’ve been told the atmosphere is great too, and the site looks beautiful.
Tickets: £170
Dates: 14-17th July
Headliners: The National, Suede, Paulo Nutini
I Recommend: Bright Eyes, Iron and Wine, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Bombay Bicycle Club, Cloud Control, Anna Calvi, Dry the River and so much more!
Bushstock
A brand new festival for 2011, organised by the folk at Communion. Bushstock is taking over Shepherds Bush for one day, June 4th, and its wonderfully folky line-up gives us a taster of how great its going to be! A Flying with Anna guide of who to see at the festival will be coming very soon!
Tickets: £27.50
Dates: 4th June
Headliners: Fink, Peggy Sue, Foy Vance and Guillemots
I Recommend: Cloud Control, Sarah Blasko, Daughter, Treetop Flyers, Lucy Rose, King Charles, Louise and the Pins and almost everything else!
So here we are, No.1 and I have added the rest of the list to remind you of my full top 10.
1. Laura Marling- I Speak Because I Can
It had to be didn’t it? This album is stunning, and I have said it too many times. Her voice is honey and her songwriting is beautiful. I loved her debut, Alas I Cannot Swim, but for me this is leaps and bounds ahead. When Alas was released in 2008, reviews forever reminded us that she was only 18. The talent she showed at that age was incredible, but I think what was even more incredible was the transition from Alas to I Speak. This years album showed an incredibly maturity for someone of only 20 and I cannot wait for album No. 3. Absolute perfection. A beautiful album to top a wonderful year of music.
Essential Tracks: I Speak Because I Can, Hope in the Air, Blackberry Stone
2. Beach House- Teen Dream
Their is something about this album which totally grabs you, draws you in and makes you have to listen. Maybe its that voice, or the dreamy guitar, its hard to pinpoint why this album is so perfect as a complete work, but it is absolutely flawless. From the opening guitar melody on Zebra, to Victoria’s beautiful voice singing ‘I’ll Take Care of you’ on Take Care, you have to listen. It’s an album which rarely leaves my CD player and one which I recommend everyone to give a listen to.
Essential Tracks: Zebra, Norway, Take Care
3. Arcade Fire- The Suburbs
Arcade Fire are undoubtedly my band of the year. This album is a triumph and their performance at Leeds Festival was flawless. The Suburbs is perfect, a masterpiece from start to finish. It’s yet another concept album, but that’s what Arcade Fire do best. I don’t know if anything, for me, can beat Funeral, their debut, but the fact that after such a brilliant beginning, they keep on making stunning albums shows that they are something very special indeed. The grandness and beauty of there sound is totally unique and I think they are a band who will be remembered throughout history, the best band of our generation.
Essential Tracks: The Suburbs, Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains), We Used to Wait
4. Caribou- Swim
This album was chosen as Rough Trade’s album of the year, and rightly so. It seems quite forgotten by the major music magazines but Swim, for me, is a triumph of electronic music and something which has changed my personal thoughts about the genre. The creativity and production on Swim is leaps and bounds above the ordinary album and Caribou have gradually become one of my bands of the year. For those who read this blog because they like folk music, I urge you to put an open mind on and listen to this album, you too might take to it like I have. This album is summer on CD.
Essential Tracks: Sun, Odessa, Kaili
5. Warpaint- The Fool
This for me, is the finest debut of the year. It shows so much prospect for this band, I only hope it doesn’t have the XX effect and unexpectedly explode in the next year. The hypnotic vocals, the murmuring guitars and the dreamy songwriting have created a beautiful album. They have just been long-listed for the BBC Sound of 2011, I hope they don’t win. This album deserves to be treasured not mainstreamed.
Essential Tracks: Undertow, Bees, Baby
6. Bombay Bicycle Club- Flaws
This is an album I instantly fell in love with. His voice is perfect and the songwriting too is flawless. It’s such a change from there first album yet it’s gone down so well with critics, long time fans and through it they have also gained many new fans. It’s gonna be interesting to see where they go with the next album, I predict a mixture of the acoustic and electric sounds, but no matter what they do next, ‘Flaws’ will always be a masterpiece.
Essential Tracks: Ivy & Gold, Swansea, Flaws
7. Joanna Newsom- Have One On Me
Joanna Newsom is perfect, as is this album. For me, nothing can beat her debut ‘The Milk-Eyed Mender’ but this album comes pretty close. On 3 CD’s, with around 2 hours of songs, some at 12 minutes long, this album is something very different to the rest on this list. But then Newsom herself is very different. Her voice, the simplicity of the instrumentation along side the complexity of the melodies and lyrics make her an absolute treasure of out time. She’s a one-off and its time more people realized that.
Essential Tracks: ’81, Does not Suffice, On a Good Day
8. Caitlin Rose- Own Side Now
For me, this album took a very long time to grow on me. When I reviewed it back at the start of the year, I thought it was a little dull, but now I take back ever saying that. I love this album. Her voice is flawless, the songwriting is simple, yet beautiful. Caitlin has made slide guitars, cowboy fashion and a Nashville country voice cool again.
Essential Tracks: For the Rabbits, Shanghai Cigarettes, Own Side
9. Vampire Weekend- Contra
Vampire Weekend’s first and self titled album stole many of the top spots on 2008 Album of the Year lists. Its a brilliant debut, but I think the second album is even more of an accomplishment, showing a development in writing, sound and production. The first album is upbeat, catchy, overly likeable, but this album has much more depth, more darkness, yet the crowd pleasers are still in there aplenty. I think this is a band around to stay for quite a while, and if they keep on producing albums like this then rightly so.
Essential Tracks: I think Ur a Contra, Cousins, White Sky
10. Glasser- Ring
From the first hearing, you can’t help being captivated by the music of Glasser. The strange melodies, complex rhythms and over experimental instrumentation somehow still manages to be very, very listenable. Her voice will grab you and the beautiful psychedelia of the songs will keep your hold from the start to the very end of this album. A stunning debut.
Now for the next instalment of my albums of the year. You can read part 1 here.
7. Joanna Newsom- Have One On Me
Joanna Newsom is perfect, as is this album. For me, nothing can beat her debut ‘The Milk-Eyed Mender’ but this album comes pretty close. On 3 CD’s, with around 2 hours of songs, some at 12 minutes long, this album is something very different to the rest on this list. But then Newsom herself is very different. Her voice, the simplicity of the instrumentation along side the complexity of the melodies and lyrics make her an absolute treasure of out time. She’s a one-off and its time more people realized that.
Essential Tracks: ’81, Does not Suffice, On a Good Day
6. Bombay Bicycle Club- Flaws
This is an album I instantly fell in love with. His voice is perfect and the songwriting too is flawless. It’s such a change from there first album yet it’s gone down so well with critics, long time fans and through it they have also gained many new fans. It’s gonna be interesting to see where they go with the next album, I predict a mixture of the acoustic and electric sounds, but no matter what they do next, ‘Flaws’ will always be a masterpiece.
Essential Tracks: Ivy & Gold, Swansea, Flaws
5. Warpaint- The Fool
This for me, is the finest debut of the year. It shows so much prospect for this band, I only hope it doesn’t have the XX effect and unexpectedly explode in the next year. The hypnotic vocals, the murmuring guitars and the dreamy songwriting have created a beautiful album. They have just been long-listed for the BBC Sound of 2011, I hope they don’t win. This album deserves to be treasured not mainstreamed.
I have been a very bad blogger recently, I haven’t been going to too many gigs which is a shame as its one of the reasons I moved to London, but still, this is some of the lovely things I have been listening to recently.
I went to Rough Trade record shop last week and was pretty much memorised by it. Brought a fair few CD’s too, including the Glasser album, Wairpaint EP and a few other things. Warpaint seem to be everywhere at the moment, they are on the front of The Fly this week and they have already received a lot of very good reviews for there new album ‘The Fool’ which is released in a few weeks. This is a new song, you can see the video now but this is an acoustic version.
Beth Jeans Houghton has also been on my listening radar since seeing her at 6fest. Her music is wonderful and quirky, although she probably is better live. This is her best song for sure.
I found Hey Rosetta yesterday, they are Canadian and you can hear a lot of Arcade Fire in them. This is a quieter song but its rather lovely.
I have just written a review of the Agnes Obel album for the 405, its a very nice album and I gave it 8/10. This is one of the highlights.
Yesterday there was a lovely lovely thing on Radio 1. First a 3 hour programme called ‘Mumford & Sons and friends’ featuring live performances from Laura Marling, Bombay Bicycle Club, The Maccabees and of course Mumford and Sons as well as collaborations between some of these artists. You can listen or watch it back online now, its highly recommended. After this there was a 1 hour programme called the Folklore of Mumford and Sons in which they talked about there influences and some of the people that inspire them as well as there friends who are making music today. It was brilliant and I also recommend listening to that. They talked about lots of lovely bands, some which I wasn’t too familiar with, including Gillian Welch and this song particularly caught my attention. I love the line ‘She said I wanna do right but not right now’, I think thats very clever. She now plays in the Dave Rawlings Machine band, who are also good and very country.
It’s ages since I got back from Leeds Fest but I’ve only just had time to write a review! It was a really nice weekend, the festival is much nicer than I thought but also a lot smaller than I thought. Compared to Glastonbury its nothing, but I saw some really really brilliant bands and enjoyed my first taste of the Leeds Festival.
Friday began with The Futureheads who were very boring and then the Mystery Jets who were very good as usual. Then I Blame Coco who I believe has big things to come from her. Her voice is beautiful and she has really brilliant stage presence. She has an album due later this year so watch out for this lady. I saw Darwin Deez next for the first time which was fantastic. They are brilliant live and it was one of my favourite sets of the weekend. In between songs they do funny little dance routines before launching into another song. It’s crazy but so funny. There set at Leeds Fest included a rendition of Beyonces Single Ladies amongst the favourites like Radar Detector.
Dizzee Rascal on the main stage next who was brilliantly bonkers as usual. He is my number 1 guilty pleasure and someone who I would always try and catch live at a festival. His songs are so well known by everyone, the field is always packed and their is always a brilliant atmosphere. The Libertines were second on the bill on the main stage. I’m not a massive fan but I knew a few songs which they played towards the beginning of the set. The whole thing was quite boring, especially if you didn’t know there music. They didn’t put on any sort of show and their set mostly consisted of Pete Doherty being very out of it on stage. A lot of people loved it, but I was left unimpressed.
The Friday headliner was Arcade Fire. One of my favourite bands ever and a performance I had been looking forward to seeing since the line-up was announced. I knew they would be good, but it was incredible. They are the most brilliant live band. I think it was my favourite set I have ever seen. They have so much energy and passion on stage, its truly amazing to watch. They played a mixture of songs from all three albums and finished with ‘Wake Up’ which was my favourite of the set. A brilliant festival band and I hope their set will have given them many more fans as it seemed a lot of people in the audience didn’t really know who they were.
Saturday was my least favourite line-up day. The only band I saw were Wild Beasts who were good but I think I prefer them on record. Both singers have brilliant voices which really comes across live but the set lacked energy a little.
Sunday was another good day for the bands and I started my day with the marvellous Summer Camp. I love love this band and am so excited for their EP to come! Wonderful tunes and such a great and unique sound. I saw a bit of Avi Buffalo next which was good, definitely better than their Glastonbury performance and then stayed at the Festival Republic tent for Warpaint. I really like Warpaint and I have quite a few of their songs but they only played 1 song I knew! No Billy Holiday and no Elephants which I was very gutted about. They are a good band though and you could tell they were very passionate about what they are doing.
Next Mumford and Sons. This was without a doubt the craziest crowd I have ever been it. The NME tent was jammed full and there were mosh pits going on from every angle. Every 10 seconds a crowd surfer would surf past and you couldn’t dance properly without getting inappropriately close to everyone around you. At times I thought I was gonna be squished to death but it was totally worth it. My 7th time seeing Mumford and Sons and they are amazing everytime. They are an incredible live band and one I will never get tired of seeing. It’s strange to think how much they have grown since the first time I saw them live in the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds.
The final band I saw was Slow Club. I love Slow Club and they are really good performers. They played a few new songs which made me excited for some new material from them. A really wonderful end to the festival!
Overall a really good weekend, Arcade Fire blew my mind and it was nice to have a taste of the Leeds Festival hype. Sorry for the lack of blogging recently, coming soon will be a New Music post, New Treat and possibly a couple of reviews. Stay tuned.
Off to my first Leeds Festival tomorrow. The line-up isn’t really my sort of thing but Arcade Fire are playing which MAJORLY influenced my reason to go. There are a few other good bands though, if you look around and mostly avoid the main stage. Here are my top 10 bands you should consider catching if rock and metal really isn’t your thing…
1. Arcade Fire
This is going to be amazing, it has to be, I’ve built it up so much. I don’t think they will disappoint. Watch this…
2. Mumford & Sons
I think Marcus and the boys appear in every live list I make, but they are really quite amazing.
3. Marina and the Diamonds
Marina is headlining the festival republic stage on Sunday and is someone who I would really like to see again. She is incredibly charismatic and really lovely on stage. Plus the alternative is Guns and Roses which I’m not really feeling.
4. Warpaint
They were my New Treat in the post before this one and I am really looking forward to hopefully catching them live. A really beautiful band who I believe have good things to come and it will be really interested to see how their music is presented live. See them on the festival republic stage too, a few bands before Marina.
5. I Blame Coco
Another young lady with some brilliant things ahead of her, Coco Sumner, daughter of Sting, will bring her catchy songs and reggae inspired voice to the Festival Republic stage on Friday.
6. Dizzee Rascal
Back to the main stage for my No.1 guilty pleasure. After seeing him at Glastonbury I am really excited about catching Dizzee again. He appears third on the bill on Friday and is sure to attract a massive crowd and some massive tunes.
7. Summer Camp
Summer Camp also appear on pretty much every list I write at the moment. Another one to watch and another one to grace the festival republic stage on Sunday.
8. Mystery Jets
They were brilliant at Big Chill and so I would definitely like to catch them at Leeds. Lots of catchy songs and really good stage presence. They take to the main stage on Friday.
9. Darwin Deez
If anyone fancies some crazy dancing and an over-all good time show, catch Darwin on Friday on the Festival Republic Stage.
10. Transgressive Records & Friends Closing Party
Anyone up for a party on the last night? This one should be a lovely starter as playing shall be Chew Lips, Everything Everything, the mighty Slow Club and many more. There will also be Transgressive and Rockfeedback DJ’s in between bands. Watch all this on Sunday night on the Alternative Stage.
I’d also recommend… Wild Beasts, Local Natives, Adam Green, Avi Buffalo and Freelance Whales. Enjoy if your going to Leeds or Reading!
I’ve posted two videos already by Warpaint of their songs ‘Stars’ and ‘Billie Holiday’. I am started to like them more and more each time I hear something new from them. I thought they were ready to be my New Treat so yes, I introduce to you, Warpaint.
The all female quartet are from Los Angeles make music which wikipedia describe as ‘experimental art rock’ but I’d describe it as dreamy, haunting and beautifully formed alternative rock. There voices are very nice, particularity in the harmonies on ‘Billie Holiday’. They have already toured with The XX (who share a similar sound) and also Vampire Weekend and Little Joy. They also remind me a lot of Brighton band Esben and the Witch who were my New Treat long ago.Last year they released their first EP which was called ‘Exquisite Corpse’ which included the songs ‘Elephants’(available as free download on their myspace page) , ‘Stars’ ‘Billie Holiday’ and ‘Beetles’ as stand out tracks. Last week they announced that their debut album ‘The Fool’ was to be released at the end of October, so watch out for that one. They have quite a few UK tour dates coming including The Camp in London next week and then Leeds and Reading Festival. In October they have also planned a UK tour including a date at the London Scala and also at the Leeds Brudenell Social Club which will be a perfect venue for them.
As I have already posted two videos, this is ‘Elephants’ which is also a pretty beautiful song. Enjoy
A few nice new bands for you. Best Coast first, a band who NME go on about A LOT. But maybe its justified (unlike most bands NME go on about a lot) as they are actually pretty amazingly good.
After seeing them at Big Chill I am really liking the new Mystery Jets stuff. This is my favourite one, the melodies are so catchy.
This is another band who are quite similar to Best Coast but a little more chilled out. They are called Real Estate and this song is Beach Comber.
I don’t think I’ve written about how much I like the new Arcade Fire album, but its brilliant. So many good songs, I can’t decide which is my favourite but this one will do. Just over a week until I will be seeing them live at Leeds Fest!
Warpaint were included in my New Music 6 post, but I like them a lot a lot. I might have them as a New Treat in the next few days. All their songs are pretty beautiful but since I already posted the video for Stars, this is a live version of Billie Holiday. They have just announced that their debut album called ‘The Fool’ is to be released in October.
And finally Matthew and the Atlas. I’ve gone on about this band a lot, they are really really good. Their EP is brilliant, I would definitely recommend it. This new video has just come out for ‘Within A Rose’ and its beautifully shot.
I get my A-Level results tomorrow so their may or may not be a depressing post. Enjoy this lot
So the last two days have been beautiful! I’ve been at Shepley Folk Festival which has been wonderful and now it truly feels like festival season is nearly here! Lots of the new bands I have been listening to have a nice summer feel to them, so I hope you enjoy this lot!
The first song is by Lucky Elephant and its called Edgar. It makes me feel so happy and alive. I love this video too which is of Camp Bestival!
Bear Driver are from Leeds, but I have never heard of them before which is rather gutting. This song is really relaxed and the voices are lovely.
I love iTunes single of the Weeks. I have found so many great bands from it (Edward Sharpe, Alela Diane, Bon Iver) and this week its Avi Buffalo with this song. I have heard very good things about their album so I’m thinking its a summer must buy.
This isn’t really summery but Warpaint are really exciting. Listen to some of their other tracks too, Billy Holiday is very nice.
I got sent the new Bombay Bicycle Club single yesterday. I don’t really like their heavy stuff but they are releasing an acoustic album this summer and this is the first single from it. It is so nice! The b-side is also really beautiful! The sound quality of this isn’t great, but you get the idea.
I have lots of things to review, including the Lissie and Johnny Flynn albums. Watch out for that in the next few days. Enjoy the sun!
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