Scissor Sisters - Night Work

I'm having difficulty starting this review, as I don't feel I can do it justice. This is the kind of album you search high and low for, one that you must compulsively hear from beginning to end. Every song is a high point. Even the couple I wasn't sure about to begin with have now become essential listening for me.
The third record from the Scissor Sisters is raunchier and grittier than their previous outings. Jake Shears has embraced the atmosphere of the Berlin nightlife with reckless abandonment, and, combining it with the band's pre-established explicit nature and striking sense of fun, has produced fantastic songs like Any Which Way - complete with backing vocals from Kylie Minogue, Running Out - a thumping song that reels you in, and the ironically catchy Something Like This, which describes a longing to listen to a particular song but an inability to remember the lyrics. The overvoice by Ian McKellen on the final track, Invisible Light, sees him in Gandalf-mode, adding tremendous power to the monologue of "Babylon, Where bricks of water and diamonds tower, Sailor's lust and swagger lazing in the moon's beams, Who's laser gaze penetrates this sparkling theater of excess and strobed lights, Painted Whores. Sexual Gladiators. Fiercely old Party Children..."
I'm even on the "Hells yeah it's GREAT!" side of the pro-/anti-Fire With Fire debate. Mum's fiercely against it, and claims that it's dull. Having heard it at Glastonbury first means that I can picture the audience swelling as the song swells, and I can hear Jake's voice echoing out over a packed stadium.
Overall, a mindblowing record, and it's great to see them stronger than ever.

Eliza Doolittle

After the outstanding support slot I saw Eliza Doolittle perform for Alphabeat in April, I confess I was a little worried that her studio album wouldn't live up to my high expectations, a fear that was increased by the very girly cover art. I had nothing to fear, this debut record is fantastic and has been the soundtrack of my summer.
The playful and colourful nature of the songs is charming, and demonstrate her theatre background clearly (she's the granddaughter of Sylvia Young), with the creation of scenarios and playing with the terminology such as in Police Car.
Both Missing and Pack Up involve excellent use of sampling from 60s and 40s tracks, showing an understanding of music that puts Professor Green's attempts to shame. Elsewhere economy-run themed Moneybox has hints of Kate Nash at her best, and A Smokey Room looks on shallow, consumerist lifestyles with sceptical eyebrow and mocking tone. On a sunny day, laidback and meditative So High truly transcends.

Some Album Reviews

I have three in my backlog (and lots of new albums I want to review!). They date back a bit but oh well!

The Dead Weather - Sea Of Cowards
The second album from The Dead Weather, Jack White’s second Other Band, in just 10 months is a different beast altogether from their debut. Although White’s blues influences are ever-present, the White Stripes feel of Horehound is out, Sea of Cowards is experimental rock in a league of its own. Delicious electric guitar-driven chills, edgy lyrics and haunting chants by Kills’ singer Alison Mosshart transport you into an eerie world of White’s own creation.
****

Jack Johnson - To The Sea
The sixth instalment from Jack Johnson mercifully shows some break from the norm. After 5 albums of surf-style crooning over acoustic guitar, Johnson has finally discovered its electric sister instrument. In You And Your Heart, we find him riffing out a harsher intro than we’ve encountered before, and the verses even reveal a little rock-star posturing, although the chorus, and much of the album, is cut from the original mould.
***

The Drums - The Drums
In places strongly reminiscent of early New Order, in others featuring traces of the Beach Boys, New Yorkers The Drums’ first album reverts to old-style indie. Although the chirpy, whistle-strewn Let’s Go Surfing tempts the listener to assume them to be beach-pop, elsewhere, in It Will All End In Tears, there is real anguish. Nevertheless the whiny and less-than-outstanding vocals by Jonathan Pierce have the tendency to grate in places.
****

~*~ Glastonbury 2010 ~ Sunday 27th June ~*~

It was the last day of Glastonbury, and I had yet to wear the cape I made specially for the weekend, thinking that it would fulfil the two functions of looking fun and keeping me warm. The entire weekend was sizzlingly hot, without a cloud in the sky. So on Sunday I decided that I would risk being cooked and wore my cape for the first time. This was an Awesome Plan, as I have discovered that you are never alone in a colourful cape. Especially with multicoloured feathers around the collar. The world likes to come up and tell you that you are wearing an Awesome Cape and that this is Awesome and "Wow did you MAKE it?! You are Awesome." Teehee.

As tradition and necessity demanded, we went to the Tiny Tea Tent, where, although teabags and hot water are available anywhere, you get the BEST tea, for tea out of a mug is infinitely superior to tea out of a cardboard cup. Trust. The tiffin was also fantastic. This year the brownie oven was shaped like a pig (last year's was a pregnant ogre-lady = "Newly Born Brownies"). He had very impressive tusks for a mud creature.

Between tea and *Paloma Faith*, the others, lazy beggars, all went and lay down by the sacred circle, so I wandered around the Green Fields and Kids Area, which had a pirate ship with a PURPLE COW on the mast. This was genius. Should I ever captain my own vessel, I too shall have a brightly coloured creature leading me across the ocean. A magenta hedgehog perhaps, or a turquoise duck-billed platypus.

Paloma Faith was fabfabfab. Although her set started early, which meant that we heard tantalising strains of Stone Cold Sober drift out towards us as we sped towards the Pyramid Stage. I'd been worried that her very individual voice wouldn't come across as well in a live setting as in the studio, but these fears were unnecessary. The notes that came out of her (HUGE) mouth were clear and beautiful. Her costume was very imaginative too - clad in a white, jewel-encrusted catsuit, two enormous white balloons hung above her shoulders. She had to maneouvre these every time she wanted to walk across the stage in the other direction, but as an ex-magician's assistant I'm sure she's done worse. She put on a real show. I wasn't sure about the rock 'n' roll version of Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?, but it sounded good despite the oddity.

As there wasn't anything particular I wished to see before Keane, I headed over to get a good spot in the tent. There was a really good folk trio on two acts before - Adrian Edmonson and The Bad Shepherds, whose rendition of Once In A Lifetime was a definite stand-out. This is when I made a momentous discovery. I saw bagpipes being played on stage, and wasn't clutching my ears to block out the heinous sound. Upon questioning my neighbour, I was informed that these were electric bagpipes. WHY isn't EVERYONE playing these? Why do they subject us to the original instrument when the same thing, electrified, produces such a lovely noise? They should be imposed by law.

Teddy Thompson, who played at the Warchild gig Keane hosted back in 2007, was also very good, although very hard on himself: "Why are you all here?" "To see you!" "Fools. Right, let's get this over with quickly." And, later on: "This is from my new record, it's just made-up stuff." But his voice is very clear and moving, the songs, despite his self-deprecation, were great, with a very effective singalong and a particularly pragmatic love song. Unfortunately for him, a Mr Tom Chaplin made an appearance at the back of the stage to watch the show, drawing the gaze of the entire front row, who were undeniably there for the next act.

And for ONCE I was one of them! Eighth time lucky, I was front row. Madness. But their performance was absolutely fantastic. It was a simple accoustic set, beautifully relaxed. You Don't See Me soared, Spiralling and Stop For A Minute were as bouncy and fun as ever, and even an unplugged version of Is It Any Wonder? had me jumping (although, I'll admit, it doesn't take much). The use of guitar in Bedshaped, the closer, was interesting but worked. And I love that it's still the last song - take THAT strange anti-Bedshaped Keane fans! :P We noticed that yet again they missed out the most controversial lyrics in Clear Skies, which they used to do with Perfect Symmetry (they clearly felt that 'spineless dreamers hide in churches' was a little bold for them) so I wonder if these lyrics will start featuring any time soon.

I was disappointed by Jack Johnson. Many people rave about his live performance. For me, he failed to graduate beyond easygoing background music. Leah and I sat on a rug scoffing toffee yoghurt, and felt zero compulsion to stand up and watch.

MGMT were yet another disappointment. I think Keane may have spoilt me with the passion they put into their live show, but with these guys it felt like there was no passion at all. Everything was played technically well, but it was all wooden. The singing was very quiet as well. Of course, the accoustics of the Other Stage are particularly bad, but good bands overcome this, and MGMT did not. What little they did say was less than inspiring: "We love this festival because it's great." "It's an honour to play to a million gajillion people." Wow.

Now STEVIE on the other hand was beyond mindblowing. Live, his music is one big party, and I could not stop dancing. Admittedly the American cheese speeches still featured - "relationshit" and various magic stories. I stood through a whole episode of him pretending to drink a goblet of potion that would restore his youth with the thought: 'This HAS to lead into I Wish' tiding me through. It didn't. I felt betrayed!! The band were very tight - a bunch of extremely talented musicians in their own right, and his voice is as crystal clear and powerful as you could imagine.

He came on with a keytar, and did a bit of rockstar posturing, including on the floor, which was initially impressive but a little worrying as he struggled to get up again - maybe a bit over-ambitious for a sixty year old. Sir Duke and Superstition were both wonderful, but I would say that Masterblaster was my favourite of the evening, with its irresistible summery groove. He closed with Happy Birthday, dragging an embarassed Michael Eavis to the front of the stage and getting him to sing along to celebrate Glastonbury's 40 years.

A brilliant end to a brilliant festival. Bring on next year!

~*~ Glastonbury 2010 ~ Saturday 26th June ~*~

I couldn't resist. Two Door Cinema Club were playing again, on the Other Stage, so I dragged everyone along with me to see them. They were even better in the sunshine, because their breezy summery pop fitted perfectly.

I then headed up the hill to The Park, to see Here We Go Magic, because I'd heard rumblings about them from various music sources and, let's be honest, I like the name. The five-piece produced decent rock music with lovely twiddly guitar bits and atmospheric keyboards. The vocals were a little bit too shouty for me at times but they were mostly good, and I enjoyed the use of chanting. There were some particularly entrancing guitar melodies.

I didn't stay for the end of the set. Instead I wandered over to the Pyramid Stage. With unusually impeccable timing I reached the Other Stage just as Reef started playing Place Your Hands (the only song of theirs anybody knows), which sounded fantastic. And, equally impeccably, it finished as I reached the end of the field. I stayed at the Pyramid for my favourite Lightning Seeds songs - Change and Lucky You, both of which suited the sunny weather beautifully, with vocals as good live as in the studio, and I heard a lovely accoustic version of Marvellous. Speeding off the the cinema tent, I joined up with Kara and Jon for How To Train Your Dragon, which we all loved, the dragon was particularly adorable. Admittedly we were the biggest "kids" there, but I had to make the most of my last month as a teenager, didn't I?! (what's your excuse, Special K?! :P)

Pilton Pasta proved as reliable a lunch as usual, and I had to take on carbs to survive what was to be an evening that can only be described as EPIC.

I exploited Seasick Steve's remarkable set (I have never heard such amazing riffs resonate from two Morris Minor hubcaps welded around a broom handle) to a shameful degree, landing myself a spot centre stage, second row, for one of the bands I was most looking forward to seeing, The Dead Weather.

Now, I could expound the wonders of Jack White's "other other band" (as Q mag so succinctly labelled them) until Jack Johnson truly learnt what an electric guitar was for, (ah the beauty of eternity), but for now I'll stick to a brief live review. "W-O-W." OK, maybe a little more than that. In an album review I did for the student mag that, life being what it is, I have as yet failed to post here, I described their second album as something along the lines of "delicious guitar-driven chills pulsing down your spine", but possibly more biologically accurate. ANYway, their live set is mindblowing. I didn't know whether to stand frozen with awe (complete with slack jaw) or leap around in a wild and decidedly pagan fashion. In the end, I settled on a combination of the two.

Each of the four members of The Dead Weather is an incredibly talented individual. I have now seen *JACK WHITE* jamming on electric guitar (yes, he emerged from behind the drumkit) which made my SUMMER. Alison Mosshart, beautiful, sparrow-framed and completely off her rocker, was rarely vertical when she wasn't singing in her smokey, husky and oh-so-enviably-cool voice. And the Other Two, who both have very interesting names which, if it wasn't so late at night, I would totally have the decency to look up on the internet, were also very worth watching. And they gelled perfectly. I repeat: "W-O-W."

Now, the next act in the evening's line-up was the one I was least sure about. Dead Weather? YES. Scissor Sisters? YES. MUSE? HELLS YEAH. Shakira? Hmm...

However, despite the gold drape backdrop, the diva in diamonds and feathers that I'd anticipated never showed up, to the huge relief of me and my new friend at the time, who shall henceforth be known as Gay Simon. (this nickname is not intended to show homophobia by its means of distinction, I just believe that anyone wearing pink heart-shaped sunglasses, a flame-covered cowboy hat and a hot pink t-shirt saying: 'I think I might be gay', and proclaiming his love for Jake Shears not only merits the epithet, but desires it). As Glasto friends go (you know, the people around you who magically become your friends when the actual people you're sharing a camp with inexplicably don't feel the need to see Tim Rice-Oxley/Jack White/Emily Haines at close quarters) he was fantastic. We had a 'Shakira Fears Support Group', held a heated 'Dan Gillespie-Sells/Jake Shears' debate and so forth. Wonderful.

Anyway, Shakira came on wearing, a surprise to all present in the Pyramid Field, a t-shirt and jeans. Yes, there was a shiny metal skirt thingamajig for the belly-dancing (good, but no match for Femi Kuti's girls) but that was more of a Special Guest slot. What Shakira is incredibly good at is reminding you why Spanish is Sexy. The typical British reaction to songs in Foreign Tongues didn't make even a ghost appearance, it was definitely an 'I wish I could speak Spanish' affair. She was down to earth and smiley, and most importantly determinedly Columbian. Gay Simon and I had a fantastic time dancing to She Wolf and Hips Don't Lie. A very pleasant surprise.

Of course, Scissor Sisters blew most other acts out of the water. Having seen them back in 2006 in a cowbarn, I had hiiiiiiiigh expectations, and they didn't fail me one little bit. Of course, being from Across The Pond, you have to wade through rivers of melted cheese as they tell various stories of their various experiences of various places, but Jake's dedication of a song to his new fiancé was truly touching (although Gay Simon's heart was apparently broken). The wonderful thing about their set is that noone can resist dancing to them. It does not matter that you don't have enough space to swing a flea, you WILL dance to I Don't Feel Like Dancin' to Appreciate The Irony. Kylie fitted in as if she'd been a founding member, and the new single, Fire With Fire, not a favourite with everyone (as my mother keeps reminding me) was brilliant live. Raunchy and superbly-costumed, the Scissor Sisters burn a welcome imprint into your brain.

Right, the first thing I need to say about Muse is that I have never been so crushed in my entire life. The only reason my arms weren't pinned to my sides was that there wasn't room for them there. I had 2 different guys' elbows at each cheek, which gave me the horrible idea that if they made certain movements at the same time I may actually experience what it would be like to have the head mobility of an owl. But not for very long. Of the crowd I was talking to before the gig, I was the only one to survive. People were dropping like flies. I didn't see a huge amount of stage during Supermassive Black Hole. I was busy being kicked in the head by people being security-lifted out of the crowd.

Despite ALL THIS, it was a fantastic set. The music sounds like it has come from another dimension, it soars and swells and removes you from your earthly setting. Which was fortunate. Matt Bellamy, who is famed for being 'a little bit out of it' isn't a traditional frontman. Straightforward audience interaction is minimal, and rarely does his voice come through the mic other than in the context of a song. But the raw power the three of them generated was enough to finish off an amazing Glastonbury day. The megaphone + microphone combination of Feeling Good was intriguing, the honeycomb digital backdrop was mesmerising, and the Edge's slot as Special Guest was a real Moment. All this made the fact that I had to stand under a tap afterwards undeniably worth it.

~*~ Glastonbury 2010 ~ Friday 25th June ~*~

I remember the first time I went to Glastonbury, and how Kara and I tried to make do without tea. I can't remember how or why this alien concept occurred to us, (and it was one that didn't last very long!) but that has long since ceased to be a reality. And the noisy neighbours talking for an entire night left us in dire need of a cuppa! Luckily the trailer down by the John Peel tent sold them at the Glastobargain price of £1.20. Glastobargain because festival prices don't relate to the real world. Sometimes a baked potato can cost £6.

So after quenching our thirst for hot water with leaves and milk, wet-wiped (this does make you feel surprisingly clean), braved the portaloos and admired each-others' hair - I become more like a 21st-century Medusa as the weekend progresses - we set off to see the LIVING LEGEND that is Mr Rolf Harris.

And what a performance it was. His show is exactly what you want it to be: interactive, lighthearted and purely for entertainment. He opened with Tie Me Kangaroo Down, directing the confused and divided audience to clap OFF the beat, and then reprimanding us for not showing adequate emotion over the man "lying, dying". His rendition of Waltzing Matilda was preceded by an enlightening explanation of the Australian terms including "jumbuck", and the audience participation was magnificent. Knowing all the words to Ladies of the Harem earned me a few weird looks, but hey, they were just jealous. The wobble board and didgeridoo both made very welcome appearances, and their use in Stairway To Heaven took the song to a new, if not necessarily higher, level.

Next on in the sunny Pyramid field was Femi Kuti, a Nigerian musician playing an African take on jazz. He took centre stage on saxophone and vocals, with a band in brown tunics and bright green trousers on brass instruments and bongos behind him. The dancing girls, clad in traditional costume with brightly painted faces put Beyonce to shame with their hip-shaking! They were all enjoying themselves in a very committed fashion. It was a really fantastic set, which completely won Kara over - "he's a cutie! I want to hug him". An insightful review. :P

Then for the smiliest and sweetest act of the weekend - Corinne Bailey Rae. Her music is very pretty and relaxing, with interesting lyrics that combine beautifully with her emotive voice. She seemed very involved with her music, which we put down to the tragic recent death of her husband. She began the set with lots of tracks from her new album, which all went down very well, but when Like A Star and Put Your Records On came up the crowd were completely up for dancing around to the summery tunes in the sunshine. Her magical rendition of Que Sera Sera was a magnificent closer.

Revelling in the shade of the shacks in The Park - this year even more inventive than before, with themes of China, Portugal, the night sky and many more, although we do miss the cushions of '08 - we vaguely listened to the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - minions of Damon Albarn that Pete seems to be into - and Steve Mason. Both of them formed agreeable background music, although I haven't been inspired to delve any further. I did note down a fun quote from Steve Mason: "This isn't a song about a march against parliament. It's more about marching to parliament, breaking in and garrotting the lot of them." Someone else not entirely satisfied with the coalition...

With a rather Pyramid-themed day, I headed over to enjoy a fantastic set by the surprisingly gorgeous Vampire Weekend. In Q interviews I'd always thought that the little beardy man was the frontman, so to be greeted by someone tall dark and handsome (however shallow it may seem) was nice! I hate beards. I read Roald Dahl's "The Twits" when I was a child. ANYway, his voice was beautifully clear and stirring, and the African musical influences made this an exotic and fun set. There was some impressively rapid guitar plucking involved, and, having failed so far to pick up their new album "Contra" I enjoyed the predominance of songs from their debut.

Rather than suffer through the Dizzee Rascal set between Vampire Weekend and Gorillaz, I whizzed off to Avalon to witness the dreadlocked genius that is Newton Faulkner. He's become a bit of a Glastonbury tradition for me, as he's played every year since '08. He has a devil of a sense of humour, and it's really infectious. So not only are you wowed by the expert guitar playing (seriously, his hands are EVERYWHERE! All the percussion is done on the guitar as well. It's impressive) but you have a good cheery laugh too. Notorious for his unusual covers, he put his plucking, strumming and sliding skills to good use on "No Diggity", and treated us to his version of Bohemian Rhapsody, always a favourite. A great new addition to the set was a large screen, which showed images of what was going on if an element of the song wasn't being played live. "If you hear something that isn't guitar, it's feet." So either we watched the pedals themselves, or video footage of him playing a piano harmonica or backing vocals pulling weird faces. He also added to the Pirates vs. Barbarians piece that I mentioned in my first ever blog post here. Apparently barbarian hordes are scared of jumping (obviously). So, somehow, this ginger legend got an entire tent jumping to accoustic guitar. An achievement. The explanation that If This Is It is about his first year at Glastonbury (2008) on the Other Stage created a pretty special moment for all those in the crowd.

Now, the feedback about the Gorillaz set has been very mixed. Obviously, what with them being replacements for U2, Damon Albarn being the first person ever to headline 2 years in a row, and to do so with 2 different bands, meant that the expectations themselves were mixed. Would he blow us away like he did with Blur? Well, no. He didn't. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a great set. As is always the case, the songs I knew stood out - Kids With Guns, Stylo, Dare... (by the way, if anyone knows who the female vocalist who performed with Shaun Ryder is I'd love to know), the unusual but welcome choice of Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey's Head, and the placing of Feel Good Inc. and Clint Eastwood at the end meant they went out with a BANG! But the Syrian orchestra showcase in the middle of the performance was a major set-killer. Pretty, but oh-so-NOT what we wanted to hear! Nevertheless, we all had a good dance, I met various nice new people whose names I will never know and I had a great time. Oh, and people complaining that Albarn should've stayed behind the veil need to get real. That man's ego cannot be imprisoned behind a curtain for long.

However gruesome or 'out-there' the video footage on the Gorillaz stage was, the most disturbing thing I encountered that night was Belinda Carlisle, at the Cocktails & Dreams bar. She came on twice, sang Heaven Is A Place On Earth both times, in a karaoke format, in front of a video screen. She was introduced by the most foul and lecherous man i've encountered as a DJ, sang to a hideously drunk audience, and simply could not have sunk any lower.

~*~ Glastonbury 2010 ~ Thursday 24th June ~*~

After a nice slow start, we tried to go and see Where The Wild Things Are in the Cinema Tent (last month of being a teenager = denial of any form of maturity), but due to some form of Health & Safety issue (bane of this country) it was cancelled. So we sat in the accoustic field in the brilliant, and unusual, sunshine, surrounded by unhappy kids, and being called upon to buy "MIIIILK!" - "Glastonbury's cheapest pint!" - from a cow-print trailer. Who gave that man a megaphone?!

Kara made the life-changing discovery of *hibiscus juice*, a scarily purple but actually quite yummy drink that reminds me vaguely of pomegranate juice. Then again, that could just be the colour.

Thursday is always an exciting day, because the MUSIC STARTS! *MASSIVE cheer!* The Queen's Head starts its 'upcoming bands' themed weekend. Last year they put Maximo Park on first to open up the festival. This year's pick: My Luminaries, were a much smaller name. Probably a request from festival organisers after they had to shut off the area due to crowds last year. They were very good though. I'd have to categorise them as indie rock, although the generic indistinguishable noise that term entails nowadays would be an unfair judgement. They were a bit like a cross between Mumford & Sons and the Editors, though with a little less *oomph* than them. The singer had an interesting voice, and they were very down to earth - "this is the biggest gig we've ever done, and possibly our last, so let's just enjoy ourselves." On a different note, I LOVED the girl's hat - what a classy keyboard player - and the free giveaway of their debut album at the end certainly won them a place in many of our hearts.

Next on were Howls, another distinctive set of vocals, but a much more depressing set. Titles "Horror" and then, 2 songs later, "Terror", pretty much sum it up, along with the quote: "this is a slow song, so don't fall asleep." However there was one standout fun song with unusual rhythms inspired by folk and jazz.

Then, the band that I was waiting for! Two Door Cinema Club. Four lovely, cheerful Irish guys, playing breezy summery pop on a bright sunny day. Loved it! His voice was wonderfully clear, and their lyrics, as they're quite simple, were perfect for singalongs. Although, saying that, the chorus of Something Good Can Work is a proper tongue-twister!

Once we'd squeezed forward to bag the free My Luminaries album, Pete and I found ourselves second row, and saw no reason not to stay there. This is when I discovered my Cupid-like powers. No sooner had I made a heart-sign with my fingers around the two drunk guys in front of us, than one of them embraced his friend, nuzzled his neck and kissed him. I should wear wings and carry round a quiver of heart-shaped arrows.

Anyway, they leapt into the masses for Two Door Cinema Club, leaving me with a prime barrier-hugging spot from which to fully appreciate the so-called "Irish pretty-boys" (Pete's line). The downside being that the rest of the jumping audience were on the other side of the most static and impassive woman I have ever come across in the front row. However, I ignored the weirdly isolated position and jumped around to my heart's content. So THERE, statue-lady!

Now joined by another of Kara's friends, Elico, who stayed impressively beautifully made-up all weekend, we wended our way up to the flag field again. This time we went through The Park, where a large group of people dressed in Alice in Wonderland costume had gathered. I was particularly impressed by the Mad Hatter. Other than the sad reality that it wasn't Johnny Depp, his get-up was almost identical to the film.

Gaymers in hand, we sat on the hill and provided everyone with a special concert based on the theme: "Whatever Pops Into Our Head."

~*~ Glastonbury 2010 ~ Wednesday 23rd June ~*~

Everyone's Glastonbury is different. What follows is my personal experience of this year's festival as it hit its 40th anniversary in style.


To get the best camping spots, getting there early is always a good plan. I have taken this to heart, and I get the 6:10am train on the Wednesday every year. Of course, this does get you to Castle Cary before the shuttle buses even start, and the punters are herded like cows in pens, but excitement overcomes all that. It even overcomes the age-long bus journey to the site, on an ancient rickety bus without air conditioning, on your own, because your friend decided a Bon Jovi gig was better than a night in Devon. Which, to be fair, is a good choice. Admittedly the whole thing would have been made infinitely cooler had I grabbed a seat on the oh-so-fabulous deep purple double decker bus, but for another year it has eluded me. Next year, oh towering wonder of purpleness...

Anyway, my heart soared in the usual way from the minute I saw that huge shimmering wall surrounding the multitude of flags and marquees, the strange red bulbous tomato-like structure on the left, dear old John Peel tent on the right. And as yet very few tents, as the fields have yet to fill up with festival-goers.

Through the gates, shiny gold (and glow in the dark, which I took a WEEK to realise) wristband on, and into the John Peel field, where we love to camp. (Pennard's Hill terrifies us) Usually a beautiful quiet field, but this year marred by a nearby group of Londoners, chatting raucously through the night, every other word 'f***'. I have genuinely never come across a mother who will happily call someone a "c**t" in front of her kids before. There was also a drugs raid later on in the week. *a crowd of people stood and stared...* and laughed, which was slightly weird.

As I was waiting for the others, I went for a bit of a wander. And who should I see?! None other than Lizo! Ahh... the good old days when you'd get home from school and watch Lizo on Newsround, feeding you child-friendly versions of the world. He was reporting on the screening of the World Cup match (England - Slovenia. I think...) Football fans are horrible, by the way. Anyone that blocks their view even for a second is instantly called a twat. Charming! Confirmed my opinion that Glastonbury and football do not mix.

As ever, I was looking forward to getting a Brothers cider and heading up to the flag field, my favourite place in the whole world. So when Kara, Jon, Pete, Emma Kate and Leah had all gathered in John Peel, we set off to do exactly that. And us girlies, a little tipsy, picked up flower garlands on the way. The field is getting more and more popular, which is a shame, as back in '08 we pretty much had it to ourselves, but you can't blame people. It's a beautiful spot, and you can see all of Glastonbury from there. At night the view of the lights is magnificent.

Alphabeat Gig Review

On Sunday night, I went to the Alphabeat gig to review them for the student newspaper. This should also feature on their website but I can't find it right now, so here it is:

Following the release of their second album, The Beat Is... in March, Danish six-piece Alphabeat are taking their now dancier set on tour throughout the UK, including a night at Oxford’s O2 Academy, supported by Pearl & the Puppets and Eliza Doolittle.
First up, receiving a warm welcome, Pearl and her puppets are best classed as ‘easy-listening’, with potential talent lurking underneath songs with more ‘ahs’ and ‘doos’ than lyrics. The ukulele was a nice touch.
To my mind, Eliza Doolittle stole the show. Her charming smile, crystal clear vocals and down-to-earth lyrics, reminiscent of Kate Nash, were combined with a stage presence that befits her performance-arts background. Her cheery pop shows influence of old rhythm ‘n’ blues and even the lilt of reggae. Current single ‘Skinny Genes’ went down particularly well.
After this outstanding warm up, Alphabeat took to the stage, and met with an audience who were raring to go. Although two-thirds of the band looked as if they had entered the stage straight from the labs, I have never seen a band that so openly enjoys the music they produce. Every one of them smiled and danced from beginning to end. The two singers, Stine Bramsen and Anders SG, work well together, she all flicky hand gestures and twinkle-eyes, he so over-enthusiastic and off with the fairies it occasionally left the realm of the entertaining and entered that of the mildly disturbing.
Despite the unfortunate tendency of many of the songs to sound like the one before, the singles stood out. With many singalongs, the band and audience enjoyed the music together, and this became an infectious pop set. Recent single Hole In My Heart could have come straight off a dancefloor. One thing I did come away convinced of, is that Liam Gallagher never did the tambourine full justice.

Having since downloaded some Eliza Doolittle tracks, I can recommend Moneybox, Rollerblades and Go Home, on top of Skinny Genes, which everyone knows. They're very summery tunes :)

27/04/10

So, just went to my first student newspaper music section meeting. They take place in a pub, nice choice. Anyway, they accumulate promo discs at an alarming rate, so I took a fair few home avec moi. Some of them I've heard of, others were more 'I like the band name' or 'The cover art's pretty' scenarios. Let's have a listen, shall we??

#1 Keane - Stop For A Minute
As a Keane devotee, this one had to be first into the CD player. And, naturally, this isn't my first hearing of this track. Despite Tim Rice Oxley's use of an Eminem rhythm on Nothing In My Way back in 2006, this is the band's first real venture into the realm of hiphop. Unfortunately, although this is breaking ground for Keane, as a hiphop track it's nothing new. And the experimentation seems to have come with a sacrifice of their normally beautiful lyrics. The line 'without you I'm a liner stranded in an ice flow' hardly hits you with the impression that Tim has looked into your heart and perfectly articulated what he found there. Nevertheless, it's a radio-friendly, reasonably catchy track, and I look forward to hearing it live in June.

#2 Professor Green - I Need You Tonight
This was a case of me liking the name, and particularly the font. They're signed to Virgin Records, according to the back. A record deal makes this seem vaguely promising... *presses play* Oh.my.god. what have they done? This is a remix of INXS, and it's not the worst remix I've ever heard, but when a classic is tampered with it needs to be incredible to merit it, in my opinion. This isn't. It has a very basic new chorus, essentially comprising of 'I need you' repeated multiple times, mixed in with the original sample and rap. If the sample weren't so catchy, this song would be completely unmemorable.

#3 Tiffany Page - Walk Away Slow
Right, I have heard of this girl, but only having read about her in 'New to Q' (love that magazine!), so here we go... The closest artist I can think of to compare her to is Sheryl Crow. Her voice and style are quite similar. It's a nice song, her voice radiates an air of cool, and it's surprisingly mature for someone so young.

#4 The Features - The Temporary Blues (Remix)
I was attracted to this one by the Monty Python-esque cover art and the endorsement by Kings of Leon... Well, I can understand the Kings of Leon bit. This is very similar to them, although the voice is slightly less appealing. Some inventive lyrics, and actually a reasonably good rock song. Choral chorus is unusual, but works :)

#5 Gorillaz - Superfast Jellyfish
All I've heard of this new 'superduper' album by the Gorillaz so far is Stylo, and although the bassline on that was fantastic I didn't get into it all that much, so this'll be interesting... This one features De La Soul and Gruff Rhys. It starts off with an advert in a Spongebob Squarepants-like voice. The whole thing seems to revolve around the central concept of breakfast cereal. Odd... some curious sound effects going on, but the verses are generic rap to my ears, not my bag.

#6 Motion City Soundtrack - My Dinosaur Life
(hope I got those two names the right way round!) Right, this is an album, so I'll review it on the first track. Maybe not an entirely fair method, but easy O:) Sounds like generic indie rock right now. Not bad stuff, but nothing special as of yet. *skips to next track* This is nicer. The singer has a good voice when he's not striving to sound like a rock star.

ooh, I just remembered there's an Eliza Doolittle promo in here, but she features in my Alphabeat gig review from Sunday (which I'll post once it's been printed in the paper), so I'll leave her out for now. Take it from me though, she's faaaaabulous!

#7 Batusis
If this isn't an instrumental, they're taking a hell of a long time to start singing though. Nice rock track though, bit of electric guitar, simple bassline. Nothing special, as it sounds like half a song. *skips to next track* aahhhh vocals. Better. Sounds like it's come straight out of the late 70s/early 80s, no development. They sound exactly like something I've heard before, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

#8 Ellie Goulding - Guns And Horses
The girl the world is talking about right now, although they also say she interviews terribly. Let's see if she's worth the hype. Her voice is huskier than I expected. This seems like a nice pop song, I don't like the trilly effects she's using on the vocals at times though. The lyrics leave a lot to be desired, unfortunately.

One of my favourite albums... And why

Oooh, it's been a while... Life has been hectic, so I've been going back to my old favourites. This one sparked long term, still enduring, fanatacism in me, as it's a beautiful record and appeared at a very confusing time for me, so it was a bit of a lifeline to be honest. So here it is...

Keane - Under The Iron Sea

This album has it all, beautiful music, lyrics that instantly evoke stories and emotions in you, a classically wonderful voice and an uplifting quality despite the initialy melancholy. I thought the best way to look at it would be by mentioning some of the tracks and why I love them:

Atlantic – This is one of the most beautifully ethereal songs I have ever heard. The longing in the words is haunting, and expresses a human need I can really identify with, a desire to never be truly alone.

Is It Any Wonder? – This has got to be the best piano riff ever! This song is so incredible live, and unfortunately because of this it has caused minor injuries to audience members around me O:) again the lyrics are really powerful. The disillusionment it conveys helped my 16-year-old self through my own passage from childhood into reality. Kind of like a shock absorber!

Nothing In My Way – when I found out that Tim Rice-Oxley essentially stole the rhythm for this song from Eminem, it proved to be a very entertaining exercise to play the tracks simultaneously. Me being me, give me Keane any day, but then in my view Tom Chaplin's voice is truly unsurpassed.

A Bad Dream – I used to play this song non-stop. It really lifts you to a new level, you feel like you are in ‘the clouds above’, and removed from everything.

The Iron Sea – It’s amazing to find an instrumental nowadays with such fierce passion and anger behind it. You can hear the emotion driving the piano.

Crystal Ball – another amazing live track to jump to, with incredible lyrics, and wonderful vocal acrobatics. I LOVE the piano solo at the end.

The Frog Prince – The lyrics are magical. Literally and figuratively. Fairytales never grow old, and the imagery is beautiful, and betrayed. I like to sing it to myself :)

The songs are all fantastic in their own right, but it was the intensity with which they were played live that really converted me into an outright Keane fan. They're an easy target for people who need a band to badmouth, but I know for a fact that anyone who says they're not worth paying attention to have never seen them live.

Them Crooked Vultures

I bought the Them Crooked Vultures album this morning, and now the electric guitar is stroking my skin in that delicious way that only Jack White has managed to do before... wow... I haven't even got a grasp on the words yet, but that can only enhance it the experience I'm sure, considering Dave Grohl was part of the creative process.
So far this album has been a fantastic series of sizzling riffs, thumping chords and general rock magic. As you can tell, I'm enjoying it...