Festival review - Glastonbury

Published over at amazing Amelia's Magazine, here. Laura Marling by Natasha Thompson

There is no denying Glastonbury 2010 was a really special one. So if, like me, you are still feeling a touch of the post-festival blues read on and let us reminisce about some of the musical moments that made this years festival truly great.

In the weeks before the 40th Glastonbury there was an anticipation that everyone down on Worthy Farm would be pulling out all the stops. And sure enough, ecstatic festival-goers arrived to a spruced up site; a beautiful patchwork sign spelling Glastonbury surveyed the beauty of the colossal site from its perch on the hill near The Park; a giant wicker man stood proudly in the middle of the stone circle; and a ravetastic new henge made from glowing cubes provided a place for guys and gals of Glastonbury to come and worship in the dance fields. I’m sure there was much much more but all this added to a general impression that Glasto 2010 was going to be bigger, brighter and better than ever before.

Then, of course, something really magical happened, something that no one could have predicted. The sun shined for the entire festival – and boy did it shine! Umbrellas found a novel new purpose in life protecting their owners not from rain but the unrelenting heat of the sun, and wellies remained slumped in dark corners of tents or abandoned by the very optimistic in cars.

As with the extra effort put into everything else, the line up was incredible — too good! Everyday my heart was broken a little as I realised that two, three or four of the bands I would have liked to have seen were on at the same time. The line-up was an eclectic music fan’s (such as myself’s) dream. Neatly summed up, of course, in the festival’s headline acts; Gorillaz, Muse and Stevie Wonder — three acts big enough to hold their own on the famous Pyramid Stage but definitely diverse in their musical stylings. I’m going to end on Stevie but first to another of his namesakes.

Seasick Steve took to The Pyramid in what felt like one billion degree heat in the middle of the day on Saturday. The cider in my hand was hotter than the sun and doing nothing to quench my thirst but Seasick Steve was all the refreshment that the large crowd who had turned up to see him needed. He’s been on the summer festival circuit for a while now but his stripped-down act, wailing three string guitar, and songs about life on the streets in the USA were still as thrilling as ever. ‘Burning Up’ managed to sum up quite succinctly the general atmosphere among the sea of sweating fans but we all stayed with him despite the heat for his tremendous trademark finale of the ever-accelerating bluesy number ‘Dog House Boogie.’

Then, later that day, Laura Marling’s gig provided one of the most memorable moments of festival. After a blissful and beautiful Saturday afternoon Marling emerged just as the bright ball-like orange sun dipped behind the trees. She said very little but the hush over The Park as everyone stopped to listen to her was such that my friend aimed a “Shhh” at a low flying helicopter above us. Her set was a combination of the now veritable folk standards from the old album such as‘Ghosts’, ‘My Manic and I’ and the countrified ‘Alas I Cannot Swim’ and pretty ditties from new album I Speak Because I Can. She began ‘Blackberry Stone’ to whoops of delight from the crowd and by the end of the delicate guitar-based ballad from her latest work Laura had herself a few new fans and a boy at the front had himself a new fiancé. “I don’t know if you saw, but someone just proposed and got a good answer,” Marling told the mesmerised crowd.

Mumford & Sons caused me a fair bit of heartache, an ill-timed arrival meant that I could barely get near the tent. Recently the Mumford boys have pretty much exploded — planting their banjo-touting and harmony-singing selves firmly at the forefront of the British antifolk scene. Their gig at the John Peel Stage was a monument to how popular they have become. The audience and, really endearingly, the band were completely overwhelmed. As their set saw some of the biggest sing- a-longs of the festival it was all the boys could do to steal glances at each other with looks of utter disbelief. The intimacy of their songs and acoustic nature was not lost among the huge crowd though — proving once and for all that these are folkies who really know how to rock. In fact many were left wondering why the boys had been billed for the John Peel and not The Other or West Holts Stages, they definitely proved they can draw a big enough crowd.

Dizzee Rascal, a bit of a festival staple these days, was perhaps one of the only acts who could have drawn me away from the Mumfords. Ever the entertainer he bust out his best hits including ‘Bonkers’, ‘Holiday’, new one ‘Dirty Disco’ and a version of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ — all unbeatable at geeing up a cider-fuelled rabble for a night of raging away in the dance fields, Shangri-La, their own tent, or whatever it might be. And, of course, his set wouldn’t have been complete without an appearance from Florence for ‘You Got the Dirty Love’ (her own gig on The Other Stage another massive festival highlight for many). After also appearing withThe xx, Florence actually sung ‘You Got the Love’ three times this Glastonbury. In fact if you watched Florence at her gig and all her guest appearances and then went to see Candi Staton croon her way through her original version, you could have gotten a whole four renditions — I’m not sure that’s ever happened before at Glasto and surely that’s more than enough love for anybody?

But it was Stevie Wonder who stole the show for many, proving that 50 odd years in the business only makes you more of a superstar not a washed-up one. Ripping a keytar to shreds, Wonder promised a night of celebrating Michael Jackson’s life as well as 40 years of Glastonbury. Now, I would never have bought a ticket to see Stevie Wonder play but clearly this was going to be a once in a lifetime experience and anyway, his music holds some pretty serious sway in our house (my Mum requested songs by Stevie to be played out on hospital radio after the births of me and my sister!) But even my friend, who couldn’t claim to be a Stevie Wonder fan — “I don’t know any of the songs, sing one to me!” — soon realised that basically everybody knows Stevie Wonder’s music. His songs are all around us and like some kind of musical oxygen have been seeping into our brains via osmosis since the dawn of time! Stevie unashamedly rattled through the biggest hits of his half century-long career, saving ‘Superstition’ until near the end of his set, unleashing a rapturous response among arguably the biggest crowd of the festival.

Stevie Wonder by Abi Daker

Then the ultimate finale to what has since been reported as the best Glastonbury ever, Stevie’s legendary soul interpretation of Happy Birthday. Glasto founder Michael Eavis was dragged out on stage and serenaded by the superstar — providing the ultimate warm fuzzy feeling in the stomachs of everyone who witnessed it. Even if Eavis’ singing was less than easy on the ears.

The People’s Supermarket: a new approach to food shopping

Do you dream of an antidote to Tescos? Don't we all?! Well, a group of gourmets have done more than just dream, they've set up the ultimate food coop in Holborn.

A new era in food shopping could have dawned a few weeks ago as The People’s Supermarket in Holborn opened its doors for the very first time.

It’s ultimate aim? To bring an end to the big supermarket chains one potato at a time of course! At least that’s what team ‘People’s Supermarket’ believe; chef, Arthur Potts Dawson — already known for his Acorn House restaurant in King’s Cross and London’s first eco-restaurant, the Waterhouse Restaurant in Hackney; retail consultant, Kate Wickes-Bull; and self proclaimed social entrepreneur, David Barrie.

So what’s so special about The People’s Supermarket (TPS)? Well, modeled largely on the Park Slope Food Coop in Brooklyn, established in 1974, it will work as a totally nonprofit venture. Run fully by teams of volunteers, all profits will be invested back into stocking the shop with great food at minimal prices and TPS hopes to help families and low income groups in the community along the way by providing work experience, training, and low cost shopping. A sign outside listed the number of members as 124 on my trip but I can imagine this will soon start to rise, and anyway Potts Dawson reckons they need at least 300 members for the shop to actually become a sustainable business. Anyone can shop at TPS but the team hopes that as customers visit this unique project and see the quality of produce and with the added incentive of getting great discounts they might become a member — pledging to work at the shop for a few hours every month and paying a £25 annual membership fee. The website promises, in Marxist-like terms, a supermarket that is “run by the people for the people, selling the best food at the lowest possible prices.”

Located on Lambs Conduit Street near Russell Square tube, TPS doesn’t stand out as exactly being a glamorous shop, nor has it in anyway been made to look trendy as I was half-expecting — seeing that this is the natural habitat of posh delis, coffee shops and boutiques. Instead TPS doesn’t appear to look much different to the private local supermarket that went before it, and originally belonged to the enemy — Tesco. Now the place has been spruced up by an army of helpers — all volunteers of course, but the main decoration is the addition of posters to the walls – which, although sadly lacking images of Lord Kitchener, famous for appearing in YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU posters – appeal to customer’s philanthropic side, stating in block capitals, “The people’s supermarket needs you, join today”. All this does go to show, however, that TPS is serious about saving money. Instead of investing in funky counters and arty light fittings, TPS has clearly poured all available funds back into stocking the shop with the best produce.

The fruit and vegetables, which are laid out on old second-hand tables like in a market or old-fashioned green grocers, are sourced from some of the best farmer’s markets around. There are also selections of handmade breads and cakes as well as most of the usual foodstuffs you would expect to find in a small local supermarket. But if it turns out that there is something that isn’t available customers can simply scribble a note of it up on the blackboard for the managers to see — grapefruit juice, curry powder, lentils and ghee were among the omissions when I visited on Saturday 5 June.

Todd was store manager when I made a trip to TPS on Saturday. Delighted at how quickly word of the store was spreading Todd said they had been really busy since the shop opened on Tuesday 1 June, so he was quick to make an appeal for more staff — then he could have a decent lunch break, he told me jokingly. Todd was also happy about TPS’s reception in the local area too, saying that he really felt the whole community was getting behind the project.

Which is good because the setup will make the greatest difference to those who live or work near the shop who will be able to use it fairly often and make the most of the discounts, after paying the £25 membership fee of course. There might be another reason why people will volunteer to work for free at TPS though — an added bonus for some maybe? The running of the shop is to become the subject of a new prime time Channel 4 documentary, which I’m sure will put a shine on the prospect of volunteering for any self-promoting types out there. There are also plans for a cookbook, packed full of recipes for dishes made with ingredients from the shop. I guess lentil curry is out for the time being then!

Perhaps the best thing about TPS though, is the whole ‘niceness’ of it all. There has been a wealth of comments on the twittersphere about the enthusiastic staff, the smiling customers, and the general buzz in the air that something new and exciting is happening. Certainly while at university I used to pop along to a small fruit and veg cooperative each week and I remember the more grass roots approach to buying and selling food being an enjoyable experience. And it seems the tweeters were right — the same pleasant atmosphere is already in full swing in Holborn. Katie, a student from the nearby University College London, spotted me taking some pictures outside, “It’s great isn’t it?” she said, “I think it’s the atmosphere which is nicest, I came in on opening day and people were chatting to each other. Chatting to complete strangers — I mean that doesn’t happen in London very often does it?”

Chatting to strangers, volunteering in a supermarket and reaping the benefits and all while being filmed for Channel 4 — I don’t think that happens anywhere very often.

Published over at the divine Amelia's Magazine, here.

Live review - The Strokes, Dingwalls, 09.06.10

The Strokes’ first gig in four years saw Julian Casablancas, Nick Valensi, Albert Hammond, Jr., Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti make a truly triumphant return with an epic gig that literally was awe-some.

The buzz of excitement was palpable outside Dingwalls, on Wednesday 9 June, everyone knew that this venue was about to host one of the most epic comebacks in recent years and The Strokes certainly did not disappoint. Hundreds of fans descended on the central stableyard in Camden Market, of course, all 500 tickets had sold out within minutes the night before, but that didn’t stop plenty more fans from turning up, touting “Will sell kidneys for a ticket” signs, or simply hanging about in the hope of catching a glimpse of Casablancas et al.

The gig, their first since October 2006, was probably one of the worst kept secrets in recent musical history. Playing under the alias of Venison, The Strokes started posting hints on their website early Tuesday morning and before the day was up the news was all over the net, as fans geared up for the scramble of getting their hands on one of the limited tickets when they went on sale later that night.

The teeny venue was packed to the rafters with punters including the young, the old, and the famous—from where I was standing I could see most of Coldplay, including Chris Martin, and Radio 1’s Edith Bowman all enjoying a drink and the electric atmosphere.

Then, at exactly 9:30 the group sauntered on and opened with a stomping rendition of “NY City Cops”, to which the crowd immediately went mental and the raucous mood didn’t abate throughout the 18-song set. The hits kept coming, the band clearly not afraid of giving the throng of fans exactly what they wanted with a fairly even spread of favourites from all three albums. By the time the group got round to playing first major single, the amazing “Last Night”, Casablancas was all but drowned out by the holler of the crowd who definitely made up for in enthusiasm what they lacked in numbers.

Casablancas was sparing with banter inbetween songs but was obviously enjoying the adoration, saying: “This is our first show in like four years, this is crazy—this is too much.” And even though it felt like a million degrees in there and the sweat was not only clearly visible on the members of the band and audience but was also forming a sweaty cloud of mist above the crowd, settling on the ceiling and dripping from the lighting rigs, until eventually the sound guys threw towels over the mixing desk, Casablancas kept his trademark leather firmly on along with big black shades, proving he operates on whole new levels of cool.

The singer also had words for some of the slightly jumpy security staff, “This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen, it’s feeling weird”, he said, “Are you trying to make a human barricade? I don’t think you need to, the kids are cool!”—cue a massive cheer from the ecstatic crowd.

After the gig ended—the same way the band ended their super-hyped debut album—with the now indie rock standard “Take It or Leave It”, heartfelt phrases such as “life changing” were being banded around outside and everyone who was lucky enough to have got tickets went home that night realising they had just witnessed something really special.

Published over at Strangers in Stereo, over here.

Album Review - The Good Ship, The Climbers

The Climbers debut album The Good Ship has been a few years in the making. Turns out it was definitely worth it though. This album is a joyous collection of songs covering a whole lot of ground and demonstrating a rare and wonderful talent for composition and song craft.

Full-time Climbers are Tim West, Christian Hardy and Nick Hemming but with Christian and Nick also releasing music as The Leisure Society, The Climbers have been recording in fits and starts over a period of six years.

Recorded predominantly in hired cottages in Wales and Devon, The Good Ship, as the band explain on their MySpace, was about wanting to capture the sounds of houses packed with friends just making music, as it happened. This provides a truly refreshing change from the barrage of over-produced, auto-tuned nonsense that seems to be endemic at the moment.

Second track ‘Anything’ works as a good introduction to The Climbers’ sound, demonstrating at once some truly beautiful instrumentation and yet an impression of simplicity. The pretty guitar strumming, piano, and organ is reminiscent of some prime Eels territory - even a bit of Counting Crows is conjured up in the fingerpicked banjo, which becomes somewhat of a motif throughout the album. Tim West’s tones rattle though the chorus: “I call on my brothers,” and after strings kick in what appears to have been a simple and melancholic song at the start is lifted up to being something quite impressive.

It seems then, that The Climbers are about a really full-bodied sound and that probably comes from the 19 friends they list as part-time band members on their MySpace. Mouth organs, strings, trumpets, electric guitars, banjos and a choir of voices frequently come together to lend an anthemic slant to many of the songs on The Good Ship.

In fact the title track is a great example of this, the oomp-pah-pah style piano riff and "la la las" will make you sway - by the time by the time the dramatic “You won’t sink the good ship” refrain comes in you’ll be a fully paid-up member of The Climbers crew.

The folk influence is also pretty apparent throughout so any music fans that have been enjoying the banjo touting Mumford and Sons and other anti-folk outfits would do well to give The Climbers a listen.

Lending the album some proper country influences ‘I Will Never’ is a banjo and guitar-led ditty with an almost Grizzly Bear vibe in places. But what really makes this album stand out is the voices - coming together so seamlessly that they add an extra bit of magic to each and every track. Perhaps it is unsurprising though, that this is a band which sounds almost perfect – it’s those six years of being together before releasing a debut that has done it.

Published over at The 405.

A musical mixed bag

'Mixed bag' is probably an understatement really and I'm not sure anyone could have predicted the inclusion of the Great British Ukulele Orchestra on IWAOS but all these varied musical stylings are equally brilliant in their own - and perhaps slightly eccentric - right.

Starting with the divine Snowblink and their luscious video, which totally allows me to indulge my 'one-day-I'll-be-a-beautiful-hippy-type-wondering-bare-foot-around -1970s-America-with-a-small-elfin-child' fantasy, you know the one? Well, it can't just be me. Anyway. Their MySpace labels them as belonging to that well-known Soul/Tropical/Surf genre(!) but I think I might agree with them, they're not really like anyone else around that's for sure. You can read a little bit more about them at The 405, here.

Second is Nika + Rory who are actually Zola Jesus and her bandmate Nick Turco. Zola has been intriguing me for a while and I just love how this track manages to sound at once utterly modern but somehow also tinged with a dose of 80s dramatic pop, which is echoed in the slightly creepy video.

The See See next, I caught them a couple of weeks ago when they were supporting the amazing Brian Jonestown Massacre. Quite a difficult slot I should imagine, warming up for the less than predictable BJM, but they were really good fun and gave the psychadelia-hungry crowd exactly what they were looking for.

And last but not least, a nod to my latest obsession - the ukulele. I bought myself one a couple of weeks ago and am quickly becoming a kind of mad ukulele band groupie. Plus the concept of this video is great - the idea of being stalked around town by a ukulele orchestra really cracks me up.

Single review - Sylvia - The Woe Betides

Published here.

The Woe Betides must have some of the most colourful names in pop and new single ‘Sylvia’ is equally as colourful.

Firstly you have founding members Simon Mastrantone and Grundy le Zimbra, but these pale into insignificance thanks to the drummer Colonel Sexlife – not his real name, just a guess.

The single ‘Sylvia’ provides some serious pounding pop rock that certainly blows away any of the proverbial cobwebs.

The words “Sylvia you’re a terrible person but I’ll never love anyone else” drone along beautifully with the thrashing guitars.

The sound is indie but with a little more bite and there is definitely a nod to American skater rock within this song. It’s the kind of music you can imagine was floating out of band practices in suburban garages circa 1992 but in a good way.

EP Review - Angus and Julia Stone -Big Jet Plane

This review is published over at the 405, here.

The Aussie brother and sister duo have produced a somewhat yin and yang record in their Big Jet Plane EP. Two tracks, including the single 'Big Jet Plane', are very good and two of the four tracks are…well, just not so good.

The habit to alternate between which sibling takes the lead vocal contributes to the unconnected feel of the record, although they at least have one excellent track each.

The single 'Big Jet Plane' (above) is beautiful — a real example of the less is more philosophy. It’s chorus, “Gonna take her for a ride on a big jet plane” is catchy and radio-ready without going all-out cheesy indie pop. Instead it’s classic Stone siblings — all melodic guitar riffs, plicky plucky strings, and punctuated by the smooth surfer tones of Angus Stone.

‘Living On a Rainbow’ has some moments of promise but disappointingly doesn’t really seem to get going and horror of horrors ‘climaxes’ with a children’s choir. Always tricky, kiddy choirs in pop songs — at best they sound sickenly twee at worst they are just downright creepy, and ‘Rainbow’ falls into the latter category.

‘My Malakai’ is a strange meander into some slightly passé musical territory but all without managing to add anything new. But ‘Malakai’ does at least serve to provide a nod to some of the band’s influences — there are hints of Neil Young, Al Stewart and Simon & Garfunkel.

But the EP’s final track is a different story altogether. A brave and bare cover of ‘You’re The One That I Want’ — yep! as in the uber cheesey karaoke classic from Grease — it provides a heart meltingly moving demonstration of the power of Julia Stone’s unique voice. It drifts up and down, echoing and shaking over the well-known lyrics and adding layers of emotion to the song that were just never there before.

‘Jet Plane’ then, is a schizophrenic record — half brilliant and beautiful, and half overstretched in its attempt to be interesting.