Who? Yea, you lot might be wondering either who on earth Mumford and Sons are or maybe what’s got into me – or both! They are a folk band from London, who have exploded within the last 6 months, although their album has been knocking around since 2008 – only now they have been picked up by the mainstream. Folk, WTF Sam! – some of you may be shouting at your screen – but my girlfriend’s musical taste is rubbing off on me. One of my mates said I was musically whipped the other day! Oh dear. But, to be absolutely fair they were amazing when we saw them on Saturday night in Wolverhampton. So why not do a 360 and talk a little about folk, this blog is about anything that gets you dancing, so why not!
The Civic Hall was rammo, with a well-mixed crowd, some of who were clutching onto their 2 pinter lagers (2 pints of drink in a massive plastic cup – it was mental anyone drinking a half looked like something out of The Borrowers!) and the quirky pre-act Fanfarlo got everyone’s legs shaking. The boys hit the stage after a ridiculously long wait (a good 45 mins – maybe I’m not used to it enough as dance music acts switch seamlessly!) but it was worth it and the crowd sure appreciated it too. Noise levels were incredible from the floor to the humble foursome, Wolverhampton what hosts! They dived straight into big hitters from the album Sigh No More, and energy levels went through the roof. Marcus, the lead, showcased his percussive talent, from thumping a single bass drum along with his guitar to playing a full kit and still singing the lead – how often do you see the lead behind the drums by the way?
Anywho, the banter wasn’t bad either – which was refreshing as the amount of people you see these days who turn into mutes in-between tracks is ridiculous (I spose it’s who you go to see) but either way Mumford and Sons are funny guys – check out their tong-in cheek live lounge interview here (BTW how un-charismatic is Sara Cox in this?) All in all they well and truly took little Wolverhampton by storm, and Wolverhampton rocked me – what a great people!
Mumford and Sons will be hitting festivals up this summer, go and grab some cider and jig along!
The XX certainly have taken the music industry by the horns and wrenched them off as we storm into 2010. This time 9 months ago the trio were playing modest pubs in suburbia, then they got their break supporting Florence & The Machine. Since then its all been going off for the South Londoners. In amongst it all they donned their remixing hats and set fire to Florence’s (well Candi Staton’s) “You’ve Got The Love” set the group in good stead, with DJ sets alongside big dogs like Annie Mac and a more extravagant tour around Europe. Last night Shepherds Bush Academy saw The XX grace the stage for the last night of their London shows.
Mandatory pre-gig drinks were held at The Walkabout next door for classy people like myself, after a few it was time to make over to the Academy. Saw the set list, “These New Puritans” were the pre – TBH I didn’t have a clue who they were, after their performance I knew why. The band looked cool as they wondered on stage with clarinets, horns and two electric drum kits (the drums didn’t walk on obviously!) – that was fine, it was the 12 year old chav vocalist that ruined it, check them out for yourself but they don’t come recommended from here.
So, the night wasn’t great so far, my drink was empty – no thanks to those puritans – and we had some greasy Italian couple complaining about people taking pictures, seriously just get over it! Anyway, rant over. A white curtain dropped and up shone a simple X which painted the bands logo as a back drop, then the chilled chords and synths leaked through the O2’s speakers to a hyped crowd. Silhouettes shone through the curtain as they lead with Intro. On the tracks final note it dropped, cue crazy screams! (Weird considering most people were draped in black as if we were at a bikers convention). The trio stood before us and went on to deliver every track with perfection. Vocals were incredible live, simple and raw – like the band. With only 11 tracks to play with, some interesting covers were tackled with wicked results. UK Funky sensation Kyla’s “Do You Mind” was particularly unpredicted but interesting choice.
The contrast between pre and headliner was huge, but I don’t mind it when goes the way last night did. The XX were incredible – so if there playing at the same festival or gig your going to – get your ass over there!
Lomography? What's that all about then? Well it's quite cool actually (you wouldn't of expected any less of me I suppose) - it's a type of arty/retro analogue style of photography. My girlfriend has been getting to grips and has been snap happy since December. You should go and check out her skills with her own lomography photos. Pretty mint I reckon – it’s wicked how you can take pictures over each other (multiple exposures – check me getting all techy) and do other things like splitting the image up like the one of me above. Give her a little comment, she'd love that ha! I might even have a little photo shoot to top up my artist pics on MySpace and Last.fm, hmm could be interesting! And why on earth doesn’t anyone print pictures anymore? I wish they did because it costs an arm and a leg nowadays (well a good tenner to get a 35mm film developed) so it’s an expensive but cool little hobby. Get involved!
That’s right I’m doomed by dissertation duties at the moment. I know most people who aren’t a student hate the constant Tweets and Facebook updates about how many words we may have written (or left to write!) or how many days are left till the deadline and we’re free! – But seriously, I’m not here to moan – just to give you a heads up that I may go into some sort of blog hibernation for a few weeks whilst I bury my head into mountains of A4. Don’t threat though, I will be back with some absolute banging mixes soon! Laters!
Day trip? Why not? So we did, and what a mint day it was too, bloody freezing mind - but well worth wrapping up to see the mighty Miike Snow entourage! First jokes happened as we got to London Bridge, where I forgot to bring the ticket reference code, so had to queue up in the human queue - long. After al that we had literally 60 seconds on the train until it left, good start. The journey however was usually entertaining, we had some footy fans next to us larking about with a 6 pack of lager each - 10am breakfast beers, legends. Some of the girls they were with made some gold comments about how "Wii Fit don't actually make you fit, is it?" and "Why aren't we stopping for people at every station on these trains?" bless them. After an hour of biting our lips, we go there - the lads went off to the local and we hit the pier. Donut time - yes please!
After all of our frolicking on the arcades (I was both the air hockey and Saga Turbo GT champion, thank you!) lunch, catch up with old friends drinking champagne, (well Cava) on the beach etc. we hit dinner up. Real big veggie style! Check out Food For Friends in Brighton, if you around there soon, it is amazing, whether your vego or not, trust me on this one! After wolfing that lot down, it was straight to Digital, where we were surprised to see a queue outside. We weren't early, so I went down to investigate. Turns out the good old sound engineers had kindly stuffed the soundsystem up so the show was delayed over an hour - and the support wasn't being dropped. That's good if you want to stay in Brighton all night, or pretty bad if you want to catch the 11.30pm train. Ah! So off the the Walkie it was, and a couple of drinks we headed back to the venue. Actually got in this time, tiny little club, but with an immense Funktion One soundsystem, and it sounded big - will let the engineers off this time!
Ali Love was first up, slightly wasted but nevertheless got the crowd going in the Brighton's own little sweatbox! Time was ticking for our last train, but the soundboys didn't care as they allowed at least 45 minutes for the Swedish-American hybrid formation to grace the stage, why cant everywhere have revolving stages? Finally the lights dropped and white masks assumed their positions as they went into a an extended sort of skit/interlude of Cult Logic, simple stuff but looked awesome.
Extended and instrumental madness surrounded each track delivered by the Miike Snow boys, stretching their relatively short album out into a 75 minute long mix. And there we were right in the thick of it, I captured the biggest tune of the night - check Miike Snow performing Silvia live...
Wicked stuff, wicked album (though I'm quite annoyed iTunes are hailing it to be the "Best pop album of the year" - I don't like pop do I? Ahhh) and wicked live, Digital in Both Brighton and Newcastle are mint venues, so if anyone you like are playing at either go and check them, its guaranteed to sound fat on that system! Remember to keep your eyes on my YouTube channel too!
Check out one of my favorite pics from the night...
Hey guys, in the midst of doing my dissertation I found the time or maybe I manage to justify doing a mix to help my work flow - procrastination city, I know! Anyway, I;m procrastinating at the moment - so onwards! Here's a cheekly little mix for January, some bangers in there watch out!
P.S. Please vote for me on MixCloud, share the love x
Wow! Into 2010 we go then. I spiralled back down to reality this week, after returning home from an amazing Australian Christmas. I was out in Eastwood, Sydney with the Snell crew. Amongst gallivanting around in the December and January sun (sounds weird hey), playing Bananagrams (check it out!) Articulate or some other festive board game - we actually witnessed one of Australia's most renowned New Years Day festivals - Field Day! Check the photos out here! Gracing the 12 hour dance festival's line-up were Australian favourites, The Presets, but stomping sets flowed throughout the day in Sydney's Domain from the likes of Cassius, Jack Beats, Roger Sanchez, Fake Blood, Sebastian Leger, Major Lazer, 2manydjs and more! Field Day's recycling scheme proved pretty prosperous and entertaining for some, as every can gave you $1 token to be exchanged - free booze or money why not! Apart from my camera going crazy to the basslines (check out my steadiest shot...) the day was enjoyed by ravers and can collectors alike.
New Years Eve was a pretty spectacular event too, we poised ourselves down at Milson's Point overlooking Aussie landmarks like The Harbour Bridge and The Opera House from 3pm to capture the Sydney spirit as we welcomed 2010. They do it in style over there too, fireworks in London take place for about five minutes, whilst clad in as many layers as possible. Not for Sydney, they have entertainment going on from 5pm, including a preliminary firework display at 9pm for the kids (lasts 8mins) then the big guns come out at midnight (for 12mins) firing off the bridge, boats and various buildings from Sydney’s signature skyline. If your there during new year - be a tourist for a day and get yourself down there!
So we came back on the 12th, managed to get on the Qantas A380 which was mint! Check this beast out...
And then it was back to cold and harsh reality - literally! What a juxtaposition, 35 degrees one minute -5 the next! Good old England hey. Snows a laugh though, right?
