BRAINWASH saturday 31st October 2009 (halloween)

Shoeface


Very new band (apparently this was their second gig) doing interesting instrumental noise stuff, kind of like health but without the well structured melodic parts and vox. They played on the floor, in the middle of the brudenell, taking up a lot of room thanks to the 3 drummers (drums were pretty ace though). Not many people came to see them too. Guitars had lots of reverb, feedback and effects, noticeably very loud.
They played a relentless wall of noise for 15 minutes straight... got a bit boring though. They were a bit loose (seriously sometimes it looked like the guitarist didnt have a clue what he was doing and just tried out new stuff) Interesting to watch though.

6/10

Talons


Was pretty early in the day and the brudenell was still pretty empty as talons started, so we sat at the back with pints to soak them in while relaxed.
Pretty stupid becuase it packed out REAL FAST and i wanted to be bobbing my head at the front. As you can see they were spookily dressed as MUMMIFIED ANIMALS. Really amazing atmosphere as always (heres my previous post for what they sound like) and the new single "Bethlehem" (out soon on a split with And So I Watch You From Afar) is so immense it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Less overwhelming than seeing them previous times: shame it wasnt a smaller/ darker space /later in the day (suits them better). They were incredibly tight though and I'm sure impressed everyone watching.



Bought a pretty cool t shirt with bears on that Ollie from the band designed. Forgot to ask them who the fuck "buff orpington" is though.

8.5/10

Wonderswan
Ok strangely ended up seeing this band twice yesterday (i will explain later). Having just released their single this band have a lot to prove. To be honest I think they let themselves down at brainwash, with a serious lack of energy and stage presence they just seemed a bit dull. And when the band seems dull the songs seem dull too. They do have good sludgy pop sound, similar to peers dinosaur pile-up, playing kind grime-y indie. Its like copy haho doing pavement covers. The vocals are a bit distant and less audible than in most bands and a bit lack luster (I think perhaps too detached from the instrumental mix). They have written some good catchy songs but its all a bit repetative and got a bit boring towards the end. The bassist played in the crowd (out of sight from me) which if I could have seen might have made it more interesting. Wish i new more songs, seem like that kind of band.


5/10 (*8/10 at subculture though)

The Old Romantic Killer Band
"Folk, blues and punk" in one band. Odd mix, and yeah maybe its not my thing but i caught the last few songs. Really entertaining live spectacle. They played their hardest and were pretty mental. Last song was really good and much more on the punk end of the spectrum (which they deliver bloody well). Highlight was the "changing rooms" stunt where the lead singer swaps with the audience so they are all on stage then rushes them off to the back wall. Crowd didnt seem too enthusiastic but was still fun and a damn good attempt.


im all cross armed in this picture, but i was enjoying it, promise.
7/10


The guy showing his goats is actually a twat, thanks for runing ttng for me scrote and co.

Tubelord
Since when did tubelord get big? The venue was pretty packed again for them. Starting off with a new song with a more "serious" tone to it than previous songs, with less vocals and of a "pop" feel. However they soon got back to playing hits off the album. Set was good if a little short and could have done with more "old" stuff, I think a lot of the album doesn't sound as fresh as the real early stuff. A static crowd didn't really help things either, a few guys seemed to know the words and shouted along and jumped up and down, they seemed like annoying idiots. In fact it feels like they're fast becoming another "indie pop" band which all the kids jump up and down and scream for. Last but not least the new bassist (however silly his hair might be) can't replace Sean. A lot of these faults were probably because the new member wasn't as tight and didn't know all the songs. Still pretty fun to watch (I think they set the bar too high at previous gigs though).


8/10

This Town Needs Guns
They started their set with a few songs off the album like chinchilla and baboon which are nice songs, not very exciting stuff though. Fast songs with pretty maths guitar lines and soft oxford vocals. About halfway through the set they played a new song, was bit more "dancy" than the album or even previous works, with more repetative vocals and a stick in your head melody (can't help thinking they're losing the overwhelming beauty their songs had and becoming another "foals-esque" band).
I hate to sound pretentious and elitist but since when did all the kids hear the old songs and decide to be annoying idiots jumping up and down to "if i sit here...". They then promised "belle and sebastian" (brilliant old song) but ditched it discovering they only had time for one more and played (the fan hit) 26 is dancier than 4 (more jumping up and down from annoying tweens and dicks).

Could do with being a bit more subdued live, i like the more "beautifully delicate" side to their songs, whereas some people seem to treat them like pigeon detectives. Sucks they got big and are now a mainstream "indie" band with annoying fans to boot.

7/10

Bougth a pulled apart t shirt. its rad.


Overall - suffered from static po faced crowds for some bands and over enthusiastic 16 year old boys excited to be out of the house for others. Wish we had stayed longer (we missed blakfish and PABH) but it was my friends' birthday and he'd come from york to see us so i thought I'd do what he wanted.
Idioteque was a real let down apart from seeing wonderswan again (by accident) who were ace second time round, they played way better, sub culture suited them better, the sound was better ect.ect.

Leeds Festival 27-30/8/09

HEYA, so it was Leeds (festival) time again and yes i'm a sell out and a gimp going to leeds... how uncool of me.
Anyway leeds obviously meant more coke fueled sex parties and skanking out to the one and only DJ OD (he's from holand) than i do on a normal weekend.
Somewhere inbetween these things i saw some bands which i vaguely remember, so i m filling in fuzzy details with lies and quotes.



THurseday evening was DTTR's lineup (a leeds label started by wiskas from forward russia) on the BBC intro stage. It was pretty cool but the crowd seemed bored and just going becuase it was something to do and making trouble.
Holy State: Amazing live, they brought a really rocking set. Edgy riffs and banging tunes... shame the crowd was a bit tame for these when they were the only band of the night deserving it.
Airship: Pretty good guitar pop with a bit of dirt and some good angsty tunes. by this point the crowd was ridiculous "moshing" for the sake of it. i kicked a few in the shins but on the grand scheme of things didnt help.
Bear Hands: Not the best band of the night but they were alright, some good poppy guitar songs again with a bit of an mgmt vibe. my friends hooked them up with pills later. Seemed like nice guys with pretty good Brooklyn accents but couldnt get us backstage (and their manager was full of shit and a tit)... A for effort, C for achievement.
Wild Beasts: brilliant folky and big sounding songs but the volume was too low and the gathering bored idiots thursday night brings combined with the idiots who think everything is rage against the machine when they get drunk kind of wrecked the atmosphere. Still a good set and it was nice seeing them.

I think i spent this night out of my tent (cramped up in the corner of someone elses) because my friends are sluts WHO STEAL MY CLOTHES AND GET JIZZ ON THEM... you know who you are...

"are you touching yourself"..."no its just warm down there"

Freeday:
The Computers: I think they have to be taken with a pinch of salt, the all white band uniforms, over the top vocals and art student look is an odd mix. Still i love them, awesome screamo punk with hillarity thrown in, some good riffs and banging rythm. I dont think the steward lady we talked to before really got it though.
Polar Bear Club: one of the best bands of the day, the main guy looked like he was on coke, punching the air and kicking the ground like he was being attacked by the world around him. SOmething about their performance screams AMERICAN HARDCORE BAND... amazing songs though and an amazing live energy despite a static crowd.
A Wilhelm Scream: Amazing hardcore band with a bit of a cult status. THey played a great set with as many head tearing anthems as you could want. ROCK AND ROLL.
Municipal Waste: These guys fucked me up, with their brand of sarcastic metal. Lines like "rip your face off and throw it on stage", high fiving in the crowd, and twin circle pits (or circle tits). Hillarious and baffelingly brilliant.( swore i saw male bonding rocking out to them)
"the moshotorium"..."so metal they piss jaeger and jizz vodka"
The Rakes: me and my friends were big fans of the first album (awwww bless our little indie hearts) and we noticed (watching from the back) just how much the vocal styles have changed and how its ruining both old and new songs. THey need to go back to their post punk routes and rethink things.
Hockey: Was really good and interesting to watch. By no means the most exciting band but they played a nice set with a few folky parts and a lot of harmonious soulful vocals and jangly guitars. Good times.
The Maccabees: NME tent was packed, sound was shit... was all around a bit of a loss really, but still glad i stayed to see xray and stuff. I think orlando needs to losen up a bit and look happier... i think the hypes gone to their heads and theyve betrayed their indie pop aesthetic.
65daysofstatic: I love 65dos live and this was no exception, although because of relatively long songs they didnt get through much material. Also it was very apparent the volume was too low for their sound. I went a little mental for radio protector as a last song, was intense.
At this point there was consumption of illicit substances ("pillz for the win") which is why i inexplicably liked the following bands-
Atreyu: i remember nothing but i m pretty sure it was good....
The Blackout: Ok actually they're alright (maybe its the annoying scene deep down talking) the guy who looks like patrick wolf dressing for a MCR concert can't scream or sing though, KICK HIM OUT, the other one can't scream but atleast he looks vaguely hardcore. Yeah pretty funny pop punk or emo or whatever you call it.
Bring Me the Horizon: Hand on my heart... one of the best bands of the day. It was mental and my face hurt after and I think i hated everyone there for a while BUT IT WAS FREAKING AWESOME... if the guitarist had jumped off the big pole thing and not climbed down it would have been insane... alas no. Anyway it was pretty br00tal and with a hint of sattired i thought it was amazing.

Pills kind of fucked us up at this point... I hit myself and tried to get people to break my nose (i believed karma wanted it broken..."PUT THE SPADE DOWN STEVE") after offending a small person (if you read this i m really sorry). Hollie lost the ability to understand the silent disco... every 2 minutes after explaining it: "OMG THERES A MAN IN MY HEAD TALKING... CAN YOU HEAR THE SAME THING AS ME... HOW DOES IT WORK". Pat fell over and explained his bearded women festish... chris lost the ability to move anything but his wrists and Joe thought he was having a heart attack... o us crazy kids.


Pat "your the most beautiful girl holl"
Joe "no i am"
Me "not with a beard like that"
Pat "i have a thing for bearded girls"
Then I sobered people up like a good little bunny i am... united everyone with pats help and helped chris find the floor... GOOD TIMES

Saturdon't:
Lethal Bizzle: would have been hillarious if i wasnt feeling sick and my feet didnt feel like lead weights... holding out for a gallows appearance wasnt promising. Yeah as you'd expect half arsed grime with shout along lyrics, jumping up and down and reminding him what his name is "WHATS MA NAME" (he shouldnt forget... its on his frickin t shirt).
Metronomy: I wasn't thrilled with the drumming but they sounded good all the same and the 3 pieces old vibe may be slightly lost in translation but they still play dancable, lovable yet quite dark pop music. Cool stuff.
Passion Pit: I really like some songs on record, but i think the producer on their work needs a medal. Live the vocals are weak and dreary, the drums and bass over powering and all the original psychopop feel lost. I cant even blame the NME stages crap sound... they were just bad.
Crystal Castles: Actually pretty good, disappointed with the sound quality and the stupid crowd at the nmecretion tent but it was cool and the jerky 8 bit tunes were so good. After getting crushed we went outside; watching on the monitors was pretty cool too (i think they went wrong... it was all messed up in black and white) I still think they should get rid of the drummer... maybe i just love drum machines too much.




Yeah so I only saw 4 bands and only one i really enjoyed saturday (whoops) and missed deadmau5 and MSTRKRFT due to excessive napping and a harsh come down from the day before. O WELL... onwards and upwards (i.e. more silent disc). It was rather a sober affair and soph did some suggestive air dancing... i kissed a boy and liked it (for £3... i'm a rent boy) then i had a good sleep so i was ready forrrr...

Sundaaaaaance:
Dananananaykroyd: Class as ever, every song was immense and they played as any self respecting band would, drunk and until they get turned off. Wall of cuddles mad me so happy and the sing along tunes were unbelievably amazing. The one band i saw with great sound on the crock of shit/radio 1 stage.
The Ghost of a Thousand: bit early in the day for some br00tal punk community head bashing but was still good, the crowd was pretty mental and despite one kid rocking out on his own in a lost prophets t shirt... pretty sound. They had a good sound and rocked it as would be expected. Stage antics and lots of jumping in the crowd.
KASMs: Best looking band of the weekend, the lead lady, blonde bassist and rawry are damn fine... damn fine. The music was pretty good as far as art rock female vocal lead stuff with scartchy guitars and shouting. Was really interesting to watch though, they are clearly really good musicians and stuff.
Minnaars: Absolutely ace, they managed (unlike some other bands) to make the bbc intro stage their own and playing a festival friendly set, ditching their normal technical setup for 6 and a half electronified songs (complete with backing tracks and a remix) was pretty awesome. THey jumped into the crowd and put on a mint show
"his guitars so high", "if it got any higher i think only cats would enjoy it", "i meant the strap was high...".
Bombay Bicycle Club: The sound wasn't great for them on the festival republic song and i feel their song choices werent great (the new stuff lacks the awkward sound of their old songs) but was still great and songs like the hill were really good. Also some guy in a mouse suit on stage rocking out was pretty cool.
Lovvers: Were clearly wasted and completely amazing, their noise punk anthems were mind blowing, their theatrics hillarious and ummmmm... well thats about it. At the end the guitarist fell over an amp and kept playing while squirming about... coooooool.
Two Door Cinema Club: T'was time for the transgressive stage which last year was amazing... I'd kind of written these guys off as another indie pop band that would have one good single and fade out but seeing as nothing was happeneing i went to saw them. First thing i noticed was that they had a drum machine (which is pretty damn cool) and then they played a set of really quality indie pop with brilliant clean hooks and tuneful vocals, occasional electronic elements and a tight sound. Somewhere between the xcerts, good shoes and late of the pier.
Saw will at this point... surreal moment (i thought he was at reading). He looked goooood.
Pulled Apart By Horses: the greatest cats in the world (despite what you heard) BLOOD, ROCK AND ROLL, THRASHY VOCALS, JUMPING UP AND DOWN and all my favourite songs. But seriously Tom funked his leg up big time and it was impressive he kept going. Fucking carnage man.
We then stayed for a bit of The Invisible who kind of sucked but had some cool fat girl fronting though (and a guitarist who looks like wiskas) DJs before were awesome though and we danced around a passed out guy with his duvet (affectionally dubbed buckaroo man as we stacked shit on him till he through it off) he had a plate on his head with the words "I MIGHT BE DEAD :)". 5 people couldnt rip the duvet away from him. When he got up there was a big cheer.
Future of the Left: I don't remember too much of fotl, other than the bassist was amazing, they rocked and it was all very funny... Ok so i remember a bit. Good shit if you like rocking riffs and hillarious vocals. RADICAL

SO then i got wasted on substances again and ruined everyones night (and missed DJ OD), woke up freezing and panicking about getting home... but i did so lifes good (thanks Joe's mum).



In conclusion: I MISS LEEDS, i miss the floor and jizz stains and fighting over last slice of pizza and smoking too much and DJ OD and all my friends.
HOLLIES BEST QUOTES OF THE WEEK: "omygod im hating on it so bad", "yes its like the ebst thing ever" "can you all be my favourite thing" "o no o no" "omg its so wet between my legs"
Comments

Festivals: a look back

It's been a long, lazy summmer for me and i got thinking back to its beginnings: Back in june I went to glastonbury. At the time i was really underwhelmed and pretty miserable as it was (exams/losing my wallet/sun stroke had got me down) but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Thinking back to that muddy week two performances really stood out for me

Animal Collective's set (on the Park Stage) was probably some of the best, most brilliant atmospheric music I've ever heard live. Before seeing them I wasn't incredibly keen on more than a few recorded songs and thought they were another pitchfork hype band. Boy did the prove me wrong.
Heres a video of the fifth song they played, the single "Summertime Clothes". The video I wanted to show you was a brilliant live version of set closer "Brother Sport", however the recording is very illusive.

Entire set to download.

Bon Iver's set at glastonbury "on the Other Stage) was really special. I'd never really given their album "for emma, forever ago" a good listen as it is a thoroughly slow singer-songwriter afair which i normally put down as "not my thing". However live this music is a totally different afair, the heart wrenching songs about love and loss seemed to cut through me like a knife, and the beautifully layered acoustic/folky music created such an amazing atmosphere.
One song really stuck out though: their brilliant finisher "The Wolves (act 1 and 2)": Here's a video of it and watch it all the way through if you don't know the song, it starts slow and ends in some kind of crazed shouting session that leaves people in tears.

Entire set to download.

Along the same lines I remembered all the good bands I saw at Dot to Dot in Nottingham (indoor many venue festival) and of course truck festival and so looked for some videos. Although there were no real amazing heads and shoulders above standouts like at glasto heres a couple of my favourites.

Patrick Wolf puts on a really great show and didn't disappoint at dot to dot, heres him playing "the libertine". At the time i said about him: His stage presence was over powering. His theatrics entertaining. His music, the pinical of alt. pop brilliance. THis culminates in a near perfect show.


Pulled apart by horses at truck (in the barn) was mental. Here's there final song and stand out CHOON "i punched a lion in the throat", its totally bodacious:


Tubelord at truck in the barn, this is a really shit recording i found randomly during night of the pencils by some idiot who seems to video everything. O WELL enjoy

TRUCK TWELVE: LET IT IN

So to start this blog I thought I'd do a post on a festival I attended about a week ago. Steventon in Oxfordshire is a quiet village, ruined once a year by 2 days of rock and roooooll.

Truck has a lot of good qualities: Small enough to seem very personal, sunny enough to give me a healthy glow, smelling of cows enough to be authentic and cheap enough to leave me with change.
It's meant to be about finding your new favourite band, but a stupid amount of my favourites favourites were already playing. Seeing as i loved pretty much every band i saw this post might be a bit repetative. (to make up for it heres some party camping)



saturday

Tubelord
filling colour's (rip) giant shoes, tubelord didnt disappoint. Their hideously fun and upbeat set the tone for the whole weekend and although they only played 6 songs the atmosphere was lightning and the crowd all seemed to dig it. THe lighting for tubelord was really well done and gave the show another element along side Dave's "pig mask and jump around in the crowd" thing, (the mask didnt appear to be washed when i wore it in nottingham...xcore). As for songs the newer stuff sounded really immense and the old choons tighter than ever as they get more confident. Night of the pencils was so good it sent shivers down my spine and Azerrad was amazing as a sing along end.
The Scholars
Turned out to be some terribly stereotypical oxford "indie rock" band. Not Scholars (without the "The") who are brilliant rocking powerpop. Needless to say we left quickly. (afterwards one of them had a go at me for hating...so atleast they are take criticism gracefully)
Fanfarlo
Amazing band we were barrier for. This five piece was the perfect folk band; easy to listen to and beautifully crafter anthems with clap along beats and tear worthy lyrics. Jeremy Warmsley on guitar and bashing some percussion occasionally was pretty special too.
Data Select Party
DSP have some of the best pop music around right now and were as always immensely fun live. Playing a few new songs was probably a bad idea for a festival in my opinion (maybe just because i wanted the sing along anthems) I was pretty drunk for them and danced my socks off with sara and georgia. good times. Also dan has the best jumper and smile of any person i ve ever met.
Jeremy Warmsley
Jeremy is a very talented and funny guy. I'm not a huge fan of his indie/folk rock/pop/whatever but live he was really special and had a great energy for just one man. HE came across quite affable, asking the crowd to sit down and then taking cover requests. His 6th verse and one armed scissor cover were definately highlights of the festival.
Errors
plagued by some early technical errors (see what i did there) as cables were pulled out on the cramped beathive stage errors still pulled through to put on probably the best performance of the festival. On hindsight it wasnt the best time i've seen them but the set was amazing and they sounded great. They bring something different to the whole "math" thing with their electronica and acid elements. Beautifully worked layers of intelligent guitars and electronics building to dancable breakdowns. Incredible. Toes was great to end on aswell
Wild Beasts
Due to an arduous queue there was a long wait to get into wild beasts, meaning i missed some of the best of their new album. However the latter songs were just as brilliant, they sound much more erie and atmospheric live and the low lit barn set echoed this beautifully. THey were really beautifully deep and a pleasure to watch, the crowd seemed awe struck and the air still. Hooting and Howling blew me away and penultimate song We Still Got The Taste Dancing On Our Tongues slowed down and more atmospheric live was just incredible (the album version doesnt do it justice)... probably my favourite song of the festival.

After then becoming quite a bit more drunk at the tents we headed back to see some djs at the barn...
DJ Food
THis attempt at "visual turntabling" was pretty poor, the need to find videos that could be easily mixed seemed to diminish the quality of mixing for the music and although they played quite a fun set it seemed quite lazy and uninspired.
Lee Mortimer & Foamo
This was a huge contrast to the previous set in terms of originality and quality. They really produced some awesome mixes and i couldn't stop dancing. Perfect mix of electro, house, dubstep and huge bassline tunes with an odd dash of indie. Good stuff, recomend anyone who likes good dance music to seek foamo out and watch him.
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
managing to bypass alot of the queue by talking to tim from ttng these guys were playing fairly good indie and dance floor fillers with mixed success. Dwarfed by foamo they were a little underwhelming.




sunday

Talons
Recently signed to bsm i wasnt sure what to expect from this young 6 piece. I hardly ever fall in love with bands just from seeing them live. THe xcerts and errors are two that it has happened with before, and now Talons join their ranks as one of the most interesting and exciting bands to have come along in years. Their brilliant instrumental blend of post hardcore with mathcore and indie exploded on stage: Battered drums and awesome riffs intersperced by 2 violin parts which creates a big sound. They really gave the performance a lot, very energetic in contract to the static crowd, i dont think its possible to do more than drop your jaw at a band like this though. Like grammatics meets 65dos, but its a good thing trust me.
Calories
THe sound for calories wasn't great if i'm honest, and it was hard to distinguish some of their poppy guitar lines as they were overpowered by the drums and bass, but knowing the songs made it good to enjoy and new songs like even steven sounded awesome. Terrible crowd aswell, they didnt seem to get it. Not one of the best performances but still good.
And So I Watch You From Afar
From what i understand this music is a really lively scene in Ireland and these guys lived up to that. Really good live, thought it lacked diversity and all the songs sounded very similar and with only 3 members perhaps lacking the big sound to make them special. Still very good tight post rock that was thoroughly enjoyable.
The Xcerts
The first time i saw the xcerts was roughly a year ago at dot to dot when i stumbled upon them. Since then they lost none of the energy in their performance. They prove theirs still life left in the indie rock 3 piece band format. The lyrics and sweet scottish vocals clashing with their edgy rock sound to form sing along alternate anthems. Good atmosphere and stage presence too.
The Joy Formidable
Although the barn was pretty packed for them as we turned up, i really was underwhelmed by the joy formidable. Porbably the most disapointing band of the festival, they seemed to be the same uninspired indie that metric was producing years ago. Dull droning guitars and wishy washy vocals at times trying to imitate shoe gaze. Really not my thing.
This Town Needs Guns
We waited a while for this town to come on, well worth it to see 26isdancier as an opener from the front. However the quality of sound and performance was really lacking from the home grown maths boys. The set wasn't helped by the countless 14 year olds dancing/moshing. I can't understand how you can go mental for what is essentially subtley beautiful twiddly guitar music. We stayed for about 4 songs including chinchilla and lemur and if i sit here. Good but we chose to rush off to see if PABH was any better.
Pulled Apart By Horses
Amazing live in any capacity, and although the barns crowd was too thinly spread to make for your average sweaty, jumpy pulled apart gig they put on a great performance. Sporting 2 rolo t shirts (interesting trivia?) their hardcore riffs and shouty/screamy vocals sounded great as we came in on HIGH FIVE (although the hipster crowd wasn't going mental as i would have liked to see), it was still really good to watch the performance. Universal talk box followed by Punched a lion was amazing to finish on.
The Ghost of a Thousand
Now i don't know a lot about hardcore music but my friend do, and they tell me to go see these guys for an awesome show. RIght they were, even the mic check was hardcore (CHEEEEECK!!!!). The crowd disappated very quickly as the band started thrashing out their punk guitars and dark screaming. THe crowd was really the best thing about this band though as those scene kids know how to party. Although the crowd was small and rather tame by the end, (the wall of death more like a wall of slight bruising) they were really fun. Closing on Black Art Number One it was an intense set.


look at all the oxford hipsters

The final musical instalment of the festival was Jack and Paul's dirty dub voiced over orange bioler suit guy's spits. Amazing.
Intervening time was spent annoying band members, abusing joey, finding the monster, dancing to shit dj's, GETTING BEVVED and eating pasta. Good times
Sadly i missed some bands due to laziness and overcrowding like We Were Promised Jet Packs, Sam Isaac avec band (gutted it was too packed), Yacht and Maybeshewill. But really the fact there were so many good bands that i couldnt be arsed with a 5 minute walk to others is a testiment to how brilliant the lineup was (and how drunk i got). CANT WAIT FOR NEXT YEAR