Last weekend I was fortunate to acquire a photo pass for The Electric Picnic. It was a busy weekend of snapping but I thoroughly enjoyed it all and below is some of the shots I took. Some are featured over at Nialler9.com
Friendly Fires return with another addictive single called Kiss Of Life out on XL Recordings on August 28th. It certainly has all things summery about it and the wonderfully picturesque video will have you dreaming of the wonderful sunshine we had about a month ago.
It's been a great week for Friendly Fires after receiving their first Mercury Music Prize nominations for their self titled debut, however Kiss Of Life is not included on the album. It should do pretty well as a stand alone single after the fantastic reception it received at Oxegen a couple of weeks back and Ed's dancing would put anyone in a good mood.
So here it is, the 2009 Mercury Music Prize shortlist:
Florence and the Machine-Lungs Kasabian-West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum Bat for Lashes-Two Suns La Roux-La Roux Glasvegas-Glasvegas Speech Debelle-Speech Therapy Friendly Fires-Friendly Fires The Horrors-Primary Colours Lisa Hannigan-Sea Sew The Invisible-The Invisible Led Bib-Sensible Shoes Sweet Billy Pilgrim-Twice Born Men
I would like to see Friendly Fires, The Horrors or Bat For Lashes to scoop the prize, three very fantastic and addictive albums.
So even though it was last minute I headed down to Oxegen at the weekend, slinging about in the mud filled Punchestown racecourse. I missed the Friday celebrations due to other commitments but made an effort to wade about on Saturday and Sunday.
Highlights included first band of Saturday for me,Messiah J And The Expert, who brought the noise and packed out the Red Bull Academy tent. It baffles me as to why this band are not bigger than they are, as the stage show it clean cut, animated and fun. With Messiah J's stellar showmanship and The Expert's ingenious use of samples and brilliant beats bringing the tent to boiling point, The Boys Have Had Enough, Keep The Noise Down and Abandon Ship all had the crowd in an ecstatic frenzy as Turn The Magic On and forthcoming single Geography encouraged a joyous sing-a-long.
Another highlight for me was the Friendly Fires in The Green Spheres tent late on the Sunday afternoon. Having caught them two months previously in Waterford I was expecting good things and I was far from disappointed. Their audience was a mish mash of people of all ages who just wanted to dance and sing to their favourite FF songs. While the tent erupted momentarily for Jump In The Pool and Skeleton Boy, it was Jack Bevan from Foals' drumming presence on album favourite On Board that added to the party vibe of the set alongside front man Ed MacFarlanes consistent pleas for everyone to dance. Hope they get back over here soon.
Next up was Foals in the same tent as FF. It was my 5th time catching them live and they didn't disappoint. Yannis Philippakas may have inspired a new generation of haircuts and check shirt wearers but I doubt his stage theatrics and guitar playing are easily mimicked. Foals as a band are tight and deliver each track precisely. Olympic Airways, Electric Bloom and Balloons all dazzled with heavy riffs and erratic chunky drums while the popular Cassius and Two Steps, Twice inspired some much warranted moshpit action up the front.
This years hype-o-meter was all about Florence and The Machine. Her debut album Lungs bolted into the Irish Charts at number 3 on Friday and the UK Charts at number 2 yesterday, yet whoever thought it was a great idea to put her on the relatively small Red Bull Academy stage need to have a bit of a re-think. Stuffed to the gills is the only way to describe the scene before Florence Welch took to the stage with, undoubtedly the most rapturous reception of the weekend. It seems every person in the place knew every word to every song and deafening roars of approval, human pyramids and crowd surfing came with Dog Days Are Over, Cosmic Love, Kiss With A Fist and Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up). A true talent with a powerful voice, Florence is only just beginning.
Other honourable mentions from the weekend: Nialler9's warm up DJ set for the weird and mellow Fever Ray. Some excellent tracks including Your Love My Girls (Animal Collective/Frankie Knuckles mash up), the Duke Dumont remix of BFL Daniel and Simian Mobile Disco's Audacity Of Huge were witnessed and danced to by the White Lies boys. The Yeah Yeah Yeah's trying their level best to to fight off the pouring rain and poor sound on the main stage on Saturday as did Bloc Party. And So I Watch You From Afar tearing the Imro New Sounds stage to pieces with their thrilling set and lastly Digitalism playing Zdarlight to a load of 'mad out of it's' on the Saturday evening. Goodbye mud it's been special to say the very least.
A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to see Anita Blay aka Thecocknbullkid supporting Casio Kids and Friendly Fires at the Heineken Spheres gig in Waterford. It must have been slightly daunting opening for the full capacity crowd who were predominantly there to catch headline act Friendly Fires, but Blay delivered with a cool, sleek confidence and without arrogance, smiling back at the many faces crammed against the barrier to see her perform.
IAMSOUND Records have just announced that they shall be releasing an EP from the 23 year old synth pop singer from London in August titled the Querelle EP. It shall consist of four tracks Kiss Kiss Kill, Clean Apart, Boys And Girls and the very excellent I'm Not Sorry. To keep us happy while we wait for the EP release IAMSOUND are giving away a free mp3 of Clean Apart.You can get your copy herethecocknbullkid - "Clean Apart"
