Photo: Nick Gough
We finally wave bye bye to 2009 with our final two wonderful guests - Hatcham Social and Grizzly Owls
The DRUMS give us the low-down on their album picks of 2009
Indietracks isn’t the first festival I’ve gone to this year, nor will it be the last. It’s hard to see how it will be anything other than the most enjoyable event of the year though. Launched in 2007, Indietracks is the ultimate in niche festivals. A tiny capacity, a very precise view of the kind of bands it puts on, with all of this set in a small rail yard. It’s a wonderful feeling (and an unheard one at a festival) that you can walk between any of the stages within a couple of minutes. Most importantly of all, it’s by far the nicest festival that you’ll ever visit.
Ah, the Mercury prize. Every year, providing the opportunity for music fans to complain about how it’s a bad representation of British music, because it doesn’t contain X, Y and Z albums - and what’s that one doing on there? It’s crap. And so on.
This year, as with every year, the list contains albums I like, some I don’t and some I don’t care about. There’s no point complaining about the shortlist, but naturally I reserve blogger’s rights to say what I’d like to have seen there. For me, the only albums of the twelve that I’d have in my own personal Mercury prize list are The Invisible (great to see them nominated) and Friendly Fires. And for what it’s worth, here’s an alternative dozen.
As last year, I will not be able to attend the music lover’s paradise, South by Southwest, and will have to explore the roster of artists from the swivel chair in front of my laptop (if I spin around fast enough every so often, I can attempt to simulate the dizziness brought on by wanting to see so many bands at once).
Camera Obscura are warming up. They’re off to SXSW this week and tonight’s gig is their opportunity to run through new material before they hit the Texas schmoozefest. Singer Traceyanne Campbell comes on stage admitting that she’s nervous. But she needn’t be. This is the perfect place for the Glasgow band to be playing the songs from their new album My Maudlin Career live for the first time. A small venue and an expectant, partisan crowd, who actually want to hear the new stuff. It’s not like there’s going to be many people who have made their way to the Kings Cross / Islington borders tonight just because they heard French Navy on Jonathan Ross’ radio show. So no need to be so apologetic about playing potentially unfamiliar songs Traceyanne, though she is aware that a good few people will have heard it already. But when she asks who has, only one hand goes up. We’re liars.
Photos from a recent FOE gig - a friend of our friends Hold Your Horse Is - she’s gonna be big!!! Read the gig review after the jump.
Shots of North Carolina’s folk-rocking Avett Brothers’ stop in Glasgow - 22.08.11
Read the review of the gig here.
Take a look at the acts and art on offer at this year’s Latitude Festival in Suffolk. Included are the likes of Fight Like Apes, Lykke Li, Sea of Bees and Seasick Steve. Photos from our own...
Good time with Bad Guys. Photos from the May 29th gig at the Old Blue Last. Read the review by the Bad Guy himself, Stuart London after the jump.
Artrocker.com exclusive: for fans of White Lies and Crocodiles we’ve got some fresh pictures from their UK show at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire earlier this month, courtesy of Alessandro...
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