Wednesday, 30 September 2020
Be Here [Live] | LIINES | Theatron Pfingstfestival Munich
This live footage of Liines playing 'Be Here' live at Theatron Pfingstfestival in Munich is basically the only bit of footage of the band on YouTube that wasn't filmed on someone's phone. Luckily, it's also pretty damn good. Liines' Zoe McVeigh has been recording some live tracks in lockdown, including this very strong version of PJ Harvey's 'A Place Called Home', and the band have made a YouTube playlist of clips of them filmed on members of the audience's phones, which (if you fancy a deep dive) you can watch here.
Interview and live music with MS MOHAMMED at LOUD WOMAN FEST
There isn't an awful lot of video of Ms Mohammed on YouTube, especially live video. The live sections of this particular video are a little bit muffled, sound quality wise, but it's enough to give you an idea of how good she is. In a similar vein, Ms Mohammed also did a talk for TEDX London in 2019, on the theme of authenticity over assimilation, and she and played two songs as part of that. You can watch the TEDX London talk here.
Tuesday, 29 September 2020
Gaptooth live at The Dublin Castle, 8 December 2012
This brief clip of Gaptooth performing at The Dublin Castle in 2012 is the only live footage of Gaptooth on YouTube, and while it's a bit scrappy, it gives you an idea of her sound. You can subscribe to her YouTube channel here.
Penfriend - Everything Looks Normal In The Sunshine (with lyrics)
Because Laura Kidd had only launched Penfriend back in May, this is the only song available at the moment. There is a playlist, on the She Makes War YouTube channel, of various live songs by Laura as She Makes War though, which will give you an idea of her previous sound.
Monday, 28 September 2020
Fantasy Festival number 20: The Lineup
Penfriend: The new project of Bristol based Laura Kidd, previously known as She Makes War, Penfriend had the bad luck to launch just prior to Covid-19 really taking hold, as lockdowns began to be imposed around the world. The initial two tracks Laura let loose into the world before all of this happened sounded promising though and, as She Makes War, she was a force to be reckoned with live. You can find out more here.
Gaptooth: Bristol based Hannah Lucy has been making music as Gaptooth since 2005. Since then, she's released two albums of increasingly slick agit prop synth pop, most notably the song 'Ladykillers' and her collaboration with Sisters Uncut, 'They Cut We Bleed'. She is as much an activist as a musician, and has both performed and acted as steward at the annual Loud Women fest in London. You can find out more here.
Ms Mohammed: London based Dana Mohammed has been making ferocious garage punk with queer feminist edges as Ms Mohammed since 2017 but, as this interview will show, her impressive music and activist backstory extends much further back than that. Her music has been praised by Iggy Pop on his BBC 6Music show, and last year she did a talk for TEDX London on the theme of authenticity over assimilation, which you can watch here. She's also on Bandcamp.
Liines: Manchester's tightest "alternative post-punk band", Liines, have been slowly building up their fanbase over the past five years. They released their debut album, Stop-Start, in 2018 and supported Sleaford Mods on their UK tour last year. You can find them on Bandcamp.
Dream Nails: This band of London punk feminists formed in 2015, and have been making catchy but angry punk pop tunes ever since. Their hotly awaited digital album is imminent. You can find them on Bandcamp.
Big Joanie: "We're like The Ronettes filtered through 80s DIY and riot grrrl with a sprinkling of dashikis" says their Bandcamp biog. Musicians, writers, and activists all, the London based Big Joanie supported Sleater-Kinney on a number of their UK dates earlier this year. Their debut album, Sistah's, was released in 2018. Their Bandcamp is here.
The Raincoats: London punk legends The Raincoats have been writing idiosyncratic masterpieces since 1977. Their first three albums were all re-released in the 1990s thanks to interest from Kurt Cobain (who was responsible for the bands reformation in 1993) and Sonic Youth, and they have continued to record and perform, on and off, ever since. You can find out more here.
Bikini Kill: The return of Bikini Kill (along with Gossip) was one of the more unexpected but highly exciting reformations and live reunions of 2019. This iconoclastic punk band originally formed in 1990 in Olympia, Washington, and were key players in the riot grrrl scene in Olympia when it began in 1991. They split up in 1997, but clearly felt they were needed in 2019. You can find out more here.
Gaptooth: Bristol based Hannah Lucy has been making music as Gaptooth since 2005. Since then, she's released two albums of increasingly slick agit prop synth pop, most notably the song 'Ladykillers' and her collaboration with Sisters Uncut, 'They Cut We Bleed'. She is as much an activist as a musician, and has both performed and acted as steward at the annual Loud Women fest in London. You can find out more here.
Ms Mohammed: London based Dana Mohammed has been making ferocious garage punk with queer feminist edges as Ms Mohammed since 2017 but, as this interview will show, her impressive music and activist backstory extends much further back than that. Her music has been praised by Iggy Pop on his BBC 6Music show, and last year she did a talk for TEDX London on the theme of authenticity over assimilation, which you can watch here. She's also on Bandcamp.
Liines: Manchester's tightest "alternative post-punk band", Liines, have been slowly building up their fanbase over the past five years. They released their debut album, Stop-Start, in 2018 and supported Sleaford Mods on their UK tour last year. You can find them on Bandcamp.
Dream Nails: This band of London punk feminists formed in 2015, and have been making catchy but angry punk pop tunes ever since. Their hotly awaited digital album is imminent. You can find them on Bandcamp.
Big Joanie: "We're like The Ronettes filtered through 80s DIY and riot grrrl with a sprinkling of dashikis" says their Bandcamp biog. Musicians, writers, and activists all, the London based Big Joanie supported Sleater-Kinney on a number of their UK dates earlier this year. Their debut album, Sistah's, was released in 2018. Their Bandcamp is here.
The Raincoats: London punk legends The Raincoats have been writing idiosyncratic masterpieces since 1977. Their first three albums were all re-released in the 1990s thanks to interest from Kurt Cobain (who was responsible for the bands reformation in 1993) and Sonic Youth, and they have continued to record and perform, on and off, ever since. You can find out more here.
Bikini Kill: The return of Bikini Kill (along with Gossip) was one of the more unexpected but highly exciting reformations and live reunions of 2019. This iconoclastic punk band originally formed in 1990 in Olympia, Washington, and were key players in the riot grrrl scene in Olympia when it began in 1991. They split up in 1997, but clearly felt they were needed in 2019. You can find out more here.
Friday, 25 September 2020
Lizzo - Juice (Glastonbury 2019)
This is a jubilant Lizzo performing 'Juice' live at Glastonbury in 2019. It's also well worth watching the clip of 'Good As Hell' from the same set, although the full set is not available on YouTube alas. As with many other Glastonbury sets that were filmed, it is possible, with care and patience, to re-assemble the full set from the individual song clips on YouTube. Lizzo's 'Tiny ass desk' set for NPR is available to watch here.
M.I.A. - Double Bubble Trouble at Glastonbury 2014
This clip of MIA live at Glastonbury 2014 is the same clip that I used in 2017, but I haven't been able to find one as good or as good quality, so I'm sticking with it. Her full Glastonbury 2014 set isn't available on YouTube, possibly because the BBC tend to hang onto their full sets and show them in-house, but also because the broadcast was censored when broadcast at the time. You can find fragments of it in YouTube so, if you were determined enough, you could probably re-assemble most of it.
Thursday, 24 September 2020
Vagabon - "Every Woman" featuring Angel Olsen filmed at The Fox Theatre
This is Vagabon performing 'Every Woman' from last years self titled LP at the Fox Theatre, with special guest Angel Olsen. You can watch Vagabon's full KEXP live session from March 2020 here.
Japanese Breakfast Perform “Dreams” by The Cranberries | Pitchfork Music...
This is Japanese Breakfast covering The Cranberries classic 'Dreams' at Pitchfork Festival in Chicago in 2018. You can watch the rest of this amazing set here.
Wednesday, 23 September 2020
Miya Folick - Deadbody (Live on KEXP)
This is Miya Folick performing 'Deadbody' as part of her KEXP session in May 2019.
You can watch Miya's full live set for Paper Sessions as part of Primavera Sound 2019 here.
Tuesday, 22 September 2020
Sudan Archives - Confessions (6 Music Festival 2020)
The BBC 6Music Festival was one of the few festivals to go ahead before the UK went into lockdown in March, and this is Sudan Archives performing 'Confessions'. The full set isn't available alas but you can watch her full NPR Tiny Desk concert here.
Monday, 21 September 2020
Fantasy Festival number 19: The Lineup
Myrkur: Danish singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Amalie Bruun began her musical career in the Scandinavian black metal scene. Her releases as Myrkur have their origins less in the contemporary metal scene and much more in Danish mythology, traditional folk music and classical music. You can find out more here.
Sudan Archives: LA Violinist, vocalist and producer Brittney Denise Parks, aka Sudan Archives, describes her musical influences as "Sudanese fiddlers, R&B, West African rhythms, and experimental electronic music." You can find out more over on her Bandcamp.
K Flay: Illinois singer, songwriter, rapper and musician Kristine Meredith Flaherty makes indie flavoured, hip hop influenced lo fi pop music. She has released three albums, the most recent being 2019's Solutions. You can find out more here.
Miya Folick: LA singer and songwriter Miya Folick released her debut album, Premonitions, in 2018. She makes evocative ethereal indie soundscapes (see 'God Is A Woman'), ferociously angry indie rock anthems (such as 'Deadbody') and isn't averse to a bit of slinky dance pop ('Leave The Party'). Album number two, when it arrives, should be a treat. You can find out more here.
Japanese Breakfast: Oregon's Michelle Zauner began working under the name Japanese Breakfast in about 2014, having previously served an apprenticeship in a number of indie pop and emo bands. She has released two albums of energetic, often dreamy, indie pop. You can find out more here.
Vagabon: New York singer, songwriter, musician and producer Laetitia Tamko was one of the artists who featured in 2017's Fantasy Festival series, not long after I'd singularly failed to see her at Dot To Dot Festival. At the time, her music was very much in the indie noise rock vein but, since then, she's gone in a more atmospherically electro direction, as demonstrated by her self titled second album, released in 2019. You can find out more here.
MIA: Rapper, singer, songwriter, producer, visual artist, activist, Maya Arulpragasam is a modern legend, perhaps best immortalised in 2018's documentary film Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. One of the things that has always made her such an exciting artist is the way she has been fearless in taking and mixing up multiple genres of music, from the more obvious electro and hip hop to Tamil film music and alternative rock. She built a hit single ('Paper Planes') around the opening moments of The Clash's 'Straight To Hell', infamously collaborated with Madonna and Nicki Minaj, and the promo video to 'Bad Girls' featured some particularly hair raising driving techniques. You can find her on Insta.
Lizzo: Singer, rapper, songwriter and flutist Melissa Viviane Jefferson, aka Lizzo, has been making music since 2013, but it was her third album, last years Cuz I Love You, that tipped her into the mainstream. Her roots are in hip hop and electro soul, but her music also has a strong R&B element to it and the overall sound is gloriously pop. 'Juice' was on every music station for most of last summer it felt like, and the success of the album also led to the re-discovery of her 2016 single 'Good as hell'. You can find her on Insta.
Sudan Archives: LA Violinist, vocalist and producer Brittney Denise Parks, aka Sudan Archives, describes her musical influences as "Sudanese fiddlers, R&B, West African rhythms, and experimental electronic music." You can find out more over on her Bandcamp.
K Flay: Illinois singer, songwriter, rapper and musician Kristine Meredith Flaherty makes indie flavoured, hip hop influenced lo fi pop music. She has released three albums, the most recent being 2019's Solutions. You can find out more here.
Miya Folick: LA singer and songwriter Miya Folick released her debut album, Premonitions, in 2018. She makes evocative ethereal indie soundscapes (see 'God Is A Woman'), ferociously angry indie rock anthems (such as 'Deadbody') and isn't averse to a bit of slinky dance pop ('Leave The Party'). Album number two, when it arrives, should be a treat. You can find out more here.
Japanese Breakfast: Oregon's Michelle Zauner began working under the name Japanese Breakfast in about 2014, having previously served an apprenticeship in a number of indie pop and emo bands. She has released two albums of energetic, often dreamy, indie pop. You can find out more here.
Vagabon: New York singer, songwriter, musician and producer Laetitia Tamko was one of the artists who featured in 2017's Fantasy Festival series, not long after I'd singularly failed to see her at Dot To Dot Festival. At the time, her music was very much in the indie noise rock vein but, since then, she's gone in a more atmospherically electro direction, as demonstrated by her self titled second album, released in 2019. You can find out more here.
MIA: Rapper, singer, songwriter, producer, visual artist, activist, Maya Arulpragasam is a modern legend, perhaps best immortalised in 2018's documentary film Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. One of the things that has always made her such an exciting artist is the way she has been fearless in taking and mixing up multiple genres of music, from the more obvious electro and hip hop to Tamil film music and alternative rock. She built a hit single ('Paper Planes') around the opening moments of The Clash's 'Straight To Hell', infamously collaborated with Madonna and Nicki Minaj, and the promo video to 'Bad Girls' featured some particularly hair raising driving techniques. You can find her on Insta.
Lizzo: Singer, rapper, songwriter and flutist Melissa Viviane Jefferson, aka Lizzo, has been making music since 2013, but it was her third album, last years Cuz I Love You, that tipped her into the mainstream. Her roots are in hip hop and electro soul, but her music also has a strong R&B element to it and the overall sound is gloriously pop. 'Juice' was on every music station for most of last summer it felt like, and the success of the album also led to the re-discovery of her 2016 single 'Good as hell'. You can find her on Insta.
Friday, 18 September 2020
ST. VINCENT - LOS ANGELES - LIVE @ ROSKILDE FESTIVAL 2018
This is St. Vincent performing 'Los Ageless' at Roskilde Festival in 2018. You can watch her full live set from Austin City Limits set from October 6 2018 here.
Imogen Heap, Hide And Seek (live), San Francisco, CA, June 8, 2019 (HD)
This is a live clip from Imogen Heap's show in San Francisco in June 2019. You can watch the full NPR Tiny Desk concert, also from June 2019, here.
Thursday, 17 September 2020
Nadine Shah - Fool (6 Music Festival 2020)
There are no full live sets of Nadine Shah on YouTube unfortunately, not even the rest of this live set from the 6Music Festival, but you can watch the live video for current single 'Kitchen Sink' here.
Harkin (Katie Harkin) - Nothing The Night Can’t Change (Live at South By...
While there are no full live sets of Harkin available on YouTube, you can listen to the most recent Harkin single, 'Dial It In', here. There's also a YouTube upload of an Instagram live Carrie Brownstein and Katie Harkin did in April, where they talk about Katie's debut album.
Wednesday, 16 September 2020
Tei Shi - 'Bassically' | Dot To Dot Festival 2015.
The Coathangers - Watch Your Back - Live on Band in Seattle
This is The Coathangers performing 'Watch Your Back' as part of their live set for Band in Seattle. You can watch the full Band in Seattle set here.
Tuesday, 15 September 2020
Ailbhe Reddy - Personal History (live at Windmill Lane)
While there are lots of different live tracks of Ailibhe available on YouTube, there aren't any full live shows or sessions to watch. You can, however, watch an interview with her here.
Monday, 14 September 2020
Jess Williamson - I See The White - TOUTPARTOUT sessions
This is Jess Williamson performing 'I See The White' as part of a ToutPartOut session. You can watch her full 2018 Audiotree session here.
otta - Near Enough A Woman
Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any live footage of otta available on YouTube. It might be due to newness, but it might also be because there's a Scandinavian rock band with a very similar name, which has confused matters. Meantime, this is the video for recent single 'Near Enough A Woman'.
Sunday, 13 September 2020
Fantasy Festival number 18: The Lineup
otta: Finnish/British musician otta's debut EP was released earlier this year. Including as it did the broodingly minimalistic 'Near Enough A Woman', it's fair to say that this young songwriter has created a stir amongst those with an interest in slightly jazz influenced understated songwriting. You can find out more on otta's Bandcamp.
Jess Williamson: Texas born, LA dwelling singer/songwriter Jess Williamson is rooted in country but she also inhabits a wild, sweeping soundscape that goes beyond Americana. You imagine prairie winds but you can also sense speakeasy's and dark and seedy LA streets. You can find out more here.
Ailibhe Reddy: Irish singer/songwriter Ailibe Reddy could perhaps be described as urban folk. Her songs have a tradition of folk songwriting behind them, but her concerns are of the urban life: Tube trains, shame, relationships. There is noise and grit in the mix, and she is certainly a songwriter for our times. You can find out more here.
Tancred: Jess Abbot's fourth album as Tancred, Nightstand, was released in 2018. In equal measure pared down and intimate confessional and brash guitar led indie rock swagger, it deserved a greater degree of success than it had. Those of a certain age might think of early Liz Phair or, more likely, Mary Lou Lord, but Abbot is her own woman and transcends all comparisons with the quality of her voice and her songwriting. You can find out more here.
The Coathangers: The garage rock band from Atlanta, Georgia make catchy, thrashy, occasionally sixties girl group esque songs that will remind you of both the Shondells and the Rondelles, as well as - inevitably - the Girls In The Garage series. You can find out more here.
Tei Shi: Colombian-Canadian singer, songwriter and producer Valerie Teicher Barbosa makes harmony based, R&B flavoured indie pop, with a slyly subversive edge. You can find out more here.
Harkin: Katie Harkin began her musical career in Leeds as one half of teenage indie punk band Sky Larkin. Since then she's collaborated with members of Wye Oak and Wild Beasts and become a member of the Sleater-Kinney touring band. Her debut self titled album was released in early 2020 and was a series of crisp, hook based songs in the indie rock tradition. She will be back to promote the album, it is to be expected, in 2021. In the meantime, you can find her on Insta.
Nadine Shah: South Tyneside singer, songwriter and musician Nadine Shah has just released her fourth album, Kitchen Sink, a series of highly timely observational vignettes taken from a life where she has often felt like an outsider. All her rage, all her anger, all her talent for observing and crafting songs that pierce modern mores like arrows, comes out in a series of unforgiving bluesy rock anthems. She is astonishingly good live, and you can find out more here.
Imogen Heap: Singer, songwriter, producer and sound engineer Imogen Heap is as known for her inventive use of technology (her musical gloves being one example) as for her music itself. To see her live is to experience music technology development in action, but - both as a member of Frou-Frou and in a solo capacity - she has also written some damn good left of centre pop tunes. You can find out more here, and watch her weekly livestreams here.
St Vincent: Singer, songwriter and producer Annie Clark has been making music as St Vincent since 2006. Hers has been a low key rise, not indicative of superstardom, but well respected and highly influential, garnering respect and headliner status. Each of her albums has a distinct musical identity and hinterland of its own, with 2017's Masseduction having a sexy, slinky quality to it that veered from the unbearably sad to the joyously hedonistic. Hers is a big, complex sound, a sort of baroque art pop, never the same, but always unmistakably her. You can find out more here.
Jess Williamson: Texas born, LA dwelling singer/songwriter Jess Williamson is rooted in country but she also inhabits a wild, sweeping soundscape that goes beyond Americana. You imagine prairie winds but you can also sense speakeasy's and dark and seedy LA streets. You can find out more here.
Ailibhe Reddy: Irish singer/songwriter Ailibe Reddy could perhaps be described as urban folk. Her songs have a tradition of folk songwriting behind them, but her concerns are of the urban life: Tube trains, shame, relationships. There is noise and grit in the mix, and she is certainly a songwriter for our times. You can find out more here.
Tancred: Jess Abbot's fourth album as Tancred, Nightstand, was released in 2018. In equal measure pared down and intimate confessional and brash guitar led indie rock swagger, it deserved a greater degree of success than it had. Those of a certain age might think of early Liz Phair or, more likely, Mary Lou Lord, but Abbot is her own woman and transcends all comparisons with the quality of her voice and her songwriting. You can find out more here.
The Coathangers: The garage rock band from Atlanta, Georgia make catchy, thrashy, occasionally sixties girl group esque songs that will remind you of both the Shondells and the Rondelles, as well as - inevitably - the Girls In The Garage series. You can find out more here.
Tei Shi: Colombian-Canadian singer, songwriter and producer Valerie Teicher Barbosa makes harmony based, R&B flavoured indie pop, with a slyly subversive edge. You can find out more here.
Harkin: Katie Harkin began her musical career in Leeds as one half of teenage indie punk band Sky Larkin. Since then she's collaborated with members of Wye Oak and Wild Beasts and become a member of the Sleater-Kinney touring band. Her debut self titled album was released in early 2020 and was a series of crisp, hook based songs in the indie rock tradition. She will be back to promote the album, it is to be expected, in 2021. In the meantime, you can find her on Insta.
Nadine Shah: South Tyneside singer, songwriter and musician Nadine Shah has just released her fourth album, Kitchen Sink, a series of highly timely observational vignettes taken from a life where she has often felt like an outsider. All her rage, all her anger, all her talent for observing and crafting songs that pierce modern mores like arrows, comes out in a series of unforgiving bluesy rock anthems. She is astonishingly good live, and you can find out more here.
Imogen Heap: Singer, songwriter, producer and sound engineer Imogen Heap is as known for her inventive use of technology (her musical gloves being one example) as for her music itself. To see her live is to experience music technology development in action, but - both as a member of Frou-Frou and in a solo capacity - she has also written some damn good left of centre pop tunes. You can find out more here, and watch her weekly livestreams here.
St Vincent: Singer, songwriter and producer Annie Clark has been making music as St Vincent since 2006. Hers has been a low key rise, not indicative of superstardom, but well respected and highly influential, garnering respect and headliner status. Each of her albums has a distinct musical identity and hinterland of its own, with 2017's Masseduction having a sexy, slinky quality to it that veered from the unbearably sad to the joyously hedonistic. Hers is a big, complex sound, a sort of baroque art pop, never the same, but always unmistakably her. You can find out more here.
Thursday, 10 September 2020
Christine and the Queens - Girlfriend (Glastonbury 2019)
While it's not possible to watch Chris's full 2019 Glastonbury set over on YouTube, you can watch the live session she did for KEXP at Home during the Paris lockdown earlier this year. Watch it in full here.
Wednesday, 9 September 2020
Santogold Santigold - GO / L.E.S. Artistes Live @ Made in America Festi...
Despite the release of The Gold Sessions mixtape a couple of years back, there's precious new live footage of Santigold on YouTube, and none of it is good quality. I'm pretty sure I used this clip from 2012's Made In America festival in Philadelphia back in 2017 when I included Santigold in the Fantasy Festival 2017 lineups, but it's a clip that's well worth a revisit in the absence of decent quality newer footage. You can also watch 'Say Aha' and 'The Keepers' from the same live show here.
Kali Uchis and Jorja Smith - Tyrant - Later 25 live at the Royal Albert ...
This is Kali Uchis performing her single 'Tyrant' with Jorja Smith as part of Later Live at the Royal Albert Hall back in 2017. While there are quite a few live full set recordings of Kali on YouTube, they're all really bad quality, so I haven't been able to bring myself to link to any of them here. Meantime, here's a link to her lockdown EP, To Feel Alive, which you can hear in full on her YouTube channel.
Tuesday, 8 September 2020
King Princess - 1950 (Glastonbury 2019)
This is King Princess performing her hit single '1950' at Glastonbury 2019. You can watch her at home concert for NPR's Tiny Desk (at home) series here.
Laura Mvula - Make Me Lovely (Live with the Metropole Orkest)
This is a gorgeously orchestral version of 'Make Me Lovely' that Laura performed with the Metrople Orkest. You can find other songs from this concert on YouTube, but only as single tracks alas. You can watch Laura's 2013 session for NPR's Tiny Desk series here.
Monday, 7 September 2020
Kate Boy - Northern Lights (Live)
A slightly grainy, up close but highly atmospheric recording of Kate Boy performing their excellent single 'Northern Lights' back in late 2016. You can watch three songs from their 2014 set in Podgorica here, and the quality of film is really good as well.
Stealing Sheep - Shut Eye (Indietracks 2019)
The bands full set from Indietracks 2019 isn't available but you can watch their full 2019 set at Rough Trade East here.
Sunday, 6 September 2020
Gothic Tropic - Your Soul /// Berlin Sessions
This is an acoustic version of 'Your Soul', as recorded for Berlin Sessions. Because there's a lack of full live sets by Gothic Tropic available via YouTube, I will have to link to the video of their show at The Satellite in January 2017, which I used for the Fantasy Festival series in 2017. It is well worth a second watch though, and you can do so here.
Delilah Holliday - LIVE @ Resonance 104.4 FM
This is the full live session Delilah played for Resonance 104.4 FM last year, and because it's so short (10 and a half minutes) it seemed a good idea to embed it rather than link to it, especially as there isn't a lot of live footage of Delilah's solo work as yet. You can also watch her full set for World Oceans Day here. The sound is a little quiet on that one, but the camerawork isn't too shabby.
Saturday, 5 September 2020
Fantasy Festival number 17: The Lineup
Delilah Holliday: Skinny Girl Diet's Delilah, following a collaboration with Baxter Dury and Etienne de Crécy as BED, has recently embarked on a highly atmospheric psych flavoured solo career, with the excellent single 'Rise of the Phoenix'. The track, and any follow ups, could take her to some interesting places and she's proved over the years that there's more to this London punk grrrl than initially meets the eye. Not to be underestimated. You can find her on Bandcamp.
Gothic Tropic: Los Angeles resident Cecilia Della Peruti featured in 2017's Fantasy Festival lineup, fresh from releasing her debut album Fast or Feast. I saw her play at the Manchester leg of Dot to Dot that year, and it was love at first listen. Since Fast or Feast she's played as part of Beck's touring band, amongst other things. Her sound is indie rock infused with sunshine pop, reminiscent of Blondie on occasion and Tom Tom Club at other moments, but ultimately uncategorisable. You can find her on Bandcamp.
Stealing Sheep: Their folk roots behind them, Liverpools's Stealing Sheep initially flirted with psych then went full on pop for their most recent album, 2019's Big Wows. Theirs is a 60s psychadelia infused pop sound, often proving irresistible, generally bound to get folks onto the dancefloor. You can find out more here.
Kate Boy: Swedish/Australian synth pop duo, Kate Boy, are comprised of Kate Akhurst and Marcus Dextegen. They released their debut album in 2015, but have been a bit quiet of late. You can find out more on Insta.
Laura Mvula: Birmingham singer/songwriter Laura Mvula released two albums of soul flavoured pop, Sing to the Moon in 2013 and The Dreaming Room in 2016. Both sold well and received considerable critical acclaim, including nominations for the Mercury Music Prize. Laura announced in 2017 that she had been dropped by her record label, Sony, and in the same year she composed the music for the RSC's production of Antony and Cleopatra. It's been a bit quiet since then, which is a real shame, but it's to be hoped that she is working on new material. She's not very active on Twitter, but there's no website, Bandcamp, Soundcloud or Insta, so it might be your best way to see what she's up to.
King Princess: Brooklyn singer, songwriter, musician and producer, and - it has been said repeatedly - queer icon in waiting, Mikaela Mullaney Straus released her debut album of impeccable pop, Cheap Queen, in 2019. It followed on from the touching but moody '1950' and pop melodrama of 'Talia', the first of which received a flurry of critical interest, the latter of which carved out a space for itself as the ultimate in gay heartbreak songs. You can find out more here.
Kali Uchis: Colombian singer Kali Uchis first came to to public attention in 2015 with her EP Por Vida. Early track 'Know What I Want' was suggestive of later period Amy Winehouse, albeit with a sunnier, reggaetron aspect to the sound. Her overall sound mixes sixties soul, R&B and doo wop with jazz as well as modern electro and R&B. Her debut LP, Isolation, was released in 2018 and was very well received. Similarly well received was her recorded in lockdown EP, To Feel Alive, which she released in April 2020. You can find out more here.
Santigold: Singer, songwriter and record producer Santi White has released three albums of impeccable left of centre electro pop and one equally successful mixtape of electro pop and reggaetron, The Gold Fire Sessions, which was released in 2018. Initially, her sound incorporated aspects of indie rock and samples from punk and post punk artists such as Siouxsie and the Banshees (whose 'Red Light' was sampled on 'My Superman'). She is often compared to MIA, both for her vocal style and the more agitated prop glitchy electro end of her work. You can find out more here.
Christine and the Queens: Nantes singer, songwriter, producer Chris was already a popstar in France before she released her debut English album, Chaleur Humaine, in 2016. A slice of elegant baroque electro pop, both she and it quickly won hearts and minds. 2018's follow up, Chris, with it's Chic-esque single 'Girlfriend' consolidated her reputation as an art pop genius. Since Chris was released, she has headlined the occasional festival, and during lockdown she released a new EP of songs, La vita nuova. Even greater triumphs are expected in the future. You can find out more here.
Gothic Tropic: Los Angeles resident Cecilia Della Peruti featured in 2017's Fantasy Festival lineup, fresh from releasing her debut album Fast or Feast. I saw her play at the Manchester leg of Dot to Dot that year, and it was love at first listen. Since Fast or Feast she's played as part of Beck's touring band, amongst other things. Her sound is indie rock infused with sunshine pop, reminiscent of Blondie on occasion and Tom Tom Club at other moments, but ultimately uncategorisable. You can find her on Bandcamp.
Stealing Sheep: Their folk roots behind them, Liverpools's Stealing Sheep initially flirted with psych then went full on pop for their most recent album, 2019's Big Wows. Theirs is a 60s psychadelia infused pop sound, often proving irresistible, generally bound to get folks onto the dancefloor. You can find out more here.
Kate Boy: Swedish/Australian synth pop duo, Kate Boy, are comprised of Kate Akhurst and Marcus Dextegen. They released their debut album in 2015, but have been a bit quiet of late. You can find out more on Insta.
Laura Mvula: Birmingham singer/songwriter Laura Mvula released two albums of soul flavoured pop, Sing to the Moon in 2013 and The Dreaming Room in 2016. Both sold well and received considerable critical acclaim, including nominations for the Mercury Music Prize. Laura announced in 2017 that she had been dropped by her record label, Sony, and in the same year she composed the music for the RSC's production of Antony and Cleopatra. It's been a bit quiet since then, which is a real shame, but it's to be hoped that she is working on new material. She's not very active on Twitter, but there's no website, Bandcamp, Soundcloud or Insta, so it might be your best way to see what she's up to.
King Princess: Brooklyn singer, songwriter, musician and producer, and - it has been said repeatedly - queer icon in waiting, Mikaela Mullaney Straus released her debut album of impeccable pop, Cheap Queen, in 2019. It followed on from the touching but moody '1950' and pop melodrama of 'Talia', the first of which received a flurry of critical interest, the latter of which carved out a space for itself as the ultimate in gay heartbreak songs. You can find out more here.
Kali Uchis: Colombian singer Kali Uchis first came to to public attention in 2015 with her EP Por Vida. Early track 'Know What I Want' was suggestive of later period Amy Winehouse, albeit with a sunnier, reggaetron aspect to the sound. Her overall sound mixes sixties soul, R&B and doo wop with jazz as well as modern electro and R&B. Her debut LP, Isolation, was released in 2018 and was very well received. Similarly well received was her recorded in lockdown EP, To Feel Alive, which she released in April 2020. You can find out more here.
Santigold: Singer, songwriter and record producer Santi White has released three albums of impeccable left of centre electro pop and one equally successful mixtape of electro pop and reggaetron, The Gold Fire Sessions, which was released in 2018. Initially, her sound incorporated aspects of indie rock and samples from punk and post punk artists such as Siouxsie and the Banshees (whose 'Red Light' was sampled on 'My Superman'). She is often compared to MIA, both for her vocal style and the more agitated prop glitchy electro end of her work. You can find out more here.
Christine and the Queens: Nantes singer, songwriter, producer Chris was already a popstar in France before she released her debut English album, Chaleur Humaine, in 2016. A slice of elegant baroque electro pop, both she and it quickly won hearts and minds. 2018's follow up, Chris, with it's Chic-esque single 'Girlfriend' consolidated her reputation as an art pop genius. Since Chris was released, she has headlined the occasional festival, and during lockdown she released a new EP of songs, La vita nuova. Even greater triumphs are expected in the future. You can find out more here.
Friday, 4 September 2020
Lockdown reads: Great journalism and writing you might have missed, part 9 (August 2020)
Hello and welcome to part nine of my seemingly infinite monthly round ups of interesting and thought provoking journalism I've read under lockdown. The question of whether we are or aren't still under lockdown in the UK is one of many that will crop up this month, along with the wider issue of Covid (always). There's also a lot of music based content, which might (or, then again, might not...) lighten the load a bit.
Despite the events of last week, I've not actually got any analysis of anti-racism and Black Lives Matter this month. Not because I've stopped caring, more because - from a journalism perspective at least - something like a ripple effect seems to be happening.
From reporting on individual tragedies, a lot of coverage of the issue has spread out, like a ripple in a pool of water, to wider areas of discussion. This is not just a big debate that won't go away anytime soon, it's also become a series of specific discourses within specific professions and areas of life. Many of which I've highlighted with stories published over the past couple of months, many of which I will no doubt link to in the months to come.
There has been some discussion this month about Stan culture, a particularly hardcore sub group of fan culture, and the impact it's having on the ability to have free and frank discussions about artists work within the music press. Junkee this month argued the case for anonymous music reviews, particularly when reviewing artists with a massive stan culture around them. The writer Hannah Ewens was interviewed by Bitch about her book Fangirls, which is due to be published in the US soon (it was published in the UK last year), and she also talked about stan culture and how it differs from fan culture.
Also in music and subculture news, Waging Non Violence published an optimistic piece on how to be punk in a pandemic. There's also some lovely nostalgic musings on seventies punk in this piece for The Courier. Less lovely is the news that female British artists are massively underrepresented on UK radio. Vice are also maintaining that there's no such thing as independent music in an age of Coronavirus.
Covid wise, there has been some interesting news stories this month. Local lockdowns kicked in in Greater Manchester, parts of Lancashire and parts of Yorkshire at the end of last month, and just over a week later the Manchester Evening News revealed that local contact tracers in Blackburn were having far more success contact tracing people who'd been exposed to Covid than the national scheme had. The threat of micro lockdowns within lockdown also had the MEN pondering the ramifications for local politics. In a sea of misinformation and fake news, The New Scientist provided a calm and dispassionate analysis of Russia's claims to have found a coronavirus vaccine. They also assessed Sweden's Covid strategy. You can read their Coronavirus essential guide here. As the return to school beckons for students across England, Ireland and Wales, Full Fact did a report on Covid transmission risks in schools.
One of the biggest UK stories this month was the exams fiasco, with thousands of students seeing their results downgraded by a computer algorithm created by OFQUAL at the request of a UK government eager to prevent grade inflation. The Overtake produced a heartfelt response to the tragedy of thousands of students from deprived backgrounds seeing their predicted grades downgraded. Whereas the New Statesman concentrated on those ultimately responsible.
Another big story to rear its head this month was immigration, with an unwelcome return to the Brexit wars and deeply unpleasant newspaper headlines. In the midst of all the heat and anger, Full Fact took the time to answer the question 'Do refugees have to stay in the first safe country they reach?' And the answer, from a legal perspective, is No. In other news, there's a man travelling across Europe in order to write the message 'Stop Brexit' with a GPS tracker.
The New Scientist revealed that a number of cases of fatal cardiac arrests in the US could be masking opioid deaths. They also summarised studies that suggest mindfulness meditation can make depression and anxiety worse.
The i's housing reporter, Vicky Spratt, wrote a very though provoking piece about the increasing trend for converting shipping containers into housing, and what it's like to actually live in one.
Vice, meanwhile, were one of the first to report on the disputed election in Belarus, and specifically on the claim that the internet in the country was tampered with during the vote.
Shani Silver accurately satirises the 'Morning routine', Sarah Ditum swears off journalism as a career, and we end this months series of lockdown reads with a juicy deep dive into the original fake news network.
Wash your hands now.
Photo one by Rosie Kerr on Unsplash
Thursday, 3 September 2020
Florence + the Machine - Shake it Out (Live at GMA - Summer Concert Seri...
You can watch many of the songs from this GMA 2018 gig in single song segments on YouTube, but it's not available to watch in full. Similarly, there doesn't seem to be any professionally filmed or good quality full live concert sets from the High As Hope tour of 2018 and 2019 to watch, at least not on YouTube. You can find Florence's set from The Biggest Weekend in Swansea in 2018 on iplayer though.
With all of this in mind, the full live set I've chosen for you today is a really good NPR Tiny Desk set, with a stripped down Machine of Florence, Rob, Hazel and Tom, which you can watch here. It's a lovely set. You can also watch Florence's lockdown at home performance of 'Light of Love', released to raise funds for The Intensive Care Society, here.
Maggie Rogers - Light On (La Blogothèque – Live in Paris)
This live take on 'Light On' is filmed in a very atmospheric way, and is a very compelling watch. By pure coincidence, I now realise that I've gone for the same song that Maggie performed with Florence Welch at her Brixton Academy show in 2019. There was a video of this on YouTube, but it's since been taken down. You can watch Maggie's full live session for The Bridge 909 in Studio here.
Wednesday, 2 September 2020
Kelsey Lu x Red Bull - Foreign Car (Live)
I did think at first that this video had been filmed for Red Bull during US lockdown, but now I've watched it again I realise there is an audience there, you just can't really see them, so it must have snuck in just before US lockdown. It's a seriously good watch and there is at least one other clip from the same session up on YouTube. I haven't been able to find a good quality recording of one of Kelsey Lu's full live set's from 2019 or 2018, but I did manage to find her 2017 set for Boiler Room Rykjavik , which is worth a watch. You can watch it here.
Self Esteem - Girl Crush (Glastonbury 2019)
I was struggling to find any full set live clips of Self Esteem, but this Glastonbury performance of 'Girl Crush' is excellent. Similarly, this combined session track/interview package for BBC Introducing from late 2019 is a good watch.
Tuesday, 1 September 2020
Greentea Peng - Mr. Sun (miss da sun) / Sun Is Shining (6 Music Festival...
The BBC 6Music Festival in Camden, London, was one of the very few UK festivals to sneak in just before the UK lockdown began on 23rd March. Which is why we have this excellent clip of Greentea Peng. You can watch her full live set for Boiler Room Festival late last year here.
Arlo Parks - Black Dog (The Glastonbury Experience 2020)
This is Arlo Parks performing at an empty Glastonbury during lockdown as part of the BBC's Glastonbury Experience. It is to be expected that she'll be playing tons of festivals next summer if everything goes well. You can watch her full live stream from home during lockdown here.
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