Hollie Cook - Ghostly Fading (The Biggest Weekend)

You can watch several full live sets by Hollie over on YouTube, but the one I've chosen for you today is her 2018 set from the Lion Stage at Rototom Sunsplash, a huge European Reggae Festival that takes place in Spain every year.

Fantasy Festival number 10: The lineup

Jessica Winter: Brixton based artist Jessica Winter began her career in 2018 with a Halloween mixtape made with a laptop, piano and microphone. Her bedroom music is eclectic and varied, and she's been prolific since 2019. You can find out more here.

Mentrix: Iranian artist Samar Rad emigrated to Europe in the 1990s with her parents, returning to Iran as a young adult. She now lives in Berlin. Her music reflects both her Sufi heritage and Berlin's history of hard industrial music, but there's space and tension amidst the unyielding percussion. You can find out more here.

Automatic: Los Angeles band Automatic (not to be confused with Welsh band The Automatic or 1990s Mancunian guitar boys Automatic) make flawlessly executed, effortlessly cool post punk flavoured synth pop. You can find out more about them here.

Speech Debelle: Writer, activist, podcaster and MC, North Londoner Speech Debelle has been incredibly busy since she featured in 2017's Fantasy Festival lineup. While she's clearly looking to diversify her career, her creativity is not in doubt. You can find out more here.

Hollie Cook: Baby Slit, creator of 'jungle pop', and a key innovator within modern day lovers rock, Hollie Cook is three albums into a career that, with each album, has seen a rise in awareness and acknowledgement of her work. You can find out more here.

Kate Tempest: Poet, playwright, activist, mc and sage. Kate Tempest is no stranger to festival stages. You can find out more here.

Grimes: Five albums into an increasingly eclectic and innovative career, Grimes released her most recent album earlier this year. She is known for her intricate electro soundscapes, which incorporate influences right across the musical gamut, literally everything from classical music to grime. You can find out more here.

Billie Eilish: Teenage dark pop star Billie Eilish has been smashing records across continents these past twelve months. Getting her first UK number one single with the James Bond theme 'No Time To Die' and, in the process, becoming the youngest person to have a UK number one ever, being just one example. She should have been doing a UK arena tour this summer and it would be excellent to see her headline a festival. You can find out more here.

Here to be Heard: The Story of The Slits, HOME, Manchester, Saturday 21st April

This is shaping up to be a good year for women and punk, what with the Poly Styrene film and Gina Birch and Helen Reddington's She Punks.

I heard, anecdotally, that last nights showing of the film at HOME was originally scheduled for Cinema 2, not Cinema 1, but had evidently been moved due to the level of interest in the film. The large queue for drinks in the bar and, especially, to get into Cinema 1 would attest to this.

Here to be Heard, which is directed by William Badgley, seeks to tell the story of the Slits from beginning to end, interviewing not just the classic lineup of Ari Up, Tessa Pollitt, Viv Albertine and Palmolive, but early band members Kate Korus (who later joined the Mo-dettes) and Suzy Gutsy. We also travel beyond the classic debut album Cut (Island, 1979), with a lengthy exploration of Return of the Giant Slits (CBS, 1981) and the band's new lineup, including the teenage Neneh Cherry, and new sounds, including world music and free jazz as well as the more established 'punky reggae' sound. The 2005-2010 lineup was also musically experimental, and included dancehall elements and electronica.

Along the way the film becomes not just the story of the Slits, but a hymn to Ari Up, who died in 2010. She had intended to make her own film about the Slits, and Badgley's film is in essence the completion of that unfinished project.

This is not the first time that the Slits story has been told; Zoe Howe's book Typical Girls? paved the way for a more in depth account in 2009, and Viv Albertine's memoir Clothes Clothes Clothes, Music Music Music, Boys Boys Boys in 2014 provided another perspective on the band. That said, it is definitely time  that the Slits were given the celluloid treatment.

Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to have been a lot of archive footage of the band from the 1970s meaning that Badgley is often working with material that has been seen before. That's not to say there isn't fresh material in there - there is - more that footage in general appears to be scarce. I don't think the footage that exists has been seen so much that this would necessarily matter, but it does make it harder to make that section of the film as fresh and exciting as it needs to be.

Some of the strongest parts of the film, for me, centred around the reasons for reforming the Slits in the 2000's and the interviews with the later lineup, including the always excellent Hollie Cook. There is a suggested sense that Ari Up wanted to complete unfinished business, or consolidate the bands legacy.

Throughout the film there is the continued presence of Tessa Pollitt, a taciturn, understated figure who not only holds the film together but who, aside from Ari Up, has been the constant presence throughout all the bands lineups. She represents a determination to see the bands importance acknowledged, to respect and document their role within and outside of punk, and their legacy.

The film appears to have had mixed reviews, and I was myself left with a vague feeling of dissatisfaction that I can't quite put my finger on. It is in no way a bad film, or even an indifferent film, it certainly didn't infuriate me in the way that a number of punk films have, and it does have a lot of interesting elements to it, but I still felt something was missing. I just can't put my finger on what exactly.

Hollie Cook "Stay Alive"

As playlisted on 6Music (and about time too...) I haven't heard the new album, Vessel of Love, yet but I'm loving this track.

Her music changes a little and grows ever more sophisticated and complex with each album so I'm really looking forward to listening to Vessel of Love when I get chance.

Hollie Cook "Angel Fire"

No new album from Cook as yet, but judging from this and from the earlier lovers rock take on 'Superstar', the signs are good.

Each Cook album has shown a more developed sound and greater sophistication and maturity and this single shows how far she's come since Twice.

Really looking forward to the new album.

Hollie Cook - "Milk & Honey" feat. Horseman - Live in Paris

This is a suitably joyous live version of 'Milk & Honey', in which Hollie and Horseman bounce energies and vocals off each other. You can watch Hollie's full 2014 live performance on KEXP online. 

Fantasy Festival #4: The Confidence Festival - Lineup

Katy Carr: Katy Carr is a London based singer/songwriter and multi instrumentalist with a sweet, powerful, commanding voice who draws on Polish history and traditional folk music to create music that can be both small and large in scale. Her album Polonia is out now and she will be appearing live at the Lexington in London on 1st October alongside Helen and The Horns and Honey Birch. 

Helen McCookerybook: Helen McCookerybook began her musical life as a punk bass player in Joby in the Hooligans in 1977, she was later a bass player in The Chefs and guitarist in Helen and The Horns. She returned to music making about ten years ago and has just released her latest solo album The Sea. She is currently touring and will be playing The Lexington on the 1st October as part of Helen and The Horns, alongside Katy Carr and Honey Birch. 

Pale Honey: Swedish duo Pale Honey are comprised of Tuva and Nelly. They have been a band for a couple of years now and have recently transitioned from noisy indie rock to a more glacial sound.  'Why do I always feel this way?' was a tense, epic and understated single, and their most recent release is a Pixies/Breeders esque rendition of ABBA's 'Lay All Your Love On Me'.

Basia Bulat: Basia Bulat is a Canadian singer/songwriter whose 2016 album Good Advice was one of Piccadilly Records picks of the year. I would liken her sound to a more indie sounding Adele, which sounds very odd given that Adele is signed to XL (an Indie Label). Basia is playing in Canada this summer.

Hollie Cook: Hollie Cook cut her musical teeth as a keyboard player in the final lineup of The Slits. She has since released two flawless albums of modern day lovers rock. Twice, the most recent of the two, was released in 2014.

Shonen Knife: Shonen Knife, the garage punk band from Osaka, have been around since the early 1990s. Feted by Kurt Cobain, the band have gone through a number of lineup changes but remain resolutely joyously the same.

MIA: The poster girl for modern day agit prop, rapper and provocateur MIA grew up in Sri Lanka and West London. Her unique take on agit prop has inspired a host of other artists, including Santigold and Noga Erez. Her most recent album, A.I.M is out now and she is currently touring. She will be playing the Boomtown Festival on the 13th August.

Christine And The Queens: Heloise Le Tissier, aka Christine and The Queens, created a splash in the UK in 2016 with her single 'Tilted', taken from her first English language album, Chaleur Humaine. A pop star in her native France, Le Tissier's androgynous image and proclaimed pansexuality marked her out as a breath of fresh air and the dramatic and sophisticated electro pop of Chaleur Humaine marked it as a classic.

End Of Year Round Up

The famed Levenshulme murals

Welcome to my 2014 music round up!

Due to laptop problems, it very nearly didn't happen. But, where there's a will there's a way, as they say, and although the year is almost over I was still hellbent on sharing my favourite songs of the year with you.

Best Single: Peggy Sue - Idle

Coupled with a video largely comprised of vintage burlesque clips, this deceptively simple start of year release by Peggy Sue captured a sense of restlessness that felt very 2014, but at the same time also seemed timeless. A taster from their Choir of echoes album, 'Idle' should last and last.

In a particularly strong year for singles, it's inevitable that there were quite a few Runners up:

Salt Ashes - Somebody

Coming straight out of nowhere, 'Somebody' and its flipside 'Little Dove' made for a particularly stylish calling card. Whereas 'Little Dove' was brooding minimalist electro, 'Somebody' combines the best elements of recent years Swedish electro pop with the more shimmering, hypnotic aspects of handbag house, meaning that if you missed dancing to this in 2014, you missed a stunning pop moment.

Lose the ropes please though.

Ex Hex - Don't wanna lose


Technically a contender for 2015, as it's only just out as a single, this slice of reverb heavy punk attitude served time earlier this year as an excellent album teaser for the acclaimed Rips album. New York punk swagger, reverb'd guitars and lots of rock'n'roll attitude.

Andrea Balency - You've never been alone

Almost too vocally slight, this slice of R&B tinged pop shows slightly more muscle than her other more ethereal wanderings, and features a catchy refrain which is coupled with post FKA Twigs inspired musical experimentation. It works well, and once it's in your head, it's there to stay.

Best Album: Hollie Cook - Twice

A classic, and very classy, album of lovers rock from Cook. Twice followed a very strong debut album but manages to both complement and surpass it. You can read my full review of the album here.

Runners up: 

La Roux -  Trouble in Paradise

Whereas La Roux's debut saw Elly Jackson seeking inspiration in early '80s electro pop and, it was suspected, everything from Nightrider and Miami Vice to the Blitz club, Trouble in Paradise seeks its inspiration from the slower, more funk infused, rhythmically complex sounds of Grace Jones and the Tom Tom Club. The result is a series of slick, sophisticated pop songs in a mid '80s vein which when combined with Jackson's trademark sharply observational lyrics make for a pop classic.

Owlle - France

Released late in the year, Owlle's debut will probably have missed out on the majority of end of year listings but this subtle and sophisticated album of classy electro pop deserves to be listened to. It occasionally flirts with full on pop ('Ticky Ticky') and R&B ('Creed'), but the moody 'Fog' reveals Owlle as one to watch in the coming year, and France is a strong set of songs that should endure.

Ex Hex - Rips

An audience primed by Wild Flag, Corin Tucker's solo work and the reformation of Sleater-Kinney will have been more than ready to devour this latest project from Helium's Mary Timony. Newcomers will love Rips for what it is: Full on New York punk rawk in a late '70s vein. You can read my full review of the album here. 

Best came to it late album: Jessie Ware - Devotion

Stylish left of centre soul stylings from a singer/songwriter who seems to be going from strength to strength. "If you're never gonna move" is a lovely slice of dancefloor friendly pop, and 'Running' a fantastic brooding soul anthem. Well worth re-discovering.

If you'd like to listen to more of my tracks of 2014, you can also listen to my Spotify playlist.

Twice Is Nice

Hollie Cook began her musical career as the teenage keyboardist in the final incarnation of legendary punk y reggae band The Slits. While this isn’t always obvious in her solo career, what is clear is that Cook shares with the late Ari Up a love of reggae and dancehall.

A sophisticated and assured piece of work, Cook’s second album Twice manages to weave a complex combination of instrumentation around a central sound and mood that is both vivid and highly atmospheric. While her debut album was almost girl next door London lovers rock, Twice is dancehall as art form and lovers rock as filmic soundtrack.

Cook’s debut self titled album was dedicated to the Slits frontwoman, and Twice opens with ‘Ari Up’, an atmospheric slice of ska which begins as a hymn like eulogy with its proclamation ‘Come, let her fire blaze on’. Of all the tributes written to Ari Up, this salute from protégée to mentor is surely the sweetest.

The slow tracks such as ‘99’, the single ‘Looking for real love’ and album teaser ‘Twice’ mix strings with loping bass, brooding tension and sweetly sad vocals, with ‘99’ and ‘Looking for real love’ reflecting a shift in mood from earlier post break up song ‘That Very Night’.  

By contrast, ‘Desdemona’, ‘Tiger Balm’ and ‘Superfast’ are playful ska infused high quality pop songs whereas ‘Win or Lose’ features harmonised layered vocals over a loping bass line. It manages to be spacey and brooding while remaining sparkling.

Of the up tempo pieces, ‘Postman’ is a particularly good track. It begins enigmatically with a disembodied voice saying, soothingly, ‘You are awakened by sun in the distance’ against a delicate riffle of steel drums and strings. The use of steel drums alongside the ska bass and strings makes this it very danceable to, not to mention a good choice for a future single. It is crowned in its perfection by a particularly delightful drum roll at the end.

But the standout track has to be the title song, ‘Twice’.  A gorgeous slow burner, the delicately mournful strings and slow brooding groove combine with the slow, seductive vocals to build an atmosphere of evening sultry heat. ‘I try everything once,’ purrs Cook, ‘twice if I like it.’

This is a grower that rewards with repeated listens, and builds on the impressive experimentation established by the spacey, dubby ‘Sugar Water’ on Cook’s debut album.  ‘Twice’ is perhaps the most experimental and textured piece on the album and, while it is complex in structure; it still feels spacious rather than crowded by orchestral swirls and occasional guitar fuzz.

Sophisticated and atmospheric, with a central cohesion and mood, Twice is an accomplished album by an artist still testing her wings in many ways. Having yielded at least two possible contenders for song of the year, the album is in a strong position for album of the year.

Twice is out now on Mr Bongo.

2013 End of year roundup

I haven’t written an end of year roundup since I stopped writing my fanzine, Aggamengmong Moggie, in 1999.

It stands to reason that most of the bands and singers featured in this years roundup were possibly still in primary school in 1999.

Oh well, the journalism side of my life hasn't led me into areas where doing a roundup is likely so this is purely self indulgent and entirely reflects my own view of what was good music this year. I've also done a playlist on Spotify, which you can hear here.

Best single: Feathers – Land of the innocent (Nyx)

Coming out very early in 2013, this hard blast of synth pop came with a stunning (albeit disquieting) video and seemed at once very post Grimes and very post Hunger Games, what with its distinctly dystopian lyrics. The following album, If All Now Here, seemed more sensual and playful in tone so it will be interesting to see what they do next.

Honourable mentions: Daughter – Human, PAWWS – Slow Love/Time to say goodbye, Nothankyou – Know Yourself/Oyster, She Makes War – Butterflies/Delete

Best EP: White Blush – White Blush EP (Mondo Tunes)

I first began corresponding with Carol Rhyu (aka White Blush) back in 2012 a little while after writing a blog post on K Pop girls for The F-Word.  The first White Blush release was the single ‘Without You’, a haunting, pared down Julee Cruise esque take on the end of an affair.  The self titled EP followed in January 2013, and revealed a greater range to Rhyu’s work. Working within the area of pared down synth pop, what’s made her distinctive has been the eerie nature of her work. There is something almost ghostly and ethereal about it, and as the EP shows, she’s only just getting started. 

Honourable mention: Lorde – Tennis Court EP

Albums:

Emika – DVA (Ninja Tune)

Operatic, complex, mysterious ice cold electro. Restoring a little difficulty and awkwardness to a much explored area of music.

Emily Wells – Mama (Partisan)

Although Mama is Wells’ first release in the UK, released on the back of her contribution to the soundtrack to psychological thriller Stoker, she’s been happily ploughing her own furrow for some time in the US. She is a multi instrumentalist, with an organic approach to music, and a scattergun approach to musical style. Mama is a varied and vital album, which has met with much critical acclaim. Recent single ‘Mama’s gonna give you love’ is a sexy and hypnotic follow up to the Cat Power esque wooziness of ‘Passenger’, and deserves to do well.

Valerie June – Pushin’ against a stone (Sunday Best)

June supported the Rolling Stones at Hyde Park this summer, and when you hear the bluesy rock of her debut’s title track, it’s easy to see that she would be a good fit for the bill. Pushin’ against a stone covers a range of styles from blues through garage rock, roots, country and bluegrass while all the while sounding effortlessly cool. No mean feat.

Nancy Elizabeth – Dancing (The Leaf Label)

Minimalist Mancunian bedroom folk, suitably rain flecked and surprisingly pastoral. This is Nancy Elizabeth’s third album, and it’s taken on a similar role in my life this year to that occupied last year by another folk influenced resident of Manchester, Jesca Hoop, with her excellent album The House That Jack Built. That is, frequently listened to, much loved and rapidly becoming an integral part of my life.

      Laura Mvula – Sing to the moon (RCA) 

It would be too easy to write Laura Mvula off as MOR Radio 2 chanteuse fodder.  There is much more to the Birmingham songwriter and, indeed, to the Radio 2 playlist, than that. Singles ‘Green Garden’, ‘That’s Alright’ and ‘She’ gave a taste of the album but, of the three songs, it’s probably ‘She’ that is the most representative. Mvula loves orchestral strings, broadway flourishes and jazz and torch. The result is imaginative, innovative and refreshing. Rather more complex than the admittedly excellent singles would suggest.

Best came to it late album: 

Hollie Cook – Hollie Cook (Mr Bongo Records)

Daughter of Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook, Hollie was a teenager when she toured with the final incarnation of the Slits in the late zeros. Her debut solo album from 2010 reveals a keen interest in lovers rock and dub reggae alongside a keen pop sensibility that comes across as easy and effortless. Songs like the single ‘That Very Night’ appear to have arrived ready formed, and the more left field ‘Sugar Water (look at my face)’ explores post Slits dub in a highly effective manner.