Jesca Hoop - Red, White and Black (The Quay Sessions)

This is Jesca Hoop performing 'Red, White and Black' for The Quay Sessions at BBC Scotland. You can watch Jesca's full live session for Paste Studios NYC from November 2019 here.

Fantasy Festival number 13: The Lineup

Miss June: Auckland punk/grunge/indie band Miss June released their debut album, Bad Luck Party, in 2019. Coming hot on the heels of exemplary snarling punk singles such as 'Best Girl' and 'Enemies', it was keenly anticipated and did not disappoint. There's an interview here and the band's website is here.

Hatchie: Brisbane's Hariette Pilbeam, aka Hatchie, writes sun drenched happy-sad indie pop reminiscent of the early nineties and the Heavenly Sunday Social. Her debut album, Keepsake, was released last year. You can find out more here.

Press Club: Melbourne's Press Club have released two albums of ferocious grunge punk. Their first, Late Teens, featured the anthemic 'Suburbia' and second album Wasted Energy picked up where they left off. They are indefatigable. You can find out more over on their Bandcamp.

Skating Polly: Self styled creators of 'Ugly Pop', Skating Polly have been making music since their teenage years. They received early support from Exene Cervenka of X, also from Babes In Toyland, who took them on tour when singer/bassist Kelli Mayo was only 15. Since then they've collaborated with Louise Post and Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt and released five albums, most recently The Make It All Show in 2018. They are an unyieldingly energetic live act, and well worth seeing if you get the chance. You can find out more here.

Shonen Knife: The legendary Osaka band Shonen Knife have been making Ramones infused punk rock since the early 1980s. Kurt Cobain worshipped them, the 1990s music press was baffled by them, but they have consistently released album after album of frenetic Japanese punk and are a fantastic live act. You can find out more over on their Bandcamp.

Jane Weaver: Psych soundscapes from Liverpool via Manchester, Jane Weaver is a veteran of the 1990s Manchester indie scene who featured in the lineups of Kill Laura and Misty Dixon before going her own way as a solo artist. Her reputation has grown year on year, but she remains one of Manchester's best kept secrets. You can find out more here.

Jesca Hoop: From California to Manchester and back to the US again, Jesca Hoop is a restless soul, and this is reflected in the experimental nature of her music. Often folky, frequently electronic, always different. Her most recent album, Stonechild, was released in 2019. You can find out more over on her Bandcamp.

Courtney Barnett: Sydney's Courtney Barnett is two albums into a career that has seen her rapidly go from deadpan indie rock favourite to one of our most likeable rock stars. It's likely that she would have been on many festival bills this summer. You can find out more here.

Jesca Hoop - When I'm Asleep live the Castle Hotel, Manchester 25-07-13

This is Jesca Hoop performing the epic 'When I'm Asleep' live at the tiny, tiny Castle Hotel in Manchester in July 2013.

You can watch her full performance at the Old Granada Studios in Manchester in April 2017 in full online.

Fantasy Festival #3: The Modern Classics Festival - Lineup

Skating Polly: Skating Polly are a teenage sister duo from Oklahoma, comprised of the fantastically named Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse. They formed in 2009 and have been taken under the wing of  Babes In Toyland (who took Skating Polly on tour with them a couple of years back) and more recently Nina Gordon and Louise Post of Veruca Salt. They make visceral, sometimes angry, sometimes eerie and unsettling guitar driven punk rock in the grunge tradition.

Miya Folick: Miya Folick is a Los Angeles based singer/songwriter who comes from an acting background and makes slightly otherworldly indie rock. She has the kind of voice that can quite literally stop you in your tracks, and you can read an interview with her in Vogue, of all places, from last year. 

Emma Pollock: Legend of the Glasgow music scene, co-founder of Chemikal Underground records, and a former Delgado, Emma Pollock is flying solo these days. Her music is experimental and pared down, making use of strings as much as guitars, understated and stylish. Her current album, In Search of Harperfield, was nominated for the Scottish Album of the Year award in June.

Emmy The Great: Musician and culture writer, Anglo-Chinese Emmy The Great grew up in East Grinstead, and has been making music since 2006. I hesitate to call her a bedroom folk artist, because I've never felt it to be much of a compliment, but I do see her as someone who creates amazing sonic landscapes largely independently much like Nancy Elizabeth. Her album, Mahal Kita, is out now.

Jesca Hoop: Former Mormon, former nanny to Tom Waits' children, and persuaded to decamp from the US to distinctly unsunny Manchester by a certain Guy Garvey. It was always going to be an intriguing backstory, even before Jesca Hoop started to release records. Memories Are Now, her fourth album, was released last year. She is electrifying live, almost Shamanic. She played Latitude on 16th July, and continues to tour and play festivals throughout the summer.

Laura Mvula: I really loved Laura Mvula's debut album, Sing To The Moon, and, while I couldn't get into the follow up, The Dreaming Room, I was still shocked to hear that Sony had dropped her (by email!) earlier this year. Even if The Dreaming Room wasn't my cup of tea, musically, I respected it as a record because it was experimental and new, and was a strong departure from the debut album, which had it's roots in jazz, blues, and soul. Laura is touring at the moment, and into Autumn, so there are plenty of chances to see her live.

Martha Wainwright: Martha Wainwright has been releasing records from 2005 onwards, and her music has taken a number of differing musical twists and turns along the way, from the bloody minded folky j'accuse of 'Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole' to the slinky soul groove of the more recent 'Take The Reins'. She is currently on the Canadian and US leg of her tour.

PJ Harvey: Polly Jean Harvey has been making music since the early 1990s and, as you would expect, her music has evolved and changed considerably in the past (nearly) thirty years, as has her singing voice. In recent years she has been reinventing the protest song and the radio ballad, and has diversified into poetry and broadcasting. One thing Harvey has never lost is her integrity, and her approach to music in recent years has reflected that.

Jesca Hoop - Memories Are Now [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

It's taking me longer to warm to Memories Are Now the album than it did to Hunting My Dress and The House That Jack Built, but it's a grower.

The title track is understated genius. It creeps up on you slowly, and gradually overpowers your senses until you give in.