EarPIPE

EarPipe’s Field Day Recommendations

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 | Event Preview | 2 Comments

The weekend is nearly here! And that means that our Saturday day time is going to be filled with the joys of Field Day. We’ll be splating rats and sack racing at the village fete and will no doubt be getting slightly inebriated in a field, well Victoria Park to be precise. But amongst all that there is actually some acts and djs to catch. So here’s who EarPipe will be checking out this Saturday.

James Holden

The Border Community head honcho and quirker electronic music extraordinaire is set to play the Bugged Out stage. James isn’t your straight forward techno and electronic dance music DJ. His extensive repertoire of music crosses all boundaries and genres so you’re never really too sure where he’s going to take you. If you’ve heard his At The Controls compilation or album The Idiots Are Winning then you will know what I’m on about. Do not miss this man!

Richie Hawtin

As ever Richie is still a firm favourite of ours at EarPipe. His Contakt set at Sonar was pretty good fun, but this Saturday it will be unadulterated, pure Hawtin. No cube gimmicks, no collaborative dj set antics. Just straight up Hawtin and techno. Well there is the addition of Ali Demirel and his meta-control visual display. Not sure what that means, but if it was the stuff that was on the screens at Sonar then I’m all for that.

The Field

Again another favourite from Sonar, we’ll be happy to catch this man again on the main stage. His warped electronic soundscapes will be a great accompaniment to the sunshine we’re keeping fingers crossed for.

Benga

Fancy taking it a bit urban? Benga is sure to entertain. This man can do no wrong on the dubstep scene at the moment. Everything he releases is touching to gold and his DJ skills are supposed to be a bit alright like. You may know him for that track Night, you know the one that goes bo bo bo bo boooooooooooooo.

Foals

This five piece indie dance amalgamation from Oxford is set to play the main stage. They were there last year as support but this year they come back to headline. Their high paced tracks with hints of punk and urm maybe a bit of funk will no doubt get the Shoreditch fashionistas revelling around.

Modeselektor

The duo from Berlin will be found on the Bugged Out stage. If you heard their Boogybytes CD from last year you will know these guys will cause a stir. House, techno, electronic dance music, the lot. They even have Thom Yorke as a fan.

Simian Mobile Disco

We all know who these boys are. They want to be our friends with those French Justice lot. They did and now we love them all. Their live show is something to be seen with the old skool synths and their taste for electronic music is impeccable. And if their forthcoming Fabric CD is anything to go by then be sure to strap on your air punching arm.

Mystery Jets

The Mystery Jets have a nostalgic kind of eighties feel about them. Their sound is slightly retro with the synths and drums. They combine it with that UK indie sound and the results are colourful. Erol Alkan has produced these guys and with once a father son lineup they’re sure to be interesting.

Crookers

Riding on the crest of fidget house, this Italian duo have been invading speakers with their blend of ghetto tech sounds with hip hop vocals on switch style fidgety beats. Plain fun bounce around beats to where those bright coloured plastic sunglasses with the struts across where the lens should be.

Tags: Benga, Crookers, Field Day, Foals, James Holden, Modselektor, Mystery Jets, Richie Hawtin, Simian Mobile Disco, The Field, Victoria Park

Massive Attack @ Meltdown Festival & Radiohead @ Victoria Park

Thursday, June 26th, 2008 | Event Reviews | No Comments

The last couple of weeks at EarPipe have been manic in a musical sense. Firstly we were at Sonar festival the weekend just gone and we will be bringing you the full report soon. But we also managed to catch two gigs from two Goliaths in music. The first was Massive Attack at their opening gig for the Meltdown festival at the Southbank Centre, London. Being the curators for this year’s festival, they planned to do two live shows at the opening and closing whilst packing out the time inbetween with performances, showcases, talks and the odd silent disco.

The Royal Festival Hall was a spectacular venue to hold the band. Usually reserved for orchestras and the ballet, Massive Attack had transformed the stage into a cityscape of lights and equipment resulting in one of the most impressive and carefully thought out light shows for a gig I have ever seen. Their light installation added and enhanced the mood of Massive Attack’s dark trip hop stylings creating such an audio visual experience. The LED screen combined with the mood lighting really brought enhanced their music whilst also conveying messages adding a political stance to the gig. As for the music, the band moved through all four albums and even showcased tracks from a forthcoming album. Highlights for me have to be the beautiful Teardrop, the winding, dark Angel and of course the euphoric Unfinished Sympathy, which had the entire auditorium up on their feet. If you’re going to Glastonbury, make sure you catch them.

The other gig which EarPipe managed to catch was Radiohead’s final London gig of two on their In Rainbows Worldwide tour. Set in the heart of Hackney’s Victoria Park, Radiohead had a sort of mini festival set up. Large stage, big crowd and the great outdoors. The weather was clear and sunny. Aeroplanes floated over as they approached London City Airport. Truly a great local venue. Whilst their light show was pretty it was not a patch on Massive Attack. On the plus side it was all eco friendly using only the bare essentials. But for Radiohead that’s beside the point. Everyone was here to hear their new album and to see what tracks from the past they may dig up.

In Rainbows sounded phenomenal on the sound system. Crystal clear as the few thousand strong crowd floated away to Nude and Videotape. Bodysnatchers and 15 Step injected a great energy into the set whilst House of Cards ushered the sun into the horizon. After hearing live I think I can safely say that In Rainbows is their best work since OK Computer. Maybe the freedom from the shackles of big record labels allowed the band be true to themselves to create shear quality music. That said their back catalogue is by no means meant to be ignored.

A lot of Radiohead fans attend their gigs to play the “will they play their big hits” lottery. Usually they’ll drop one or two from the two albums which brought them so much popularity. But with this being their last gig in London at such an different venue, fully dedicated to the band and a crowd to follow too. Surely something special should happen….. and by god it did. Merely a couple tracks in from the new album and they slide into Lucky. The crowd go wild, I shed a small tear. Couple more tracks later National Anthem reverberates around the park and is shortly followed by No Surprises, launching the crowd into karaoke mode.

Lucky and No Surprises was special. Two of my favourite tracks from OK Computer. I had had my fill of Radiohead nostalgia, but they take it further. Harking back to the second album, My Iron Lungs and title track The Bends bring back the raw feel of their early days and have the old skool and now middle aged fans thinking is the early 90s all over again. If that weren’t enough the encore is finished by KARMA POLICE! Again the crowd sing in unison from start to finish with Thom Yorke’s angel like voice. The stand out moment comes as track finishes but Thom Yorke continues solo on his acoustic through another round of the chorus and the entire park complete the vocals. What a way to end the performance. But it wasn’t left there. The band return yet again to perform the second encore and finally finish with Paranoid Android!

What a perfect set, perfect venue, truly AMAZING, what a band. Radiohead we salute you.

Tags: Massive Attack, Meltdown Festival, Radiohead, Victoria Park