Cougar Microbes

For this year’s Bestival we decided to take a different approach by sending in our very own young festival rookie to soak up the atmosphere. Here is her account:

As a festival virgin and an indie music newbie, Bestival was a much needed and appreciated experience. Dotted over the net are paragraphs of negativity directed to the weekend of new age fun with a vintage feel; sure it was a reunion of East London trend setters and what with the fantasy theme it soon unravelled into a gathering of narco-unicorns, high flying fairies and dehydrated Avatars, but there was so much more going on that critics seem to forget.

To start I could mention the line up,; all I can say is that The XX with their melodramatic faces and basic guitar strums were loved passionately and practically had their own venue; a music composition which was in fact a dark room with three screens, each focusing on one of the three artists and their particular instrument in the foreground.

Dizzee Rascal, whose music I never quite appreciated, turned the tables with an hour-long energy wave and a Nirvana tribute. Hurts who cracked us up with their synthpop break-up recovery lyrics – “I don’t want your happiness. I don’t need your happiness. So never show me happiness. I don’t want your happiness”. The Prodigy whose crowd instigation and angry lyrics were a natural firestarter, created walls of death that gave me bruises, plastic bottles hit my head and there was no need to jump around for the turbulence was doing it for me. Honestly, I’m more for unicorns than devils so I much preferred Eliza Doolittle’s ‘Skinny Genes’. Apparently she camped for the weekend with us plebs without bodyguards (somehow this created a buzz).

Not to mention the major array of DJs and MCs (who I’m more acquainted with) such as the likes of Mylo (m*therf***ers gonna drop da preshaah), Rob da Bank (erstwhile curator of Bestival) and Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip (…just a band…just a band…)

On another note, the venue was huge and set in a pretty country park with cows grazing in adjacent fields and all sorts of arenas; from the Bollywood Tent (basically Fabric’s drum ‘n’ bass night), a solar powered bandstand and bicycle powered phone charging hut, Arcadia – an outdoor spider robot club with special effects and pyrotechtechnic treats, a suspended castle in the sky that blew up in flames with a background of fireworks on Sunday night and a Cabaret Tent which housed some hilarious comedy acts (my favourite being Frisky and Mannish’s musical comedy (they’ll be in London’s Bloomsbury Theatre in December!)

On the costume front: no one does it better (or takes it more seriously) than the Brits; the best being the big groups coming as different characters such as the huge body parts. Naturally Alice in Wonderlands and associates were plentiful, as were Dorothies and Where’s Wallies, Avatar Smurfs and Oompa loompa fairies but there were some odd ones too; I spotted a Jesus and some Roman legionaries holding his cross, a handful of Bucket O Soldiers, a toilet, the Incredibles family (kids included)… and 46,000 other bizarre creations.

I thought it was fun, except the porter loos, and even waking up to a shrieking: “There’s a mouse nest in my tent… eww mouse babies” added to the hoopla of the camping experience. All in all Bestival’s boutique success was fun and I might have learnt a little something about the festival culture and music madness!

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Post by the rickrolling Marianovella

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TRACKS:

The XX – Crystalised (Popular Damage Assimilation Remix)

The Hood Internet – Girls Just Wanna Fix Up (Cyndi Lauper vs. Dizzee Rascal)

The Prodigy – Out Of Space

Following on from the earlier post about Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip I was recently sent the above Intruder.tv interview. It’s good to hear the duo discuss the tour, album and latest single, plus you’ll get a few laughs.

Additionally, here is a remix of ‘Great Britain‘ (which we featured during the British elections) by London producer and DJ Run Riot. He’s given the track a mean streak.

TRACKS:

Having released their second album ‘Logic Of Chance‘ back in March Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip are going through a super productive year.

Following a succession of wicked videos and countless festival appearances the duo have been nominated for the Judges Choice ‘Artist of the Year’ award at this years Digital Music Awards.

True to form the their curiously titled next single ‘Cauliflower‘, featuring Virginia‘s Finest KiD A, weaves a tale of musical obsession and repeat exposure to your favourite songs. The single is due mid October just in time for the band to kick off on what will be their biggest UK shows to date.

Make sure you catch a show near you.

TRACKS:

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip have been getting much Cougar love recently. Whether they are kicking ass at The Camden Crawl, making a statement on the British general elections or penning a poetry books the output is always of the highest standard.

New single ‘Sick Tonight‘, from the brilliant ‘The Logic of Chance’ album, is yet another socially conscious slice of hip-hop this time set over a bombastic drum and bass backdrop.

TRACKS:

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip – Sick Tonight

At this years Camden Crawl I was asked by Vitamin Water to capture the vibe of the festival and given a festival goodie bag. ‘I was tickled by the contents of the pack which included a tent light, a poncho, an inflatable guitar, some frisbees and plenty of drink bottles amongst the many goodies. Considering I was only heading a few minutes down the road from my house I was impressed with how many bases had been covered.

With this in mind I decided to take a drastically different approach to enjoying The Crawl. In the past I had been too preoccupied with catching as many bands as possible whilst getting stressed out by the disorganised schedule thus missing out on any notion of experiencing the atmosphere. This year I would take it easy dropping in on a few bands and generally checking out my favourite local boozers and their impromptu gigs.

This sounded like a great plan until I set out on Saturday afternoon to collect my passes. Following a week of warm weather a familiar drizzle and cold chill descended on Camden and I bloody wished I had remembered that Poncho. Despite it only being a short walk by the time I had arrived to Koko I was already soaked to the bone. Tickets in hand I resolved to head back home to dry up and grab a bite whilst waiting for the rain to die down. After a quick stop at The Camden Arms I finally set out again to catch a part of Shy Child‘s and New Young Pony Club‘s performances.

Having seen Shy Child a few years back as main support at Shepherds Bush Empire I recalled that, despite playing to an empty room, the duo were entirely likeable. A few years on and they are touring in support of their second release ‘Liquid Love‘. I definitely liked the progression they’ve demonstrated with songs taking on a hard to place dreaminess that is far more “pop“, in the best possible sense of the word, than their previous output. It’s hard to believe there are just two members making this grand sound and tonight tracks from their two albums blend to great effect.

New Young Pony Club are a band that have benefitted from  an incredible wave of hype upon their debut. The followup up ‘The Optimist‘ is probably a more consistent effort brimming with confidence, just look at the album title. Singer Tahita Bumer is bursting with personality and constantly appears to have a bee in her bonnet which makes for interesting viewing; it doesn’t matter because the new material is captivating. Predictably the crowd goes mental for ‘Ice Cream‘ but the band set the bar high by playing so many songs from the new release.

On Sunday I fared considerably better seeing a few artists and generally enjoying the vibe with some good friends. Firstly I caught Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip in the large outdoor stage on Hawley Crescent. Despite the adverse weather conditions Pip had the crowd eating from his hands before he even said a word. Like some sort of political rally from a parallel universe everybody leaves pleased. Not too far away Norway‘s brilliant Casiokids gave another top performance at the Jazz Cafe later on. leading the crowd with their infectious sound there is an abundance of spontaneous dancing and crazy grins in the room. The band had energy to sell and on the live stage this translates brilliantly.

I also catch a part of Dev Hynes, AKA Lightspeed Champion‘s set at the Electric Ballroom and am positively thrilled. Despite having played ‘Falling Off Lavender Bridge‘ hundreds of times when it was released, I had almost forgotten how good these tracks sound. I still need to take in the new songs but generally enjoyed his energy and delivery. If there is any justice Lightspeed Champion should go supernova soon.

In between visits to the Lock Tavern and The Pembroke Castle I still managed to catch We Are Scientists close the night. Though I have enjoyed the band over the years if I am to be honest I have not really delved much into their material since the release of 2005′s ‘With Love And Squalor‘.

To the outsider their performance can sometimes feel like an in joke for them and their fans. The band speak a crazy slang when talking between themselves and the fans literally go ballistic for each and ever track. However, looking at the ensemble of odd balls in the room, both in the audience and on stage, it is impossible not to crack a smile.

This year’s Camden Crawl proved to be more enjoyable than past editions for me largely because I decided to take it easy only catching a few selected artists and a handful of street performances whilst soaking the atmosphere. Despite the weather doing its best to sabotage the weekend Camden and its multiple venues embraced the music. Thanks to Vitamin Water for sending me along.

TRACKS:

Shy Child – Disconnected (Ocelot Remix)

New Young Pony Club – Chaos

Casiokids – Toggens Hule

We Are Scientists – Nobody Moves, Nobody Gets Hurt

Whilst the leaders of the major political parties try to romance each other into some sort of deal in the next few of days it seems the real losers in this general election have been the Great British public.

To combat your disillusionment Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip have timed the release of new single ‘Great Britain’ to perfection.

TRACKS:

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip – Great Britain (Hyetal Remix)

Seemingly not content with storming the hip-hop charts with his ‘The Logic Of Chance’ album Scroobius Pip released a book titled Poetry in (E)motion just last month. The book consists of fan artwork set to Pip‘s lyrics and is a great companion to the music whilst managing to stand on its own merits as a visual feast.

I’ve been taking the book with me on my tube journey’s for the past few weeks and the comic strips, graphics designs and inventive art pieces have literally brightened my day. After all, who wouldn’t want to see the lyrics to the fantastic ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill‘ in full graphic delight.

The book is available from Titan Books as well as all good online and offline bookstores.

TRACKS:

Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip – Get Better