Cougar Microbes

 Fresh off the plane from a three month work stint in America I was asked by The Recommender if I wanted to cover Field Day in their absence. I figured that this would be a suitable reintroduction to London and it’s diverse music scene. Besides, half the people in the audience looked like they thought they were in Silver Lake or Williamsburg. Click here for the original post as featured on The Recommender.

I have not attended the Victoria Park festival since it’s second edition due to the issues that always pop up when Field Day is reviewed – namely inadequate sound, disorganisation, weather misfortunes and queues queues queues – but I was willing to give them another chance on the basis of their always diverse and exciting lineup.

I entered the arena just in time to catch Sun Ra Arkestra go about captivating connoisseurs and novices alike with their stylish space jazz musings. The Arkestra delivered a set comprising some of their classics and the crowd that steadily built below the stage was very appreciative. Lead by 87-year-old alto saxophonist Marshall Allen, this huge ensemble displayed an energy and a joie de vivre that could be envied by some of their younger contemporaries. When you consider the level of musicianship on show it was no wonder everyone on stage and below was beaming with smiles.

TRACKS:

Caribou feat Sun Ra Arkestra – Every Time She Turns Round It’s Her Birthday

I then rushed to the Village Mentality stage to catch Ariel Pink, dressed in his usual thrift store flair, leading his band through tracks off of his latest record ‘Before Today‘. Incredibly for an early afternoon performance the tent was already packed and I was forced to practice some creative evasive manoeuvres to position myself somewhere I could actually hear anything. Occasionally it all fell into place and the tracks sounded magical and timeless but too often he was let down by a poor mix. Nevertheless the crowd appeared appreciative nodding along to every track whilst simultaneously trying not to look too uncool. Hip retro music from West US Coast meets hip East London crowd – a perfect match.

TRACKS:

Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti – Round and Round

I headed over to catch Londoners Mount Kimbie on the Laneway Festival Stage. Their blend of minimalist dub, hip-hop and post-rock was ideally suited for this sort of festival and you could tell the duo fed off the crowd’s excitement moving their heads along energetically throughout their set. Likewise, as the sun’s rays conveniently warmed the entire tent It was easy for the audience to intentionally drift away into the chilled atmosphere being produced. If you were not ‘in the moment’ it may have sounded slightly monotonous. Still, this was a well developed set which served as the perfect reminder of the quality shown on their 2010 album ‘Crooks & Lovers‘.

TRACKS:
Mount Kimbie – Carbonated

 Next I took a leisurely stroll back to the Village Mentality Stage where Konono No.1 were a guaranteed bet to reawaken me. The Congolese outfit and their DIY instrumentation may appear to be the polar opposite to Mount Kimble, whom I’d just witnessed, but effectively possess similar entrancing qualities. Their music is built on a repetitious melodic patterns that ultimately carry you away and noticeably this crowd seemed to be moving in unison with the musicians on stage. This time around they performed as a six-piece and they were still in the form of their life throwing us a high adrenaline set and bearing testament to the diversity on offer at Field Day.

TRACKS:
Konono N°1 – Kule Kule

 After a break for refreshments I headed to the main stage to capture former Velvet Underground member John Cale. It was remarkable how easy it was to make my way to the front of the audience with the dwindling crowd looking positively disinterested or unaware that there was a living legend doing his thing on stage. In fairness Cale, and his admittedly talented band, didn’t do themselves any favours performing a set comprised largely of tracks from his yet to be released EP ‘Extra Playful‘. Perhaps a summer festival is not the ideal setting to debut your experimental post-rock album. Still, Cale can always rely on throwing in his possessed rendition of ‘Heartbreak Hotel‘ to raise eyebrows.

TRACKS:
John Cale – Andalucia

 Next on my list are recent Sub Pop addition Still Corners who got the Do You Come Here Often? Stage eating out of their hands. Vocalist Tessa Murray mesmerises over a backing of Morricone-esque melodies delivered by her partner in crime Greg Hughes. There is something both enchanting and delicate about the way they go about their trade and the audience sways in appreciation careful not to break this special atmosphere. There is very little in the way of talking in between tracks but when you are able to drop a song like ‘Endless Summer‘ and make it sound like it was written specifically for this day you’re doing something right.

After trying to breach the human wall that encapsulated the Bloggers Delight tent, and being thwarted at about four layers outside the tent, I listened to a little of Jamie XX‘s set from afar hearing a few tribute tracks to Gil Scott-Heron, with whom Jamie worked, dropped in respectfully.

TRACKS:

Still Corners – Endless Summer

Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx – ‘NY Is Killing Me’

 It was much easier to get into the Village Mentality stage where The Sea & Cake were doing their thing. Comprising of some of Chicago’s most versatile musicians including guitarists Sam Prekop and Archer Prewitt, bassist Eric Claridge as well as celebrated drummer John McEntire. Their live set is slightly looser than on record bringing some added warmth to their sophisticated rhythms and accurate guitar picking. This is post-rock with just a subtle hint of jazz but at no point does it sound overly self-indulgent.

TRACKS:

The Sea and Cake – Up on the North Shore

 Next up was the one standout act of the festival; Anna Calvi. An initially empty Village Mentality Stage is soon packed to the rafters as Anna hits the stage dressed sharply and with unmistakable red lipstick before introducing herself with a rousing guitar solo. Once she starts singing it is evident her vocal skills are no less impressive. Playing songs from her Mercury nominated eponymous album Anna and her band sounded tight and were oozing cool. There is an incredible contrast between Calvi’s timid demeanour in-between songs and her blues goddess persona every time she broke into song. This metamorphosis certainly renders her more captivating as the music appears to literally overcome her. It’s hard not to be excited by this.

TRACKS:
Anna Calvi – Desire (7″ single version)
 The last time that I saw The Horrors was a couple of years ago at Rock En Seine and to be completely honest they were laughable. I was looking forward to finding out how far the Southend band have come along in recent times and see if they could change my mind. It also seemed everyone else attending Field Day was also checking the band out because the Laneway Festival Stage was packed beyond description. From my distant vantage point I could spot that Faris Badwan and co were dressed sharply but more importantly were delivering a sharp set. It would have been useful to get a little closer to hear the melodic development the band has taken but at least this level of rabid excitement suggested this was one of the acts people were most excited about.

TRACKS
The Horrors – Still life (BBC session)
 This left me enough time head over to the Shacklewell Arms/Lock Tavern Stage for my last act of the night. I’m not sure whose idea it was to have the stage here pushed away into the corner of the tent but it resulted in punters having to slide into the tent sideways before attempting to try to cram themselves into position to see what is going on on the tiny stage.

Chad Valley started his set while stage hands are running around removing instruments and adding new ones (something they will do for much of the next 30 minutes). Seemingly oblivious to all the interferences going on around him he launched into his dreamy pop manning a little box of gadgets on top of his keyboard, using two microphones to deliver his vocals and channeling the likes of Neon Indian and Caribou.

In a live setting his repertoire becomes more striking with the small tent beginning to steam up with literally every body dancing along to his chilled out beats. He explained that he is rushing his set because he doesn’t have much time left but there is a feeling this audience would have had him play for much longer. He still has time to bring out a vocalist friend to duet over ‘Now That I’m Real (How Does It Feel?)‘ which despite some technical hiccups garners big cheers. Certainly it would be great to hear this performance in a decent setting, without all the distractions. As things stand the Oxford native is as close as London got this evening to a chilled beach in an exotic location.

TRACKS:
Now That I’m Real (How Does It Feel) ft. Rose Dagul

Overall Field Day is still marred with some of the issues that have plagued it from the beginning. There must be a way to avoid the tents packing up so fully for certain marquee acts and some better scheduled set times might help. However, this year’s event certainly lacked some of the drama that was so often lamented in the past. Despite an occasionally inadequate sound mix all the acts I saw performed valiantly making me want to see them again. Furthermore, it did not rain – for a change – guaranteeing the Hoxton mafia could wear their shades well into the night.

When I caught MGMT live last year I commented that “with their sound being so closely associated with the summer of 2008 it would be interesting to see where the band go next“.

The much awaited follow up to ‘Oracular Spectacular‘ is finally landing this week and it will be interesting to see if ‘Congratulations‘ sound will be as closely linked to its release year.

First single ‘Flash Delirium‘ sounds like it has taken some of the eccentricities displayed on the band’s previous effort without losing the pop sensibilities.

The band will be touring across the UK this September including two dates at Brixton Academy.

TRACKS:

MGMT – Flash Delirium

This weekend I sat down to plan my gig calendar for the next few months. I can’t believe its already February and already there are some classic events coming up. Before we even notice it will be festival season again.

Still, this year will have to deliver very highly considering the quality of shows I witnessed in 2009. My highlights were as follows:

Rock En Seine 2009

There is something primordial about watching a crowd of 19’000 go mental watching The Prodigy on the outskirts of Paris. The fact that the festival also offered up classic performances from Birdy Nam Nam, MGMT, Metric, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was an added bonus.

Neil Young/ Bruce Springsteen live at Hyde Park

As far as rock legends go you could do much worse than seeing either Shakey and The Boss live. The fact that I saw them play back to back at Hyde Park this summer was Epic. Both lived up to their legendary status and my I concluded my weekend as a very happy man.

Cursive live at Dingwalls

I have already said several times on these pages that Tim Kusher is a songwriting hero of mine. Back in July I finally saw him live fronting Cursive at the intimate Camden venue. The fact that they picked and mixed  discography and the relative closeness to the stage made this a night to remember and led Kenny to drunkenly label it “a religious experience for the atheist“.

Good luck with living up to that 2010

TRACKS:

The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die ? Liam H Re-amped Version

When Metric released ‘Fantasies’ back in April I was convinced it would easily make my top albums of 2009 list, an opinion that was fortified by a superb performance by the band at Rock En Seine.

Sadly, I did not get as much from the album as I would have liked to in the long run. Though I really enjoy it still ultimately it was pipped by some more consistent releases.

The band did supply numerous remixes throughout the year meaning there is always a good time and place to listen to Emily Haines‘ lush vocals

TRACKS:

Metric – Sick Muse (Adam Freeland Remix)

Metric – Help I’m Alive (Acoustic)

Any other year and the superbly titled ‘Manual For Successful Rioting’ would have easily been the runaway winner for Cougar Microbes album of the year. I witnessed Birdy Nam Nam delight a partizan Parisian home crowd when they closed the second day of Rock En Seine back in August and was blown away.

There was a risk that on record the French turntablist crew’s would effectively be competing for who could pull the biggest/maddest  technical trick at the possible expense of the dynamics and energy displayed live. Fortunately their January 2009 release exceeded even my expectations.

Crazy-B, DJ Pone, DJ Need, and Little Mike handpicked and moulded a unique set of samples through their original turntable set-up. The soaring dynamics they manage to produce draw parallels with a band lineup with each of the four DJ’s taking centre stage and dropping to the background accordingly. Over eleven tracks they deliver a masterclass in electro placing themselves easily in the same league as their better known friends Justice.

Grab that manual and learn it inside out because as soon as Birdy Nam Nam hit our shores you’d better be ready to riot.

TRACKS:

Birdy Nam Nam – The Parachute Ending

NEXT: #01 Cougar Microbes Top Albums of 2009: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below

PREVIOUS: #03 Cougar Microbes Top Albums of 2009: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz

The one thing that can be said about 2009 is that I have devoured a ton of live music in all sorts of venues from both emerging and established acts. When my friend announced he had a spare ticket to see Green Day I figured there were far worse things I could be doing with my Saturday night.

I have already caught the band live on a few occasions in the past; notably at one of my first ever gigs on the ‘Dookie‘ tour (where the band even aired the Tre Cool sang bonus track ‘I Was Alone‘). At the time the band’s attitude and energy left a big mark on my impressionable young mind.

After witnessing the ‘Nimrod‘ tour of 1997 I had to wait a few more years before seeing them once more, this time at their massive Milton Keynes shows in 2005 (which became available soon after via the Bullet in a Bible CD and DVD release). The metamorphosis the band had gone through from bratty (albeit enjoyable) upstarts to established rock royalty was remarkable.

The sensational success of ‘American Idiot‘ (its global sales are very close to those of ‘Dookie’ which, considering the advent of downloads  and internet streaming, is a pretty amazing achievement) has allowed Green Day to play to a whole new generation of fans and in ‘Jesus Of Suburbia‘ and ‘Holiday‘ produced tracks as good as anything that has come before.

But back to 2009…. Having not seen a gig at the O2 Arena since its hasty corporate re-branding I felt it was time to give it the Cougar work over. Additionally, I had recently ripped into The Offspring‘s disappointing performance at Rock En Seine so it was time to see how 1994s other break through act were doing.

“The O2” is a huge cavernous venue that manages to be simultaneously imposing yet somehow soulless. Despite the show tonight being sold out  I am surprised at how spacious the standing area appears and how much room is available in the stands. If you listen hard enough you can hear the sound of prawn sandwiches being crunched enthusiastically.

The band hit the stage at the relatively early time of 8 pm to accommodate for their mammoth 3 hours scheduled set. Launching into the opening double whammy of ‘Song Of The Century‘ and ‘21st Century Breakdown‘ it is immediately clear this audience is rabid for its heroes.

Billie Joe Armstrong is punk rocks’ answer to Groucho Marx with the band naturally playing the roles of his famous siblings. Just 3 songs into the set and the affable frontman has already run through the audience and played his guitar round a young kids back for 5 minutes.

Tre Cool and Mike Dirnt are as talented and charismatic as any other rhythm section around today and allow their frontman to focus on his act. It is obvious Billie Joe‘s voice has gone from strength to strength over the years so that not only can he snarl and scream but he can also croon with the best of them.

The fact that the band have a load of material to pick from their back catalogue is not debatable and when Green Day are actually playing they are close to unbeatable. It becomes clear however hat the band have not only been rehearsing their music but also an extensive and goofy stage show. So after the aforementioned walk through the crowd (the first of many) the band tick a few other boxes for safe measures.

In no particular order they lead the audience through long winded ooooohhhh-ahhhh chants, bring two fans on stage to be “exorcised”, shoot toilet paper and t-shirts into the crowd through purpose built cannons, recruit 3 other kids from the crowd to play their instruments (something they have been doing for a while) as well as perform a never ending medley of covers.

Individually each of these actions would be acceptable but coming in quick succession they take on a quasi-pantomine quality. It is perhaps fitting that this venue sometimes hosts NBA and NFL games because this entire performance begins to take on an American extravaganza feel rather than a rock show.

Still, tracks like ‘Welcome To Paradise‘ and ‘Hitchin A Ride‘ are greeted as old friends and I find myself surprised at how current the “old‘ material still sounds. ‘Basketcase‘ has me not so much walking down memory lane as sprinting down like an over excited kid on a sugar rush. The inclusion of ‘She‘ proves the band have a wealth of material to pick from.

Special mention must go to the chosen backdrop which, in contrast with the theatrics, enhances instead of distracting from the show. I appreciate that advances in technology have given new scope for improving the audio-visual experience but it all comes down to how you apply it and today’s setting is nothing short of spectacular.  Visiting a reoccurring city scape motif that morphs into huge speakers and other shapes in accordance to the song being played and it is a true spectacle.

Following a first encore that features ‘American Idiot‘, an epic ‘Jesus Of Suburbia‘ and fan favourite ‘Minority‘ the band return to the stage once more for an acoustic offering. The much awaited ‘Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)‘ is held until the very end for a predictable yet magical finale with Billy Joe Armstrong standing centre stage guitar in hand. It is a somewhat subdued send off to a high-octane night but is pleasing because it demonstrates that Green Day have the tracks to back up the clowning around.

There is a tendency to up the ante when playing stadium shows so as to give the punters perceived value for their money. I strongly believe Green Day don’t have to rely on these gimmicks, tonight’s show could have been trimmed by 45 minutes and still had a similar impact. Fortunately the songs were present in abundance.

TRACKS:

Green Day – Minority

Green Day – When I Come Around

Green Day – Holiday

At the end of August Eurostar and We Are Social sent me over to Paris to review Rock En Seine. Now they are offering a pair of tickets to Paris, Brussels or Lille to one lucky Cougar Microbes reader as part of their Little Break Big Difference campaign.

All you have to do is submit a review of your favourite band, album or concert experience, through the comments section of this post, using no more than 150 words.

Deadline for submission is the 10th of October, the best entries will be featured on the main site and the top one will win a pair of tickets.

The final selection is picked independently so though I will happily accept bribes they won’t help you.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Several bottles of hospitality champagne and a confiscated all-access pass… and it is already our final day at Rock En Seine. I can’t quite believe how quickly the previous days have gone by nor can I believe that Metric are on so early on the bill. I would have thought that their sound would be ideally suited for this à la mode French audience.

Kicking off  with ‘Help I’m Alive‘, the opening track from their excellent ‘Fantasies‘ album, the band are in emphatic form putting on an assured performance seemingly unconcerned with the early time slot. Frontwoman  Emily Haines’ looks gorgeous dancing and jumping away while her exquisite voice floats over the dreamy backdrop of guitars, keyboards and drum loops laid down by her bandmates.

With the sun shining bright and the band pulling out all the stops these tracks demand to be shouted back. ‘Stadium Love‘ is particularly well received by the dedicated audience and there is even room for “older” tracks ‘Monster Hospital‘ and ‘Grow Up And Blow Away‘. The Toronto 4 piece leave the stage knowing a few more fans have been won.

Next up I catch the Eagles Of Death Metal put in a raunchy set that seems partially designed to distract from the special guest rumours circulating around the festival site. You see Mr Josh Homme has been spotted on site and if he is not here to be on stage at the moment then maybe he is bringing one of his other many projects into town (who am I kidding, I know exactly what he is here for).

Still EODM don’t need the help of their most illustrious member when they have Jesse Hughes upping the ante to put on a great rock ‘n’ roll show at every chance. I am never quite sure if this is a big joke or if he is deadly serious but as he marches up and down the stage gesturing to the audience it I simply resolve to enjoy it.

Beyond the the sex, drugs and rock n roll parody this music designed to be heard and played live and the audience loves it.

I was already suspicious of the unusually crammed press pit when the weekends worst kept secret was revealed with an illustrious drummer doing an extensive stretching routine near the stage.  The band billed as Les Petits Pois is actually the latest supergroup Them Crooked Vultures featuring Josh Homme, John Paul Jones and Dave Grohl and I was about to recieve a front row seat for their performance.

Back in the day I had tickets but didn’t got what turned out to be Nirvana’s penultimate live show in Milan and I was beginning to think I would never witness Dave Grohl drumming. Foo Fighters are a fun live band but I have wanted to see a whole set of him pounding on the drums and here I was witnessing 2 other legends at the same time.

Though watching these masters do their thing on stage is great I’m actually quite disappointed to report the music isn’t particularly exciting. It could be that it is just not my thing but most of the tracks sound like Queens Of The Stone Age b-sides. This is monster stoner riffs played loud and proud, just don’t give your day jobs lads.

MGMT seem to be the band every Parisien kid has been waiting to see judging by the size of the massive audience that is flowing under the main stage. Bohemian clothes and fluorescent face paint are very much a must for the next performance.

In the build up to this festival I was thinking their album has such a distinctive studio sound to it that it could potentially sound hollow played live. I shouldn’t have worried, the band let loose on extended jams and instrumental jams and show they can pull all the moves for what is very much a rock n roll show.  With the familiar choruses of ‘Kids‘, ‘Time To Pretend‘ and ‘Electric Feel‘ played loud and proud everything goes a little mental and there isnt a single person in the crowd not singing and clapping.

To be honest I’m a little supirsed by the level of adulation reserved for MGMT. It is not that I dislike them, indeed the album ‘Oracular Spectacular‘ earned a spot on my best of 2008 list, it is just that with very little material under their belts they still have a lot to prove in my eyes.

With their sound is so closely associated with the summer of 2008 that it will be interesting to see where the band go next. This crowd doesn’t seem too concerned with my dilemma opting simply to enjoy the bands psychedelic set.

Which leaves just one band to finish the festival off, or should I say MURDER the night! The Prodigy can be considered veterans having been around since the early 90s but their stage performance is still as fresh as it was when they first exploded on the scene.

With my photo pass permitting me to stand as close to the action as possible explode is an appropriate word to use as I can literally feel my inner organs shake with the opening bass boom that is used in every song.  What follows is close to organised anarchy with Liam Howlett hidden behind his monitors laying down the foundations for their barbaric sonic onslaught whilst Maxim Reality and Keith Flint stalk the stage like 2 rabid tigers.

A fellow blogger turns around incredulous and whispers “they just don’t give a fuck” and almost on cue Keith jumps to his knees and yells “I JUST DONT GIVE A FUCK!!” You could watch a million videos of the band live but nothing recreates the brutal force experienced in the trenches with them. Someone sets off a flair in the middle of the audience and people start dancing around it like some demonic initiation ceremony. There is a fierce quality to this performance that proves to be an excellent and haunting conclusion to Rock En Seine.

TRACKS:

Metric – Help I’m Alive

Eagles Of Death Metal – Wannabe In L.A.

A big thank you to Sarah, Camille and Sandrine from We Are Social for picking the bloggers and making sure we were well fed, suitably intoxicated, out of trouble and still alive by the end of it all.

Thanks to all the other bloggers that came along and made it a memorable weekend, make sure you check out their stuff:

Mark and Paul from Fried My Little Brain

Nikki and Terry from Buzzinmedia

Marcus from Stereokill.net

Joe and Sam from Hush House

Stuart from My Chemical Toilet

Niall from Nialler9

Gareth and Paul from Vice