Black Cherry

Last month I volunteered at Oxjam Festival Chiswick. As my role was venue co-ordinator, I got to meet all the artists who were playing at my venue, which was pretty cool. My favourite band of the whole day had to be Black Cherry. They were probably one of the more famous bands playing, which you could tell just by being in the lead singers presence, but she was very cool and the guitarist was extremely pleasant.

I couldn't find much about them on the internet, but all you really need to know is they are a three piece and are awesome! On iTunes I could only find 4 songs to download, Radio, Control, Cops and Robbers and Insecure. However, if you go on their myspace, you can watch videos for loads of their other songs. Their style of music is electro, with catchy beats, and an incredible voice on the lead singer.  At the end of their set at Oxjam they played their own version of 'Pump Up The Jam', which was amazing.

They have been around for a few years, which upsets me as I think they should definitely deserve to be bigger! One of my largest let downs being a music fan, is when bands don't sound half as good when they play live, this however is not the case with Black Cherry. They definitely had everyone in the crowd moving, and I found it very hard to tear myself away and continue working!
After their set I spoke to their manager, who said unfortunately they didn't have any UK dates arranged at the time, however I'm going to keep my eyes extremely peeled, and so should you!

Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2012

The countdown has finally ended for the Barclaycard Mercury Prize Album of the Year! But who is going to win?? The rumour is that Alt-J's 'An Awesome Wave' is set to win, and don't be surprised if your's truly had started this sed-rumour, as I'm in love with them! Personally I think them or Django Django deserve to win the most, as it's not just a couple of decent tracks on their albums...it's them all.

Still not quite sure why Plan B has been nominated with his album 'Ill Manors', as he's been pretty big for a few years, and is not starring in films all over the place. But hey, the prize is traditionally given to the not-so-popular artists, so hopefully someone smaller will be given this incredible opportunity.

The two female nominees; Jessie Ware and Lianne Le Havas, have pretty amazing singing voices, I can see why their names are up there. I haven't given Ben Howard much of a chance, considering my friend rave son about him, I probably should. The rest of the artists, I'm sorry to say, are a bit 'meh', for example Sam Lee and Richard Hawley. The Maccabees may be good, but they have been around for years, so probably don't deserve this as much as some of the others. Michael Kiwanuka could possibly be the new black Jack Johnson and Roller Trio are a bit too 'lift musicy' if you catch my drift, because of the whole saxophone thing. And last but certainly not least are Field Music with their album 'Plumb', they are just cool, if you haven't given them a listen, then do it now, you have just over an hour before they announce the winner on 4music!

Django Django Live @ The Ritz, Manchester

Iv'e been waiting to see Django Django for a while, by the time I realised I wanted to see them that bad, they had sold out their venues in London! I even bidded for a ticket on ebay to see them alone, but unfortunately missed out, and then realised I'm pretty sad. Anyway I had a week off and some friends in Manchester kindly bought me a ticket to see them at the HMV Ritz. 

They were supported by Egyptian Hip Hop, who I hadn't researched, but there were pretty decent! However are neither Egyptian...nor hip hop. They are sort of 80's synth music with good beats. For one of the songs, the lead singer very bravely got into the crowd and sung the whole song from within in. 

Egyptian Hip Hop

I have just got a Sony DSLR A200 as a present from my dad, but unfortunately know nothing about photography! I did however manage to sweet talk my way into bringing it into the venue, but out of about 30 snaps, there was only one decent one of Django Django! 

They were very good live, however it seemed they only found their feet after a couple of songs, this is not a bad thing though I feel, as it only made them sound better! I love the Ritz as a venue because it's neither too small or too big, and I easily managed to squeeze to the front for a couple of photo attempts. They kicked the gig off with the clear choice of Introduction, which was a cracking opening. As they only have one album out, they managed to fit all of their songs into the hour set. My personal favourite was WOR, the western cowboy guitar rift was amazing live and got everyone in the crowd moving. Default was a tad disappointing live, but this could be because it's my favourite and the song that first got me into them, so my expectations were vey high!

If you missed out on tickets for the tour, then I feel for you, because you missed out. If not, you're in for a treat!

Jake Bugg: Bob Dylan and Alex Turner's love child?

There's another hype in Capital City! I only looked into Jake Bugg after seeing a poster, and the first song I listened to was Taste It, which is definitely my favourite and currently on the iTunes 'Song of the Week'.

Iv'e started downloading an album a week from iTunes, as admittedly I used to download illegally, which is easy as fuck, but also ruining the industry in which I want to work in! Iv'e also found myself getting very frustrated recently with ticket touters, as tours such as The xx, The Rolling Stones and Mumford & Sons have been selling out in about 3.5 nano seconds, then the tickets are instantly available on getmein.com for twice the price! WTF?! It's just not fair on actual music lovers such as ourselves. 

Anyway, back to Jake, my album download this week was Jake Bugg's self-titled album, which is very much a good investment.  I have actually convinced myself when listening to him that he is Bob Dylan and Alex Turners love child. His influences are Donovan, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and Bob Dylan, and you can hear a little bit of them all in on his album. He's only 18, which is quite unbelievable after hearing his voice, and has been playing since the age of 12 and songwriting since 14! He's originally from Nottingham, and sings quite a lot about to trying to get out of there! There is quite a variety in the style of his songs, which is always a good thing (ahem, Oasis), and are all pretty unbelievable. Check you Someone Told Me, Lighting Bolt, Troubled Town, Not To Self and Fire! 

Unfortunately his November UK tour has sold out (but you can get tickets on getmein.com for twice the price and more!) However, there are tickets still available to see him next year! 

Alt-J

Probably a little overdue, but better late than never! I got an email from my editor in July asking for an album review on Alt-J's album, as I hadn't heard on them, I stupidly and regrettably ignored it. What a mistake, only recently have I found myself listening to the glorious sound that it Alt-J. Being nominated for the Mercury awards 'Album of the Year', they obviously have big things coming their way.

The album is incredible. Personally they sound similar to Django Django (whom coincidentally are also nominated for the same award), but perhaps not so folky. They are a different sound, and a lot better than a lot of the shite the music industry is producing these days (not mentioning any names *cough* Ne-Yo, Conor Maynard, Taylor Swift, Leona Lewis...oh god, this list could go on and on). Radio 1 are also big fans, although Fern Cotton would bum her own arse if she could pull her head out of it, but don't let that stop you! Check them out in the Live Lounge playing Tessellate.

They all met whilst studying at Leeds University (one of whom knew my sister as he lived in the flat below in halls), however apparently this isn't a good enough connection for her to ask them for an interview on my behalf!

They also played at the Station Sessions Festival in St. Pancras train station in May (something else I also stupidly and regrettably ignored). This is my personal favourite, Breezeblocks. Also be sure to listen to Matilda, Fitzpleasure and Something Good.

Unfortunately all tickets for any gig this year and January have sold out, but there are still tickets for their tour in May. Be sure to book now, incase they win the Mercury Prize!

Ellie Goulding live @ the Jazz Café, Camden

At 6pm on Friday night I get a text from a friend;

'What are you doing tonight, reply ASAP! x'

I was in the process of cooking roast pork, and had Lord of the Rings at the ready.

'Chuck it in the bin, I have a spare ticket to see Ellie Goulding x'

As quick as I could, I made it to the Jazz Cafe in Camden just on time. Now if you've ever been to the Jazz Cafe, which I hadn't, it's pretty amazing. The venue is tiny, only accommodating 350 people, which means the was a very intimate gig. Just as we walked through the door, Ellie came out...and she was incredible. She has to be one of the most talented singers around, she silences a whole room with her voice. 

As it was such an intimate gig, I thought she wouldn't play her classic's, but she wowed everyone by playing Lights, Starry Eyed and a very special acoustic version of Guns and Horses. She also played her new song, Explosions, which you should definitely check out.

Iv'e never seen Ellie Goulding live before, but after Friday night, I would definitely go again if another opportunity arose. She's talented, cool, gorgeous, polite and sweet...Skrillex doesn't know how lucky he's got it!

CARL BARAT INTERVIEW 2.26am on 15/09/2012

When I told my editor that I was attending festival No.6 at Portmeirion, he asked if there was anyone I would be interested in interviewing...erm, yeah!Carl Barat please! Iv'e always been a fan of the Libertines, and discovered that he would be there showing a special screening of the Libertines film 'There Are No Innocent Bystanders'.

After his acoustic set post the screening, I went to meet the stage manager to conduct the interview, as she had told me earlier, however when I got there she said he would not be doing any interviews. As disappointed as I was, I decided to drown my sorrows at the Kraken rum tent. At roughly 2.20am, my friend approached me claiming Carl was in the tent and that he would do the interview for me!

Probably about 5 double rum and coke's too late, we sat on a hay bail outside and had a long discussion about the history and the future of the band, and about his personal journey through his time in the Libertines and the Dirty Pretty things.

(please bare in mind that we are both highly intoxicated)

CARL BARAT INTERVIEW

2.26am on 15/09/2012

K=Katie Bentham

C=Carl Barát

K: Why did you make the film?

C: When we were getting back together, so many people, like Vice magazine and hand made films, all these different companies, wanted to make a film about it, with all the different pictures

K: Why?

C: I guess to do with the nature of the band, and it being so tumultuous, it was all dancing girls, bells and whistles, and there was just violence, drugs and tabloid notoriety, its the most obvious and boring concoction

K: Not a lot of other band have this kind of publicity!

C: Lucky them I guess

C: With all that stuff on offer, people wanted to make a movie about it, we weren't about to be ripped for people encouraging us to fall out, it was to have somebody we knew and trusted to come along and film it, honestly, with none of that fur coat and no knickers business, who we know will make a decent movie...I found this visor on the toilet floor, do you want to try it on?

K: What is it??

C: Looks like a Nike visor, I would never normally wear it...how is it?

K: It looks great!

C: I feel really bad that you got shunned earlier

K: No, don't worry about it!

K: Why did you decide to show the film here?

C: Well it's been all around the world, Amsterdam, Argentina, Madrid, Brazil...

K: Do you like Portmeirion?

C: I love Portmeirion

K: Have you been here before?

C: Never, only in my imagination

K: Isn't it beautiful?

C: It's beyond beautiful. I used to watch The Prisoner, as a child, on video

K: Has the film been shown across the whole of the UK?

C: It was in cinemas for a while. It's a good film, but I wouldn't expect anyone to really fall head over heels, who didn't know the band before, but I think its a honest dictation of some pretty troubled times

K: Do you think the band are ever going to get back together?

C: Inevitably one day, it's just a matter of when

K: Do you miss it?

C: The boys?

K: No, everything.

C: As a whole, absolutely. Individually? No man, I mean I love them and miss them, but what an annoying bunch of boys, each and every one of them, but together we do something which is beyond each individual.

K: Do you think you were better playing in the Dirty Pretty Things or The Libertines?

C: If you define 'better' I can give you a better answer.

K: As in you personally, your music writing.

C: In The Libertines, I grew in a way which is natural, things occurred, troubled times, each album was a snapshot of the day it was written and recorded. The Dirty Pretty Things...yeah it was good, I played harder than ever, with more attention than ever, everything that was played was played as if the last time I would ever play it, but is that better than The Libertines? I mean it's a whole different thing. Dirty Pretty Things were slaughtered from the start because people wanted it to be The Libertines, that was a very difficult thing to answer to.

K: So you met Pete (Doherty) through his sister?

C: Yes, his older sister.

K: Is it true he wrecked your flat while you went on tour in Japan?

C: Yeah, he did burgle it yeah.

K: And he stole a laptop and a guitar?

C: Thats not everything. Sorry I don't really like talking about that, it's quite a horrible time.

K: Sorry

C: But yeah, it's well known that thats what happened

K: Are you still fiends with him?

C: Yeah

K: Thats good

C: For life, for death, forever

K: Whats he doing now, is he music writing?

C: In a sense, he's in Paris. He's got a good life, he's got a bad life

(...then goes on to interview me)

K: So what did your parents do?

C: My dad worked in a factory and my mum was a hippie

K: Your mum was a hippie? Thats cool, in London?

C: No all around, in communes

K: What did she do?

C: Hippie shit...drumming, smoking. Anyway, enough about them

K: What do you think will happen in the future? A solo career, or join another band?

C: I really don't know, just music and following the right path!

(we then go onto the prospect of him having more kids, and discussing Fifty Shades of Grey)

By the time we were finished, all the bars in the arena had closed, so my friend and I offered him some Jack Daniels and coke from out tent, however Carl had a better idea, get the booze and hang out on his apartment balcony, who can resist that offer?! We ended up playing Libertines classics and any song of our choice with his guitar on his balcony until roughly 6.00am. I was one of the most exciting experiences in my life, and definitely something to tick off my bucketlist! 

Have The xx done it again?

Probably one of the most anticipated albums of the year, and the 

question on everyones lips was, have The xx made an album as successful as their self titled Mercury Prize winning first one? I think we can safely say this one is big (currently being number one in the album charts), and posters have been PLASTERED around capital city.

 

Their first release 'Angels', which is a beautiful song, has worked out to be a good choice for the first album release. But it leaves you forgetting about the emotional roller coaster that is their first album, if they have found their romantic happy ending, does that mean the rest of the album will be this lighthearted?

But you get taken into their turbulent love lives as the album progresses. My personal favourites are 'Chained' and 'Missing'. The 5 second pause a third of the way into Missing creates such a tension between Romy and Oliver, that leaves you hanging. However I think The xx are a band who don't have 'better' songs, it comes down to individual taste.

Compared to the first album, it is a little different, the tracks on Coexist have a similar feel, whereas xx had a larger variation in the songs, but hey, who says its a bad thing? Coexist has definitely had more publicity, as xx was such a success, but I still have to say that I prefer xx. But how often do artists make a second album as good as their Mercury Prize winning first one?? Their unique style has continued in this album, pulling off their glacial sound, with a bit more experimentation, for example the steel drums in 'Reunion'.

If you weren't lucky enough to win tickets to their performance with a philharmonic orchestra for Radio 1, you can listen to it online, or even better get hold of some tickets for their UK tour in December. Most venues have already sold out, but try getmein.com, as the asking price isn't that bad.  

No.6

What an incredible weekend! Festival no.6, set in the Italian themed village of Portmeirion, definitely had the quirky aspect locked down. Most people will know Portmeirion for it's where the series The Prisoner was filmed in the 60's.

As if the village itself wasn't weird enough, the festival just topped it all off, from story telling and rave's in the middle of the woods to their enchanting fire and flame garden and a real life game of chess.

Iv'e personally never been to a festival quite like this. There was a much more laid-back feel to the weekend, especially as the average age was about 40, as opposed to 23! It was a high quality weekend, as attendees had the option to stay in the cottages and gatehouses spread around the village itself, or in the on site historic castle, Castell Deudraeth. The food outlets were a lot more unique than your average burger van, with a special Harvey Nichols food stand in the village and ice cream being sold from a Volkswagen camper van. 

Air View of Portmeirion

Castell Deudraeth

The line-up was pretty immense for a first time festival, including two Mercury Prize nominees (Jessie Ware and Richard Hawley), and legendary bands such as Spiritualized, Primal Scream and New Order. With over 7 stages dotted around the whole site, there was always something going on wherever you were, so you were never feeling left out. On the Clough Williams-Ellis stage on Friday night, Carl Barat of The Libertines presented an exclusive screening of The Libertines film 'There Are No Innocent Bystanders', then graced us with an acoustic set of some of the Libertines classics. I was lucky enough to interview Carl after the performance (to follow), then drank whiskey on his balcony while he offered to play any requests on his guitar! 

New Order

Primal Scream

Spiritualized

The only reviews I have read have all hailed the weekend a huge success, so hopefully they can continue it in the future. My only qualm is the fact that the camping fields were all on a slant, but hey, you can't get everything right!

Free tickets to see The xx perform with a philharmonic orchestra!

Does anybody remember that amazing show last year when Nero performed with a philharmonic orchestra?? Well this year Radio 1 have given free tickets away for this once in a lifetime opportunity to see The xx perform with a philharmonic orchestra, and I've got 2 tickets to give away! email me on katiebentham8@hotmail.co.uk if you have an interest and you may well get them! Performance starts at 7pm in Bridlington, East Yorkshire (strange, I know). Doors open at 6pm, make sure your there early as they give away more tickets than there is spaces, as some people don't turn up, and you aren't guaranteed entry.

Watch this space for The xx's album review, Coexist.

All Aboard the Rockness Express!

Holding a festival in Inverness, you could imagine it would not be the most pleasant of weather, but it was actually (almost) dry all weekend, in comparison to Download festival, which I heard from friend it was a massive washout. I never actually realised how far away Inverness was, until I saw that the Rockness Express takes 14 hours from London! This was the first year they have held anything like the Express, so surely some things had to go wrong.

It was a specific train the festival organised to haul people from London to the festival via Birmingham, Stoke, York and Newcastle, and costing £250 including a VIP weekend ticket, you couldn't really go wrong! But oh, so much did. Firstly, a week before the train, they announced it would be departing from Birmingham International instead of New Street, and Stoke-On-Trent instead of Derby, which would have been a massive pain if one had already booked train tickets to said station. Then we were all told that if we wanted to sit next with each other, we would have to board at the same station, which was a pain as our group were planning on boarding in London, Stoke and York. But once on the train, you soon forgot their hiccups, as the 12 carriage train was full of excited festival goers, setting themselves up by drinking for 14 hours before the festival even beginning, made such an electric atmosphere (unlike any other train ride I’ve ever been on). However, we should have thought this one through, as after hours of alcohol consumption and frolics, we arrived at 10pm in the middle of nowhere to erect a tent (I kid you not, it took 4 of us 2 whole hours to put our 5 man tent up). I also forgot to mention the smoking policy on the Rockness Express...you can't. So after a few hours of drinking, my friend decided to have a fag out the window (this train was so old-school, you could pull the widows down on the doors in between carriages), after he got away with the first one, he was smoking every 20 minutes. However, during smoking one of his many fags, the train jerked, he put his arm out to stop himself from falling, the window was open, and he managed to fall onto a metal bar,  breaking a couple of ribs. What a great start to the weekend!

They stated on the description for the train that there would be bands and DJ's playing on it, so we set ourselves up for a proper gig on a train...we were handed headphones and could choose to listen to a couple of idiots play average music and play boring games the whole journey. Upon arrival, and getting our bags checked, one friend had 17 cans of Strongbow confiscated for no apparent reason. But all was forgotten the next day when we woke up with a beautiful view of  Loch Ness, and managed to hear a few local legend tales from a taxi driver taking us to the local Tescos.

Without a doubt, the best band of the weekend were Momford and Sons. As soon as I saw them on the line up, I knew I was going to attend the festival, and they did not let me down. Another favourite were the Errors, I’ve seen them a couple of times before, and as they are not that well known, the crowd was minimal, so we could stand right at the front. There were a couple camped next to us, who insisted we watch Knife Party with them, they described them as 'dirty, grimy dubstep'. They weren't wrong. Some of the best dubstep I’ve heard in a long time, definitlely going to keep my eye out for any London gigs.

All in all a top weekend. Fantastic line-up and incredible location. Would I recommend it? Definitely, but I would take a normal train up to Inverness, it does cost more, but takes only 8 hours, as the 14 hour journey home was brutal!

(a special thanks to William House for the fantastic photographs @that_guywill )

Django Django

One of my favourite things about writing a blog is people recommending new bands to me. My uncle told me about this band called Django Django (I want to claim that I discovered this band myself as they're so cool, but don't think I could get away with it as Uncle Jem reads my blog).

They are a four piece band from Scotland, which is evident in the vocals in their songs, as they harmonise beautifully with a hint of the Scottish accent.

I recently read an article describing something called the 'Gossip Effect'. This is referring to the fact that if your song is played on an episode of Skins, then it is A. probably an awesome song, and B. going to be a big success. This comes from the fact that The Gossips 'Standing in the way of control' went on to be a massive hit after being played on the first series of the show. A recent example of this is Azealia Banks' '212', which was played at the beginning of the first episode of this series, and can now be heard all over the place. Django Django's 'Default' was also played in this series, and I'm now beginning to hear it more and more, for example on last weeks Made in Chelsea.

As well as 'Default', check out 'Love's dart' and 'WOR'. Some of their songs do vary in style, but it's what makes them so unique.

Django Django are starting their UK tour the end of this month, kicking off in Southampton. They are also playing at The Great Excape Festival; Brighton, Field Day Festival; London and Parklife Festival in Manchester. So don't miss out, as they are probably worth seeing whilst still playing small gigs, before they go onto the arena tours!