Eight reasons why Two Thousand Trees is [edit] radio’s favourite festival… and should be yours too!

What do a kangaroo rugby tackled by a dinosaur outside of a chemical toilet, a BTEC national certificate for being a level three princess, a drunken voicemail in which the offer of whisky and ‘bum touching’ is made and a beautiful poppy filled field in the Cotswolds have in common?

They’re my own personal highlights from the past fours years of attending Two Thousand Trees!

The festival, which is known simply as ‘Trees’ to regulars to Cheltenham’s Upcote Farm, has built a strong reputation on ‘doing things differently’ to other festivals. Started by a group friends who had become sick of paying over the odds for drinks and everything else at the commercial festivals the group have succeeded in removing all the corporate bullshit that follow music festivals around like a bad smell.

Their ethos is simple; instead of trying to fleece everyone that comes the entrance gates, the organisers at Trees cultivate a space in which commerce is a by-product of everyone actually enjoying themselves; a refreshingly novel approach.

So with that in mind here are [edit] radio’s eight reasons in which Trees shreds all over any other music festival…

The Music: By only booking acts that are signed to independent labels, the artists gracing the four stages at Trees represent the finest grassroots acts the UK has to offer. Over at the festivals smallest stage, the acoustic focussed The Croft, you’ll find live loungesq sets by bands like Crazy Arm alongside exciting local talent like Andy Oliveri. If that’s too soft for your tastes and you want something heavier, then venture into The Cave and you’ll find the take-no-shit sounds of Gnarwolves and festival favourites Oxygen Thief . If a more eclectic mix is more your scene then The Axiom is the place for you and will feature everything from Wolf Alice to Three Trapped Tigers to DZ Deathrays. If you’re interested in more mainstream sounds then rock-duo Blood Red Shoes, the Brit-hop of Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip and stadium sing-alongs of Frightened Rabbit await you on the Main Stage.

To get a flavour of what’s on offer download our festival Mix-Tape here.

The festival brings the UKs Independent music scene together: As by-product of this booking strategy, Trees becomes something of a Mecca for the fans, promoters, artists, journalists and photographers of independent music from all over the country. Meaning that you are as likely to bump into familiar faces from past shows, as you are to make new friends.

A genuine lack of ‘festival dickheads’: This might seem a little harsh, but most of the mainstream festival have their fair share of Dickheads. You know the people I’m on about; the ones that think 4am is a good time to shout ‘ALAN’ at the top of their voice or will happily walk into your campsite to try and sell you ketamine (both have happened to me at other festivals). It might just the lack of Capital FM acts on the bill, but thankfully at Trees there’s a communal feel good atmosphere even once people have had one too many.

The fancy dress competition:  Every year at trees there the Saturday has been designated Fancy Dress day and with a free set of tickets to the following years festival on offer there is no shortage of effort made. From years gone by my favourite entrant (and winner) was the Beastie Boys inspired effort (pictured below); simple but effective. This year the theme is TV Shows/DVD Box Sets – hope someone goes as Fred Savage from the Wonder Years.

You can take your own booze…ANYWHERE: Yes you read that right. If you’re short on funds and have the mighty arms to take crates and crates of beer into the festival, then the staff won’t stop you from taking it wherever you want. Note: If you like your spirits then decant them into plastic bottles as no glass is allowed on site, which as rules go is pretty sensible.

Little Lebowski’s: Whilst you can take your booze wherever you like, when the sun is beating down (as it was last year) then there’s nothing better than a cold pint of ale, cider or even a White Russian to slake your thirst. With prices reasonable and the drink all of good quality, trust me once you’ve finished your warm tins of Carling and have reached the happy-drunk phase you’ll be in Little Lebowski’s to quench your thirst anyway.

The Bacon Sandwiches from Hall’s Dorset Smokery: This has become something of a Trees tradition for my friend Mark (who is also the lad who named The Croft stage) and me (that’s us pictured below). Every morning we cured our sore heads with one of Hall’s Dorset Smokery’s bacon sarnies that, aside from the ones served at St. John Bread and Wine, are the best I’ve ever eaten.

No matter the weather, it’ll be amazing: Normally when it pisses it down at a festival and things get boggy, it puts a big of a downer on the festival, however Trees is exception to that rule. Want proof? Talk to anyone that went in 2012 where, after the wettest June on record, the festival not only went ahead, but also ended up concentrating the pull-together spirit that the festival already exudes.

The door into the forest: This was a new addition to the festival in 2013 and one that benefited from some excellent weather to boot. Set at the foot of the main campsite, is a small front door in the adjacent woods. It looks odd but at night, it’s like the wardrobe leading to Narnia where anyone who walks through will be transported into a world of unplugged artists playing to small crowds in a fairly lighted woodland clearing. Magical.

With the numerous craft tents dotted around the festival, the delicious Pie Minster in the main arena, the glorious busking stage or the various places that Addistock (a festival within a festival) will pop-up, there’s more I’ve left unsaid about Trees and rightly so. After trying sum up the beating heart of independent music festivals in the UK shouldn’t be an easy task.

We’re on each others team – What would the FIFA World Cup would look like if the teams were replaced with Beyonce, Kanye West, Miley Cyrus, One Direction and other popstars.

As the popularity of Buzz Feed has proven, obtuse discussions about popular culture are one of the world’s favourite pastimes. Whether it’s a list of the 10 classic episodes of Seinfeld that would no longer work in the mobile phone era, or a collection of GIFs from Game of Thrones, virtual audiences can’t get enough.

So when my friend suggested over coffee that Belgium were the “Alt-J of the World Cup; the hipsters choice for winners” it’s fair to say that the idea snowballed somewhat. Which team was the best match for Britney Spears? Which musician embodied the continual heartache that England constantly put its fans through? And just who the fuck would be Iran? Well fear not - all these questions are cleared up below.

Love Is Watching Someone Die

What Sarah Said - Death Cab For Cutie

The origins of this blog were forged over a decade ago. I was a 20 year old boy who had never been laid and was still coming to terms with the death of my sister. I weighed 22 stone, spent my nights drinking in the pub and hid everything under a mask of laughter.  I loathed myself and things were about to get worse. One day whilst on my lunch break at work – at the time I was working a dead-end job as a purchase ledger clerk – I received a call.

“Mister Lawson?” asked a calm voice.

“Speaking,” I replied.

“This is Doctor Brookes; I’m in charge of your fathers care. Were you aware that he was admitted to hospital?”
“No, the last update I had was a month ago to tell me that he had gone back into full-time care.”

“I’m afraid to tell you that his condition has been deteriorating for some time and that this morning he collapsed on the ward. He’s stable… for now but it would be best if you could come into the hospital.”

It was a call I had been dreading but not prepared for.

The Evolution of Fanzines

A look at the history of fanzines reveals more about their writers than the music

The first time I encountered a real fanzine was at a festival. I hadn’t slept for 24 hours, was covered head to toe in what I hoped was mud and feeling the satisfying effects of a large amount of gin. Called Applecore, the small, photocopied ‘zine was thrust into my hands by an ordinary looking guy called Henry, cost me £1 and could easily have been mistaken for a school project. I shoved it in my bag, forgot it existed and three months passed before I finally took a closer look at a form of publishing that has become an obsession.

Within its rough A5 pages I found a new form of writing that I had never considered, which paired music opinion and travel in intelligent diary entries, written with a delicate touch. As I read from cover to cover, questions began to reverberate around my mind; what motivated Henry to write about music? At what point between pressing play and the end of a song did he become compelled to commit his thoughts to the page? The subject spiralled out of control and began to broaden. After all, Henry isn’t the only ordinary listener writing about music, heck, all critics start off their career as amateurs.  So I decided to take a look at the history of fanzines and their offspring – blogs and webzines – to figure out what inspires ordinary listeners like Henry to pick up a pen in the first place.

You Will Never Die

Youth Lagoon - Dropla

Don’t believe what your mum told you, telling lies isn’t bad, it’s an essential part of surviving daily life. Not because we all need to hear little fibs from time to time - “No honey, you don’t look stupid in that” - but because if we didn’t tell ourselves some massive whoppers, life would become an excruciating exercise in futility. How else could we muster the energy to get out of bed, when deep down we know everyone and everything we love will eventually die?

Faced with a truth this bleak, lies (or ignorant acceptance) are wholly preferable. They satisfy our desire to find meaning and are seductive temptation which organised religion has preached for centuries.  It’s this that forms the beating heart of Youth Lagoon’s ‘Dropla,’ a track which glows in the warmth of heavenly strings, whilst pastor Trevor Powers cleanses your weary soul with every solemn repetition of his sermon, “You will never die.” 

Through this affirming baptism, Powers gives you the permission to forget the ugly truth. Providing the strength to face your mortality with dignity and without fear and proving that sometimes a lie is not only more beautiful but more important than the truth.

Sometimes I get problems that are hard to solve

The Knife - Full of Fire

A few years ago I had a vivid dream about falling down a flight of stairs and breaking my front teeth (just the though of it makes me shudder). It felt so real that even though I’ve made it through 32 years without any such injury, whenever I have walked downstairs since, I feel anxious.

It’s this sort of irrational fear that The Knife’s utterly compelling track ‘Full Of Fire’ feels like. A micro panic attack where normal thoughts suddenly implode and form a tension filled vortex of sawtoothed synths, hidden voices and overbearing rhythms that invade the waking world with every horrific dream you’ve ever had.

Let Me Show You A Few Things

Justin Timberlake - Suit & Tie

Sorting out the details of a wedding is an exhausting process. Like all creative endeavours you start with a daunting blank page, that offers an almost infinite amount of options. Do you want organise the day of your dreams, one that all your loved ones will enjoy or something in between?

It’s a bewildering amount of choice and there is little wonder that couples take years to plan out every little detail. As a newly wed himself – Timberlake tied the knot with Jessica Biel last October – the pop star has used the anticipation of his own nuptials to draw a neat parallel with the excitement of finally releasing new material after a four year wait.

The new track, Suit and Tie, opens with Timberlake psyching himself up, “I’ll be on my suit and tie shit, tie, shit / Let me show you a few things.” A steadying pre-ceremony chant, paired with a deep breath of reversed trumpets and a short pause to steady any nerves before launching into an up-to-date Marvin Gaye number that despite the superfluous efforts of Jay Z, guides the listener on a rousing first dance. 

Whilst it’s not quite as thrilling as the first time you heard ‘Future Sex/Love Sounds,’ it’s another high class return from Timberlake, making his proposal to take you on The 20/20 Experience worth accepting.

Fuck Being Polite

A$AP Rocky - Wild For The Night feat. Skrillex

This song is every fan of hipster-hop worst nightmare. On one hand it’s by A$AP Rocky, who apart from Frank Ocean and Kendrick Lamar, is just about the trendiest rapper working today. On the other it features Skrillex, an artist whose name is used as derogatory term by pretentious, wannabe music-aficionados. Who think his form of radio friendly dance floor bangers is wholly without merit.

They are wrong.

Whilst it’s easy to dismiss Skrillex’s form of Bro-step (or whatever you want to call it) as formulaic, it would be unfair to say that it doesn’t bring anything to the table. His music excels at physically jarring releases of energy, an essential attribute for any club banger. So it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that someone as talented and savvy as A$AP Rocky would want to tap into Skrillex’s aptitude in this sphere. 

On ‘Wild For The Night,’ Rocky pairs sludgy yet stoned vocals, “I’m going wild for the night / Fuck being polite,” with a shrill electric air horn that sounds like an annoying 5 year old playing with an overpowered sound effect toy. It’s over the top, but in the right quantity, never quite jarring and just SO much fun to throw your imaginary guns to the ceiling to. 

So if you’re one of the electro ponces that dismissed the track as ‘commercial’ and wouldn’t be seen dead getting your Quiet Life cap sweaty to anything that has the stigma of Skrillex attached. Have a long hard look at yourself, because when his expertise is put to good use, the results can be spectacular. 

Christen Them With Paraffin

Crystal Castles - Wrath Of God

In the year 1880 any song with the title ‘Wrath Of God’ would have seemed foreboding, one which conjured images of fire, brimstone and the vengeance of an omnipotent creator. But in a modern society where belief in a ‘God’ of any kind is waining, what sort of message are Crystal Castles trying to send?

The track is the standout on their self-titled third album, Crystal Castles III. Where the Canadian duo bind the jittery compositions of their previous work with the ethereal sound of Balam Acab's excellent, Wonder/Wander, to create a new type of gothic-house. One drenched in Silent Hill's cold fog; through which individual voices are lost amongst the hubbub of the crowd. A disquieting experience that perfectly captures the omnipresent role of social networks in day to day life. Where the constant stream of voices can turn from a comfort into an oppressive nightmare of information overload. 

Given that the virtual walls of our profiles have become a place to air our hopes and fears, our responses to them, supportive, sympathetic, mean, disinterested or otherwise are important. We are in essence passing judgement on the ‘prayers’ of friends and our collective voice has taken the role of ‘God.’ Making the potential for wrath, a very real thing indeed.

We Both Enjoyed A Good Fight

Lucy Rose - Shiver

There is an earnestness to Lucy Rose’s debut album, Like I Used To, that makes it hard to ignore. In most ways, the record is just another collection of an unremarkable set of acoustic songs, with very little to differentiate it from an already crowded genre. In Rose’s case, perseverance will reap rewards. The softly sung youngster from Surrey has a knack of capturing relationships that feels intimate without losing accessibility to a wider audience. On ‘Shiver,’ when Rose laments “We broke / Everything that was right / We both enjoyed a good fight” or confesses “And we stole / every moment we had to make the other one feel bad” her vocals are tender and sorrowful enough to convince any listener that she’s opening her heart to them. Whereas the ambiguity of the lyrics allow anyone to adopt the song as their own heartbreak anthem. Rose’s music may not push the sonic or songwriting boundaries, but it has a beautiful judged balance that few can match.

We Don't Need Each Other Now

Foals - My Number

There’s something very eco-friendly about ‘My Number,’ from Foals. The second cut from their forthcoming album, Holy Fire, feels like a slice of retro-funk which has been upcycled. That restyles the sound of Wild Cherry into the danceable yet intelligent indie for which Foals are famed. The indifference with which Yannis sings the opening lines, “You don’t have my number / We don’t need each other now,” sets the tone for the rest of the band vocals. Who follow his cue and layer their voices in an equally disinterested manner. The result is brilliantly modern; a morose funk that hipsters can dance to with the cool detachment they prize.

We Used To Be Closer Than This

The xx - Chained

How do you improve on perfection? That was the problem facing The XX after their 2009 self-titled debut album. An LP that flawlessly realised their spatially aware minimal sound, and through tracks like VCR, captured shyness in a way that no record before or since really managed. With their second album, Coexist, the London trio took the only option realistically viable for them to try, refinement. The trouble is, with an already lean sound, fat to trim is hard to find. The results were mixed, succeeding in trimming their sound to the bare-essentials, but failing to deliver songs with the motional punch of it’s predecessor. ‘Chained,’ is the exception to the generalisation, it’s a romantically charged duet which eschews shyness for confessional pillow talk. A direction that could offer the band a second great album if they take a leaf out of Gareth Campesinos book and are bolder with the pen.

Check out the video below:

So you can stick your words of comfort

Los Campesinos! - Allez Les Blues

Release wise, 2012 was a quiet year for Los Campesinos. As one of the most prolific bands around, it’s strange to come to the end of the year list and not to have a new record or EP to consider. This downtime has allowed the band to focus on other creative endeavours, in particular Heat Rash, their exclusive Fanzine. Each issue comes bundled with a vinyl 7” single that contains two unreleased songs and ‘Allez Les Blues’ is the highlight from the third edition. The track sounds is an off cut from fabric of the groups last record, Hello Sadness; one omitted because it feels like a rehash of old styles and structures rather than trying something new. Los Campesinos desire to progress is admirable and exciting, but fans of the group will be satisfied that this sullen indie-pop gem got a release of its own.

I Haven't Got A Clue

Metz - The Mule

Given the 20 year anniversary of Nirvana’s Nevermind, it’s perhaps unsurprising that plenty of bands found inspiration from 90s lo-fi bands in 2012. One of the better examples was Canadian post-hardcore trio, Metz. Their excellent self titled debut album offers fans of Fugazi and Lizard Jesus, 11 scuzzed out tracks which aped and subtly modernised the sound of these forebears.

‘The Mule’ is the most immediate of the bunch. Its fleeting run-time is powered by a metronomic rhythm section that creates an overbearing hubbub of bone shattering drums and bass strings pushed close to breaking point. Floating above the din is front-man, Alex Edkins, whose panicked screams sound like Ian Curtis freewheeling a BMX into the fires of hell. Breathtaking.

Their Heavy Words Can't Bring Me Down

Lana Del Rey - Radio

2012 was a year of transition for Lana Del Rey (real name Lizzy Grant). Riding atop a wave of hype that followed the late 2011 release of ‘Video Games’ – one of the best pop songs of the last 5 years – she entered the year a critical darling. The song, which combines nihilist songwriting, her smokey voice and trailer trash glamour, singled Del Rey out as an act worthy of attention. Although little was known about her ability as a live performer or her background, hopes for her debut album, Born to Die, had been raised and media scrutiny became intense.

Seeing the opportunity in front of her, Del Rey milked the attention for all it was worth. She embarked on a plethora of interviews and by the start of 2012 had became an almost ubiquitous presence on the pages of the net. The backlash was bound to come, all the critics needed was ammunition. 

They got their wish once Grant’s real life background had been unearthed. It turned out the Del Rey persona was a fabrication. She was a rich girl, playing at being white trash and it tainted all the attention ‘Video Games’ had gathered, It was all paid for “by daddy.” Coupled with a now infamously shoddy performance on Saturday Night Live and her authenticity was shot. The music snobs had enough evidence, Grant was an unworthy faker, and it wouldn’t matter how good Born To Die was, it would only ever be elitist plastic.

It’s this history which gives ‘Radio’ its significance on the album (which is a worthwhile record IF you can listen without prejudice). What was meant to be a retort to ex-lover now sounds like a preemptive strike against this pretension. Adding a satisfying double meaning when Del Rey melodramatically croons, “Their heavy words can’t bring me down,” before really flipping the bird over a gloriously catchy chorus. “Now my life’s sweet like cinnamon / Like a fucking dream I’m living in / Baby love me cause I’m playing on the radio / How do you like me now?”

The defiant arrogance in these words is palpable and serves as a perfect bookend to Del Rey’s year. As the new face of H&M, she doesn’t need critics to love her anymore, the adulation (and money) of the public will be more than enough.

Interview - The Orwells

There’s a disturbing amount of business minded bands in the recording industry at the moment. Emerging groups seem less likely to talk about “drinking, drugs and women” than they are about their “the next step in their career.”

Since when was making music “a career” and not a calling? 

Maybe that’s why The Orwells sound so refreshing. Here are five teenagers from the suburbs of Chicago, most of whom still attend high school and couldn’t give a shit about the business side of things. They don’t have a website to sell merch; only a sparsely populated Facebook page and a few You Tube videos. Instead choosing to split their days trying to avoid getting arrested for underage drinking and smoking. 

In August, Autumn Tone put out their debut LP, Remember When, and its ‘drink now, regret it never’ garage rock ‘n roll is sure to excite fans of FIDLAR and the sadly defunct Girls.

[edit] radio caught up with guitarist, Dominic Corso, (via e-mail) to fill in a few of the blanks surrounding one of 2013s bands to follow:

ER: You’re a relatively unknown band here in the UK, can you give me a quick summary of what the band is about?

DC: We’re a rock ‘n roll band from the quiet suburbs of Chicago that keeps it real, raunchy, honest and loud. 

ER: You’ve received positive reviews to your first album, Remember When, is that flattering? Or don’t you really care what critics say?

DC: It always feels good to know that at least someone out there digs your music. If they’re a critic, that’s fine,  but in no way will they ever play a part in how or why we make our music. So no, we don’t really care what they say.

ER: Some of those reviews have compared you the Cloud Nothings and Black Lips, who Mario mentioned as writing the greatest song in the world. What other acts have influenced your sound?

DC: We all share some mutual influences, but we mostly all listen to different stuff. I dig a lot of shit like My Morning Jacket or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and some jazz and swing, some electronic shit like Caravan Palace. Baby Chuck has recently had a classic Dylan and Elvis stint. Mario is mostly into Waka Flocka, female singers like Iggy Azalea, Minaj and all that. Grant’s a Joy Division/Hives kinda guy. Henry, I don’t know even know, man, he’s all over the place.

ER:  You recently asked on your twitter feed, OK Computer or In Rainbows? Are you guys big Radiohead fans? And which of the records do you prefer?

DC: I prefer OK Computer, but Baby Chuck always argues In Rainbows. It’s a big fight we have occasionally, so I asked twitter. But yeah I’m the biggest Radiohead fan in the band, Baby Chuck a little less, and the rest of the band doesn’t really listen to them. 

ER:  You guys have a track called 'Mallrats (La La La),' is the title to that song a reference to the Kevin Smith movie? And what other popular culture or art do you guys draw influences from?

DC: Yeah that song was an homage to Kevin Smith and his films we grew up on. Other films that influence our music would be like Psycho, selected Hitchcock films, and pretty much everything Tarantino has ever done. 

The ORWELLS - Mallrats (La La La) from Eddie O'KEEFE on Vimeo.

ER: I understand that most of you guys finish school in January, are you looking forward to graduating?

DC: Totally. High school’s been a trip but I’m not gonna miss it. Just my homies. 

ER: What’ll be the first thing you do after you graduate?

DC: Tour tour tour tour tour write write write write release tour tour tour tour, repeat till death. 

ER: Over the past few years in the UK, we’ve seen thousands of independent record stores go out of business. I understand that 'Remember When' is named after a record store that's closed, how do you feel about the decay of independent record stores?

DC: It’s a damn shame. Isn’t vinyl making a comeback though?

ER: Do you have a memory that you won’t forget from hanging out in that store?

Saturday morning hangovers cured with Taco Bell, chainsmoking, and two-dollar 7 inches. 

ER: In an interview with Consequence of Sound you mentioned that you started work on a new album in November 2011, is the new record beginning to come together?

DC: It’s looking pretty damn good. We’ve got a solid set of songs so far, but we’re constantly writing and recording and figuring out what we’re excited about, what we’re scrapping and all that. It’s a process, and we’re far from done, but it’s coming together pretty nicely. 

ER: In the same interview you mentioned that the first record was something that you made for high school friends. Does writing for new record feel different now that you’re a proper “band” ?

DC: Sure. But it’s not so much the realization of being an actual band that some people give a shit about, so much as the fact that we’re different people than when we wrote Remember When. We listen to different stuff, we’re at different parts of our lives, some good shit’s gone down and some bad, but we’re still the same even if you wanna call us 'proper' now or not. Yeah it’s different this time around, but we still and always will write the music we wanna write and when we get on stage we’re gonna play it the way we like to play it. 

ER: You guys are all still young, how do your parents feel about you leaving education so early?

You’d actually be surprised at how supportive our parents have been with the whole thing. If I’m in the same room as my mom and some strangers, she’ll proudly announce I’m in The Orwells like we’re some huge act everyone knows. It’s quite embarrassing, actually. 

ER: Now their is a little bit of buzz building about the band, how often do you guys like to vanity Google?

DC: If I said 'never,' I’d be a liar.

ER: You guys played a BrooklynVegan Day Party, is that a lifestyle choice that you’ve signed up to ? 

DC: Sorry, I have no idea what you mean. If you mean supporting BrooklynVegan, then hell yeah, they’re cool people. If you mean being a vegan, nah man, steak’s too juicy.

Interview - PEERS

A few weeks back, [edit] radio named Reading based indie rockers PEERS as our third Rising Talent to follow.

Last week we caught up with the Berkshire based quartet, about what they've been up to over the last couple of years,  what's it like being on the same management group as Alt-J and what fans can expect in 2013:

The first big break you guys had was to play the BBC introducing stage at 2010s Reading & Leeds Stage, what have you guys been up to since?

We were all pretty excited about playing Reading and Leeds and what would happen after, but realised the best option was to finish off our two years of college and sixth form. Use the time to develop without any pressure into the band we wanted to be, making music we were 100% happy with and playing the odd show in Reading. We didn’t want to rush into releasing anything and regretting it a couple of months down the line, it’s likely what you put on the internet stays there for a very long time.

Animal Collective @Manchester, Warehouse Project 8/11/12

The most essential material for any artist is a space in which they can work. Whether it be a blank sheet of paper, a roll of unused film or the silence of a room; all creation needs a fertile ground to prosper. For the Animal Collective, the dull concrete of the ‘Warehouse Project’ provides the perfect canvas.

The acclaimed quartet form Baltimore are in town touring their latest album, Centipede Hz, which has (by their standards) met a lukewarm critical reception. From the midst of a set of glowing teeth framing the stage, the group use an assorted collection of snyths, sequencers, drums, guitars and an epilepsy inducing light-show to paint the primary colours of their experimental pop onto the walls of the cavernous room. Indeed such amounts of equipment are rarely seen out of a recording studio and each member looks more like a scientist at work rather than a musician performing live. 

Busy opener ‘Rosie Oh’ sets the tone for the evening, groaning under the weight of the energetic sounds which make up it’s whole. Two songs pass by in a dizzying haze before genre bending summer single ‘Honeycomb’ is dropped. It’s warping bass and rhythms triggers a trance like state that carries over into the bouncy ‘Lion In A Coma’ and aggressive ‘Moonjock.’ 

Throughout, the foursome barely moving from their horseshoe shape stage set up. Normally this sort of performance, or lack thereof, is a turn off, but the complexity of music on offer requires concentration, timing and supreme skill and such musical virtuosity is all the entertainment that’s required. 

This juxtaposition of the bands energetic music against their lack of stage physicality results in an unresolved tension. Being slaves to pushing musical boundaries the band are tied to their workspace, effectively creating themselves a cage in which to perform. This tension carries over to the crowd, who in reverence for the artistry on show have remain reserved.

Animal Collective string this tension along until the finale of show, releasing the pressure which has built up in the very air with Beach Boy sounding ‘Brother Sport.’ Avery Tare and Deakin finally break free from their shackles, and dance center stage as if in signal everyone to join in. The release is shattering for mind and body. The anthemic ‘Peacebone’ follows, impossibly ratcheting up the sensory overload in layers of dense samples and cathartic release. Limbs convulse, breathing becomes shallow and sharp, as your eyes widen to a point of no return.

To draw such sensations and life out of the drab surround of the cold surround of warehouse is the province of truly great musicians. Something, least we not forget, Animal Collective have been for over a decade and will continue to be for as long as we’re lucky enough to have them.

To see our names are written on the wreck of '86

Ellie Goulding - Anything Could Happen

When listening to Ellie Goulding’s music, there are two important steps you need to take to get yourself into the right frame of mind:

1.) Disengage brain - Just give yourself five minutes to not criticise, over think or worry if it’s OK to like something so uncool. Just treat Goulding’s dewy eyed pop like National Geographic. Well made, entertaining but ultimately throwaway.

2.) Regress to a the emotional state of a teenager - For those of you still in your teens you’re already there. For those of you born the wrong side of 1993 just remember how watching Ross and Rachel finally kissing in the second series of Friends made you punch the air with joy.

Done both? Then you’re ready to enjoy Goulding’s “Anything Could Happen.” As the standout track from her new album of the same name it’s packed full of sun soaked synths and giddying rhythms which rain down one of the choruses of 2012. One which washes you with wave after wave of ecstasy that allows you to escape the confines of day to day life. Something we all need to do from time to time.

Rising Talent #3 - Peers

Apart from it’s Festival, the town of Reading isn’t normally considered a hotbed for new music. It certainly is never mentioned in the same breath as it’s more illustrious neighbours of Oxford and London. However over the last decade a bands like Dry The River, Dan Le Sac, Pete and The Pirates and Does it Offend You Yeah! have broken through onto the national airwaves.

The next band which looks set to breakout of the local scene are indie rcokers, PEERS. The quartet, led by Matthew (guitars and vocals), have managed to garner a mass of local support, including high praise from BBC Introducing’s Linda Serck and are the darlings of legendary local promoter Sid Siddle. In 2010 despite all being aged less than 18 and only formed for 6 months, they were asked to play the introducing stage at Reading and Leeds.

Since then their sound has evolved and recent demos show significant promise. On ‘Guilt’ there’s more than a hint of the subtle song structures used by The Maccabees on their latest album, Given To The Wild. All that’s missing is the gut wrenching oomph that working with a full blown producer would add.

On ‘Midnight,’ the bands other major influence, Bombay Bicycle Club can be heard. Here PEERS marry the deftly sweet but never quite sickly pop of Steadman with a slightly more straightforward rock sound. With the catchy as all hell ‘Nightdriving’ (free download below) PEERS shoot straight for the airwaves of Radio 1, with an ear-worm of a chorus that fosters moments of involuntarily singing for days on end.

It’s probably a little too early to tell just how far they’ll go, but PEERS, who share managers with Alt-J, look to have the talent to become the next band to go nationwide from Berkshires famous festival town.