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Showing posts with label Florence and the Machine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Florence and the Machine. Show all posts
Celeste Macdonald braved the rain to check out Florence & The Machine's huge show in Sydney last week:
On Thursday night, Florence & The Machine returned to Sydney on the Ceremonials tour. Needless to say, it was amazing. In such a large space as the Entertainment Centre, I always question whether any act can command the entire audience's attention for the length of the show. And then the hyperbolic silhouette of Florence Welch appears from behind a mysterious orange curtain to an audience of thousands of screaming teenage girls. If all you had to go on was the high-pitched screaming alone, you would've thought you were at a One Direction concert.
Wearing a silken cape, silver beaded shoulder-piece and velvet cut-out tights, coupled with her flaming red hair, as she steps out from behind the curtain singing the opening lyrics to Only If For A Night, Florence Welch looks like some kind of Norse Goddess of War.
Playing a nice mix of new and old, Florence & The Machine are skilled in giving the crowd exactly what they want. Playing all the hits with the same energy as if they were just released, reading through fan letters (which involved actually spotting one eager fan from an audience of thousands and personally thanking them for their gift of gin) and encouraging the crowd to join in at every step is probably what makes their live shows so appealing to the masses.
Mid way through, Florence urges as many audience members as possible to climb on to each others' shoulders. As one by one they hop up, Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) fittingly begins. Several times during the show, the theme of the Ceremonials Tour emerges. Florence politely asks the crowd to "Please be upstanding for the hymn." It gives the show a formal and orchestral quality and showcases Florence's brilliant vocal talent – leaving this reviewer wishing I was one of the lucky attendees of their Friday night show at the Sydney Opera House.
Review by Celeste Macdonald. iPhone pic by Bobby Townsend
KAREN O IN ‘STOP THE VIRGENS’/ FLORENCE + THE MACHINE / THE TEMPER TRAP / BRYCE DESSNER, NICO
MUHLY, SUFJAN STEVENS / JANELLE MONAE & THE ARCHANDROID ORCHESTRA / AMON TOBIN LIVE BEYOND
3D ‘ISAM’ / EFTERKLANG & SYDNEY SYMPHONY / PVT / SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS / MY BRIGHTEST
DIAMOND / SEEKAE / DANNY BROWN / MED/ ELLESQUIRE / HALFWAY CROOKS DJS / ZOLA JESUS/ LIGHT
ASYLUM / FORCES/ MODULAR / FUTURE CLASSIC / GOODGOD DANCETERIA / URBANSCREEN
What a line-up! Sydney Opera House today announced a stunning program for Vivid LIVE 2012, including Karen O, Florence and The Temper Trap. Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House (May
25 – June 3) is part of Vivid Sydney (May 25 – June 11), the city’s annual festival of light, music and ideas. Now in
its fourth year, Vivid Sydney has become Australia’s major festival in winter and is one of five signature events on
the NSW Events Calendar developed by Destination NSW on behalf of the NSW Government.
From May 25 – June 3, Vivid LIVE will take over the Sydney Opera House with an extraordinary series of
performances including exclusive concerts, unique collaborations and one-off projects. With over 22 events
including 11 Australian premieres, 2 world premieres and many artists exclusive to Sydney, Vivid LIVE 2012
reinforces Sydney Opera House as the ultimate winter destination for music fans across Australia.
As the centrepiece to Vivid Sydney, each year a Vivid LIVE artist is invited to transform the sails of Sydney Opera
House with digital mapping technology. In 2012, Vivid LIVE has commissioned multi-award winning German
design collective, URBANSCREEN to create a new artwork that will explore both the iconic sculptural form of
Sydney Opera House, as well as its place as a home for music, dance and drama.
There is so much good shit going down at the festival that we can't possibly tell you about it all here, so visit the Vivid website for full deets. Tickets go on sale to the General Public Thursday 22 March, 9am (Insiders: 19 March, Vivid LIVE subscribers: 20
March)
We're just a couple of days away from the big announcement of Bobbysix.com's overall winner of best
album, film, gig and song of 2011. Before that, Deputy Editor Heidi Pett talks us through her favourite things from this year:
You’ll note that these lists have not been numbered. That’s because I’ve been known to take days sweating over my Triple J Hottest 100 votes (should I vote for my personal favourite on the album, or the most popular single, propelling a worthy artist to a higher rank? Is that selling out? What about that little-known band who I love but that will never make it in, is that wasting my vote? And if I do that, will Art vs fucking Science achieve a better result than they would have if I’d voted for, say, The Grates instead?) etc, etc, until oblivion. And that’s an anonymous vote which doesn’t even have to be ordered. So in the interests of my continuing to exist as a functioning member of society, here are my top picks of 2011, in no particular order.
10 Albums/EPs
Bon Iver - BON IVER (pictured, above)
Crystal Theatre - BELLES WILL RING
Forever So - HUSKY
Carry On - PATRICK JAMES
The Josephine March - THE JOSEPHINE MARCH
Absence - SNOWMAN
Milk Annual - CAITLIN PARK
I Want That You Are Always Happy - THE MIDDLE EAST
Helplessness Blues - FLEET FOXES
Secret Rituals - THE GRATES
10 Songs
History’s Door - HUSKY
Last Night I Heard Everything In Slow Motion - OLIVER TANK
Rose Coloured Glasses - THE JOSEPHINE MARCH
Falling Away - BIG SCARY
Wishingbone -WINTER PEOPLE
Warriors With Wild Hearts - CAITLIN PARK
Paper Thin - FLUME
Please You - PATRICK JAMES
Hector Myola - TIN SPARROW
Holocene - BON IVER
10 Music Videos
Bizness - TUNE-YARDS
Aroused - TOM VEK
Awkward - SAN CISCO
Little Frog - SUI ZHEN
Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra) - GOTYE
Cameo Lover - KIMBRA
Featherstone - PAPER KITES
Fat Monk - RAT vs POSSUM
Holocene - BON IVER
Defeatist - CAMERAS
5 Gigs
FLORENCE + THE MACHINE - Seymour Centre, Sydney
THE GRATES - The Metro, Sydney
SEEKER LOVER KEEPER - St Stephen’s Church, Sydney
PATRICK JAMES - Hibernian House, Sydney
HOWLING BELLS - The Standard, Sydney
5 Books
Eating Animals - JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER
All That I Am - ANNA FUNDER
Tall Man - CHLOE HOOPER
You’ll Be Sorry When I’m Dead - MARIEKE HARDY
Penguin Plays Rough - VARIOUS
5 Festivals
Woodford Folk Festival
TiNA/Emerging Young Writers Festival
Jaipur Literature Festival
The Human Rights Arts and Film Festival
Changing Lanes Festival
10 Blogs/Websites
I spend a fairly embarrassing amount of time jaunting around the internet, getting inspired by people who are making and doing things. Often I’ll read the entire archives of a blog and then forget to bookmark it for later reference, so here are a few that I actually remember:
I started volunteering with FBi Radio in June and have finally found that community of beautiful, creative, interesting and interested people that I’ve been looking for in Sydney. Because, you know, I was starting to think this town was full of wankers and everybody was too cool for everything. These people give up their time and their skills out of love and passion and a desire to create, and it’s the best bullshit filter I’ve ever come across. What feels like forever ago, I spent two months sharing a backpack with my best friend as we travelled around India. Trains that were 19 hours late, colour and dust and beauty and heartbreak, escaping Darjeeling in the back of an army jeep, making dinosaur noises at leering men on train platforms, packing more books than clothes, dark green eyes and a hand on the small of my back. And the fact that when we got home we were too embarrassed to reach for the handles on the train, as we reeked of filthy Delhi bathrooms and four days of unwashed transit.
Heidi Pett - Deputy Editor As well as being a fine writer, Heidi is an award-winning radio producer and presenter. She takes photographs through a plastic lens,
drinks wine, listens to folk songs with gratuitous swears and can more often than not be found with her head buried in a book.
Over the next few days, all of Bobbysix's contributors will be sharing their highlights of 2011, culminating in the announcement of our overall album/song/movie/gig of the year later this week. Today, Editor Bobby gets the ball rolling: Top 10 albums 1.
A Creature I Don’t Know - LAURA MARLING Marling's
most expansive record and also her most accessible, it proves her to be
one of the most honest, intelligent and breathtakingly talented artists
in music today. 2. Twerps
- TWERPS Twerps
is the sound of a band growing up and
finding their sound. This is an album that could soundtrack long summer
days spent falling out of love. 3.Bad As Me - TOM
WAITS Existing fans will love it, while newbies
will find this the ideal place to begin their Tom Waits collection. 4.
Ceremonials - FLORENCE + THE MACHINE The art-pop of
Ceremonials exudes impressive confidence from a woman on top of her
game, while retaining enough of a dark edge to keep it interesting. 5.
Vows - KIMBRA Vows is a soulful, textured, vibrant triumph
of a debut which immediately establishes Kimbra as a unique and
genuinely exciting new artist 6.
In Your Room - CAMERAS The most refreshing
thing is that, rather than front-loading the big singles, as so many
albums do nowadays, it ebbs and flows like a set-list and feels very
much like a musical journey. 7.
Veronica Falls - VERONICA FALLS A beguiling,
intriguing coming together of dark and light, it is really rather
wonderful. Melancholy never seemed so much fun. 8.
Milk Annual - CAITLIN PARK The delightful truth
is that the nuanced, beautiful and outstanding Milk Annual is actually a
unique sounding record. And you can't say that very often these days. 9.
Smoking in Heaven - KITTY, DAISY & LEWIS If
the rubbish that litters commercial radio station playlists had
one-hundredth of the honesty, heart and soul that this record does, the
music world would be a much more satisfying place. 10.
Yuck -YUCK This album doesn't sound derivative in the
slightest, but rather is a fresh and exciting post-grunge offering with a
DIY ethic.
Top
10 songs
1. Defeatist - CAMERAS
2.
History’s Door -
HUSKY
3. Cameo Lover - KIMBRA 4. Who Are You? - TWERPS 5.
Walk Like Thunder - KIMYA DAWSON 6. Even Though
I’m a Woman - SEEKER LOVER KEEPER 7. Found Love in a Graveyard - VERONICA FALLS 8. Back in the Crowd -
TOM WAITS 9. Endless Summer - THE JEZABELS 10.
Covered By Snow - DEAD LETTER CHORUS
Top 10 gigs 1. FLORENCE + THE MACHINE - Seymour Centre,
Sydney So magical was the atmosphere in room during
this perfect occasion that to step back into the real world felt
painfully mundane. This was a wonderful and unforgettable night. 2.
DAVID FORD - The Empire Bar, Belfast At the midway
point, Ford ran down the street in order to play a song at Duke Special
and Phil Jupitus’ gig. They passed him on the way and came to read some
poems at The Empire Bar. 3.
KIMBRA - The Metro, Sydney Her effervescence was
complimented by her band as finger-clicking, red-suited male backing
singers boogied in the background. She even managed a mid-set costume
change.
4.SEEKER LOVER KEEPER -
St Stephen’s Church, Sydney
A night in a
warmly-lit church watching three talented and charming musicians can be
aptly summed-up in a single word. Lovely.
5.
THE GRATES - The Metro, Sydney
With the combination
of infectious pop, post-grunge and a singer that owns the room with her
lust for life, tonight once again proved that to see The Grates live is
to best understand them.
6.
CAMERAS - Changing Lanes Festival, Sydney
While
their atmospheric sound is best suited to playing in the dark, they
still gave one of the performances - if not the performance - of the
day (pictured, left)
7 SIMONE FELICE - The
Vanguard, Sydney
His voice was beautiful, ethereal,
transfixing and when he bowed at the end of the gig he did so with the
awkward charm of a five-year-old having performed in the school nativity
play.
8. KIMYA DAWSON & AESOP ROCK - Manning
Bar, Sydney
It was a rare joy to see two such different
artists sharing a stage and creating an evening of such eclecticism.
9.
THE JEZABELS - Homebake Festival, Sydney
Singer
Hayley Mary has something of the Kate Bush about her in terms of her
vocal and the band's pop songs were powerful and engaging.
10.
HOWLING BELLS - The Standard, Sydney
Simply, they
sound like a proper band, with clean, strong guitar driven indie songs
and an excellent vocalist in Juanita Stein.
Top
10 Films
1. Submarine
2.
Bill Cunningham New York
3. Snowtown
4.
Midnight in Paris
5. We Need To Talk About Kevin
6.
Black Swan
7. Senna
8. Drive
9.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
10. The Guard
Top
5 TV Shows
1. 24 Hours in A&E
2. Match of the Day
3.
Boardwalk Empire
4. At The Movies
5.
Q & A
Top 5 radio
shows/podcasts
1. Kermode and Mayo’s Film Reviews - BBC
Radio 5Live
2. Guardian Football Weekly Podcast
3.
Arvos - FBi Radio
4. Desert Island Disks - BBC Radio 4
5.
The Allnighter - FBi Radio
Favourite
interview of the year
There were a few
actually. It was a joy to chat to Florence Welch, even though it was at
7am and I hadn’t been to bed from the night before. I also enjoyed doing
a face-to-face with Juanita Stein from Howling Bells. Our interview
would lead to me drunkenly teaching her how to use the DJ decks at
Sydney’s World Bar the next night. Speaking to Britany Nola was very
interesting. I always enjoy interviewing models, as they have so much to say and are rarely afforded the opportunity. Her words about
human rights and tolerance were inspiring. However, my favourite interview was with Laura Marling. I adore her work - firmly believing
her to be the best lyricist of her generation - and I enjoyed catching
up with her, as we first spoke over three years ago, when she was a shy
18-year-old. Though she is now a pretty big deal, it was lovely to
discover that she remains as unassuming, polite and friendly as she was
back then.
Highlight of the year.
Being
able to attend the first Brighton & Hove Albion game at The
American Express Community Stadium was an incredibly emotional end to a 14-year journey and something I will never forget. However, my actual
highlight came at Sydney’s Metro Theatre in September. I was attempting
to woo an especially beautiful lady when a young man came up to me and
said “Excuse me, I just wanted to say I love your blog.” It is the only
time in my life I have appeared cool and his timing was excellent.
2011
in words
Regina Spektor once told me that, "Man plans and God laughs." She could very well have been talking about my 2011. A fucked up fruitcake of a year, starting in the snow of England, ending in the heat of Australia, via Scotland, Northern Ireland and Eastern Europe. An era ending. Stolen moments in Budapest. A head resting on my chest in Sydney. Tourbus hilarity on the motorways of Britain. New friends on both sides of the world. A crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.
Prediction
for 2012
Our new website is going to blow your fucking
minds. Watch this space.
Bobby is the Editor of Bobbysix.com. He has written for publications and websites including CNN, Drum Media, Inpress, BBM, Time Off, Rip It Up andThe Argus. He has also appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC 7. He splits his time between Australia and England.
Bobbysix.com was lucky enough to attend Florence + The Machine's show in Sydney recently. The above photo, by the way, was stolen (with a loving kiss) from our good friend Daniel Boud's website. Check out his work. The man is a genius. Anyway, here's our review:
A music lover witnesses countless gigs in their lifetime. Some bad, some average, some great, but only very occasionally are you able to be part of something truly special and unique. Florence + The Machine's only Australian appearance, as part of the Debit Mastercard Priceless Music series, was one such instance. The Seymour Centre was the perfect venue. With just 12 rows of seats (each holding a Venetian-style masquerade mask to be worn during the show), it was incredibly intimate and had a theatrical feel perfectly suited to the performance.
Florence Welch, resplendent and regal in a sequinned gown, glided to centre-front and opened the proceedings with Only If For A Night. Supported by three backing singers, harp, keys, guitars and two drummers, Welch wasted no time in showcasing her extraordinary vocal ability. The quiet-loud-quiet-louder-quiet-MASSIVE dynamic of her songs combined with gothic lyrics drenched in emotion left the crowd, who – due to the amphitheatre layout – were pretty much on top of her, absolutely awestruck. Tiptoeing the floor barefoot, spinning in circles and gesticulating elegantly, she performed her new album almost in its entirety, along with favourites such as Dog Days Are Over and Cosmic Love, in which the harp was beautifully precise. By the time she ended with Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) and Spectrum, the audience had long-since been on their feet.
After the two-song encore was brought to a fittingly epic end with No Light, No Light, attendees reluctantly made their way to the exit in the knowledge that they had been lucky enough to be part of something genuinely beautiful. Indeed, so magical was the atmosphere in room during this perfect occasion that to step back into the real world felt painfully mundane. This was a wonderful and unforgettable night.
This review first appeared in Sydney's Drum
Media. It was written by Bobby Townsend and edited by Heidi Pett.
Produced by Paul Epworth, Ceremonials follows Florence Welch's double-platinum debut, Lungs, and was recorded with her full band over five weeks in the English summer at Abbey Road's legendary Studio 3.
The most striking thing about Ceremonials is that, in feeling like a natural progression from the eclectic first long-player, it is also clearly more cohesive and is massive in its ambition. After opener, Only If For A Night, combines harps, big beats and layered synths with her deliciously gothic lyrics, second song, Shake It Out – which has been getting heavy radio-play – sees Welch let loose her epic vocal. The classic Florence & The Machine quiet verse/abso-bloody-lutely massive chorus dynamic is something that, just like on Lungs, is evident throughout Ceremonials. Indeed, the gospel of Lover to Lover demonstrates Welch's trademark howl at its most lung-busting and is perhaps the best example of why the singer has described this album as her “incorrigible maximalism.”
This is a huge-sounding record.
Even when things are moderately pared back, it is only a matter of time before they build into something much bigger. The piano-led opening of Never Let Me Go, for example, soon makes way for an unabashed power-ballad and is perhaps the song that is most reminiscent of her first album. Meanwhile, No Light, No Light sees Florence and her machine throw everything, including some In The Air Tonight-style drums, at the listener.
Taking the best elements of her debut and striding forward, this is a very strong sophomore record indeed. The expansive art-pop of Ceremonials exudes impressive confidence from a woman on top of her game, while retaining enough of a dark edge to keep it interesting.
Review by Bobby Townsend. It first appeared in Sydney's Drum Media.
“There have been so many bizarre moments,” flame-haired songstress Florence Welch laughs as she recalls the whirlwind that has been the last couple of years of her life. To illustrate this, she recounts her appearance at this year's Met Ball in New York. “Coming out of the Temple of Dendur with bleached eyebrows dressed as David Bowie, doing some sort of strange jig with Paul McCartney and then spinning around next to Madonna was one of those moments where it was like, 'My life has become irrevocably weird and I doubt it will ever get back to normal.'”
Indeed, from winning the Critics' Choice Award at the 2009 Brits before she had released an album, to her debut record Lungs receiving worldwide acclaim and selling by the bucket-load, to recently having been cited as an influence by none other than Beyonce, it's fair to say that things have been pretty surreal for Florence Welch since she burst onto the scene. Forever in the media spotlight and with an army of fans hungry for new material, one might think that the English singer/songwriter would have been under a huge amount of pressure to deliver the goods with her new long-player, Ceremonials. In fact, compared to her first album, the opposite was true.
“I didn't really think about it. I was just happy to be writing,” the charmingly polite and well-spoken 25-year-old explains. “The pressure I was under, writing the first record after winning that Critics' Choice Award and still being at such a raw stage, was so intense. I'd say it was almost a negative thing because it really put me under a microscope before I had anything to be protected by. People really went for how I looked or my personality because that was the only thing that was there. There was no album, and to be picked apart like that before you have any music to stand by is terrifying. It was a baptism of fire. I'm really grateful for having got that award; it was a great opportunity and it really helped me in the long-run, but at that point it was pretty hard to see the benefits because I was just freaking out the whole time. This time round, with a clearer idea of what I was doing, it was almost easier.”
Working once again with award-winning producer Paul Epworth (who also co-wrote and produced Lungs) and Isabella 'Machine' Summers (songwriter and member of the band), Welch recorded Ceremonials with her group over five weeks in the English summertime at Abbey Road's legendary Studio Three. The result certainly doesn't sound like something that was created under an especially heavy weight of expectation. “I was really lucky because I was working with some amazing people. Working with Paul and Isa, we have such such a musical connection. They had all these amazing drum patterns that I could get excited by and Paul would have these great chords. They made it easy to get back into the swing of things. We'd been speaking about it for a year and I had a really clear idea of what I wanted: big drum sounds, big bass sounds, big choral sweeps. When we got back into the studio, everyone was just excited to be there.”
To call the record 'big' is an understatement. This album is unapologetically huge. Massive. With layered instrumentation and Welch's trademark howl, it is an impressively bold and expansive second-coming. “I think you can't help being incorrigibly yourself,” she explains. “I've always been interested in big drum sounds and I'm drawn to big orchestral sounds. I'm obsessed with this choral thing. I'm interested in hymnal music and Georgian choirs. It's like heaven and hell in one.”
Aside from its enormity, the other noticeable thing about the new album is that it is much more cohesive than her debut offering. “I'm really glad you said that,” Welch beams when Drum brings up the notion that, if the excellent Lungs was an eclectic collection of songs, Ceremonials is a progression in that it sounds very well-rounded. “That's what I was aiming for. It was really important to me that it had a cohesive, overarching sound and it didn't fluctuate from one song to the next. For better or for worse, the first album was always going to be an experiment. I'd been through a lot of musical phases from the age of 17 and 22, so it was an overview of that period. This one, because it was a shorter period of time, with one producer [Paul Epworth] and one place, was more just a body of work. A story, I guess, rather than a scrapbook.”
A lengthy worldwide tour is scheduled to promote the record and, when she takes to the stage each night, there are bound to be plenty of fans drooling almost as much at her chosen outfit as they are her music. It's fair to say that Florence Welch is nearly as well-known for being a fashion icon as she is for her incredible voice, and can be seen within the pages of the monthly glossies as much as in the music press. “As a performer, what you wear is such a huge tool. It affects the way you feel and the way you move. It's like thinking of it in terms of an art piece or a dance piece.” However, her image isn't a contrivance, created by some record company executive. She has enjoyed dressing up since she was a child and, even before fashion designers were swooning over her, she put a huge amount of thought and effort into her onstage attire. “When we first started playing, we'd be given ten pounds for food and I'd spend it in a charity shop or a vintage shop and create these Frankenstein outfits: bits of feathers, lace, a red riding hood cape and glitter all over my face. So to be embraced by the world of high-fashion, for a girl who loved dressing up and was constantly in the fancy dress box, is an absolute dream.”
With her aesthetic sensibilities an extension of her natural desire to constantly be creative, Florence Welch is not the kind of person to let the dust settle and, even though her new album has only just hit the shelves, it inevitably won't be long until she begins to think about the shape that record number three will take. Feeling that she has honed her distinctive sound with Ceremonials, the question now is, where does she go next, sonically? She ponders for a moment. “I'm thinking either more orchestral or minimal... Take it as big as I can, or go small. I don't know.” She pauses, before joking, “Maybe minimal orchestral.”
Whichever musical direction Florence Welch takes in the future, if she walks the road with the confidence and gusto that she has displayed on the fantastic Ceremonials, then the world will surely remain her oyster.
Interview and live photo by Bobby Townsend. An extended version first appeared in Sydney's Drum Media. Edited by Heidi Pett.
Frankie & The Heartstrings hail from from Sunderland in England's north east. Since being discovered by the founder of legendary indie label Witchita Recordings, the five-piece's reputation has continued to grow and tours with The Futureheads, Florence & The Machine and The Vaccines have turned them into one of Britain's most talked about bands. Subsequently, Hunger has sold like hot cakes in their homeland and the future certainly seems bright for this likeable bunch of Northerners.
If the idea of yet another new indie hope coming out of England makes you yawn (they do seem to appear every five minutes), then the news that their quiff-sporting frontman goes by the name of Frankie Francis might send an ominous whiff of style over substance up your nostrils. However, Hunger's retro-leaning, jangly guitar-ridden songs of friendship and futile romance certainly do enough to dispel such snobbish preconceptions. And if you want some full-on indie cred brought to the table, then the record was produced by Edwyn Collins.
Because of where it originated, and of who their choice of producer was, reference points to Maximo Park, The Futureheads and Orange Juice might be lazy, but they are also pretty accurate. Here, you'll find intelligent yet emotive lyricism, a penchant for some whoa-ing and simple, short, catchy-as-hell indie aplenty.
While there is nothing especially new going on, its infectious energy and believable romance makes Hunger a success. Basically, it is absolutely 100 per cent as you would imagine a guitar-based record overseen by Edwyn Collins that comes out of the North East of England to sound. And that can't be a bad thing.
Review By Bobby Townsend. It originally appeared in Drum Media
Up here at Bobby Six Towers the festival of choice is Latitude. You can forget your Healing Fields of Glastonbury or your drunk 15-year-olds making fires out of plastic cups at Reading, it's all about strolling through the beautiful Suffolk countryside, taking in some fine bands and enjoying the chilled out (if slightly middle-class) atmos.
Last year, we even took to the stage with out friends The Late Greats to sing an acoustic version of - wait for it - Gangsta's Paradise. Highlight of the year? Try highlight of our lives.
So, if you are heading to this weekend's Latitude, here are a few tips of who to see.
Thursday
About three years ago, BobbySix.com was in the back room of a Kings Cross hotel (don't worry, this story isn't going in the direction it's threatening to) sitting cross-legged on the floor with about 100 other people watching an impromptu performance by Nigel Kennedy. It was mind-blowingly good (below). He will be in slightly prettier surroundings on Thursday evening, and if you want your festival to get off to a magical start, then you'd be wise to pour yourself a mug of goon and find a nice spot to watch him do his thing.
Friday
If infectious indie-disco is your bag, then Hockey are sure to get you dancing, at least, they certainly had such an effect on the crowd at this year's Laneway Festival in Sydney. The Sunrise Arena sees turns from Girls and Tokyo Police Club, while old friends of BobbySix.com, Angus & Julia Stone bring their beautiful folk to the Word Arena. If their previous Latitude appearance (below) is anything to go by, they'll win plenty of hearts.
Later on the same stage, check out Richard Hawley before trying to catch some of both main headliners, The National and the lung-busting presence of Florence and The Machine.
The must see act of Friday though is surely the wonderful Laura Marling. While her poetic, bleak folk would surely be better suited to a smaller stage than the Obelisk Arena, her set will surely be one of the highlights of the festival.
Saturday
Will Paul Heaton be worth a look? Only one way to find out really (update: check the comments section at the end of this post!). Weirdy distopian folkster Lupen Crook should be an early treat worth making the effort to see too. Elsewhere, Josie Long will be bringing the laughs to the comedy tent and Paul Greengrass is A-ing the Q's in the Film and Music Arena.
Someone it is unquestionably worth paying attention to on Saturday evening is David Ford. Having played a secret show by the river last year (above), this time round he'll be on the Word Stage. Don't miss his set. In fact, you'd be wise to stay in the Word Tent for the rest of the day, as Noah and The Whale, The Horrors and The XX all follow Ford's show. Otherwise, the cardiganned tweeness of Belle and Sebastian will probably be lovely, or there is always the visceral Archie Bronson Outfit in the Sunrise Arena.
Sunday
More than likely having played backing band to Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons will be on the same stage on Sunday, with their pleasant enough country folk. Meanwhile, Midlake will hope their sound isn't dogged by the same muddiness that they encountered at Latitude in 2007. After them, Melbourne's The Temper Trap (below - another band long-since championed at BobbySix.com) show how their popularity has soared since last year's triumphant showing on the Word Stage, with a slot at the back end of the day in the Obelisk Arena.
On the Sunrise Stage, These New Puritans simply have to be seen. Their ambitious album,Hidden, still sits atop the BobbySix album of the year poll for 2010. My Bloody Valentine-inspired The Pains of Being Pure at Heart might be worth a look too. If you need a break from the music, then check out the incredibly funny Richard Herring in the Comedy Tent and hear Jim Bob read from his new book in the Literary Arena.
For those of us that think headliners Vampire Weekend are at least twice as shit as everyone else seems to, then its a no-brainer to choose Grizzly Bear instead, and before them sees the very welcome return of The Coral and the exciting inclusion of a set by Charlotte Gainsbourg.
If you head slightly off the beaten trail, you're sure to find loads more diverse and interesting stuff to see and do as well. It promises to be a great one. Send your photos and reviews to info@bobbysix.com
Having won the Critics’ Choice Award at The Brit Awards and the coveted BBC Sound Of 2010 poll, it is little wonder that Ellie Goulding’s debut arrives under a hefty weight of expectation.
At the heart of Lights is a really promising songwriter. The album may land on the poppy side of folktronica, but there is emotional depth to Goulding’s themes. When you peel away the shimmering production, her vocal has a pleasingly elfin vulnerability to it; at times coming across like Julia Stone, elsewhere Bjork. Album-closer Salt Skin shows impressive invention with its mixture of electronica and a rousing choir in the chorus, opener Guns and Horses is a nice folk-pop introduction, while the breathless Wish I’d Stayed and the bold Under The Sheets give examples of her fine lyricism.
It’s a shame, then, that the overtly shiny production often makes things feel MOR, like The Writer, which buries a sweet ballad beneath radio-friendly cheese. Also, the fact that she is pulling in so many familiar directions makes Lights sound too much like the result of a record company’s mathematical equation: Florence divided by Laura Marling multiplied by La Roux plus Little Boots equals a new unit-shifting superstar. For a debut, Lights is more than decent, but something simply doesn’t ring true about its more poptastic parts. It leaves one wondering what Ellie Goulding would sound like were she not accompanied by the bells and whistles of the hype machine. One senses things would have been edgier and therefore a bit more satisfying. And therein lies the problem with the mainstream lauding an artist so highly at such an early stage in their career.
LANEWAY FESTIVAL
Sydney College Of The Arts
31/01/10
The venue may have changed, but the pleasant vibe that Sydney's most discerning festival crowd has created in previous years remained, and the SCA provided a pretty backdrop as Portland five-piece Hockey got festival-goers in the right mood with bucket-loads of infectious energy.
Philadelphia Grand Jury were their pleasingly chirpy selves and The Middle East's set featured some really strong moments, like Blood, which was Angus and Julia Stone meets Arcade Fire. While UK's Wild Beasts falsettoed their way through a faintly disappointing turn, the sassy and stylish Bridezilla (below) were simply divine. In a constantly impressive performance, Heart You Hold and Saint Francine in particular illustrated the combination of songwriting depth and enthralling stage dynamic that has become synonymous with Sydney's favourite quintet.
If The xx were overwhelmed by the crowd's fervour at their excellent display, then Mumford & Sons must have been pinching themselves at both the size and the reaction of their audience. “As a nation, you've embraced us more warmly than any other country, including our own,” singer Marcus Mumford gushed. Confident enough to throw away Hottest 100 winner Little Lion Man at the mid-point, the Brits' set may have lacked edge, but was nonetheless a nice mix of upbeat folk and quieter numbers.
Watching anti-folk legend Daniel Johnston (below) is never an entirely comfortable experience, and, dishevelled and singing from a lyric sheet, he cut a fragile figure. However, it didn't take long for his distinctive vocal and innocent yet melancholy lyrics to lodge themselves firmly in the hearts of fans well aware of his battles with the demons of his mind. When he sang: “That rock 'n' roll, it saved my soul,” it was a moment of unforgettable, unparalleled resonance.
As the food queues grew to ridiculous lengths at the back of the site, Sarah Blasko took people's minds off their rumbling bellies with a beautiful and immaculate performance, Echo and the Bunnymen offered up some hits with typical swagger and then Florence and The Machine (top and below) ripped through the headline slot with gusto. Backed by a band which included a harpist, Florence Welch - all long legs and red hair - prowled the stage as she belted out songs from her lauded debut album with an unbelievably stunning and powerful vocal. Her stage presence too was mesmerising. She bashed a drum, climbed atop amps and struck poses in front of an awestruck audience. By the time she ended with a winning trio of Dog Days Are Over, You've Got The Love and Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) - all of which showcased that lung-busting voice - she had the crowd going apeshit. She may only have one album to her name, but tonight proved that Florence is already a worthy headliner and well on the way to becoming an icon in her own right.
It's that time of year again where I revisit everything musical from 2009 and point my thumbs up or down. Here is my judgement on what was hot and what was not:
TOP TEN ALBUMS
1. Lungs - FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE You might think this is a surprising choice, but I was really impressed by the ambition and energy of Lungs with its piano, strings, harps, handclaps and massive drums, and the way Welch’s voice jumps seamlessly from a sultry whisper to an awesome, lung-busting chorus and back again. Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up), is the best example of her stunning vocal. Her delivery at the crescendo of this unapologetically grand pop anthem doesn’t so much ask for your attention as pick you up and fling you across the room. This album’s inventive juxtaposition of dark, gothic lyrics and rousing tunes blows away any burden of expectation with a flourish.
2. Em Are - I JEFFREY LEWIS It doesn't lose anything from being more polished than his ramshackle early efforts, and his storytelling is still up there with the best.
3. Conditions - THE TEMPER TRAP Considering how hard it was going to be to match their mesmeric live show, this debut is great, and filled with anthemic tunes.
4. The First Dance - BRIDEZILLA The First Dance is an album of intelligence, depth and genuine beauty, and Bridezilla’s ability to create intriguing and unique music to this high standard at such a tender age suggests that they have the wherewithal to go on to be one of Australia’s most cherished musical exports.
5. Dark Days/Light Years - SUPER FURRY ANIMALS Bouncing between beautiful, melodic pop and delightful insanity, Dark Days/Light Years is SFA’s best record since 2001’s Rings Around The World and is perfectly representative of a prolific body of work that makes them one of the most inventive and intriguing bands that Britain has ever produced.
6. It Walks Like Love - LOENE CARMEN A truly outstanding record, and Loene Carmen's finest piece of work to date.
7. Waxing Gibbous - MALCOLM MIDDLETON Paradoxically sad and uplifting, this is an intelligent, fragile and really lovely record that finds beauty in the bleakest places.
8. Dance Mother - TELEPATHE Because of the avant-garde approach to song structures and sound, initially it all seems a little disorientating but everything soon starts to make sense. Equally atmospheric, serious, intelligent, confusing and challenging, Dance Mother is a visionary and intriguing album, and how often can you say that nowadays?
9. Far - REGINA SPEKTOR Regina Spektor remains a wonderfully weird treasure, even if her edges seem to be getting smoother.
10. Kings & Queens - JAMIE T All the fun, madness and Englishness of a night’s binge-drinking. Only with Kings & Queens you don’t suffer a hangover and you want to do the whole thing all over again as soon as you’re finished.
TOP TEN SONGS
1. Sweet Disposition - THE TEMPER TRAP
2. Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) - FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE
3. Broken Broken Broken Heart - JEFFREY LEWIS
4. Daniel - BAT FOR LASHES
5. The Fear - LILY ALLEN
6. Emily's Heart - JAMIE T
7. And The Boys - ANGUS & JULIA STONE
8. Lying Around - CASSETTE KIDS
9. Ballad Of Fuck All - MALCOLM MIDDLETON
10. Inaugural Trams - SUPER FURRY ANIMALS
TOP TEN ARTISTS OF THE YEAR
1. The Temper Trap 2. Friendly Fires 3. Kitty, Daisy & Lewis 4. Florence and the Machine 5. Jeffrey Lewis 6. Bridezilla 7. The Cribs 8. Kirin J. Callinan 9. Yeah Yeah Yeahs 10. Sarah Blasko
TOP TEN GIGS
1. Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, Manning Bar, Sydney
It’s not an exaggeration to say it was one of the most amazing gigs I've ever seen and to attempt to sum it up with mere words seems strangely futile. Superlatives have yet to be invented for how great this was, but the guy in front of me said it succinctly enough in a text message that he sent mid-gig. It simply read: “This is the coolest thing I have ever seen.”
1. (Joint first place because I couldn't decide between the two), Camille, Sydney Recital Hall The crowd, who started the night reserved and reluctant to embrace the singalongs, demanded three encores, which included Ta Douleur and a cover of Yes We Can Can. I'd be happy if Camille was still encoring now, as the experimental 90-minute show was moving, funny, intriguing, mesmerising and a triumph for innovation and vivid imagination. Absolutely mind-blowing.
3. Jeffrey Lewis, La Maronquinerie, Paris Not only can he pen evocative lines, but he knows exactly how to put on a live show. The gig had pensive moments, laugh-out-loud humour and sweat-drenched punk magnificence.
4. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Latitude Festival It's safe to say he blew every other performance at Latitude 2009 out of the water. The sound that emanated from the stage from the first moment to the last was an absolute aural attack
5. Kimya Dawson, Komedia, Brighton Typical of Kimya, she played until the venue basically kicked her off stage long after the curfew had passed. 6. The Streets, The Forum, Entertainment Quarter, Sydney Regardless of the general lack of diversity or of how relevant The Streets remain in 2009, the night was really all about Skinner’s interaction with the crowd. He made the gig fun. Proper fun.
7. Jamie T, The Metro, Sydney If You Got The Money almost ripped the roof off and every word of Sheila was roared back at the stage. By the evening’s finale, Sticks ‘n’ Stones, the crowd was going absolutely mental.
8. Bridezilla, The Hopetoun, Sydney It seemed obvious to everyone in attendance that Bridezilla's time is almost here.
9. The Temper Trap, Magnet, Berlin A typically tighter-than-a-duck's-bumhole performance.
10. The Pretenders, Latitude Festival Chrissie Hynde owned the entire field. I'll Stand By You and Bob Dylan's Forever Young were particularly memorable.
TOP FIVE PODCASTS 1. The Ricky Gervais Audiobooks 2. The Adam and Joe Podcast 3. Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo’s Film Review Podcast 4. The Guardian Football Weekly 5. The Jon Richardson Podcast
TOP TEN FILMS
1. Anvil! The Story Of Anvil
As well as being laugh-out-loud funny, this film made me cry more than once and was as touching a love story (obviously in a slightly unconventional sense) as I've ever seen.
2. Let The Right One In A beautiful and fragile story that raised the bar for vampire movies.
3. Moon It drew an extraordinary performance from Sam Rockwell and dealt with its themes of mortality and false reality really intelligently and subtly.
4. District 9 For a political (its message is incredibly thinly-veiled) sci-fi thriller with a brain in its head, then District 9 takes some beating. Funny, thought-provoking and with audience loyalties constantly shifting, this film had me gawping at the screen in wonder.
5. Paranormal Activity Unbearably tense throughout and clever in its use of normality to produce well-contextualised fear.
6. Where The Wild Things Are I don't think it could have evoked children's excitement, imagination, confusion and fear any better.
7. Zombieland In the vein of Shaun of The Dead, Zombieland is a genuinely funny movie, made with a love for the genre that ensures it never becomes a pastiche. Real fun stuff and one of the surprise hits of the year.
8. Gran Torino Clint Eastwood's film-making continues to be intelligent and methodical.
9. Star Trek Cracking sci-fi action which won me over even though I grew up very much on the Star Wars side of the fence.
10. Of Time And The City Marvellous documentary about growing up in Liverpool.
THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES AWARD (MOST OVER-HYPED) Lady GaGa. Not fit to lace Madonna's corset.
QUOTE OF THE YEAR “To those who did not believe in us - and ladies forgive me - they can suck it and keep on sucking it.” Diego Maradona isn’t especially magnanimous towards his critics after Argentina eventually scraped through to the world cup finals.
PREDICTION FOR 2010 Angus & Julia Stone's new album to be universally adored.
HIGHLIGHT(S) OF THE YEAR I thought that singing an acoustic version of Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise onstage at The Latitude Festival with The Late Greats was pretty much the highlight of my entire life until, just ten days from the end of the year, I got to hang out with Superhans from Peep Show at a friend's birthday party. Best night ever.
Florence and the Machine is the name on everyone’s lips in the UK at the moment. Florence Welch - to use her real name - won the Critic’s Choice award at this year’s Brit Awards before she had even released an album, she is already a style icon as comfortable on the pages of fashion glossies as in the NME, and Lungs was recently nominated for the much-coveted Mercury Music Prize. The burning issue, of course, amid such hype and fanfare, is whether her debut long-player is actually any good.
Lungs is certainly ambitious in its indie/pop/soul sound, with piano, strings, harps, handclaps and massive drums, but it is Welch’s voice that is the most impressive instrument, jumping seamlessly from a sultry whisper to an awesome, lung-busting chorus and back again. Radio favourite, Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up), is the best example of her stunning vocal. Her delivery at the crescendo of this unapologetically grand pop anthem doesn’t so much ask for your attention as pick you up and fling you across the room. It’s thrilling stuff and indicative of the album’s multilayered barrage of sound.
Elsewhere, her voice floats over delicate harp on I’m Not Calling You a Liar, while Cosmic Love is a bit Bat For Lashes and Kiss With A Fist offers bouncy White Stripes blues. Wrapping up with a cover of The Source’s You’ve Got The Love, this album’s inventive juxtaposition of dark, gothic lyrics and rousing tunes blows away any burden of expectation with a flourish. Happily, Lungs is unquestionably worthy of the hype.
On the Sunrise Stage, 
