Moscow Olympics

For fans of: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Yuck, Zaza, The Radio Dept.

Taking their name from an Orange Juice b-side and their influences from New Order and My Bloody Valentine, Filipino four-piece Moscow Olympics are reminiscent of shoegaze past and present yet emerge with a sound which is subtly unique. That sound combines a blanket of distorted, reverb drenched guitars laced with ambient synth cut through by distinctive and well written lead guitar lines. Softly sung and sparsely used female vocals can’t help but add to the former.

My eyes were opened to this band by The Answering Machine’s twitter feed and like the late, great Manchester band, Moscow Olympics formed in 2006. However unlike tam, debút Moscow Olympics album Cut The World (pictured above) is yet to be released in the UK , and without a UK release imminent you’d do well to invest in an import from Amazon, Happy Prince or Fraction Discs. Tracks No Winter, No Autumn and The Farthest City are available on iTunes to convince you. If you do splash out on this gem however you shouldn’t be disappointed, despite being only seven tracks in length Cut The World delivers half an hour of soothing shoegaze, which never dips in quality.

If you’re looking for a couple of tracks to get you started check out the double punch of Second Trace and the aforementioned No Winter, No Autumn (together the album’s highlight). And if you work for a UK label sign these kids up and save all us brits the hassle of getting an import.

Who not to miss out on at Reading/Leeds this year

My top acts who everyone should try to see
Friday (L)/Sunday (R)
Death From Above 1979 - Harsh Canadian dance-punk. If they get the crowd that they deserve, it promises to be a truly memorable show. Reunited this year, it is safe to say that the NME tent will 'go off' during DFA, especially with Elbow and Sheeran not offering anywhere near as much energy in their sets. [clashes with Elbow, Ed Sheeran] Myspace

R O M A N C E - opening the Festival Republic stage, the new wave post-punkers will probably rise up through the stages in coming years. Coming from London (and not to be confused with the Seattle group), they are a throwback to the original post-punk movement of the late 1970s in the UK. And who knows, they may spark a revival of their own, check them out if you're awake [clashes with nobody] Myspace

Flats - following R O M A N C E, Flats have surprised me. Off the back of the NME Radar Tour with The Joy Formidable and Chapel Club, they haven't been thrust into the spotlight as many before them have done. Regardless, the modern noise-punk outfit are still raw and will give it everything if you catch them on the Festival Republic stage. [clashes with Dananananaykroyd] Myspace

Best Coast - Beth Cosentino is becoming a cult hero, if such a thing exists in the surf pop sub-genre. With Drew Barrymore-directed new single Our Deal, Cosentino and the rest of Best Coast are enjoying a revitalized period following them bursting onto the scene with album Crazy For You last year. NME stage in the early afternoon [clashes with Frank Turner/The View, Dutch Uncles] Myspace

Saturday (L)/Friday (R)
Foster The People - We've all heard Pumped Up Kicks by now. If you haven't, then you should probably get out from behind that rock you were hiding under. Danceable, light-hearted indie pop. Helena Beat and Pumped Up Kicks will be excellent set-closers, but the rest of the album is worth a listen too. On the Festival Republic stage [clashes with Patrick Wolf, Devlin] Myspace

The Computers - Supporting The Subways on their upcoming UK tour, these guys are excellent and I did a piece on them a couple of months ago (here). Hardishcore punk-rock on the Festival Republic stage. [clashes with Miles Kane, Cold Cave] Myspace

White Denim - criminally underplayed bluesy indie rock. If you haven't heard them before, prepare to fall in love with a band whose recent album D sounds like The Rolling Stones met up with Cold War Kids and just started jamming together on the Festival Republic stage [clashes with Nero, Offspring, Noah & The Whale/Vaccines] Myspace

Sunday (L)/Saturday (R)
Yuck - stepping up from their slot on the Festival Republic stage last year, the internationally-based noise-rockers are playing the NME stage early. Strong grunge and shoegaze influences are noticeable and their debut self-titled album will definitely make most end-of-year Best Of 2011 lists. [clashes with Pigeon Detectives, Young The Giant] Myspace

The Strokes - Their isn't much buzz around Main stage headliners The Strokes. Their new album Angles has sparked a quiet return to indie stardom for Casablancas and co., despite having understandably high pressure to come back with an album to blow Is This It out of the water. It is an understated album, and their headlining performance promises to be one of those special festival moments, with all the hits creating an almost-unbeatable setlist. [clashes with Midnight Beast, Jane's Addiction (Reading), Crystal Castles/Bombay Bicycle Club (Leeds)] Myspace

The Kills - After headlining the Festival Republic stage in 2008 and drawing a decent crowd, and after a good reception (on the most part) for their 2011 release Blood Pressures, Mosshart and Hince could, and probably should, be commanding a larger place on the line-up. Garage rock with intensity is what you will see if you choose to not see Madness on the main stage and head over to the NME tent to see the duo kill it. [clashes with Madness, Cults (?)] Myspace

Favourite Reading and Leeds festivals- Reading 1991

In its earlier years, Reading festival (now Reading and Leeds festival) was dominated by bands from the hippy scene, branding itself as a jazz, blues and rock festival and giving slots to bands such as The Rolling Stones in 1963 and Pink Floyd and The Who in 1969, once the festival had grown. Similar bands took the headline slots through the 70's but as the hippy scene made a natural progression into heavier rock, the festival followed suit, and by the late 70's and 80's, the festival's line-up became predominantly made up of heavy rock, punk and metal. Alternative music was barely represented at the festival apart from the occasional, smaller slots given to the likes of The Fall in 1987 and My Bloody Valentine and The Butthole Surfers in 1989. This was, however, the beginning of a gradual change towards alternative music for Reading festival. Pixies' important headline slot on the main stage in 1990 acted as a catalyst for this change and gave the festival confidence to book alternative acts and to put them in the headline slots. After this seminal moment, the festival enjoyed a glorious five-year spell of American grunge and alternative giants as well as emerging Britpop and shoegaze bands from closer to home dominating the line-up. this golden period allowed the festival to show a more eclectic mix of acts on more, specialist stages and even at a twin festival in Leeds. Embracing independent music has allowed the festival to become what it is today, Britain's leading alternative music festival.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When it comes to choosing my favourite year at Reading (and Leeds) festival, I immediately thought of said golden era, between 1990 and 1994, when alternative music thrived, not only at the festival, but on the whole. These five years produced five fantastic Reading festivals which featured several performances from the best of the new wave of American alternative bands, such as Pixies, Pavement, Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth as well as British bands such as Radiohead and Blur. Each individual festival was brilliant in its own way, whether it's the fantastic, grunge-heavy line-up on the Sunday in 1992 or the pair of brilliant, back-to-back performances from The Lemonheads and Dinosaur Jr. (I personally can't think of two bands who would complement each other more in a line-up) and Radiohead and Blur (although Radiohead later dropped out) in 1993. I personally, however, believe that the strongest line-up which offers the highest quality and variety of bands amongst this five-year spell and in the history of the festival, for that matter, is that of 1991.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The line-up features a good mix of British and American bands who, between them, cover a wide range of genres although the running themes throughout seem to be loud guitars and enigmatic front-men. The first band that I would see on the Friday is Nirvana, a prime example of this. And whether you like them or not, their thrashed guitars and growled vocals infused with intelligent song writing and genuine pop hooks from the transitional period between 'Bleach' and 'Nevermind' would be impossible to ignore. In hindsight, seeing them in their natural and more comfortable environment of a smaller stage, earlier in the day would be an incredible experience not to be missed and a stark contrast to their huge headline slot a year later. The polarity of these two performances shows the band's phenomenal growth in one year. Following Nirvana are the brilliant and often overlooked shoegaze band Chapterhouse who find themselves trapped between loud, distortion-driven, American bands but who provide a breath of fresh air with their vibrant, up-beat, bass-driven, anthems. Next on are Dinosaur Jr. who, armed with noise from their first four albums, including the fantastic 'You're Living All Over Me' and 'Bug', as well as J Mascis' huge solos, would, no doubt, rip apart the main stage and get the crowd warmed up nicely for Sonic Youth later on that night. It's just a shame that hip-hop rejects Pop Will Eat Itself had to fall between the two. The night ends with Sonic Youth and the Iggy Pop, a true testimony to the progression of punk rock up to that point, with firstly a post-punk band (in its literally sense) at the forefront of rock experimentalism at that time and secondly the "proto-punk" who started it all twenty years prior.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Although Saturday has a more British feel to it, overall, it does start with Mercury Rev. Their epic, classically-geared pop does, however, sit nicely on the line-up next to Britpop and shoegaze bands. The next band that i would see on the Saturday would be Teenage Fanclub who, after the Americans set the marker down the day before, show that we can do noise here in the UK too with their loud, brash brand of power-pop. After their masterpiece 'Bandwagonesque', released on the legendary Creation Records, they would be unmissable and unstoppable. The same applies for Blur who are next up on the main stage and playing off the back of their exceptional debut 'Leisure' which remains to this day one of the best albums from the Britpop movement. After these two fantastic pop band in their prime, we are presented with the odd, anti-pop combination of De La Soul followed by The Fall. Both are undoubtedly experimental, progressive and subsequently influential within their respective genres and both are challenging lyrically, yet completely different to one another. Although I'd watch both bands, I'd be more excited for The Fall to see Mark E. Smith spit his venomous poetry on top of a dizzying post-punk backing track. In terms of Saturday's headliner, I'd miss Britpoppers James to see ex Orange Juice front-man Edwyn Collins play his bluesy pop on the second stage.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Sunday offers disappointingly little except for shoegaze outsiders Kitchens of Distinction and Ned's Atomic Dustbin. The headliners, The Sisters of Mercy, are a hiccup from the darker days of the festival, in both meanings of the word. In spite of this weak day, I still would go to this Reading festival over any other to see the 90's music scene in bloom. But it is great to see on 2011's line-up, exactly twenty years after, that the spirit of 90's music lives on with a fantastic line-up featuring new bands such as Yuck, The Horrors, Grouplove, Tribes, Big Deal, to name a few, as well as resurrected Gods Pulp flying the 90's flag.

Past Leeds/Reading Festivals - 2005

here is the line-up

With ticket prices rising year-on-year, Festival Republic were facing stiff competition from other Alternative music festivals. Glastonbury had bagged Coldplay, White Stripes and Basement Jaxx, T In The Park managed to coax New Order and The Prodigy into second stage headlining slots to clash with Green Day and Foo Fighters and V2005 containing Oasis and Franz Ferdinand, Leeds and Reading could have flopped.
Instead, they booked The Pixies and Iron Maiden alongside Foo Fighters to show that they were able to battle the big boys. Pixies were still in the early part of their reunion (so I'm guessing they will have given it more than they will have done in videos I've seen from their recent tours), Iron Maiden continuing to be heavyweights in the Metal world and Foo Fighters thriving with songs 'Best Of You' and 'Cold Day In The Sun' hot off their latest album.

Strength in Depth
Like most Reading and Leeds (now referred to as R/L) line-ups, the strength continues when you look deeper into the line-up.
Sub-headlining to Pixies were The Killers, still coming off the huge chart success of debut Hot Fuss the previous year. Despite The Killers not being considered 'cool' these days, you will only find a minority of people who didn't adore that album when it came out, which was shown by the various awards the album has since won. This performance would have been pretty special.

Foo Fighters were subbed by then-garage rockers Kings Of Leon, whose setlist was, looking back, the best it could have ever been with every KoL fan's favourite tracks being aired. Aha Shake, Heartbreak and Youth And Young Manhood's garage tunes would have lit up the main stage.

On the heavy day, Marilyn Manson and Incubus provided the perfect metal supports to Maiden and I'm sure their fans will have appreciated at least Manson and his industrial tunes.
The rest of the main stage had gems included, such as Dinosaur Jr. on the Foo's day, Queens of the Stone Age, Elbow and The Wedding Present being underneath Pixies and Iggy & the Stooges being present for post-punkers before Maiden.

Alternatives to Headliners
What if you didn't like the main stage headliners? Well, Kasabian (in their beatz-rock days) and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club were the chief alternatives to Pixies which I believe to be a really strong area of the line-up.
If you won't have been keen for Foo Fighters, electro-poppers The Go! Team and britpop revivalists The Tears were clashing with Grohl and co, which now doesn't seem like a good alternative but at the time The Tears were playing all over the place and The Go! Team had a unique sound of Sonic Youth-esque distorted guitars and a love for hip-hop which would have probably been a pretty refreshing sound at the time.
Echo & The Bunnymen and Bloc Party lead the way if you didn't want to watch metal act Iron Maiden.

Getting there first
Elsewhere, R/L continued to impress with the number of bands further down who have gone on to be some of the greats and have ended up headlining in later years.

On the NME stage, The Arcade Fire played off the back of their album Funeral, a time when most Arcade Fire fans say is their greatest album. They went on to sub-headline to Red Hot Chili Peppers in 07 and then headlined the festival in 2010 (which was a true festival highlight for me).

My Chemical Romance appeared at a similar level on the NME stage in their pre-Black Parade days when they released excellent raw punk rock albums Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge and I Brought You My Bullets... They have gone on to having a massive and dedicated fanbase and are headlining R/L this coming year. 

Another band came through in 2005, a band who gave indie-rock a new face. As The Strokes departed, The Arctic Monkeys entered. Playing on the fourth stage, this was one of the last times the Sheffield rockers ever played to a probably quite small crowd and I'm certain those who were there brag about seeing them at such an early stage of their career, before their debut was even released. The internet phenomenons have now taken the world by storm and are playing sell-out tours across the world. They headlined the events in 2009, but it's better that we don't talk about that because it was a pretty average performance.

Who I would have seen

Friday - The Wedding Present (main), Death From Above 1979 (nme), The Subways (nme), We Are Scientists (carling), My Chemical Romance (nme), The National (carling), The Killers (main), Pixies (main) 10/10

Saturday - Editors (nme), Clor (carling), The Cribs (nme), Arctic Monkeys (carling), Dinosaur Jr. (main), The Kills (nme), Arcade Fire (nme), Kings Of Leon (main), Foo Fighters (main) 10/10

Sunday - Boy Kill Boy (nme), Art Brut (nme), Forward Russia (carling), Hot Chip (dance), Four Tet (dance), Iggy & The Stooges (main), Marilyn Manson (main), Echo & The Bunnymen (carling) 8/10

Absolutely perfect Friday/Saturday for me makes this my favourite line-up of Reading & Leeds, and probably of any festival ever

Favourite Leeds/Reading festival line-ups

For anyone who has gotten bored and ended up scouring the internet for information pertaining alternative music festival line-ups, these people will probably already have their favourite Reading (and latterly) Leeds era in mind while reading this. Whether it be the emergence of Grunge in the late 80s to early 90s, the late 90s britpop takeover, the all-indie headliners of 2007, or the now impossible to consider epic 2000 ordering of Blink-182 into Rage Against The Machine, Eminem AND Slipknot right in the middle of the main stage.

Here at SilentHotels, we have decided, amidst the mixed reaction to this year's line-up, to put forward our views on what we believe to have been the greatest line-up this now-dual festival has produced and eventually to see how this year compares. For those who do not know much about the festival, here is some History and previous line-ups so you'll understand what we are planning to yap on about

Bobby's choice is the 2005 line-up, with Pixies, Foo Fighters and Iron Maiden headlining

Stuart's is the '92 festival with Nirvana and their iconic performance

and Rob is planning on looking into the '91 line-up

Stay tuned

Hatcham Social

For fans of- Echo and the Bunnymen, The Fall, The Smiths, Fire Engines, Sonic Youth, The Horrors.

It’s hard for up-and-coming bands to make a lasting impact in the mercurial music scene of today. Toby Kidd, lead singer of Hatcham Social, agrees with me on this. After his show last Sunday night at Kendal Calling festival, he tells me that he thinks people no longer “get” his band’s debut album ‘You Dig the Tunnel, I’ll Hide the Soil’ which came amongst a wave of post-punk revival acts which swept over the UK in 2009. This neglect was reflected in the twenty-strong crowd scattered around the House Party tent for Hatcham Social’s set. This was the case not only because denim and distortion seem to be the recurring themes of 2011 when it comes to exciting, new bands, but also as their set had been delayed to clash with Blondie’s and as their names didn’t appear on the online line-up whatsoever. None of these things, however, seemed to phase the London band who played loudly and energetically and introduced their songs with charisma.

Their set included as many new songs as those from their debut as they made a clear attempt to adapt to become more relevant and to re-mould their sound to fit the template of successful bands in 2011. Whilst there was a clear distinction between old and new, the band was consistent and had a clear, individual, weird style throughout which they built up through their lyrics and stage presence. They appeared so weird, in fact, that a reading of Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky didn’t seem at all out of place in their set. The older material that they played featured a thundering rhythm section that echoed the Bunnymen’s packed set on the main stage the night before intertwined with angular, discordant guitars that ring bells of Fire Engines and The Fall circa ‘This Nation’s Saving Grace’ to build up a dark yet lively soundscape. In the newer material, all of this was thrown out of the window and replaced with distortion-driven guitars that point strongly to the 90’s. Toby Kidd’s vocals, however, have not changed. They take their cue not from Ian Curtis or Mark E. Smith, as is the story for so many of said post-punk revivalists, nor are they lazy and out of tune, as is the case for so many of the recent 90’s revivalists but more like Morrissey. This works surprisingly well with both styles.

The sample single from their forthcoming album ‘Like an Animal’ contains a Sonic Youth-esque intro and solo amidst poppy arrangements and hooks. It can be heard below and compared to the epic 'Sidewalk' which unravels into a noisy, new-wave masterpeice and can be found on the band’s fantastic debut. Hatcham Social are a brilliant example of how a band can adapt to stay relevant in an ever-changing music scene. We have seen so many bands fade away on the release of their second album as the try to emulate their first, in both sound and success. It seems that those that do the best on their follow-up are those that are constantly re-inventing themselves and their sound. We've seen The Horrors maintain their huge cult status by doing so and with their recent shoegazy third album 'Skying', they continue to be as unpredictable as they are brilliant. Other examples of turning to the 90's for success recently include Alice Costelloe and KC Underwood, formerly of yet-to-break-through bands Pull In Emergency and Little Death respectively, who show great promise with their unique brand of stripped-down grunge as 'Big Deal' and Rory Attwell, formerly of Test Icicles and Kasms, who is set to surpass the achivements of both of these bands with the release of his one-man-band Warm Brains' debut 'Old Volcanoes' which consists of gloriously lazy lo-fi pop.

Let's hope that the same can be said for Hatcham Social who capture both sounds they’ve attempted perfectly. Hopefully as a result of acknowledging that people no longer “get” the post-punky, jangly and abrasive sound on their debut and subsequently changing to a 90’s sound which seems to be all the rage at the moment, they will produce another fresh and exciting album to launch them back into the limelight so that they’re no longer playing to rooms of twenty people.

Like An Animal by hatchamsocial - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sidewalk by Hatcham Social- http://snd.sc/paezDH

Kendal Calling - The best of the Line-up

In its 6th year, Kendal Calling is one of the up-and-coming independent festivals in the UK. Headliners last year were Doves, The Coral and Calvin Harris and scintillating performances came from OkGo, The Subways and Pulled Apart By Horses to name-drop a few.

This time around, Blondie, Chase & Status and The Cribs were headlining, and the line-up included Echo & The Bunnymen, Frank Turner, Beardyman, Young Knives, Fenech Soler and a secret set from The La's too!
Here are some of my personal highlights from some other acts.

Summer Camp

Summer Camp. Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey look and sound incredible together. Successful duos need to have that spark between them, and Summer Camp have that in abundance. Playing at the intimate Get It Loud In The Library tent on the Sunday, the lo-fi dream poppers treated onlookers to a very personal and polished show. Heavy-handed drum beats also gave the act another dimension live that sometimes is needed to translate excellent recording sound into a tight performance. Sankey venturing into the crowd during 'Veronica Sawyer' and a future dream pop classic 'I Want You' were two of the many highlights from the set. If you like what you hear, get excited as a full-length album is coming out later this year.


∆  (pronounced Alt J). After the xx's meteoric rise last year to become new heavyweights in alternative music, there weren't many other bands who followed suit and rode the wave which carried the atmospheric electronic trio so far. ∆ are like a stripped-back version (in terms of the background lull which surrounds the xx), with captivating drum beats and a therapeutic chillwave vibe around their music. Check out 'Breezeblocks' on this page, and then their soundcloud page if you like it (which I hope you will)

Stagecoach (photo from Kirsten Mavric)

Stagecoach. These upbeat junk-poppers from London write songs about pizzas and chess, but if you had seen them at Kendal or at any of their other festival dates this summer, you definitely will have enjoyed their set. One look at mandolin player Chop's outfit (headband, Dananananaykroyd tee and short shorts) would suggest a boisterous performance from guys who want to have fun while making danceable pop tunes. With influences from the 90s such as Blur and The Lemonheads, this is pop with britpop and grunge links. 'Jonah Lomu' and tracks 'Good! Great! Better! Best!' and Pavement-esque 'Headbangers Ball' from their 2011 EP Crash My Ride stood out in a strong and unique 30-minute performance on the Calling Out stage on Friday.

Top 5 Tracks Of The Weekend

1. The Cribs - Be Safe
2. Echo & The Bunnymen - The Cutter
3. Stagecoach - Jonah Lomu
4. Dinosaur Pile-Up - All Around The World
5. Summer Camp - I Want You

 I Want You by Summer Camp

 Breezeblocks (demo) by alt-j

 Good, Great, Better, Best! by stagecoachuk

Check out Minks

Minks are a dream pop duo from Brooklyn, New York, signed to the Captured Tracks label. Said label has described them as "like Robert Smith gave birth to a baby, and the baby was actually a cassette of Cure demos that had a lot more staying power than actual Cure demos". This may seem like a lot to live up to, but they defend this bold claim and more once you start listening.



Their debut LP 'By The Hedge' was released earlier this year, and they could be breaking through majorly into the scene which has brought Beach House, The xx, and more recently Cults, so much acclaim of late. The album has stand-out tracks, such as dirgey garage-gaze 'Out Of Tune' and 'Funeral Song' but also makes for great listening in its entirety. Whilst writing this I'm struggling to pick out my favourite part of the album because it really doesn't have any weak sections. Listen for yourself on Spotify (just type in Minks and you'll find it) or trail through Youtube (link to the first track 'Kusmi'). If you like what you hear, buy it!

MINKS
Myspace // Facebook // Blogspot

Latitude Festival - The Music

With headline slots for Suede, The National, Foals, Paolo Nutini and Bombay Bicycle Club, appearances from My Morning Jacket, Echo & The Bunnymen, Edwyn Collins, Bright Eyes, Crystal Fighters and Lykke Li, Latitude boasted one of the strongest and most diverse alternative line-ups in the UK.

Here is a little snippet of who impressed this weekend (without the aforementioned bands as I'd prefer to focus on the up-and-coming acts).

Some Notable Live Performances

Foster The People. Polished and extremely danceable, the LA band are living up to all the hype. This hype is centred fully around their song 'Pumped Up Kicks', but after listening to their album Torches, and watching them on the intimate Sunrise Arena, I've realised that this band are certainly not a fad or a one-hit wonder. 'Color On The Walls (Don't Stop)' and set-finisher 'Helena Beats' were big crowd-pleasers and it was clear to see the appreciation from both punters and the band at the end of the set; fans being elated at witnessing a thoroughly energetic set, and the band at how well their set was received as they saluted the crowd on their way off.

Tripwires

Tripwires. With their debut album 'Spacehopper' recently out in May of this year, this Reading four-piece shoegaze band haven't been part of much buzz of late. It is all going to change soon enough, however, with influences from The Smashing Pumpkins and My Bloody Valentine leading to a big sound which you feel could make them into stars before too long. With only a few more summer dates on the calender, Tripwires may have to wait for their break but you needn't. Listen to grungey 'In Apathy' and anthemic 'Cinnamon' on their Last.fm page to get started.

Grouplove. Pixies-fused indie pop. It sounds quite an interesting proposition, doesn't it? Well, fs this concoction exists, it lies within Grouplove. Real feel-good track 'Don't Say Oh Well', minimalistic keyboard breaks in 'Itchin' Like A Photograph' and crowd-favourite/usual set-finisher 'Colours' all lend themselves to a strong live performance, and they sound just as good recorded. With an album to be released in September, Grouplove are months away from breaking into the major leagues of alternative pop. If you are debating watching them at Reading and Leeds Festivals (27th/28th August), I'd urge you to watch them, especially as they are playing right after Tribes on the Festival Republic Stage.

Tribes

Tribes. The English rockers are fucking cool, and their performance on the Lake Stage didn't disappoint. They commanded a large audience, in no small part due to the rising exposure of this summer's hottest track 'We Were Children', but new single 'Sappho' and the rest of the We Were Children EP went to show that this band are merely flexing their revivalist muscles in the music scene, with anthemic singalongs aplenty and a bright future ahead.

Top 5 Tracks of the Weekend (in no real order)

1. Dog Is Dead - Glockenspiel Song
2. Tribes - We Were Children
3. Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks
4. The Walkmen - The Rat
5. James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream

Battles - Gloss Drop

Many people consider Battles to be solely the experimental rhythmic noodlings of American composer Tyondai Braxton. Having trained under the experimental genre's elite (Glenn Branca, Steve Reich and father Anthony Braxton), the then four-piece's first full length Mirrored received widespread critical acclaim for it's glistening tones and it's unfathomable rhythmic changes. So when Tyondai left the band back in August 2010 as they geared up for this sophomore release, expectations sadly dropped. Yet wrongly so, as Gloss Drop pinches from Mirrored whilst reappearing with an all new collection of sounds.

One thing that should be said about Gloss Drop is that it is one of the funner albums that you are likely to hear this year. A pristine example would be the funky single Ice Cream which features Matias Aguayo, whose voice is manipulated almost as an extra instrument, full of rhythmic delays and slotted perfectly between playful beats of pure madness.

This record is entirely focused on creating playful, rhythmic music, and the production is a fine reflection of that. The low ends thump and the high ends are very snappy. The overall production is clean and crisp, with some really captivating panning enhancing the duelling guitar riffs in particular, but additionally the synthesisers and thoroughly competent drum work.

One of the standout tracks that Battles have really mastered on this thing is Wall Street. It is one of the craziest, danceable tracks that I have heard, umm, ever! It's that high octane pulse that for me sums up what Battles were trying to achieve with this album, and it's of great regard to drummer John Stanier that he can hold together such an intricate sense of rhythm on a track of this pace.

The vocal contributions on this album are also hugely welcome, with Gary Numan's performance on My Machines allowing a much greater sense of depth to that particular track.

Really the only reason that this effort does not score higher for me is that there is no respite at all. The record is full throttle from start to finish, and by the end your brain is slightly frazzled. A slight break in the chain may have done this album some good, but there will be people that believe that stifling this record's momentum would have killed it all together. Bottom line, it's safe to say that in the face of adversity, Battles really stepped up and delivered an extremely polished sophomore, which is no mean feat, even with Tyondai Braxton on board.
8.9 
Out 06/06/2011
Stuart Thornton