ISSUE TWENTYNINE

LOS CAMPESINOS LADYTRONBE YOUR OWN PET FLEET FOXES THE RASCALSTOKYO POLICE CLUB CATS IN PARIS LAYMARMAGIC ARM MOON WINDOW THE LIONHEART BROTHERS CREAMFIELDS

JUNE/JULY FREE

EDITOR - Richard Cheetham - rich@highvoltage.org.uk ASSISTANT EDITOR - Alistair Beech - alistair@highvoltage.org.uk

FEATURES EDITOR - Adrian Barrowdale - adrian@highvoltage.org.uk REVIEWS EDITOR - Fran Donnelly - fran@highvoltage.org.uk

NEW BAND EDITOR - Stephen Eddie - stephen@highvoltage.org.uk LISTINGS EDITOR - Mike Caulfield - listings@highvoltage.org.uk

DESIGN - Andy Cake | Soap | www.soapforall.co.uk

CONTRIBUTORS - Alex Barbanneau, Hannah Bayfield, Sarah Boardman, Hannah Clark, Neil Condron, Phil Daker, Richard Fox,

Jade French, Lauren Holden, Chris Horner, Billy Idle, James Morton, Sophie Parkes, Liam Pennington, Andy Porter, Simon Pursehouse,

Michael Roberts, Gareth Roberts, Alexia Rogers-Wright, Jamila Scott, Benjamin Thomas, Simon Smallbone, Jack Titley, Megan Vaughan

JUNE/JULYISSUE TWENTYNINE

featuresIntroducing… The Lionheart Brothers &

Laymar SIXIntroducing… Cats in Paris &

Magic Arm Moon Window SEVENThe Rascals NINE

Tokyo Police Club TENBe_Your_Own_Pet ELEVEN

Fleet Foxes TWELVELos_Campesinos THIRTEEN

Ladytron FOURTEENCreamfields 10yrs TWENTYSIX

RegularsManchester news FIVE

Single reviews SIXTEENAlbum reviews EIGHTEEN

Futuresonic reviews TWENTYNew Noise TWENTYTHREE

Manchester Listings TWENTYFOUR

For more reviews, interviews,comment and info on all

HighVoltage activities log on tohighvoltage.org.uk

See highvoltagesounds.co.uk forlabel info and new

HighVoltage releases

two three

This issue is dedicated to Alistair Beech who hasstepped down from his position as assistant editor in order to build his career in music PR in London. We hope Ali will still contribute reviews, though everyone at HV would like to thank him for his hard work over the past 3 years.

five

June/July_News...

Event ofthe Month...

Words: Fran Donnelly

As DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh

Prince remind us, summertime is

a time to sit back and unwind.

Unless you're in Manchester, in

which case it's time for all-night

BBQs, house parties and doing

anything but sitting back.Of course the gigs cut back for the next few

months as we lay waste to pastures greener over

festival season, but there's a treat or two back

home. Modern dance icon Matthew Dear is

unbelievably coming to Night n Day on 13/06,

bringing his downbeat tech-pop for a rare

appearance whilst equally rare right now,

The Longcut make their looong overdue return

with old friends Akoustik Anarkhy, at new

favourite The Deaf Institute on June 20th.

Keith and former Snowfighters Delphic take over

The Aftershow on 27/06 and then there's that

24hr Tony Wilson Experience at Cathedral

Gardens on June 21st, promising to be an

explosion of general creativity as legends talk

music.

If you're not festivalling just yet, then Radiohead

have their own big day at Lancashire CC (29/06)

whilst The Music (and their great new album)

follow about ten sold out Manchester dates this

year at Academy 1 on July 1st. Naturally you

won't miss The Maple State consolidating a great

first half of the year at Night n Day, 06/07, and

just as unmissable is Twisted Wheel's Oldham

homecoming on July 26th.

So are you coming to Glasto? Be sure to check

out Manchester's (well, Concrete Recordings')

own Late N Live stage at some point, where

going into the night you can catch Orphan Boy,

Travelling Band, Keith and Rachael Kichenside.

It's just like a night in town, but with added

festival goodness.

Alright, so it's not til August, but with it now

being a weekend affair it's a good time to get

these things planned ahead. Loathe to slum it

with smelly moshers at Leeds this summer, HV

will itching for festival action and for its 10th

Anniversary, local megafestival Creamfields is

our bet. It might be a Liverpool institution, but

it's actually like, less than half an hour on the

train to Warrington an then you're laughing all

the way to Daresbury, Cheshire.

With added camping over 22nd/23rd August

there's twice the lineup of previous years; the

obviously highlight being the Prophet of

Longsight, Ian Brown sharing a stage with The

Whip. Kasabian have their only UK festival date

and Underworld are set for a stormer along with

scores of mint DJs. And then there's Soulwax,

The Presets and Simian Mobile Disco. Head to

the back page for boss-head James Barton's

reckonings…

four

seven

It seems that 2008 is the year thateyes are turning back toManchester, but the experiencewould be so much richer if thoseeyes peer towards Cats in Paris.There’s no chance of Manc-swagger pigeonholing here; notonly do they claim to have foundtheir name in a dream (of a 30ftkitten wrapped around the EiffelTower like King Kong), but from astarting point of “awesome plinkyplonky macrosongs withglockenspiels and toy drums”, theyhave ended up “a bit ‘I'm at the topof a mountain’ prog-epic”. Whateverthat means, it sounds like nothingelse right now.

A bit prog, a bit post-rock and a lotof fun, the band “purposefully try tokeep people guessing”, and evensuggest that a Venn diagram maybe the best way to show theoverlap in their varied tastes. Theirlive shows are mesmerising, whollyfrenetic with numerous shifts ingenre and have won them supportslots with Islands and a triumphantSounds from the Other City showwhere “the room was crammed fullof people and sweat and goodvibes. In fact it was the sweatiestwe've ever been, officially” and they“had a serious dance off with theincredible band Gentle Friendly. Wetotally won.”

Looking to the future they’re off tothis summer’s Green Man Festival,a slot they landed through locallabel Akoustik Anarkhy, where theyadmit they may be out on a limb

despite the traditionally folk-basedfestival diversifying. “We've done afew folk nights before” they say,“where we're totally out of place.It's actually quite good being asore thumb once in a while.”

And last, but hopefully not least, ifCats in Paris were actually cats,which part of Paris would theyhang out in? After suggesting ourown preference we get theresponse “If you're on theMontmartre steps, then we'll gothere, and maybe we could go fora coffee, or a beer, maybe a show,and maybe, just maybe, back toyours?” Miaow.

Words: Hannah Bayfield

www.myspace.com/catsinparis

Foxes/Terrapins is out now onAkoustik Anarkhy

If to the undiscerning outsider thesight of another scruffy, backwards-looking Manchester troupe on thecover of music weeklies suggeststhe musical tide up here changesas often as the weather clears,they’d be wrong.

One of many artists to break fromswaggering traditions is Magic Arm(elsewhere known as MarcRigelsford), whose upbeatelectronica and off-kilter melodiesadorning debut EP ‘OutdoorGames’ have been drawing giddyapproval from fans and critics alike-with Ed Droste of Grizzly Beargoing so far as to say “I dare you totell me it sucks.”

High Voltage caught up with Marcas he and co-producer RobinHousman (previously working withHV favourites The AnsweringMachine and Polytechnic) add thefinal few tweaks to his upcomingdebut LP ‘Widths and Heights’.

“It’s been about five months sincewe started, from the original demos.It’s a very meticulous process, cosI’d been working on some tracks fora year previously, I didn’t want tolose the feel on the drums,atmosphere and sounds. So whilstRobin might usually be working withthirty tracks on a band’s recording,with us it’s been with nearly ahundred. So it’s pretty painstaking;we’ve kinda been experiencing a bitof cabin fever…”

Whilst previously stripped down toessential loops and acousticstrumming, early indications point to

something sonically moretechnicolor, “I’ve been listening to alot of hip hop and pop-R&Bproduction, people like Rihanna andKanye West. That kind of overly-produced, really good pop, and justpushing the electronic thing furthertoo. ”

Past live shows have been strictlysolitary affairs, although this alsolooks to be changing for upcomingjaunts. “ I’m gonna be working witha band called My Side Of TheMountain; it’s gonna be great toactually play the songs as you firstenvisioned them rather than juststicking to loops – which I do enjoy– but I think for this record it’ll bemore relevant, and more fun too.”

The outcome is sure to be some ofthe most joyous and infectioussounds heard all summer.

Words: Mike Caulfield

www.myspace.com/magicarm

Magic Arm play at The Night andDay Café on 11th June.

six

THE Lionheart Brothers have justplayed their most bizarre gig yet. It's

April 4 and Norway's finest exportsare the latest act to join LancasterLibrary's endless list of top acts toperform in the city. Watched by acrowd mostly made up oftweenagers, The Lionheart Brothers'show follows previous library sets byThe Thrills, Adele, Bat for Lashes andThe Long Blondes. Speaking to HighVoltage backstage after the show, thefive-piece are enjoying a rare rest.

"The library show was great. It wasdifferent, you know" says guitarist andvocalist Marcus Forsgren. “We'venever played in a library before, it wasreally cool. A lot of people showedup!"

They had better get used to it. Overthe last few months, the boys aregradually making a firm mark on theBritish scene, what with their album'Dizzy Kiss' finally being released inthe UK. So how've they gone downover here?

"British fans are very similar toNorwegian fans actually," saysMorten "No, maybe they're a bit moreopen. Norwegian crowds are quitesceptic, they analyse you a bit.

"The British reaction has been greatthough, very positive."

With Marcus Forsgren and MortenOby on guitar and vocals, the band iscomprised of Peter Rudolfsen ondrums, Audun Storset on organ andFrantz Andreasson on bass.

Influenced by Beach Boys and MilesDavis amongst others, theirs is atranscendental, dreamy mix ofmystic pop rock.

Despite success in their hometown,the band's biggest highlight to datehas been breaking out of little oleTrondheim and playing to crowds inEngland and New York. “We'recoming back to England thissummer," continues Marcus, "We'llbe doing loads of festivals, SummerSundae and Great Escape. Oh anda Drowned in Sound tour."

But they might not be spending toomuch time hanging out with Englishbands. "I think every English bandsounds the same." says Marcus"There's nothing new happening.”But with that, he adds: "We're reallylooking forward to coming over. Thepeople are nice and the fans aregreat."

Words: Lauren Holden

www.myspace.com/lionheartbrothers

'Dizzy Kiss' is out now onShellShock

“We take a lot of influence fromManchester as a city and believe it tobe intrinsic to our sound, more sothan a lot of the other bands that weknow of who are based here.”

So explain Manchester’s psychedelicpost-rockers Laymar, on the eve ofthe release of their debut LP. Theintense layers of noise created on InStrange Lines and Distances (checkreview towards the back of the ‘zine)belies their numbers, as Laymar areactually three gentlemen in their earlytwenties - David Paul (drums /programming), Ciaran Cullen (bass /synthesizer) and Colin Williams(guitar, piano / synthesizer.

Putting the LP Together can’t havebeen an easy experience?

“The LP is a mix of three people’slives over the last eight years; anattempt at throwing their feeling andthoughts into their instruments, nomatter how dark or euphoric, thencreating pieces of music out of them.It should be listened to as a wholefrom beginning to end.”

It was recorded in late 2007 with thehelp of Tom Knotts at Airtight Studioson an industrial estate in Chorlton,and Laymar seem to hold him inpretty high regard: “we now believeTom Knotts to be a genius.” Clearly‘Genius’ Knotts has capturedsomething unique.

Not ones to standstill, Laymarrecently retreated to Cornwall to workon LP number two. Ciaran explainsthat: “The new material, although stillin its infancy, is more rhythmicallyorientated. Still vocal-less (apart fromthe odd sample), thought provokingand moving.

“Writing new material in Cornwallallowed us access to a purer way ofthinking and helped us toconcentrate solely on our music,outside of the distractions of ourlives. This was productive but on apermanent basis we thought it wouldalter our sound to a point of nolonger being relevant to ourselvesand our home.” Serious wordsindeed.

Taking the time to regroup merelyexasperates HVs feeling that Laymarare laying off right at the start of awonderful musical quest, and we justhope they get around to filling ourears with aural delights for a longtime to come.

Words: Richard Cheetham

www.myspace.com/laymarmusic

In Strange Lines and Distancesreleased on TV Records on 23rdJune

INTRODUCINGLAYMARThe Lionheart Brothers Magic Arm Moon Window

The morning after The

Whip's Manchester

homecoming and HV is

washing down Alka-

Selzer with five spoons

of instant coffee (with

like, water obviously).

It's barely dinnertime

and it feels far too early

to talk rock ‘n’ roll. The

equally groggy Scouse

croak down the phone

agrees, and speaking

only in lowest tones of

voice we caught up

with Greg Mighall of

The Rascals - three top

chaps from Hoylake on

the Wirral. It's been a

year since they formed

and he's going to

quietly tell us about the

album they've got in the

can.

"We did it in like four weeks," he hazily recalls, "so it was prettyquick to record. It's literally the firstbatch of songs we did together andwas all done as live takes.Everyone sounds the same thesedays but the way we've done it,you've got to play it right and it'smore honest I think. Some peopleuse Pro Tools an’ it works, but forus we don't need it really."

Nevertheless the drummer'ssurprisingly coy about how well hethinks the album will be received.With songs like the kooky, effects-stuttering 'Freakbeat Phantom' hecould be pretty confident, butinstead he just wants to get thesesongs out on the road with theirbiggest tour yet, starting this Friday.

"That's what it's all about for me.We love it on tour. What's not tolike? Playing your songs to differentpeople in a different place everynight, know what I mean?" Andwhen Greg's on tour, is it aperennial hangover or a chance to soak up some culture? "Ohyeah, I'm there taking pictures ofcathedrals an’ that."

Well, Greg will have plenty of timeto take in Manchester's sights nextweek when they get down to ClubAcademy. Following their sold outappearance at Night & Day lastNovember, it should be a cracker.Live, The Rascals are psychedelicand boisterous, brought to life byMiles' distinctive drawl. Togetherthey're a tight unit that batters outfraught rock before spinning off in awash of guitars and effects. "Everygig we give a hundred percent,"

says their drummer. "It's never likewe can't be arsed. We make surethere's like a dynamic in the setwith ups and downs to keep peopleinterested. Every night, even if weare nursing hangovers."

When past tours have involvedonstage japes with mates ArcticMonkeys, there'll no doubt somegiggles and mischief? "Well weknow each other better thananyone else," Greg agrees."There's never any tension or anyof that, we just have a laugh."

"I knew Miles when I was seven butthen didn’t see him for awhile. We'd all go to the same gigs – mean Joe used would go to see The Libertines or The CooperTemple Clause and Joe would be like, "there's that lad again". It turned out to be Miles who I'dknown years ago."

Now 21, the three mates playGlastonbury's Thursday, on aLiverpool Leftfield stage that putsthem alongside other Merseysiderslike Elle S'Appelle and The SealCub Clubbing Club. What doesGreg make of the activity roundtheir way over the last year?"There's loads of good stuff comingout at the moment. It's not evennecessarily stuff that we're into butyou can appreciate that it's a goodthing. We're not really part of anyscene – there're four or five bandsthat are sort of linked, but we'vealways done our own thing."

The decision to do their own iswhat brings them to us today afteramicably moving on from cult

heroes The Little Flames. Despitesome success, the boys felt theyhad to leave and take a chance."We joined The Little Flames but itwas always like, ‘one day we'll dosomething’. Even before then wewere gonna get a band togetherbut it never happened. It's been abig circle to get where we are butit's been better that why cos weknow what we're doing now."

Backed by their experiences, thetrio were quickly resigned byDeltasonic, a label synonymouswith top music in Liverpool. Butbeing a band who dabble with a60s style and a cheeky lads lack ofpretension, are they worried aboutbeing written off as just anotherCoral? "I don't think we are likeother Deltasonic bands that muchreally, but you're always gonna getpeople making the comparisons.It's not a concern though; we're notworried about it."

Fair enough mate. Either way, HVwon't be missing The Rascalspsyche-rock explosion next week.Provided we've recovered by then.

Words: Fran Donnelly

The Rascals play Club Academy on June 3rd. Album Rascalize is out June 23rd on Deltasonic.

www.myspace.com/rascalmusic

nineeight

So muchgood stuff,but you gettheserooms fullof suitsand...I don’tknow. It’s abit sadwhat theydon’t get tohear

Having listened to the second BeYour Own PET album, the followingfeelings may occur: your ears willhurt, like someone has tried to rama telescope through one to see outthe other side, and failed. Second,pure aggression will course throughyour nervous system, willing you toact upon it and cause seriousdamage to anything and anyonewithin reach. Finally, it will beinfinitely clear that the band inquestion have absolutely nointention of following the unwrittenmusical rule of 'moving on'. Equallyirreverent, equally loud, and equallyas brilliant as their debut, the bandappear set on distilling punk rockback to its base, and in doing so,ruffling industry feathers along theway.

For the US release of 'GetAwkward' three tracks werecensored by Universal, includingthe outstanding 'Becky' and 'BlackHole', which contain tongue-in-cheek lyrics about violence and

killing, and being pretty damnamused by the whole thing. Whatdoes front-woman Jemina Pearlmake of that?

"IT FUCKING BLOWS!"she says. "I've no ideawhy it's all happenedeither ‘cos I'm not anold rich white dude witha huge pole up hisass."

Thankfully, XL are without saidpoles, meaning we get thecomplete uncut version. GetAwkward-gate has not dampenedthe band's patriotic spirit however.

"America! Fuck yeah! America ishome, and as you all know, homeis always better and morecomfortable. We play house partiesand small venues all the time backhome in Nashville, mostly with our

friends watching and have a greattime. The US is huge so it takes along time to tour and spread ourmusic, but there are definitelycertain parts of America that showus a great time every time we'rethere."

It seems American heritageremains at the dark heart of BeYour Own PET. Despite the album'spulsating anger and disgust forsome aspects of American life,underground US cinema hasproved a major influence on theband. Russ Meyer flicks, the classiczombie films of George A. Romero,and even the techno-epic Robocopwere raided for musical inspirationsays Nathan Vasquez.

"I love films, and I like to take myfavourite movies and relate lines orscenes from them to things thathave happened in my life".

This is evident in the band’s recentdalliance with homemade cinema.Three video blogs featuring theband before, during and after ashow at a roller-derby in a varietyof spoof comi-violent sketches canbe seen on their Myspace, withdrummer John in a star turn as alovelorn teen in episode two. Whilegetting beaten by roller-derby girlsand getting high on “’shrooms“, it’sclear these four punk kids are, intheir own words, “chombo-ing ashard as (they) can”. This isperhaps why the cover art for ‘GetAwkward’ features the four bandmembers clutching items from theirchildhood; a personal touch from aband doing things on their ownterms.

“Yeah, they’re things we’ve had fora long time. The telephone was thephone I had as a kid that myparents almost threw away. I had tosave it from the trash! I wanted tomake the album look like some of

my favourite punk album covers.Real set-up shots like ‘TheIncredible Shrinking Dickies’ and X-Ray Spex’s ‘Germ FreeAdolescents’.” says Jemina.

As if they weren’t busy enoughoffending everyone in sight withtheir current band, the three malemembers have two side projectsbetween them; Turbo Fruits whoare working on the follow up to theirdebut, due out early next year onceBYOP have completed theirextensive and not doubt destructiveworld tour, while Nathan’s Deluxinproject sells “a ridiculous amount ofrecords on the BYOP tour”. Sodoes Jemina have any plans for a‘side project’ of her own?

“I had a band with my ex-boyfriend,but I quit when we broke up. It wascalled Cheap Time and we had one7 inch together. I would love tohave an all girl band one day, butit’s hard to find a girl drummer.”

So there you go. The advert’sthere; any female or perhapsparticularly effeminate maledrummers interested in lie-ins, latenights and making outstanding DIYpunk records while sharing a tourbus with Jemina, email your detailsand we’ll pass them on. Themission statement?

“To shove a wad offireworks up their assand light them on fire!”

Words: Andy Porter

www.beyourownpet.net

‘Get Awkward’ is out now on XL. BeYour Own PET play Reading andLeeds festivals in August.

be your_own pet

It’s two years since Tokyo PoliceClub’s mini album, A Lesson InCrime, was released in NorthAmerica and gradually slipped intothe British Isles' consciousness.Showcasing a heady mix of post-punk, indiepop and emo, theCanadian teens' EPs and lastsummer's single, 'Your English IsGood', trimmed alternative rock'sindulgent flab, delivering brief andcatchy songs tailor-made for thelive arena. The pressures ofextensive touring and no littleprocrastination over how their firstproper album should sounddelayed the release of their débutalbum, Elephant Shell, until lastmonth.

Ahead of their UK tour in June, wespoke with lead singer and bassist,Dave Monks, the day after theirbiggest headlining show to date,the Metro in Chicago.

HV: How was last night?

DM: “There was a bit ofnervousness going into the show,which can be a good thing, but itwas amazing!”

You seem to have quite a punishingschedule at the moment with nottoo many days off – how do youstay sane on tour?

“I don't know that we do, but wemanage. We've all known eachother for so long that getting alongcomes naturally and we all havesome sense of giving each otherspace because otherwise touring islike a month of non-stop socialising

which is strange. Boredom andshort attention spans are generallyour main foibles. It’s imperativethat we keep ourselves excited bywhat we're doing, and we'll dowhatever is necessary to achievethat.”

Do you feel that the wait for yourproper full-length début LP hasbeen beneficial?

“I feel that throughouttouring the EP, we werebuilding a solid fanbase from our liveshows. Not on publicityor anything. And thoseare the kind of fans thatwill stick by you even ifit takes a long time tomake your next record.And we didn't want tolet people down with arushed effort. And nowthat it's out, theresponse has beengreat and we'recontinuing to playshows that we're reallyproud of.”

What ideas did you have for thealbum prior to recording, and werethese fully realised?

“Because we were touring somuch, we didn't really have time tostop and really think about ourrecord before we first startedrecording. We spent a few weeksin the studio during September2007 of last year and came out witha record that wasn't going wherewe wanted it to.”

How did you progress from there?

“The day after we came out of thestudio we played two big showswith Bloc Party. And I think itoccurred to us right there and thenthat we wanted to make a recordthat represented us as an energeticlive band. We wanted to make arecord without a filler-track andwhere every song could potentiallybe someone's favourite TokyoPolice Club song. So after wespent October 2007 touring, wehalted the gears and went into arehearsal space in Toronto and allof sudden had a burst of creativityand wrote eight songs in twoweeks. And then in December lastyear we recorded it in Toronto. Andwe couldn't be happier with ourrecord.”

How have the new tracks translatedinto the live set?

“The songs from this record seemto fit in really well with the oldsongs we have. When we werewriting the new stuff we were awareof our live strengths and I think it

comes across. Plus we have lightsnow! We've been consideringcovering 'First We Take Manhattan'by Leonard Cohen. Because he isgreat, Canadian, and I would get tosay, "first we take Manhattan" andthen Graham would play that epicstring thing and then maybe we'dall shout, "then we take Berlin!". Butwe then we realised how long thatsong is and how weird thearrangements are and we'rethinking we might try somethingelse first…”

And finally Graham, [keyboardist] Ihear you're reviewing thebathrooms you frequent during thetour via a blog, what do youconsider the essentials to anenjoyable bathroom visit?

“I'm not picky about bathrooms, I'mreally not. All I ask for is amoderately clean room where thepipes are attached and the doorcloses most of the way. This issurprisingly hard to find in America,but perhaps I can make adifference in my own small way.You might say that I'm a real lifehero.”

Words: Simon Smallbone

www.tokyopoliceclub.com

Tokyo Police Club tour the UK now.

TOKYO_POLICE_CLUB

ten eleven

Los Campesinos gottogether at CardiffUniversity, bondingover alternative nightlifeand obscure rock’n’roll.Within months offorming, they weresupporting BrokenSocial Scene and werethe subject of a web-fuelled bidding war.Intent on finishing theirdegrees beforesuccumbing to rockexcess, the LosCampesinos locomotiveis now gathering speedacross America. HVspoke to frontmanGareth to find out ifplans for a theme parkhave been drawn upyet.

HV: Have things slowed downsince the release of ‘Hold On Now,Youngster’?

GC: “Well, the tour schedule thatwe’ve got lined up at the moment isgoing to be hard. The album onlyjust came out in America so we’ve

got a month-long tour all over theUnited States and Canada and AllTomorrow’s Parties festival. Ifanything, I think things are goingbetter in North America than theyare here. The bands that we drawinfluence from and get compared toare generally American, and we’vealready played sold out New Yorkshows so things are very exciting.”

There’s a song on the album aboutbeing a punter at ATP. Does lifeimitate art or is it the other wayround?

“It’s probably life imitating artimitating life. We’ve been to the AllTomorrows Parties festivals for acouple of years and that song is a65% true story about when wewent for the first time, so it’s reallysurreal to be playing there. Whenwe formed the band we got carriedaway with ourselves, and said thatone day we’d get to play... “

It used to be the case that Top OfThe Pops or Glastonbury were thesigns of true success.

“Yeah, but ATP has that excitingelement to it in that they don’t justget the same bands that areplaying everywhere. Across thesummer there’ll be a festival everyweekend and they all have asimilar line-up.”

If you were curating, who wouldyou have on the bill?

“Personally, I’d have…(pauses)See, I’m pretending I have to thinkabout it but it’s pretty much the only

thing I do think about. Xiu Xiuwould be up there, and lots of RiotGrrrl things. I wish I’d been aroundand been old enough to appreciatethe Riot Grrrl movement as ithappened. I’d also like to getbands to reform. We’d go for a LifeWithout Buildings reformation, aProlapse reformation… We’dsubmit huge long lists to ATP andthey’d just tell us “no way”.”

Why Riot Grrrl?

“It was a really positive, excitingmovement which sought to takeaway from the whole 1993 grungescene where bands like Nirvanaand Alice In Chains made boring,dreary, male music. Bikini Kill,Huggy Bear and bands of that ilkproved that women were just ascapable of making music and thatdidn’t sit very comfortably with a lotof people. There’s a compilationcalled ‘Singles’ from Bikini Killwhich is pretty accessible. It’smore polished, and was producedby the guy who mixed our album,John Goodmanson.”

Los Campesinos is Spanish for “thepeasants”. Are you a politically-motivated band?

“We want to be more than just aband that records music; we wantto interact with fans, letting themknow what we like and doingcovers of things that we hope willinspire our fans to seek out musicthat they may not normally get tohear.”

Tell me about the covers on ‘MyYear In Lists’.

“The new single is one minute andforty nine seconds long, and thethree B-sides add up to oneminute, forty nine seconds; a BikiniKill song, a Casiotone song and aDeerhoof song. It’s really selfindulgent, covering songs that welove by bands that we love, but alot of people who like our bandhave found us through the NME orsomething, so hopefully it’s excitingfor them if they haven’t heard BikiniKill before. We’ve coveredPavement and we’ve coveredHeavenly and if people hear ourversions and like them, hopefullythey’ll listen to those bands andrealise how much better they are!”

So, if I wasn’t listening to ‘My YearIn Lists’, what would be the secondbest thing to do with one minuteand forty nine seconds?

“Brush you teeth. Oral hygiene is amust, and you’ll feel a lot morecomfortable if you’ve freshened up.In fact, why not brush your teethwhile you listen to ‘My Year InLists’? It’s a motivational teeth-cleaning soundtrack.”

Words: Megan Vaughan

www.loscampesinos.com

Los Campesinos play Glastonbury,T in the Park, Oxegen and atManchester’s ‘A Day at the Races’this summer.

LOS_CAMPESINOS

Seattle, WA, a boom-and-bust citybuilt on lumber and ship buildingand technology companies. It’s thebirth place of Jimi Hendrix. In WorldWar II it was a key port ofdeparture for troops heading to thePacific and in the 1990s becamethe coffee capital of the world.Come 1991, Seattle was rockValhalla, apparently something todo with the success of Sub Popand a certain scruffy three-piececalled Nirvana. Kurt and Co. shareda roster with Earth, Mudhoney andScreaming Tress and in 2008, SubPop’s line-up is arguably evenstronger than it was in its heyday.Just look at this list: No Age, PissedJeans, Foals, The Go! Team, TheShins and the absolute stars of thisyear’s SXSW, Fleet Foxes. Signedin the US to their hometown’s mostfamous label, and part of theexquisite Bella Union in Europe,they fit in perfectly alongside thelikes of Stephanie Dosen, Midlakeand The Kissaway Trail.

Why the history lesson? Well,because Fleet Foxes are timeless.The only thing that could stop themfrom existing at any point inSeattle’s history is the electricityneeded for their recordingequipment, mics and some of theirguitars. So universal is their soundthat it seems like it’s destiny,coincidence or some other forceplacing them at the forefront of thecity’s current renaissance alongsidethe Tillman brothers, Zach and J,Tiny Vipers and The Cave Singers.Seattle has mellowed since theplaid clad chaos of the grungeexplosion. Less mud, more honey.

It’s unsurprising really, when youtake a look at the five-piece’sinfluences, says singer RobinPecknold.

“We grew up listeningto the music of ourparents,” Robin notes.“The Beach Boys,Simon & Garfunkel,The Zombies, JoniMitchell, FairportConvention, Love,Marvin Gaye, CrosbyStills & Nash, BobDylan, BuffaloSpringfield, and everyother perennial ‘60sband you’d expect tofind in the recordcollections of babyboomers. One of us isnamed after a SteelyDan record, for Christ’ssake.” We’ll leave it foryou to spot which oneof Nicholas Peterson,Skyler Skjelset,Christian Wargo andCasey Wescott it is.

The sun-kissed Californian poptouches and the nods to Dylan and‘60s folk music stand out, but thenthere’s also the undeniableinfluence of gospel and hymns(‘White Winter Hymnal’), the bluesof the 1930s (‘Sun It Rises’, ‘TigerMountain Peasant Song’) and thetype of gorgeous harmonies lastheard on Yeasayer’s ‘All HourCymbals’. Their music even feelslike it comes from before theRenaissance on some songs, suchas ‘Meadowlarks’ and ‘EnglishHouse’ or ‘Mykonos’ on their ‘SunGiant’ EP. The art work of ‘FleetFoxes’ –depicting a chaoticEuropean village in the 1500s withits monks, manure and madmen –is hardly Daft Punk either.

It’s a record that appeals to thesimplest emotions but is in fact avery complex composition, with asmall orchestra’s worth ofinstruments on each song. “We’vesucceeded for ourselves if we’vemade a song where everyinstrument is doing somethinginteresting and melodic”, saysPecknold. “We try to draw from thetraditions of folk music, pop,baroque psychedelic, sacred harpsinging, West Coast music,traditional music from Ireland toJapan, and are inspired by themusic of our friends andcontemporaries in the Seattlemusic family.”

When all of Fleet Foxes singtogether it’s even more staggeringthan Pecknold on his own.

“We aim to beadventurous and true toourselves and to enjoyour time together. Themusic we make is areflection of ourinstincts. To me, themost enjoyable thing inthe world is to singharmony with people,so we do that a bunch”, he says.

The first five songs on theirwonderful self-titled debut, as wellas those on the ‘Sun Giant’ EP, arethe sort of songs you can live in forweeks. There are so manysubtleties; arrangements that youdon’t pick up first time, melodiesand harmonies that slip pastundetected until you become usedto its dream like state. Pecknoldhears something else in it too: “Thisrecord is like our first steps and,like any newborn, we mademistakes and discoveries and in theprocess better found out who weare. That is what the recordrepresents to me when I hear itnow – the process we went throughto find ourselves the first time.”

Any time, any place; Fleet Foxesare bliss.

Words: Stephen Eddie

www.myspace.com/fleetfoxes

The album ‘Fleet Foxes’ is out nowon Bella Union.

twelve thirteen

fleet foxes

fifteen

"We still feel like we're a newband…looking back and listening toour first records, it takes a while torealise that it's been eight years sincewe did that. It feels like we've beenaround a lot less than we havebeen."

As though in a waking dream whereLarry T is influential and Freezepopare credible, Reuben Wu is getting all nostalgic on us. This time nextyear he and his bandmates DannyHunt, Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyowill have been testing the dynamic ofelectronic pop for a decade. Ladytronwere there at the start of the 00sfascination with the synthetic style,and they're here now having enduredits highs and lows. By the time you'rereading this they'll be half waythrough a thirty date trek across

America on an international tour thatwon't stop until October. Could theyhave imagined this back in 1999?"No, we never had any expectationsat all," Reuben admits. "I'm happywith where we are though; we get toplay all these amazing places thatother bands don’t like China,Columbia and Brazil. And yet we'veretained quite an undergroundfollowing."

Strangely enough it's true and nomore so than here in the UK. Everyvisit from Ladytron to Manchester is asold out but modestly-sized date – a fact emphasising our enthusiasmfor their cold New Wave but alsounderlying the scale of their success;"It's only in the UK that we're playingsmall venues; everywhere else we'rein three thousand capacity arenas.

We're much bigger outside of the UK,especially in the States where peoplereally have a connection with us. It'sa great place to play gigs, being sobig that people will travel for days toget to venues. We sold out this hugeplace in Mexico City and we don'teven have any kind of distributionthere whatsoever."

Exactly what Mexicans identify with inLadytron is unclear, but they'vealways been right up our street withthe industrialised, brutal confidenceof their records, streamlined by theirtwin ice maiden frontline. In thebeginning they shaped the minimalelectropop sound of 2000 beforerecently moving to veteran Canadianimprint Nettwerk, home to suchelectronic innovators like SkinnyPuppy and BT. Given theirtransatlantic base, the move madesense marked by best-yet thirdalbum, Witching Hour. "It was a bit of a milestone record for us," saysReuben, "like a converging pointbetween our touring career and ourstudio career. Now we've used thatas a bit of a foundation, like aspringboard for the new album and I think there's a considerableimprovement in its production."

So much is the change that you'dhardly recognise them from their pre-2003 carnation, and not only in sound. Since their early days as

robotic-mannequins on the forefrontof electroclash fashion (albeitindirectly), the look of Ladytron hassignificantly darkened. The music hasfollowed suit, songs moving from thesubject of playgirls and blue jeans toghosts and nervous tension. "As people we've always been intodark music," explains Wu. "There's alot more soul in sad songs thanhappy songs. This album is definitelymore aggressive and that’s part of uspushing the sound, wanting it to bepunchier and more immediate thanthe last one."

The result is a proactive, hyper-stylised shadiness cooler than The Matrix Trilogy. But steadydevelopment has been the course of things, something owing to aninsatiable drive for this "more" ofeverything that Reuben constantlygoes on about; "We realised thatwe've starting seeing and hearing our music in a different way, thinkingabout it in terms of how it will beplayed live, so we started writingmusic in that dimension. WitchingHour was a lot more powerful, richerand more wide-ranging in soundsand we've only made it stronger for Velocifero."

Velocifero is the title of Ladytron'sfourth long-player, definable as 'thebringer of speed'. "Literally," Reubeninterrupts, "although it's nothing to do

with drugs. I'm not a Speed kind ofguy. It's just a nice word – it's also thename of an Italian scooter and areally primitive version of the bicycle."

Life in this globetrotting group mustbe turbulent to say the least. Lastyear, for instance, was mostly spenttouring Europe with theaforementioned Nine Inch Nails,before having a single day off andjetting out to Paris to start on the newLP. Why the hip-capital of crossoverdance? To rendezvous with one ofthe Ed Banger label's best; "We metVicarious Bliss after he submittedremixes of our stuff which we werereally into, so we went to work withhim in Paris whilst Alessandro Cortiniwas working on stuff we sent to himin LA. This is actually the first albumwe've produced ourselves though.Instead of working with a producer,we've asked for musicians to comeup with pieces to add to the tracks.We're very hands on and we've beenmore the architect of our own albumreally."

Big and boastful in its militaristicsound, you're never quite surewhether what they've made is a rockalbum or an electronic one. Eitherway the pull of a robust songbeneath it has only got stronger, andas impressive as the volume of 'I'mNot Scared' or the boldness of'Predict The Day' is, there's no

undermining of substance. "It fitstogether more as an album," agreesReuben. "The writing for this recordwas quite straightforward this timearound. We'd write apart in our sparetime and when it came to productionwe'd work on each other's tracks. I mean, we've always liked albums inthe truest sense, but here each trackhas its own identity and there's norepetition in attitude. There're nomissing pieces and not too many."

Out this month, the time has come to take the Velocifero to the world.Starting in the town where it allbegan, Reuben's been making themost of home's comforts; "I've beenat home all the time lately," helaughs, "sat on the sofa for days onend, watching The Hits TV andrelaxing." The break is a well-deserved but rare one. When nottouring or writing with the band,Reuben and Danny are nurturingtheir local scene, having co-foundedessential clubnight Evol in 2003. Theamount that Ladytron have done fortheir music community is not to beunderstated. "At the time there wasdefinitely a hole which needed fillingin Liverpool," recounts Wu. "Therewere clubs and bars playing indiemusic, but it was just Stone Roses,Chemical Brothers, typical stuff. We wanted a particular type of band– more new wave, gothier, grittier

stuff that people might not expect in a club. We got in some great DJswho hadn’t played Liverpool before,and obviously we put on ArcticMonkeys before they were big."

Not before High Voltage bookedthem we might note, but neverthelessEvol has become one of the finestnew music institutions in the UK, and is pretty much synonymous witha good night out in Liverpool atKorova, the bar part-owned by theLadytron men. Reuben might nothave much to do with business whenon the road with the band, but whathe helped start now brings the mostexciting indie/electro to a home forthe city's most discerning drinkers.Having hosted giants like Vitalic andCSS in the last year, what's been thekey to a successful clubnight? "It really is down to a goodcombination of good programming,good music when you're DJing andhow cool the venue is. If one of thosefactors is missing then you don’t getthe chemistry happening."

The Toxteth lad remains Liverpool-based, but nine years ago when theGlaswegian Helen and Sofian Mirajoined the local boys, they werehardly a Liverpudlian band in themost common sense. Did the fourfeel up against to begin with? "Notreally, no," shrugs the synths-man."When we started there was no real

scene for our kind of music, but overthe years it grew to be moreacceptable. Using keyboards andelectronic music in bands justbecame more and more common.Now it's just another part of any indieband. People don’t see you playing a synthesiser and assume you likeKraftwerk or The Human League."

Given the saturation of bands takingin these influences, is thatnecessarily a good thing? "Yeahdefinitely, because when we startedoff people were obsessing about theinstruments we were using andcompared us to bands that reallydidn’t have much of an affiliation withus. We might like Kraftwerk and TheHuman League, but we weren't atribute band." He laughs, "I thinkwe've passed that stage now."

Yeah, just a bit. But even if in anotherten years time the four are stillplaying Academy 3, you can bet theirtenth album will still be pushing limits.And who knows? Maybe the rest ofthe country will have caught on bythen.

Words: Fran Donnelly

www.ladytron.co.uk

Album Velocifero is out June 2nd onNettwerk

LADYTRON_SPEEDING_UP

fourteen

seventeen

Pin Me Down – Cryptic(Kitsuné)

Pin Me Down is the dancy venturethat is that Bloc Party pansy RussellLissack teamed up with the stunningMilena Mepris. Never mind thatthough, cos there's no ignoring thefact that 'Cryptic' is just a top,turbulent pop song with the ultraslick production of a 1995-1998chart obscurity being performed onTOTP.

This is the sound of the oomph-plodding, guitar winding style ofLissack's other band being sprucedup to become the indie-schmindie,Kitsuné-fied Girls Aloud. It's asunoriginal and fucking brilliant asthat sounds too, like coming across'She's Hearing Voices' or 'Biology'for the first time. It's also ace byvirtue that it's not Kele Okerekemarding it up.

A typically massive remix fromPhones ups the indie-disco credwhilst it's an enduring credit to theoriginal that you can sit through fiveversions of it and still be bobbingaround to its irresistibility. "A littlebit… cryyyyptic…"

Fran Donnelly

Liam Finn – SecondChance (Transgressive)

When you hear the words scruffy-looking, bearded New Zealander whatimmediately springs to mind? That'sright, it's that overbearing, unhealthilyhyperactive tool from Radio 1.Thankfully he hasn't released anotherrecord. Though with any luck he'll bededicating some hardcore airplay toLiam Finn.

Like the Zipper, Finn has been residentin London town for many yearsstealthily gaining a reputation on thecapital's circuit. He swears by his DIYethic, overseeing everything fromwriting to publicity photos and seemsdetermined to be anything but 'anotherguy with a guitar'.

And the hard work has certainly paidoff. His debut single falls somewherenicely between label-mates Iron andWine and The Shins. It's a gentle yet

urgent record that creeps up on youbefore clattering into the kind of killerchorus that the summer yearns for. Onthis evidence Liam Finn won't beneeding a second chance (groan).

Chris Horner

Jaymay - Ill WilledPerson (Blue Note)

This new Jaymay single drawsanother shufti at our stunning poet'shouse of brightness, and though thisisn't her most arresting melody it'snevertheless a brilliant service tonostalgia and grassroots Americana

folk, perverse with a willowy anger.

Fractionally Regina Spektor, partly aSoko salute to Joan Biaz, Jaymay's witin lyric and simplicity in instrumentationmakes this a song which feelssincerely timeless and rewarding. It'salways an ordeal not to fall in love withher voice and that's never as true an

avowal as on this remarkable rocket ofa single which justly lives up to hercharacter.

Alex Lee Thomson

The Kills – The LastDays of Magic (Domino)

It's getting harder and harder to buy intothe on-stage tempestuous sexualtension painted by Jamie Hince andcohort Alison Mosshart with eachpassing redtop column inch connectingthe leather-clad six-stringed frontmanwith Britain's premier pouter.

And yet despite the duo's scuzzy lo-fi

Royal Trux affected noise evolving verylittle since their debut EP 'Black Rooster'some six years ago, the pair's darkchemistry and unparalleled (thoughaging fast) cool still keep theminteresting as recent album 'MidnightBoom' proved.

But 'Last Days of Magic' in all fairnesscould have been derived from any ofone their three long players, Hince'smeasured staccato sparks and blues-

fuzz riffs when coupled with Alison'ssnarled vocals are still the soundtrack tothe decadent party you'd never beinvited too.

Though as with any good OTT party,you'll struggle to remember it not longafter it's ended.

Mike Caulfield

Mirror Mirror – WolfgangBang (Holy Roar)

Slightly nauseating and absent of anyimagination, this pastiche of Hadouken,Foals and everybody else with asynthesiser has tried to show somematurity, though lacking any kind of

melody they have only given usgrounds to hate the 80s revival.

There are short-lived moments ofhygienic experimentation, but it's allbeen done before, and better, leavingthis a senseless song that looks atothers for inspiration without actually

committing to a sound of its own.Banging guitars aside, there's so little toget your teeth into on this you'll really notwant to give it more than one spin out ofpure, morbid, curiosity

Alex Lee Thomson

sixteen

Hercules & Love Affair –You Belong (DFA)

Queer New York hipstersHercules & Love Affair soup-uptheir disco with an almost by-numbers homage to InnerCity's era-defining party houseanthems. The band's Nomitakes on main vocal duties forthis one with a warm, laidbackand soulful performancebacked by Antony Hegarty'swarble, sounding bizarrelyappropriate in this upbeatguise.

The overall effect of 'YouBelong' is that of the slice of

diva relief between every threeacid jacks at a Chicago gayclub in 1987. Not a pastichebut a lovely, slick mix ofcowbells and 909 claps in thetradition of Todd Terry, CrystalWaters and Joe Smooth's'Promised Land'. I've a mind togo and buy a flat in TheHacienda just so this gets itsrightful play within its walls.

For me the best thing to comefrom DFA's latest discerningacquisition reaches old skoolperfection, but I know there areenough favourites on the albumto cause disagreement. Eitherway, Hercules & Love Affair's

eagerly anticipated eight-piecelive show is going to be someparty.

Fran Donnelly

Barringtone – Snake InThe Grass (This Is Music)

This enchantingly vaudevillianAlphabeat-esque pop track ismagnificently oddball, not reallymaking much sense but lighting ahook that fascinates in the same way

Young Knives do, though solitarilymore leftfield.

It's reminiscent of a madcap stageversion of a Tom and Jerry cartoon,brilliantly slumping around a basic andcatchy verse that wafts apart before aconsiderable choral elation. It's adizzying song that in the best of waysdoesn't really fit into archetypal song

formulae, instead being an eccentricsalute to the none-song, the anti-chorus and the fantastic; done withawesome talent.

Alex Lee Thomson

The Brightlights - 3(Distiller)

Grimsby. Not a place that immediatelystrikes you as a hotbed of musicaltalent. Or a hotbed of anything recently.Legend claims that Grimsby wasfounded by a Danish fisherman called'Grim'. Bernie Taupin thought enough ofthe town to write a song about it forElton John's 1974 album 'Caribou'. Andthat was pretty much it for Grimsby. Until

now. Ladies and Gentlemen, TheBrightlights.

The Brightlights are produced by StevePower, once of Robbie Williams fame,and have supported The Hoosiers, buttry not to hold any of that too tightlyagainst them. Pounding drums andtrad-indie riffs are offset by thecompelling voice of frontman LeonBlanchard who growls like an unholyunion between Caleb Followhill, KellyJones and Rod Stewart.

In a world where Liam Fray is lauded assome sort of musical visionary, TheBrightlights have a bright future indeed.They are all the things the Courteenersshould be; charming, blessed with atune and just rough enough around theedges for a little credibility as well.

Chris Horner

singlesSingle of the month

The Starfighter Pilot –Kingdom Hearts EP(14 Sandwiches)

Full of the kind of Casio-driven,electro-pop shuffles and subversiveword play that has drawn plenty ofBeck-of-the-north comparisons,'Kingdom Hearts' following last year's'Alkaline Maisonette' (earning the fullfive HV marks) contains more of thesame sounds that have made Martin

Bryant, The Star Fighter Pilot, aregular face on Manchester stages.

Opening with the vaguely sinistersounding 'My Little Test Case', itsringtone production, whined darkverses and twisted melody will find aplace in the hearts of some,elsewhere the comparatively lighter inmood - though no-less lyrically jadedwith its "I don't want to write a songabout love 'cause I'm sure it's all beendone before" - recalls the deft touch of

80s synth-pop producers.

Though blessed with the cut-and-paste home studio skills to make anyof his peers envious, Bryant's re-treading of the same cynical lyricalcouplets soon becomes a littlemonotonous.

Mike Caulfield

While the cream of Australia'scurrent crop of electro pop actsseem to be condensing thecountry's sunshine onto vinyl,The Presets are alchemists ofa darker sound. Not for themthe big summertime chorusesof Cut Copy, or the exuberantfunk of Bumblebeez andMidnight Juggernauts. Whiletheir countrymen (and women)have been bringing the partyfrom down under to the rest ofthe world, Julian Hamilton andK.I.M. have been locked awayin their lair creatingApocalypso, melding the darkpop of Nine Inch Nails,Depeche Mode and JoyDivision with the sort of drumsand 303 bass lines that make

your teeth rattle. At 4 in themorning. In Berlin.

The album's first single 'MyPeople' sets the precedent forthe whole album; drums likebullets, industrial chainsawsynths and anthemic, naggingchoruses. 'This Boy's In Love'is another early highlight, withits falsetto vocals and gentlepiano melody a welcomerespite from all the relentlessmacho beats. Ok, the beatsstill pump away underneath itall, but at least they loosenedup for a minute or two.

'Yippiyo-Ay' also veers awayfrom the dark poundingtemplate into a strutting electrofunk jam, managing to sound

more like Calvin Harris thanquite a lot of Calvin Harrissongs do. Then it's straightback to the omnipotent kickdrum.

A sprawling, multi-genre epicthis isn't, but if it's heavy, darktechno-pop you're after, thenprepare to have this album onrepeat all summer.

Alex Barbanneau

By day, Bernard Fevre andJacky Giordano are averagejobbers, making music forproduction libraries. Who'dsuspect the duo are secretly amystical, cosmic disco force?

At only six tracks and just overhalf an hour, there are somebusy busy sounds making thisevery bit the intergalacticjourney it should be. From'With Honey Cream'shysterical, wibble-wobble italoassault, it's a claustrophobicbut never particularlyforeboding sound at a quickpace. 'Free For The Girls' and'Never No Dollars' are thegenuinely 80s highlights,touching Moroder, Art Of Noiseand Arthur Baker.

The brevity of Eight Oh Eighthowever also means that itdoesn’t have much room tomanoeuvre in and despite therange of sounds in BDDC'svintage synth collection, there'snot a lot to engage you afterthree or four tracks of it. Yoususpect parts of these collageshave been reverberatingaround their heads for the pastthree decades, and this is theoverdue discharge of animpulse still spinning around aforgotten leftfield club.

The quirk of a band thatreleases this, its third album inthirty years doesn’t really needto be stated. Too obscure in1978 to count as influential,their debut Disco Club album

was more clairvoyant in itselectronic anticipation and withthe 00s resurgence in discofascination the timing seemsperfect. But like 2006'scomeback 28 After, this is aconsummate retrospection thatjust doesn’t have much pull.With DFA, Prins Thomas andItalians Do It Better aroundtoday, this can't compare tocontemporary innovators.

Fran Donnelly

A band truly tied-up in their ownsymbiotic music, Manchester noisearchitects Laymar have all theconsistency of quicksand. One nightthey'll triumph with careful vacillation ofpost-rock majesty whilst on othersthey'll self-combust in ten minutes,instruments laid to waste. This livevolatility need not apply here howeverbecause given the chance to craft awhole document of flux, the trio take tothe task impressively. There's no needto be afraid, but don't get toocomfortable now.

Seamlessly drifting from the lonelypiano of 'Rec #4' into the meanderingrestlessness of 'Circles And Squares','In Straight Lines…' begins with thedisturbed tenacity of Animal Collective

and gets reduced to the industrial bitsand pieces of early Cabaret Voltaire.'Nu1's ringing over its motorik beatprovides a shot of the band at theirmost Dionysian, passive-aggressivelyimmediate.

Using samples, layering and colossalguitars, it's like merging shades ofiLiKETRAiNS with some imaginaryremix album from the other side ofRadiohead's Amnesiac. It's amonochrome psychedelia thatidentifies as much with BattleshipPotemkin or Heart Of Darkness as itdoes with Throbbing Gristle.

Veering from the beautiful intensity of'Juvenile Whole Life' to the pre-apocalyptic brooding of 'Swords', this

is a vastly impressive effort. Why pre-apocalyptic? Because listening toLaymar feels as though the worst isstill to happen yet and in the meantimeyou're teetering on the brink ofuncertainty. Wisely they don't outstaytheir welcome, and a powerful alt.rockalbum that's only forty-five minutes isone reluctant to indulge. Mesmerising.

Fran Donnelly

The Presets –Apocalypso(Modular)

Black Devil Disco Club– Eight Oh Eight (Lo)

Laymar – InStrange Lines AndDistances (TV)

nineteen

A musical enigma, Spiritualized'sJason Pierce crafted the majorityof Songs in A&E before sufferingdouble pneumonia and lyingunconscious in hospital for twoweeks, at one point weighing justsix stone. It's a touching,outstanding record, detailingPierce's fragile state before andafter his illness, with remarkableresults. Songs in A&E is the bestSpiritualized record for a decade.

The gorgeous 'Sweet Talk' openswith Spiritualized mainstays;delicate brass, gospel vocals,cute bass and piano. Pierce'svocals are typically doe-eyed andfrail, but it's a soaring opening.The ominously titled 'Death TakeYour Fiddle' features breathingsamples from Pierce's hospital

respiratory unit, and the lyrics "I'lltake every way out I can find"reference not only himself but theloss of close friend Richie Leefrom Californian droners Acetonein 2001. 'Soul on Fire' is aninstant, classic Spiritualizedsingle; its majestic strings anddelicate acoustic strumsbrimming with melody andsunshine.

'Sitting On Fire' is perhaps A&E'smasterpiece, Pierce's voiceweary and childlike. When hesings "I can't even hold what Iown" it's impossible not to bemoved by such stark fragility.Elsewhere, Pierce's love of theVelvets is revisited with thejangly 'Baby I'm Just A Fool' andthe recurring 'Harmony' pieces

show a band just as in tune withBrian Eno as they are TheStooges.

Musically, there's much toadmire. The jazz/garage fusionsof previous album AmazingGrace are much more fullyformed here and like Pierce'scurrent body state, a lot stronger.There's also a liveliness anddirectness present, whereprevious records were prone todrift and over stretch themselves.

Great to have you back,Spiritualized.

Alistair Beech

Irrepressible and yet oftenoverlooked, Hot Club De Parisspend the first half of theirsecond record sounding asthough the trio are hard-wiredinto one another's instinct forskinny, rhythmic romping as theymove across songs seamlessly.

Their original punk-pop clusterbomb hasn't changed so muchas it has scattered, the bandswaying from track-to-track withgames of tension and elasticpotential. It's all kept in line byutmost simplicity – there'snothing more than three lads in aroom here working out dittieswith tight precision, but wheresingle 'Hey Housebrick!' soundsbreezier and more youthful than

ever, 'Boy Awaits Return Of TheRunaway Girl' has a maturerrestraint. Similarly, 'The Anchor'spummelling crescendos presentsomething new entirely, whilstalbum backender 'This Thing IsForever' is a simple sure-fire liveanthem.

At the time of 2006 debut Drop ItTil It Pops, Hot Club De Pariswere the stripped down andaltogether more fun equivalent ofLarrikin Love, Mystery Jets oreven Los Campesinos!. Nowalongside fledgling Liverpool actslike goFASTER>>, they're the oldheads of a new and upbeatangular sound in the city. They'rereally finding themselves here,and with The Futureheads

making a comeback, this shouldbe a summer of experimental,back-to-basics pop.

Hot Club are still their contagiousselves though and they've stillgot a penchant for long windedtitles for devastatingly snappysongs. But instead of an inhibitedbackward step, Live At Deadlakeis a confident consolidation thatloses none of the boys' cheekycharm.

Fran Donnelly

albums

Spiritualized –Songs In A&E(Universal /Spaceman)

Hot Club De Paris– Live At Deadlake(Moshi Moshi)

Album of the month

eighteen

The gig-going life of the person whosaw this show passed away themoment HEALTH kicked into theirthrilling drone-rock set. In fact it wasenough to erase all my misgivingsabout Futuresonic Festival were it notthat we actually had promoters, Hey,Manchester!, to thank for the capitalson show tonight and festivalwristband-holders had to pay for entryinto Chinatown's kitsch-est karaokebar.

Jona Bechtolt project, YACHT serveup some electronic-pop fun and revelin less than subtly taking the piss outof the nerdy and less co-ordinatedelements of the crowd and generallydeliver good value. But the nightbelonged to HEALTH's melancholicnoise rock. Set to a backdrop of

incessant and rare drumming skills,HEALTH's other members, sparkingoff one another's energy; chaoticallyand brilliantly flail around the stagebetween drum pad, guitar pedal andsequencer.

Thanks to No Age's well-received newalbum and HEALTH's stunningliveshows, the 'Smell' scene, waftingout of LA, is finally beginning to get theplaudits it deserves. See this bandpost-haste.

(SS)

Alex Barbanneau & Simon Smallbone

HEALTH + Yacht -Academy 2

Though ushered into the public's heartjust as all things acoustic - preferablyattached to some excessive facial hair- were being tarred with thefreak/nu/whatever folk tag, SamBeam's slowly expanding collectiveIron & Wine's delicate picking andsofty softy approach has always hadmore in common with the denim-clad70s California crowd.

Just as the classic singer/songwritervanguard were more than happy tostretch much loved songs out totedious levels of inspired jamming -sometimes of the 'cosmic' variety - itwould seem Beam's also arrived atthis point in his career too, thoughluckily it's his mastery of the lost art ofsubtlety that keeps boredom fromsetting in.

First appearing with the stripped down,aching epic 'The Trapeze Swinger'accompanied by sister Sarah, thequiet command and reverence heldby the Ritz audience is spoilt only bythe buzz of an overworked extractorfan.

Soon accompanied by his sprawlingband, they quickly set upon re-imagining the tracks from his backcatalogue, 'Boy With a Coin', 'PeaceBeneath The City', 'Wolves (Song ofthe Shepard's Dog)' and 'Our EndlessNumbered Days' all given the laid-back Cali-sound make over, asaccents are shifted (beats that is),drenched in reverb, and stretchedalmost beyond recognition.

Whilst some attendees' attentionspans soon give up and slip off to thebar, the wilfully indulgent Crazy Horse-esque guitar passage and heartstringtugging stacked vocal harmoniesclearly suit Beam's sepia-tinted view.

Mike Caulfield

Having earlier celebrated therelease of album number threeThis Is Not The World with ariotous HMV performance, anysigns of fatigue from theSunderland four-piece would behard to detect from the way theystrike into songs old and new.

Opening with the familiar rush of'Decent Days and Nights', thequartet's frantic bursts of chordsand barbershop vocalharmonies - though copiedmany times over by groups withhalf their skill - are still asintoxicating as you firstremember them to be. Fearsthat they may have peaked toosoon are happily dismissed asruns of 'Skip To The End',

'Meantime', 'Carnival Kids', and'Area', as well as newer material'Radio Heart', 'The Beginning OfThe End', and 'Broke Up TheTime' confidently proves.

But it's the group's down-to-earth, good humoured charmsand distinctive sharedharmonies that place thembeyond all late-coming copyists,as witnessing a full room oh ohoh-ing along instinctively toeach song shows. Thoughdespite the many jewels in theirpost-punk crown, it's still thefestival 4am drunken chanting ofKate Bush's 'Hounds Of Love'that gets the loudest receptiontonight (as it likely will for therest of the band's career),

played with an urgency anddynamism that suggests eventhey are yet to tire of it.

With a tight Bank Holiday curfewto adhere to their barely pastthe hour-mark set finishes alittle prematurely for some,though any group wouldstruggle to keep at such pacefor much longer.

Mike Caulfield

Iron & Wine - The Ritz

The Futureheads - Academy 2

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The term living legend is often(mis)used with recklessabandon, but when it comes tothe founding father of New Yorkrap legends the Wu Tang Clan,it's justified. RZA, aka BobbyDigital, is regarded as one ofthe all time great producers, andrightly so.

He waltzes onstage traditionallylate clutching a bottle of fine redwine, a sight not usuallyassociated with Hip Hop gigs.After some initial technicaldifficulties, during which thereputation of the soundman'smother is called into question byThe RZA, he causes the roomto explode by ripping into tosome of the Wu's anthems.

He may not be the strongest MCin the world, but his beats speakfor themselves. As the openingsynth wail of '4th Chamber'blares out across the Academy,hundreds of hands raise the Wusign into the air. Tributes arepaid to deceased legend Ol'Dirty Bastard and unintelligibleShaolin slang is distributed, lotsof wine is consumed, and thenall too quickly it's over, The RZAand crew disappearing in a hazeof weed smoke.

(AB)

Wire - Academy 2

The RZA as BobbyDigita - Academy 2

Despite some stellar headliners,Futuresonic Festival in its thirteenthyear struggled from a lack of cohesionand most disappointingly, anythingMancunian.

Audience numbers for Thursdaynight's gig at the new Trof were paltry;the lack of interest was symptomaticof the festival's failure to catch theimagination of Manchester and I wasleft with the feeling that this was thefestival which celebrated itself.

"Do you like nightclubbing? Do youlike Iggy Pop? This is a cover of IggyPop's 'Nightclubbing'". Thisunforgettably bad intro to ZombieZombie's final track tonight is about asexciting as it gets. The duo's krautrocksounded rather like Dan Deacon's

superb 'Crystal Cat', but with all thefun and invention sucked out of it.

Thank god for Hamburg's electronicmuse Felix Kubin, who, flittingexcitably between keyboard andsequencer, introduces some much-needed energy, melodies and goodhumour. As he ripped into a songabout eliminating Donald Duck fromone of his dreams with a backdrop ofloopy electronica, you wonder whatthe stone-faced skinhead bouncer atthe side of the bar made of thisfantastic Kraftwerk-like buffoonery.

(SS)

Felix Kubin +Zombie Zombie -The Deaf Institute

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Legendary post-punk innovators Wireare an excellent choice as one of theheadliners of Futuresonic. Few bandshave such a strong claim on havingsignificantly influenced the path ofpopular music in this country over thethree decades.

It's difficult to imagine how the bandwill sound now, over thirty years sincetheir seminal Pink Flag LP. When theband takes to the stage frontmanColin Newman looks a tadembarrassed, smartly decked out in asuit, expensive looking spectacles andholding the now ubiquitous gleamingwhite Macbook.

The first songs start off slowly; nihilisticdirges that seem to have lost theirintensity. Newman doesn't even seemto want to face the crowd, seemingly

aware of the lacklustre sound. Thingspick up as the tempo graduallyincreases through the set and at timestheir incessant groove builds into athrilling cascade of white sound thatfills the room, but it's hard to escapethe feeling afterwards that the bleak,atmospheric intensity they pioneereddoesn't ring true coming from amiddle-aged man with a laptop.

(AB)

22000088

GIG of the month

Cheap Hotel

Few bands would dare treadthe tightrope ofpretentiousness that comeswith naming the likes ofGerman Expressionist flickThe Cabinet of Dr. Calligariand transsexual rockmusical Hedwig and theAngry Inch as influences,but London-based trioCheap Hotel are not likeother bands.

Forming in 2005 aftersticksman Gregg Braden,once described as playinglike “a manic octopus onspeed”, answered an advertin the back of the ‘NME’placed by fretless bassist UlliMattsson and singer andguitar virtuoso Anna Calvi.

They have spent the lastyear gigging with the likes ofPigeon Detectives, AcousticLadyland and Mr Hudson &The Library, culminating withtwo sold-out support showsat Hammersmith Apollo with30 Seconds to Mars.

During this time they refinedthe raw beauty of a soundthey describe as `classicalpunk’ and released a verylimited edition debut singleat the beginning of March -the thumping, Zeppelin-sized, riff-raging ‘New York’.

Key track: ‘New York’

Web:www.cheaphotelmusic.com

Words: Kelvin Goodson

Send your new band tips tostephen@highvoltage.org.uk to appearin the next New Noise round-up…

NEW NOISERochelle

Although this newelectronic assembly aredarker than the star gazingindie poppers, it’s by beingless in the shade thanheavier bands such asFlyKKiller that permit themto render themselves sofluidly onto mainstreamdancefloors.

Like a more severe,though wonderfully gallant,New Young Pony Clubthey have approachabilityin melody that confronts awall of judicious beats withtenderness in vocal thatbounds it slightly into theterritory of a remouldedMadonna. It’s no wonderthis band have been ropedin to front a remix of aBritney Spears track astheir record-jabbingdissolve of dance andfusing melancholy beats isas joyously teasing as it ischarmingly ominous, andalmost punk by ethos.

Though occasionallylunging into the tawdry,maybe even cliché, it’s thatearly ‘80s, circa ‘Holiday’gleam that allows them topush hard against beingmodular without it popping.

Key track: ‘Fer de Lance’

Web:www.myspace.com/rochellebanduk

Words: Alex Thomson

Photo: Stewart Ruffles

Tubelord

Last summer, Kingston trioTubelord sounded like TheBlood Brothers fightingangry bees in a small tincan. Which was obviouslybrilliant for a time, but Foals-gone-emo of ‘Propeller’ and‘ArmsWatchesFingers’(three choruses in search ofa verse) where notingcompared to what was tocome on March’s debutseven inch, ‘Feed Me A BoxOf Words’ (Big ScaryMonsters).With Meet Me In St. Louisdearly departed and theaforementioned Foalsneedling their way into themainstream (a good thing),it’s fallen upon Tubelord tokeep the home fires ofunderground, fiddly what-was-that-core burning. But if‘Feed Me…’ is anything togo by, they shouldn’t bestaying there for too longeither. The tight, crashingbeats and scrappy yelpssoon give way to somethinga lot, lot bigger. Over thelast year they’ve gotten thehang of writing the kind ofbrilliant choruses that allowBiffy Clyro to play mainstages.

Tubelord’s tour reachesManchester in August.

Key track: ‘Feed Me A BoxOf Words’Web:www.myspace.com/tubelord

Words: Stephen EddiePhoto: Stacey Hatfield

Beat TheRadar

This Lancastrian trio are stilllooking for a drummer andyet they've already playedthis year's Hide & Seekfestival as well as studentromp Pangaea. They'restarting up on the roundswith intent and if they candeliver on their melodicpromise then we'vesomething interesting here.

Beat The Radar's two trackdemo was recorded at thelocal favourite BlueprintStudios and it's a tidyintroduction to their yearningrush of guitars.'Misunderstood What YouSaid' rings like Interpol backwhen they were good butdespite all their earnestchasing, Beat The Radardon't aspire to gloom-rock'sgravity, instead adopting ahumdrum melancholy intheir blustery anthems. 'ByThe Sea' is the prettyculmination of this escalatingpower-sound, taking inIdlewild and Bloc Party'sbrittle but defiantemotiveness.

We've been missingsomething like this –desolate yet hopeful NewWave with an immensegrasp on stadium rockdynamics – and this is whatwe want.

Key track: ‘By The Sea’

Web:www.myspace.com/beattheradar

Words: Fran Donnelly

This IsMyLawnmower

When I first heard This IsMy Lawnmower’s demolast year I made a cheapjibe about how their namewas rubbish. But also, thatbands with silly names(Arctic Monkeys, JimmyEat World, QOTSA) tendto make good records;their priorities areobviously in the right place:on the tunes not the name,the hair and being gobbyabout bands that soundexactly the same as you.

The good news is thatTIML make even bettersongs now than they didlast May. Back then thesongs (such as ‘ImagineHow She Felt’) were synthheavy and riding theelectro-rock wave beingsurfed by Enter Shikari.Now their use ofelectronics is more subtle,such as on ¡Forward,Russia!-esque ‘Quagmire’or ‘No Consequence’s’pop-rock brilliance. Justdon’t confuse them withthe handy onlinelawnmower guide of asimilar name.

This Is My Lawnmowerplay the Dry Bar on June 7th.

Key track: ‘Quagmire’Web:www.thisismylawnmower.com

Words: Stephen Eddie

Say, Scientistby The Maple StateOUTNOW

"faultless" - NME"energetic, refreshing" 8/10 -Drowned in Sound“Album of the week” - 9/10Manchestermusic.co.uk

'For The Temperate Lives' released on 28th April via digital download'Say Scientist' mini-LP out now from all good record stores.

myspace.com/themaplestate

twentytwo

www.highvoltage.org.ukwww.myspace.com/highvoltageuk

Saturday 12thYngwie Malmsteen @ Academy 2Summer In The Park @ Platt Fields ParkGiselle @ The LowryParts and Labor @ Salford Islington Mill

Sunday 13thSummer In The Park @ Platt Fields Park

Monday 14thMurder By Death @ Night & Day CaféOxbow + Harvey Milk @ Ruby Lounge

Tuesday 15thKylie @ M.E.N Arena

Wednesday 16th Curious Generation presents…TBC @Night & Day CaféWatermelon Slim @ Academy 3Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip @ ClubAcademyDeath Cab For Cutie @ The ApolloSmudge @ Music Box

Thursday 17thKylie @ M.E.N Arena

Friday 18thHeathseeds + Would Be Emperors @Night & Day CaféAn Evening With The Punch Brothers @Academy 2Kylie @ M.E.N Arena

Saturday 19thThe Firebrand + The Chartists @ Night &Day CaféJay-Z @ M.E.N Arena Butthole Surfers @ Academy 2Mike Borgia @ Dry Bar

Tuesday 22ndDesigner Magazine present…TBC @Night & Day CaféThe B52’S @ Academy 1Bane @ Music Box

Wednesday 23rdChaka Khan @ The Bridgewater Hall

Thursday 24thAn Evening With Daniel Johnston &Friends @ New Century Hall

Friday 25thThe Aftershow @ Moho Live

Saturday 26thThe Orchids + My Captive Audience @Night & Day Café

Monday 28thJohnny Truant @ Music Box

Tuesday 29thThe Acacia Strain @ Music Box KD Lang @ Bridgewater Hall

Wednesday 30thBilly Idol @ The ApolloMirrorview @ Jilly’s Rockworld

CLUBLISTINGSJune-JulyMondayRevolver @ The Roadhouse 11pm- 2amMonday @ The Ritz 10pm- 2amUp The Racket @ Joshua Brooks 10pm-2am

TuesdaySex With Robots @ The Roadhouse11pm- lateWay Back When @ Po Na Na 9pm- 2amClick Click @ Font Bar 9pm- 1amThe Alternative @ The Venue 11pm- late

WednesdayRetro @ 42nd Street 10pm- lateKlub Knowhere (3rd p/m) @ JoshuaBrooks 10pm-2.30am Tramp @ Club North 10pm- 2am

ThursdayFrom Manchester With Love @ 42ndStreet 10pm- 2am Don’t Think Twice… @ Font Bar 9pm-1amRomp @ One Central Street @ 9.30pm-3am In The City @ The Venue 11pm- lateRisky Business @ Joshua Brooks

FridayLong Live Rock ‘n’ Roll @ TheRoadhouseFriday Feeling @ 5th Avenue 10pm- 3amKeys, Money, Lipstick @ Star & Garter Glamorous Indie Rock n’ Roll @ 42ndStreetPopscene @ The Brickhouse 10.30pm-2.30am Relief @ Club Alter Ego 11pm- 4am Another Planet @ South 10pm- 3amHomoelectric @ Legends 10pm- 4amTwist and Shout @ The Venue 10pm-3amDon’t Miss This @ Retro BarGuilty Pleasures @ One Central Street10pm- 3am Club Clique @ Mint LoungeDirty Tourism presents Bigger Than Jesus(last Fri p/m) @ Joshua BrooksLocked (2nd fri p/m) @ Joshua BrooksAudio Salad (3rd fri p/m) @ JoshuaBrooks

Please email your gig and clublistings for June/July 08 tolistings@highvoltage.org.uk

Next deadline is May 16th

Compiled by Mike Caulfield

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listings June- JulyGIG LISTINGS JuneSunday 1stTokyo Police Club @ Night & Day Café Vampire Weekend @ Academy 2Kinky Friedman @ Academy 3Tapes n Tapes @ Club AcademyBlind Atlas @ The AtticCarjack Mallone @ The Ruby LoungeGlad Eyes @ Tiger LoungeLiam 1987 @ The Bay HorsePhysic Psurgeons @ Moho LiveThe Drake Equation @ Jabez Clegg The Spires @ One Central Street

Monday 2nd Lykke Li @ Night & Day CaféFoo Fighters @ City Of ManchesterStadiumArmy Of Freshmen @ Music Box

Tuesday 3rd Metronomy @ Night & Day CaféThe Maybes @ The Roadhouse Flogging Molly @ Academy 2The Weakerthans @ Academy 3The Rascals @ Club Academy

Wednesday 4th Eaton + Signals @ Night & Day Café Ladyhawke @ The RoadhouseYour Demise + Azriel @ Music BoxPalace Fires @ Ruby Lounge Vetiver @ Dulcimer

Thursday 5th Those Dancing Days @ Night & Day CaféMary J Blige @ M.E.N Arena The Beep Seals (Album Launch) @ DeafInstitute

Friday 6th Pete and The Pirates @ Night & Day CaféWhy? @ The RoadhouseBlack Kids @ Academy 3Whiskycays @ The Ritz Boys Noize @ The ClubSolas @ Waterside Arts Centre

Saturday 7th Divided Attention + The Brightsparks @Night & Day CaféStephen Malkmus & The Jicks @Academy 2Say Anything @ Academy 3Thea Gilmore @ Club AcademyNeil Diamond @ M.E.N Arena Yazoo @ The Apollo

Sunday 8thThe Night Marchers @ Night & Day CaféNatty @ The RoadhouseI Was a Cub Scout @ Academy 3Morcheeba @ Club AcademyEstelle @ The RitzCara Dillon @ The Lowry Neil Diamond @ M.E.N Arena

Monday 9thOx. Eagle. Lion. Man @ Night & Day CaféNone The Less @ Music Box Cartel @ Club Academy

Tuesday 10thHeads We Dance + Modernaire @ Night& Day CaféDie! Die! Die! @ The RoadhouseRobyn @ Academy 2The Road To Download @ Academy 3Alphabeat @ Club AcademyLaura Marling @ St Phillips Church Ali Campbell @ The Apollo

Wednesday 11thThe Dodos + Magic Arm @ Night & DayCaféCage The Elephant @ The RoadhouseCat Power @ Academy 1Darren Hayman & Jack Hayter PlayHefner Songs @ Ruby Lounge

Thursday 12thThe Ambush + Little Fields @ Night & DayCaféIsobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan @Academy 2Diane Cluck + Emmy The Great @ DeafInstitute

Friday 13th Matthew Dear @ Night & Day CaféJay Scott Project @ The RoadhouseThe Nouvelles @ Academy 3The Lancashire Hotpots @ Club Academy Britain’s Got Talent @ The ApolloBoyzone @ M.E.N Arena Out From Animals @ Dry BarWhite Williams @ Ruby Lounge

Saturday 14thThe Sugars @ Night & Day CaféGlasvegas @ Ruby Lounge The Automatic @ Academy 2Karma @ Academy 3The Phonophobics @ Club Academy Boyzone @ M.E.N Arena

Sunday 15th Joseph Arthur @ Night & Day CaféBlue Oyster Cult @ Academy 2

Monday 16th The Twilight Sad @ Night & Day CaféSergeant @ The Roadhouse Craig David @ The Lowry Rival Schools @ Academy 3Paulasville @ Zion Arts Centre

Tuesday 17th Red Vinyl Fur (Single launch party) @Night & Day CaféFleet Foxes & Beach House @ TheRoadhouseQueensryche @ Academy 1Toots & The Maytals @ Academy 2The Aliens @ Academy 3

Wednesday 18th Bashphelt @ Night & Day CaféInnocent Gun @ Jilly’s RockworldThe Police @ M.E.N Arena Paulasville @ Zion Arts Centre

Thursday 19thThe Genes + Open Origin @ Night & DayCaféThe Naughtys @ Academy 3Liars + Deerhunter @ Club AcademyJourney @ The Apollo

Friday 20thThe Reign + The Reveres @ Night & DayCaféThe Tides & Juno Ashes @ Academy 3Def Leppard + Whitesnake @ M.E.NArena

Saturday 21st The Last Loft + Vinyl Youth @ Night &Day CaféUniformed @ Academy 3Elivation @ Club AcademyBroken Records @ Ruby Lounge Santana @ M.E.N ArenaMark Morriss @ Dry BarMichael McDonald @ The Apollo

Sunday 22ndJohn Fogerty @ The ApolloBon Jovi @ City Of Manchester StadiumSaving Aimee @ Jabez Clegg

Monday 23rd LAB Records Tour @ Music Box

Tuesday 24th Rolo Tomassi @ The RoadhouseDave Arcari @ Ruby Lounge

Wednesday 25th Fake Kings @ Night & Day CaféInfadels @ The RoadhouseJohn Mayer @ Academy 1Kathleen Edwards @ Academy 3Buddy Guy @ Bridgewater Hall Sole & Skyrider @ Music Box

Thursday 26thDying Fetus @ Music Box Negative Appoach @ Star & Garter

Friday 27thHayley Faye + All The Kings Men @ Night& Day CaféMy Morning Jacket @ Academy 2Stone Gods @ Academy 3Matt Schofield @ Club AcademyAcousticfest- Alternative GlastonburyWeekend @ M19 BarGeorge Benson @ M.E.N Arena Kunt & The Gang @ Dry Bar The Aftershow @ Moho Live

Saturday 28th The Romes + Up To The Rafters @ Night& Day CaféMy Bloody Valentine @ The ApolloGuns 2 Roses @ Ruby LoungeThe Fall @ Academy 2Richard Fleeshman @ Club Academy Shels + Latitudes @ Music Box

Sunday 29thMy Bloody Valentine @ The ApolloRadiohead @ L.C.C.C MC4 Life @ Contact Theatre

Monday 30thFuneral For a Friend @ Academy 3Cut Copy @ Night & Day Café

July Tuesday 1stThe Cave Singers @ Night & Day CaféThe Whigs @ The RoadhouseThe Music @ Academy 1Brian Jonestown Massacre @ Academy 2Jason Mraz @ The Ritz

Wednesday 2ndThe Galvatrons @ The RoadhouseBeck @ The ApolloThe Rotted (aka Gorerotted) @ MusicBox

Thursday 3rd Manifesto + Grand Architects @ Night &Day CaféMick Hucknall- Tribute To Bobby @ TheApollo

Friday 4th Mutineers + Charlie & The Ghosts @Night & Day CaféSpocks Beard @ Academy 3You Me At Six @ Club AcademyCarjack Mallone @ The Ritz

Saturday 5th White Light Parade + The Jannocks @Night & Day CaféTift Merritt @ Academy 3Arnocorps @ Satans Hollow

Sunday 6th The Maple State @ Night & Day CaféScottfest @ Satans Hollow

Monday 7thJack Johnson @ M.E.N Arena Consort With Romeo + WeHaveAGetway@ Music Box

Tuesday 8thInterpol @ The ApolloHayseed Dixie @ Waterside Arts CentreProfane @ The Roadhouse

Wednesday 9thThe School + Amida @ Night & Day CaféEddy Grant @ Academy 2Comeback Kid @ Academy 3Alicia Keys @ M.E.N Arena An Evening With Pentangle @ PalaceTheatre

Thursday 10thTransgressive Hot Summer Tour feat.Jeremy Warmsley @ Night & Day Café Jaguar Love @ The RoadhouseFurthest Drive Home @ Music Box

Friday 11thThe Merge + Ashanay @ Night & DayCaféThe Rocket Summer @ Academy 2Reemer @ Academy 3The Rocket Summer @ Club AcademyKylie @ M.E.N Arena

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This August,Creamfields returnsfor what will be alandmark tenth time inthe UK. Boasting oneof its strongest everDJ line-ups - as wellas live acts such asKasabian, Ian Brownand Pendulum - theparty has switched toa two-day format andlooks posed to be oneof the few genuinelyfresh weekenders in ayear of festivaloverkill. HV caught upwith organiser JamesBarton to look back ata decade in whichCreamfields becamea worldwidephenomenon and tosee what the futureholds for dancemusic's premiersummer shindig.HV: Firstly James,congratulations on reachingten years with Creamfields. Asyou prepare for this summer'sevent, what has changed sincethe first?

James: “It doesn't feel like tenyears at all, especially when youcompare it to running Cream -which did feel like ten years! Thefirst one took place inWinchester, but other than thatthe format hasn't really changed.We've added the second day anda few bands who wouldn'tordinarily be associated withCreamfields, but we never felt wehad to be dramatically different.

“With this being the tenthanniversary, it might have beentempting to pat ourselves on theback and take a trip downmemory lane. But we wanted toreposition it for the next ten years- it's still got places to go.”

HV: Would you say that it is nolonger the case that you arecompeting with other dancefestivals such as GlobalGathering and Gatecrasher'sSummer Soundsystem - youare now looking to take on themore traditional events likeReading etc?

“No, those guys are still ourcompetitors - the heartbeat ofCreamfields is and always will bedance music. I get pissed offwhen dance music is dismissedas irrelevant, when it is still themost exciting form of musicaround today. You can see theinfluence it has had on pop androck, and you can see theinfluence of Creamfields on otherfestivals. Why should Readingand Leeds be the first port of callfor 16 to 17-year-olds? And ifthose festivals can put on peoplelike The Chemical Brothers, whyshouldn't we take their headlinerstoo?”

HV: Creamfields is now inHalton, having been in Spekeand Winchester. Will thefestival be staying therepermanently?

“We really hope so. We wereforced to move from Spekebecause of redevelopment, but itwas a good time to move as itallowed us to change the format.Plus I thought the festivaldeserved a better site - a lot ofevents were taking place inbeautiful places, so why couldn'twe have that for Creamfields?”

HV: Is there anything on thisyear's line-up that you'reespecially excited about?

“I'm curious to seehow Kasabian willwork, as this is myfourth attempt atbooking them! If wecan get 30,000-35,000 people in frontof that stage, they willblow the roof off.”HV: With all the work that goesinto making Creamfields asuccess, how much are youable to enjoy the festival?

“I'll get to see as many of thebands and DJs as possible, butI'll always be on tenterhooks! Idon't get drunk, it's too importantthat I can't switch off. My buzzcomes from seeing others havinga good time, from bands and DJstelling me that they loved theirgig. Once it's all out of the way,me and all the team will go out

and get absolutely pissed!”

HV: Looking back over the tenyears, what has been yourproudest achievement forCreamfields?

“Bringing it back to Liverpool,Creamfield's spiritual home. Wehad a falling out with our partnersin Winchester and lost the site.We found ourselves organising afestival in Liverpool for 30,000+people, and we had no idea ofhow it'd go. But when we got thegates open, we knew we'd doneit. The tiredness and theoccasion got to me and I did findthe tears rolling down thecheeks!”

HV: As the party enters itssecond decade, what do youthink it can still achieve?

“I want us to be a festival thatpeople want to play - modern,groundbreaking and different.The place where people play justbefore they become huge, whichis when I think they're at theirmost exciting. We're about youth,noise and hedonism. Justice,New Young Pony Club andLadytron are all acts still on theirway up - and they've all played atCreamfields. That's exactly whatI want us to be about - modern,exciting music.”

Words: Neil Condron

www.creamfields.com

Creamfields, 23rd – 24th August,Daresbury, Cheshire

twentyseventwentysix

www.creamfields.com Creamfields, 23rd – 24th August, Daresbury, Cheshire

Creamfields - 10 years and counting