Blur @ Hyde Park, London, 3rd July 2009

When this gig was announced in December, I'm not sorry to say that I had £50 saved up spare for just such an eventuality. I would happily pay this much for a chance to see Blur's first gig back together, but as it turned out, it ended up being the last of a short comeback tour that took in railway museums, record stores and the Glastonbury Festival.

Still, I was, understandably, pretty glad to be able to watch my favourite band from my childhood, Parklife being one of the first albums I ever bought, and still one my personal favourites. So to say I was looking forward to this gig was an understatement.

Further delight was found when San Francisan (ish) 4 piece DEERHOOF were announced to be the opening act. Playing to a modest crowd of early entrants, they plucked tracks from all over their extensive discography, possibly finding new fans with the energetic "Panda Panda Panda", the slightly creepy "The Perfect Me" before finishing on a track from their most recent album Offend Maggie "Basketball Get Your Groove Back".

Although I am admittedly a little off the pace in terms of this years influx of (over)hype bands, I am overtly aware of the number of indiosyncratic female-fronted acts. Unfortunately the combination of their joint arrival and my lack of attention means that I don't really make much of a distinction between, say La Roux or Little Boots despite their obvious musical differences. Luckily, FLORENCE & THE MACHINE was someone whom I had heard at least one song that I vaguely enjoyed. I enjoyed so much that I didn't realise they had played it until it was at least halfway through. The best Kate Bush rip off I've heard since Bat For Lashes' latest. And I really mean it.

AMADOU & MARIAM were a completely unknown quantity to me, and to be quite honest, were absolutely amazing, with Amadou's guitar playing particularly impressive, and their anthemic mixture of African and traditional rock music being all the more appreciated being that the pair are blind. My favourite part of their set was when Amadou introduced, not only the entire band, but also the entire road crew to less and less enthusiatic applause from a frankly amused crowd. Also the fact that he sounded suspiciously like my old Somalian GP when he kept asking "Do you feel alriiiiiigght?"

It was interesting how well VAMPIRE WEEKEND came across on the big stage. With tracks that unbelievably managed to fill the park and the stage presence and confidence to talk to the crowd more than all of the previous acts combined. Frontman Ezra Koenig, who was dressed more for a sailing weekend than an outdoor gig, introducing each song (including a couple of new tracks) with a slightly underhand request that they danced a bit. Last year's hype band finished their anthemic set with my personal favourite "Walcott".

BLUR reached the stage after some 15 years of anticipation on my part, having been too young to enjoy them live before, and them having splitting up during my "wilderness years" in terms of music. They find a crowd in good humour, somehow making their somewhat weak debut single "She's So High" sound up to date and exciting.

The set is chock full of classics, featuring early singles "There's No Other Way", Parklife opener "Girls & Boys" as well as fan-favourite album tracks "Tracy Jacks" and "Badhead".

"Beetlebum" receives a big cheers as the band explored their post-britpop albums, including the Coxon-less "Out Of Time" (although he plays on it tonight) and 13 fan favourite "Trimm Trabb", which sees Coxon in fine energetic form.

This section is finished with their last big hit "Tender", seeing the band joined their entire backing contingent of 4 singers and a brass section, as well as all of the 55,000 people in the crowd. While "Tender" is controversially my least favourite of all of Blur's singles, its power with this crowd is intense, seeing sections still singing the chorus as the band continue with the set into the next song.

"Country House" is the almost ironic return to the Britpop part of Blur's discography, seeing a hattrick of Modern Life Is Rubbish tracks in "Oily Water" (where Damon knocked over his mic stand and so shouts through a loudspeaker for the majority of the song), "Chemical World" and "Sunday Sunday", the last with Damon asking the crowd to run on the spot for the fast section.

At this point, a mischevious Phil Daniels appears onstage, not unlike the Tango genie from those banned adverts, albeit wearing glasses, being fully clothed and not orange. Predictably, and to the largest cheer of the night (from this reviewer at least) the band launch into an energetic version of "Parklife", and another life ambition is crossed off the list.

Next up, a trio of tracks from the album of the same name aptly close what is an amazing first set. "End of A Century", "To The End" segway into a brilliant version of my favourite track "This Is A Low", before a clearly overcome band briefly leave the stage.

The natural frontman Damon, clearly enthused for their two week jaunt (this being the first gig announced, but somewhat ironically, the last they play for the moment) is full of energy all night, and this is reflected in the band. The famously shy Graham lets his guitar do the talking, which according to Alex's autobiography, is all he ever wanted to do, and the effect is mesmering. While I was lucky enough to wander towards a stage where he was playing some of his solo work, seeing work as part of Blur is absolutely awe-inspiring in his devastating skill. While Dave is the happy timekeeper who is willing to bash the drums at the back, the largely static Alex is effortlessly cool, affirming his skinny presence in a plain white t-shirt and jeans which would frankly look ridiculous on any other man his age.

The band return to play electrifying versions of "Popscene" and "Advert" to a largely bemused crowd, before a long drum solo melts into the iconic beat of that really famous Blur song. You know, the one where they say "woo-hoo" a lot. I remember the first time I heard that song. I was 10, playing FIFA 98 Road To World Cup on my brother's PlayStation, desperately trying to find out who did the music for the intro, as I was so sure that my friend's observation that it was Blur was completely and utterly wrong. These guys do songs like "Parklife" and "Girls and Boys", not heavy shit like this.

Meanwhile, back in the present, the band again briefly dissapear backstage before coming back to play Blur track "Death Of A Party". At this point I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in my section singing along but by this point I don't really care. "For Tomorrow" is banged out to the park before an amazing rendition of current British Gas theme "The Universal", leaving the entire crowd singing "well it really really really could happen/and the days they seem to run from you/well, just, let them gooooo" for a good twenty minutes afterwards. Well, at least in my head.

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure the whole thing happened. It was such an achievement of a long held ambition that I can't actually believe I've finally seen them. And they were absolutely as fantastic as both my childhood and previous spectators would have me believe.

I finally got to see Blur play "Parklife" live, and now I can die happy.

Monday Mixtape 26/01/2009

Today's very lazy theme is the best tracks on 2008. Well, my favourite tracks. So ner.

DATE: 26/01/2009
THEME: Best tracks of 2008
LENGTH: 10 Tracks, 38:43

1. CRYSTAL CASTLES - Untrust Us (3:06) (Crystal Castles, Lies/Last Gang 2008)
2. METRONOMY - Heartbreaker (4:09) (Nights Out, Because Music 2008)
   
3. XX Teens - Darlin' (4:12) (Welcome To Goon Island, Mute 2008)
   
4. LATE OF THE PIER - The Bears Are Coming (3:23) (Fantasy Black Channel, Parlophone 2008)
   
5. BORN RUFFIANS - Hummingbird (3:08) (Red, Yellow & Blue, Warp 2008)
6. VAMPIRE WEEKEND - Walcott (3:41) (Vampire Weekend, XL 2008)
   
7. FOALS - Red Socks Pugie (5:08) (Antidotes, Transgressive 2008)
   
8. DEERHUNTER - Agoraphobia (3:22) (Microcastle, 4AD 2008)
   
9. BURIAL - After Dark (3:54) (Untrue, Hyperdub 2007 (but I don't care))
   
10. BECK - Chemtrails (4:40) (Modern Guilt, XL 2008)
    

This list is a bit similar to the first one I did. But I'm lazy. And I don't care who knows it.

SATISFACTORY ALBUMS OF TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT

The late late edition. I'm getting worse and worse at keeping up with this. I could blame many things for this. The current state of the Middle East, for example, distracting me from listening to new music and instead relying on my musical library to cheer me up. Everyone current excuse of "y'know, the credit crunch and all that" which, if I hear as a phrase one more time (even in the form of the BBC's cautiously optimistic "economic downturn" complete with mainly downward facing arrows) I'm gonna scream.

I could also blame the mountains of university which I have also clearly not completed, even a small amount, or the endless hours of shifting sportswear to the ironically overweight for pennys. But in reality, I'm just lazy. 2009 is ages away, I said to myself, why worry about it now? Erm...bugger.

So here it is, my Top 15 (extra 5 from last year!) especially for you jolly good people that I banged out in about 15 minutes between getting home, eating my dinner and procrastining until the red dawn light. Enjoy:

15: Atlas Sound - Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
14: No Age - Nouns
13: Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
12: Portishead - Third
11: Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend Review

10: Born Ruffians - Red, Yellow & Blue Review
9: Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
8: Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles Review
7: Santogold - Santogold
6: British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music? Review

5: MGMT - Oracular Spectacular Review
4: Beck - Modern Guilt

3:

Foals - Antidotes
While my review didnt take particularly kindly to this album back in April, it has worked its way back to my affections on repeat play alone. There is something to be said about an album that I could sit there and listen to quite comfortably on more than one occasion. For a while it was my "go to" album of choice - what you listen when you can't think of anything else and are too impatient to use the shuffle function.

In April I criticised it, rightly, for not featuring Foals' two best tracks. Namely "Hummer" and "Mathletics"

2:

Deerhunter - Microcastles/Weird Era Cont.
Bradford Cox's second entry on this list, and none more deserved than for this fantastic album of shoegaze, noise and lo-fi perfection, with Weird Era Cont. winning the prize for best bonus disc of any album, possibly ever. But don't just take my word for it, read the original review here for the thoughts of me just one month ago. (or scroll down a bit)

1:

Metronomy - Nights Out
Joseph Mount's follow up to wonky debut Pip Paine finds his former solo moniker now including live partners Oscar Cash and Gabriel Stebbing this time around. And while the album has failed to reach the chart success it should, tracks such as "My Heart Rate Rapid" and "Heartbreaker" have proved dancefloor hits of their own.

If nothing else, Nights Out has blended pop themes and sensibilities with minimalist beats and an aching, awkward dancefloor noise.
Album Preview

Reading/Leeds Festival Line-up reaction (NME/RADIO ONE STAGE)

READING FRIDAY/LEEDS SATURDAY
NME/RADIO 1 STAGE
BABYSHAMBLES
Young scallywag Peter Doherty returns to Reading once again with the rest of Babyshambles. While some say he is a tragic genius, and others say he is a scrounging waster, their show will be interesting. Probably.

THE WOMBATS
While the only of their songs that I ever listened to and vaguely enjoyed was "Let's Dance To Joy Division", I was surprised to learn that they had previous released an album in Japan. Weird. I'll be on the main stage.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND
The latest in a long line of New York hype bands and the booking that will arguably fill out the NME tent.
Can't Wait To Hear: Walcott

MGMT
The duo bring their spaced-out stylings to Reading for the first time, and will hopefully be as electrifying as they have been on TV.
Can't Wait To Hear: Time To Pretend

READING SATURDAY/LEEDS SUNDAY
NME/RADIO 1 STAGE
MANIC STREET PREACHERS
They may be past it even more than U2 and REM combined, but the majority of their set is well worth the headlining set they've earned, even if its in the tent rather than on the main stage.
Can't Wait To Hear: If You Tolerate This...

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
BFMV tour their new album Scream Aim Fire. Yes.

JUSTICE
French electro house duo try out their best Daft Punk impression in the NME tent. Let's hope they're a bit more spectacular than when I saw them, but a festival crowd may yet be more favourable for them.

FOALS
Having done the now typical "release-an-album in march then play Brixton in October" that has been exemplified in recent years by We Are Scientists, Kaiser Chiefs and Klaxons, its not a shock either for them to have been pushed up to the NME stage after their electrifying set on the Carling Stage last year. While they arguably won't be as big as Klaxons, the early signs are promising and it may well end up being one of those albums that hangs around in the top 20 for a while.
Can't Wait To Hear: Mathletics

READING SUNDAY/LEEDS FRIDAY
NME/RADIO 1 STAGE
THE CRIBS
I have to say I've never really seen the appeal of the brothers Jarman and although their songs aren't unlistenable, and possibly even preferable to Metallica, I both don't know enough and don't want to know enough to make a judgement.

CONOR OBERST
Okay, this is a bit weird. Conor Oberst, who I always assumed was the only "real" member of Bright Eyes, is playing a solo set under his own name, with Rilo Kiley's drummer, amongst others. But Wikipedia tells me that Bright Eyes was always a group project. Either way, he'll probably chuck in a couple of Bright Eyes tracks anyway.

PENDULUM
When they first appeared, they were frequently referred to as being "the new Prodigy", probably by those who thought their remix of Voodoo People was an original song. To be honest, past Slam I'm not that familiar with anything of theirs, past the fact that people always seem to want to request some when they don't like a DJ at a club.

More bands announced soon...

ALBUM: Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

As the latest American hype-band, they are in the same vein as all those that have come before, but with the added effect of strings and a small nod towards world music that arguably makes them stand up above the rest.

Former single and arguably the best track of the album, "Mansard Roof" starts this self-titled album on exactly the right chilled-out and minimalist note, and the sparse snare drumming that drives throughout the whole album begins almost as soon as the song does, and doesn't really finish until the end of closer "The Kid's Don't Stand A Chance".

While obvious similarites with Paul Simon's Graceland and even a hint of the Beach Boys on a couple of the tracks, as well as the afrobeat of "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa", it seems as if they've made an obvious effort not to be lumped in with your average Spinto Band and are intent on making themselves stand out.

Unfortunately piano-led stormer "Walcott" brings them straight back down to New York with a bump, yet the album is all the better for it. The subtle mix of contemporary Indie alongside a wealth of mostly neglected musical styles leads to an album that almost borders on the chilled-out genius of The Shins.

Alas, a couple of tracks let them down, most notably Strokes b-side material "I Stand Corrected" and what sounds like what should be the theme to the Grand National and/or a BBC costume drama, "M79".

Similarly "A-Punk", while a good track in itself, never really goes anywhere, and is fairly demonstrative of this album, which while seeming to promise so much for each song, never really delivers that final master-stroke that would make it a great album. Instead what it becomes is a pleasant, yet mediocre 35 minutes from a band who could definately do a lot better.

Homepage
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The next "....." pt.3

On most people's musical journeys of discovery, or mine at least, it comes to a point where you get bored of whats being thrown out into the British Indie scene, naked under their Libertines T-Shirts, with perhaps only a vague nod towards anything before Up The Bracket.

So then you look further afield than dear old blighty and have a little glimpse at the much less derivative and generally healthier US Indie scene. Usually discovering Modest Mouse somewhere along the way. But on the whole, worshipping whichever is the "next big thing from America". Remember The Spinto Band? Clap Your Hands Say Yeah? Cold War Kids?

Of course you do. And the next band to fall firmly into that category are Vampire Weekend.

Mixing the chilled out genius of The Shins (who they supported) with a traditional Afrobeat percussion, its easy to see why a band like Vampire Weekend wouldn't survive on a UK diet alone. They are one of those bands that, if they existed in just the suffocating London or Manchester scenes, would still, unfortunately, be doing their day jobs. But thanks to the massive appetite of your average American music fan, the sheer size of the place, and the US's uncanny ability to have bands sell a million albums and still be unknown, these have manged to scrape enough of a living in America to take on the world. They are not the first band to do so, and will not be the last, and it seems a shame that British msuic can't be the same. It seems as if there are proportionally fewer small bands who stick with independent labels and actually have enough fledgling success to tour Europe or the World.

The best example of their strange juxtaposition of styles is on "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa", where the traditional African beat is behind lyrics about Peter Gabriel. Although the prospective album highlight will still be former single "Walcott", ironically their most American-sounding song, but the one I can't stop listening to.

Signed to XL, they release their debut album Vampire Weekend on January 29th, 2008.

Official Site
Myspace