There’s not too many music festivals around that have a single idea or event as their central focal point. More often that not it tends to be a case of the bands on the main-stage being the priority, with any quirks and format changes being tweaked at the edges.
The Wickerman Festival - deep in the gullies of the Scottish borders - reverses that completely. It’s quite simple really: take a big field in the midst of some empty farmland; erect a giant figure ontop of a hill to be burned at the apex of the weekend; get a whole load of people in to drink and listen to some music. Brilliant.
Where would we be today without the simple, scuzzy way of our punk fore-fathers? We certainly owe a great debt to their spikey hair and sneers.
Despite the faded cries that the genre is dead, there are still those who plunder away at the craft regardless. The young amongst us often are set on their path to alternative music fame by two chords and some angry words, so it’s not something to be dismissed lightly. The Pop Fosters are one such two-piece outfit from Wakefield who are carrying such a torch with their 1-2 minute janglings.
We picked them out back in August of 2009 when we featured their ‘A Small Version Of A Party’ EP, and they’ve gone on to be signed up to the well respected Smalltown America label. With that, comes a new digitaldownload/CD EP release named ‘I Watched It From The Roadside’.
Their tag line reads ‘tender pop songs that will melt your ears’, and that pretty much sums it up perfectly. I could just leave you with that and a download link, but that wouldn’t do them justice.
Last time I reviewed this lot, I was impressed by their "double b-side" EP. Listening to their digital single ‘You Show Up’, which is out FREE tomorrow (12th July), I’m even more so.
I knew when I neglected going to see the unknown band with the strange name at T in the Park that I was going to regret it. I just knew they were going to end up being amazing and that I would forever be tormented by my laziness. Sadly, fate had made its decision, and I live with it to this day.
I’d pretty much all but lost hope that you could be in a fresh and credible band without having to resort to more the more obscure methods in the musical sphere. If you didn’t have intricate guitar parts that were tuned at strange angles and inserted in a disjointed fashion, then there was always the risk that you’d fall into that generic-indie trap, and that just would not do.
I’ve never been fond of remix albums. Infact, that’s probably putting it a tad lightly. I positively loathe them. The blame surely has to lie mostly at the feet of the 90s, where any track that had a synthetic drumbeat slapped over it with a higher tempo was considered ‘remix’ worthy.
Two years on from the release of HEALTH//DISCO, the noise-kings have followed suit with DISCO2 - the remix version of their sophomore masterpiece GET COLOR. Thankfully, the shiny double LP that dropped into the Artrocker inbox doesn’t disappoint.
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Photos: Stephen McLeod
"What kind of bleach do use on your hair? Is it just toilet stuff?"
I felt like the wee boy from the year 2000’s classic film ‘Almost Famous’. Being given complete and unrestricted access to Pulled Apart by Horses - what has to be the UK’s most exciting live band - on their debut album release tour throws up as many serious questions as well as those about my hair.
Whilst spending time in dressing rooms and backstage areas with bands is not something alien to me, you can’t help but wonder what the etiquette is when you’re there to observe and effectively ‘report back’ on the inner workings of a group as tightly knit as this. When bands are as frank and down-to-earth as the Leeds foursome are, it gets even harder to work out whether what’s said is on or off the record. There’s not exactly a rule book which lets you know what information you glean is private or better not released, and which you can share. The fine balance of giving respect to the trust you’re given by people on the road and making sure you give an honest and full account is not one which is all that easily met.
It’s difficult to review something that you fear you just might not be able to wrap your head round properly. This is especially the case with the more obscure of the submissions we get for review. It’s easy to dismiss something that could be genius purely because you’re not involved or know about that particular ‘scene’.
This is Indie the way it should sound.
Not total crap.
Rory Carroll recommends the Mum friendly sophisto pop of The Housewives.
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