Thursday 25 September 2014
New Sounds: Gone Girl Soundtrack
The full soundtrack for Gone Girl, created by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is now streaming on SoundCloud. Reznor and Ross are no strangers to soundtracks and even won an Academy Award for their film score of The Social Network. Is this one award worthy as well? Listen below.
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Labels:
atticus ross,
gone girl,
new sounds,
soundtrack,
trent reznor
Floating Away With Elephant Stone
I absolutely love Canadian band Elephant Stone and their psychedelic oriental rock songs. Their music is both warm and uplifting. They just released a new album Three Poisons and are doing a club tour in support of it.
Elephant Stone at Paradiso Amsterdam, September 23 2014
The small hall of Paradiso isn't really full when the band is walking on stage. They want to start their set, but drummer Miles Dupire forgot his drum sticks. Singer Rishi Dhir is trying to kill some time, but since the small stage is all the way upstairs on the second level and the dressing rooms are in the basement, it takes a while. They decide to just walk off and walk on again, with the intro music playing once again. This sounds a bit as a tough start, but it actually sets the mood right for a relaxed performance.
The four piece is playing some songs of the new record that sound more full and have more depth. The tracks have more groove which adds body. This is obvious tonight when you hear the new and old songs side by side. I love the older songs too, but I like the direction the new record is moving in. The band members look relaxed on stage, putting down a convincing performance with their psychedelic music. Dhir's light voice combined with the fuzzy guitars and grooving drums make you float away into the clouds. The band is using loops and sequences in a smart way, adding more layers to music, mostly with sitar parts.
Of course Dhir brought his sitar with him and is playing it a few times. It sounds so much better live than the recorded loops, more natural and warm. Slowly the hall is filling up with more people, that are probably here for the second band of the night White Hills. Elephant Stone are winning everyone over tonight and in the end get a well deserved round of applause and cheers.
Official Website | SoundCloud | Facebook | Twitter | Spotify
White Hills
We decide to stay for White Hills, which is a totally different kind of ball game. Described by the New Yorkers themselves as fuzzed out motoric spacerock, they are building guitar drones on top of repeating drum grooves. Together with a fog machine, sparse lighting and freaky visuals it creates a dark atmosphere. Guitarist and singer Dave W., who looks almost like a copy of Alice Cooper, and bass player Ego Sensation are both dressed in black leather and their drummer is wearing a mask. Their music isn't really subtle with the loud and pounding drums and explosions of noise, but it does work. The repetition in the hypnotic songs put you in a trance and we let ourselves float away once more.
Official Website | SoundCloud | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify
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Labels:
elephant stone,
live review,
paradiso,
rock,
white hills
Monday 22 September 2014
Flaming North Sea Surf Festival
Surf music had quite a revival halfway the nineties when the movie Pulp Fiction came out. It slowly declined again to the more or less underground scene it was before. Now there seems to be another sort of revival. The good thing is, it never died out and there are still great surf bands around. Dutch surf masters The Phantom Four even organize a North Sea Surf Festival and this year it's the fourth edition. So in the afternoon we drove off to the actual North Sea on the last day of summer and in the evening we went back to Amsterdam for some good surf music.
North Sea Surf Festival at Melkweg, September 20 2014
The line-up has around nine bands on the bill and the festival starts a bit too early for us in the afternoon. So by the time we make it into the venue the festival is in full swing and halfway the line-up.
Dirty Fuse
Dirty Fuse from Greece have just started their set and dressed appropriately in Hawaii shirts are treating us to nice surf tunes. Their sax player is a nice addition to the standard surf line-up and also adds a bit of edge to their middle of the road surf songs. It's a good way for us to kick off the festival though and get us in the right mood.
Official Website | SoundCloud | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify
Steinar Karlsen
Norwegian guitarist Steinar Karlsen is the lead guitarist and song writer of rock band Hot Little Mama and was even nominated for a grammy with Good Time Charlie. Tonight he's playing two short solo sets in the cinema where we join the first one. It's a bit of a weird setting for rock 'n roll, since we're seated where normally you want to shake your booty. Karlsen is a skilled guitar player and is playing interesting compositions. It's good that he's keeping it short, since you do miss the energy and power of a full band.
Official Website | Spotify
The Phantom Four
This band shouldn't need any introduction anymore. They are the front runners of the surf scene in our country and probably globally as well. Tonight they once again prove why, with an energetic and swinging set that calls for dancing. Phantom Frank is firing up the crowd with great solos while the band is grooving along. With your eyes closed you're at the beach and ready to hit the waves. It's exactly what happens when a surf board is showing up from back stage and a surfer is shortly looking for the perfect wave in the crowd.
Official Website | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify
Fifty Foot Combo
This band from Gent Belgium was quite a big name until they ceased to exist in 2006. Now they have risen from their ashes for their twenty year anniversary and even released a new EP. The band is showing why they rose to fame with a lively set of great rock 'n roll. A freaked out Hammond together with reverb-drenched guitars played with a lot of heart gives the crowd exactly what they want. It's impossible to stand still and so we shake it a bit harder.
Official Website | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | Spotify
Daikaiju
It's already time for the last band of the night. The masked Daikaiju members from Alabama are taking the world by storm. Their mix of surf, prog rock and psych rock is winning over many hearts and especially their live shows are quite a spectacle. The band prove to be good musicians and their clever songs sound impressive. The masks are quite a nice addition and also an interesting one, not showing any emotion in their faces this way. Therefore they have to exaggerate their moves which makes it a bit too much I think and draws the attention away from the music. The band take audience participation to a whole new level when they all step off stage, including the whole drum set and continue in the crowd. Then it doesn't take long before the guitarist climbs the stage again and invites everyone over to come along with him. It's obviously hard on the security people who don't look amused. They are frowning even more when the drummer is spraying cigarette lighter fluid on the cymbals to play them while they are on fire. It is quite a spectacular end of the festival though.
Official Website | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | Spotify
This was a good day with great music, that normally you will find in dark small stages or bars. Hopefully The Phantom Four are able to organize another edition next year. I sure will try to make it again. Maybe this time on the beach?
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Friday 19 September 2014
New Sounds: Julian Casablancas + The Voidz's Tyranny
Singer Julian Casablancas, once was regarded as the saviour of rock 'n roll as singer of The Strokes. This has long passed and his first solo album was considered a failure. He's about to release his second one Tyranny where he's teaming up the band The Voidz who are signed to his label. Will this record get more love? Judge for yourself by listening below. Tyranny is out on September 23rd.
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Labels:
Julian Casablancas,
new sounds,
rock,
the strokes,
the voidz
Wednesday 17 September 2014
Shaking Godspeed Unleash The Wolf
Dutch rock band Shaking Godspeed are one of my favourite rock bands. It is not your average rock band, but a group of musicians that like to walk different roads and like to do things their own way. And this results in creative and top notch rock songs with a twist. So whenever they are playing in the neighbourhood I try to catch one of their shows.
Shaking Godspeed at Tolhuistuin, September 15 2014
Tonight they are billed with two bands I never heard of, Hellshovel and Natural Child, at the new venue Tolhuistuin in the North of Amsterdam.
Hellshovel kick it off tonight with spaced out and very relaxing songs. It isn't really bad, but the band looks like they had too much valium or are stoned out of their heads. Probably this is the way they play on stage, but it makes their performance and music quite boring.
Fortunately Shaking Godspeed are up next to shake things up. They are doing a club tour in support of their new album Welcome Back Wolf, which was released a few days ago. It's full of brilliant twisted rock songs, that sound exciting and adventurous, sometimes maybe a bit awkward at the same time, an explosive mix of blues, space, crazy, very groovy hard rocking songs. Tonight they play a few new songs like the very catchy 'Goodbye Poupon' (not "poop hole" like I thought), which has an irresistible hook and the grooving and haunting 'The Lighthouse'. The sound isn't quite right, especially in the beginning when the drums are not balanced.
It doesn't matter for this band, who never fail to impress me with their solid sound and energetic performance. The new line-up with guitar player Rocco Ostermann and bass and organ player Alexander van Damme works very well. Next to front man Wout Kemkens, Ostermann is doing a good job on vocals. Moving from a three piece to a four piece band has added depth and another dimension to their sound, opening new possibilities apparently. The new songs sound great live as well and it's clear the band has made yet another step and reached new heights. This one of a kind group once again proves to be one of the most creative and exciting rock bands in this country if not beyond. And I can't stress it enough: this band is underrated and deserves a lot more. Maybe this can happen with the new album, but at least do yourself a favour and listen to the album and go see them live, you won't be disappointed, I promise. And then buy all their records and t-shirts of course.
Then it's time for Natural Child to top off this evening as the headliner. The band apparently made a big impression on SXSW showcase festival in Austin earlier this year. They play a mix of dirty Southern rock and country boogie woogie, which is not bad. Sometimes it's just a bit too much country and hillbilly rock for me. Also the lyrics are too cheesy now and then. Someone is offering them a joint which is passed around the band, probably not the first one of the day. I just can't help but wonder what the fuzz is about this band, since is it really that original or impressive?
It would be nice to see Shaking Godspeed play a longer set some time, which they should be able to with three full albums out now. I would definitely be there again.
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Labels:
hellshovel,
live review,
natural child,
rock,
shaking godspeed,
tolhuistuin
Saturday 13 September 2014
Into The Great Wide Open 2014 Day 3: Lovely Ending
Time seems to stand still on this island, except it really doesn't. It's the last day of the festival and the sun is treating us to some of its last sun rays this summer. Time to suck up some more festival vibes.
Into The Great Wide Open Day 3, September 8 2014
Mulatu Astatke
By the time we arrive at the main stage, Ethiopian jazz master Mulatu Astatke has already started his set. Jazz may not be everyone's cup of tea but the percussive music of the wonderful Astatke is hard not to like. His band is a delight to watch, as they convincingly play his swinging compositions with lots of enthusiasm. The master himself is looking content and is watching the band, the crowd and the surroundings with a smile on his face.
Official Website | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify
The Mysterons
Several Jungle By Night members have formed a side project, The Mysterons, no doubt at the conservatory. It's totally different from their swinging afrobeat band. It starts off with some songs that remind of Portishead, which isn't that surprising since 'Mysterons' is a song by them. I'm not a fan of that Bristol sound, but singer Josephine van Schaik's voice sounds impressive and the band is playing creative music. Then the songs turn more into seventies style rock songs and van Schaik proves she can handle that as well. The band are changing tempo and time measures with great ease. It may prove to be too much for some, but I'm loving this. I'm going to watch this band closely and am looking forward to their EP later this year.
Official Website | SoundCloud | Facebook
Ezra Furman
We decide to hang around at the sports field and take it more slow. Ezra Furman is performing there and is playing catchy rock 'n roll songs. Furman's glasses have broken but he decides to keep wearing them, which makes him look like a character from Revenge Of The Nerds. However I don't really like his voice which isn't great and sounds like he's putting too much cheese on it. Also the rest of the band isn't looking exactly inspired. Especially sax player Tim Sandusky seems to be thinking about his shopping list instead of playing music. Probably it's all an act but it is putting me down, which can never be the idea. The best song in their set is The Clash cover 'Train In Vain' which says it all.
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Unknown Mortal Orchestra
It's a surprising spot in the schedule for Unknown Mortal Orchestra on the main stage on the middle of the day. To me this is one of the highlights in the program and Ruban Nielson and co don't disappoint. Nielson is focused and his psychedelic and grooving solos are superb. The trippy and freaky songs may not go down well with everyone, considering the half empty field, but it doesn't really matter. Once again I'm impressed with this virtuoso band. Although I think a spot in the dark in the dunes would have made it even more impressive. I can't wait for their next album and a proper club show.
Official Website | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify
Typhoon
Dutch rapper Typhoon had quite a year. He released a highly acclaimed album earlier and totally killed it on the main stage at the Lowlands festival a few weeks ago. The organization are well aware that he's the perfect closing act of the festival. The field in front of the main stage is full of people who want to dance in the sun shine one more time. Typhoon has no problem making that happen. Hip hop and rap simply aren't my cup of tea, so we watch it all from a distance while working our way through a delicious pot of mussels. A magical moment happens when a woman is carried slowly towards the stage, as if she's floating above the crowd. At the end the charismatic Typhoon is totally killing it with his great band.
Official Website | SoundCloud | Facebook | Spotify
This edition ends on a high and before we know it we're on the boat that is taking us back to reality. This festival seems to get better every year. And although it will be hard again to get tickets for next year, we are definitely going to make sure we're there again.
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Into The Great Wide Open 2014 Day 0 + 1
Into The Great Wide Open 2014 Day 2
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Friday 12 September 2014
Into The Great Wide Open 2014 Day 2: Wonderful Dunes
We wake up to a grey sky, but even that can't break our mood. We wash away our hangover with fresh coffee and suddenly hear familiar music. It turns out Jungle By Night are recording a 3voor12 session on the camp ground (watch it over here). We go over to watch and are treated to a small sample of what will come later. All awake and in the right mood we make our way to the main stage for a gentle start of the day.
Into The Great Wide Open Day 2, September 7 2014
Kris Berry & Perquisite
Singer Kris Berry and composer, musician and producer started working together about a year ago and released an album Lovestruck Puzzles. Today they are opening the main stage while people are still slowly recovering from the previous day. Their gentle light music is helping with it. The poppy and soulful songs are easy on the ears, which is nice for this time of the day. But they are also nothing really special and Kris Berry's voice is missing the strength of a great soul voice. It is quite pleasant to wake up with though.
Official Website | Spotify
The Kik
We decide to stay a bit longer at the main stage to watch The Kik. The Dutch beat and rock 'n roll band released a surprising second album earlier this year, that has quite nice songs on it. This band is not bad at all, but lead singer Dave von Raven's long chats, lame jokes and other monkeying around take too much time out of their set. It slows down the gig too much that never gains momentum this way. This is a shame since they are good musicians capable of writing good songs. Sometimes it's just better to let the music do most of the talking.
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Jungle By Night
After some chilling around and enjoying lovely food and beers, we hurry back to the dune stage where afro-beat collective Jungle By Night have already started to tear the place apart. We arrive halfway their set and are lucky to get into the packed place. Everybody is dancing to the young boys' irresistible afro-beat and funk tunes. They have shown a remarkable development and are growing up fast. From shy boys they have turned into showmen that know how to play and fire up a crowd. Their sound and music is deepening and slowly they are creating their own genre like Dutch jazz and dance band New Cool Collective have done. The songs off the new record aren't just afro-beat but sound more funky and groovy, sometimes like music from a soundtrack. Most import of all: it's impossible to stand still. So everyone is jumping around and all I can see are big smiles in the crowd and on stage.
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Neneh Cherry with RocketNumberNine
We decide to stay here for the rest of the day, which means we can see Neneh Cherry perform. Still associated with her big hit 'Buffalo Stance' she has come a long way of course. RocketNumberNine are playing r&b and hip hop beats, where Neneh is singing on top of. Sometimes it's jazzy, at other times it's rap or soulful. She excuses herself for her voice that is suffering from a chest infection. It does sound more hoarse than usual and high notes are beyond her reach today. It doesn't get her down, as Neneh looks like she has enjoyed a few drinks and is in a very cheerful mood. It results in a far from perfect but definitely enjoyable show. In the end she does play her big hit, which gets a warm and soulful performance.
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Hallo Venray
Dutch alternative veterans Hallo Venray disappeared off the radar for a while but returned this year with the impressive record Show. While the dark has set in, they are showing why it's good they are still around. Their dark and grungy songs are tight and couldn't sound better at this spot between the dunes. Singer Henk Krol comes across as a friendly man and is a skilled songwriter. Their music, that is somewhere in the middle between The Velvet Underground and Neil Young, sounds warm and deep. When they play their unrecognizable but slow and intense version of Prince's 'Controversy', some people around me look up in surprise. It's nice to see they are still able to surprise us after all these years.
Official Website | Facebook | MySpace | Spotify
Sivert Høyem
The dark dunes of the Fortweg stage are also the perfect setting for Sivert Høyem. The ex-Madrugada singer's deep voice is thundering between the dunes. With a new album out he has added another selection of songs that fit right in his discography. His solo work isn't that much different from the Madrugada songs, but still you can see the fans eyes' of that band start to twinkle when he's playing one of those songs. Tonight he's looking a bit tormented and at one point is smashing his mic stand. Was he frustrated about some technical problems or was he just in the moment? It does give 'The Kids are on High Street' the right emotion and a fitting end to his show and the day.
Official Website | SoundCloud | sivert.hoyem | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify
In the dark we head back for a few more drinks and a well deserved rest before it's time for the final day. It's something I don't want to think about right now. I just don't want it to end!
More Pictures
Into The Great Wide Open 2014 Day 0 + 1
Into The Great Wide Open 2014 Day 3
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Into The Great Wide Open Day 0 + 1: Paradise Island
Usually the journey to a festival is more of a burden than a joyful ride. Getting up early to get a decent camping spot, the long traffic lines, dragging around your heavy luggage for too long until you finally can sit down for a well deserved beer in front of your tent. Into The Great Wide Open is nothing like that. We drive up to the harbour of Harlingen, drop off our luggage, and relax on the boat where the wind is clearing our minds and raises our spirits into the right mood. By the time the boat arrives, the rat race of everyday life feels far away. And we even are in time to see one of the bands!
Into The Great Wide Open Day 0 + Day 1, September 5 + 6 2014
Thursday
It wasn't clear if we would be able to make Magnus, but everything runs smoothly and in the dark we make our way to the new stage, Fortweg, tucked away in the dunes. There we are greeted by an unreal picture, a new world that we are eager to explore. Colourful lights of cosy food stalls and bars, a tower with a real slide on top of the mixing table. Quite a big crowd is already dancing to the band playing on stage.
Magnus
Tom Barman's electronic adventure seemed to have died after its birth in 2004. However a new album is out now and it actually is quite alive. Millionaire's Tim Van hamel is playing guitar while Barman's partner in crime on this project, CJ Bolland, is laying down the beats and base for this electronic rock crossover. Barman looks quite happy and is doing his best to get the crowd fired up. This is working the best when the balance between rock and techno is just right. Too bad the rest of the band couldn't make it, since it would have spiced up the mix even more. And of course the guest vocals like Tom Smith on 'Singing Man' can't be matched tonight. Still it is an entertaining show on this unique spot.
Official Website | SoundCloud | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify
So we're all warmed up for a great weekend. Time to down a few more beers and test out our dancing shoes.
Friday
The weather is a bit too cold for me to go for a swim. So it's fried eggs and coffee instead before we head to the main stage for the first performance of the day.
Erlend Øye
More than any artist has Erlend Øye shown up here. He loves this festival and seems to come up with any excuse to be able to perform here. This time is his fourth time on the island and together with his music friends is showcasing some of his Italian songs. He's living in Italy nowadays and apparently found inspiration there. These songs are quite sugar sweet and light, sometimes a bit too much to my liking. But Øye's laid-back performance and the sunny weather is quite the right setting to start off the day on a positive note.
Official Website | SoundCloud | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify
Dans Dans
In the woods we find an interesting name on the bill. This group is not you're middle of the road band but plays jazzy tunes. It sometimes sounds like a soundtrack to a dark Hitchcock movie. There are no vocals, only now and then guitarist Bert Dockx will play recorded voices on a cassette player, by holding it to the strings of his guitar. The band is playing well and tight and are able to create a mysterious atmosphere between the trees. It turns out to be the perfect place for their soundscapes.
Official Website | Facebook | Spotify
Daryll-Ann
The Dutch alternative band Daryll-Ann are still playing their reunion shows and couldn't be overlooked this year as the band that started it all for the Excelsior label who has plenty of connections with this festival. Also most of the visitors who are in their thirties or forties will remember this band and there should be plenty of fans around. It doesn't get really crowded though, but the band are in good shape and their wonderful songs go down well. Guitarist Anne Soldaat's solos and riffs impress once again, the harmonies sound fresh and today the songs get the right flow to reveal all of their beauty. The sun and the drinks are doing the rest.
Official Website | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | Spotify
Audacity
It's time to head back to the dunes again where we find Audacity, a garage rock band on the Burger label, who are working up a sweat. This is garage rock in its purest form with vocals that are slightly off and far from perfection, guitars that are sometimes just out of tune and drums wandering off from time to time. All combined in one explosive ball of energy and played by four young blokes who give it all and are enjoying the hell out of it. Sometimes it's all you need.
Official Website | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify
The Miseries
We move back to the sports field where there's a small stage called "Platte Kar", which hosts very new and promising bands and sometimes a surprise performance. Dutch singer/songwriter Tim Knol is performing there with his garage rock band The Miseries. Their compact songs are catchy. Maybe surprisingly, Knol's vocals go very well with these energetic rock tunes. With just one vinyl single out maybe it's time for a full album guys.
Official Website | SoundCloud | Twitter | Facebook
Buffalo Tom
Remember the nineties and this band from Boston? It may seem as if they have recently reformed, but they actually never went away. Their glory days may be behind them, tonight they are showing there's plenty of energy left with a convincing performance on the main stage. The many forty-something visitors enjoy this flash back from their own glory days. Their hits from that era like 'Summer', 'I'm Allowed' and the still solid 'Taillights Fade' are greeted with big smiles. A vivid version of The Faces' 'Stay With Me' tops it off.
Official Website | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify
Vaudou Game
The mysterious woods have a mysterious band for us tonight. Fronted by the charismatic Peter Solo this band from Togo and Benin, small African countries squeezed in between Ghana and Nigeria, offer an exotic and hot mix of afro-beat and funk. Solo, a bit dressed like a happy witch-doctor, is firing up the crowd, repeating French words like "l'eau", "nature" and "l'air", creating a hypnotic atmosphere where resistance to stand still is useless. He's backed up by a fantastic and tight band and Solo is once and a while watching one of his band mates play wonderful solos in total admiration, with a big smile on his face. I'm looking forward to their debut album Apiafo which comes out end of this month.
Official Website | SoundCloud | Facebook | YouTube | Spotify
After this wonderful party we don't want to stop now! Fortunately there's plenty of dancing going on at De Bolder.
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Into The Great Wide Open 2014 Day 2
Into The Great Wide Open 2014 Day 3
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Wednesday 10 September 2014
Beck's Colourful Rollercoaster Ride
It's been seven years since Beck visited us for the last time. You would expect the Heineken Music Hall to be sold out, but it actually isn't. When we arrive at the concert venue, support act Jenny Lewis is just wrapping up her performance and by the time Beck is about to start it is quite easy to move closer to the stage. It is a somewhat lukewarm reception for one of the most creative musicians in the industry.
Beck at Heineken Music Hall Amsterdam, September 8 2014
It doesn't seem to matter to the little man from Los Angeles who isn't wasting any time and starts off with a ferocious 'Devil's Haircut'. Together with big hit 'Loser' so early in the set, you could worry he may have shot his bolt too soon, but of course Beck has plenty more tricks up his sleeves. Songs from his melancholic new album Morning Phase are scattered throughout the set, which is a smart move. This way the show doesn't lose momentum and the full arrangements they get, make them fit in perfectly with the rest.
And so we get to see all the faces of Beck and this show turns into a colourful one. Literally with the beautiful visuals at the back which are totally supporting the songs and the lighting. The greatest hits show, with songs from his entire career span, shows the versatile artist he is. He has explored so many genres, it is a wild ride we're in tonight, but Beck and his excellent band, know exactly how to glue it together into a consistent set.
After 'E-Pro', Beck uses yellow "crime scene" tape to seal off the stage and leaves for a short break. They return for an inspired 'Sexx Laws' where he cuts the tape again. 'Debra' turns into a funky song with partly improvised lyrics, that would have fit a Prince set as well. A cheerful version of 'Where It's At' is used to introduce the band members and closes this night, that turns everyone into winners. Hopefully we don't have to wait another seven years until we can watch Beck again.
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Setlist:
01. Devil's Haircut
02. Black Tambourine
03. Loser
04. The New Pollution
05. Blue Moon
06. Heart Is a Drum
07. Gamma Ray
08. Hell Yes
09. Think I'm in Love
10. Soul of a Man
11. Blackbird Chain
12. Unforgiven
13. Chemtrails
14. Wave
15. Waking Light
16. Girl
17. Novacane
18. One Foot in the Grave
19. E-Pro
Encore:
20. Sexx Laws
21. Debra
22. Where It's At
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Tuesday 2 September 2014
Sniffing The Grass: An ITGWO 2014 Warm Up
Only a few days left before we head for our yearly trip to paradise island. It's the sixth edition of the Into The Great Wide Open festival and it will be our fourth visit. Like every year the organization have come up with a versatile and interesting program. And I'm referring to the music only, since there will be plenty of art, cultural events, food and drinks.
Thursday
Like the last couple of editions there's a small program on Thursday but like before we won't be able to arrive early enough to catch the first bands. So I'm afraid we will miss the energetic rock of Belgian band The Sore Losers. And probably Happy Camper with all its vocalists and Job Roggeveen's beautiful compositions will be hard to make too. Hopefully when all goes well, we will be able to catch dEUS' Tom Barman's electronica project Magnus.
Friday
The weather forecast looks promising, so I hope we can start off the day with a dive in the sea. After a healthy breakfast somewhere on the island we should be off to a good start with the feel good music of Erlend Øye, who is visiting the festival for the fourth time too. Dans Dans are making psychedelic film noir jazzy fiddling around music. Sounds great! As long as Daryll-Ann keep performing I don't want to miss them. Then it's time to get more rough with the garage rock of Auda City. There's a new alternative rock band in our country called Beginners, although they are definitely no newbies. Asko|Schonberg & Nora Fischer sounds pretty interesting who will perform a modern composition on the forest stage. We can always go check out Tim Knol's garage rock band The Miseries or do that anyway.
Then it's time for a memory from the past. I haven't seen Buffalo Tom in ages and although I know he's still active have no idea what he's up to these days. Moon Duo is a project of Wooden Shjips guitarist Ripley Johnson so that's worth checking out. Hopefully the afrobeat and funk of Vaudau Game can send us off on a high. Otherwise I'm sure TenTemPiés will.
Sounds like a full and busy day and boy does it look good! One more choice for today: campfire or dancing?
Three tips for today:
1. Dans Dans
2. Moon Duo
3. Daryll-Ann
Saturday
Today is another full day with some tough dilemmas to crack. Let's start off with a cool refreshing swim and a relaxing breakfast. Then we will kick it off with the soulful Kris Berry & Perquisite and after that some world music by Frànçois And The Atlas Mountains, before the first tough choice awaits us: raw rock with Robbing Banks, dancing with the always great afrobeat of Jungle By Night or check out multi instrumentalist Liam Finn? If everything works out the sun and the beers will have us in the right mood for the summery music of Hollie Cook. Ghanese soul singer Benjamin Clementine sounds really interesting, but at the same time Neneh Cherry will show her vocal strength backed up by RocketNumberNine. St. Paul & The Broken Bones are white as snow, but make some great raw seventies style soul music.
Veteran Dutch alternative band Hallo Venray released one of their best (the best?) record in their career so far and deserve a visit. Greek DJ Larry Gus apparently can turn every appearance into a party but great singer Sivert Høyem, previously of the disbanded Madrugada, is playing at the same time. And then Charles Bradley will pour out his heart and bring his love and emotional soul to the island. Sounds like a match made in heaven to me.
Three tips for today:
1. Jungle By Night
2. Hallo Venray
3. Charles Bradley
Sunday
The last day of the festival has a less full program which is great since by now we have completely slowed down. The Stargaze ensemble has great musicians and the versatile mix of compositions they will be playing sounds great to start off this day. After a swim and some food of course. The amazing Ethiopian musician Mulatu Astatke is the founder of ethio-jazz and one of the most respected and acclaimed Ethiopian musicians. I don't need to know more of course. Depedro will possibly throw a Spanish dancing party before The Mysterons take us on a trip with some psychedelic grooves. Time to saddle our horses and check out Daniel Romano before the illustrious Brushy One String shows us how to make music on just one string. I really love Unknown Mortal Orchestra and their psychedelic jams, but also would love to see Sinkane's Sudanese afro funk. Typhoon will definitely have everyone bouncing and dancing to send us home on a high. Unfortunately we can't stay until the end since we have to catch a boat back to reality.
Three tips for today:
1. Mulatu Astatke
2. Typhoon
3. Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Yes the program is more full than ever and I'm sure I won't be able to see it all. I'm not even going to try since this festival requires a mellow approach, just dive in and let it all happen.
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