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Presents |
Pictures from some recent gigs we've hosted:
29 March 2013 - Brixton, London
Viv Albertine, VuVuVultures, Left Leg, Mickey Gloss, Big Wave, No Cars, Arthur Gunn, Simon Love ( Pictures)
8 March 2013 - Lexington, London
R.Ring, Golden Grrrls, Slushy Guts and Equinox ( Pictures)
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| On
Our iPod |
 Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold (album)
Antony Harding - Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear (album)
Black Angels - Indigo Meadow (album)
Thee Oh Sees - Floating Coffin (album)
Still Corners - Strange Pleasures (album)
Savages - Silence Yourself (album)
Mikal Cronin - MC II (album)
Can’s Ege Bamyasi played by Stephen Malkmus and Friends(album)
Victoria and Jacob - Festival 7"
Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City (album)
Sauna Youth - False Jesii Part II 7”
Lightning Bolt - Oblivion Hunter
Robyn Hitchcock - There Goes The Ice (2x 12") |
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End of the Road Festival 2011: Friday
The Fall, The Walkmen, Tune-Yards, Beirut, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and more
Article written by
Various Writers - Sep 13, 2011
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Tune-Yards
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The capacity increase may have made a few veteran End of the Roaders nervous but the outstanding line-up promises to make this 6th year the best yet.
What should’ve made everyone nervous however was the new and absurdly hazardous pathway to the site entrance; while a fresh layout was inevitable given the 2,000+ extra ticket-holders and the need to make space for a new main stage, there is no excuse for this cheap, ankle-snapping trail of stupidity.
Once inside the Festival, it feels like you’ve returned home from a short break only to find someone’s re-arranged all your furniture and built an extension. It’s lost a little of the familiarity and quite a lot of intimacy, but the charm is thankfully still intact. Speaking of charm, Caitlin Rose (one of the highlights of last year) is about to begin on the Garden Stage and all of a sudden, the festival feels as if it hasn’t changed at all. Alas, Rose can’t match her 2010 performance; maybe this early slot doesn’t suit her music, or maybe it was down the still-to-settle crowd ensuring a lack of atmosphere. Only the ever-sweet “For the Rabbits” soars in an otherwise lacklustre affair.
Caitlin Rose
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The sun is shining and the audience is building nicely for Tune-Yards; arguably the perfect act to energise the festival and they don’t disappoint. Merrill Garbus’ stage persona has her somewhere between a tech geek and lovable clown, not to mention a quite brilliant musician with an extraordinary voice. Accompanied by Nate Brenner on bass, she conjures up a mixture of afro-pop, R&B and rock from a small army of looping pedals, a rudimentary drum kit and an amped-up ukulele. Watching Garbus at work is never anything less than fun and when she’s belting out the absurdly infectious chorus of ‘Bizness’ or the soulful verses of ‘Powa’ it’s nothing short of required viewing.
There’s an urge to enjoy the delights of the Goan Fish Curry stall while mulling over the genius of Tune-Yards but the noise from the Woods Stage is proving too enticing – it’s time for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. The performance is a little ramshackle initially but the band eventually ensures that this, their first UK performance in four years, is one to savour. The set is nicely balanced with new (fine sounding) tunes from their upcoming third album, Hysterical, placed comfortably next to back-catalogue faves such as ‘Satan Said Dance’, ‘Details of the War’ and the supreme ‘Skin of my Yellow Country Teeth’. There’s even a surprise cameo from Gordon Gano for a rollicking rendition of the Femmes classic ‘Add It Up’. It’s great to have them back, and judging from the crowd’s exhilaration, that’s the general consensus.
The Walkmen
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Back at the Garden Stage, Joan as Policewoman also has a new LP to plug but unlike Alec Ounsworth & co, the latest songs obtrude from the set like pegs on a washing line and (paradoxically) possess all the appeal of items left to fester in a laundry bin. It’s a pity because whenever a selection from ‘Real Life’ & ‘To Survive’ is aired, there always seems to be an enchanting atmosphere in the making; all the more frustrating, then, that even Wasser’s vocal skills fail to inject any life into the vapid cuts from The Deep Field album. The unexpected low point of the day.
The need for alcohol has now somewhat escalated; however, the idea of missing out on a decent spot for The Walkmen puts paid to any chance of a warm cider. The sun has set, the stars are emerging and the crowd is swelling. Last year’s ‘Lisbon’ album has renewed many people’s interest in the band but the quiet, foreboding bass line of opener ‘On the Water’ to the spellbinding organ drone of closer ‘All Hands & the Cook’ demonstrate The Walkmen can pluck, at will, a gem from any moment of their ten year career. Their frontman, Hamilton Leithauser, is on particular fine form tonight, crooning his way flawlessly through ‘While I Shovel the Snow’ one minute and tearing through ‘The Rat’ with mosh-goading aplomb the next. They’re absolutely brilliant for the entire seventy minutes.
Mark E Smith!
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It’s now 21.55 and The Fall are due on the Garden Stage in five minutes. Bearing in mind there’s been an England game tonight, it’s safe to say Mark E. Smith may have enjoyed some booze-flavoured beverages these past few hours; it’s therefore not safe to say that he & his band will appear on time. Surprisingly, the lights dim at 22.00 and on he staggers/ swaggers. There seems to be quite a few curious newcomers in the crowd tonight and so naturally The Fall divides opinion from the very first Smith gurn. Those of us who love ‘em, however, are treated to some vintage Smith antics tonight – ordering the band to switch songs at a moment’s notice, messing with the amps, trying his hardest to distract the guitarist, etc. This line-up should be congratulated for the level of patience maintained throughout - the Dalai Lama would’ve probably chinned him. An uncompromising but thoroughly entertaining way to finish off day one of the festival. (by Pete W)
“It’s slightly bigger but still intimate” says the lady in the Box Office when I collect my wristbands. End of the Road has added a larger Woods stage, a new comedy stage and various ad-hoc performance areas, and increased capacity to 8,000, but hasn’t lost its friendly feel. The first thing I do on arrival is buy sunblock to resist the fierce sun and then it’s time to watch an almost unbroken set of bands, since EOTR6 is full of essential listening, beginning with The Growlers from Santa Mesa, California. A mix of 60s-pop, surf, psych and even a little reggae, they sound festival-brilliant under a broiling sun but I doubt would make as much impression on a winter Tuesday in Manchester. Best Coast’s surf-pop is perfectly suited to today’s weather, although Californian Bethany Cosentino seems to regard a sunny day in the UK as almost unique. ‘The Sun Was High (And So Was I)’ was made for this afternoon of hazy, hot sun and deep shadows, while everything is smothered in a deeply satisfying dreamy fuzz.
Srey Thy - Cambodian Space Project
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After being amazed/ impressed by Merrill Garbus’ Tune-Yards and all the Maori faces she pulls, it’s off to see the Cambodian Space Project. They have a great story: Australian and French ex-pats in Phnom Penh form a group with Bong Sak, a survivor of the Pol Pot years, and the elegant, graceful singer Srey Thy, to play covers of the great Cambodian psych-pop of the 60s and 70s (before the original musicians were murdered by the Khmer Rouge) and create their own take on Cambodian pop. So there are incredible versions of Pan Ron’s ‘I’m Unsatisfied’ and Ros Sereysothea’s ‘Chnam Oun Dop Prum Mouy’ as well as Srey’s own songs like ‘Whisky Cambodia’, about the effect of villagers seeing the foreigners in her band for the first time. The only downer is ‘Kangaroo Boy’ which has a bit too much Australian agricultural garage rock in it, but otherwise this is great fun. There’s so much to catch at EOTR that I nip out of the Walkmen, knowing they’re in safe reviewing hands, to see She Keeps Bees. A second guitarist live adds 50% to the size of the band but attention stays 100% focused on Jessica Larribee for her expletive-laden but very funny banter between their pugnacious and addictive blues songs.
Beirut
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There’s no sign of Zach Condon’s reported stage fright when I see Beirut; in fact he seems well at ease with the screaming teenagers down the front, teasingly offering to take off more than his jacket (cue more screams). I hadn’t thought I was going to watch a boy band…Fortunately they’re not; they just have some excellent, melodic, brass-strewn pop songs, like ‘Santa Fe’ and, from further back, ‘Postcards From Italy’ and ‘A Sunday Smile’. There are times when the stage looks like a colliery band but Condon maintains the focus with his trumpeting and singing in a worldweary voice that hardly matches his youthful, scream-attracting looks. The evening ends with the Fall, as brilliant and frustrating and mesmerising as ever, with MES looking ever more like Roy Hattersley chewing nettles and his band masterfully maintaining a precise and pulsating rhythm all evening despite MES’ attempts at manipulating/ sabotaging the sound. (by Ged M)
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