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Friday 6th April 2012
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On Our iPod

Golden Grrrls - New Pop 7”

Chris Devotion & The Expectations - Amalgamation & Capital (album)

Trailer Trash Tracys - Ester (album)

Throwing Up - Mother Knows Best 7”

Howling Wolf - Complete Chess Masters 1951-60

The Ketamines - A Rotten Bond/1 Yr (from Oddbox Singles Club Pt 2)

Cardinal - Hymns (album)

Proper Ornaments - Taking the Gamble Out of Buying 12”

Darren Hayman - January Songs (album)

Various: Marshall Teller EP 12”

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Gig Review

Haldern Festival 2009: Thursday 13th August
Broken Records/ Wildbirds and Peacedrums/ Palm Springs/ Baddies and much more Haldern, Germany

Article written by Richard F - Aug 26, 2009

Hell’s teeth.

What can you say of Haldern Pop?

Is the festival (now 26 years old) a Sylvan glade, a Narnia-style portal to a parallel world, or a couple of fields in Germany? I’m convinced that anyone who has spent time at Haldern can’t answer this question with any hint of detachment, or sense. Even the experience of camping is somewhat out of the ordinary; whoever has seen the Germans camp can’t but admire their inventive industry when it comes to sleeping en masse in the open air. In truth, tents appear to be the least noticeable artefacts in the fields of Haldern, with a great deal more imagination invested in recycling household rubbish into a temporary “outdoor lifestyle choice”. Erecting a fully stocked and groovy “patio bar” on the top of a giant rubbish container is one such example. And a ritual sacrifice of a Yamaha keyboard to the strains of Dean Martin (all the while in the shadow of a large banner depicting a grinning Patrick Swayze), is another. You can’t make this stuff up.

Broken Records

Enough of the lunatics in the field, some of whom never get anywhere near the stages during the course of the weekend. Let’s begin by introducing Thursday’s acts in the Spiegel Tent, beginning with the UK’s Baddies, who thumped along with aplomb and some élan. Now I’m no fan of straight, no frills rock and roll, especially rock and roll that reminds me of Queens of the Stone Age. It just goes nowhere for me; but fair play, they were the opening band at Haldern and they very gamely undertook the traditional task allotted to opening bands at festivals: getting the crowd going. And, (just as we thought at Metropolis when we saw them last), there’s the odd glimpse of something with more light and shade. A couple of the later tracks had an urgency that suggested the band have it in them to create something interesting. Following Baddies, a ridiculous compère, fresh from Hoxton or some other den of dimwittery introduced Broken Records who set about the increasingly sweltering tent with a truly compelling show. As a live band, this lot seem on fire at present. The bravado and commitment is also backed by some pretty hefty tunes and a glorious melodic pay-off. The music is very Celtic; The Waterboys, Moonflowers, even (oops) Deacon Blue at times - but with edge and balance.

Wildbirds & Peacedrums

After the euphoria of Broken Records came something quite different. Wildbirds and Peacedrums are a duo from Sweden who made an excellent record earlier this year with The Snake. On record, their music is overwhelmingly rhythmic; at times acerbic, at times enchanting and mysterious. Live in the Spiegel Tent, however, it was (with just the very beguiling singer and a very committed drummer) a set that really didn’t go anywhere, sonically. Both are excellent musicians, and you feel both have an almost vicious sense of belief in their muse. But, in a pumped up tent, coming down off Broken Records, it fell short, way short. Let’s be kind and say a combination of circumstances defeated them. But essentially, on this showing, there’s not enough there to reach out to a crowd outside the first few rows.

Palm Springs took a different approach. Rather than trying to create a sense of drama with the hope that people would catch on, the ‘Springs just got on and played what was a very pleasant set of guitar-based, thoughtful, slightly melancholy pop. Nothing we can remember mind, and we are certainly not out to damn them, as Palm Springs created an ambience that really struck home with the slightly hippy, happy-clappy crowd. Wouldn’t mind seeing them in a more bucolic, (and quieter) setting, that’s for sure. Wintersleep on record don’t really float SoundsXP’s boat. But as a live act they are more of a proposition; their guitar rock boasting considerably more elasticity and verve. Their singer (who came over as quite a charmer), has one of those can-can’t sing voices that sometimes sound brilliant live. And they have one cracking song in ‘Archaeologists’, which bounced around the increasingly deranged Spiegel Tent like a bloody great firework let off in your granny’s bedroom.

As for The Irrepressibles, well we missed them. We’re nothing if not honest… All we can say is that, over ice-creams at the supermarket the following morning (yes Germany is that civilized), we heard from a trusted source that the lead singer could best be described as a unicorn, or even, a “Queen Wizard”. Imagine that…

Words: Richard Foster
Notes and Revision: Ma

Links:
http://www.haldern-pop.de/