Latitude Festival, July 2013: a tale of Kraftwerk, Karen O and Kitson (and much more)

It's Saturday afternoon and I'm dodging a large balloon bearing a company logo which is being bounced around the crowd at the BBC 6music stage at Latitude. Saturday's crowd reached the site capacity of 35,000 and a small shower has meant that a few extra are taking cover in this tent, thereby witnessing DAUGHTER play one of the most momentous gigs of their career so far. This trio may have been a small blip on my radar earlier this year, but today they hold me mesmerised, so much so that even some close encounters with that balloon cannot shake me out of this.

The beauty of Latitude is that so much is unexpected. Whether it is simply the surprise of seeing a band you thought run-of-the-mill do something this special, or of approaching a large set of illumnated teeth in the woods to find Phil Hartnoll of Orbital DJing inside, or of peeking into a performance tent late at night and chancing upon Kevin Eldon off the telly playing a set of comedy songs with his acoustic guitar, Latitude offers lots of variety across its 700 acts.

My visit concentrated mostly on the music, and began on Friday with a lovely, if brief, set by one of the performers of the year, JOHN GRANT. Backed by his mostly Icelandic band, he touches on his Queen of Denmark album with ''Marz', but the highlights are from the album which won me over to him, 'Pale Green Ghosts' itself and a poignant, closing 'Glacier', dedicated to people fighting the anti-gay legislation in Russia at the moment.

It is a genuine thrill to see YO LA TENGO on the main stage, and they pull off a neat balancing act between showcasing their great recent album Fade and playing some crowdpleasers from their three-decade long back catalogue. 'Stockholm Syndrome', 'Autumn Sweater', 'Ohm' and an always welcome 'Tom Courtenay' are just some of the highlights. Overall it's fairly gentle set, although they finish with Ira Kaplan wigging out on the epic 'Pass the Hatchet...'

I was hoping to discover some new music this weekend, but the first act that I hadn't seen before that really impressed me was the legendary English guitarist RICHARD THOMPSON and his electric trio. Quite how I never appreciated this guy's incredible guitar skills until now is a mystery to me. He also makes me miss a bit of CAT POWER, whom I saw many times in the late '90s and early '00s play edgy unpredictable sets laced with stage fright. She has now re-invented herself in the way someone like Bowie or Beck or Prince might, and her current act sees her strutting around the main stage like she owns it, backed with a slick band that at one point has two drummers and three guitarists.

VILLAGERS are another act that I'm seeing for the first time, and this performance takes the material from the impressive new album [Awayland] and adds more intensity to it. On 'The Waves' for example, they come across as a more experimental act than many give them credit for, with layers of noise adding an extra dimension to the song-writing.

A quick dash across the lake into the woods in the hope that I might shake some of the discomfort that dust and pollen was causing meant that I missed the always great Calexico, as I opted for relatively new arrivals DIIV. The smaller tent - confusingly labelled the I-Arena - gives their show an intimacy that had been lacking from most things I had seen today, and their fresh take on indie-rock goes down well and sets the scene for JAPANDROIDS to close the evening in fine style. They played a truncated 45 minute set, concentrating mostly on the Celebration Rock material, which Brian said "was their last UK show for a very long time", presumably so they can focus on some new material. Their cracking version of the Gun Club's 'For the Love of Ivy' was a fine way to finish off the live music for the day.

On Saturday the crowd seemed to double and the site was alive with anticipation for KRAFTWERK's headlining 3-D performance. Before that though, there was a wealth of entertainment on offer. I watched KING CREOSOTE play a lovely set in the woods with an understated backing band, his corny jokes unable to deflect from beautiful songs like 'John Taylor's Month Away'. The aforementioned DAUGHTER were a revelation for me and I was struck by the balance between their understated, almost minimal approach to the songs and the fantastic wall of sound that the guitarist created.
A quick wander over to the less crowded theatre area in search of a Melt Yourself Down jam session (I never found it!) ended up with a peek in at Praxis Makes Perfect, an ambitious collaboration between NEON NEON and the National Theatre of Wales, which gave a dramatic context to the current album, complete with crowd interaction. I wish I had seen it from the start because it looked very interesting.
Back to the main stage where Karen O from the YEAH YEAH YEAHS is making the place her own, opening with a raucous version of 'Zero' complete with Slint's David Pajo on synth. Their whole set is exactly what the main stage needs as they rattle through great versions of 'Gold Lion', 'Sacrilege' and 'Heads Will Roll', as well as reminding us what a great tune 'Maps' is, and teasing us with an extended 'Date With the Night' at the end.

A slight cooling off session with MARK LANEGAN and his band was called for, his powerful voice impressive as always, and it was interesting to hear the varied stylings of his 'Blues Funeral' album in a live setting. I wasn't going to watch HOT CHIP and only really opted to in order to get a good vantage point for Kraftwerk, but 'Boy From School' was the second song in the set and it reminded me what a very great song it is. The same goes for the much played 'Over and Over', which they stepped it up a gear for that one tonight. Not easy for them to be "filling in a Yeah Yeah Yeahs/ Kraftwerk sandwich" as they said, but they played a blinder.

On to the main event, KRAFTWERK in 3-D, which I can say was every bit as good as I hoped it would be. A perfectly sequenced 'best of' set, including tracks from all of their albums post-1974, they opened with a re-arranged version of 'The Robots' which drew the first gasp when the images of the robots changed perspective and waved their giant hands into the crowd. In fact, gasps of admiration was the general reaction throughout, as the audience remained in reverential mode and didn't really dance, despite the loud, crystal clear beats. The highlights for me were an excellent version of 'Autobahn' where the visuals and music worked so perfectly together and musical notes floated over our heads, and a spine-tingling 'Radioactivity' with updated lyrics replacing Hiroshima with Fukushima. They employed their familiar "stage-leaving" trick during 'Music Non Stop' when the four members become more human, by playing a little solo on their workstation and taking a spotlit bow.

Given the variety on offer at Latitude, five minutes after Kraftwerk have ended, I am sitting cross-legged in the poetry arena for DANIEL KITSON and GAVIN OSBOURNE, who perform 'Lucinda Ding and the Monstrous Thing', a forty minute poem with music which goes by in a flash and, like all of Kitson's work, has enough in it to stay with you and make you think about it long after it has gone.

On Sunday morning I watched Daniel Kitson again, for his sixth performance of the weekend, this time a work-in-progress ramble for two upcoming shows, one of which he admits is pretty much written. This is the second such show which I have seen him do this year, and it does strike me that this seemingly effortless, often thrown away material, is as good as most other stand-ups at their best. Unfortunately for me, after emerging into daylight after this set, I found that I was struggling hard to see properly, even after my second anti-histamine of the day, so I had no option but to leave it all behind me, thereby missing Hookworms, James Yorkston, James Blake and Grizzly Bear to name but a few, and no doubt lots of surprises along the way. Despite my allergies - and I hasten to point out that this was something that has only ever happened once before in my whole life - I had a hugely positive experience at Latitude. I found the whole festival very well organised, and the variety and quality of the acts across the bill was very hard to beat.

The best album releases of the month, January 2013 edition

Following on from what most people would concede was a poor year for albums, January was so packed with new releases that I found it difficult to come up with just ten. For the record I listened to 26 and making this cut after only a few listens to each was hard, and probably unfair! Hence my playlist at the bottom of this post includes a few tracks from those I had to leave out, as well as some singles.

Yo La Tengo 'Fade'
my interview with James McNew is here
Their 13th album Fade is arguably their finest release in a decade. It still manages to sound exactly like Yo La Tengo, although this time around the songs are shorter, the extended jams are side-lined and the three-piece are occasionally augmented by driving motorik percussion and string arrangements. From delicate songs such as 'I'll be Around' and 'Two Trains', to up-tempo soulful pop like 'Well You Better', and the opening 'Ohm' which manages to distil a lot of the separate elements of their sound into an impressive and cohesive mix.

Arbouretum 'Coming out of the Fog'
my interview with them is here

This is unmistakably Arbouretum, although it has a sharper focus and the songs are shorter. The melody lines and the solos are what we have come to expect, but there are softer introspective moments as well...

Follakzoid 'II'
my review (the 405)
Föllakzoid are pitched somewhere between krautrock, kosmische trance and the bleak yet mesmerising psych-rock of Spacemen 3 and Loop. As you may have guessed from that title, this is their second album, the follow-up to their self-titled release from 2009, and it is one of the finest records I've heard in this genre for a long time.

L Pierre 'The Island Come True'
Another completely instrumental album from the man best known as the singer and wordsmith from Arab Strap, Aidan Moffat. Found sounds, home recordings and loops made from antique records, all manipulated to create something new and absorbing. At times wistful ('Harmonic Avenger'), dreamy ('Now Listen!') and in the case of 'Sad Laugh', very affecting.

Christopher Owens 'Lysandre'
I can see why he left Girls now. This debut solo album from the ex-Girls singer moves away from the conventional indie-rock set-up. There is a musical theme running throughout it, I wonder if it should actually be considered a concept album. Musically, there are hardly any electric guitars, and when they appear they are a great surprise, and acoustic guitars and sax are very much to the fore. One thing that we have come to expect from Owens is strong tunes in abundance, and he doesn't disappoint there.

Villagers '{Awayland}'
I wasn't really fan of Villagers before this album, but this sounds, to my ears anyway, to be a slight change of direction and a major progression for them. An ambitious album with some great tunes drawn from a wide palate of influences. I haven't heard it enough to write about it at length, but I'm looking forward to exploring this one.

Pere Ubu 'Lady From Shanghai'
This is the surprise inclusion of the month. I haven't paid attention to any Pere Ubu releases since the late '80s, so it's great to report that this was well worth investigating. It is hard to ignore from the start, as opening track 'Thanks' is basically a version of disco favourite 'Ring My Bell' with the words changed to "Go to hell." The rest is a collection of scattered tunes, way beyond post-punk at this stage, accompanied by sound experiments in favour of conventional band structures.

Serafina Steer 'The Moths are Real'
These days it is always tricky for a lady with a harp to avoid the obvious comparison. I saw Serafina Steer around four years ago but I haven't followed her closely since, however this Jarvis Cocker produced album should help address that. A delicate and modern take on English folk song, with the odd quirk such as 'Disco Compilation' lifting it away from the rest of the pack.

Mountains 'Centralia'
An epic drifting album of ambient music, worth coming back to again and again. This is most fully realised recording I've heard from Mountains, multi-layered pieces built from acoustic and electronic roots. Somewhere between instrumental Spiritualized, Emeralds and Stars of the Lid, this is quiet music that overtakes you and becomes an immersive experience.

Matthew E White 'Big Inner'
Where has he come from, where has he been, to arrive this "fully-formed"? Apparently he has connections to Bon Iver and the Mountain Goats but I had never heard of him before. It is all the more extraordinary then that he has recorded this elaborate, classic-sounding debut album, steeped in soul and gospel and bits of alt-folk, which is destined to be a big presence this year.




So that's ten choices - those I didn't include and I'm going to investigate further are: The History of Apple Pie 'Out of View', Widowspeak 'Almanac', Broadcast 'Berberian Sound Studio', Foxygen 'We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic', Everything Everything, Pictish Trail 'Secret Soundz vol 2', Four Tet '0181', Esben and the Witch 'Wash the Sins not only the Face', and Dutch Uncles 'Out of Touch in the Wild'.

FESTIVAL REPORT: ATP vs the Fans 18/19/20 May 2007

FRIDAY: 'Hi, How are You?'



From the outset this was always going to be a different ATP experience than the Slint-curated event I attended two years ago. Different venue, different weather and an awful lot of bands that we all wanted to see, after all we had voted for half of them. One concern was that, with more than double the amount of people at this Butlins venue compared to Camber Sands, there may be queues and delays and general hassle, but due to great forward planning and organisation this didn't happen to any real extent over the three days.
After initial arrival and a lot of drinking in a giant pub on the seafront we checked in and flew straight up to the Centre Stage to see THE THERMALS kick off the whole weekend. They were a great choice of opener with their energetic punk rock and a lot of people get in to see them as well. I'm not going to get into set-lists and so on as this report will take forever, but suffice to say I've only heard their last album and I recognised a lot of the songs.
By now there was a huge crowd for DANIEL JOHNSTON and a false rumour circulating that he had missed his plane and wouldn't be appearing. Obviously not everyone in the crowd appreciated Daniel and what he has had to come through in order to even play live so some people were just playing "let's laugh at the funny guy", but mostly he got a heroes' welcome. Despite shaking like a leaf and sounding like he was playing his three-quarter sized with gloves on, it made me very happy that he could get up there and perform. He went on to play three more sets over the weekend, including one in a chalet so I think he enjoyed himself too.
Sadly YO LA TENGO aren't enjoying themselves as much as they should be on the main stage. They weren't the only band this weekend who would have benefited from a more intimate venue. The extended instrumentals like 'Pass the Hatchet' just got lost in this giant mall although the percussion based ones seemed to work ok. The long-lost 'Decora' and the encore of 'Speeding Motorcycle' with Daniel Johnston were pretty special though. Still, I love this band and although I've seen them loads of times I still plumped for them over THE NOTWIST in the first clash of the weekend. I learnt my lesson early - if the clash involved seeing a band in the Pavilion (giant daylight shopping mall) or the Centre stage (large dark nightclub) I went for the latter from here on in.
That decision means initially I plump for SPARKLEHORSE over MOGWAI, though as it was so easy to move between venues I get to see quite a bit of both. Sparklehorse are a low key, stripped down version of themselves with never more than three people on stage. It's occasionally lovely and I found myself reminded of how many good songs they have. I am too hyper to chill out for the rest of their set and I succumb to the overload that is Mogwai on the main stage. Sure they can be predictable - quiet bit gets loud gets quiet and comes back even louder - but they fill this venue with their sound and 'Glasgow Mega-Snake' just shreds the air. There is always something going on elsewhere at ATP and during the latter part of Mogwai's set I find myself utterly gripped by the Notts Forest v Yeovil play-off second leg which went to extra time (Yeovil won!).
I was thankful that my next gig was TALL FIRS in the Reds venue which was pretty chilled out and I even got a seat which recharged the batteries for the rest of the night. I imagined this lot to be in the Low/ Codeine vein, but you could have shut your eyes and believed you were listening to the quieter moments of Sonic Youth. I pass on Death Vessel as I saw him (and it is a him you funny people!) supporting Low the other week and head back upstairs for AKRON/FAMILY. I have one song by them ('Shoes') in my iTunes and I love it, but they didn't play it or anything like it. In fact what they did play was audience participation games and a load of alomost celtic tinged pub rock. If it wasn't for the fact that all of my gang are in here and I had drunk copious amounts of beer I wouldn't even have stayed (never mind done several mexican waves, ahem!).
It was back down to Reds for SUBTITLE who turned out to be one of those faces of the weekend - he was everywhere you looked for the next few days - i even saw him when I was leaving on Monday morning! He was clearly enjoying his brief stint up there on stage even though he seemed to run out of material quite early on!
I was hyper again and I went back to the Centre stage and just got talking to so many people that i ignored Youthmovies totally - sorry guys! From there it was down to Crazy Horse and some fantastic records - I remember hearing Fugazi, MBV, the Cramps, meeting a lot of friendly people (mostly from Dublin) and calling it a night immediately after 'Free Range' by the Fall was played. I looked at my watch - it was 4.15am and I had been up for 24 hours!

SATURDAY: "We were there when the world got great, and we helped to make it that way.."


A slight lie-in was interrupted by the unintentional genius that is R Kelly's Trapped in the Closet on ATP tv. It seemed that everyone I spoke to in the next few hours had seen it they all knew exactly what you meant if you said "miiidget, miiidget, miiidget!"
There's lots of time to kill so we chill out, have some proper food and bump into Steve Albini in the shop! SHELLAC were on first but due to late running soundchecks they don't play until 3pm therefore clashing exactly with the FA Cup final and a bit of Current 93. I had made my mind up to watch a bit of Shellac and then go upstairs for C93 but Shellac do 'The End of Radio' just as I'm about to go and it just floors me. Absolute lump-in-the-throat, hairs-on-the-back-the-neck material. They played 'Prayer to God' after that and then I tore myself away, as I would be seeing them again tomorrow and CURRENT 93 gigs are scarce and they were already well into their set upstairs.
I arrived just after they start 'Lucifer over London' and saw about 5 more songs, some of them beautiful, some of them annoying, all of them could be classed as English folk music. Sadly, they played to a scarcely populated room but they seemed to enjoy themselves anyway. And yes folks that was Andrew 'Party Hard' WK on bass.
I actually watch the last 10 minutes of normal time in the FA cup and it is dullsville! You people that watched this missed the music of Steve Albini and David Tibet you know!!
Those that suffered extra time also missed CLINIC. Despite being a fan of their first few releases I was surprised to find that they have released two more albums since I last really listened to them. Still I recognise a few tunes - 'Evil Bill' and 'The Second Line' in particular - and there was something perversely appealing about watching this bunch of guys in surgical masks and top hats playing their sinister music in a darkened nightclub when it's a blistering hot day outside.
THE GO! TEAM seem as strange an inclusion to this festival line-up as Current 93 earlier, but they are bold and FUN and they make the main arena work for them. Perhaps they would have suited better later on as I need a break and I only catch a couple of tunes. I just wished I had had their energy at this point!
I was back in for LES SAVY FAV who are of course one of the most entertaining rock bands you wil ever see, and they don't disappoint! I was slightly delayed getting back in and i miss the singer's haircut and the first costume change! There was lots more fun though as front man Tim Harrington had raided the Butlins toyshop for costumes, fake blood, face paint, masks, plastic swords, you name it! Every time you looked at him he was doing something different. LSF are both laugh-out-loud funny and a kick-ass punk rock band. The new songs sound great too, and that was a Superchunk cover at the end wasn't it? One of the real highlights, an unforgettable performance - just key "Les Savy Fav ATP" into You Tube and see what you get!
Time to calm down with WILCO downstairs on the main stage. Jeff Tweedy seemed displeased at first to be playing "in a food court" (he has a point) but he lightened up a little and his band were in stunning form. I liked the new songs and the triple guitar interplay on 'Impossible Germany' was just the sweetest thing all weekend.
Naturally the packed nature of this bill means you've gotta miss something and the queue for Battles is just too long for me to bother with, though judging by I would believe a lot more people watched them then Wilco. Everyone who got in said they were one of the very best acts all weekend. I also managed to miss both Annuals and Okkervil River in Reds, both of whom I would happily go and see any night of the week, so I try and make up for it by watching a bit of GHOST although I catch their folkier, less psych-rock part of their set and it doesn't really grab me.
One of my all-time heroes, PATTI SMITH, is up next and she starts brilliantly with 'Gloria' and 'Redondo Beach' and I wonder for a minute if she is going to play 'Horses' in order. She isn't, as she then goes into 'Are You Experienced' from her very disappointing new album and I realise that I've seen her four times since I last saw CORNELIUS and head upstairs.

Cornelius is every bit as stunning as the first time I saw him 4 or 5 years ago in the Royal Festival Hall, brilliant musicianship and wonderful visuals breathe new life into the 'Sensuous' material. 'Gum' and 'Beep it' are awesome, 'Count Five or Six' had me heading right down the front and 'Starfruit Surf Rider' was just the icing on the cake. This was my favourite show of the whole weekend, and for many people who stayed in here the whole evening the Les Savy Fav- Battles - Cornelius was a hell of a run of good music.
Cornelius was a hard act to follow but THE APPLES IN STEREO downstairs in Reds make a damn good show of it. This was mostly the pure indie-pop of the recent 'New Magnetic Wonder' album and it goes down a storm. Catchy pop was in short supply and the Apples made up for that.
I had an ill advised hot dog and stayed in Reds for WHY? which was yet another great show. I can't adequately describe what Why? sound like, as they get the hip-hop tag a lot because of their Anticon/ cLOUDEAD connection but their sounds leans towards people like Beck as well. They play most of 'Elephant Eyelash', at least one cLOUDEAD song and they also do a cheeky Conor Oberst piss-take which goes down well too.
More fully-fledged hip-hop with EDAN & MC DAGHA and a pretty fun end to the live part of the evening, especially the bit with the record sleeves. The kazoo was a little bit grating on the nerves and their late finish (2.20am) coupled with unpopular DJs in Jaks meant that Crazy Horse was seriously oversubscribed and nowhere near as interesting as last night. Back to the chalet for beer, Battle Royale (another great ATP tv choice) and bed.


SUNDAY: "...as we come to the close of our broadcast day..."



An even bigger lie-in thanks to my industrial strength earplugs means we cut it fine for SHELLAC on the smaller centre stage. Today's set was a bit different from yesterday's, it did feel a bit too early to be really getting into that sort of thing, but Todd Trainer is "baked" in Albini's words and is the star of this performance. His Meg White impression, his belittling of the heckler, his roaming snare during 'The End of Radio' made this pretty memorable. Steve and Bob dismantle his kit during the last song leaving him with nothing to play on. Saturday's set of songs was better but today's show was more memorable, so I'm glad I watched both.
Back down on the main stage SLINT are playing the spooked masterpiece that is 'Spiderland' in broad afternoon sunshine and I think it is really lost on a lot of people. I don't even bother with the first two songs and I'm a huge fan. They soon reel me in though and surprisingly i can walk right up to the front and get into it. I agree that the delays between songs and the mid-afternoon time slot spoilt it slightly, but at the end of the day this was Slint performing the likes of 'Breadcrumb Trail', 'Washer', 'Don A Man' and a particularly awesome 'Good Morning Captain' so I enjoyed it a lot. It was strange to end with the instrumental 'Without Monicker' which I don't think a lot of people knew.
I have only a passing interest in Bat for Lashes (eyewitness reports differed and said "amazing" and "dreadful") and I think Architecture in Helsinki are a poor live band so it's time for sunshine and drinking.
Back indoors for what turns out to be BAND OF HORSES debut UK performance. They are possibly the best kept secret of the weekend as they play one of the very finest shows. Ben's voice just carries so well and the material from the debut album is fast becoming a classic. 'Wicked Gil', 'The Funeral' and 'The First Song' are magnificent, and the new material shines too. I think they won a few fans today.
I wasn't a fan of MODEST MOUSE and I miss a bit of their set for all of Band of Horses and a Pizza Hut buffet where I shuffle around the salad bar with Daniel Johnston beside me! Happily I can hear the Modest Mouse set really well from inside Pizza Hut (must remember that for next time!) and it sounds good enough to get me out of there. I understand this is a seriously expanded line-up (2 drummers - one wearing a beekeepers hat!) including the legend that is Johnny Marr on guitar, but they are so impressive, probably my favourite act on the main stage. I had none of their records before ATP but I've since bought 'The Lonesome Crowded West' and I'm convinced they did a good few from it. Interestingly Johnny Marr was centre stage with a spotlight on him, Isaac Brock was stage left throughout. They were great though and I was converted.
Consequently I saw much less of ISIS than I thought I would and although they are too metal for my tastes they are impressive. I saw the first three songs of ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN but they seemed like they couldn't be arsed and neither could I. BUILT TO SPILL are the next significant act that i encounter and they are just superb. In fact they are so much better than the noodling trad-rock performance I saw them so 6 or 7 years ago in London. I had forgotten how many good songs they have, and even if there was no 'Car' this was all pretty great.
The end is in sight and no-one interesting was playing so a chalet based party was in order, but not before we called round to see Todd Trainer from Shellac who is loitering near our chalet and it turns out he is a neighbour. What a great guy he was, a pleasure to meet him.
Only GRIZZLY BEAR and DO MAKE SAY THINK to go, although I did manage to miss the Grizzly Bear beach performance. I was looking forward to them so much that I was slightly disappointed, although they were impressive and played some of the loveliest music all weekend. Those harmonies! Do Make Say Think are an absolute blast, a great closer to the festival and it was such a thrill to see so many people going mad to instrumental post-rock, even if I did spend a lot of their set trying to get served at the bar.
After that it was Crazy Horse (I forgot to even check Jaks but it looked busy!) for an another epic bash, people making their own percussion after the music ended, marching through the empty arena hyper and taking a trek to someone's chalet which was taking a bit of a beating due to the enthusiastic percussion. I reckon they lost their deposit. And could someone please tell me what the Arthur Fowler Memorial Bench is all about!??
Overall this was another superb ATP. No hassles, great music, great atmosphere and great people. Cheers to the 15 people in our posse who made it so enjoyable and the many more I met along the way. Let's do it again some time!
[pics by me: top to bottom - YLT and Daniel Johnston; Shellac main stage Saturday; Cornelius; Slint. There are some fantastic pics of this festival floating around on line, I recommend the ATP myspace page, Flickr (ATP vs the Fans) and of course You Tube (ATP vs the Fans) for those all important mobile phone movies!)