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[UPDATE: scroll to the bottom voor the 3VOOR12 best song of the year results]
It was hard enough picking my top albums of 2008, but list making does not stop there: it’s time for the songs! The relief is that you can rave about a single song without having to consider if the rest of the album is any good. Although, come to think of it, pretty much all the albums these songs come from are very decent.
I’ve narrowed it down to 30 songs. They range from the psychedelic (MGMT, Late Of The Pier) to the delicate (Chad VanGaalen, Bon Iver), from the clubalicious (Estelle, De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig) to the harmonious (Fleet Foxes, Yeasayer), from the raunchy (Kings Of Leon) to the raucous (N*E*R*D), from the Red Bull fuelled (Vampire Weekend, Does It Offend You, Yeah?) to the pensive (Adele), from the hilarious (Weezer) to the desperate (The Hold Steady), from cheeky flirtation (Black Kids) to stalker anthem (Death Cab For Cutie) and anything in between.
I give you:
- A-Punk – Vampire Weekend
- American Boy – Estelle feat. Kanye West
- Black and Gold – Sam Sparro
- One Pure Thought – Hot Chip
- White Winter Hymnal – Fleet Foxes
- Hometown Glory – Adele
- Say Something, Say Anything – Blood Red Shoes
- Time to Pretend – MGMT
- Let’s Make Out – Does It Offend You, Yeah?
- Red Socks Pugie – Foals
- Skinny Love – Bon Iver
- Hollereer – De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig
- Dying Is Fine – Ra Ra Riot
- Sex on Fire – Kings of Leon
- Breaking It Up – Lykke Li
- Creator – Santogold
- Grounds For Divorce – Elbow
- Pork And Beans – Weezer
- I Will Possess Your Heart – Death Cab For Cutie
- Everyone Nose – N.E.R.D.
- The Architect – dEUS
- Paper Planes – M.I.A.
- My Year In Lists – Los Campesinos!
- I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You – Black Kids
- Sequestered In Memphis – The Hold Steady
- The Age Of The Understatement – The Last Shadow Puppets
- Paris – Friendly Fires
- Keep Your Eyes Ahead – The Helio Sequence
- The Bears Are Coming – Late Of The Pier
- Bruises – Chairlift
As I did last year, here for comparison are the picks of the Dutch public as published by 3voor12 (click here for all 100 songs):
1. Kings Of Leon – Sex On Fire
2. Coldplay – Viva La Vida
3. Milow – Ayo Technology
4. Voicst – Everyday I Work On The Road
5. De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig – Hollereer
6. Killers – Human
7. Amy Winehouse/Mark Ronson – Valerie
8. MGMT – Kids
9. Last Shadow Puppets – Age Of Understatement
10. Jason Mraz – I’m Yours
I have to say, it’s even more disappointing than last year. Sure Kings of Leon are number 1, I suppose that’s not surprising considering it was such a big hit here. But what in the name of.. is Coldplay doing in the number 2 slot?? And sure that Milow song is a funny cover of 50 Cent, but number 3 worthy?
I severly doubt Valerie is even a 2008 release, but worst of all, what’s that in the numer 10 position? Surely it’s not that sugarcoated drivel song by Mraz? Mraz who once had some credibility with his off-kilter harmless jazzy popsongs and has now completely homogenised his work for the masses?
How frustrating with all the great releases out there this year. But I guess this is the democtratic choice of the FDutch audience, so I’ll just have to accept it.
[UPDATE: Looking for the top 2008 albums as selected by the Dutch music elite and published in OOR? Scroll on down!]
Well this was a hard one. List making is one of my absolute favourite things to do, but it simultaneously tortures me as I’m forever afraid of leaving something out. About a week ago I narrowed the 2008 harvest down to roughly 50 eligible albums. But then came the horrendous process of selecting the top 10. It was hard because only 3 or 4 albums knocked me off my socks this year, but many many great albums hover just beneath.
Well, let’s not dilly-dally, without further ado (each one is clickable for some youtube delight):
- Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
- Blood Red Shoes – Box Of Secrets
- MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
- Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
- Adele – 19
- Los Campesinos! – Hold On Now, Youngster…
- Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
- Hot Chip – Made In The Dark
- The Helio Sequence – Keep Your Eyes Ahead
- Ra Ra Riot – The Rhumb Line
So there it is, the New York lads with the ludicrous name Vampire Weekend are responsible for my missing socks. I could explain myself in a lengthy analysis of their preppy short songs with Paul Simonesque African influences, but you can go to Wikipedia for all that. What it boils down to for me is that every single song on that album makes me want to get up and dance and sing along. That’s a rare quality.
Blood Red Shoes’ razor sharp album is probably the strictest top ten entry in rock terms, and together with MGMT‘s other worldy psychedelica it’s a varied and magnificent top three. Adele, Los Campesinos! and Hot Chip have been year long staples in my playlists (as can be traced back to previous blog posts) and I still haven’t tired of them.
Sadly I missed Bon Iver‘s reportedly spine tingling concert in Paradiso this year, but his album has slowly grown to be one of my understated gems of 2008. Relative new comers to the pack are Fleet Foxes with their beautiful self titled release that seems to have everyone gushing, Ra Ra Riot and The Helio Sequence. The latter two have just wormed their way into the top ten in the last few weeks quite unexpectedly, but what great albums to discover at the end of the year!
As opposed to last year, US artists lead the pack and New York is particularly well represented with three acts: Vampire Weekend, MGMT and Ra Ra Riot. I was lucky enough to see 7 of my top 10 bands live this year and all concerts have been very memorable indeed.
As I feel bad for all the albums that didn’t make it to my top 10 but are definitely well worth listening to, I’ll leave you with my not-so-short-shortlist. If you are convinced I unforgivably left an album out, please drop me a comment!
Black Kids – Partie Traumatic
Bloc Party – Intimacy
Calexico – Carried To Dust
Chad VanGaalen – Soft Airplane
Cold War Kids – Loyalty To Loyalty
Coldplay – Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Colin Meloy – Colin Meloy Sings Live!
Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst
Counting Crows – Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings
Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig – De Machine
Death Cab For Cutie – Narrow Stairs
dEUS – Vantage Point
The Dodos – Visiter
Does It Offend You, Yeah? – You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into
Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
Flight Of The Conchords – Flight Of The Conchords
Foals – Antidotes
Friendly Fires – Friendly Fires
Get Well Soon – Rest Now, Weary Head! You Will Get Well Soon
Glasvegas – Glasvegas
Gnarls Barkley – The Odd Couple
Guillemots – Red
The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
Kanye West – 808s & Heartbreak
Keane – Perfect Symmetry
The Killers – Day & Age
Kings Of Leon – Only By The Night
The Last Shadow Puppets – The Age Of The Understatement
Late Of The Pier – Fantasy Black Channel
Laura Marling – Alas I Cannot Swim
Le Le – Flage
Lisa Hannigan – Sea Sew
Lykke Li – Youth Novels
Mystery Jets – Twenty One
R.E.M. – Accelerate
Ray LaMontagne – Gossip In The Grain
Santogold – Santogold
Sia – Some People Have Real Problems
Snow Patrol – A Hundred Million Suns
Supergrass – Diamond Hoo Ha
Travis – Ode To J. Smith
We Are Scientists – Brain Thrust Mastery
Weezer – Weezer (the red album)
UPDATE: OOR published the top 2008 albums according to the cream of the Dutch music media crop. Just like last year, here it is for your comparative pleasure:
1. TV On The Radio – Dear Science
2. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
3. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
4. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
5. Portishead – Third
6. Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
7. The Last Shadow Puppets – The Age Of The Understatement
8. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
9. Santogold – Santogold
10. Voicst – A Tale Of Two Devils
Voicst? Really?? Sure they’re a great little band compared to most of our homegrown products, but top 10 of 2008? Oh well, maybe I need to be a bit more patriotic.
Thanks to speesmees
Having arrived at the venue rediculously early, we got great seats in the beautiful main room of the royal theatre and waited patiently. The room soon filled up to the very brim and there was a very warm welcome for Glen Hansard as he took to the stage by himself, with that beat up old guitar in hand.
As he did in the film Once, he started the set off busker style, standing on the edge of the stage and singing Say It To Me Now straight from the gut. I’m always amazed when I see him sing live how he manages to pull that intensity out of the bag every single time. After that Marketa Irglova and “The Swell Season band” (the other Frames) came on stage and gave a wonderful set with some new songs mixed in.
Marketa’s very unassuming presence is deceiving, it’s her clear vocals and piano lines that give the Swell Season songs great warmth. Particularly when her gentle voice and Glen’s raw emotional voice are put together on songs like When Your Mind’s Made Up and the Oscar winning Falling Slowly, it’s goosebump inducing stuff on stage. New songs such as Go With Happiness (Glen: “This song is about how sometimes you need to let go of someone and you want to wish them the best in life. Go now, good luck, take it easy. And wouldn’t it be great if we were actually able to do that.”) and a song Marketa sang by herself (the name escapes me) were equally captivating and Glen’s rambling introductions were charming as ever.
The audience was blown away by Leave, another song showcasing Glen’s tell it like it is style. And towards the end of the set fans of The Frames were treated to an awesome version of Fitzcarraldo. Even as I’m typing this now I’m still trying to take it all in, what a rare delight of a show in that beautiful venue. I can safely say I wasn’t alone in this opinion as the audience gave a lengthy standing ovation. Here’s hoping there will be a new album out soon.
When Your Mind’s Made Up (thanks to feetinas)
We caught the tail end of a set by Chad VanGaalen, Canadian DIY pop songsmith, who was performing with the band Women. I had never heard his material before but was instantly impressed and intend to check out much more than the two songs we were lucky enough to catch. Flemish Eye has kindly put up two mp3 downloads from his new album Soft Airplanes, be sure to check out Willow Tree.
Next stop: the main event, the biggest source of festival buzz, the gig to see: Fleet Foxes. The place was packed well before the band took to the stage and expectations were high. Before they started playing they apparently had to wait for some technical stuff to be sorted out, and frontman Robin Pecknold broke the ice by remarking “Well, this is a good time to akwkardly stand and stare at each other”.
The first two or three songs were strung together, making it a bit of a muddle and leaving the audience unsure if and when they were supposed to clap. I was a bit weary at this stage, but there was no need. After those ten minutes Pecknold joked “As we only have limited time we’ll just play our greatest hits”, but it did instantly pick up from there. The beautiful White Winter Hymnal, Your Protector, Tiger Mountain Peasant Song and Ragged Wood spring to mind as some of the stand out songs for me.
For whatever reason I was surprised by the easy going nature of the band and their funny remarks during the set, perhaps because the songs all seem so clean cut and earnest. At one point the band left the stage except for Pecknold and as he stood fidgetting with his guitar for a while he said “And now for my twenty minute guitar solo”. All laughs aside, he then gave a breathtaking solo performance of Oliver James.
For me, the Fleet Foxes album has probably been the one album in 2008 that grew on me the most. It has slowly seeped into my subconscious and I love it dearly now. It’s going to be very interesting to see what these mesmerising hairy lads will get up to next.
Lykke Li
Back in the Lima tent for day three, and today it’s Lykke Li that gets us started. She is a commanding presence on stage, executing her quirky dance moves very confidently and singing in that breathy start-stop style. Although the audience seems to be enjoying the show, the energy levels are a bit low at the start of this third festival day. She calls us on it: “You’re so quiet, it’s like I’m having my own party up here!”. It works, there is more life in the crowd from this moment on and songs like the seriously cool Breaking It Up and her mashup of Dance Dance Dance with Vampire Weekend’s Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa get everybody moving. She also revisites Tribe Called Quest’s Can I Kick It in the encore, but less convincingly.
If you weren’t awake yet, the next gig definitely finished with any dozing: Gogol Bordello. Sadly they were programmed in the Alpha, as this quality Balkan bonanza is best experienced in a smaller setting, but they pulled it off. Do not be fooled by the chaotic party vibe that surrounds Gogol Bordello, this band knows exactly what they’re doing and they do it extremely well. Harem In Tuscany will go down as one of my favourite dancing-around-at-Lowlands-2008 memories.
Get Well Soon
I decided to hang around this corner of the festival terrain to check out Get Well Soon in the Charlie, and what a good decision that turned out to be! The most exciting brokenbranches find of the festival I would say, these guys really won me over even though I hardly knew any of their material. They are often connected to Arcade Fire and I can understand why, but they definitely have a sound of their own. Their Born Slippy cover got them some blogpress, but their own songs deserve a lot more attention. Will be keeping an eye on these guys from now on!
All excited I rushed over to the India tent for the next band high up in the must-see-wish-list: MGMT. However, this turned out to be a bit of a let down. Right up front they played Time To Pretend, a bit weird as the crowd were still settling in and it didn’t get the Lowlands-anthem-response I was expecting. Electric Feel was the third track, leaving a set full of less known material, played well but lacking in oomph, all a bit bland. Highlight was the only track played with real heart as far as I’m concerned: Kids. Oh well, you can’t win ’em all right?
Delayed slightly by a massive downpour of rain, I made my way over to the Charlie again. This stage might be my favourite of Lowlands 2008 come to think of it, great place to discover new up-and-comers. Luckily I caught the tail end of the Black Kids set, with personal favourites Listen To Your Body Tonight and, of course, I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You. They sounded slightly shaky, but very entertaining all the same.
Most people were gearing up for the Editors or Sigur Rós as festival closers in Sunday, but I was personally looking forward to dEUS. Having lost interest a bit over the last two albums, their latest had me all excited again. All the rumours about the band turned out to be true: they are back in excellent form and sounding better than ever. They have a great chemistry on stage and Mauro Pawlowski is a big (and hunky) asset to the band. The setlist focussed mainly on Big Guitar Tracks, which I guess is fitting to a performance in the Alpha tent. Sadly for me this meant no Little Arithmetics, but this was easily compensated with opener Slow, a riproaring version of Instant Street, a perfect execution of the single The Architect and two for the old school fans: Suds & Soda and Serpentine. Thank you dEUS!
Tom Barman - dEUS
I couldn’t help myself peeking in on Sigur Rós, as I’m fascinated by the fact everyone seems so in awe of them and it just doesn’t grab me. As I stood watching them in the drizzling rain, I could see why people love them. They put their heart and soul into that show, that much was obvious even to this sceptical onlooker. I could literally see the crowd being mesmerised and entranced by their ethereal sound, but alas, I remain unconverted. Perfect soundtrack music, but not for a whole concert.
I decided to finish Lowlands 2008 on a more punky note, and headed over to the Dresden Dolls in the India. To my surprise the tent was quite full (despite sharing a timeslot with Editors and Sigur Rós) and there were a lot of devoted fans who could sing all the songs word for word, a great atmosphere. They gave an extremely energetic performance which was also really entertaining to watch. For me, as relative newcomer to their repertoire, Coin Operated Boy was a highlight, as was Night Reconnaissance from their new album. They also did a version of The Port of Amsterdam which was very well received by the audience, just like Amanda’s news that she’d be spending more time in Holland as her sister recently moved to Utrecht. They also told the crowd this was to be their last joint performance for some time as Amanda sets out on a solo effort and Brian will drum for another punk band for a while, and that they couldn’t think of a better place to share their last gig together.
I couldn’t think of a better way to spend three days than at Lowlands, what an amazing festival. When do they start ticket sales for Lowlands 2009??
Dresden Dolls
Laura Marling
As predicted, Friday’s afterparty back at the camping made sure that Ane Brun‘s early time slot on Saturday was an unattainable feat for this festivalgoer… To torture myself I listened to her session online at 3voor12 (I strongly suggest you do the same) and heard it was enchanting gosh darn it!
Thankfully there was Laura Marling to ease the pain, what a charming surprise she was! Before coming to Lowlands I had only really knew one song and was slightly afraid she might be a bit of a self obsessed teenager with guitar, but no! She was wonderful (as was her very tasty violin playing band member) and her small folky compositions won over the Lima crowd easily, despite her shyness.
The Bravo tent had a double Dutch slot up next: The Opposites and De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig, it was nice to see the tent was absolutely packed for both home grown acts. I decided to squeeze into the sea of bodies to catch the end of The Opposites‘ set and was rewarded: they closed with Dom, Lomp & Famous (the very track that gave brokenbranches some serious traffic after this post) and the crowd went suitably mad. De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig took to the stage straight after and kept the crowd going with tight performances of best sellers like Shenkie, Voor Je Kijken Doorlopen and Hollereer.
Blood Red Shoes
Now things got very exciting: time to zig zag through the anxiously waiting crowd in the India tent to get up close and personal with my number one in the highest-festival-expectations ranking: Blood Red Shoes. It’s safe to say all expectations were lived up to and then some. They gave the India crowd a kick up the backside that had me jumping and yelling the entire gig, only after their last chord did I come back down to earth and take any notice of what was going on around me. The place was one big swirling sweaty sauna of jumping bodies, the entire centre of the tent turned into a mosh pit, I must have seen at least 15 crowd surfers (which is officially not allowed!) fly by. Highlights were (the obvious) Say Something, Say Anything, It’s Getting Boring By The Sea and the ripping set closer ADHD. Please come back next year with a new album!!
crowdsurfer at Blood Red Shoes
No rest for the wicked, just as the Brighton twosome finished up, Los Campesinos! kicked off all the way across the terrain in Charlie. Navigating my way through the thousands heading the opposite direction because the N*E*R*D* set had just finished (which was great according to my festivalbuddies), I managed to reach the energetic seven piece Welsh outfit in time to catch most of their performance. I was amazed at just how young these kids are when I saw them! But youth is obviously no deterrant for giving a great show, besides playing crowd pleaser You! Me! Dancing! they ended the show with Sweet Dreams Sweet Cheeks, which was a big hit. One blink for yes, two blinks for no, sweet dreams sweet cheeks, we leave alone!
Thankfully a brief dip in my hectic timetable allowed for some taking-the-weight-off and dinner, before it was time to join the hords for one of the festival headliners: Franz Ferdinand. They played some of their new yet to be released material, which sounded very promising. But obviously they got the Alpha all hot and bothered with well known Franz Frenzy-causing tracks such as Take Me Out, Dark Of The Matinee and most notably This Fire, which raised the roof. The audience kept chanting This fire is out of control, we’ve got to burn this city, burn this city!. Excellent performance, but the new album is long overdue. Get it out there already!
At this stage of the day I had about 4 solid hours of jumping and shouting under my belt, but I had one little pocket of energy saved, because I knew I was going to need it badly: next up, Does It Offend You, Yeah?. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I had a feeling it was going to get slightly silly in the rediculously small X-Ray container. In order to witness “the hype” up front we got there half an hour beforehand. Soon enough the place was inundated with bright young things, all painfully fashionable and glow stick accessorized. When the band took the stage the excitement in the air was incredibly tangible, and with the first synthesizer key being struck the X-Ray instantly turned into a tumble dryer of insanity. I was there with two friends, but we were immediately catapulted meters apart in different directions, unbelievable!
This insanity lasted the entire gig. Shreds of what I do remember: the vocals were quite lackadaisical (particularly on Let’s Make Out, my favourire track), but they were clearly secondary to the impact of the music, which could be felt in every bone of your body. James Rushent was extremely cocky and put down their radio friendly hit Dawn Of The Dead as “a song Spandau Ballet would love”. Morgan Quaintance insisted we scream “Fuck the Sex Pistols” rather a lot. Other than that it’s all a bit of a blur, but one I’m very glad to have experienced. What an end to an amazing second festival day.
My favourite way to start the day is by chilling out in the very relaxing hippy-inspired Lima area of Lowlands. There’s plenty of room to lounge around in the sun (yes there was sun!), drink some herbal tea or eat a fair trade sandwich and watch some of the more weird & wonderful street theatre. Another big bonus is the Lima tent, which tends to host mainly singer songwriter types: a perfect mellow appetiser to your musical day. On Friday it was Tom Baxter who kicked off the day. I only caught a few songs (Better being the standout one), but they were nice and easy on the ears, all be it not very memorable.
Next we headed to the tent of tents: the Alpha, to reconnect with our pubescent during The Presidents of the USA set. As was to be expected, the crowd responded well to their old favourites (Lump, Kitty and of course Peaches), but wasn’t to interested in the new material.
We then popped in to the Grolsch, which was surprisingly full for The National. Although I like their music, the lead singer’s vocals always turn me off, I find his singing voice a bit monotone and uninviting. I still found this to be true as I stood watching them play, but the intense sound the band produced as a whole definitely gripped me much more than the albums and made me stay for the full set.
Hot Chip
Next up my Friday highlight: Hot Chip! These guys delivered a concert packed with extremely danceable goodies which sounded thicker and less polished than on cd and had the whole Bravo jumping. Do it do it do it do it do it do it do it now!! Shame about the very unnecessary Sinéad O’Connor cover at the end though.
After Hot Chip we could here The Ting Tings finishing up their show with the unavoidable That’s Not My Name in the India. Judging from the crowd’s singing which could be heard far outside the tent, it was obviously very well received.
A short break to refuel was all we had before heading to Santogold, which we decided to check out in stead of the main event over in Alpha: The Kooks. I’m happy we did because Santogold’s rock-dancehall-raggamuffin-mix was just what the doctor ordered to get the energy levels up again. There wasn’t much of a difference between her performance and the tracks as they appear on the album, but I’m not complaining with great songs like L.E.S. Artistes, Creator and You’ll Find A Way. What’s more, the show was great fun to watch thanks to her two back up singers, who busted the coolest synchronised dance moves ever. The crowd was instantly trying to copy them.
From dancing back up singers to dance diva extraordinaire: Róisín Murphy. She was her usual sultry self, changing in and out of stylish getups every few songs and twisting the audience around her little finger. The element of surprise is gone for those who have seen mrs. Murphy live before, but she still has amazing stage presence and carries out her songs perfectly, although the live versions go on a bit too long for my taste.
Roisin Murphy
Gloriously exhausted and from all of the day’s impressions and the extreme heat in the Bravo tent during Róisín’s performance, we decided to call it a night.
And just like that it’s finished. You’re back home, knackered and slightly out of touch with reality, head and heart still firmly fixed on the last four days of festival euphoria. There are the obvious advantages, your own shower which offers you more than a slight drizzle to wash your hair under, your own bed which doesn’t self deflate in the middle of the night to name but two. But even these delights don’t make up for the mild case of post-festival-depression that has set in.
So what better way to desperately cling onto the festival buzz than by spending hours reviewing and flashbacking? There will be a day by day report soon, for now, just like last year, here’s a summary of the Lowlands 2008 experience from a brokenbranches perspective.
Best overall Lowlands performance (seen by me)
Hands down: Blood Red Shoes. They hit me straight in the gut, what a performance!!
Favourite glad-I-happened-to-pass-by-act
The Opposites, I popped into the Bravo right at the end of their show and was lucky enough to catch the song that got brokenbranches a lot of blog traffic: Dom Lomp & Famous. They had everyone yelling at the top of their lungs, right to the back of the tent. Good stuff!
Sad I missed…
Late Of The Pier (heard they killed), The Flaming Lips (alas, no pink robots), Ane Brun (too damn early), N*E*R*D* (you can’t be me, I’m a rockstar!!), Le Le (although I heard mixed reviews), No Age (tipped by both Blood Red Shoes and Los Campesinos!), Yeasayer & The Hives (just too much to choose from) …
Disappointing
I’m sad to say: MGMT. I had such high expectations, but found the whole experience a bit lacklustre. Partly because they played all The Big Ones right up front in the set, when the crowd was still settling in.
Most euphoric Lowlands 2008 moment
It’s a toss up between Does It Offend You, Yeah? setting the X-Ray on fire with Let’s Make Out and dEUS’ excellent performance of Instant Street.
Best crowd response
When the entire Alpha audience kept singing “This fire is out of control, we’ve got to burn this city!” at the Franz Ferdinand gig. And again: the mayhem in the X-Ray during Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Most fun had whilst dancing with friends
Gogol Bordello: Harem In Tuscany!
Most awkward gig
Nightwish, these poor Finnish gothrockers had trouble filling even half the Alpha tent, even though there was no major act programmed in the same timeslot.
Best dancing
Santogold’s two amazing back up singers did some of the coolest synchronised moves I’ve ever seen. And of course: Ms. Roisin Murphy is the dance diva extraordinaire.
Best and worst covers
Best: Lykke Li nicely worked a bit of Vampire Weekend’s Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa into a mix with her Dance Dance Dance, it was better than the cover of the Tribe’s Can I Kick It in the encore. Also Get Well Soon’s version of the Underworld classic Born Slippy is a must-check-out!
Worst: not so keen on Hot Chip’s incorporation of Sinéad O’Connor’s Nothing Compares To You into their set.
Funniest camping moment
The spontaneous skipping and sack races that took place on the path right in front of our little camp!
Yes folks, it’s about that time: yesterday the Lowlands schedule was ennounced!! There is a certain routine that coincides with Timetable Day: I get up earlier than usual (a feat in itself as anyone who knows me will confirm), get the newspaper, resist the overwhelming urge to spread it out on the floor right in the newsagent’s, cycle to work, grab a cappuccino on my way up to my office, grab a pen, sit down and open the paper.
There’s a strange process that follows. On the one hand I want to devour the paper and absorb every detail immediately, but then I also wince and look away when at a glance I already see beloved band names programmed simultaneously… Well, there’s no time for denial, time to grab that pen and start circling!
Friday
Things start out well, seems I’ll be able to start the festival off in the humongous Alpha with some upbeat Pigeon Detectives and Presidents of the USA, then sidestep for the more melancholy The National, wander over to Bravo for some quality Dutch hiphop courtesy of Pete Philly & Perquisite and then see if Amy Macdonald will deliver. After this it gets more exciting, time to get some moves going with Hot Chip, I’ll skip The Ting Tings as I’m pretty sure the vocals will disappoint.
Next up I’m curious to see what raucous rock Cage The Elephant are going to serve up all the way over in the Charlie tent, but afterwards I’m faced with my first big dilemma: The Kooks (reliable good times) vs. Santogold (slightly more unpredictable, possibly more exciting?)… And then there’s another one: looks like I’ll have to skip the magic that is The Flaming Lips AND the new boys in town Late Of The Pier in order to get anywhere near Roisin Murphy, considering she’ll have the Bravo tent packed I’d say. Poor Anouk doesn’t even get a look in, despite the fact I like her new stuff. After that: free sailing, bit of Junkie XL to see if he’s still relevant, maybe catch a movie.
All in all not too bad, no severe casualties, just some cuts and grazes.
Saturday
Good god, what were these people thinking?? How can I be expected to be up, active and on terrain at 11:30 in the bleedin mornin???? Dear sweet lovely Ane Brun, I would like to let you know I would love to see you perform and you have been officially circled on my timetable, however… I have a feeling our paths might not cross that particular morning. Now Laura Marling on the other hands, with her 2 o’clock programming, she stands a much better chance! So I get a gentle female voice to wake me up after all, good news.
Then it’s time for some seriously funky stuff: De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig! Dat vind je leuk he? But now comes one of the crappiest choices of the timetable so far: Blood Red Shoes vs. N*E*R*D. In all honesty it was a quick decision: Blood Red Shoes are simply a must see for me as I’ve missed their performances in Holland so far and I saw N*E*R*D at Rock Werchter a few years ago. But still, I was so looking forward to screaming All the girls standing in the line for the bathroom!!!
Slightly less painful, but still, I’ll be skipping Kraak & Smaak and Tunng in order to go to one of my Top Five Acts To Look Forward To: Los Campesinos! If I run real fast I might be able to make it a cross the terrain to catch a full Foals set. Then, sadly, another case of Sophie’s choice. What to do? Go for the therapeutic wonderfully warm sounds of Iron And Wine, Le Le‘s absolutely addictive beats and nonsense lyrics I can’t get enough of (listen to Kickstart Le Brommer one and all!) or, the most likely scenario, succumb to the Alpha tent pressure once on Saturday to get my fill of trusty Take Me Out jumpabouts and delectable new snacks from those self proclaimed highland discopunkers Franz Ferdinand? Decisions decisions…
Then a final toss up: cringe at the sight of The Sex Pistols clinging onto former glory or go for more reliable British Power Pop, British Sea Power style? Well none of this really matters considering it’s all leading up to my second must see of the day: Does It Offend You, Yeah? Thankfully not double booked with anything even remotely on the same level of interesting as far as I’m concerned. Already excited at the thought of We Are Rockstars kicking off!
So Saturday’s quite a tough day as far as timetable tension is concerned. Cloning required.
Sunday
Then the last festival day comes around, it must be getting easier by now right? Well, not much. Straight away I’m off to a crap start: having to choose between We Are Scientists and Lykke Li to start the day. In all likelihood Lykke Li will win as I’m currently addicted to I’m Good, I’m Gone, but who’ll say. Then, after a spot of lunch (breakfast more like) it’s time to bounce around the Alpha tent with Gogol Bordello! The gypsy frenzy is overshadowed by the fact I also really wanted to check out Yeasayer who share their timeslot, as well as Jamie Lidell. But Jamie I got to see at Westerpark last year and I’m not missing Gogol again. Luckily Get Well Soon are playing right after and right next door to Gogol, so I’ll stick my head aroud the Charlie tent for a bit too.
Moving swiftly on we hit our next fork in the road: rock out with The Hives or join the wacky weirdness of MGMT? I’m putting my money on the latter as I expect Time To Pretend is going to be the ultimate festival anthem this year and I want to be there. Plus they’re booked in the much smaller India tent which should make for a great gig. Sadly it looks like I’ll have to miss Elbow serving up their cocktail called Grounds For Divorce in order to run all the way to Charlie for Black Kids, even though they aren’t going to teach my boyfriend how to dance with me.
Now we’re getting on in the day and the festival is coming to an end. Personally I’m looking forward to dEUS most on Sunday night. Can’t wait to hear their new stuff live, the cd is very promising. Finishing off the festival in the Grolsch tent will be Sigur Ros. To this day I haven’t been won over by their ethereal Hopelandishness, but I might pop in for a look as so many people insist “you’ll love it!”. The official Alpha tent closing act this year is Editors, not bad, but they don’t get my knickers in a twist either. I’m sure they’re larger than life epic songs will be goosebump inducing and very suitable for closing though. But I might slip away to catch The Dresden Dolls doing their thing in the India in stead…
Well there we have it, another musical minefield of a timetable. Each year I hear people saying ” Oh the best part is just walking around and stumbling into a tent to find something amazing!”. Well, I don’t buy it. Sure, you migh spend three days walking around and coincidentally bump into Los Campesinos! and have a ball, but I can’t be bothered bumping into a truck load of hard core metal new rave crap first. Military style planning is the only way to go!
[Watch this space to see how much of this rediculously ambitious schedule is actually put into practice. I didn’t really take into account the occasional stop for food & beverages might be necessary. And social interaction with your festival mates is way overrated anyway, right?…]
Finally the wait was over: last night I saw Radiohead perform at the Westerpark in Amsterdam. Conditions were perfect: an open air gig in a park with sunshine, 27 degrees and 18.000 Radioheads with high expectations. And the band delivered! What a night, what a concert and what a privilege to see a band perform so well and with such gusto. We were treated to a varied setlist, with songs spanning much of their career, and 6 from their latest release In Rainbows.
As the band came on stage I turned to my friend MB saying “I hope they open with Bodysnatchers!”, as I knew they have played it consistently this tour but never to start the show. Well my wish was heard and may I say Thom & co, what an excellent choice it was! It’s just a cracking song to kick off with, great guitar, great energy. It was worth squeezing into the front and waiting like “sardines in a crushd tin box” before the show, because it soon became apparent we were surrounded by Radiohead connaisseurs who immediately started singing and dancing like mad. Perfect!
After that the beautiful All I Need calmed everyone down a bit, only to be swept up again by The National Anthem, the dark and gloomy Kid A track that is always a winner live, not in the least because of Thom freaking out towards the end. Skipping through the setlist I would say my personal highlights were Lucky, There There, Videotape, and the amazing encores with gems like Climbing Up The Walls, Wolf At The Door (only it’s 3rd appearance so far), Jigsaw Falling Into Pieces and closer Planet Telex! And of course, the Amsterdam crowd was lucky enough to be treated to the new song Super Collider, which was previously only played during the Dublin and Paris shows.
Real crowd pleasers were Street Spirit (a massive hit here in Holland), Idioteque (nothing like a bit of techno in a Radiohead gig) and Just for it’s good old fashioned Bends-distorted-guitar-feel. Mind you, from where I was standing every single song got a very warm reception. Thom had the crowd laughing when he put on safety goggles before sitting behind his drum kit for Bangers & Mash and putting on a geeky voice saying “Safety first, safety first, that’s what I always say!”. And just before Jigsaw Falling Into Pieces, Jonny was fidgetting with his guitar and Thom joked “Hurry up Jon Jon! If you’re not in tune you’ll have to tune it. Well, it’s never stopped you before has it!”.
According to this amazing yet slightly disturbing website keeping track of the gig statistics of Radiohead’s 2008 tour (be sure not to miss the pie chart showing the occurence of animals that get lyrics devoted to them by Thom!!), the Westerpark gig gets an honourable 6th position in the Setlist Rareness Ranking out of 24 gigs so far. Not bad!
Check out some gig goodies below: a clip of Super Collider, some pictures I took and the complete setlist.
Super Collider live at Westerpark, July 1st 2008
The complete setlist
01 Bodysnatchers
02 All I need
03 National Anthem
04 15 Steps
05 Lucky
06 Nude
07 Street Spirit
08 There There
09 The Gloaming
10 Arpeggi/ Weird Fishes
11 Idioteque
12 Faust Arp
13 Videotape
14 Just
15 Bangers & Mash
16 Everything In It’s Right Place
17 Reckoner
First encore:
18 House Of Cards
19 Climbing Up The Walls
20 Wolf At The Door
21 Jigsaw Falling Into Pieces
22 Karma Police
Second encore:
23 Super Collider
24 How To Disappear Completely
25 Planet Telex
Feist first came to my attention as a part of the Canadian on stage musical village otherwise known as Broken Social Scene. I wasn’t really aware of her solo output until I noticed 1-2-3-4 getting a lot of airplay on American MTV when I was over there last October. Instantly intrigued by this catchy off-beat song and the funny choreographed video that accompanies it, I started to listen to more of her music.
Her slightly husky voice and occasionally jazzy influences automatically get her mentioned along with artists like Norah Jones and Sia, a group I like to refer to as The Starbucks Ladies. Although some of her work is indeed quite mellow, innocuous and suitable as musical tapestry to your tall macchiato consumption, there’s more to Feist than that.
She definitely proved she packs more punch at her concert in Paradiso last Saturday. First off, the visual aspect of her performance deserves mention. She used a silk screen and lighting to create some interesting shadow play at several moments in the show. Throughout the whole performance there was live art being made in a corner on stage and projected above the musicians, which definitely gave the music an extra dimension. Some of the visual effects where quite stunning considering the simple way in which they were achieved.
For me, seeing the songs performed live made me appreciate them much more than I previously had. Leslie Feist is very charming and an excellent singer, her band was good and gave the songs more weight and oomph.
Standout songs for me included My Moon My Man (personal favourite), Mushaboom (precious little song), Honey Honey (a song I would always skip on cd, but really came alive on stage, particularly because of the clever way she recorded and looped her own voice live as background vocals), I Feel It All (just a great toe-tapper of a song), When I Was A Young Girl (nice handclap rhythm), The Water (beautifully created visuals of a boat at sea) and last but most certainly not least, a stellar performance of Nina Simone’s Sea Lion Woman that had everyone dancing and clapping.
Feist’s little chatty intermezzo’s were well received. She confessed to the audience how she had once missed a gig in Paradiso thanks to the effects of a hash brownie consumed earlier that day and had been ashamed of it for years. She also got everyone to sing a certain note depending on which sentence applied to you (“if you own a bicycle sing aaaahhhhhhhh, if you live within sight of water sing aahhhhhhhh” and so on), which got a lot of laughs when someone up on the balcony really went for the high note that went with “if you’re from the Southern hemisphere”.
All in all it was a pleasant surprise of a concert as far as I’m concerned. My only critical note would be that she seemed to be playing quite safe, there were no raw moments or rough edges to be found.
Watch a clip of Sea Lion Woman from last Saturday (thanks to frookypooky):
brokenbranches 
