If 2016 was the year that out and out pop music lost its way a little due to too much reliance on repetition of the same formula over and over again to make hits for an increasingly lazy listening public, then French artist and performer Petite Meller stood out a little with Lil Empire, her record of bubbly jazzy hands in the air pop music. Complete with a strong visual component in her stylish videos shot on location in different parts of the world, Meller was clearly dancing to her own beat and I was more than happy to dance with her. Sadly, there was no physical release for Lil Empire, although that is to be addressed in January 2017 with the album out physically on Island, but even so her late summer bop of a release was a joy – rammed with hooky, irresistible songs. There was a concern prior to release that the record was simply going to be full of Baby Love clones, but over its full length the tunes worked to create a full and varied listening experience, but one set very much in Meller’s universe - a universe that stirred up some arguments on line about her videos and cultural appropriation, although others argued that Meller was merely celebrating cultures she was inspired by. Like all art, it's probably up to you as the viewer and listener to make your own judgements on these matters. Either way, this was a pop record that made me feel alive. Petite Meller - The Flute (Video)
If there’s one festival that solely changed the way I feel about music, festivals themselves and to a certain extent life (yes honestly), it’s Bestival.
Back in 2004 I’d usually attend one or two music festivals a year, which would mainly be chosen from a small list of Glastonbury, Reading, V Festival or Guildford. Then I saw an advert for a new event on the Isle of Wight that claimed it would have guaranteed sunshine, Fatboy Slim, Morris Dancers, a Kate Bush tribute act, Basement Jaxx and it would all be set in an adventure park with a toboggan ride.
That event was Bestival and in early September myself and a friend hopped on the ferry in the pouring rain to journey Robin Hill Country Park. The rain stopped as we stepped off the boat onto the island and from there a habit began.
Since that year I’ve only missed one Bestival (in 2014 when I was in America) and during that time I have seen it change and grow. I’ve also had the opportunity to DJ at the festival in stages that have included a tiny treehouse, a hidden disco and a massive big top full of thousands of people just a couple of hours before M.I.A took to the stage. I even got away with bookending the DJ set with 2 Lionel Ritchie songs; Hello for the intro and All Night Long to finish. I have so many great memories of Bestival and as with any long lasting relationship, a couple of sour ones as well. But 99% has been great - even Bestival can't control the storms that lashed down on Thursday night in 2008.
Some of the highs, besides the DJ sets, have been the weird non-musical moments; being greeted at the entrance gates one year by a bunch of grannies on motorbikes as well as two girls in an open topped double decker bus who were flashing their topless selves at the queue, the warmest smiles in the world of the ladies of the Women’s Institute Tea Tent high on the hill, attending a wedding in an inflatable church between two festival regulars known as The Dude and Flora Mouse who met on the Bestival Website Forum, cocktails in a Bollywood Bar at 11am and sitting in a pitch black open air theatre, alone at about 10pm watching The Evil Dead.
Bestival was one of the first ‘boutique’ festivals; that 2004 event had only about 3-4,000 people in attendance (don’t believe Wikipedia which states 10,000). Sure it took elements of other festivals (in particular Glastonbury and now the defunct Big Chill) but added in its own special flavours to create something vastly different to any other festival I had experienced at the time (including Glastonbury).
In 2004 it was unique, but in 2016 it is less so. There are now many festivals that have taken aspects of Bestival and grown them in their own way and this year sees the festival facing greater competition than any other. Bestival has influenced my taste in festivals and my enthusiasm for them, with the likes of Flow (in Finland), End of the Road and Latitude being some of my favourites. The bands in a dirty, smoke-laden field and nothing else approach of Reading is far less appealing these days. But with all this competition the continued growth of Bestival probably just isn’t a reality – it probably explains why this year it appears the event has downsized somewhat - although there is now the family friendly Camp Bestival, Bestival Tornoto and Common People festivals all under the Bestival umbrella.
So why do I love Bestival so much? I think it’s because it combines so many great things.
Whereas some very good, very respected festivals (for example End of the Road or Green Man) do everything with immaculate taste and a strong sense of curation, they lack the sheer eclecticism, party spirit, sense of madness and free spirited fun that Bestival at its best has. I love the fact that this year at Bestival I can go from dancing to Diplo or Fatboy Slim in a huge spaceport complete with a 20m rocket in the centre and giant astronauts firing lasers across the sky, to watching a poetry collective in an open air amphitheatre, to catching music that ranges from hip-hop to indie to pop to disco to soul to house and then go for a bounce on the world’s biggest inflatable castle. Oh and I haven’t even mentioned the fancy dress that gives the place a carnival atmosphere (and yes there’s a real carnival as well).
So if you want to come and join the party, grab a ticket by clicking here and maybe I’ll see you there? It’s my final outdoor festival of the summer, as it has been for 12 of the last 13 years.
And don’t forget, for new music fans Bestival has plenty of it, especially in the invaders of the future stage. Here’s three of my tips from this year’s line up (although I could have included many more). The future is almost here....
Alice Jemima
Breaking More Waves regular Alice Jemima signed with Sunday Best records around this time last year, so it’s no surprise to find her on the bill at its sister festival. I understand that Alice will be playing early on Friday morning on the main stage. If you’ve spent any time on this blog you’ll know how much I adore her music. Worth getting up early for.
Petite Meller
If anyone on this year’s bill meets the Bestival ideals more than Petite Meller I can’t think of them. Her live show is a joyous dressing up dance-a-thon that makes you glad to feel alive – just like Bestival.
The Japanese House My original 3rd choice was originally Rationale, but he has now cancelled, so instead I'll recommend an act from Bestival's new music stage - The Invaders of the Future. The Japanese House aka Amber Bain featured quite heavily on Breaking More Waves when she first released material last year and since that time has gone on to support The 1975 on tour - no surprise there given they are on the same label. There hasn't been that much in the way of new material recently, but with some forthcoming live dates and this Bestival show it shouldn't be too long before there's more - so get to the Invaders of the Future and get an early glimpse of what may be to come.
Pop songs are just like buses, you wait for one to come along and then three turn up in the space of a few seconds. In fact the last few days have found a multitude of brilliant, sometimes bonkers (a good thing) tunes appear on line and sadly with the exception of one (here) I haven’t even been at the bus stop. So over the next couple of days, expect a number of posts which basically all fall into the same category, namely here’s an A.M.A.Z.I.N.G pop tune and you MUST listen to it. Let’s start with this. It wouldn’t be any sort of understatement to say that I’m utterly in love with what Petite Meller does. She’s making out and out pop music that makes me want to throw my hands in the air and dance like a loon – but it’s also pop music with a strong visual base and huge sense of adventurousness. For The Flute Petite Meller travels to Mongolia to sing dance and have a chat with some of the wild animals there. She also wears a very big pointy hat that out does even the Pet Shop Boys pointy hats. It’s a tune which until today, from live gigs, I thought was called Put Your Hands On Me and I still think a better title would have been The Flute (Put Your Hands On Me) if only because (if you've read this blog a lot, you'll know) I’m a big fan of brackets. Apparently The Flute takes inspirations from French cinema (Manon des Sources in particular) to the ballet of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Oh and the outfits were provided by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. It’s Green Man Festival this weekend. Wild Beasts, James Blake and Laura Marling play there. Imagine one of those doing this video. Now that would be worth paying to watch. Petite Meller will not be at Green Man. She will however be at Bestival in a few weeks time. For anyone that knows Rob Da Bank’s hedonistic colourful carnival / party on the Isle of Wight I’m sure you’ll agree that Petite Meller seems a very appropriate booking. I'll be there, maybe I'll wear a pointy hat too? This is a double decker of a pop song. Petite Meller - The Flute (Video)
Oh sh*t. No sooner had I called it a day on talking about musicians and pop stars in the bath (yesterday on this post), then along comes Petite Meller with a new video for a song called Milk Bath. And yes, she does get in the tub in the video, or at least partly – for the tub in question is just a tiny tin bath. And yes, there’s milk. And cows. And a big pink lake. And dancing in a very pink and blue pastel locker room. Well this is a Petite Meller video. What did you expect? Her ‘rocking out’ in an abandoned warehouse / office building with some guitars and strobe lights? Or her ‘in da club’ with 4 good looking semi naked dancers twerking either side of her? Thankfully not. Petite Meller is definitely one of the more interesting people out there in planet pop right now – not just with her visuals but her music too. Milk Bath steers well away from the current pop zeitgeist and plays around with African sounds, integrating some of the rhythms and chants of that culture (members of Ladysmith Black Mambazo were involved) into her own joyful world, one where with all this talk of bathing she sings of feeling "dirty but alive.” Oh and fun fact: The song was partly recorded at a studio called Dairy. Where else? Enjoy the moosic (sorry). Petite Meller - Milk Bath (Video)
Of course we know there’s still 22 days of 2015 left, which theoretically means that our favourite song of the year could yet to be released, but experience tells us that’s pretty damn unlikely (although Låpsley came close in December 2013 with Station). So without further ado, here are the 5 songs that have made us laugh the most, cry the most and most importantly, dance the most. There's been a lot of dancing. Song Of The Year - Petite Meller – Baby Love What we said in January 2015: “One of the brightest things about pop music is its occasional ability to dazzle by throwing in the unexpected and for it all to make sense and be utterly brilliant. Such is the new video and song from French singer Petite Meller, who up to now has been skirting around the edges but never hitting the bullseye. That all changes with new tune Baby Love which throws in giraffes, big hats, flamingo impressions, dancing and saxophone playing children and music that hits the ‘it’s good to be alive’ button with some force. If you watch this and don’t feel deliriously happy afterwards then something is seriously wrong. We're handing the award for best pop video January 2015 to Petite Meller right now”
The Runners Up Oh Wonder – Landslide What we said in July 2015: “We’re sorry, but all of you geology boffins are going to be a little disappointed, because the song isn’t anything about an earth movement that leads to the triggering of a ground failure in a downwards direction. Instead, it’s a soothing and infinitely pretty tune of comfort and friendship, effectively saying ‘keep your chin up,’ but in a rather more sensitive way than that.”
Mura Masa ft Nao – Firefly What we said in November 2015: "Take one listen to Firefly (one of the underground pop songs of 2015) and you’ll understand. He makes crisp, glitchy, electronic dance music that has one eye on the dancefloor, one eye on the headphones and one eye on the pop arena. Oh, that’s three eyes, but that’s the point. Mura Masa does things just that little bit differently."
Oh Wonder – White Blood What we said in June 2015: "We live in an internet enabled world that seems to become ever more callous, ever more judgemental, ever more unhopeful. Listen to this song. Go and hug someone. Tell them that you love them. For without hope and love we’re lost. This tune will make you feel that love."
Public Service Broadcasting – The Other Side What we said in August 2015: "The Other Side just oozes atmosphere, with the mounting tension in Mission Control becoming the central force of the piece. Despite the professional and controlled delivery from the announcer, you can hear the joy in his voice as Apollo 8 re-establishes contact and the music perfectly matches that happiness as it gushes forward in celebratory style. Absolutely brilliant and surprisingly emotional."
Back in January we (quite rightly) suggested that the video to Baby Love by Petite Meller was the best video of the month. 6 million views and a lot of inanely grinning faces later we’re pretty sure at least a few other members of the human race agree with us. In fact Baby Love is currently in the running for being our favourite video of the year. Now finally we have the follow up. You’ve probably already heard the song Barbaric (it is after all already on the streaming services and radio) which fundamentally is Baby Love Part 2 with a different lyrical concept; something about repression, particularly of the sexual nature and letting go of your animal instincts, basically just going for it. It's also as insanely catchy as Baby Love. This is your hum on the way to school / college / work song of the day. But what we’ve really been waiting for is this video. And here it is. These are the basics: 1. This one was filmed in Miami rather than Kenya, so any of the negativity that cropped up here and there about the fetishization of African children won’t be an issue this time. 2. Unlike Baby Love it doesn’t features giraffes. Which is a shame, but it does feature lots of larking around in golf buggies and Petite Meller balancing books on her head, which is very good. 3. It does feature old people and some of them attempt some dancing. 4. It's as colourful as you'd hope. 5. Petite Meller has some amazing hats. 6. At the time of writing it's had less than 300 views. This needs to be rectified, so please watch it at least twice. Petite Meller plays London’s Heaven later this month (15th Oct). Come and throw off your inhibitions, get barbaric and come dance with her. We will be. No holding back. Petite Meller - Barbaric (Video)
If you’re going to a dance remix, this is how to do it: 1. Take a rather brilliant pop song (one of our favourites of 2015 so far) with a rather brilliant video. 2. Find the essence of it. 3. Distil that essence back until it’s the musical equivalent of being buck naked. 4. Add some fluid repetition. 5. Think and listen to Kraftwerk, Jean Michel Jarre and The Pet Shop Boys. 6. Top your thoughts off with a gradually building sense of blissful euphoria. 7. Job done. Or otherwise just ask Alex Warren, aka Kiwi to do it for you. He knows. Petite Meller - Baby Love (Kiwi Remix)
One of the brightest things about pop music is its occasional ability to dazzle by throwing in the unexpected and for it all to make sense and be utterly brilliant. Such is the new video and song from French singer Petite Meller, who up to now has been skirting around the edges but never hitting the bullseye. That all changes with new tune Baby Love which throws in giraffes, big hats, flamingo impressions, dancing and saxophone playing children and music that hits the ‘it’s good to be alive’ button with some force. If you watch this and don’t feel deliriously happy afterwards then something is seriously wrong. We're handing the award for best pop video January 2015 to Petite Meller right now.
