It’s been a long time since Mr James Vincent McMorrow featured on Breaking More Waves, but a few hours ago he posted the following words on his Facebook page and grabbed our attention: “I've been recording when I can over the summer, on the floors of festival dressing rooms, in hotels, I've been waiting for everyone to fall asleep so I can track vocals in the back lounge of the bus. Making Post Tropical definitely lit a fire. There's no plan for any of it, I have an album in the world and it is rightfully taking up a lot of my energy, but I've plenty energy to go around, I'd like to start putting out some ideas while the ink is still wet, I want people to hear them, to know what they are when we play them live during the autumn Euro and US tours. Disclaimer. They're not polished, nothing recorded on the road ever could be, a lot of time spent removing crazy back ground sounds from vocals etc. That's the point though I guess, snapshots. When I was in college I'd go out a lot, but I wasn't the guy that was the centre of everyone's attention, I was usually standing awkwardly in the corner. But just because you're standing in the corner doesn't mean you don't love to dance. That's what this song is about I guess, dance like no one's watching.” So there you have it. Possibly our laziest blog post ever with a straight cut and paste job, but it said what needed to be said. When I Leave might only be a demo, but it’s a fascinating one, starting from a slow synth soundscape then journeying to a soulful beat laden high. We can imagine this being a perfect set closer – it’s free to download. James Vincent McMorrow - When I Leave
This week people went a little bit stupid-crazy over music. The Stone Roses, a band who produced one brilliant album and one decidedly average one announced that they were re-forming and sold 220,000 tickets at £55 each for three concerts in Manchester this summer. That’s slightly over 12 million pounds in ticket sales for a band that have a reputation for being decidedly dodgy live. Their 1990 Spike Island show was a wind-blown sound disaster, but most of the kids in attendance were too off their heads on hallucinogenic substances to care. Yet Spike Island set a precedent for indie rock bands to do something that really hadn’t been done for some time; to have ambition, to be huge, to fill stadium sized venues. It was that swagger that would form the template for the future, right up to the present day where those auditioning for X-Factor talk about ‘wanting this more than anything else,’ without really comprehending or understand what that actually means or what it can bring. There’s a reason why the Stone Roses split after two albums and it was nothing to do with love.
Whilst there’s no doubt that the colossal ticket sales will help keep The Stone Roses in trainers and baggy flares for life, the crushing reality is that 100’s of decent bands will play to a half empty room in the UK this week. As you’re reading this blog you are evidently a music fan, so this week, please get off your sofa, find a venue and go and see some bands you’ve never heard of for probably no more than the price of a couple of pints of lager. We will be. In 1989 we did exactly that and saw a decidedly average band play at the West End Centre in Aldershot for £2.99. The name of that band? The Stone Roses.
Today is Saturday. The bit where we round up some tracks that for one reason or another didn’t quite get their own blog post. These are bands and artists who will probably never headline a stadium or huge park. Yet that doesn’t mean that in their own ways they haven’t been successful. Surely success is the creation of art that you’re proud of? Or have we now created a society where success is only seen as the money you've made?
James Vincent McMorrow – Higher Love
If you’ve had the pleasure to capture one of James Vincent McMorrow’s recent live shows you’ll have witnessed him playing this tender, yearning, sparse cover version of Steve Winwood’s 80’s hit Higher Love. The song has also been used on an advert for Love Film having originally featured on a compilation of 1980s covers called Silver Lining released by Sound Training Records, which is a record label operated by the students of Dublin’s Sound Training Centre. You can buy the song from iTunes here.
It’s been quite a while since we’ve blathered on about Stealing Sheep but we’re very happy to see new material now in the form of Paper Moon, which is taken from their debut Heavenly release, the Noah and the Paper Moon EP. You can download this song as part of a 3 track sampler the group are giving away for free here. With a didgeridoo (Rolf Harris would be proud), handclaps, sounds like one girl-singing-multi-tracked harmonies and oft-kilter guitar work Paper Moon seems to try as hard as it can to duck and dive away from anything that could be considered obviously likeable and yet still manages to have a charm all of its own.
From a city (Leicester) whose two biggest musical exports are Kasbian and Showaddywaddy comes Sebastian Twigden, Nicci Robertson, Edmund Grunill and Martin Brien. They go by the name I Am In Love and their new single Call Me An Animal is released on October 31 through Robot Needs Home. With a dark, dirty urgency this is a gritty piece of ear sex. Like it. No love it.
For many people a love of music festivals doesn’t stop once they’re out of their teenage years or early twenties, but their tastes in the kind of festival they attend does. In the same way that as you grow older your musical preferences may change or expand, so may your choice in these outdoor cities of musical heaven. Glastonbury, Reading or V are often where people lose their virginity (of the festival kind as well as possibly sexual), drawn by big names, heavy media exposure, and peer group pressure, but after a number of these events there may be a temptation to try something different. It’s at this point that there may be a realisation that the best festivals are often the ones that offer something a little unique and unexpected and that the sum of the parts of the festival – the infrastructure, the atmosphere, the organisation as well as the music make the great festivals stand out from a very busy and cluttered crowd.
Camp Bestival very much offers the unique with half of its 30,000 punters being children. Back in 2007 Mr Bestival himself -Rob da Bank - decided, over a couple of glasses of red wine, that there was a small gap in the festival market for what became Camp Bestival and began the process of bringing the event to life for its debut in 2008.
When you normally think of the family market you probably think of the smell of plastic and chips, ball parks, a lack of style and something very uncool. Yet Camp Bestival turns all this on this on its head.
Set in the grounds of Lulworth Castle, Dorset, the site is beautifully decorated bringing Creative Director Josie Da Bank's vision to life. Flags, bunting, the Women’s Institute Tea Tent, the hidden delights of the woods in the Dingly Dell Trail, medieval jousting, pamper lounges, the Bollywood Bar, the Wonderland Inn – Camp Bestival is far from just a bunch of marquees thrown up in a field with some bands playing. Then there’s the bands – an eclectic mix of those for the mums and dads to have a nostalgia trip (ABC, Blondie, The Wonderstuff, House Of Pain), things for teenagers (Katy B, Wretch 32, Yasmin, Labrinth), stuff for folk-heads (Laura Marling, James Vicnent McMorrow, Alessi’s Ark, Caitlin Rose) plus some of the best up and coming new acts (Yaaks, Fenech Soler, Ed Sheeran) and that’s before we’ve even mentioned Primal Scream, Mark Ronson, Clare Maguire and a certain DJ Collective known as the Sunday Best Forum Allstars of which Breaking More Waves has a rather large input into.
And for those who hate the idea of the dreaded festival toilet, last year Camp Bestival had some of the cleanest toilets we’ve ever seen.
Then there’s the kids entertainment. Far too many festivals bill themselves as family friendly and then make token gestures. Camp Bestival goes the whole hog. The kids field is huge – but cleverly the layout incorporates enough attractions to ensure that mums and dads have stuff to keep them entertained as well with the bandstand stage being located in the lower kids garden as well as a nice big bar and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s The River Cottage Café, so mum and dad can eat a fresh mackerel burger and enjoy a pint of real ale or cider whilst watching their kids enjoy the endless attractions. Shrek The Musical, Dick and Dom, The English National Ballet workshops for children, the insect circus, dressing up areas, circus skills, family films, DJ Jo Whiley hosting a picnic, the house of fairy tales and The Gruffalo are just a few of the huge number of excitements for children. Then there’s literature for all in the East Lulworth literary tent, the highlights of which include Radio 1 DJ Sara Cox presenting How to be a mum, have a career and leave time to eat sushi, Carl Barat of The Libertines being interviewed, Marcus Brigstocke and kids author Cathy Cassidy.
Camp Bestival may not be for those who think that getting their rocks off, shovelling down a load of drugs, drinking 10 cans of cider and weeing on someone’s tent in the campsite is a perfect weekend, but Camp Bestival shows brilliantly that festivals with children can and do work – and that everyone can go home happy and waiting for it all to start again next year.
As always with our festival previews, here are a few recommendations of the newer bands that are appearing at Camp Bestival, which takes place on the 28-31 July. Breaking More Waves will bring a review of Camp Bestival 2011 shortly after that.
For yet another weekend in May the streets and seafront of Brighton were adulterated not only with the usual mix of hedonistic clubbers, party people and intoxicated hen parties, but with several thousand wristband wearing gig goers coming together in an orgy of multi-venue musical mayhem. Breaking More Waves was of course in the thick of it. Here is our school report of all the essential ingredients of what makes a festival succeed or not.
Tickets
Tickets for The Great Escape ranged from a 3 day pass at £49.50 (+ booking fee) to a variety of day and 2 day combinations. Those on the smart money book months in advance though, with the early bird catching the worm at only £35 for a three day pass – the same as what a Saturday only ticket was on the door. Tickets allow access to all venues and gigs, except for shows by Friendly Fires, DJ Shadow and Sufjan Stevens at the Dome, for which extra payment was required. Alongside the main festival a variety of ‘Alternative Escape’ shows run, which non-wristband holders can also attend for free or a small charge.
Accommodation
No camping in messy, muddy fields thank you very much. The Great Escape is an urban festival, so if you don’t live there or travel in each day there’s a plethora of hotels, apartments and B&B’s. We stayed in the sexily swish Feng Shui ambience of My Hotel, right in the throbbing heart of Brighton which provided an ideal base for the event being only a short stagger home each night after the partying had finished. For those on a more restricted budget, a variety of campsites exist just outside Brighton, but if considering using those beware the potential risk of high public transport costs if travelling back late at night when only taxis are available.
The Site
It’s a city, by the sea. Without a portaloo anywhere. The venues that hosted this year’s festival ranged from pubs, clubs, and concert halls to a hotel lobby, a seafront pier, outdoor street gigs and even a vintage clothes store, of which you can see footage of Treetop Flyers playing in below.
The Punters
A mix of indie kids and older music veterans, with everyone being there for the same reason – to enjoy the music. During the weekend we saw several acoustic / folk sets and were impressed with how quietly appreciative the crowds were, but likewise when it was time to rock / dance, everyone seemed prepared to up the tempo and party.
The Toilets
A good festival has good toilets, so being indoors you’d probably expect the Great Escape to have remarkably clean loos compared with outdoor portaloos or compost toilets. Yet unfortunately it seems that the users of the facilities and the owners of clubs and pubs in Brighton pay little attention to keeping the things spotless whilst in use. Here’s an example (click here) of one such offender from one of Brighton’s leading clubs. Could do much better.
The Queues
Queues for the toilets and queues for food are two common complaints of outdoor summer festivals. No problem here in Brighton of course. The bane of every muti-venue urban festival is venue capacity. Arrive too late to see a popular act and you risk finding yourself standing outside on the street wondering whether spending £ 49.50 to loiter on the pavement like a loser was such a good idea.The Great Escape is no exception and we heard reports all weekend (particularly on the Friday and Saturday) of over-subscribed shows. However, with careful advance planning it’s possible (as we did) to never see a queue at all and maximise your time watching bands. (Read more about our tips on this here) In our time at Great Escape 2011 we saw everything we wanted to see – that’s 36 full performances.
The Organisation
Generally Great Escape is very well organised with high levels of stewarding and venues running reasonably on time, although inevitably from time to time some schedules slip a little. With festival organisers providing regular updates on what venues are full and what have space via a text message service punters are kept reasonably well informed. We did however hear a number of complaints this year about artists and bands pulling out of shows and no information being given at the venue or via the text service.
The Food
Everything from a cheap sandwich courtesy of a supermarket to some fine restauranteering is available. It’s a city isn’t it? Enough said.
The Weather
If you’ve ever attended an outdoor festival you’ll have probably checked the weather forecast for several days in advance. Forget what people say about muddy festivals bringing out the British fighting spirit and giving people a sense of community. That may be true, but wet festivals are still rubbish. However with the Great Escape there really is no need to worry about the weather. With 99% of gigs being indoors the wettest you’ll get is through a short dash along the seafront as you run between venues. We brought an umbrella and a mac. Wellies were never considered when you’ve got hard landscaping and a permanent drainage system. The umbrella wasn’t required anyway, with it being dry and mainly bright, with just a little cloud.
The Vibe
Just like outdoor summer festivals the vibe of Great Escape goes from one of chilled relaxation during the day to chaotic partying at night. What it lacks in terms of a shared inclusive community spirit that the best outdoor festivals have it makes up for in terms of convenience.
The Music
And before we forget, there’s the music. Great Escape 2011 was arguably the festival's best line up ever in terms of new music and therefore there were always going to be a huge number of line up clashes. So whilst it seemed that the world and his wife (and 95% of all new music bloggers at the festival) were herding themselves into see the likes of Braids, EMA and Gang Gang Dance we took a different route and were rewarded in particular with an incredible performance by Lanterns On The Lake whose bejewelled atmospherics were so gut-wrenchingly beautiful that grown men in the audience were shedding tears. Other highlights over the three days included James Vincent McMorrow who showed the power of simplicity with just an acoustic guitar and the voice of an angel in the Unitarian Church. Providing one of the defining moments of the festival he played If I Had A Boat off-mic to an enraptured and hushed audience, his falsetto-soul creating goose bumps everywhere. On a lighter pop note Rizzle Kicks blend of rap, ska and youthful cheekiness was stripped down acoustically in Beyond Retro vintage clothes store, delighting and putting smiles on faces during their short set. Singer songwriter Rachel Sermanni showed that she could be the next new voice of folk music with mature songcraft and a personable charm that could win her many more fans wherever she plays and Fixers came up trumps with their blend of kaleidoscopic Beach Boys / Animal Collective inspired wig out pop in the faded and tacky seaside glamour of Horatio’s bar on the pier.
Overall
Great Escape 2011 was quite simply the best yet. With a few minor tweaks in terms of information about cancellations it could be pretty much perfect. We’ll certainly be there again next year. Here are a few tracks from some of our music highlights.
Some time ago the dreaded internet red mist led to us posting some pretty harsh comments on a Portsmouth (our home town) based website The Dirty South (see here). In hindsight the words we chose were rather severe - impressively winding up the original author of the piece, but the basis of our comment was simply that we believe there have been some superb musicians emanating from Ireland over the last few years and the author’s dismissal of it caught us fuming.
Looking down the Choice Music Prize nominations for 2011, our beliefs are fully reaffirmed. The Irish scene is as healthy and as brilliant as it has ever been and today’s new wave is just one example of that.
Dublin’s James Vincent McMorrow carries on the tradition of male singer songwriters with an acoustic guitar on their arm and a song in their lungs. He may not be as The Dirty South suggested ‘mind-alteringly’ great but we’d say his songs were exquisite enough to at least fall in love with a little – and isn’t falling in love (even if just a little bit) a mind-alteringly great feeling ?
The reference points roll of the tongue fairly easily; Sufjan Stevens, Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Iron & Wine, Jeff Buckley and Damien Rice, and rather like Bon Iver he has a back story that involves making a record in an isolated location, but this time a house by the Irish Sea rather than a cabin in the wood. Whilst the artists mentioned above give you a sense of the style of music James Vincent McMorrow plays, his influences are more literary ones. He suggests John Steinbeck, F Scott Fitzgerald and Roald Dahl; writers who explored, in McMorrow’s words, “the darker, less spoken about aspects of life - solitude and disillusionment.”
McMorrow is already well known in Ireland having scored a number 1 there,but in the UK his name is only gradually starting to be known having received good support from the likes of Huw Stephens and Zane Lowe on Radio 1. In March he will play shows in Manchester, London, Leeds, Birmingham and Edinburgh and if you’re lucky enough to be in attendance we’re pretty damn sure you’ll be at least a little bit caressed by his soft, soulful, atmospheric and bewitching songs. Maybe you’ll even have your mind-altered?
The song below If I Had A Boat is available for free download together with a new video for his song This Old Dark Machine.
