As we wind down to the end of the year and the music industry takes its traditional long view of what constitutes a Christmas break (normally December 1 marks the end of anything really meaningful) it is fair to say that 2009 has been a very confusing year indeed for anyone trying to equate the media and industry view of what has been good to the public view of what has been good musically.»
This week there is more on the thorny issue of bribery, more food-based analogising, a self-re-assessment after falling foul of some marketing gimmickry AND the mesmerically wondrous music (and face) of Annie Clark. »
This year's Offset took place, as always, in Hainault Forest and it would have been rude to turn down the opportunity to see the likes of Let's Wrestle, Damo Suzuki, The Horrors, Future of the Left, Pulled Apart By Horses, Wild Beasts, The xx and about a hundred or so others.»
So, it's that time of year again that the major festival season draws to a close, and while sister site Reading is viewed as the (slightly) more mature of the two, Leeds has often been renowned for bowing out in a blaze of glory...literally.»
Reading and Leeds Festival photo galleries: In Photos: Reading Festival 2009 - Day 3 Leeds Festival In Photos: Kings of Leon In Photos: Leeds Festival 2009 - Day 2 In Photos: Reading Festival 2009 - Day 2 Leeds Festival In Photos: Radiohead Leeds Fe»
So, in no particular order, here are the twenty acts DiS' editor is most looking forward to seeing this weekend. »
Spurred on by the repeat mantra ‘there’s no way things can go wrong a THIRD year in a row', DiS’s Charles Ubaghs and Andrzej Lukowski headed down Victoria Park way last Saturday to sample the delights of this year’s capital-based Field Day festival. And barring some rain, things didn’t go wrong: bar queues? Nuh-uh. Lines for the toilet? Seemed pretty non-existent (or at least from a gruff, manly perspective). There were a few other issues, mentioned below, but here be our highlights.»
A Spotify playlist of 100 of our staff's favourite tracks of the year (SO FAR!!!) from 100 of the year's finest acts, clocking in at 7 hours 40ish minutes . »
Based on a range of factors, from board discussions, reviews so far this year and utterly subjective personal opinion, DiS' editor has compiled the twenty best independent albums of the first half of 2009 to coincide with Independent's Day.»
Primavera Sound 2009 had one of the best bills we've ever seen, with an eye-boggling array of talent on offer. Here's what our intrepid writing team came back babbling excitedly about.»
We really have been spoilt for choice in May. I know, we (I) may have expressed very similar sentiments back for this same feature in April but that was over-enthusiasm at a decent-ish month for music. This month, however, has genuinely been filled with fantastic records. It's hard to narrow it down too much, but here's a pick of the best.»
We all remember last year's festival season as one of the most horrific in living memory. Well, if you went to ZOO8 you probably did. DiS caught up with Offset founder Kieran Delaney to pick his brains...»
With our journalistic curiosity piqued, DiS recently picked up a phone and rang The Horrors' Tom Cowan (aka: Tomethy Furse) in order to shed some light onto what lies behind those dark exteriors.»
Nathaniel Cramp has been running the increasingly successful Sonic Cathedral club night since 2004, before launching the record label two years later. Here, he discusses the merits of so-called "nu-gaze", and what the whole shoegaze revival means to him.»
DiS gets a band’s perspective on this weekend just gone's The Great Escape festival in Brighton. Our contributing artist: London-based art-punks XX Teens»
In Minehead for the third time this year, DiS is freezing cold, fighting against an evil wind, a bitter breeze, to get to ATP on time. The clock's ticking... through the doors, into the Skyline, eyes front. What? The Horrors? Not even the biggest Portishead fan saw that coming»
Two weeks of the new, improved DiS done and dusted. We'd like to thank you for your patience, and invite you to reacquaint yourselves with the staggering diversity of content that we've run this past fortnight»
This interview was supposed to be done via e-mail, where egos are kept wrapped and tones pacified through a wall of ones and zeros. But The Horrors wanted a face-to-face encounter»
This week's DiScussion – if the title isn't too much of a giveaway – focuses on songs to while away off-sick-with-a-cold time. After all, something has to fill the space ‘tween Neighbours and Neighbours»
DiS heads to Japan for the SummerSonic Festival: Pole dancers, a beach, roughly half-a-billion staffed recycling stations, strict one-way pedestrian systems, pens to house pesky smokers, a Paul Smith boutique and an army of staff clad in bright pink Paul Smith uniforms. Welcome to festival-going, Japanese style...»
Remembered through a haze, of dust, drink and sunshine, this was never going to be the most factual account. But it’s probably the most accurate version of events at the 19th Dour Festival, courtesy of Tom King and Adam Anonymous…»
Up we went, lead by Mammut, jumping the security fence. Stole in and bounded all stealthy over to the machine, the biggest machine in the park, over by the lake. We clamber over the gate and start our ascent, buoyed on dust and wander up through its rippling, rusty guts like monkeys in a metal thicket; ‘til we’re right up, legs dangling 100 tingling feet off the ground, grinning and half-gurning in the canopy...»
For a whole week, we barely touched a drop: too expensive, too cold, not a thing like what us Brits are used to. A dry county, Hove might as well have been; not a sip, not a tipple. For a week, teetotal. Lies: we just didn’t eat...»
Once upon a time, in the not so distant past, people used to find new soundtracks for their lives from weekly newspapers - the type that got your hands all inky - and from the radio. Nowadays, the goalposts have moved: how do you, now, find out about new music?»
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