You may have worked out from our editorial so far this week that it's Reading & Leeds Festival this weekend and we're rather excited about it.
So, in no particular order, here are the twenty acts DiS' editor is most looking forward to seeing this weekend.
Arctic Monkeys
Whilst it might seem blindingly obvious to start with one of the festival headliners, they're clearly topping the bill for a reason. Humbug in my opinion is one of the records of the year and this Reading set could finally shut up the doubters that think they're just some 'smindie' northerners. One question which you might hear whispered onsite is 'Will Reading veteran Josh Homme join them on stage?'. We certainly hope so.
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Yeah Yeah Yeahs
It's going to be odd watching Karen O and co in daylight but they really pulled it off at Glastonbury and with their finest, most main stage worthy album to date under their belts, it's likely this set will go down in Reading history. DiS Artist Profile
Crystal Castles
The marmite-rock, gameboy-toting post-hipsters have been one of the most exciting acts at Reading for the past few years. We have a feeling this set could finally be the time we see them with no 'technical difficulties' but then, it's more likely to end in Alice being arrested for acting like a an idiot...
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Radiohead
No explanation necessary. DiS Artist Profile
The Big Pink
Whilst this year has been the year of the solo female, The Big Pink have stumbled onto the music map with every indie-point winning credential but have yet to become the talk on indie-rock. Their shoegaze-soaked electro-goth may rub you up the wrong way on paper but fans of The Cure, Interpol and othersuch gloomy-thumpery should def' catch their set.
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The Horrors
With one of the most talked about albums of the year we fully expect them to 'do a Mars Volta' and play one song for twenty minutes and wander off-stage leaving everyone bemused. However, we do hope they dizzy up with strobes and convert the curious into kraut loving goths. We fully expect this to be one of the most blathered about sets of the weekend, which makes it all the more likely to go down in Reading history.
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Friendly Fires
If there was an award for band of the year they'd surely have won it already. Last year they bought Notting Hill Carnival to a half-full New Bands Tent, this year they'll be lazering the eyes off one of the biggest crowds of the weekend, at least 80% of whom will be dancing like they're at a wedding. This is no bad thing.
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The Maccabees
One of DiS' tips for 2006 and since then they've delivered two well-received albums, picked up a large loyal army of fans and strangely floated around the mainstream radar without ever truly becoming the biiig indie pop act they should probably be.
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The Temper Trap
These Aussies were my tip for 2009. Their humongous indie-rock sits somewhere between TV on the Radio, Kings of Leon and, er, U2, which may sound like an abortion to ardent lo-fi fans but to anyone who's not indier-than-thou they've been a little Stills-like revelation so far this year. Their show in the New Bands Tent may turn out to be 'one of those' Reading shows, which leads to the band coming back to a much-much bigger slot when their next album arrives.
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Bloc Party
DiS' love for these Londoners goes back to before they were even called Bloc Party. They found their band members on our boards and played some of their earliest shows beneath the DiS banner. After last year's technical hiccups and rumours of taking some time out, this is likely to be a hit-filled head-turner with moments of tearjerking nostalgia for those simpler days when artsy indie-pop was full of hope and promise.
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Metric
Their latest album Fantasies has marked Emily Haines' electro-rock crew out as one of the most exceptional popular bands of the Noughties. DiS is somewhat biased having released their previous album but then we only did so because we love them so.
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Kaiser Chiefs
Keeping things on a DiS Records related tip, these Leeds lads are bit good! :-)
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Aidan Moffat
The former Arab Strap drunk-poet will be treating Reading & Leeds to a very special spoken word set. If it's anything like Henry Rollins last year we're in for a real treat. It's likely to be as rude as it is funny.
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Jamie T
Always promises a set of great sing-a-long songs and it's safe to say about as many DiS readers will agree with this choice as disagree with it.
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The Living End
Back in '99 I caught this lot at the tail-end of my skate-punk obsession and their riotous Clash-like punk-rock had my head in a spin, following support from Steve Lamacq. They're always a great 'Reading band' and if you've never heard them, nip along and get your communist fist ready to jab the air.
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Snuff
Everyone loves a silly punk cover version and Snuff are pretty much the masters of such fun-foolery.
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Rival Schools
One of the constants on the DiS boards is people talking about Jimmy Eat World, At the Drive-In and Rival Schools. That's mighty fine company for any modern rock band to find themselves in and I can't wait to catch them live for the first time in about a decade.
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Lostprophets
Whilst many metallers are moaning that Reading has gone soft this year, who better to put up against Radiohead than the poster boys of Noughties British Rock. Whilst we're sure most DiS readers will be watching Radiohead, we do advise you catch a little of their set rather than shouting for 'Creep' between every song.
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Deftones
Their set at Reading '98 is one of my fondest memories of Reading and with Chino's voice and all those riffs, this is likely to be one of the sets of the weekend.
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Kings of Leon
Rounding off our 'aren't all the headliners bloody brilliant this year' we offer ourselves up to your flack and suggest that this KoL will be the perfect set for your drunken body. Having said that, as the lords of Top Shop rock (i.e. everything that's wrong with music, for some people) I still expect them to get bottled, which is a shame.
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Plus, here's a mixtape featuring all the above...
20 Songs DiS Can't Wait to Hear at Reading '09
Arctic Monkeys '505'
Yeah Yeah Yeahs 'Zero'
Crystal Castles 'Vanished - Radio Edit'
Radiohead 'Idioteque'
The Big Pink 'Velvet'
The Horrors 'Scarlet Fields'
Friendly Fires 'Paris'
The Maccabees 'No Kind Words - Single Version'
Temper trap 'Sweet Disposition'
Bloc Party 'Banquet'
Metric 'Stadium Love'
Kaiser Chiefs 'Never Miss A Beat'
Aidan Moffat + The Best Ofs 'Big Blonde'
Jamie T 'Salvador'
The Living End 'West End Riot'
Snuff 'I Will Survive'
Rival Schools 'Used for Glue'
Lostprophets 'Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja'
Deftones 'My Own Summer (Shove It)'
Kings Of Leon 'Knocked Up'
Listen: 20 Songs DiS Can't Wait to Hear at Reading '09 on Spotify