music mule.co.uk

The rain stayed away and the time clashes proved only fairly merciless (Atlas Sound/Caribou) for what was all in all a killer day in the sun at Field Day in Victoria Park. Music came courtesy of London’s promoting elite: Eat Your Own Ears, Bugged Out, Bloggers Delight, Village Mentality/Quietus, Adventures In The Beetroot Field, XOYO and The Lock Tavern. Some PICS and words on our PICKS after the jump…

Erland Cooper and former Verve guitarist Simon Tong’s band Erland & The Carnival were our first stop at the Eat Your Own Ears main stage. ‘Trouble In Mind’ boomed out in the sun and the band’s impressive adaptation of ‘Love Is A Killing Thing’ saw drummer David annihilate his drum stick. How much wood could a wood chuck chuck? A lot.

It’s such a damn shame when you fall head-over-feet in love with a record and are left a bit non-plussed when you see it performed live.  This happened to us when we saw Memory Tapes at The Luminaire earlier in the year, and it happened again today.  We try not to whinge too much, but it’s just not possible for Dayve Hawke and a drummer to recreate the brilliance of album ‘Seek Magic’ by themselves.  Nowhere was this more obvious than ‘Graphics’ (one of the songs of the year), which is crying-out for the energy and dynamism of a full band.

That said, in the latter half of his set, Hawke set about re-arranging a few of his songs, throwing in some top-notch extended solos and intriguing beat changes. This was an interesting move, but not half as interesting as it would be to see him playing with the stage full.

As we darted from Memory Tapes in an attempt to catch a glimpse of Mount Kimbie it became evident that more than a few people had spawned the same idea. The Brigton duo of Kai and Dom had well and truly packed out the Bloggers Delight tent, so much so that even our zoooom could only get us the rather suspect snap above. We were interested to see whether they were more than just clever clicks and beeps and the answer was a resounding YES! Guitars and actual songs you’d be forgiven for thinking.

Beth Jeans Houghton is a likeable Geordie lass, just out of her teens, who was the subject of our first Music Mule interview a while back. Although already impressive then, she’s really come along a lot. It’s also good to see the same faces in her band, the sometimes labelled ‘Hooves Of Destiny’ including bass player Rory Gibson (above left) of Byker Grove fame (yes really!) Anyway Beth’s voice is a delight and the band’s folky harmonies help push the songs to another level live. ‘I Will Return’ and the beautiful ‘Nightswimmer’ proved dreamy highlights.

World-record-rapping, classically-trained piano maestro Chilly Gonzales (Jason Beck), dressed in customary bespoke dressing gown, strode onto the stage to join his two drummers and treated the crowd to his own unique brand of talent and showmanship. The highlight of the set was the breathtaking guest appearance of Cocknbullkid for a cover of Rui Da Silva’s ‘Touch Me’. This was closely followed by a cover of ‘The King of Pain’ by The Police, which Gonzales played with his feet whilst he sang standing atop the piano.

It’s easy to pigeonhole Gonzales as a ‘novelty act’ because of his diversity and the range of styles he dips in and out of, not to mention the regular insanity of his lyrics and antics like a spectacularly smashed white guitar today.  But to do that disregards the considerable talent that backs it all up.

Great to see Sub Poppers No Age, allegedly Bradford Cox’s (Deerhunter/Atlas Sound) favourite band, back in the UK. The drums ‘n’ guitar duo of Ryan and Dean from L.A. caused the biggest crowd reaction of the day as a mosh pit promptly formed in the centre of the A.I.Beetroot Field tent. The likes of ‘Eraser’ and ‘Cappo’ whipped things into a frenzy with drummer Dean having to call for the security to take it easy on the over zealous punters at a couple of points. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a show like this one! Classic.

Yes that’s Yuck drummer Jonny’s real hair. Yes it’s awesome. Thankfully so are Yuck. The four piece turned up the fuzzy Dinosaur Junior guitars to eleven and stormed their way through a tight half hour set. Danny’s lead vocals impressed, Max’s guitar work made us swoon and bassist Yari and hair ball Jonny kept the groove locked in tight. One of the more exciting UK buzz bands of the year. Supporting Modest Mouse soon don’t you know?

So Caribou should have set the main stage alight were it not for the fact that main stages always have shitty sound at festivals. Turn up the VOLUME please! Still the double drumming Canadians did their best to melt our faces with their glorious psychedelic dance onslaught. ‘Leave House’ beckoned us in closer and ‘Odessa’ (tune of the year?) was a predictable show stealer. We didn’t catch all their set as their was a Bull calling us from afar…

Try telling a group of drunk friends they have to leave Caribou and walk 10 minutes through a crowd to go see someone even better that they’ve never heard of? Not an enviable task I assure you. Still it’s great when you’re right as pint sized South Carolinan Chazwick Bundick or Toro Y Moi proved us on Saturday, turning in the set of the day in a sweaty XOYO tent. Despite clunky sound levels the electronic wonder of songs like ‘Minors’, ‘Imprint After’ and ‘Low Shoulder’ shone through. After an overwhelming reaction to his final song Chaz couldn’t believe the tight ship Field Day staff wouldn’t let him on for one more number. Long live king Chaz!