Saturday, October 13th, 2007
The Who? **
____________
** Seen at the 2007 Green Man Festival. Festivals, like all closed social systems, have rules. One of them is that the last band - the very last band, the band that headlines the final day, the band that enjoys the number one ranking - gets to be the loudest band, gets to tell the sound technicians to push the levels to the proverbial “eleven”, and stand over them as they do it.
The Jicks availed themselves of this privilege. During his interview the day before, Stephen Malkmus said of Joanna Bolme (base), Janet Weiss (drums) and Mike Clark (synth), “these guys can really shred”.
Keep reading »
No comments »
Sunday, September 30th, 2007
Male fraud. **
____________
** Seen at the 2007 Green Man Festival. To be honest, the only reason we were standing that close to Banhart was to stake out a good position for the next act, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.
Keep reading »
1 comment »
Sunday, September 30th, 2007
Nice vuvuzela. **
____________
** Seen at the 2007 Green Man Festival. Rhys’ set mainly comprised a rendition of his hijack epic, “Skylon”, from the album Candylion.
Keep reading »
No comments »
Sunday, September 23rd, 2007
Glass tent. **
____________
** Seen at the 2007 Green Man Festival. The festival’s “Literature Tent”, designed more for poetry readings than interviews with rock stars, could barely house all of emperor-of-indie Stephen Malkmus’ fans. Fortunately, Your Correspondent and his Lovely Assistant had arrived early - with all of the UK’s Sunday papers to tide us through the wait - and had literally the best seats under the canopy for the Malkman’s interview with Phil Sutcliffe of the British music rag Mojo.
Keep reading »
No comments »
Sunday, September 16th, 2007
Live band! **
____________
** Seen at the 2007 Green Man Festival. Battles, who headlined the Green Man’s Folkey Dokey stage on Saturday night (playing opposite Robert Plant, who was on the main stage in front of arguably fewer people), provoked the first encore I witnessed at the festival. The audience simply howled until they reappeared.
Keep reading »
No comments »
Sunday, September 16th, 2007
Scrooge-scourge. **
____________
** Seen at the 2007 Green Man Festival. Briefly. Plant was, quite frankly, worse than Donovan last year, who at least provided comic relief. Led Zeppelin’s reforming for a “one-off” gig is doubtless meant in part to make up for all the wrongs committed by the Strange Sensation.
Keep reading »
No comments »
Sunday, September 16th, 2007
Post-tortoiseshell. **
____________
** Seen at the 2007 Green Man Festival. “This is going to be our last song for some time,” said Adem Ilhan; then he and friends Kieran Hebden and Sam Jeffers (plus one more: who?) post-rocked into the night.
Keep reading »
No comments »
Sunday, September 16th, 2007
Pet river. **
____________
** Seen at the 2007 Green Man Festival. “Pet river” = meandering and complacent, just like this utterly unremarkable agglomeration of sleepyheads.
Keep reading »
No comments »
Sunday, September 16th, 2007
Scritti politti. **
____________
** Seen at the 2007 Green Man Festival. Why “scritti politti” - ? Well, for one, we were in Wales (home of the band that invented the phrase); and, as a second point, a Six Organs performance is an uncompromising war on the dictatorship of soft, flabby rock (see next entry) - one of the few acts today that verges on the scary. They grittily grind it out, just like Antonio Gramsci. You find yourself somewhat awed.
Keep reading »
No comments »
Sunday, September 16th, 2007
Outside in. **
____________
** Seen at the 2007 Green Man Festival. Glyn, the 2006-2007 Welsh Children’s Poet Laureate, was performing songs from her album Tonau in the Green Man’s “literature tent” - a session sponsored by the Welsh literary magazine Tu Chwith*, and stumbled upon by your correspondent only because of the vile weather outside.
Keep reading »
No comments »
Sunday, September 16th, 2007
Inside men. **
____________
** Seen at the 2007 Green Man Festival. Clinic’s members wear sugical masks while on stage and sound - like many, many a band today - as though they’ve spent hours dissecting The Jesus Lizard under sterile conditions.
Keep reading »
No comments »
Sunday, September 2nd, 2007
Flake magnet. **
____________
** Seen at the 2007 Green Man Festival. Newsom was her habitual scintillating self at the festival, the Arachné of the indie circuit, the alpha-babe in the hotpants suit, her lips that necessary apple red, offending the gods with her flawless weavings of sound.
Keep reading »
No comments »
Saturday, September 1st, 2007
Cold-blooded. **
____________
** Seen at the 2007 Green Man Festival. Callahan played the tightest set of the festival’s three days. Self-assured to the point of contemptuousness, he also came across - strange fire and ice in his veins - as humbled, as though in submission to his songs and the fact of performance.
Keep reading »
No comments »
Monday, August 27th, 2007
Country fried. **
____________
** Seen at the 2007 Green Man Festival. Can’t remember a thing about the performance, but the notebook says “countrified folky pop”. So there you have it.
No comments »
Sunday, August 26th, 2007
Kraut bout. **
____________
** Seen at the 2007 Green Man Festival, approximating Fausteolab. Or was that Stereofaust? Childs’ long number, “The First Time I Saw You”, ran particularly in the post-kraut vein, and pleasingly so.
Keep reading »
No comments »
Sunday, August 26th, 2007
Clap happy. **
____________
** The first act we saw at Green Man 2007, featuring a syncopated clapping session complete with children during the final number. Also the only act (as far as we heard) that dedicated a song to Tony Wilson; in this case, “Dear Alaska”.
Keep reading »
No comments »
Monday, October 2nd, 2006
The popular culture website PopMatters.com has published a piece I wrote on the Green Man Festival and the Silver Jews, along with two new photos. Have a look:
The piece was edited rather against the grain of my sensibilities, and as soon as it’s a week old or so I’ll publish it here in the original. Meanwhile, I can bring you a part that didn’t make the cut - my overall verdict on the Green Man - along with another new festival picture. Read this once you’ve finished with PopMatters (it was supposed to have ended the piece):
Keep reading »
2 comments »
Tuesday, September 5th, 2006
At the recent Green Man Festival in Wales, Silver Jews sound man Steve West stepped into the breach when the band’s regular drummer was felled by a stomach ailment. Happily, Mr. West used to tickle the skins for Pavement.
Steve West Checking Drums
Keep reading »
No comments »
Friday, August 25th, 2006
Seen at the Green Man Festival on Sunday:
Calexico
Calexico
- Approximation: The big brass sounds of Tijuana, Arizona.
- Representative quote: “Burrrrrrrrrrrru!”
- Homepage: CasadeCalexico.com
Keep reading »
1 comment »
Thursday, August 24th, 2006
Seen at the Green Man Festival on Sunday:
Alasdair Roberts
Alasdair Roberts
- Approximation: Alchemist: hand and voice gently coax ugly-duckling Scottish funeral ballads into exquisite musical swans.
- Representative quote: “Mother dry off your tears ’til I return from Waterloo.”
- Homepage: AlasdairRoberts.com
Keep reading »
No comments »
Thursday, August 24th, 2006
Seen at the Green Man Festival on Sunday:
Bert Jansch
Bert Jansch
- Approximation: Your pure folk fix.
- Representative quote: “Goin’ down the highway… I’m gonna get there my way.”
- Homepage: BertJansch.com
Keep reading »
No comments »
Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006
Seen at the Green Man Festival on Sunday:
Archie Bronson Outfit
Archie Bronson Outfit
- Approximation: Spenceresque (as in John).
- Representative quote: “This one’s called ‘Kangeroo Heart’.”
- Homepage: ArchieBronsonOutfit.net
Keep reading »
No comments »
Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006
Seen at the Green Man Festival on Sunday:
Juana Molina
Juana Molina
- Approximation: One-woman electro-Pampas symphony.
- Representative quote: “Por qué serás tan presumido.”
- Homepage: JuanaMolina.com
Keep reading »
1 comment »
Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006
Seen at the Green Man Festival on Sunday:
Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid
Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid
- Approximation: Miles (circa Get Up With It) Davis update: funk duologue of sharp, melodic electronica with fast-paced, marathon exertions on the drum set.
- Representative quote: [wordless].
- Homepage: KieranHebdenandSteveReid.com
Keep reading »
No comments »
Monday, August 21st, 2006
Seen at the Green Man Festival on Saturday:
Silver Jews
Silver Jews
- Approximation: Rag-tag indie rock emperors.
- Representative quote: “When they turn on the chair, something’s added to the air.”
- Homepage: SilverJews.net | Silver Jews on Drag City
- Note: I managed to get a quick interview with David Berman, plus a few backstage photos, and will post these once back in South Africa. (Tease: the regular SJ drummer was sick, so ex-Pavementian Steve West stepped into the breach for the set.)
Keep reading »
No comments »
Monday, August 21st, 2006
Seen at the Green Man Festival on Saturday:
Micah P. Hinson
Micah P. Hinson
- Approximation: Texan Coldplay on road to maturity.
- Representative quote: “Don’t you don’t you don’t you, forget about me forget about me.”
- Homepage: MicahPHinson.com
Keep reading »
No comments »
Monday, August 21st, 2006
Seen at the Green Man Festival on Saturday:
