Lykke Li took to the stage Friday evening like a demented Scandinavian Stevie Nicks. She captivated the Crawdaddy tent, whirling around in a swathe of black scarves and complementing tracks from her ‘Youth Novels’ album with numbers by Lil’ Wayne and Kings of Leon.
Rhode Island multi instrumentalists The Low Anthem impressed with their sepia-toned, intricate Americana on Saturday afternoon, lead singer Ben Knox Miller coming off like a wide eyed young James Taylor. They played a selection of songs from their album ‘Oh My God Charlie Darwin’ to a reverential hushed Cosby tent.
Whitest Boy Alive brought a massive grin to everyone’s face when they played a euphoric set Saturday evening in the Cosby tent. Lead singer and King-of-Convenience Erland Oye was clearly in his element, unleashing his jazzy-disco-funk side project, and some awesomely bad dancing. Throwing in a smattering of cover versions including Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’ and 90s dance classic ‘Show me Love’ by Robin S, we’ll forgive them for the few bars of U2 (shudder)...
Despite flagging a little in the middle, the nutty boys Madness did a solid job of headlining the main stage Saturday night, aided by an impressive backdrop spelling out their name in giant lit letters.
Florence and the Machine’s Florence Welch pleased a bursting-at-the-seams electro arena, delivering songs from her album ‘Lungs’. The leggy redhead was clearly taken aback at the adulating crowd who roared along with every line.
Passion Pit played a stormer Sunday night. Lead singer Michael Angelakos has really evolved as a front man recently and bounded about the stage, name-checking Irish folk singer Mary O’Hara, the source of the sample on their massive tune ‘Sleepyhead’ and making a decent stab at pronouncing her original track ‘Oro mo bháidin’. Closing number ‘The Reeling’ nearly lifted the roof clean off the Cosby tent.
The Flaming Lips rolled out their usual epic stage show and festival friendly good vibes as the weekend began to wrap up, and wowed the Electric arena with lasers, streamer rocket launchers and giant balloons. Other highlights included Cap Pas Cap, Halfset, Fleet Foxes, The Sugarhill Gang, Flock of Seagulls (really!), and Dinosaur Jr.
Electric Pinic Mini Round-Up
Egoeccentric's Guide To Electric Picnic
The last big festival of the summer is nearly upon us, and as usual the lineup features some of the must-see acts of the year. Already 2009 has seen some awesome albums from Bat For Lashes, Micachu & The Shapes, Florence & The Machine... and many other artists which grace the Electric Picnic bill.
I've always thought that the lineup for Electric Picnic is kinda like an bit of a crazy mixtape composed for you by the organisers of the festival. There may be a lot of stuff you haven't heard of, but you can be damned sure that the vast majority of it is gonna be stuff you'll like.
With that in mind, Egoeccentric have prepared a mixtape to act as your audio guide to the Picnic- giving you a taste of the acts which we consider to be unmissable. Old and new, main stage to small tents... and it's mixed together all purdy likes.
Tracklisting and download link in the readmore.
Download Egoeccentric's Guide To Electric Picnic
01. Halfset- Desire Lines
02. Passion Pit- Smile Upon Me
03. Florence & The Machine- Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)
04. Flaming Lips- Do You Realise?
05. The XX- Stars
06. Micachu & The Shapes- Golden Phone
07. Dinosaur Jr.- Feel The Pain
08. The Duckworth Lewis Method- The Age Of Revolution
09. Jape- Strike Me Down
10. Röyksopp- Tricky Tricky (feat. Karin Dreijer)
11. Bat For Lashes- Pearl's Dream
12. Simian Mobile Disco- Pinball (feat. Telepathe)
13. Villagers- Down Under The Sea
14. Billy Bragg- Levi Stubbs' Tears.
15. The Beach Boys- Hang On To Your Ego
Electric Picnic '08 Review
Fun and frolics abound at the latest Electric Picnic which, despite having several worthy acts poached by the cunt of all festivals that took place back in July, still mustered together enough madness to make it easily Irelands music festival of choice.
Click on the read more for my blow by blow account of what the hell I got up to during the day and most importantly who I saw and even more importantly if they were any good.
Friday
Before I embark on this dredge into my memories I'm going to give a spoiler: I saw no bad acts at Electric Picnic. Some were lacklustre but nobody truly sucked which was a bit of a revelation as usually at each festival there's one or two acts who will truly piss me off. A bit like MGMT did at the aforementiond cuntfest.
Having arrived in the early afternoon it was considered pretty good going that I actually managed to get all the way from the back of the Andy Warhol campsite in time to see Jape. Did anybody else notice how fucking annoying it was that they gave the campsites names this year instead of colours. How many times did you hear "What campsite are you in?" "Jimi Hendrix" "Which one is that?". Whats wrong with just simple red, blue and yellow. Causes far too much confusion.
Anyway. Jape. Well if you don't already know that the man has one of the best albums of the year and a class live act then you shouldn't be reading this cause he does on both counts. I found it strangely ironic that the Crawdaddy tent is about ten times bigger than Crawdaddy itself but Jape managed to pack the fucker out and entertain the masses who all sang along in their droves to "Floating" and "I was a man" amongst others.
While stopping to have a mong break after Jape one couldn't help but take in a little bit of yet another reformed Irish act this time in the shape of The Stunning. Not having been old enough back in the early 90's to have appreciated these lads most of the songs were fairly lost on me but its telling how much of a fickle bunch modern audiences are that during their last song ("Brewing up a Storm" naturaly) everybody starts running towards the tent in order to cath a blast of the only Stunning song that they (and I) know. It does happen to be a good one though if a bit of a rip off of "Don't fear the Reaper".
Wander over to Goldfrapp to catch a few minutes. She's good at what she does but she's never exactly blown my skirt up and she seems to be dipping into her folky shit instead of the dancy stuff that everybody likes. Ho hum.
My mate Jono from England turns up out of nowhere. "What are you doing here man?" I say. "All I have to do is inflate the inflatable church at the start and deflate it at the end. Free flight grub and ticket". Bastard. He did however draw my attention to Beardyman playing in the Bacardi live tent. Human beatbox kind of character. Very very impressive sounds coming out of his gob. Doing cover versions of songs while playing all the instuments with his vocals at the same time. Fucking man had some time so spare growing up no doubt.
Wander over for a bit of Digitalism. Good sounds. Pity I wasn't so fucked or I would have stayed longer. Reminded myself to get the album and note next time they're playing.
First must see of the weekend: Sigur Ros. Nothing will make me forgive myself for walking out of them two years ago at cuntfest and go to see Humanzi instead just on the basis of being too hyper for whale music. This will rectify everything hopefully so set up my chair and sit and let the beauty wash over me. I'm not going to say that Sigur Ros get better and better with each album as they're last two haven't been as good as "()" or "Agaetis Byrjun" (they're still great though) but they've got enough quality to fill as sets worth and I pray nonetheless that "Untitled #8" will finish the set which, thank fucking christ, it does. If ever there was a song you'd want playing as the world blew up around you then that would be it. The rest of the night is left hoping just that will happen.
Saturday
Saturday begins mid afternoon with a trip to the Electric Arena where Midnight Juggernauts are halfway through the set. Not being familiar with their work I head on advice and am impressed with their electro rocky sounds. Will be seeing if the album measures up so wait with bated breath guys lest I piss on thee from afar.
The Breeders begin and within two songs have bored the shite out of me so I head over to the Little Big Tent to wait for The Faint. Having been listening to these dudes for about 6 years tensions are rising with their first trip to these shores. Unfortunately this didn't turn out to be the barnstormer that we all had hoped as they appear 25 minutes late only to play for 20 minutes and then bugger off. They cite technical difficulties but we love The Faint so in fairness they could have come out and read the fucking phone book and we would have been happy. Next time though please come and play your own gig and really blow our cockheads off.
A bit of a tent break to prepare ourselves for what is certainly going to be the maddest hour of the weekend as Warlords of Pez follow three sexy nurses toting free vodka shots onto the stage and swing their mighty cocks and balls into our gleeful mugs. I've had to wait long enough to see these mad cunts so I'm going to be a selfish bastard and not tell you what went in just so you can drag your carcasses down to where they will next rape and pillage and see them for yourself. Consider yourselves warned. And shat upon.
Little bit sad I missed Grace Jones but what can one do. Head to the Electric Arena for Underworld? Sure why not. Good sounds. Tent too packed? Too stoned? That would be a yes. Lie on the grass and mong out? Yes please. Underworld prove that they can still pump out a quality crowd-pleaser but unlike The Chemical Brothers who seem to evolve as dance evolves they seem to be still stuck in their mid to late 90's phase. Woody Allen's analogy about the shark moving forward springs to mind but regardless they know how to pack a tent out.
Wander past George Clinton. Not feeling it. Good funky sounds but elsewhere needs attention.
Sunday
On what is normally my festival day for lying around feeling like the population of Morocco just shat in my head I find myself strangely chipper in the morning and what is more, am able to head down to catch my earliest festival slot in 6 years. Despite playing at the ungodly hour of 12.30 Ham Sandwich have managed to almost fill the Crawdaddy tent. A mighty achievement and proof still that this band are rising and rising. Their songs sound great on the large stage and Niamh Farrel shows she has recovered well enough from popping a sprog. The main focus as usual is on Podge and what he's wearing, in this case a bunny suit, and god did I ever envy the stage dive he does halfway back the tent as the band walk off. Top stuff altogether.
Walking back to get some breccie we're treated to the Dublin Gospel Choir on the main stage running through a version of Sigur Ros' "Hoppipolla". Fucking bizarre and how they learnt the words is beyond me.
Back in time to see my surprise hit of the festival. Pivot have brought out one of the best albums this year and its clear from their live show that we're going to hear lots and lots from them before the year is out. Check em out in October when they come back over here. Like a mixture between Battles and God is an Astronaut which you have to admit sounds pretty good.
These New Puritans disappointed however. I like their album a lot and really dig the song "Elvis" but they just don't seem to give much of a bollocks onstage and all look so drippy that I'm worried the next fart somebody lets will knock them over. Shame really. They're not bad per se, just lacking a certain something. Its not Je ne sais quoi but I don't know what it is. Har.
Stick around long enough to see the start of Faust. About ten years ago in my more impressionable days I had the idea of bringing Chainsaws and Black and Deckers on stage and using them as musical instruments. Don't really know or care how they sounded cause the start of if was the lowest in wanky shite and I bailed having no desire to hear the sounds of a cement mixer mixing cement. Tosh.
Sunday being sunday I usually see less bands than usual, but seeing as I saw a huge number the previous days, the fact I saw 4 bands is fucking epic. My Bloody Valentine are the other must-see band of the weekend and boy oh boy do those chaps (and chapettes) know how to make some fucking noise. Its only listening to them now do you realise just how inspirational they've been on music thats out nowadays and as you stand and try to listen to they're 15 minute wall of noise that ends their set you wonder how in the name of God you can stand it. Rumours abound of some pussies falling out of the tent crying and throwing up. These people should not be allowed at music festivals and in fact should not be allowed to live. Smashing stuff.
Wander to body and soul past Sex Pistols. Manage to catch "Problems", "God Save the Queen" and "EMI". Hear Lydon hurling abuse at some angsty prick in the crowd. Doesn't he know who he is. No respect at all. Even if he is a racist bollocks surely thats the point of the Pistols isn't it?
Roll on next year by god.
Cheers to James Goulden and Eddie Ryan at State for the live photo's
egoeccentric's guide to Electric Picnic 08
It’s that time of the year again, and as people get their wellies out for electric picnic egoeccentric compiles a guide to our must-see acts. With a line-up drastically removed from the likes of Oxegen, there’s always plenty of gems at the Picnic, and many of them are acts most folk never heard of before. This is the beauty of Electric Picnic- think of it as a live mixtape made by someone with impeccable (if mildly insane) taste.
Read on for the guide…
Friday
Digitalism 
9.15-10.30, Electric Arena
What will probably be the dance highlight of the weekend, Digitalism’s first album was a humdinger featuring four singles, at least one of which you’re bound to have heard. Idealistic is a thumping dance-punk classic, Zdarlight is an awesome psychedelic dance opus, and Pogo a kickdrum & synth heavy indie song. So something for everyone… Bring water, it’ll get sweaty.
Mp3: Digitalism- Idealistic
The Gutter Twins
9:30 - 10:30 Crawdaddy stage
Two of the alt-rock era’s greatest frontmen, The Gutter Twins is a musical collaboration between rock musicians Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan. not to be missed
MP3:The Gutter Twins - Idle Hands
Sigur Rós10:30 - 12:00 Main Stage
The Icelandic slow-motion rock band return to our shores with new material for the latest album as well, high hopes for a reenactment of the video for Gobbledigook in the crowd.
Sigur Rós - Gobbledigook
Saturday
Dan Deacon
19.45-20.45, Little Big Tent
Mister Deacon is a favorite round these parts, and his Saturday evening set has got to be considered one of the Picnic’s unmissable events. Famed for his maniacally enjoyable live show, Dan’s unique approach to a live show has a touch of ‘kid’s birthday party’ about it, albeit a party soundtracked by insanely eclectic electro. Do not miss this, it could well be the hour during which your ticket price is justified.
Mp3: Dan Deacon- Okie Dokie
The Breeders
5:00 - 6:00 Electric Arena
New album called “Mountain Battles” out now , what more can be said about the Breeders other than walking legends
The Breeders - Walk It Off
Ra Ra Riot
4:00 - 4:45 Little Big Tent
Formed at Syracuse University in January 2006, Ra Ra Riot is an amorphous blob that consists of seven highly dedicated individuals, each bringing her/his own experiences as both people and musicians to the metaphorical table.They are dedicated to moving people physically and mentally as a means of affecting positive micro/macro cosmic change
MP3:Ra Ra Riot - Dying Is Fine
The Faint
17.15-18.00, Little Big Tent
One of our all time favorites finally makes it to Ireland, and with a stunning new album to promote. The Faint are have somehow managed to remain relatively under the radar for ten years whilst all the while releasing some of the most adventurous and visceral albums of their type. Having mastered the electro-rock genre well before it became fashionable the band have over the years furthered their repertoire by incorporating punk and classical music seamlessly into catchy, dancey tracks. Top all that off with a live show that’s so damn good it’s got me flying to Manchester tomorrow specifically to see them play in a club… and you’ve got the makings of a
surefire festival highlight.
Mp3: The Faint- In Concert
Ge
orge Clinton & The P-Funk Allstars
00.00-2.00, Main Stage
George Clinton is possibly the funkiest man who has ever lived. He is considered one of the most sampled musicians of all time, has worked with everyone from Snoop Dogg to the Chilis and in the 60’s worked as a staff writer for Motown records. In short, he’s a legend. Gaining much of his notoriety by bringing funk to the masses through bands such as Parliament and Funkadelic, Clinton took what James Brown started, threw in a dash of Hendrix and turned up the bass. Expect much dancing and yelling of refrains such as ‘WE WANT THE FUNK!!’ (and, if you’re really lucky, a giant funk-fuelled UFO landing on stage).
Mp3: Parliament- Flashlight
Sunday
My Bloody Valentine
9:20 - 10:50 Electric arena
Sweet sweet lush noise let it wash over you another one really not to be missed
MP3:My Bloody Valentine - Sometimes
Foals
18.00-18.45, Crawdaddy Stage
Having come out of the gate with a series of kickass adrenaline-driven-yet-intricate math-rock tunes, Foals surprised all by ditching them for their debut album and instead going ‘a bit weird’. Not in a bad way, but in a ballsy, experimental ‘let’s get the dude from TV On The Radio to produce us’ kinda way. Don’t worry- the singles (Hummer et al) are still staples of their live show- a show which is quickly gaining notoriety for being both captivating and frenetic (just ask anyone who caught them in the Academy…). Perfect for a good ol’ mosh, and one that avoids unnecessary smelly-metal/hard-rock clichés. Woo hoo!
Mp3: Foals- Mathletics
Pivot
2:30 - 3:00 Little Big Tent
Pivot is equally influenced by Synthesizer luminaries Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre, Warp label mates Autechre and the post-punk new wave of Talking Heads. Comprised of Sydney’s brothers Pike, Laurence and Richard, and Perth electronic wunderkind Dave Miller.
MP3:Pivot - Fool In Rain
The Roots
7:00 - 8:00 Main stage
With there heavily jazzy sound and live instrumentation and known to put a skip in your set, with newest album ‘Rising Down’ song being predominant in the set but im guessing some gems off other albums as well
MP3:The Roots - i can't help it (featuring malik b & p.o.r.n.)
Stephen Malkmus
7:15 - 8:15 Crawdaddy Stage
Former member of the bands Pavement, Silver Jews, and the Crust Brothers, Most recently Stephen Malkmus released the Jicks’ latest album, Real Emotional Trash
MP3:Stephen Malkmus - Baltimore
Grinderman
7:35 - 8:35 Electric Arena
The story of Grinderman begins within the working processes of another band: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. At the start of 2004, when Nick Cave took a small team of Bad Seeds members - violinist Warren Ellis, bassist Martyn P Casey and drummer Jim Sclavunos - off to the tiny Misère studio in Paris, France for a songwriting session, they effectively established a new working process.
MP3:Grinderman - No Pussy Blues
Irish Acts you'd be a fool to miss:
Warlords of Pez follow last year's Sunday Mass with a well deserved Saturday evening slot... Jape get amazingly dancetastic and meloncholic at the same time... pure unadulterated fun & drum-machines from Hybrasil... A post-choice award, pre-remix album Super Extra Bonus Party are sure to be class as always... Giveamanakick promote their excellent debut Welcome to the Cusp... Top quality Indie-Rock from Large Mound... last but far from least, Halves will be treating folk to their beautiful orchestratic electronica.
More Electric Picnic Goodness
The Leccie Piccie line-up grows and grows with the following bands been added to it today: The Gutter Twins (Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan), Stephen Malkmus with The Jicks, Florence and the Machine, Leila, Late of the Pier Black Acid, Laura Izibor, Ham Sandwich, Wallis Bird, Kissy Sellout, A-Trak, La Rocca, New York Fund, These New Puritans, The Flaws, The Dodos, Pivot, Johnny Flynn, Cowboy X, Oppenheimer, The Urges, The Radio, Arno Carstens, Pinky, Liam O’Maonlai and Wolfgang Haffner.
Ireland's best festival gets better and better and makes me start to get worried that I may not get a ticket in time. Please god help me please.
Anyone not going or not trying to go is a fool and should be hung drawn and quartered. Unless you've got other festivals to go to in which case you can get a stay of execution.
Comedy line-up has also been announced and is in the read more.
Friday 29th August
MC: Des Bishop
Carol Tobin
Colm O’Regan
Aidan Bishop
Ian Coppinger
Damien Clark
Andrew Stanley
Andrew Maxwell
David O’Doherty
Saturday 30th August
MCs: Aidan Bishop & Barry Murphy
John Colleary
John Lynn
Gerry Mallon
Colum McDonnell
Jarleth Regan
John Bishop
Kevin Gildea
Bernard O’Shea
David McSavage
Adam Hills
Des Bishop
Sunday 31st August
MCs: Des Bishop & Aidan Bishop
Eleanor Tiernan
Willa White
Tommy Nicholson
Eric Lalor
Paddy Courtney
Maeve Higgins
Karl Spain
Colin Murphy
PJ Gallagher
Joe Rooney
Jason Byrne
Grace Jones for Electric Picnic
A few more Leccie Piccie acts have been announced including Joan as Policewomen, Booka Shade, Deadmau5, the awesome Dan Deacon and Grace Jones!!!
You may remember Grace Jones from "A View to a Kill" aka "The Bond movie where it got painfully obvious that Roger Moore was too old to play Bond but thankfully it was his last anyway" and in fairness thats pretty much the only place that I know her from as well but apparently she played music too and was pretty successful in the 80's which also happens to the be the decade in which her last album was released. She's got a new one of new shit coming out but in the meantime you can check out her natty cover of Joy Division's "She's Lost Control" in the read more
Electric Picnic & IMRO Kiss and Make Up
The dispute between IMRO & POD concerts over royalties has been resolved, ensuring this year's Electric Picnic will definitely be going ahead. Woo hoo!
Here's the statement released this morning by POD:
"A settlement has been reached between IMRO and POD Concerts relative to the dispute on royalties in respect of multistage events including the Electric Picnic. The proceedings are to be adjourned to allow IMRO to conduct a review of its concerts tariff and, if necessary, to allow the tariff to be ruled on by an arbitrator. Electric Picnic 2008 will be proceeding."
Via State
New Faint Track: First Listen
It's finally here: the first taste of Fasciinatiion, the forthcoming album from The Faint. And (surprise, surprise) it's damn good.
The track, which is called The Geeks Were Right, is a post-apocalyptic, electro-heavy pop song you can dance to. But what am I telling you this for? Go listen for yourself.
Click for mp3
Fasciination is released on August 5th. The Faint play Electric Picnic at the end of August.
Check out egoeccentric's Interview with Jacob Thiele of The Faint here.
Electric Picnic Sells Out!!!
So says the official website and Phantom FM at least but if you go to Ticketmaster you can still seem to buy them. In anyway if you head over to Toutless you can find some folks flogging theirs for face value so hope is not yet lost.
Check out the awesome line-up in the read more.
Click on pic for bigger version n' shit
Electric Picnic Additions Bring The Joy
So Electric Picnic have announced some additions to the lineup, and as usual they've managed to throw in a handful of smaller acts that make the whole festival unmissable.
Highlights include Santogold, Digitalism & Super Extra Bonus Party, but the big news is the inclusion of The Faint, playing (I'm pretty sure) their first ever Irish show.
For me, this is pant-wetting news, and almost worth the admission alone. Kudos, picnic folks, hella kudos.
All the additions in the readmore.
Santogold
Crystal Castles
Chromeo
Elbow
Cut Copy
Digital Mystikz
Tiga
Hercules & Love Affair
Antibalas
Gomez
Gemma Hayes
Giveamanakick
Super Extra Bonus Party
The Black Lips
Carbon/Silicon
The Faint
The Presets
Digitalism
The Congos
The Herbaliser
I know what you're thinking, and to save you time just click here for tickets.
Thanks to State for being Johnny on-the-spot with the updates.
Bodytonic Picnic Lineup
The nice folks at Bodytonic have announced their lineup for Electric Picnic, and while it's light on big names, the selection of homegrown talent is second-to-none.
Particular highlights include Mano (Mano le Tough to us) & the excellent Modeselektor, with the always great Bodytonic Djs and Lunar Disco's Barry O'Donovan also guarenteeing the fact that much dancing will supplement the usual Stradbally madness.
Still some picnic tickets going here.
Full lineup in the readmore.
Modeselektor
Roni Size presents Reprazent
The Count & The Sinden
Rob Hood
Toddla T
Trus'Me
Lindstorm & Prins Thomas
Charles Webster
Kerri Chandler
Redshape
Sambatuc Samba Band
Benga
Stevie G
Fish Go Deep
DJ Spinna
Aaron Jerome
Christian Prommer
Assquake Djs
Barry Redsetta
FVF Djs
Downtownsounds Djs
Billy Scurry
Dj Scope & Tu-Ki
Bodytonic Soundsystem
Stee Downes
Stereotonic Djs
Giles Armstrong
Mano
Barry O'Donovan
Tiddlerz & Lynam
Breakdown vs Breakology
Generic People
The Disconauts
Conor Oberst's Solo Spot Explained
Being a big Bright Eyes fan, an eyebrow was raised at seeing Conor Oberst on the Electric Picnic bill. Bright Eyes is essentially 'The Conor Oberst Show', so a solo spot seemed odd. I was expecting a one-man-and-a-guitar kinda thing, but that is apparently not the case.
Oberst has in fact recorded a solo album, backed up in a Bright Eyes fashion by a group of his mates (including M. Ward & Rilo Kiley's Jason Boesel) who are being called the 'Mystic Valley Band'. It's this setup that Picnic goers will be seeing.
The album, which I can only assume that it's to be titled Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, was recorded in Mexico, and produced by Oberst with help from Now It's Overhead's Andy LeMaster. It's due to released on August 4th.
It seems a lot of their tracks are available to check out on youtube (click), but for mp3 tasters and a full album tracklisting check out the read more...
Here are two tracks from Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band's performance at SXSW last month.
Let Them In:
Click for mp3
Cape Canaveral:
Click for mp3
Album tracklisting:
'Cape Cañaveral'
'Sausalito'
'Get-Well-Cards'
'Lenders In The Temple'
'Danny Callahan'
'I Don’t Want To Die (In The Hospital)'
'Eagle On A Pole'
'Moab'
'NYC -- Gone, Gone'
'Valle Místico (Ruben's Song)'
'Souled Out!!!'
'Milk Thistle'
Convinced? Tickets for Electric Picnic are still available here.
Initial Electric Picnic line-up announced
Here's the first of them y'all straight off Electricpicnic.ie
Jape, Sex Pistols, Underworld, Hayseed Dixie, The Gossip, Cormac and BSQ Band, Sigur Rós, Adrian Crowley, Sinead O'Connor, Micah P Hinson, Grinderman, Blitzen Trapper, Lionheart Brothers, Silver Apples, George Clinton and the P-Fuck allstars, Tobias Froberg, Josh Ritter, Tindersticks, Constantine, Teitur, Cathy Davey, Midnight Juggernauts, That Petrol Emotion, Yacht, New Young Pony Club, Turin Brakes, The Breeders, Tartitt, Christy Moore, Noisettes, Kila, Faust, Goldfrapp, The Yard Dogs, Michael Spranti & Spearhead, One Day International, The Roots, Boss Volenti, The Waterboys, Foals, My Bloody Valentine, Lisa Hannigan, Wilco, CSS, Juana Molina, Tinariwen, Mark Geary, Franz Ferdinand, Dublin Gospel Choir, Absentee, Duffy, Dawn Landes, Conor Oberst (somewhere Rob is wetting his pants), Candi Staton, Large Mound, Emmy the Great
So.....................it is basically whats been kicking around the rumour-mill minus a few additions that would have moved it from "Quite Good" to "Damned Good". Sigur Rós and MBV together in the one place is something to look forward to but no bloody sign of Cornelius which was really blowing my skirt up seeing as I haven't seen him since Witnness 2002. Perhaps there will be more juicy stuff in the further announcements but I don't predict a quick sell-out this Friday.
They seemed to have changed the design of everything as well so I suspect this will be the last time you see the sun image above used in any Leccy Piccy stuff. In fact, I feel redundant already.
Tickets are gettable here.
Probable Electric Picnic Lineup
Courtesy of Nialler9, Thrill Pier & others:
My Bloody Valentine, Sex Pistols, Sigur Ros, Moby, Wilco, Tindersticks, Massive Attack, Underworld, Super Furry Animals, Fatboy Slim, The Breeders, Elbow, CSS, George Clinton, Chic featuring Nile Rogers, Gary Numan, Franz Ferdinand, The Human League, 808 State, The Roots, The Orb, Mogwai, Faust, Neon Neon, Jamie Lidell, Foals, Lee Scratch Perry, Baaba Mal, The Wedding Present, Sebastien Tellier, Henry Rollins, Billy Bragg, Marty Mulligan, Saul Williams, Booka Shade, Transglobal Underground, King Creosote, Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong, Damien Rice, The Duke Spirit, Crystal Castles, Tinariwen, Red Snapper, F*ck Buttons, Micah P Hinson, Dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip, Fish Go Deep, Grand National, Lisa Hannigan, Super Extra Bonus Party, Cinephile, Kings of Convenience, David Kitt, Donal Dineen, Gemma Hayes, The Gossip, Plaid, Kevin Rowland, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Two Gallants, Trentemoller, Richie Hawtin, Paul Weller, James, Bloc Party, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Cornelius, Buzzcocks, DJ Krush, Supergrass, The Coral, Bonnie Prince Billy, Notwist, Goldfrapp, Calexico, Jimmy Cliff, Robyn, Hayseed Dixie, Low, Dirty Three.
Hmmm... meh?
Obviously some (really) good ones, but nothing I'm gonna wet my pants over.
Full lineup at 6pm today.
Most pleasing addition: Sigur Ros/Cornelius
Most popular debunked rumor: Portishead
Still holding out for: The Postal Service/The Knife
Was never gonna happen: The Faint
***UPDATE:
Predictably, rumors are now flying around like crazy. Some worth mentioning are Conor Oberst, Jape & George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars. Fingers crossed...
Electric Picnic tickets: A snip at only 240 YoYo's!!!
Although the tickets and line-up were already supposed to have been announced by now. And even though Oxegen has, for the second year in a row, pinched a large portion of the deadly bands. And despite the fact that the line-up has gotten steadily weaker since the original weekend in 2005, I still have high hopes for this years Electric Picnic. Let's hope the lineup justifies the 240 euro price tag!
Seeing My Bloody Valentine is most definitely a plus point but unless I need a new pair of trousers when they finally announce the line-up tomorrow evening, then I will be most displeased to see the beginning of the inevitable decline of great potential.
Pessimistic? Perhaps. But remember. A Pessimist is never disappointed.
Electric Picnic 2008 takes place in on the 30th & 31st August and 1st September in Stradbally Laois. One or two bands including My Bloody Valentine have already been announced but the first proper announcement will come tomorrow evening and tickets will go on sale this friday priced E240. Gettem here.
REM For Oxegen
REM have been confirmed as one of this year's Oxegen headliners, joining Kings of Leon, who were already added to the bill as the 'fans choice'.
In my opinion, this is good news, but not for obvious reasons.
With Oxegen's habit of nabbing artists from Electric Picnic (Arcade Fire, anyone?), I'm anxious for them to start booking as many acts that I'm not pushed on seeing as possible. Not that I don't like REM, but I've definitely cooled on them in the last couple of years (and ultimately, seen them live before).
This year with bands such as Rage Against The Machine doing the rounds the stakes are high. So kudos, Oxegen, you're playing right into our hands. Let the booking battle continue!
My Bloody Valentine are coming to see us
I hate to give credit to Hot Press for actually delivering some news but I heard this from The Butterfly Explosion who directly copied it from Hot Press so here it is. My Bloody Valentine are playing Electric Picnic.
If you want to read the article it came from then you have to subscribe to that rag but here is the headline of the article just as proof.
As the Butterfly Explosion seem to have a subscription (explanations needed lads and lassies) and have taken the time to copy and paste the whole thing into a Myspace bulletin for us, here it is in all its glory.:
The reformed My Bloody Valentine will be playing the Electric Picnic festival this summer.
Hot Press has learned that My Bloody Valentine will be playing at this year’s Electric Picnic festival, which takes place in County Laois from August 29 to 31.
While yet to be confirmed by the promoters, a UK source reveals: "They’ve looked at the various Irish festival options open to them, and decided that the Picnic is the best fit. The clincher was Primal Scream and The Jesus & Mary Chain raving about how much fun they had playing there last year."
Diehards will also want to put these other new dates in their shoegazing diary: Roskilde, Denmark (July 5); Zenith, Paris (9); Oya Festival, Norway (August 8); and Benicássim, Madrid (18 & 19, day of appearance to be confirmed). As previously reported in Hot Press, the band’s comeback tour commences on June 24 with a sold-out five-night run in the London Roundhouse.
A new studio album from the pioneering band is also in the works, with frontman Kevin Shields revealing in a recent interview that much of the new record will be comprised of material written around the time the band broke up in 1995. "It sounds like what we sounded like - different, but not radically different." he said. "People will go, "yeah, it sounds like My Bloody Valentine."
This is fucking awesome news for anybody who is a fan of the Shoegazing godfathers.
Here's a remind of how savage they were and still can be.
The Electric Picnic rumour-mill starts here
Well actually it doesn't. It started over on the Electric Picnic forum but I have taken the trouble of trawling through all the miscreant posts to find the ones that are actually likely to be true.
So far the only absolute definite is folky singer NEeMA but some other "pretty much assured's" are The Knife, The Postal Service and the Kings of Convenience.
From there the speculation goes wild however. My Bloody Valentine are touring the world this summer and have to play at least one of the festivals here. Hopefully good taste will command them to choose EP. The Cure are also going to be knocking around this neck of the woods at that time and who the hell wouldn't like to see them take over Stradbally? Super Furry Animals are hotly tipped as are the Flaming Lips although the fact that they've both played there before might go against them. Then again it hasn't stopped 2 Many DJ's who might just make it back for a 4th year despite, apparently, being shite at their gig last friday.
As Rob suggested previously, the line-up for Coachella (which is absolute balls in comparison to last years) could be an indicator (as it was last year) although hopefully it won't involve Jack Johnson or My Morning Jacket. Portishead would be fucking awesome and just like MBV hopefully they'll make the smart choice when they inevitably take their moodiness over here. Also from Coachella I'd be happy with Battles, Les Savy Fav, Justice, Múm, Cinematic Orchestra or Holy Fuck.
Glastonbury has announced Neil Diamond as Rob reported yesterday and with that as a threat we can only hope that God has forgiven me for sticking a banger up a cats arse one Halloween when I was 12.
If I havn't made it clear that this is all hearsay and idle banter then please be assured that so far there is no definite announcments and not even the ones I said are definite are in fact definitely definite. In one month the actual line-up is announced and you can shoot me then. In the meantime enjoy the Knife
Oxegen Extended To Three Days
It seems Oxegen feels it is capable of depriving decent festivals (Elec Pic) of yet more acts that would be more suited to playing the latter. So in order to fit in as many of these acts as possible, this years Oxegen fest will be extended to three days. This does kinda make sense, as most Oxegen goers seem to get down to punchestown on Friday anyways, and are always left arsing around with nothing to do all night. Other than steal things. And set fire to anything they can't steal. But that's Oxegen for ya.
Hopefully the Picnic is gaining enough of a rep that it'll still be able to pull at least some of the acts it wants to, unlike last year's Arcade Fire debacle. Still, it was the small acts that made the picnic for me (and the unique Picnic charm), and I can't see MCD fighting the Picnic organisers over the likes of Final Fantasy.
Lets just hope a mainstream act don't pull a masterpiece out of their asses and leave me forced to come crawling back to MCD, like the infamous Stadium Arcadium year.
Talented bastards.
