The Green Man Festival

What a treat we all had, with the delights of bands I already knew and sought out like Animal Collective, Gang Gang Dance, Camera Obscura and Grizzly bear, to the unfamiliar Wilko, The Lesuire Society, The Gentle Good and Peter Broderick, just a few of the delights I saw stowed away in the Brecon Beacon’s last weekend.

The festival is all but a dream now, and it’s hard to imagine that I was ever there squatting on Andysloos and drinking chai brandies.

The moments were exceptional, to share beautiful music with friends and for me be the most open I have ever felt around people who I adore, was a real experience.

Some festival classics

Me getting Bon Iver confused with Akron Family, I wondered why they weren’t wearing headbands

Dom comparing everything to Battles and saying she’d have a cup of tomato ketchup

Owen’s incredible love of everything, “let’s have a lovely sit down,”  “this wine it’s really lovely,”  “that’s really lovely that is,”  “that’s a great photo,”  his enthusiasm obviously fuelled by his double breakfasts

Jay and his willy wees, pork scratchings and oh yes philosophy

Adam in his I’m moving vigour and real ale party antics till 6am

Amy “chai wallah wallah”

Mish to India, a rave in a cave, and the wicker man – all in five minutes

Chris, my little moomin friend, King Kreosote doesn’t suck, and if you think he does don’t say it to the man himself.

We had fun, we had chai, we had rain, we had laughs, we had scran (that one’s for Mat), it was a honkin time that will be documented

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Fever Ray Manchester Academy Tuesday 14th June

Wow, an amazing performance.

I only found out two weeks ago that the project is Fever Ray, the album is Fever Ray, but the lady behind all this has another name (namely Karin Dreijer Anderson for any of you who may have fallen victim to the same mistake.)

Branching off from her half as The Knife, who I find awesome with their gothically modern sound inter cut with weird and wonderful lyrics. Karin goes on her own route from her brother and leads what is an incredible album.

Her lyrics drift into streams of consciousness, with the emphasis shifting from drama to the everyday delicacies of life. All  show I was looking out  for the most memorable lyrics to my mind, from “Seven” the fourth track on the album.

“if we have time, if it’s the right time, accompany me
by the kitchen sink, we talk about love, we talk about dishwater tablets
and we dream about heaven.”

The whole album was played in it’s entirety with an amazing light show to boot tribal ritualistic dancing. It’s one of the few gigs I’ve been to for a long time where I’ve been taken on a journey, I think Animal Collective was probably the last real experiential gig I saw.

The show is eclectically mixed, with African sounds, psychedelia, Romanian gypsy music, smoke and a laser show. The whole group does the trick, and I was going to add credits to the drumming lady and the guys who do the other business, but I looked on myspace to give them a thumbs up and the only band member to be listed is Karin, so I guess it’s probably not usual to credit them, but I tell you they were all amazingly “curated” might be the right word to use.

You have to excuse any haphazard writing as I am in the library with the desperate urge to write something meaningful, and some 14 year old knobs have made the weary looking librarian call the police by chasing another 14 year old called “Nathan” by threatening to kill, they are all drinking cans of coca cola.

Thank God you don’t get these sort of idiots at Fever Ray, the most harmful you’d see is some pilled up 30 year old poking someone in the eye as they point at the spaceship above.

Such an awesome gig, if you’re a fan and you can go to see them/her, do.

A word on what the next venture is apparently according to The Guide (my oracle), Karin and her brother Olaf are writing an opera based on the man Charles Darwin, it’s sure to be a journey. It’s no surprise that they are choosing to focus on the figure of Darwin himself, as their music always explores identity in some warp or another. Can’t wait to see what we get given.

I like the way that listening to her own stuff makes me want to return to The Knife, it filters through and does both of the projects a great justice.