We’ve asked some of our writers to preview a few of this year’s festivals that they’re most looking forward to; to offer some idea of what the event is about, and to pick out a few bands and artists that they’re most excited about seeing perform. In this installment, we take a look at the End of the Road affiliated No Direction Home; the newly revamped Field Day and its sibling event The Apple Cart Festival; the inaugural Nova Festival, and Somerset’s Sunrise Celebration.

No Direction Home – by Nick Cowan

Website / Tickets

No Direction Home is a brand new festival from the makers of the much-loved End Of The Road (sadly, nothing to do with Boyz II Men). Expect everything that EOTR is renowned for – great acts, atmosphere and general all-round pleasantness, and all taking place on 8th–10th June in Sherwood Forest. There’s plenty to (friar) tuck into with highlights such as the multifaceted Andrew Bird, the folktastic Dirty Three, Richard Hawley, The Low Anthem and Veronica Falls, but the real draw is the promise of stress free festival-going. Like its sister festival, No Direction Home is that precious thing: a manageable size that makes discovering music an achievable treat, rather than the arduous chore it can seem when drudging round some of the bigger festivals. On top of all that, there’s a bunch of non-music stuff to do, including literature and comedy areas, a cinema and a host of fine foods and ales to sip by the campfire. Roll on summer.

Nova Festival – by Jimmy Blake

Website / Tickets

‘There has never been a worse time to start your own music festival,’ warns the blogosphere – and it’s probably right. But neither the collapse of established festivals nor an impending summer of ‘God save the Queens’ have stopped the intrepid organisers of new festival Nova from doing just that. With the South Downs as a backdrop, Nova promises a diverse range of performance from film and theatre to comedy and poetry all without even a hint of over crowding. Combine all this with hot tubs, an on onsite pub and musical highlights like Jessie Ware, Ghostpoet and tUnE-yArDs and its no surprise that early bird tickets have already sold out. Grab your wellies, because Nova is ready prove everybody wrong.

Field Day – by Sam Cleeve

Website / Tickets

This year’s Field Day should see the festival undergo something of a fresh start. Despite coming under heavy criticism in previous years for herding punters into a space the size of your nan’s backyard (perhaps unfairly – room has been restricted by the £8m Heritage Lottery refurbishment of Victoria Park), this year they’ve been able to expand the site once again. The lineup is as strong as ever – whistling polymath Andrew Bird and Balkan kingpins Beirut head up proceedings, while you can expect your buzz-band quote to be filled by Grimes and Theme Park, and the electronic side of things to be taken care of by the likes of Rustie and SBTRKT. With further enticement in the form of Scandinavian wunderkinds When Saints Go Machine and Brooklyn comic book sage Jeffrey Lewis, there’s little reason to stay away.

The Apple Cart Festival – by Russell Warfield

Website / Tickets

With Field Day having carved itself a robust reputation for providing incredible music in the heart of London one Saturday a year, it’s no wonder that it’s started to bleed into the Sunday as well. Although the park will be the same (albeit with a few empty plastic cups picked up, I’m imagining), The Apple Cart Festival does a great job of distinguishing itself from its sister event, cultivating a far more family-friendly atmosphere, and a much less music-orientated focus. Putting as much focus on the cabaret and the comedy as they do the musicians – featuring names like Sean Locke and Phil Jupitus – Apple Cart shapes up to be a very Sunday-ish Sunday festival indeed. Not that they’re scrimping on the music front, though – legendary acts like Billy Bragg sit on the line up alongside last year’s gut-punch provider Josh T. Pearson. There’s a narrower, more acoustic focus to Apple Cart compared to Field Day, but there’s no less eye for quality. And there’s loads of magicians too.

Sunrise Celebration – by Sebastian O’Dowd

Website / Tickets

Another year passes and festival season is round the corner, which can only mean one thing: making my way down to Bruton in Somerset for Sunrise, known for its green eco-friendly identity. This eco-friendly vision of theirs is inspiring and the return of the Solar Dance Village which runs around the clock just goes to show how well they use this solar power. Kitted out with 6 arenas and 35 venues and stages, one would expect a hefty lineup indeed, and that’s exactly what you get. Mungo’s HIFI will feature Soom T and Mr Williamz, with their reggae riffs accompanied with deep dub, while Laid Blak from Bristol bring a diverse unique sound to the stage – also a must see. The ASBO disco is set up with style and a host of beats and tunes on tap to keep you up all night, and Goodgroove, who is very much one with the funk, also deserves a mention. With a dose of electronica such as The EGG and Gaudi it’s safe to say that if you are in pursuit of happiness and fun you may look no further: Sunrise is the place to be.

Little Boots - Every Night I Say A Prayer

Earlier this week, a few of our writers gave their views on the new Little Boots single and the result was mixed – to our (editorial – ha) ears, ‘Every Night I Say A Prayer’ sounds like one of the year’s better singles – we This Is My Jam’d it yesterday, if that means anything to  you.

‘Every Night I Say A Prayer’ now has a video and, well, if you heard a fair amount of late ’80s/early ’90s Madonna in the song, prepare to see a lot more of Madge’s influence in the video. And to be honest, if Madonna’s going to insist on being so shit at the moment, then Victoria might as well step in and show her how it’s really done. Belly tops, voguing and lyrca below:

Hello there. Here at Muso’s Guide we’ve always tried to focus on quality music writing, avoiding the temptation to publish every new track/video/album cover/press shot/hate email that finds its way to our inbox, and remaining – new Robyn albums aside – suspicious of ‘hype’. We publish daily album reviews, plus regular gig reviews, photo sets, features and single roundtables in our ‘Now Playing’ column; we cover pop, rock, ‘indie’, electronica, dance, hiphop and everything in between, and we’re proud of what we do.

We currently have a fantastic team of writers and editors who contribute to and run Muso’s Guide, driven by their passion for music and writing, and we’re looking for people to join us. If you’re interested in contributing, we’ve got a number of ways you can get involved. First off, we’re particularly interested in hearing from budding features writers – we’re looking for people to take on interviews with artists, or writers keen to pitch ideas for a regular column, or just someone who’s looking for a forum where they can reflect, intelligently and thoughtfully, on some of the issues flying around in the pop music landscape. We’re also always looking for new album and gig reviewers – come and join us if you’re interested in getting involved in this side of things too.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, send an email with some samples of your writing to greg [dot] musos [at] gmail [dot] com.

Death Grips - The Money Store

Ex-Military, Death Grips‘ debut album, found a fair amount of underground acclaim last year, and the hiphop group have already completed a follow-up - The Money Store is being released in a week but it’s available to stream (with around half of its tracks available for download) right now. We’ve got the stream embedded below – from an initial listen, it sounds like Death Grips have retained the ferocious energy and paranoid beats of Ex-Military on The Money Store, while expanding their sound in new directions – the ‘Push It’-esque rhythms of ‘I’ve Seen Footage’ being a case in point.

The Invisible - Rispah

The Invisible‘s self-titled debut album was one of 2009′s slow-burners that almost saw them scoop the Mercury Music Prize that year – and now, having collaborated with everyone from Micachu, Jessie Ware and Polar Bear, the trio are on the verge of returning with their second album, Rispah. Below, you can find a typically rich, patient first taste of album in the form of ‘Protection’, while the full LP is coming in the UK and Europe on June 11 on the brilliant Ninja Tune label.

In the words of the band’s Dave Okumu, Rispah is a “love letter to grief”, deeply influenced by the death of his mother during the recording process. Okumu says, ”I couldn’t engage with music for a long period. The moment it returned to me was at my mum’s funeral, which lasted several days. One evening, during the wake, my grandmother Zilpa, my mother’s mum, arrived at our home accompanied by a group of women singing traditional spirituals. They approached my mother’s body and sang over it, dancing around her coffin. It was the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard. They transformed the atmosphere with sound and the spirit they brought to it. They were celebrating life and death, grief and hope, all things. This act was allowing everyone present to express themselves. It served as the most potent reminder of everything I believe about music. It’s there for everybody, it’s inclusive and transformative. I’m so glad these voices are stitched through our record.” Listen to and download ‘Protection’ below.

Hot Chip

Hot Chip are gearing up to release In Our Heads on Domino – their first new album since 2010′s excellent One Life Stand. Today, we got the first taste of their new material – ‘Flutes’ has appeared on Youtube with a video that might make you feel a little bit dizzy. ‘Flutes’ is something of a departure from the more immediate pop of One Life Stand - it builds slowly and shifts between sections, more like a dance track than a pop song, while still brimming with positivity. Most importantly, it makes us want to hear more - In Our Heads is out in June.

In a way, it feels like Hot Chip haven’t been away – Joe Goddard’s Gabriel EP contained one of last year’s best songs in its title track, while Goddard was also partly responsible for the rather fine 2 Bears LP from earlier this year. It’s good to have Hot Chip back though – listen to ‘Flutes’ below.

Usher - Climax

A little while ago, a new Usher song leaked – ‘Climax’ is a collaboration with Diplo and features arrangements from Nico Muhly. It’s a beautiful, R&B ballad with electronic flourishes and bodes well for new Usher material – a full album is yet to be announced. Earlier today, the video for ‘Climax’ premiered over on Vevo – it’s wonderfully shot, a little enigmatic and features a fair amount of Usher emoting at the camera and looking serious in his car. Watch it below.

Beach House

News of a new Beach House album is always welcome round our gaff – a couple of weeks ago, a possible leaked album tracklist (never properly confirmed by the band) and album title (Bloom) suggested that something was on the way from the duo behind one of 2010′s best albums, Teen Dream.

Now, a new song has emerged – it’s called ‘Myth’ and will feature on Beach House’s new record, which is indeed called Bloom and might be coming out in May. ‘Myth’ unfurls slowly and steadily, gradually expanding with a sonic richness that coloured the best moments on Teen Dream. While still remaining recognisably Beach House, it’s an exciting hint at what’s to come. Give it a listen or two below.

Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar is one of several rappers to have emerged in a post-Drake hiphop landscape – last year’s Section.80 mixtape/sort-of-debut was introspective, thoughtful and largely very good – standouts like ‘ADHD’ and ‘HiiiPower’ ranked among the best hiphop of 2011.

Lamar is currently working on his debut album proper and it’s one of our most anticipated releases of the year. A couple of days ago, the first new material from Kendrick in 2012 emerged – ‘Cartoon and Cereal’ builds on his lyrical themes from Section.80 while also including an almost-song-stealing guestspot from Gunplay and warped, stretched-out production from THC. Listen below.

Jessie Ware

We’ve had our eye on Jessie Ware for a while now – she made a number of guest appearances in interesting places last year, featuring on a number of tracks by SBTRKT, while also putting in a stunning vocal on the standout track on Joker’s debut album, ‘The Vision (Let Me Breathe)’ – her appearance during Joker’s Boiler Room set will testify that she has an impressive voice.

‘Running’, her second solo single after last year’s ‘Strangest Feeling’, is an altogether more subtle affair, a bit like a downtempo Madonna number with hints of R&B and soul. The other Jessie wishes she was this classy. Ware is currently working on their debut album with Dave Okumu of The Invisible (hooray!) – it’s due in the summer. Till then, watch the video for ‘Running’ below.