Peter Gabriel – New Blood

Peter Gabriel - New Blood

By Stuart Anderson

Although seen recently more as a music industry innovator rather than as an artist and performer, New Blood finds Peter Gabriel following in the footsteps of fellow ’80s eccentric and collaborator Kate Bush and revisiting, recalibrating and re-releasing highlights from his considerable back catalogue.

However, rather than merely patching up production deficiencies, unearthing previously unreleased songs or reinterpreting tracks that never really satisfied, Gabriel has rerecorded a sizeable chunk of material without guitars or drums but with a full orchestra. Conceptually then, New Blood is not a record seeking to rewrite history or redress lost opportunities; rather it signifies Gabriel’s exploration of the sound palette that an exclusively orchestral arrangement affords. In his own words, Gabriel is excited to “work with the dynamics and extremes…still and stark at one point, fat, fleshy and emotional at another”. … Continue Reading

The Field, Ekko, Utrecht

By Stef Siepel

On the first proper day of Fall – rain, cold, the whole shebang – The Field will try and make the sizeable crowd at the small Ekko venue forget the horrid weather. The Field, headed by Axel Willner, has recently released the album Looping State of Mind, one that has garnered a lot of positive buzz. So much so that the floor at the Ekko is filled with people, most of them probably somewhere in their twenties. A lot of them are they who you expect to be there, for The Field is not necessarily a band that you know if you are not into music (and if that is not true, where the heck were the other people? Some extra bodies are always welcome for a night out, no?). The music is a bit minimal, bit veering on the techno side of the electronic music spectrum. But like the title of the new album suggests, he can loop anyone’s socks off. … Continue Reading

Latitude 2011, Henham Park

The Raghu Dixit Project - photo by Natalie Shaw

Following the raucous and utterly trollied feel of T In The Park, the ‘brow’ of my summer of festivals made a giant leap upwards – not geographically, pedants! – to Latitude: the world’s finest in posh festivals.

It’s a resplendent site, is Henham Park; it has a lake, brightly-coloured sheep, knitting tents, modern art and poetry, cheese and wine for crying out loud – but not to fear, for what it’s also got is an excellent line-up and a brazen, excitable atmosphere.
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T In The Park, Balado Airfield

T in the Park

We bring you the round up from our next stop in an 11-festival calendar with Vodafone VIP – Scotland’s pride, T in the Park festival.

For those who presume that a festival containing 70,000 ‘revellers’ (as the local papers will have you picture it) in a giant muddy field can’t possibly have the excitement of their favourite band headlining a venue in their town, T in the Park is a strong challenger. … Continue Reading

Hard Rock Calling, London Hyde Park – Sunday

A happy customer enjoying the Vodafone VIP viewing platform at Hard Rock Calling

Muso’s Guide is working with Vodafone VIP across festival season – here’s the latest in our jaunts:

Nostalgia is a destructive beast, particularly when it stultifies engagement with what the present-day brings. What’s more, it can blind-side people into glamourised over-emoting of what may never have been how they recall it. And it’s with this kind of admittedly dubious overthinking that I approach Hyde Park’s gates for the third day of Hard Rock Calling, longing for more personality and drama in exchange for the impressive tally of nothingness racked up over the festival’s first two days. … Continue Reading

Hard Rock Calling, London Hyde Park – Friday and Saturday

Hard Rock Calling

Muso’s Guide is working with Vodafone VIP across festival season – here’s the latest in our jaunts:

The weekend’s triple-header opens with headliners who wouldn’t immediately bring to mind the “hard rock” guns; Nevada’s The Killers have been away and still sing about boyfriends who look like girlfriends, indie rock ‘n’ roll and ponder whether we’re ‘human’ or one of Rudolph’s friends. So far, so fey – but even through the rain, Brandon Flowers’ fans pull through, gently swaying to the indie-disco of years gone by. The keyboards’ datedness sound double-dated in 2011, and unfortunately the Kaiser Chiefs don’t fare much better. … Continue Reading

Singles of the Week: 27th June 2011

Its Monday once again which means its time for a trawl through this week’s harvest of singles in search of something just off the beaten track worth a listen.

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Leeds Festival, Bramham Park

Weezer's Rivers Cuomo, from near the front of main stage: atop a sign, below a screen

August 28-29, 2010

Leeds Festival is a sheer delight. The crowd isn’t necessarily dead excited for one band in particular, more enthralled by the sheer amount of things at its disposal. … Continue Reading

Field Day, London Victoria Park

hudson mohawke

July 31, 2010

I get off the bus early, mindlessly following some scenesters on the assumption they are Field Day bound. My assumption is misplaced, adding half an hour to my journey, but not misguided. Field Day annually entertains a  few thousand hipsters with an enviable line up of musical innovators,  vanguard pop and  fairground rides. However, with the last three years blighted by sound issues, ridiculous queues and the unforgiving weather – murmurs of style over substance have been rippling through Victoria Park. … Continue Reading

Arcade Fire, London Hackney Empire

Arcade Fire

July 7, 2010

Ladies and Gents, the Arcade Fire are back. Returning to London for a ‘secret’ show at the Hackney Empire, the anticipation is huge. The band is using this gig to road test songs from their upcoming LP, The Suburbs, and boy oh boy, it sounds like a fantastic record.
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