Get People (SoundCloud/Facebook) have been dropping eminently danceable electro-tropical acid-pop for a good year now, and I’ve been watching their progress closely since I was wowed at their live performance last December. Their exotic sounds have always been sun-infused and deserved the bloglove they have been getting over the past few months, but it is their new stuff that has got me over-excited.
They’ve got a new release on the way in July by the name of Rain Tears EP on Friends Vs Records, and from what I’ve heard from it so far this is the record I’ve been waiting for from the trio. The mesmerising tribal energy and crisp grooves of their live show gleaming through on record (download/listen to Away below). It’s a thing of beauty.
I have been looking forward to the festival season for months, and finally it begins this weekend at Play Fest, taking place over this May Bank Holiday. Being a Norfolk boy myself, I’ve always felt that Norwich has done well to catch the bands it does and the creation of Latitude in Suffolk has been a great success, but like many, I have been waiting in earnest for a festival to land right on my door step. So we will have to see how it goes.
To quickly sum up the festival for those in the dark; six stages set in seven acres with acts including; Frank Turner, Darwin Deez, The Futureheads and The King Blues, as well as an array of local bands and DJ crews. The festival organizers seem to have made a conscience effort to get local and up and coming talent involved as well – with Norwich’s own indie-pop champions The Kabeedies taking to the stage on Saturday.
With plenty to see this weekend at Play Fest, so I thought I better put together a list of some of the ones which we have caught over the year or just love and are worth a watch/listen… (Full line-up here).
Play Fest – Catch Them If You Can
The Kabeedies (Facebook)
Being from the fine city of Norwich, I first saw The Kabeedies’ interpretation of catchy indie pop years ago and I am still genuinely impressed by their live shows. Their debut album Rumpus fell easily into ‘Artrockers 20 Albums of 2009′, and was inspired by “The Cheek, Charity Shops, Talking Heads, Call of Duty 4, Velvet Underground…”. The band is still flying high from their track Come On and its selection for the Xbox 360 Kinect adverts. It’s a catchy one. The Kabeedies – Santiago
Club Smith (Facebook/Bandcamp)
I discovered the band while up in my university city of Leeds last year and have been following them ever since. Classic indie, clearly drawing influences from bands such as The Sunshine Underground and Bloc Party, the angsty tones of Club Smith certainly give a sense of a young man against the world. With catchy lyrics, driving heavy bass and clear guitar riffs, they’re ones for the youngsters. Rough Trade creatively describes the forthcoming release No Friend of Mine’ as sounding like a call to arms. I Caught them performing an exciting live set at The Waterfront in Norwich on their UK support slot for The Pigeon Detectives. Definitely a crowd pleaser. No Friend Of Mine by Club Smith
The Bar Lights
Another Norwich band who have been around for a while, but are still pretty damn good. Cleary drawing from a range of influences from Radiohead to Cold War Kids, the band’s interpretation of almost British nineties indie is inspiring. Well known for their exciting live shows, they would be a tragedy to miss.
Dinosaur Pile-Up (SoundCloud/MySpace)
Another Leeds based group, Dinosaur Pile-Up have finally come into the spotlight with their new album ‘Growing Pains’. Many have focused on the band either being grunge rivalists of just nineties copycats. Although there is clearly influences drawn from Foo Fighters, Biffy Clyro and Ash the band is something a little different, fusing rawness and brutality with clear melodies and well thought out lyrics. With only three of them, they put on a loud and proud live show. MONA LISA by Dinosaur Pile-Up
Louise and the Pins (Facebook/Twitter)
There sound is very unique, a delightful mix of country and folk. Louise from the band have recently been working with Laura Marling on some exciting stuff, so we will have to wait and see what comes of that. Unfortunately just missing out on the Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition but were fantastic at the Blue Walrus/Joe Bloggers live event last week and will definitely be worth a look, especially as they are playing on the tiny acoustic stage.
Matthew P (SoundCloud)
Last but by no means least, we come to singer/songwriter Matthew P. The Suffolk born acoustic artist is pretty fantastic. He has been described as crafting clever acoustic tracks, lyrically diverse and particularly humbling with his intriguing voice. Perfect festival music, definitely something to sit in the sun and enjoy. Matthew P – The Breakfast Song
Camden, 16 May 2011: Instantly, the most noticeable feature of the packed out London show was the diversity of the crowd. The old, the young, the arty, the mainstream, the male and the female all present, the radio success of Noah And The Whale‘s last single ‘L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.’ was almost tangible in the faces of the band’s enraptured audience. The band began with an instrumental taken from the latest album, opening out into fan-favourite ‘Give A Little Love’ in what was the beginning of a brilliant show.
The performance was impressive as always, particularly the reworking of tracks from the first two records, something that seems to have became habitual during Noah And The Whale’s touring around new releases. Reinvigorated versions of well-loved past singles like ’5 Years Time’ were met by ecstatic cheers, and it was exactly this kind of connection with the music that created such a great atmosphere at The Roundhouse on Monday.
Despite the grand size of the venue, Charlie and co still make you feel as if you’re sitting in their living room when they play. Last Night On Earth live is an altogether less emotional affair when compared with The First Days of Spring, but this relentlessly creative band are still as impressive as always in 2011. It’s refreshing to see an established band bothering to develop creatively at a time when most of the music industry is running scared of change in all its forms.
Noah And The Whale’s new single ‘Tonight’s The Kind Of Night’ was released on 16 May, with this show at The Roundhouse being both the band’s London tour date and the launch of the new single. The video is below.
RT @see_africa: Friday quiz to win one of our fab bags: According to How Africa Tweets, which African country has the 2nd most active? Kenya 2 hours ago
Get People (SoundCloud/Facebook) have been dropping eminently danceable electro-tropical acid-pop for a good year now, and I’ve been watching their progress closely since I was wowed at their live performance last December. Their exotic sounds have always been sun-infused and deserved the blog love they have been getting over the past few months, but it is their new stuff that has got me over-excited.
I have been looking forward to the festival season for months, and finally it begins this weekend at 
