Field Day 2011 // Preview mixtape

With less than a week to go until Field Day 2011, and what may be the best Field Day of its young life, I cannot stop gaping at the line-up in awestruck paralysis. Some of the best UK artists are on show in the form of Anna Calvi, James Blake, SBTRKT, Anika and Spectrals, while there's a healthy sprinkling of trans-Atlantic big hitters Twin Shadow, Glasser and Ariel Pink's Haunted Grafitti as well as our European cousins Junip, who I for one don't listen to enough.

Below is a mini-playlist to whet your appetite, led out by the boy-girl harmonies, pounding drums and driving 60s garage guitars of Veronica Falls' new track, plus a few choice extras from Gruff Rhys, Jamie xx, Anika and Junip. We also have a fleshed out Spotify playlist you can grab here.

Field Day 2011 mixtape by No Action
Jamie xx - Far Nearer (limited vinyl & download out now - http://farnearer.com) by Numbers
Anika - Terry by stonesthrow



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Chad Valley // Now That I'm Real (How Does It Feel?)

Chad Valley's support slot for Twin Shadow at Scala a few weeks back was one of the best opening efforts we've witnessed in a long time. Moved to tweet something vague about the combination of Pet Shop Boys, Balearic and Friendly Fires influences, Now That I'm Real (How Does It Feel?) is evidence that we weren't totally delirious, the loving waves of electronics managing to be both melancholic and uplifting, as the vid echoes the lyrical sense of love and loneliness. That or it's a pretty girl drawing shapes on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Now That I'm Real (How Does It Feel?) from chad valley on Vimeo.

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Twin Shadow // Scala

Twin Shadow were pop perfection at Scala last week. Here's what I thought in so many words for The Fugitive Motel, followed by more Jamie Harley magic.

Twin Shadow w/ Chad Valley
Scala, London
May 11 2011

The 80s synth-pop revival path is in serious need of a break. The saturation of copyists and bandwagon limpets, filling our ears with ‘new’ music run through an Instagrammatic filter, is beginning to grow mind-numbingly tiresome. Twin Shadow, however, the project of the New York via Dominican Republic raised George Lewis Jr, is defying this trend. Their 2010 debut Forget, a work George describes as “a future lived in past tense”, managed to be both referential and ambitious and led to the band deservedly selling out the Lexington back in January and Scala tonight.

From the punk funk get-go of opener Shooting Holes, it’s clear why the band have quickly built a fervent following, as their live show is immeasurably more raucous than the record. Through the slow burning Tyrant Destroyer into the love-blushed, Orange Juice-d riffs of When We’re Dancing, George lets his inner rock icon loose with stadium sized shreds reminiscent of Prince in their intricate grandeur. Such comparisons are not loosely made: while there’s value in the boisterously macho front man of your Gallagher, the introverted mystery of your Smith, or the sinewy arrogance of Morrison or Gillespie, there’s something even more absorbing in the elegantly composed and sartorially refined presence of a front man at home on stage, and there’s no doubting George is that man tonight.

What’s perhaps most impressive is, far from hiding his vocal under swathes of feedback and reverb, it’s way up in the mix throughout tonight, with new song Circus Is Gone and the R&B touched album highlight Castles in the Snow showcasing George’s David Byrne-like range. After drawing a choral backing out of the crowd on Slow and describing Scala as sounding like it’s full of Americans (“that’s a compliment”, he says), the band sign off with mini-epic album closer Forget, before being hounded back on (George having swapped his blazer for rock mode denim jacket) for a blistering version of At My Heels, the single even Phoenix couldn’t match for pop infectiousness. All in all it’s a pristine return to London, sending me off to book festival tickets based solely on whether Twin Shadow will be there. I suggest you do the same.

Twin Shadow - Castles In The Snow Directed by Jamie Harley from Twin Shadow on Vimeo.