Patrick Watson, John Peel stage Glastonbury Festival, 27/06/08

 

As the countdown to Glastonbury Festival begins so do the lists of thousands of festival goers deciding which performances they will grace with their unwashed presence during the five day festival. After years of bad weather, poor organisation and (supposedly) an increasingly middle aged audience Glastonbury was looking more and more unstable atop its festival pedestal. It was this very pedestal from which it humiliatingly fell from the day компютриEmily and Michael Eavis confirmed rumors that Kings Of Leon, Jay Z and The Verve would headline the 2008 festival.

Ok, so we’ve waved goodbye to 2007 and blogs all over the UK are getting rapidly updated due to the procrastination of students everywhere and INFTC is damned if it’s going to miss out on the action. We’ve all had our Christmas break and now we’re back with a new member and a round-up of the best, and worst, music we experienced in 2007; and anyone who even thinks of uttering the word ‘late’ gets a kick in the teeth!

Gigs of 2007 (chronological order)

Metronomy, Shy Child/Stealth/date unknown

Princess says:Just an absolutely filthy gig, as shows in Stealth often are. Between us, the blog members saw Metronomy put on a sterling performance numerous times in 2007 but this was the night everything fell into place. Fake facial hair, an audience going nuts and a shout out to our very own John.

Los Campesinos!, Sky Larkin, Johnny Foreigner/The Social/01.03.2007

G Town says: Surely one of the best tour line ups in years- this gig highlighted three sparkling new talents for the year. With raucous but gorgeous melodies the main thing shared in common by the bands, it was an excellent night.

Sky Larkin-One Of Two

The Maccabees, Jack Penate/Rescue Rooms/24.04.2007 Review

G Town says: This was just before The Maccabees released their debut album-Colour It In, yet the majority of the crowd sang every song back to the band in a triumphant call to arms. Rescue Rooms was absolutely packed and The Maccabees turned anyone who wasn’t already into a life long fan.

The Maccabees-About Your Dress

Maximo Park, Art Brut/Rock City/25.04.2007 Review

Princess says: ‘Our Earthly Pleasures’ may have barely compared to the band’s 2005 debut ‘A Certain Trigger’, but this year Maximo Park’s live shows went from strength to strength, starting with their headline tour in April. Supported by the forever underrated Art Brut, Paul Smith and Co treated their primed audience to an emotive show and generous set list. It was the kind of set you’d expect from a festival, but with the atmosphere crammed into a small venue and the energy and enthusiasm shared between just over a thousand people.

Late of The Pier/Rescue Rooms (Dot to Dot Festival)/27.05.2007 Review, Another Review

G Town says: Just a fucking beautiful mess. Personally the (joint) best gig of the year. The memories will most probably make me weak in the knees for many years to come.

Late Of The Pier-Space And The Woods

Bonde Do Role/Stealth (Dot to Dot Festival)/27.05.2007

Princess says: After dry humping with glow sticks down their pants, Bonde Do Role’s stage was swamped with a swarm of ecstatic fans. While their recordings do little to impress, the spontaneity and chaos made them an essential band to see in 2007. With the loss of their female vocalist, Marina, it’ll be a miracle if they stay together, never mind perform like that again.

Dolby Anol/Stealth (Dot to Dot Festival)/27.05.2007 review

Flip says: This gig was what Dot to Dot was about. Stumbling into Stealth to see a guy crowd surfing and another standing in front of two apple laptops going crazy. And the crowd are going just as mental. Playing through their set of energetic electronic music, Dolby Anol got everyone dancing. Dolby Anol are great live band and are well worth seeing.

Chromeo-Needy Girl (Dolby Anol French Mistake)

Patrick Wolf /John Peel Stage (Glastonbury Festivals)/23.06.2007

Captain Lovebead says: Having never heard of the guy, I wasn’t sure how I ended up in the tent for new and upcoming talent. But when Patrick began to sing Tristan from halfway up the lighting rig, I knew that fate had been on my side.

LCD Soundsystem/NME Tent (Leeds Festival)/24.08.2007

Princess says: When ‘dance’ acts play with a live band it can go one of two ways. Either their sound is totally lost or it gets a new and wonderful dimension added to it and LCD Soundsytem gets just that. James Murphy’s live voice is outstanding and, even though he claims to hate touring, his performance was energetic and, at times, really heartfelt. The set was perfectly split between both albums and ‘All Your Friends’ was just a very special moment.

Chemical Brothers/Main Stage (Bestival)/07.09.2007 Review

Princess says: An incredible back catalogue coupled perfectly with an awesome light show. The heroes of British dance music pulled off this headline show flawlessly.

Chemical Brothers-Galvanise(Live)

Does It Offend You, Yeah?/Stealth/29.09.2007 Review

G Town: Possibly the best thing about this gig is that nobody really expected anything great. The result was, however, very different. It was wild, shambolic and dirty- great electro played in the place for great dirty electro to be played.

Bloc Party-The Prayer (Does It Offend You, Yeah? Remix)

Late Of The Pier/The Bodega Social (Opening Party)/30.09.2007 Review

Princess says: Yet another riot incited by the band. People shouting, amps falling and t-shirts disappearing. Long live the Bodega!

Lethal Bizzle/Stealth/04.12.2007 Review

G Town: One of the success stories of 2007 did a lap of honour at the end of the year to a great reception. Despite various hiccups with the sound, Bizzle whipped the assorted rude boys, indie kids and trendies into a violent, but joyous, storm.

Lethal Bizzle-Babylons Burning The Ghetto(Spank Rock Mix)

Justice/Rock City/08.12.2007 Review

Princess says: An awesome mix of one of the year’s best dance albums with some complete tunes. An absolutely awesome crowd aswell and just enough room for some serious R.A.V.E.I.N.G. Just glad we managed to escape before CSS came and ruined it for everyone.

Klaxons-As Above, So Below (Justice Remix)

Rubbish Gigs of 2007 (Chronological Order)

The Long Blondes/Rock City/24.02.2007

Princess says: Don’t get me wrong, Kate Jackson is both an amazing singer and performer and the two male Long Blondes are talented and enthusiastic musicians and probably don’t really deserve to be in this category. However, with remaining members Reenie Hollis and Emma Chaplin looking like they were being forced to play to an audience of blind and deaf pensioners, the gig was just impossible to enjoy. Poor form ladies.

Captain Lovebead says: Ignore what Princess says, Reenie Hollis is fit. And that is all that matters.

The Rakes/Rock City/19.03.2007

G Town says: After releasing their fantastic, frantically paced debut album, the Rakes went off for a bit and came back with “Ten New Messages”. The general feeling in the press and music world was that the album was a little…crap. This gig at Rock City, therefore, was a bad combination of the half full, half arsed crowd shouting for 22 grand job throughout the set, the band making bad jokes about Freddie Flintoff and only about a third of the set being any good. They seemed more interested in getting people to come to the Social after “to take lots of drugs!” rather than playing a great set.

Klaxons- Leeds Festival 28/08/2007

G Town says: Although touted as the gig of the weekend by the NME, this was actually the point, for many, in which New Rave was put into perspective. LCD Soundsystem had just finished their beautiful, experimental, heart wrenchingly strong set on the same stage. Then Klaxons came on dressed in sparkling red capes and chain mail dresses. They seemed tired- their voices shot to pieces- as they duly pulled out the same set they’ve been playing for well over a year. This seemed more prog rock than new rave and although many lapped it up, it was a real disappointment for most after the genius of LCD Soundsystem.

The Teenagers/The Bodega Social (opening party)/30.09.2007 Review

Princess says:Boring boring boring, one OK song, boring boring boring.

CSS/Rock City/08.12.2007 Review

G Town: Justice=euphoric wizardry that brought the house down. CSS=Naff and tacky, relying far too much on gimmicks.

Albums of 2007 (Chronological Order)

Arcade Fire-Neon Bible-05.03.2007 Review

G Town: Epic, vital, touching and powerful. This album has created waves and is yet to grew old or repetitive.

Arcade Fire-Intervention

LCD Soundsystem-Sound of Silver-12.03.2007

G Town: The king of Indie-dance, James Murphy, returned in 2007 with Sound of Silver- an album which was complex yet simple, obvious yet subtle and fun but emotional and heart wrenching. “All My Friends” and “Someone Great” are both easily big contenders for song of the year and the album as a whole just worked. Fantastically.

LCD Soundsystem-All My Friends

Kings Of Leon-Because Of The Times-02.04.2007 Review

G Town says: Because of The Times was the album in which Kings of Leon went from being a good American garage band with hair a plenty to being a great band. Anthems galore, some ballsy stadium rock and the whole thing played with gritty Southern blues running through its veins.

Arctic Monkeys-Favourite Worst Nightmare-23.04.2007

Flip says: With a best selling debut album to live up to, Arctic Monkeys had their work cut out. However they managed to do it, putting out a second album which has more variety, more depth and overall a lot better album.

The Maccabees-Colour It In-14.05.2007

G Town says: The Maccabees were the word of mouth success story of the 2007. Avoiding hype, the band created a great following due to their live shows and singles. It was their album, however, that really proved their worth. Glorious melodies, punchy art rock, heartbreaking anthems, songs about swimming pools and one of the most distinctive voices in guitar based music, Colour It In was, and still is, fantastic in almost every way.

Dizzee Rascal-Maths+English-04.06.2007

Flip says: Three years since the release of his second album Showtime comes Dizzee Rascal’s best album yet. From the Bugsy Malone sample in Wanna be to Alex Turner’s appearance on Temptation to the almost N.W.A like Sirens. That ability, to use anything from all genres and create a great track, is what has given Dizzee Rascal his wide spread appeal.

Dizzee Rascal-Felx (DJ Q Remix)

Interpol-Our Love To Admire-09.07.2007

Princess says: Ok, so ‘The Heinrich Maneuver’ sounds alot like ‘Slow Hands’ and the artwork is very similar to that of another band. Get over it. This album is still on of the best I’ve heard this year. It ranges from catchy, clever guitar-pop to the epic, emotive materpieces that have become a trademark of the New York based four piece. On top of that, there’s yet to be a singer this decade with a voice as powerful and haunting as Paul Banks’.

Interpol-The Heinrich Maneuver

M.I.A-Kala-21.08.2007

G Town says: Flicking between different musical genres of the world as if it were nothing, MIA seemed to explore so much with “Kala”. Whether she was floating down a river in the Australian outback playing didgeridoo with a gang of aboriginals or dancing to a bonkers, bollywood-with-glowsticks anthem, the whole album was undeniably fresh. A complete original, a true visionary and without doubt one of the best albums of the year.

Beirut-The Flying Club Cup-08.10.2007

Princess says:An almost flawless follow-up to his 2006 debut ‘Gulag Orkestar’, ‘The Flying Club Cup’ is a beautiful exploration of european styles. Every song is rich and a glorious use of both unfamiliar styles and instruments for 22 year old Zach Condon. The album features luscious and fabulously indulgent string arrangements from Owen Pallet (of Final Fantasy) and these help to give the album the ‘over the top, dramatic feel’ Condon aimed for when recording.

Beirut-Forks and Knives (La Fete)

Soulwax-Most Of The Remixes-22.10.2007 review

Flip says: Soulwax. Legends of the remix. This is a collection of some of Soulwax’s best remixes that they have done over the years. From the Klaxons to Robbie Williams to DJ Shadow to Hot Chip this collection shows why Soulwax are some of the best producers at the moment. And if that wasn’t enough, the second CD sees fellow DJ’s 2manyDJ’s make a mix tape using the Soulwax remixes from disc 1. This album gets you dancing in your room to an abundance of quality tracks.

Hot Chip-Ready For The Floor (Soulwax Dub)

Bands Of 2008

Vampire Weekend Myspace

Princess Says: This delightful New York foursome have a wonderfully luscious Shins-esque sound and the big string section in track ‘Boston’ really is amazing. So far, they only have one UK date planned but you can bet your bottom dollar that there are more on the way! Their self-titled debut album is out on 28h January in the UK.

Vampire Weekend-Boston

Johnny Foreigner Myspace

Princess says: Last year this band released one one hell of an E.P./mini album (it has 7 tracks so take your pick). ‘Arcs Across The City’ is not only a fusion of guitar and pop music with lyrics that lodge themselves in your head for days on end, it is also home to a pop-up sleave and therefore what is arguably 2007′s greatest artwork. They’re not dissimilar to Los Campesinos! but where LC! have the big sound of a seven piece, J’Fo make a more stripped down racket. The band are starting 2008 in the same way as 2007, by touring with team Campesinos, catch them before they both get huge!

Johnny Foreigner-Our Bi-Polar Friends

Late Of The Pier Myspace

G Town says: Late of the Pier pretty much damn well defined last year for many- and all the signs point towards more of the same this year. Having built up a following through wild gigs, a string of online demos and a couple of great singles- the band waited to get the right record deal which has now meant they are recording their debut in their house somewhere. With a headline tour and said album lined up for 2008, Late of the Pier look set to continue the weird and wonderful journey, penetrating us with their twisted minds.

Late Of The Pier-The Bears Are Coming

Metronomy Myspace

Princess says: It’s no secret that INFTC are well into Metronomy. Unlike the rest of our picks for 2008 they have already released a debut album, and an awesome one at that. However, more recent material has shown a change in style for the Brighton trio. Their weird and wonderful electronica has progressed into fabulous disco music with lyrics for us to sing along to. This, and the fact they toured with EVERYONE last year, will mean 2008 will likely be the year Metronomy go from quirky cult band to full blown heroes of dance music.

Metronomy-Radio Ladio

The Answering Machine Myspace

G Town: The Answering Machine are a quartet of charming, guitar bashing young folk who, by all rights, should see 2008 be their year. With their fast, scuzzy indie taking influence from the likes of The Strokes and The Libertines, they manage to carve out their own little take on the artrock sound. These guys are a real gem of a band, find them now before they’re everyone else’s gem as well.

The Answering Machine-Silent Hotels

Kissy Sell Out Myspace

Flip says: Not really a band, but Kissy Sell Out is starting to get a lot of attention from everyone everywhere. Being known for his trademark air horn and his energetic DJ sets Kissy Sell Out is now recognised as one of the best DJs in the country. With his killer sets and the air time from people like Annie Mac we are going to here a lot from Kissy Sell Out in 2008.

Gwen Stefani-Wind It Up (Kissy Sell Out Remix)

Friendly Fires Myspace

Princess says: Their current single ‘Paris’ may have chart success written all over it but that’s no reason to get on your high horse just yet. Ok, so it’ll probably end up on the playlist for every chain pub in the country, but so what? I’d like to see you find a better song to accompany your beer and burger or, for that matter, a chorus you’d rather chant while off your tits in a middle of a field this summer. Stylish, sexy and undeniably catchy, Friendly Fires have a real shot at breaking into the indie mainstream this year.

Friendly Fires-Paris

Air Traffic are a four piece from Bournemouth who make genuinely enjoyable and catchy pop music. All of their recent singles were extremely radio friendly and held respectable slots on the radio one playlist, but don’t hold that against them. While many bands with credentials such as these are relentlessly bland and broad, Air Traffic include a brisk, paino based tone to their songs which creates a more individual, upbeat sound. Frontman Chris also has a great voice which perfectly compliments their style. Some may argue that they can border on cheesy but when looking for a purely delightful and fun show surely there’s nothing better?

If you agree try and get yourself to Rescue Rooms to have a little bop with G-town and I. If you need more persuasion check out the songs posted. ‘Charlotte’ is a more mainstream attempt by the band and although the piano has sadly been dropped it’s still a catchy slice of pop. ‘Never Even Told Me Her Name’ is much better tack reminiscent of Hot Hot Heat’s earlier stuff.

MySpace

Air Traffic-Charlotte
Air Traffic-Never Even Told Me Her Name (M4P format)