Field Day's line up has been announced, looking a little similar to last years line up, but still pretty good.
Not sure I could ever do a New Years Day festival, I'll probably pass on this one. Tickets go onsale October 6th.
Justice
Crystal Castles
Moby (DJ set)
Gotye
Tiga
Busy P
Jack Beats (live)
Skream & Benga
Metronomy
Yuksek (live)
Spank Rock
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
Foreign Beggars
12th Planet
Young MC
It's that time of year again, the first Big Day Out line up was announced this morning and be you underwhelmed, overwhelmed or simply just whelmed, the following is what we're looking at. It seems to be to be a mix of big names, I don't give a rats abouts, and a few smaller local bands I'm interested in at the moment.
Throw Foster the People into the mix and well... it's a maybe for me at the moment....maybe but probably not.
Soundgarden
Kanye West
Kasabian
My Chemical Romance
The Living End
Royksopp
Hilltop Hoods
Boy and Bear
Parkway Drive
Mariachi El Bronx
Architecture in Helsinki
Battles
The Jezabels
Odd Future (OFWGKTA)
Frenzal Rhomb
Girl Talk
The Getaway Plan
Cage The Elephant
Foster The People
Best Coast
Lots more to be announced later in the year, lets hope it's gets better from here.
Warning: Bad words...look out!...Blame Josh Pyke not me!
Running late and being too interested in dinner and drinks to see the support acts Paper Kites and Emma Louise, we arrived just in time to get an amazing spot (which I'm keeping a secret for the next time I'm at the Metro) just before Josh Pyke and his band adorned the stage. I've never seen him by himself but I have seen him in his side project Basement Birds and I thoroughly enjoyed them live so I had high hopes for this gig.
The gorgeously beardy, pint sized, softly sung, pop-folk singer song writer has an obvious following (not just me), selling out the Metro with his latest album Only Sparrow just being released. The new album is really impressive, taking me only 2 listens through to pick out more favorites than expected. There are quite a few of the more poppy tracks like the most current single World is a Picture which takes Pyke in a slightly new direction. It's comfortably different to his last album Chimneys Afire. There are also the tracks that are completely through and though Josh Pyke like his folk collaboration with Katy Steele from Little Birdy in Punch in the Heart
He's much more upbeat in this album, it seems he's got everything going right for him at the moment, wife, career with flashy new album and he's a recent first time Dad. In his usual style of wearing a black raincoat to every silver lining, it seems these days he's too happy for his own good, illustrated by lyrics in No One Wants a Lover "If I could write a sad song every day of the week I'd be the happiest fucker I know." In saying that predictably no Josh Pyke album would be complete without some gut wrenching sadness, some of which is seen all through Factory Fires, a track I was so very thankful he played.
After a short pause, Pyke followed his band on stage and they began with Clovis' Son to an eager crowd and I was surprised by how amazing the voice of the drummer on back up vocals was. He flipped mainly between tracks from Only Sparrows and Chimney's Afire, with a few off Memories and Dust and Feeding the Wolves and had the crowd bopping away to Good Head Start, shortly following it up with Make You Happy, which has an amazing clip of Pyke driving around a harbor in a motor boat shaped like a huge guitar, shown in the above shot.
The Lighthouse Song was so great to see live, it has such beautiful lyrics which evoke such strong imagery "And I've been leaving gifts out in the woods/That someone might stumble upon and wonder at their origins/I've been feeling like a fox with sad old eyes/Whose skulk has all moved on to leave the dark and empty den behind". I've also never known a song with such poignant use of the word 'Fuckers" in the chorus "I'll just hold you tight and we'll not let those fuckers in."
He called out support act Emma Louise to fill in for Katy Steel in Punch in the Heart and the duet had the audience silent and captivated. Pyke's imagery which is exceptional and seen so much over all albums, (I could quote a million lyrics) is evident in this track. I love the appealingly provocative mental pictures in Punch in the Heart "And the wheels keep taking me back to your street/Where I would press you against the bonnet just to feel your heat." There has been an obvious progression over the years, this latest offering has a much more mature sound, more layers, more emotion, more sound, more awesomeness.
He finished the night and his encore with the shows highlight. Love Lies is another of those lyrically visual songs, "Well I trace a map in the curve of your spine/I get lost by the hour in the blink of your eye/In the shadowed valleys of your backbone I find/Love lies". It was Pyke, alone with his acoustic guitar, a microphone and some loop pedals. It was epic, a resplendent folk-hymn that filled every nook and cranny of space. Pyke layered his voice with a new harmony loop each count of 8 for the last section of the song. At first when I heard a few voices I thought his band members were offstage singing harmonies until I realised it was him, and 10 layers later I had to pick my chin up off the floor. He left his voice on loop as the house lights came up and although a loop pedal is nothing new, wow it was electrifying to observe him in all his grandeur with such a beautiful song.
Do yourselves a favour and watch the following clip, or AT LEAST watch the loop echoes from the 3 minute mark onward.
It was a fantastic night showing that Pyke still has what it takes to sell records and draw a crowd. Live, he was theatrical, vocally perfect and just altogether entertaining. Next time he plays in Sydney I'll definitely be getting tickets again. Loved it!
I really cant stop listen to this track this week, so it needs to go on the blog! Haven't heard much from Grouplove and I really don't know too much about them, but Wikipedia tells me they're an American Indie Rock band from California who have been around since 2009 and have opened shows for Florence and the Machine lately.
This is a great rocking track which needs to be sung really loudly in the car no matter who is staring at you.
Happy Friday! Enjoy!
