The First 45

Track Of The Week 

Ben Cockayne - Your Baby's Going Postal

I've not published a "Single Of The Week" for ages, so it's about time I rectified that. First things first though, I'm going to start calling it Track Of The Week, because let's face it, sometimes album tracks don't get the attention they deserve.

Right, this week's choice is a local one, and something of a last minute discovery. Sheffield postman (at least that's what his Twitter profile picture suggests) Ben Cockayne has produced an album that immediately puts me in mind of Super Furry Animals and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, and easily holds it's own in this company. The album is pleasant on the ear and carries the listener to a dreamy psychedelic soundscape. This is a fabulous album, and my stand out track is this one, Your Baby's Going Postal, with it's trippy guitar and smile inducing bassline. 

You can check out more of Ben's stuff here:

You don't have to be a mathematician to work out just how good this little festival is.

Now in it's fourth year, Wakefield's Long Division Festival continues to impress with it's warm welcome, eclectic mix of venues and vast array of hugely talented artists. This year's event took place in September, rather than it's usual June slot, but the Autumn date didn't affect any of that warmth.

A festival started in 2011 by indie fanzine Rhubarb Bomb has, in just four short years, treated the West Yorkshire city's locals and visitors to the likes of The Fall, Ghostpoet, History Of Apple Pie, Wet Nuns, Los Campesinos, local favourites Skint & Demoralised and this year's homecoming heroes The Cribs. A staggeringly impressive line up for a festival which is still in it's relative infancy, and this year was no less impressive than the previous three. 

Despite being a three day event, I was only able to attend the Saturday, sadly missing The Cribs massive sell out performance at the newly refurbished Unity Works, and the host of fringe events taking place throughout the city's venues on the Sunday, but I wasn't left disappointed as the middle day provided a host of exceptional performances, starting with Allusondrugs at Unity Works Minor Hall. 

These five young lads from Castleford have been getting some richly deserved attention just lately, and on the evidence of their set there is much more to come. A striking resemblance to nineties grunge gods Nirvana (frontman Jason Moules coincidentally being a dead ringer to Cobain himself) they produced a performance to match, and the large crowd gathered at midday was surely a sign of greater things to come for them. 

Allusondrugs take me back to my grunge days of the 90's 

Next up was a short walk to Havana, there was no more than five minutes between each venue, for Cry Baby Cry. Other than the handful of cancellations this next set was to highlight my only other disappointment of the day. The band themselves were great, no doubt, but a sadly common thread was that of timings. On several occasions bands were late starting, resulting in a couple of sets being missed as fans had to reluctantly leave one stage to catch the next act on another. This is an issue I'm sure the organisers will address and resolve for next year, but a few bands I really wanted to see will have to wait for another day. 

However this was just a minor glitch on an otherwise excellent day, and the best was yet to come. Unity Works is a magnificent building, refurbished, re-painted and repaired it now houses a majestic main hall which was packed for the next act on my list, Post War Glamour Girls. The Leeds band were proving a hugely popular choice, especially if the well populated photo pit was anything to go by, and as a live act they looked like they were ready for that popularity, with a confident swagger evident across the stage. 

A brief wander from the main hall to the minor hall allowed a sample of Dancing Years, a late replacement for Welsh band Cut Ribbons, offered a very enjoyable taste of their melancholic indie pop. But it was a very brief stop before heading to Mulberry for a band I'd been waiting to see for a while. 

I've been playing a track on my radio show for some time now which I can't help listening to over and over. It's anthemic quality is addictive to this listener and I hoped the live version would be just as impressive. I wasn't disappointed. London's Whales In Cubicles are a difficult band to categorise, but easy to listen to. A brooding performance with some exceptional guitar work suggested much bigger to come. 

So, to the first venue I ever visited in this particular city, Warehouse 23 (or Black Flag as it was called back then) an industrial unit that had a short spell as a strip club but is now thankfully playing host to live music again.

Whoever else was on the day's bill, rock three piece Bleech would have been one of the first ticks on  my "who to see" list. I like this band a lot, and how they are not bigger is a mystery to me, and once again the live performance of sisters Jen and Katherine O'Neill and school friend Matt Bick had each and every member of the rapidly filling crowd showing their appreciation. 

Bleech's Jen O'Neill shining under the lights of Warehouse 23

What makes a great urban festival is not just the official organised events, but also the pop up fringe events that ride the wave. As I walked through the city centre I wandered on to Wood Street and passed vintage shop and art space Eye Wood. Above the shop was the booming sound of drums and guitars, so, egged on my the shop's proprietor I ventured up a narrow stairway to a tiny room where Adore/Repel, three semi naked tattooed men, were bounding around said room, sweat pouring, guitars throbbing and drums pounding. My ears ringing as I left I had a huge beaming grin on my face. That was a gig to remember, gritty, dirty, cramped, noisy and a whole load of fun!

The surprises didn't stop there. I've never been a fan of rap, but upon arriving early at The Orangery, this year playing host to an outdoor stage in it's beautiful grounds, I found myself drawn in to the ridiculously amiable and smile inducing sound of Too Many T's. If like me you're not a fan of this genre, I defy you not to enjoy this particular brand. Ross and Leon will have you clapping, dancing and laughing, I promise you!

Back to Warehouse 23 as the great acts keep coming, this time the indie pop love birds Summer Camp. Despite the obvious issues with sound levels Jeremy Warmsley and wife Elizabeth Starkey gave a very patient and appreciative audience a highly enjoyable set, and Starkey's apologies for the technical difficulties were met with polite shushes. Eventually the couple completed the set minus drummer and bass guitarist, but either way those who left at the end left happy.

Unity Works Main Hall, a magnificent place to watch live music.

The unfortunate necessity to catch a train back to Doncaster meant an early finish to the evening, but not before one final visit to the stunning Unity Works. A short stop to watch five minutes of Toy in the Main Hall before ending this year's experience with perpetual festival favourite Beans On Toast in the Minor Hall. This guy knows how to entertain a crowd, mingling throughout in the midst of the hearty throng, "Can't Get A Gig At Glastonbury" having fans eating out of the palm of his hand, and his constant darting from person to person providing an entertaining game of cat and mouse for the host of photographers in the room.

I can't speak highly enough of this festival, and the fact it is so young makes it all the more impressive, and Long Division, from what I heard from many of those there, certainly doesn't divide opinion. 

Long Division 2015 Early Bird Tickets are now on sale here:

Back in 2007 a seed was planted in the form of the Rhubarb Bomb fanzine, created to celebrate and promote the array of talent in and around the West Yorkshire city of Wakefield. Four years later that seed sprouted and grew into the Long Division Festival. Now in it's fourth year, the festival has continued to grow and promises to be the biggest and best yet in 2014. 

My first visit to the festival was last year, and what immediately struck me was not only the fine line up of artists, Nine Black Alps, The History Of Apple Pie, The Fall and Ghostpoet to name but a few, but also the wonderfully eclectic selection of venues that hosted the acts. Not only were there dedicated music venues such as The Hop and Warehouse 23, but also a theatre (Theatre Royal), an abandoned library and the beautiful Orangery. What makes this an exceptional festival is the way the organisers have used non-traditional venues to host folk, indie and rock music to huge success, creating a unique atmosphere not found in other music establishments. 

This year's event is no different, and includes the hugely anticipated hosting of hometown heroes The Cribs at the newly refurbished Unity Works, a former Co-operative headquarters, and now home to an 800 capacity live venue and combined arts and office space. 

2014's event boasts a mouth watering line up across the city, including The Wedding Present, Gruff Rhys, Slow Club, Summer Camp and one of the up and coming bands of the moment, Allusondrugs. 

Long Division once again looks like it's going to be one to remember. 

Full line up and ticket information can be found at:

  I'd never before visited Leeds Festival, and when I told friends I was going they had a look on their faces that suggested I was about to enter a war zone, such were the urban myths that surrounded this event. Tales were told of fighting, thievery and tent based arson, but that was then, and the now was very, very different. This was a festival that exuded friendliness, I don't think I've ever been apologised to so many times for being bumped into. People were here to enjoy themselves, and seemed to ensure everyone else did too. 

OK, there were a lot of young adults who maybe didn't quite get the mix of food, alcohol and rehydration quite right, but hey, a festival is a right of passage, and a hangover can be an essential part of the learning process. Despite this, the atmosphere remained ultimately well behaved and celebratory. 

Let's get one thing clear, the hype I allude to was misleadingly negative, the reality was overwhelmingly positive. 

Day One - An August Night With Augustines

So, to the bands. Friday for me was a very short experience, having left Doncaster at 5 o'clock after a shift at my day job we arrived on site and spent the first few hours catching up with friends and colleagues and generally getting our bearings. We'd already decided if nothing else we were going to catch the Augustines set, a band we know very well but hadn't yet experienced in Festival surroundings. As expected, their performance was brimming with energy, frontman Billy McCarthy approaching the mic with a cigarette smouldering between his lips and a half empty whisky bottle in his hand, setting the scene for an emotional and heartfelt performance that only he can produce (with the help of Eric and Rob of course). The small but vociferous Festival Republic stage crowd left satisfied into the night to the echoes of the haunting "The Avenue", performed within hugging distance of the front row.

Augustines' Billy McCarthy on the Festival Republic Stage on Friday

Tired, I headed back to the calm of the Guest Area, while the rest of the revellers congregated at the main stage for headliners Blink 182. I would have loved to have told you how they were, but I've never been a fan and wasn't about to change that fact. I heard they were pretty good though (unless you read a certain publication that will remain nameless).

Day Two - Comedians & Queens holding Court(eeners)

Saturday had an odd feel about it, a subdued atmosphere, noted by several people I spoke to. Maybe it was the on and off weather, the excesses of Friday or just a welcome rest before the final push to come on Sunday, but this didn't detract from the excellent array of artists on show. 

Our day began back at the Festival Republic stage, probably our favourite of the weekend. Dublin's The Minutes opened the stage, and I have fond affections for this band who gave me a brilliant 20 minute interview some years ago that was completely unusable due to every other word being an expletive! This didn't change the fact that these are wonderfully talented guys who shook any lingering sleep from the head of those watching as am turned to pm.

Next up for us was a visit to the main stage for Deaf Havana, a band with whom I have become more and more fond. Since consigning to the past their screaming hardcore sound they have matured into an outfit capable of making main stages their mainstay. Tracks like "Boston" and "Mildred" have appealed to a wider audience including comedy legend Bill Bailey who watched the set from side stage to the delight of the watching crowd.

Reputations don't usually sway me, but the lure of a band I'd heard so much praise for was too much to resist, and I wasn't disappointed. Fat White Family were nothing short of magnificent. Semi dressed, whirligigs of sheer sweat and motion, these guys are a must for any fan of high octane, high energy music. Definitely a highlight of the whole weekend.

Fat White Family showing that shirts are overrated.

First visit to the second stage followed, the Radio One/NME stage as it's corporate overlords had named it, and Glasgow's Twin Atlantic, a band whose grand ambitions were slowly but surely coming to fruition played to a packed tent (can we call them tents? I don't think they sell them this big in Argos) that bounced and clapped to a sound that has been heard in the outer reaches of the upper atmosphere (seriously, Google it). On this evidence it's probably not long before these guys reach those kind of heights all by themselves. 

Of course, Festivals these days aren't all about the music, there is comedy too, and the Alternative Stage played host to a cavalcade of comedy geniuses over the weekend, including Milton Jones, Simon Amstell and the Dalai Farmer himself, Bill Bailey. To say the tent was crammed tighter than a footballer's wallet would be an understatement. The bearded West Country mirthmeister took to the stage to the loudest cheer of the day and had the watching audience in tears of laughter with his repertoire of anecdotes and musical parodies which included Enter Sandman played on clown horns and a Kraftwerk inspired tribute to Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball" complete with seductive hammer licking. I'd missed seeing Temples for this, but it was worth it.

The short trek (this was a surprisingly compact festival site) to the main stage allowed me to take in another band I'd long wanted to see but hadn't got round to. Vampire Weekend were as good as I'd hoped, and probably deserved a slot higher up the bill but for the joint headline acts that would take the stage after them. And so, to the first of those, Queens Of The Stone Age. Technically brilliant, cool and masterful, Josh Homme and his band were magnificent, however there was a strange sense of apathy around me in the crowd. Maybe it was the massed teenage girls waiting for Paramore that didn't quite appreciate the brand of music they were being treated to, or maybe it was that the majority in the crowd were only there for the Sunday night closers and had a very different taste, but either way it left me feeling a little let down. I think you need to see QOTSA in front of their own fans to truly appreciate what they are about.

A cursory glance at Paramore allowed me to establish that Hayley Williams had yet again changed her appearance, and hair colour, before escaping the Nickelodeon style high school rock that was very much more suited to the predominantly youthful audience. And so, it was off to The Courteeners for the final act of Saturday night for me. I've done a lot of eulogising so far, and I've done plenty about these guys from Manchester in the past too, but I couldn't find a positive here. Two things I established at the NME stage on Saturday night, everything after Falcon is average at best, and Liam Fray still can't hold a note. I don't like to be negative, but the Courteeners were dull and uninspiring, a fact that was confirmed by the large numbers heading away from the stage about 20 minutes in. 

I don't like to end on a negative note, so I'll quickly mention one of the nicest people I met at the weekend. Mallory Knox played the Radio One/NME stage on Saturday, I know all about these guys because my daughter goes on about them constantly. Lead singer Mikey Chapman made her year by agreeing to chat on the phone to her. This was how the whole festival felt, friendly, kind hearted and there was still a day to go.

Fans across the site were in good spirits all weekend

Day 3 - Royal Heirs To Take Over When The Sun Goes Down?

After a surprisingly subdued Saturday, Leeds very definitely left the best until last, however, it was a sad start to the day. My band of the weekend at 2012's Y Not Festival, Pulled Apart By Horses were due to take the stage when at the last minute an illness to bass guitarist Rob Lee forced the cancellation of their set. Boos rang out amongst the crowd, though little was known as to the reason at the time. The band are due to embark on a UK tour in November. Miss them at your peril.

This was a disappointment to be short lived. There was a buzz around the Radio One/NME stage like no other at the festival, the same buzz that had hundreds queuing around the block at Live In Leeds a few months back. Men of the moment Royal Blood were about to take the stage, and it was rammed, even attracting celebrity fans in the form of Sky Sports correspondent Bryn Law who just happened to be stood next to me in the crowd. For the next 30 minutes Mike Kerr treated us to a mesmerising and thunderous display of bass guitar mastery through belter after belter from Little Monster to Come On Over. Rapturous cheers greeted ever song, the only disconcertment coming when the festival cut power to the band as they overran their slot. There seemed to be a widespread acknowledgement that these guys from Brighton were headliners in the making, and who was I to disagree? Brilliant, just brilliant.

A short stop at the BBC Introducing stage introduced me to Love Zombie, a charismatic and exuberant act who delighted the crowd with the distribution of sweets mid set. Then it was back to the Festival Republic stage for first, the delightful Marika Hackman, then after a short break for some food, the magnificent Wolf Alice, another band I'd heard so much about but hadn't yet seen. Fronted by the gorgeous Ellie Rowsell, resplendent in a bleach white suit (not sure how long it stayed that way) the band from London treated the crowd to a sterling set, which included a perfectly executed cover of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game".

Ellie Rowsell looking dapper in her white suit

Another short break and it was back for Indy Pop outfit Circa Waves, another high energy set that had the crowd dancing along. 

Now, we all have a guilty pleasure, and mine is in the form of a musical genre I wouldn't normally be a fan of, but there is just something about Chvrches that I just can't resist. Maybe it's the nostalgic sound that takes me back to my school days of the 80's, or maybe it's just that I have a massive crush on Lauren Mayberry, but either way I knew I was in for a treat, and I wasn't wrong. A piercing pitch perfect voice merged with atmospheric electronic beats gave me everything I had hoped for in seeing the Glaswegians for the first time. I want to see them again, and again, and again.

An inability to decipher the 24 hour clock meant we almost missed the ever brilliant We Are Scientists, but thankfully we walked past the stage just as they were starting, and as expected, brilliance did indeed follow. "Nobody Move, Nobody Gets Hurt" was being bellowed by band and audience in chorus and the bouncing set culminated with half the crowd on the shoulders of the other half at the request of frontman Keith Murray. One thing is a certainty with these guys, the crowd will always leave happy and still singing.

So, it was time for a reluctant visit to the main stage for the festival closers, and the band everyone had been waiting for. Back in 2005 most of us were introduced to four young men from Sheffield as they burst onto the scene with their debut single "I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor", that song began with Alex Turner telling us not to believe the hype, and although there's no denying the hype has come to fruition I've never been a fan. 

A set that contained predominantly new songs seemed to do little to inspire the crowd judging by the remarkable numbers leaving the main arena with 30 minutes of the set still to go, maybe they were wanting to avoid the traffic, or get back to the campsite before the bottleneck, or maybe, like me, they just weren't impressed. Sorry, but I've never got the Arctic Monkeys, and I don't think I ever will. But that wasn't it for this festival for me, I left the masses to enjoy the swagger and arrogance on the main stage and headed back to the Festival Republic stage, by far the best stage of the weekend in my opinion. 

I was lucky enough to catch the final ten minutes of Band Of Skulls, and that was more than enough to guarantee I'd be buying tickets for their upcoming UK tour. 

My weekend ended in the most unexpected of places, The Pit, where my daughter was watching Of Mice & Men close that particular stage. I've never really had any affection for the shouty, screamy noise that normally comes from my daughter's iPod, but seeing how much fun the crowd were having moshing, crowd surfing and generally jumping around, I think I finally got it.

I think my daughter's own words probably sum up the whole festival, "I've lost my voice, I ache and I'm shattered, but it was worth it!"

Leeds Festival, you have impressed me. Thank you.

Leeds Festival took place 22-24th August at Bramham Park

Tickets for next years event can be purchased here:

http://www.leedsfestival.com/tickets

Single Of The Week

Bring Me Down - Dirt Farmer

I swear I'm not doing this on purpose, but my single of the week choice this week comes from Melbourne again. I don't know what it is about that city, but it just seems to keep producing great bands, Courtney Barnett and Royston Vasie to name just a couple. I find myself back there again with the brilliant Dirt Farmer, a band that has me thinking of Dylan, Tom Petty, and more recently, Gringo Star. 

With a healthy mix of 60's surf and folky melodies this band look like going the way of some of their fellow Melbournites and spreading their music to a worldwide audience.

You can get more about the band from their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/dirtfarmermusic/info

Or follow them on Twitter here: 

Single Of The Week

Shut In - Strand Of Oaks

Uplifting, inspiring and cinematic, this track by Indiana's Strand Of Oaks (aka Tim Showalter) has one of those sounds that places the listener in an open top convertible meandering along a countryside road in the rain. You're at one with the elements as this atmospheric track rocks the listener into a state of utter relaxation. 

Brilliant, and no contest for this week's single of the week choice.

For more info, go to: