Hello, I’ve just got back from Wychwood Festival;
Wychwood is family friendly, civilised and intimate by your average festivals standards, but that doesn’t mean it is only for familys or is in any way boring. Set against a backdrop of rolling Cotswold hills on the Cheltenham race course the site is small enough to walk from one end to the other easily without breaking too much of a sweat or requiring any maps. There are three stages The Independent( Main) the Big Top and the BBC Introducing, as well as a new fourth arena, run by students from the University of Gloucestershire; The Pomme Stage. Here in lies the real joy of Wychwood, you can walk from stage to stage with no scrumming, losing of friends or collapsing due to sheer exhaustion and peruse all the bands you want to see with ease. The other 
thing about Wychwood that really appeals to me is that its not dominated by huge headliners and so is a fantastic opportunity to check out bands on their way up and see them in an intimate setting just before they hit the big time. The bill this year runneth over with really exciting new bands who are just on the cusp of hugeness, see The Arcardian Kicks, Out Like a Lion,The Epstein, The Travelling Band and 6 Day Riot to name just a few. Having said that there was no shortage of legendary headliners this year with “ ultimate festival band” the Levellers headlining Friday, The Lightening Seeds and The Happy Mondays ( minus Bez) on Saturday, moving along to Seth Lakeman and festival veterans Dreadzone who got the crowd in a frenzy as Sunday night rolled to a close. The sun shone almost all weekend and the little downpour on Sunday didn’t dampen anyones spirits. In fact judging by the surreal shape throwing and crazy raving going on till the early hours of Monday morning in the Silent Disco it was just the refreshing shower needed to revive us for the final push to the end. Each year just gets better and better, bring on Wychwood 2011.
I was working at Wychwood FM and so for me personally the weekend passed in a glorious sunny, funny haze of interviews. The flip side of which meant that sadly I didn’t get to catch all the bands I would have liked to. Things got off to a pretty spectacular start when we interviewed The Travelling band whilst travelling on their van, it was a truly surreal and psychedelic experience, I asked them what it is about Manchester that produces such good musicians- what I really should have asked them was what is it about Manchester that produces such complete nutters?
Having said that they were nuts in the most charming and amusing way possible and they also happen to be one of the most exciting live bands around at the moment, so I guess the two things go hand in hand, a touch of the genius/insanity paradigm methinks. My favourite quote from travelling Steve was “I have fun all the time that’s why I’m so sad”-that’s some deep shit right there.
Another bunch of nutty but lovely lads were the Rusty Shackles from Wales. Another chaotic but highly enjoyable interview ensued; they are also worth checking out.
Less nutty but no less exciting musically were The Arcadian Kicks as I mentioned earlier who’s debut album has been produced by Mike Chapman of Blondie, Parallel lines fame. They told me they were big Fleetwood Mac fans which got another thumbs up from me. It looks like they have the whole package to go on to huge tings, there is more buzz about them than a honey soaked beehive. ( see pic left)
Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer did me the great honour of guesting on my show; he wanted to sing a song about crack cocaine but sadly due to broadcasting regulations that wasn’t possible. Instead he charmed us all with his song about a chap named “Timothy” please do watch him on you tube the man is a legend.( see pic right)
I also interviewed Mark from The Levellers, a great honour again as the Levellers was the first album I ever bought and I was a huge fan (when I was 12 at least). I think interviewing Shaun Ryder and The Happy Mondays was probably my highlight as they’re such an influential band of legendary status, I was a little star struck. Shaun is notoriously difficult but I managed to win him over I think, probably because he could see I was a fan.
I also want to give a special mention to Out Like a Lion, a Bristol and Bath band destined for greatness ( just ask the BBC Introducing team if you don’t believe me). And Dreadzone who were charming and rocked the crowd with their own dub, ragga, hip hop, dancehall and un-genre-able grooves-a stonkingly good finale.
Thats all for now,
Love Milly x
( with The Arcadian Kicks in an English country garden)
Hello Friends,
Saturday. Accompanied by live bands, street performance, face painting and of course live graffiti. Shiny, happy people as far as the eye could see wandered the streets flitting from band to band. The only dark cloud was my personal disappointment at not being able to get in to see the bands in the evening as I left it too late to get a ticket for the latter part of the day. I was gutted as I’d been looking forward to seeing local band Gecko tear it up in their bluesy, ska infected, pop/punk style. In fact I was so sad I had to be consoled with an ice cream on the way home. I also took solace in my new vintage leopard print coat that I happened upon in the park, quite a random purchase on a swelteringly hot day you may think, but hey its a classic and I m sure Horizon VU Music’s newest addition Christine Olhman would approve.
There are some things that never go out of style, true classics endure passing fads and frivolous fashions. Things like rich soulful vocals, blues guitars, rock and roll, red lipstick and of course leopard print coats. Just check out the new release from Christine Ohlman – Deep cuts if you are in any doubt.
South and Pauline Black and The Selector and loads more amazing bands, too many to mention here. I am incredibly excited and am assured we have full access to all the artists so watch this space.
I can remember the first time I heard Kissy Sellout on the radio and thinking “wow!” His style is truly innovative and blends an insane mix of every kind of music I’ve ever been into; rock, rave, grunge, grime, happy hardcore, wonky, drum and bass, acid house, indie, electro… I could go on listing almost every genre from the last thirty years, but you get the idea. I’ve listened to his late night shows for years but never seen him live. To say I was a bit excited about seeing him DJ at Subtone would be an understatement.
I just watched this 
“Are you a mod or a rocker?” Ringo Star-“I’m a mocker.”And so am I after experiencing the best night out at 
last Saturday however, I had not yet been along to one of these monthly(ish) nights being put on by vinyl obsessive, party enthusiasts Pavinyl and Nick (Solidkick) Buckle.
“Make sure you know what your trying to say before you start anything” that comes from a BBC journalist tutorial. Well I don’t know what I’m trying to say but I’m going to say it anyway.
plays the best music; a mature yet alternative mix of, classic, underground, independent obscure and cutting edge sounds presented by intelligent adults with knowledge, wit, style and passion. I’ve been listening to it as I’ve been writing this and Steve Lamacq has played tracks from Broken Bells, Flowered Up, Mumford and Sons and Delphic and now ACDC- where else? I ask you. For me it represents quality programming that effortlessly combines culture and entertainment with educational value (for music geeks like me anyway). That’s why I pay my license fee. As the anger subsides and a tear rolls down my cheek, I salute you Mr Lamacq sir, and all the presenters on 6 Music, you are an inspiration to me.
I had a very exciting night last weekend. I was asked to be on the judging panel at The Door’s Undiscovered Youth Talent Contest in Stroud. It was a real honour and very humbling as my expectations were exceeded ten-fold. Here is the review I wrote for After Dark Magazine:
Thirteen year old Ellie Higgs(winner of best original composition-pictured left) truly stood out as a singer and songwriter with individual character and enormous potential .She’s already nailed the elusive skill of being able write and perform with an emotional honesty that almost moved me to tears!(I said almost I’m not Cheryl Cole.)There was a wealth of talented female vocalists and a few really good bands particularly indie-rockers The Envy(pictured right) who won Best Band, and Inkerman Street who performed a rousing cover of a BB King song
(all aged between fifteen and eighteen).
This week I’ve been very busy producing and presenting the drive time slot on Stroud FM. It’s very different to making my own music shows, where essentially I compile a playlist of brilliant music and then witter on about how much I love each track, throwing in some fascinating facts (usually found on that ever reliable source of true information-Wikipedia).Drive time is a more current affairs and local interest based show intended to serve the community-not just the fringe of muso geeks I aim my usual shows at. It’s been a real challenge and great fun. In the last week I’ve interviewed the winner of the Chinese X-factor, the Oscar and Bafta nominated filmmakers behind ‘Mugabe and the White Africa’, some graffiti Artists, a bird specialist, an environmental expert and many others. I’ve also played some terrible (and some great) songs thanks to the specially compiled ‘drive-time mix cd’s’ . I actually played Disco Inferno twice in one show-aargh the shame! I also have to admit I accidently played the Kooks-I hang my head in shame. And so it is with great pleasure I return home put my feet up and listen to some music that I actually like.
that doesn’t contain Delphic (along with Ellie Goulding). So the question is should you believe the hype? I would say probably, yes. It’s right up my proverbial street. It’s yet another “indie-dance” outfit, but done with originality and style. It’s got me thinking when is there going to be a satisfactory name for this genre of music? It started out being called Nu-rave,a slightly derogatory term that became synonymous with asymmetric hairstyles, colourful skinny jeans and style over substance. There’s indie-dance, indietronic(!),electro rock, dance/ rock fusion and many other silly and irritating labels being bandied about(I do it too). What about post dance? I just don’t know. It’s quite important to me as most of the music I listen to falls into this bracket. I feel like a tosser when people ask me what sort of music I like or play. I usually just say-“everything really” after fumbling about with some awkward adjectives for ten minutes “You know, funky, electro-ish type indie/rocky-esque, sort of like…”.Pathetic really.
They describe themselves as “a disco-rock trio”, claim they “wear their influences like a flak jacket” and reckon they sound like elephants. Elephants? Well they sound immense ,that’s true. If elephants are fans of funkily fervoured melodies and butt kicking basslines ,then yes elephants. Using not one but three diverse vocalists (boy/girl/boy) they have a new album in the wings called ‘WHB’ released on April 5, the album was produced by 
on their previous (somewhat quiet) success. I hope so. They have all the oddball angularity of The Knife with the irresistible catchiness of say ABBA. That’s a good thing.
Lo-fi indie rocky stuff,with a post-punk feel to it .They are very young but you wouldn’t know it from their song writing. Without fancy production polish to persuade you they simply rely on witty lyrics and well played notes that form good songs. What could be more straightforward?
Mid January is traditionally known as the most depressing, dreary and mind numbingly boring time of year. All the clubs are as empty as our bank accounts, the weather is less spectacular winter wonderland and more drizzly, grey and insipidly dull. Lacking in sunlight, fatter and poorer, the summer seems a long way away. It doesn’t even bear thinking about recent world news, the general destruction of the planet, the credit crunch and the general doomed outlook for humanity. But hey don’t let all that silly stuff get you down there’s a golden lining to the January shaped cloud, and that is all the new music out this year to look forward to-HURRAH!
Puritans new album “Hidden”. It’s the best track I’ve heard in a long time-bass heavy, percussion lead terrifyingly dark and dramatic. It has received enraptured reviews, and is being heralded as a masterpiece. I read the reviews and was slightly concerned it couldn’t live up to them, but it does.
having their demo picked out by Steve Lamaq at the start of 2009. They’ve secured a record deal and their new album(judging by this song) looks set to deliver the goods.
Again Marina is not so much a new artist but an artist with a new sense of confidently accomplished tracks to match her early promise. Everyone is tipping her for chart topping success this year akin to the lovely Florence last year (they’re not dissimilar in style either).
