Live: British Summer Time Hyde Park (London, July 13th, 2019)

The National, live @ B.S.T. Hyde Park 2019 (July 13th, 2019)

The second event of our London visit was the penultimate date of the British Summer Time festival at Hyde Park, headlined by Florence + The Machine and The National.

Florence + The Machine, live @ B.S.T. Hyde Park 2019 (July 13th, 2019)

Finding a festival with the kind of line up that I would enjoy from start to finish hasn't been easy this summer, but the July 13th event in Hyde Park looked like it was tailor-made for me. First of all it was The National's presence that got the festival date on my radar as I had not seen the band live for many years (here's when was the last time), while this year's "I Am Easy to Find" is certainly one of their best albums yet as well as one of the highlights of 2019 so far.

The National, live @ B.S.T. Hyde Park 2019 (July 13th, 2019)

It's also been a long time for Florence Welch and her band (since her Athens live debut at Synch 2009 festival), so this was a good opportunity to see her in her hometown, but what closed the deal for me was the fine line up of support acts that ensured this was a festival date we would enjoy from start to finish. And as Florence pointed out during her set, the event's line up was 70% women ("Welcome to the matriarchy!" as she jokingly said), a rarity for festivals these days, although it's clear that women are responsible for a large percent of the best new music around.

Welcome to the matriarchy: Florence + The Machine, headlining B.S.T. Hyde Park 2019

Add to the great line up, the fine weather of that weekend (no rain and no heatwave either) and what you get is a great festival day filled with fine music in one of London's finest parks. Here's what else we enjoyed until The National and Florence + The Machine performances closed the day:

Cherry Glazerr

Cherry Glazerr, live @ B.S.T. Hyde Park 2019 (July 13th, 2019)

Clementine Creevy and her band came on the main stage around 13:30 for a strong 30-minute set, a fine blast of 90's indie-rock influenced guitar music, culled mainly from their recent album "Stuffed & Ready".

Goat Girl

Goat Girl, live @ B.S.T. Hyde Park 2019 (July 13th, 2019)

Goat Girl's debut was one of the highlights of 2018 and we had the opportunity to enjoy several tracks from it early in the afternoon at BST's second stage.

Nadine Shah

Nadine Shah, live @ B.S.T. Hyde Park 2019 (July 13th, 2019)

Back on the main stage it was time for Nadine Shah and her excellent five-piece band who presented us one of the strongest sets of the day, based mainly on her 2017 album "Holiday Destination". If I am not mistaken, we also got to hear a couple of new songs as well. In any case, after this great performance we are certainly looking forward to her next releases.

Let's Eat Grandma

Let's Eat Grandma, live @ B.S.T. Hyde Park 2019 (July 13th, 2019)

Childhood friends Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth have great chemistry together and the fun of their modern electropop sound is certainly infectious. Their dance routines during some of their songs is something else!

Blood Orange / Lykke Li

Blood Orange, live @ B.S.T. Hyde Park 2019 (July 13th, 2019)

Lykke Li, live @ B.S.T. Hyde Park 2019 (July 13th, 2019)

Dev Hynes' Blood Orange presented their latest work "Negro Swan" adding some R&B flavors on the main stage's proceedings, while Sweden's Lykke Li brought to Hyde Park the melancholic pop of her last year's album "So Sad So Sexy". Having seen her set last summer at Gothenburg's Way Out West we took the opportunity to have a lie down in the park and gather our strength for what was to come.

Aldous Harding

Aldous Harding, live @ B.S.T. Hyde Park 2019 (July 13th, 2019)

New Zealander Aldous Harding is responsible for one of our favorite folk albums of 2019, the excellent "Designer", and along with her four-piece band she presented us one of the finest sets of the festival on the second stage, featuring one of our top songs of the year, the wonderful "The Barrel".

The National

The National, live @ B.S.T. Hyde Park 2019 (July 13th, 2019)

Back on the main stage it was time for The National. The band has book-ended this decade with perhaps their two greatest albums, 2010's "High Violet" and 2019's "I Am Easy to Find", they are undoubtedly one of the finest live acts around and as this awesome 90-minute set proved, this year is a great time to catch them live. They played highlights from most of their albums and of course presented us their latest work accompanied by four excellent singers, Gail Anne Dorsey, Mina Tindle, Lisa Hannigan and Eve Owen.

Khruangbin

Khruangbin, live @ B.S.T. Hyde Park 2019 (July 13th, 2019)

Khruangbin's mostly instrumental set closed proceedings on the second stage and were also joined by Dev Hynes for one song. More about the Texan trio's blend of psychedelia, surf, soul and dub on our next post about Ejekt Festival as a few days later we watched them again in Athens.

Florence + The Machine

Florence + The Machine, live @ B.S.T. Hyde Park 2019 (July 13th, 2019)

I may not be the biggest fan of "High As Hope", Florence + The Machine's fourth album, but undoubtedly Florence is an excellent performer and a great vocalist, so her headlining performance at Hyde Park (her second time on this stage) was certainly an entertaining experience. Full of energy and emotion, she presented a set covering all her albums so far and celebrated the ten years of hard work that brought her to the enviable position of topping this great bill here, in her hometown. A triumphant show to close the promotion of her latest album in the UK, before some rest and more headlining sets, this time in Athens, under the Acropolis.

BST 2019 highlights including The National, Aldous Harding, Nadine Shah, Goat Girl and Cherry Glazerr

Listening Habits 03-05.2019

In about a month’s time we’ll be taking a look at all the new releases that stood out in the first half of the year, but in the meantime here’s our long overdue "Listening Habits" post with our favorite albums and tracks for Spring 2019:

The debut album of the year so far came by the Irish post-punk outfit Fontaines D.C., a band we had the opportunity to see up close in action last December and our high expectations were more than satisfied by the refreshingly powerful and at the same time wonderfully tuneful "Dogrel", a record that reminded me of the thrill of hearing for the first time The Strokes or The White Stripes (not to go too far back in time). In different times for rock music Fontaines D.C. would be climbing the pop charts and headlining festivals in no time. As things stand, they are a prime example that punk rock remains a source of motivation and inspiration for young musicians four decades after the big bang of the mid-seventies.

Another great record of the last few months was The National’s "I Am Easy To Find" who eight albums into their magnificent discography managed to produce another career highlight, their best effort since their break-out album "High Violet". Matt Berninger here shares vocal duties with a stunning array of female vocalists including Lisa Hannigan, Sharon Van Etten, Mina Tindle, Gail Ann Dorsey and Kate Stables, adding another viewpoint to the songs and enriching their effect. The accompanying short film by Mike Mills, starring Alicia Vikander, is also excellent and you should definitely check it out.

Our top albums of Spring 2019 also include the sophomore LP by Snapped Ankles, who go from strength to strength with the Kraut-rock influenced, post-punk gem "Stunning Luxury", Priests’ "The Seduction Of Kansas", also a second effort that builds on the strength of a very promising debut, and "Designer", a folk-influenced treat of melodic delights by New Zealander Aldous Harding with John Parish on production duties.

Also, in a year filled with many interesting returns from artists and bands who we’ve been following for decades, we must emphasize that Royal Trux with "White Stuff" have produced one of their most satisfying albums, their eleventh full-length in a singular 30-year career of deranged rock’n’roll but first one since 2000, while Bob Mould, who never went away since our first introduction way back in the Husker Du days, has made one his top solo efforts with the fiery "Sunshine Rock", his 13th album under his own name.

Top 20 Albums

1.   Dogrel - FONTAINES D.C.
2.   I Am Easy To Find - THE NATIONAL
3.   Stunning Luxury - SNAPPED ANKLES
4.   White Stuff - ROYAL TRUX
5.   Sunshine Rock - BOB MOULD
6.   The Seduction Of Kansas - PRIESTS
7.   Designer - ALDOUS HARDING
8.   Serfs Up! - FAT WHITE FAMILY
9.   It's Real - EX HEX
10. Dusty Notes - MEAT PUPPETS
11. Lux Prima - KAREN O & DANGER MOUSE
12. Ladytron - LADYTRON
13. De Facto - LORELLE MEETS THE OBSOLETE
14. Psychedelic Country Soul - THE LONG RYDERS
15. I Used To Be Pretty - THE FLESH EATERS
16. You Won't Get What You Want - DAUGHTERS
17. The Unseen In Between - STEVE GUNN
18. On The Line - JENNY LEWIS
19. Silver Dollar Moment - THE ORIELLES
20. Art Of Doubt - METRIC

Top 20 Tracks

1.   The Barrel - ALDOUS HARDING
2.   You Had Your Soul With You - THE NATIONAL
3.   Big - FONTAINES D.C.
4.   Jesus’ Son - PRIESTS
5.   Tough Enough - EX HEX
6.   White Stuff - ROYAL TRUX
7.   Tailpipe - SNAPPED ANKLES
8.   Feet - FAT WHITE FAMILY
9.   Deadzone - LADYTRON
10. Woman - KAREN O & DANGER MOUSE
11. Lineas En Hojas - LORELLE MEETS THE OBSOLETE
12. Lost Faith - BOB MOULD
13. Warranty - MEAT PUPPETS
14. Psychedelic Country Soul - THE LONG RYDERS
15. Red Bull & Hennessy - JENNY LEWIS
16. Risk - METRIC
17. Let Your Dogtooth Grow - THE ORIELLES
18. Vagabond - STEVE GUNN
19. Black Temptation - THE FLESH EATERS
20. The Reason They Hate Me - DAUGHTERS

New Releases: February 2019

February might be the shortest month of the year but there was certainly no shortage of interesting new releases as you can see in our selection below:

Albums

BOB MOULD - Sunshine Rock
CHERRY GLAZERR - Stuffed and Ready
EX:RE - Ex:Re
LADYTRON - Ladytron
TEETH OF THE SEA - Wraith
SLEAFORD MODS - Eton Alive
UNLOVED - Heartbreak
DESPERATE JOURNALIST - In Search of the Miraculous
PIROSHKA - Brickbat
THE LONG RYDERS - Psychedelic Country Soul
LEMONHEADS - Varshons 2
JULIANA HATFIELD - Weird
GUIDED BY VOICES - Zeppelin Over China
BEIRUT - Gallipoli
PANDA BEAR - Buoys
HEALTH - Vol 4 - Slaves of Fear
GIRLPOOL - What Chaos Is Imaginary
HOLIDAY GHOSTS - West Bay Playroom
DRENGE - Strange Creatures
DU BLONDE - Lung Bread For Daddy
SPELLLING - Mazy Fly
JULIA JACKLIN - Crushing
JESSICA PRATT - Quiet Signs
TINY RUINS - Olympic Girls
FEELS - Post Earth
MERCURY REV - Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete Revisited
THE BANGLES / THE THREE O’ CLOCK / THE DREAM SYNDICATE AND RAIN PARADE - 3 × 4
THE SPECIALS - Encore
IAN BROWN - Ripples
CASS McCOMBS - Tip of the Sphere
XIU XIU - Girl with Basket Of Fruit
THE YOUNG GODS - Data Mirage Tangram
MXMJOY - P.E.A.C.E.
KING MIDAS SOUND - Solitude
INTERNATIONAL TEACHERS OF POP - International Teachers of Pop
MURRAY A LIGHTBURN - Hear Me Out
MARTIN FRAWLEY - Undone at 31
JAMES YORKSTON - The Route to the Harmonium
THE UNTHANKS - Lines - Parts One, Two and Three
HALF JAPANESE - Invincible
THE TELESCOPES - Exploding Head Syndrome
SUNWATCHERS - Illegal Moves
ANDY BURROWS AND MATT HAIG - Reasons To Stay Alive
RUSTIN MAN - Drift Code
METHYL ETHEL - Triage
YAK - Pursuit of Momentary Happiness
MOTORPSYCHO - The Crucible
SIX BY SEVEN - The World Hates Me And The Feeling Is Mutual
BIS - Slight Disconnects
HONEY LUNG - Memory
SPIELBERGS - This Is Not The End
LE BUTCHERETTES - bi/MENTAL
MICHAEL CHAPMAN - True North
GEMMA RAY - Psychogeology
NIVHEK - After its own death / Walking in a spiral towards the house
COSEY FANNI TUTTI - Tutti
JIM JARMUSCH AND JOZEF VAN WISSEM - An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil
DEER TICK - Mayonnaise
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - Electric Lady Sessions
THE WEDDING PRESENT - Marc Riley Sessions Volume 3

Singles & EPs

FLAT WORMS - Into the Iris EP
THESE NEW PURITANS - Into the Fire
ALDOUS HARDING - The Barrel
CHROMATICS - Time Rider
STRAWBERRY PILLS - Verbal Suicide
BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE - Let’s Try the After Vol. 1 EP
NOV3L - Novel EP
SOCCER MOMMY - Blossom (demo) / Be Seeing You
PENELOPE ISLES - Chlorine
MAN AND THE ECHO - A Capable Man
COLLATE - Communicate / Selective Memory
THE EMPTY PAGE - When The Cloud Explodes
THE SAXOPHONES - Singing Desperately Suite
REV MAGNETIC - Gloaming
TOMMY GUERRERO - Dub Tunes EP
CHERUSHII & MARIA MINERVA - Cherushii & Maria Minerva EP
ZERO 7 - Aurora / Mono
MAJOR MURPHY - Lafayette EP

One of the best new tracks we've heard in February was Aldous Harding's "The Barrel", the first single off her forthcoming third album "The Designer". The video is also great and you can check it out below:

Aldous Harding - The Barrel