First Wave Of Bands Announced For Glastonbury

Glastonbury organisers have unveiled the first wave of bands set to take to the Worthy Farm stage in June this year.

This morning (29/03/2016) Glastonbury Festival released a huge list of bands who will play at the iconic event. The bands include: New Order, The 1975, Kurt Vile, Grimes, The Last Shadow Puppets, Beck, Wolf Alice, ELO, PJ Harvey and LCD Soundsystem.

This years three headliners - already announced - are Adele, Muse and Coldplay. Jeff Lynne's ELO will play the "legendary" Sunday afternoon slot which in recent years has been filled by Dolly Parton, Lionel Ritchie and Kenny Rogers.  Elsewhere, The Syrian National Orchestra, whose members have had to flee their native land, are also set to perform having already planned a concert with Damon Albarn on the 25th of June in London.

For the full list of bands (see poster) visit www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk 

Latitude Festival

Latitude Festival Announces First Wave Of Bands

This week, Latitude Festival announced the first wave of bands set to play at the festival in Suffolk.

The Maccabees will perform their first ever headline set on the Friday night while The National's headline set will be their only UK appearance this year and New Order will close the festival having the luxury to dip into a substantial back catalogue. 

The three bands will play at the Obelisk Arena at Henham Park in Southwold, Suffolk form the 14th - 17th of July.

The announcement gave us all three headliners which include; The Maccabees, The National and New Order. Alongside these bands the likes of: Chvrches, Grimes, Courtney Barnett, Kurt Vile, Daughter and Brit Award nominee Father John Misty are on the bill in July. 

Tickets for a full weekend pass cost £197.50
Tickets can be purchased here

Spotify Playlist 17/12/2015

Spotify Playlist
17/12/15

Every week, The Real Thing's SPOTIFY playlist will update with songs from bands who have featured in the recent posts and songs that you should be listening to.

This week we have tracks from the likes The Psychedelic Furs, Archy Marashall, King Krule, Kurt Vile, JAWS and LoneLady. 

Next Thursday the playlist will update once again! 

To listen to the playlist click HERE . 

Kurt Vile - B'lieve I'm Goin' Down

Kurt Vile 

B’lieve I’m Goin Down

Kurt Vile the singer/songwriter from Philadelphia is known for his blend of folk and psychedelic rock. This mix of genre is at the forefront of his latest record ‘B’lieve I’m Goin Down’. Opening track ‘Pretty Pimpin’ is a very summery song you can imagine hearing walking down an American street bathed in sunlight. However, once it finishes, the energy level – which isn’t too high to start with - drops dramatically in tandem with Vile’s vocal delivery. Once this energy is lost the album loses impact and slowly drifts away.

The vocal delivery sounds lazy and low key almost as if no effort has been put in. It’s very subtle and feels like it’s been pushed to the side. The issue with not only dropping the energy level lower is putting Vile at the front of these songs. He doesn't’ come across as the most riveting guy in the world. In no way does the music leave a lasting impression. However there are at least a handful of moments where the lyrics are very telling in a personal way. For instance on the song ‘Lost My Head There’. Musically it’s very easy going which is all well and good but it needs to be topped with better vocals.

Lyrically, it’s very empty and meaningless. Even on ‘Kidding Around’, which is arguably the most poignant moment on the album. His song-writing process is clear here. He appears to say something meaningful but actually he’s just kidding around. At no point on the record is there a stand-out line that makes you react and take note. It’s very casual. And it doesn’t make any lasting impressions. 

5/10