Just got back from Glastonbury dirty, dehydrated and knackered. All good signs, obviously.
We saw a bit of music including LCD Soundsystem, The xx, Kelis, Hot Chip, Strange Boys, er Sharika, Lulu and the Lampshades (who played not once but thrice) and We Have Band to name a few…. in-between supping on pints of cider, having some mega jokes and watching people acquire some can-you-believe-that sunburn. Slip, slap, slop, jesus.
The unequivocal winner though was Stevie Wonder, who tore the house down, ripped it into little pieces infact.
The guy is a genius, a musical legend. That we knew. But I certainly didn't know about the fact that he's a fucking player. A few light-hearted comedy skits, a bit of flirting with the backing singers, an interlude where he drank a 'magic potion' to make his voice an octave higher to bring back 'Little Stevie', were just some of the effortless ways in which he charmed us.
Not to mention his pitch-perfect, vibrant performance that left us all with our mouths on the floor. Grown men were reduced to tears all around me. No one fucks with Stevie, don't believe me, watch this.
I used to listen to a lot of RnB when I was growing up in the 90's (I still do). The male side of the genre was always predictable. Man finds woman attractive. Man then goes on to sing about how he's going to give said woman the best pleasure she's ever had. Hmm.
But when it came to the female RnB singers I found there was a much more varied approach. You had the female groups/acts that would sing about heartbreak and the woes of being cheated on and then you had the women who were making empowered music that expressed their sexuality as well as making it clear that they weren't to be fucked around. Salt-n-Pepa and TLC were a good example of this.
Not suprisingly, the singers/rappers of this time were making much more emotional, real music that wasn't about fantasy or an exertion of power.
But when female artists DID start to push the boundaries as a backlash to the insulting anti-women lyrics that were being churned out - suddenly, there was a problem. Men started to feel threatened. You only have to look at Sporty Thieves 'No Pigeons' to see how one song can provoke the need for some men to assert their masculinity.
However, as an angst ridden teenager I wanted more. I wanted the emotion of Toni Braxton and En Vogue mixed with the tell-it-like-it-is attitude of TLC and Salt-n-Pepa. So, when Kelis debuted with her first single 'Caught Out There' it completely gave way to a whole new level of female empowerment.
With her constantly changing rainbow coloured hair and distinct Neptunes produced style, Kelis was someone to look up to. She was sexy but not over-sexed and, in RnB terms, she was incredibly alternative looking compared to the weavetastic, choreographed hunnies that were now starting to become the popular choice for the 00's.
But, in a male dominated industry, a song implying that you would be severely harmed if you were to ever be unfaithful was never going to be a lasting success. It was received much better in the UK than it was in America but there were many occasions in which I heard Kelis described as 'mental' or a 'bunny boiler' by male radio presenters.
As an album 'Kaleidescope' was brilliant. It was such a refreshing approach towards a genre that was now becoming more and more commercial. But unfortunately for Kelis, her look and her sound was too alternative for the RnB world and too RnB for the alternative world. So although she received respect from the critics she didn't received the success that should have come with it.
Her next album 'Wanderland' followed a similar sound and approach. Although critically acclaimed it never got the interest and promotion that it deserved. To many people she was just the crazy girl who wanted to kill her boyfriend.
So after a short hiatus, it was decided that Kelis was missing something. She needed that mass appeal without losing her destinct sound. What's the one thing that can sell anything? Oh yes. Sex.
On the front cover of her third album 'Tasty'. We see a brunette Kelis perching on top of a tall glass of ice cream. With a cherry on top. The first single, Milkshake was her most successful to date. A catchy floor-filler that was writhing in boob-bouncing, lollipop-sucking sexual innuendo.
What followed in the years to come was a Kelis who had been told that the only way she'd get anywhere was by singing about how sexy she was and all the things she was going to do to her new husband, Nas, in public.
This prostitution of someone who I really respected was sad to see. Because not only did it effect her music ('Kelis Was Here' was CRAP) but it hardly made any difference to her record sales. Kelis could never quite get 'there'.
Now, after a divorce and having a child, Kelis has been reinvented once again. This time as an amazonian trance diva.
'Flesh Tone' is a piano trance pop ballad disaster. With songs produced by big dance names like David Guetta, Boys Noize and Benny Benassi each song as a 'seague' between it so it flows like some sort of dance mix album.
Kelis has given up on selling sex, she's now going where the money lies - cheesetastic trance for the masses. We can only wait and see if this is finally what gets her the success she deserves, be it in disappointing circumstances.
Yep, it's that time again... SUMMER. I couldn't think of a more fitting festival for WASTEradio to cover than this one.
Probably most famous for its location, MELT! is set in an industrial iron museum called Ferropolis, a short distance from Berlin; surrounded by gigantic cranes and diggers whilst shaking it to A-Trak is quite an inciting prospect, really.
The music swings seamlessly between indie and all kinds of dance music, but you can be safe in the knowledge that you will most probably be toe-tapping to minimal into the early hours.
Below is the line-up and a little something, fittingly from Tiefschwarz, the German house loving brothers whose name means "deep-black" in German, remixed by Nathan Fake.
Lulu and the Lampshades are a four piece, with a magic touch and a knack for a darn good ditty.
Labelled by Rob da Bank as being at the forefront of an entirely new genre.... Anti-Folk, they certainly break the mould of boring folk music. We say they are Pimp Folk, and they're going to be the hottest ticket this summer.
Check them out at Glastonbury, Park Stage....expect a lampshade extravaganza, costume changes, the works.
Also check back soon for an interview with the band themselves.
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