Wednesday 30 June 2010

Glastonbury


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.




Thursday 10 June 2010

Wednesday 9 June 2010

The Demise of Kelis

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.

Monday 7 June 2010

Gary Low is my new hero.


Best face/voice combo ever. Ultimate win.

Sunday 6 June 2010

MELT! Festival 2010, July 16-18th.


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.




1000 Robota
A-Trak
An Horse
Ata DJ-Set
Audiolith Pferdemarkt
Autokratz
Ben Klock OstGut / DJ-Set
Beta
Black Mountain
Black Rose Henrik Schwarz & Jesse Rose live
Blood Red Shoes
Bonaparte
Booka Shade
Boris Panorama Bar Resident
Bratze
Broken Bells
Carl Craig & Mike Banks
Chris Cunningham DJ-/VJ-Set
Chromeo
Clues
Crookers
Danger
Daniel Haaksman
Darwin Deez
Delphic
Die Sterne
Dirty Disco Youth
Dirty Projectors
DJ Pete Berghain Resident
DJ Shadow
dOP
Douster
Edu K
Egotronic
Ellen Allien
Empro
Ewan Pearson
Fake Blood
Fieber-Tanzparty
Fiedel Berghain Resident
Foals
Four Tet
Fred Falke live
Friendly Fires
Frittenbude
Fucked Up
Futureheads
Get Well Soon
Goldfrapp
Groove Armada
Health
Hemmann & Kaden live
Hercules And Love Affair
Holy Ghost! live
Hurts
Ja, Panik
Jackmaster
Jamaica
Jamie Lidell
Jamie T
Jamie XX
Johnossi
Jónsi
Joris Voorn live
Karrera Klub
Kele
King Kong Kicks
Kings of Convenience
Kode 9 vs. Martyn
Kraushaar & Gradmann Weekend-DJs
Les Yper Sound
Lindstrøm & Christabelle
Mala
Marcel Dettmann OstGut
Marcel Fengler Berghain Resident
Marius Funk
Markus Kavka
Martina Topley-Bird
Massive Attack
Matias Aguayo & Band
Matthias Tanzmann
Melt!Selektor Stage
Midlake
Miike Snow
Modeselektor feat. Bonaparte
Monika Kruse
ND Baumecker
Nick Höppner Berghain Resident
Norman Nodge Berghain Resident
Oliver Koletzki
OstGut Ton Meltdown
Pantha Du Prince
Philipp Poisel
Popof live
Post War Years
Prosumer Panorama Bar Resident
Radio & Fernseh
Revolver Club
Ricardo Villalobos
Riton DJ-Set
Roman Flügel
Saalschutz
Sascha Funke
Schlachthofbronx
Shed OstGut / live
Shout Out Louds
Sinden
Slagmalsklubben
Steffi Panorama Bar Resident
Sweat.X
Tama Sumo Panorama Bar Resident
Team Recorder
The Big Pink
The Very Best
The XX
Tiefschwarz
Tiga
Tobias Thomas
Tocotronic
Tommie Sunshine
Trashpop
Trip Fontaine
Turbostaat
Two Door Cinema Club
Wareika
WhoMadeWho
Yeasayer

Friday 4 June 2010

Pimp folk...


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.




Face dagger