pretty lights

Exit Festival 2014 Review

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Voted the ‘Best Major European Festival Award’ in 2013, we had massive expectations for Exit and now come the end of the weekend, we can tell you that our expectations where well exceeded.

With one of the biggest festival lineup’s in Europe, Exit’s headliners this year included Damon Albarn, Skrillex, Pet Shop Boys and more.

Unlike many other festivals, Exit starts off in the evening around 7 – 8pm and goes through to the early hours of 6am.

As we mentioned in our previous review, Pet Shop Boys kicked off Thursday evening in spectacular fashion, if not to the biggest crowd, but to an appreciative crowd, leaving us to ponder what the rest of the weekend would have in store for the Summer Festival Guide crew.

Disclosure also took on the revamped Dance Arena and were billed to bring their live show to the Novi Sad Castle.  However a last minute press release stated that the production duo could not do their full live show however their Wild Life themed night would go on.  Getting on the one’s and two’s Disclosure had packed out the amazing Dance Arena at Exit.  This is one of the most exciting and spine tingling arena’s at Exit due to its awesome layout and setup and it made for a perfect setting for Disclosure.  Hits such as ‘White Noise’ and ‘Latch’ had the crowd singing their hearts out but it was the end of the set with surprise hits Chic’s Le Freak’ and Outkast’s ‘Miss Jackson’ that really topped off the night.

Exit Festival wasn’t blessed with the best weather this year and it didn’t matter one bit as the crowd didnt really care and still enjoyed Exit to the fullest.  It almost resembled a typical Glastonbury!

Rudimental have featured heavily on the festival circuit this year and after a cancellation at the 2013 edition they more than made up for it at the Friday night slot.  Bringing raw energy and drawing a massive crowd to the Main Stage, the UK band smashed out hits from their “Home” album including “Waiting All Night”, “Free”, and “Not Giving In”.  Serbia was definitely treated to what we picked as one of the best live shows weekend and it really did lift the bar for what we expected by the other artists this weekend.

One of Exit’s biggest draw cards is their Back to Back sets and this year we were treated to some of the best B2B combinations we have ever witnessed.  Carl Cox & Danny Tenaglia joined forces on Friday to bring their house & techno vibe to Novi Sad.  Both Carl and Danny are legends in the electronic music scene and it was an immense pleasure to see them playing together.  As the sun set on the Dance Arena the lads had the crowd grooving from start to finish.

Other notable B2B sets that we managed to catch were Afrojack & Quintino, their high energy electro house set in the early hours of the morning keep the crowd going right up until the end.  Exit regular Green Velvet joined forces with Carl Craig to deliver a house and techno infused set pleasing those that like the harder side of electronic music.

The biggest drawcard for Exit this weekend had to be ex Blur frontman and Gorillaz head honcho Damon Albarn.  Being his first trip to Serbia, Albarn treated the packed out Main Stage crowd with tracks through his back catalogue as well as tracks from his critically acclaimed “Everyday Robots”.  Kicking off with his the chilled out “Lonely Press Play” and “Everyday Robots”, it didn’t take long before he had the crowd singing along to Gorillaz tracks “Kids with Guns” and Blur’s “All Your Life”.  However the biggest tune of his set had to be “Clint Eastwood”, Albarn really seemed to enjoy his time on the stage at Exit and his performance was one of the highlights of the weekend.

Another massive name on the festival circuit is Sonny Moore, better known by his stage name Skrillex.  Skrillex arrives slightly late to the party and already has the main stage packed out waiting to see this grammy award winning artist.  If you haven’t seen this guy live then you don’t know what your missing.  Not only is the guy like an energiser bunny on stage, but his stage presence is like no other DJ.  You would not know that its 2am when Skrillex comes on as the energy around the main stage drives you to keep moving and dancing.  Kicking off with “Try it Out”, Skrillex is already bouncing around behind the decks and instantly has the crowd moshing and going crazy.  His mixing is fast and his set is powerful and energetic and by the end of the set we are soaked with sweat.  Talking to a few people on the crowd after his set, you can tell that Skrillex delivered exactly what they came here to see.

Sunday sees the likes of Hurts, Suede and Pretty Lights take on the main stage as well as the return of Deep Dish and Jaymo vs Andy George in the Dance Arena.

Hurts kick off our night in the Main Stage and play to a packed out crowd.  This English synth pop duo have the entire crowd sing through the majority of their set with standout hits “Mercy”, “Wonderful Life”, “Excile” and encore “Better Than Love”.

We managed to catch up with grammy nominated producer Pretty Lights in London prior to his Exit performance and we made sure that we caught him on the Main Stage in his early morning slot.  Pretty Lights genre infused music is something fresh and pleasing to listen to over the huge sound rig and he rightly has a massive crowd on hand to enjoy it.

Deep Dish reformed this year after a hiatus to bring their house music to Novi Sad.  Playing in the Dance Arena they played massive set full of huge drops and fat baselines to those that ventured to see them perform.  It was great to see these guys back together as their productions were hugely popular back in the day.

Exit Festival has come a long way since its inception back in 2000 and now see’s over 200,000 people go through the gates each year.

As we walk around the festival we are gutted that its almost about to be over, the weekend has flown by and Exit has captivated us, the crowd have been amazing and the lineup even better.  It was our first Exit experience and it definitely will not be our last.  If there is one European festival that you need to experience in your lifetime then Exit should be at the top of your list.  See you in 2015!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rudimental and Kanye West review at Wireless 2014 – Saturday

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As Saturday rolls around, its been raining overnight in London but as the afternoon hits, the clouds slowly make way for sun as we hit Finsbury Park for Wireless Festival again.  As Drake cancelled, Kanye West will once again headline the London leg of Wireless and after yesterdays performance, we were hoping he might take note of the negative reviews and change things up today.

Running slightly late, a jewel encrusted mask wearing Kanye West kicks off with “Black Skinhead” and then into “I Don’t Like”.  Kanye changes things up to pay tribute to Drake who can’t be here and his deejay spins out a few Drake hits which go down really well with the public of whom most are disappointed is not here.  Kanye continues hit performance and his set is almost a replica of Friday night and we await the moment he begins his daily rant.  As “Clique” kicks in, Kanye once again pauses for a moment before telling the crowd about his issues with the media and how they portray him.  He then proceed’s to tell the crowd that they are “his clique”, and the music thunders back in as Yezzy finishes up this “Clique” verse.  There was a pattern occurring as Kanye belts through “Can’t tell me nothing”, “New Slaves”, “Power”, “Stronger” & “Runaway”.  Its at this point on Friday night Kanye kicked off his rant and the crowd was praying that he didn’t.  However this is Kanye West and he does what he wants, regardless of the boos which can surely be heard up on the stage.  As I stand by, numerous crowd goers begin to filter out stating, “I can’t believe he is doing it again”.

For me personally, the festival stage is not made for Kanye West, his sets belong in an arena.  At a time when thousands have paid to hear good music, the last thing they want to deal with is a 10 minute rant.

Rant over Kanye West, he smashes through hits, “Diamonds from Sierra Leone”, “Jesus Walks”, “Touch the Sky”, “All of the Lights” & “Bound 2”.

Overall minus the rant, you can’t knock the performance that Kanye gives, its energetic and the crowd join in to rap and sing on all his songs.

The rest of the Wireless day is packed full of massive artists and we managed to catch Rudimental, Wiz Khalifa, Labrinth, Azealia Banks and more.

London’s own Rudimental brought their full stage production to the Wireless main stage and as the sun shone down on London, the lads from London trawled through their hits “Give You Up”, “Right Here”, “Free” and their massive smash hit “Feel the love”.  Special guests John Newman and Ella Eyre joined the Rudimental boys on stage for “Not Giving In” and “Waiting All Nite” respectively.

Photo courtesty of Wireless Festival – Andrew Whitton

Wiz Khalifa brought his typical cool stage presence to the main stage and had heads bopping for the hour long set as he entertained the crowd with “Bout Me”, “Man of the Year”, “”GangBang”, “Roll Up”, “We Own It”, “Young Wild and Free” and crowd hitter “Black and Yellow”.

Another local London lad, Labrinth always knows how to work the crowd and he did just that at Finsbury Park.  Always dressed to impress, Lab’s biggest tracks of the day are “Let the Sun Shine”, “Earthquake” and “Beneath Your Beautiful”.

Over in the Pepsi Max stage, the likes of Knife Party and Pretty Lights bring draw the electronic dance music fans to the tent.  The Boombox stage also hosts D&B artist Wilkinson, as well as All About She, and girl group M.O.

So another day at Wireless Festival is over, and with Bruno Mars and Outkast to headline tomorrow there is still a hell of a lot to look forward to.  See you in the park tomorrow!

Photo courtesy of Wireless Festival – Rachael Wright

Rudimental, Tiga and more added to Sonar Barcelona 2014 lineup

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A masssive new release of artists have been added to Spains Sonar Barcelona.  Pretty Lights, Flux Pavilion, Rudimental, DJ Harvey, The Martinez Brothers, Machinedrum, Tiga, Laurel Halo, Ben Frost, Yelle and showcase from New York label L.I.E.S. are among the new additions to Sonar Barcelona 2014.

Known as Pretty Lights, Derek Vincent Smith will present a lush visual show at Sonar performing "A Color Map Of The Sun" his fourth album, nominated for best dance / electronica album at the Grammy Awards.  Pretty Lights samples and combines hip-hop, glitch and also revives funk and soul samples, all of which make him the most organic artist within the explosion of electronica in the US.

Rudimental and Flux Pavilion are two of the UK’s most popular champions in today’s commercial dance music.  Rudimental, are a London quartet focused primarily on fusing pop and drum'n'bass.  They are comprised of composers, DJ 's and producers Piers Agget, Kesi Dryden Amir Amor and DJ Locksmith.  To add to their long list of UK and European chart successes is their new, 2014 Brits Awards, triple nomination for: Best Group, Best Album and Best Single (for "Waiting All Night"), the spearhead of their meteoric rise, achieved in less than three years. Their powerful live show at Sonar will feature 12 musicians, MC's, organs, synthesizers, guitars, percussion and MPC 's.

Rudimental

Meanwhile, Flux Pavilion, aka Joshua Steele, one of the most in demand dubstep producers and DJ’s in Britain, will present live, his sonic palette of sweeping hyperbolic bass lines.  As well as remixing the likes of M.I.A. and Skrillex, the 24-year-old Flux Pavillion also sings and plays a variety of instruments.  Over the last five years this versatility has seen him perform around the world, earning him the respect from both the industry and public alike.

With a completely new show the awe-inspiring Yelle aka singer -songwriter Julie Budet (a genuine star of electro-synth pop and one of the most internationally successful modern French artists) will present her charismatic personality during the live performance of her much-anticipated third album.  She will do so in the company of her band composed of DJs Grand Marnier (Jean François Perrier) and Tepr (Tanguy Destable).

 
Exemplary careers in the history of electronica
There will be no shortage of DJ heavyweights: Tiga, (one of the most important figures of electronica to come out of Canada) has been given the responsibility of closing this year’s festival on Saturday night.  DJ Harvey wizard in the realm of disco, house, garage, electro and cosmic rock will present his usual master class, and The Martinez Brothers, the new ambassadors of New York house music, who are responsible for revitalising the genre.

Also from the Big Apple the raw and minimalist electronica labelL.I.E.S. will present their showcase.  In just three years L.I.E.S. has built an impressive catalogue, already an international benchmark for low-fi house and techno. Label chief Ron Morelli will perform his first album live. Meanwhile, Svengalisghost, (alias of Marquis Cooper) will present its dystopian, paranoiac and noir sound that includes flawless hooks of acid, house, techno and EBM.  Cooper manipulates cassette tapes and uses old editing techniques and methods to distort the sound from a turntable.

Ben Frost, the renowned Australian experimental electronic artist living in Iceland has directed operas, composed music for the theatre, dance, visual arts and cinema.  At Sonar he will present his new album supported by his on stage band, providing guitars, several large amplifiers and various electronic devices in order to share his post- classical, noise, post-rock, drone and dark metal music.

 
Sonar 's commitment to new talent
Emerging artists like Machinedrum, UZ, Recondite and Alizzz will also represent new talent. 

American Travis Stewart, better known as Machinedrum (who has reinvented drum'n'bass and is one of the main advocates for the revival of jungle and it’s hybridization process with the Chicago footwork sound) will come to Sonar to present his "Vapor City Live Show" the live version of his new album. A visual concept album released on Ninja Tune, each track represents an imaginary city district.  "Vapour City" transports itself to the stage with Machinedrum’s own vocals and guitar, with percussion by Lane Barrington and visuals from the Weirdcore collective.

In recent years, American Laurel Halo has created her own unique sound: lush, avant-garde, electronic and experimental, inspired by the minimalist music of Steve Reich, Detroit techno, science fiction and experiences from 6 months spent in Thailand.  Halo experiments and shifts between techno, ambient, synth pop, drum machines, samplers, her voice, pianos, guitars and violins, among many other elements.  "Quarantine", released on Hyperdub in 2012, was selected as ‘album of the year’ by the prestigious magazine, Wire. In 2013 there followed EP "Behind The Green Door" and the album "Chance of Rain". It was material in which she abandoned her more experimental vocal treatments to concentrate in more depth, on the techno roots of her music.

The mysterious UZ is a true icon of trap, not only for his incredible talent but also for the mystery surrounding him.  Never showing his face, his identity is unknown.  His tracks are raw and minimalist, powerful and magnetic and his dexterity with bass lines sets him apart from other same genre artists.

Visionist, also known as Louis Carnell, has for some time been earmarked by the specialised press, as one of the most promising and intriguing artist’s in today’s British electronica. At Sonar he will present his unique take on the grime sound, including the ethereal elements, which place him at the forefront of the genre.

Recondite, aka German Lorenz Brunner is a staple artist of the current Berlin scene and a producer noted for his sensitivity to the deeper, melancholic and intimate side of electronica.   At Sonar he will present "Hinterland", his second album, inspired by the ecosystem of Bavaria and released on Ghostly International.  It is an album of slow techno and house, with frozen and bleak textures.

From the global sound arena, the Angolan DJ Nigga Fox is an artist exploring contemporary electronic music produced in the suburbs of Lisbon. It is dance music that draws ancient influences from Portuguese – African Diaspora like Funaná (a rapid accordion driven rhythm), Kizomba or Tarrachinha (slow and sensual) as well as the more contemporary sound of Kuduro, a type of tribal house with MC’s rapping vocal parts.

On a local level, Barcelonan Alizzz (alias of Cristian Quirante) is already one of 2014’s rising stars.  With an EP release on none other than Diplo’s Mad Decent label, he is one of the most talked about names of the year.  Counting influences as diverse as techno and 90’s hard rock, his music adds vitality and excitement by merging hip-hop and r&b, to produce an entirely contemporary, epic and danceable sound.