Roisin Murphy

Primal Scream & Belle & Sebastian to headline OnBlackheath 2016

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OnBlackheath Festival in partnership with John Lewis, London’s most anticipated music, food and family festival returns this year on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 September. OnBlackheath is the ultimate weekend for standout live music with mouth-watering food and drink experiences along with a fun-filled program of entertainment for all ages. Tickets are on sale Friday 12 February and available via www.OnBlackheath.com 

Confirmed to headline the Main Stage on Saturday are Scottish rock legends Primal Scream who are on the cusp of releasing their latest studio album ‘Chaosmosis’ alongside Grammy Award winning electronic music maestros Hot Chip. Indie pop icons Belle & Sebastian to close the Festival on Sunday along with multiplatinum-selling James who are set to release their new album ‘Girl at the End of the World’.

Saturday’s line-up alongside Primal Scream and Hot Chip will be, Mercury Music Prize nominee Roisin Murphy and cool catLoneLady. Sunday sees Belle & Sebastian, and James on the main stage, along with local heroes Squeeze, and Mercury nominated singer songwriter SOAK. 

This year’s Second Stage will see the return of Heavenly Records with a promised killer line up, and new kids on the blockNTS Radio, who have been making big waves since they began broadcasting in 2011.

OnBlackheath, celebrating their third year, unveiled their 2016 line-up at an exclusive launch party DJ’d by Squeeze’s Glenn Tilbrook at the Hare & Billet pub, a stone’s throw from the festival site.

Harvey Goldsmith CBE added, “I am incredibly proud that OnBlackheath festival has reached its 3rd year returning on 10th & 11th September 2016. We’ve established ourselves as one of London’s most looked-forward to events. We pride ourselves on good music, bespoke immersive food experiences and a special day out for all the family. I am thrilled this year to introduce for the first time, the ‘Puffin World of Stories’ to the Under 12’s area, bringing to life the great Puffin authors.”

With the hottest in music and very best culinary delights, OnBlackheath offers festivalgoers a memorable experience on the historic green space of London’s Blackheath Common SE3. OnBlackheath will also feature an array of exciting attractions including the John Lewis Food Village with a  food demonstration stage coupled with celebrity chefs and an immersive dining experience. For the first time Puffin Books will be bringing to life the kid’s experience with their World of Stories across the festival. OnBlackheath embraces families as under 12s go free!

Rachel Swift, Head of Brand Marketing for John Lewis said, “For the third year running we are delighted to be supporting OnBlackheath.  It's our celebration of music, family fun and food with the John Lewis Food Village at the heart of the festival.  And if you're a my John Lewis member there's exclusive access to an array of extra treats.”

OnBlackheath has established itself as a landmark event in the London calendar and has previously presented the likes of Massive Attack, Grace Jones, Elbow, Madness, Manic Street Preachers and Kelis. Last year over 30,000 music and food lovers gathered to enjoy OnBlackheath, across the two days.

Garden Party Leeds Review

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The Garden Party is a two-day inner city festival in Leeds, set within the grounds of the Tetley Brewery. Taking place over the august bank holiday weekend the event showcased some of the finest music, food and art. Celebrating its 10th birthday (previously known as the Faversham Garden Party) the organisers teamed up with promoters Canal Mills, Chibuku, Warehouse Project, Now Wave and East Year Own Ears to curate this special edition.

Appealing to a broader spectrum of music fans the line up covered dance, electronica, disco, funk, garage and bass. Live acts included Roisin Murphy, Little Dragon, Todd Terje and Soul II Soul, alongside DJ sets from Bicep, Kerri Chandler, Heidi, Julio Bashmore, Black Coffee, Patrick Topping, Joy Orbison, B-Traits, Redlight, Preditah and the legendary Craig Charles.

There were five stages set across the Tetley site and each a stone’s throw from one another. Brightly covered bales of hay provided areas in which to socialise and soak up the atmosphere at the heat of the site. Food and drink was hosted by Leeds Indie Food Fest and offered punters an exceptionally high standard of delicious street food, craft ales and cocktails. Affordable and tasty local treats were provided by from Chicken Bang Bang, Boozy BBQ, Bánh Mì Booth, Pizza Fella, Rola Wala and the ice-cream from the coolest looking van around Northern BloC. Much to my delight it was a very mixed crowd with a range of ages, proving that the lure of good grub and without the muddy fields seems to be the way that many people want to spend their weekend. Complimenting the food and music bill was colourful temporary art installations and live drawing by local artists throughout the weekend.

Here are some of my highlights from the weekend:

Black Coffee

Black Coffee seemed to be the hot tip on every ones lips, so we headed over to The Fact stage to see what all the hype was about. Black Coffee (known as Nathi to his friends) is a multi award winning producer and superstar DJ hailing from Durban. He’s been active on the South African music scene for over a decade now, but it’s only been recently that his meteoric rise has seen him play at some of the top clubs and festivals globally.

His set was laced with tantalising tribal beats and flavoursome house, mixing up a smooth set of expertly blended tunes like Ian Pooley – Compurhythm, Mr.V – Jus Dance, Culoe De Song – Y.O.U.D and ending on the epic Chew Fu’s Purple Rain (Mousse T mix). I don’t usually hang around for a full DJ set but we couldn’t pull ourselves away for the full two hours, it was completely mesmerising and he certainly lived up the hype.

Craig Charles

On Sunday afternoon Craig Charles brought his funk soul sound to the Just A Little stage.  Such a high profile DJ was always bound to draw a big crowd and once again the tent was packed to the rafters with everyone ready to groove and shake. There were a whole host of familiar classics from rare groove and snippets of funk and soul packed into his energetic set.  He doesn’t do dj’ing by halves; the man was completely going for it, working up a sweat and working the crowd like a dream. My feet were aching from bouncing up and down at the side of the stage with the hugest of grins – the good vibes were totally infectious and everyone there was fully in on this blissful groovefest.

Preditah

Saturday afternoon saw Birmingham’s finest Preditah play to hyped crowd that spilled outside the Metropolis tent. His grimy and bassy set featured his hits Selecta, Circles, Supernaturally as well dropping 90’s and garage-influenced set of songs. We caught up with Jordan & Jamie from Leeds “Preditah was absolutely nuts, especially the first hour. It was so up-tempo and bassy and he really knows how to play the crowd.”

Todd Terje

As Sunday evening fell the main stage numbers started to swell and Norwegian disco deity Todd Terje took to the stage. His continuous live instrumental set featured his well-known songs Dolorean Dynamite, Strandbar, Swing Star and Svensk Sås. It was clear that most people in the crowd were eagerly awaiting Inspector Norse, which rightly the crowd went berserk to when he went into the extended intro. My only disappointment was that he had got rid of his amazing beard. Please Todd grow it back or at the very least breakout the sequins.

All in all this was a beautifully crafted metropolitan festival, offering an array of music, feasts and culture, making it a perfect way to spend a bank holiday weekend – well done Garden Party Leeds, you definitely know how to throw a party.

New Talents Added to the Garden Party Leeds!

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A Plethora of New Talents Added to the Garden Party Leeds!

Errors / Dutch Uncles / Honne / Lonelady / Haelos / Formation / Bernard And Edith / Whilk And Misky

August Bank Holiday Weekend, 29th – 30th
The Tetley, Hunslet Road, Leeds LS10 1JQ, Leeds
Day tickets start from just £19.50, weekend tickets from just £29.50
 www.thegardenpartyleeds.com

 

Leeds’ brand-new August bank holiday event welcomes a plethora of emerging acts for their exciting fourth stage, curated by Eat Your Own Ears & Now Wave. Saturday will see electronica 3-piece Haelos from Bow in East London perform their 2014 head-turner ‘Dust’, plus brand-new material. Joining them is the unique sounds of Whilk & Misky, a provoking infusion of techo, folk, electronica and blues, whilst Manchester’s Dutch Uncles will perform tracks from their acclaimed fourth new album ‘O Shudder’. Wrapping up Saturday is post-electro band Errors who are signed to Mogwai’s Rock Action Records label, plus a very special headliner to be announced.

 

Sunday welcomes Honne, a lo-fi, syth-heavy soul duo who will be injecting some feel-good vibes into The Garden Party along with the vintage disco sounds of duo, Formation. Joining them are Bernard & Edith, one half of Egyptian Hip Hop and whose slow and haunting vocals over lingering syths have drawn comparisons to Swedish band The Knife. Finally, Warp stalwart Lonelady will complete the fold along with a yet-to-be revealed headliner.

 

Food will feature heavily over the weekend courtesy of Leeds Indie Food Festival, featuring traders Boozy Q, Sela, The Cocktail Shack plus craft beer.

 

Other acts to feature over the weekend include Roisin Murphy, Little Dragon, Mos Def, Todd Terje, John Talabot, Julio Bashmore and more. Tickets for The Garden Party Leeds start at just £19.50 for one day and £29.50 for the weekend found at www.thegardenpartyleeds.com. Festicket will be providing a number of hotel and ticket packages from £25 pp available from http://www.festicket.com/festival/garden-party/.

 

ROISIN MURPHY / LITTLE DRAGON / YASIIN BEY AKA MOS DEF /
TODD TERJE / SOUL II SOUL / KERRI CHANDLER /
JOHN TALABOT / JULIO BASHMORE / JOY ORBISON /
BLACK COFFEE / HEIDI / GRANDMASTER FLASH / ÂME /
BICEP / REDLIGHT / PATRICK TOPPING / B.TRAITS / MR SCRUFF /
CRAIG CHARLES / SHADOW CHILD / PAUL WOOLFORD /
CHRIS LORENZO / FATIMA & THE EGLO BAND / PREDITAH / ROMARE /
PBR STREETGANG / CRAZY P SOUNDSYSTEM / FUTUREBOOGIE /
ADY SULEIMAN / PEOPLE GET REAL / ARKIVE / DISKO KID & TOBIAS /
KRYSKO & GREG LORD / THE SONIC EMPORIUM / GRAINGER /
STE ROBERTS / CHRISTIAN MAIDEN / OLI PATTEN /
 
CLUB PARTNERS:  CANAL MILLS / AFRO.CO / ZUTEKH / VOODOO / ORIGINS / MONO_CULT / KMAH RADIO / JUST A LITTLE / JOES BAKERY / DEEP FEVER / BUTTER SIDEUP / ANTICS / DROP THE MUSTARD / GOODLIFE / NOW WAVE / EAT YOUR OWN EARS / METROPOLIS

Check out Leeds latest festival The Garden Party

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As one of the north's most esteemed cultural events The Garden Party have unveiled plans to make their 10th Birthday celebrations the biggest yet. Evolving into a two day festival on 29th – 30th August at the iconic Tetley's Brewery in the Leeds city centre, The Garden Party Leeds spans a weekend of immersive art, street food and of course, musical performances from the very best live acts and DJs. 

The extensive live bill features the ultimate diva of electronica Roisin Murphy, one of the most recognised names in hip-hop Yasiin Bey AKA Mos Def, Swedish four-piece Little Dragon, Nordic king of disco Todd Terje and roots singer-songwriter Ady Suileman. The Garden Party will also welcome live performances from the favourite tea-making DJ Mr Scruff and up-and-coming Romare.

Keeping the party going on the DJ side will be John Talabot, Grandmaster Flash, Black Coffee, Innervisions co-founders Amê and funk & soul legend Craig Charles. The legendary Kerri Chandler, BBC Radio 1 regular Heidi, the Bicep boys, Paul Woolford, Redlight, Shadow Child,B.Traits, and Patrick Topping will also be performing over the bank holiday weekend.

Far more than just a music festival The Garden Party Leeds will bring to life the iconic Tetley brewery, teaming up with the creative minds at Mad Ferret. The Garden Party revellers will enjoy curated Food and Drink by Leeds Indie Food Fest, including worldwide street food, fresh stone baked pizzas courtesy of Pizza Fella, El Kantina's Mexican delights plus the Cocktail Shack. 

Dedicated to showing the talents of the north and providing a creative hub for its musicians and artist, The Garden Party Leeds will be the ten year evolution from one of the UK's most loved club promoters to a festival highlight of the summer. Tickets for The Garden Party Leeds start at just £19.50 for one day and £29.50 for the weekend. Tickets can be found at www.thegardenpartyleeds.com 

ROISIN MURPHY / LITTLE DRAGON / YASIIN BEY AKA MOS DEF /
TODD TERJE / SOUL II SOUL / KERRI CHANDLER /
JOHN TALABOT / JULIO BASHMORE / JOY ORBISON /
BLACK COFFEE / HEIDI / GRANDMASTER FLASH / ÂME /
BICEP / REDLIGHT / PATRICK TOPPING / B.TRAITS / MR SCRUFF /
CRAIG CHARLES / SHADOW CHILD / PAUL WOOLFORD /
CHRIS LORENZO / FATIMA & THE EGLO BAND / PREDITAH / ROMARE /
PBR STREETGANG / CRAZY P SOUNDSYSTEM / FUTUREBOOGIE /
ADY SULEIMAN / PEOPLE GET REAL / ARKIVE / DISKO KID & TOBIAS /
KRYSKO & GREG LORD / THE SONIC EMPORIUM / GRAINGER /
STE ROBERTS / CHRISTIAN MAIDEN / OLI PATTEN /

The Prodigy headline Sea Dance Festival along with Rudimental and more

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EXIT, TheSoundYouNeed and UKF present Sea Dance Festival, Europe's most beautiful beach festival held from 15th-18th July on Jaz Beach, Montenegro. After scooping 'Best Medium-Sized Festival' at the European Festival Awards, 2015's proceeding will be headlined by iconic dance supergroup The Prodigy in a Balkans-exclusive as well as electronica diva and former Moloko singer Roisin Murphy, plus Rudimental (DJ) who have redefined the drum n bass genre for the mainstream charts. Joining them will be British duo Sigma, genre-hopping Noisia and 'Afterglow' producer Wilkinson. Festival-goers can also expect sets from a number of underground artists including esteemed Slovenian producer Gramatik, hip hop/house fusers Bondax, Californian soul outfit Soul Clap, the master James Zabiela and over 100 more across six stages.

Serbia's legendary EXIT Festival presents their latest offering as part of their 15th Birthday celebrations – the stunning Sea Dance Festival in Montenegro. Partnering with AEI Media and their premium brands TheSoundYouNeed and UKF, Sea Dance will create the ultimate beach festival experience in Europe's hottest new party destination. With day parties at the best beach on the Adriatic, revellers can dance under the warmth of the sun with the sand in between their toes, whilst drinking cocktails at sunset and experiencing the finest purveyors in electronic music and beyond. To watch 2014's highlights visit here.

Headlining Sea Dance 2015 is The Prodigy who's rich quarter-century-long music career has made them one of the most influential bands in dance music and touts over 25 million albums sold worldwide, their most recent being their sixth studio release 'The Day Is My Enemy'. Their signature and energetic live performances are known for the mass euphoria they produce and a real coup for Sea Dance Festival who will host them for the first time in the Balkans. Joining them in a special headline slot is Roisin Murphy, one half of electronic duo Moloko and respected soloist who has been one of the key figures of the music scene since the late 90s. With unparalleled hits and music classics such as 'The Time is Now' and 'Sing it Back' and her newest EP 'Hairless Toys', Roisin has established herself as the icon of modern pop culture and her highly-anticipated premiere performance at Jaz beach will be her first in Montenegro.

Rudimental are a British drum n' bass band who's hits such as 'Waiting All Night' and 'Not Giving In' have earned them both Brit and Mercury nominations, and have made them one of the most in-demand festival acts in recent years. Joining them on the mainstage will be Sigma who have scored two number one's including 'Nobody to Love', a re-edit of Kanye West's infamous track, as well as 'Changing' with vocals from Paloma Faith. Noisia, the famous trio from Holland, are renowned for their unparalleled technical skills with their style transcending from traditional drum bass to dubstep, breakbeat and house, with releases on labels such as Jay Z's Rocnatio. Finally Wilkinson from London has been dubbed one of the most exciting young talents to come out of the genre earning a place on Andy C's prestigious Ram Records roster and not-to-mention the legendary Hospital Records. 

Representing the drum 'n bass heads are Renegade Hardware stalwarts Calyx & Teebee who will bring some serious basslines to the idyllic surroundings of Jaz Beach along with legendary three-piece Black Sun Empire and liquid dnb purveyors Fred v & Grafix. Other acts to feature at Sea Dance include the newly announced Brookes Brothers and bass-heavy Gotsome, while the young pioneer Maduk will have revellers dancing long into the night.
 
As one of the most innovative names in the game James Zabiela will bring his DJ magic to the Montenegro shores alongside New York's leading lady in house and disco Kim Ann Foxman. Bondax and alumniSnakehips will also take to the decks accompanied by the ultimate party DJ Doorly. Bringing a hip hop flavour to the Dance Paradise Stage is Brooklyn-based DJ/Producer Gramatik whose unique blend of electrothump, funk, jazz, hip hop and rnb has spawned hits such as 'Hit That Jive' whilst Seattle duo Odesza will bring some of the biggest dancefloor hits of 2014 including 'Say My Name (feat Zyra). Other acts to feature include remix king Star Slinger, French house star FKJ aka French Kiwi Juice and TCTS.
 
Known for their laid-back LA vibes Soul Clap will bring their Crew Love family to the festival providing feel-good house music ideal for the beach. The colourful Nick Monaco will join the ambassadors of Crew LovePillowtalk.

The Chemical Brothers to headline Bestival + many more announced

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With a brand new album about to drop, we are ecstatic to announce that the Chemical Brothers will be headlining Saturday night at Bestival’s Summer of Love. Longstanding favourites at Bestival HQ, we’re giddy with anticipation for an all-new live show featuring Tom Rowlands dropping the knowledge and those fat, fat beats. A colossus in dance music and leaders in club culture’s move into the mainstream, The Chemical Brothers are simply historic, and we love ‘em!

Another firm Besti-crew favourite is Underworld, who, we’re extremely pleased to say, will headline the Big Top on Thursday night as part of a UK festival exclusive for us! Currently touring their seminal Dubnobasswithmyheadman album to packed venues across the land, we’ve bagged them to kick off our epic four-day love-fest, when they’ll be proving it’s not just skyscrapers that they love.

Commenting on their opening night appearance, Underworld said: “Can't wait to be back on the Isle of Wight with the Bestival crew. Be sure to get there early to catch us on Thursday night and start the weekend as you mean to go on”.

Joining our line-up for the first time for a UK festival exclusive appearance are iconic trailblazers Duran Duran. Unstoppable as ever, the band are currently in the studio with Mr. Hudson, Mark Ronson and Nile Rodgers, putting the finishing touches on a brand new album, set for release later this year. Frontman Simon Le Bon says: “This year sees the beginning of a new Duran Duran live show. I couldn't imagine starting it with more of a bang than an appearance at Bestival.”

We’ll also have a UK festival exclusive appearance from the world’s most famous musical family, The Jacksons, and live sets from psychedelic riff merchants Tame Impala, soul-powered collective Jungle, bloc party hip-hop kings Jurassic 5, a UK exclusive from unique beat sculptor Flying Lotus, garage duo Gorgon City, who, as you’ll know, are ‘ready for your love’, genre-swerving four-piece Little Dragon; the golden voiced Roisin Murphy, and deep house don and UK singles chart-topper Duke Dumont.

And there’s plenty more live music from the likes of Kate Tempest, Jamie xx (Live), Boy Better Know, Todd Terje (live), Action Bronson, Future Islands, Level 42 , Young Fathers, Flight Facilities, Rae Morris, Jungle Brothers, The Cuban Brothers, Pond, Sleaford Mods, Fat White Family, Lapsley, Cymande, Slaves, Shura, George The Poet, Dean Blunt, Snap!, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Mr Wilson’s Second Liners, The Rajasthan Heritage Brass Band, Reggaerobics and Circus Raj.

Sharing bounteous love on the ones & twos late into the night, we’ll have the undisputed queen of Radio 1’s dance shows Annie Mac, rabble rousing as Lily Allen presents FUNLORD, plus  Kalamazoo’s coolest man Seth Troxler, musical yarn-spinners Tale of Us, first lady of bass Hannah Wants, and the unutterably brilliant Four Tet, who will not only be blowing minds when he opens The Port on Friday but will also be taking everybody that bit higher, bringing our beloved Bollywood to a close the very same night!

We’ll also have mayhem from Black Butter Presents…, sick beats from Madlib, floor-smashing goodness from Jackmaster, Joy Orbison going toe to toe with Ben UFO, cosmic techno from Guy Gerber, full signal when David Rodigan MBE presents Ram Jam, sonic adventuring from Erol Alkan, beautiful blends as erstwhile Streets man Mike Skinner presents Tonga and unknown pleasures from Andrew Weatherall.

And there’s plenty more arms in the air behaviour courtesy of SHY FX’s Party on the Moon, Mistajam presents Speakerbox, Benji B presents Deviation, Redlight, Jonas Rathsman, The Heatwave, Norman Jay MBE presents Good Times, Wookie, The Shellac Collective, Late Nite Tuff Guy, SG Lewis, Joe Hertz, World Of Rave & Music Mondays presents: Billy Daniel Bunter, Slipmatt, Rat Pack, Mark Archer (Altern-8), Kaotic Chemistry, Baby D, Liquid & Uncle Dugs, Work It DJs, Juicebox DJs and Venum Sound.

Tickets for Bestival’s Summer of Love go on sale at 10am on Thursday 12th February, and will be available through our ground breaking weekly payment plan, which lets you spread the cost of a Bestival ticket across 25 weeks for around £7 per week after your initial deposit. So there are no excuses! Join our legion of lovers now!

Live:

The Chemical Brothers / Underworld / Duran Duran / The Jacksons / Tame Impala / Jungle / Jurassic 5 / Flying Lotus / Gorgon City / Little Dragon / Roisin Murphy / Duke Dumont / Kate Tempest / Jamie xx (Live) / Boy Better Know / Todd Terje (Live) / Action Bronson / Future Islands / Level 42 / Young Fathers / Flight Facilities / Rae Morris / Jungle Brothers / The Cuban Brothers / Pond / Sleaford Mods / Fat White Family / Lapsley / Cymande / Slaves / Shura / George the Poet / Dean Blunt / Snap! / The Crazy World of Arthur Brown / Mr Wilson’s Second Liners /The Rajasthan Heritage Brass Band / Reggaerobics / Circus Raj

DJs:

Annie Mac / Lily Allen presents FUNLORD / Seth Troxler / Tale of Us / Hannah Wants / Four Tet / Black Butter Presents… / Madlib / Jackmaster / Joy Orbison / Ben UFO / Guy Gerber / David Rodigan MBE presents Ram Jam / Erol Alkan / Mike Skinner presents Tonga / Andrew Weatherall / SHY FX’s Party on the Moon / Mistajam presents Speakerbox / Benji B presents Deviation / Redlight / Jonas Rathsman / The Heatwave / Norman Jay MBE presents Good Times / Wookie / The Shellac Collective / Late Nite Tuff Guy / SG Lewis / Joe Hertz / World Of Rave & Music Mondays presents: Billy Daniel Bunter, Slipmatt, Rat Pack, Mark Archer (Altern-8), Kaotic Chemistry, Baby D, Liquid & Uncle Dugs / Work It DJs / Juicebox DJs / Venum Sound