This is taken from the BBC coverage, where they get artists to perform in their studio on site. Amazing music at one of my favourite places on the planet.

Alela Diane is one of my favourite artists. The progression from ‘The Pirate’s Gospel’ to ‘To Be Still’ was incredible, and yet both records remain ridiculously good in their own right. I manage to see her perform at Glastonbury 09 and lived up to all of my expectations, she even threw a Neil Young cover into her setlist, which can only ever be a good thing.

This is her collaboration with Alina Hardin (http://www.myspace.com/alinaestelle) who is another great artist in her own right. I feel that these two singers bounce off each other really well, their vocals create an atmospheric feel, which could be said as being somewhat haunting. This EP shows off both Alela and Alina’s vocal and songwriting prowess.

Alela Diane, a Nevada City, CA native grew up on folk music, where picking and singing folk songs with her family was the equivalent of attending Sunday mass.  As she got of wandering age, she ventured off to Paris to write her first album Pirate’s Gospel, and has since released To Be Still in 2009 (Rough Trade), and recently a 10 inch EP – Alela and Alina (Alina Hardin) which came out this Fall.  It’s hard to put a label on Alela’s style of folk, but if I had to, I’d call it organic, meditative, with a dash of gypsy.  Alela’s storytelling ability is her strong suit – sending listeners to a place where time moves slow, snow stacks high, black and white goes to color and then back again, pirates reign, and mountains are KING.  Alela Diane will perfrom w/ Maykit at the Hi-Dive in Denver this Friday night, November 20th. The links below include a video of White As Diamonds (the single off To Be Still) from a spring ‘09 show in Brussels, and a download link for White As Diamonds.

White As Diamonds (download link)

It is not often that I become enamored with a musician. I have Tori to fawn over for my insatiable girl crush. But, a few months ago, Ms. Alela Diane stole my heart. I was on a wonderful artists blog Black Eyed Suzie and she had a music player going and I was puttering aroudn the hosue, Macbook still on said blog, and the player hit one of Alela’s songs and I stopped dead in my tracks and said “Who the fuck is that?” out loud. I looked her up on YouTube and have been rejoicing in her music since. She is a true story teller and can conjure such vivid imagery with her words and her voice.

And last night I went to see her live. It was a moving experience. That’s the only way I can describe it.

And then I even got to meet her! She was wonderfully sweet. Also very tired as she had driven from Montreal to Toronto that day. She said that she had been touring for a year almost and that she would love nothing more then to bake a pie, lay or her couch or do some dishes.

Girl crush, #2….

And here is a picture of me with Alela. I look horrid and crazy, but I don’t care… she of course is beautiful.

And for those of you who have never heard of Alela Diane I will now pass on the gift I was given on a random blog one afternoon.

Yesterday I spent 6+ hours transcribing a Nardwuar interview with Daniel Johnston, and my interview with folk-singer Alela Diane. Here’s the piece I wrote on her. Fingers crossed she blows up in the music scene, so that Chart can totally say, “Yeah, we called that.”

Muscles – Sweaty
Of Montreal – Rapture Rapes The Muses
An Horse – Camp Out
The Minus 5 – Retrieval Of You
Late Of The Pier – The Bears Are Coming
Dave Clark Five – Any Way You Want It
Jolie Holland – Mexico City
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros – Johnny Appleseed
The Go-Betweens – Love Is A Sign
Neil Young – Oh Lonesome Me
Neon Indian – Ephemeral Artery
Cold Cave – Hello Rats
Blondie – Heart Of Class

The Vinyl Countdown – Top 5 Tracks of the Week

5. Small Black – Despicable Dogs

4. Sufjan Stevens – Come Thou Foutn Of Every Blessing

3. Alela Diane – Oh! My Mama

2. Dirty Projectors – Ascending Melody

1. Yeasayer – Ambling Alp

Released in January, US folk/country singer Alela Diane’s beautiful second album To Be Still has been swiftly followed by this EP (or ‘companion album’) featuring Alina Hardin. Alela’s voice is astonishing, and is perfectly complemented by Alina’s, and by the simple accompaniment. Three songs are covers, including ‘Matty Groves’, a ballad perhaps most famously covered by Fairport Convention on Liege and Lief. To say Alela and Alina more than do justice to a song that most people will know from that version, sung by the great Sandy Denny, should give some idea of how good this record is.

I want to plug To Be Still too, as well as mentioning the covers album Ms Diane recorded with Joey Waronker, Gus Seyffert, Leo Abrahams and Woody Jackson as Headless Heroes. The Silence of Love includes covers of more contemporary songs. I present their cover of the Jesus and Mary Chain’s ‘Just Like Honey’, which seems to suit a country feel – though this video was clearly done by GREAT BIG SOPPY HIPPIES – and for my co-blogger there’s also a version of Cave’s ‘Nobody’s Baby Now’.

Alela Diane featuring Alina Hardin – ‘Bowling Green‘ -  Alela and Alina

Headless Heroes – ‘Nobody’s Baby Now‘ – The Silence of Love

Headless Heroes – ‘Just Like Honey’ – The Silence of Love

Buy the EP from Amazon or iTunes or there’s a limited 10″ version that might be available through Rough Trade.

JKneale

It’s just you have to look a little harder to find evidence of my endeavours:

A review of Alela Diane and Alina Hardin’s beautiful EP:

http://www.forfolkssake.com/articles/507

A review of the new Mountain Goats album, in all its bizarre glory:

http://www.forfolkssake.com/articles/503

Mara Lee Miller of Bosque Brown 7:30 pm-8 pm
Marissa Nadler 8:15 pm – 9 pm
Alela Diane 9:15 pm – 10 pm

Tickets will be sold at the door or in advance at http://spune.frontgatetickets.com/.
For more information, info@spune.com.
$10

Just killed my old blog, an occasional blog about working with horses, using natural horsemanship and barefoot hoofcare techniques.I’ve stopped it due to very low number of views, in what is a bit of a ‘niche market’, really.

Well now- time for a change of focus..this new blog will be used to express feelings, thoughts and opinions on the whole range of things that I feel strongly about, or just to do a bit of waffling, maybe.

I’ve been thinking about the number of bands and musicians currently playing music rooted in nature and the countryside, and expressing a human need for simplicity and roots in the real world.

They express a back to basics attitude, often using traditional instruments and harking back to simpler times…The alt-country, Americana thing started to surface, for me at least, with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, who play a lovely take on old-time music, but bring it up to date with the storylines of GW’s lovely personal, emotive songs. Over the last 10 or so years this movement has grown and diversified, and in the viral pattern that music emulates, started to reinvent, attaching itself to other genres too. Listen to the music of Fleet Foxes, Great Lake Swimmers, Alela Diane, The Acorn, Ohbijou, Levon Helm, Felice Brothers…and you are transported back to a world that still has unconquered frontiers and room to breathe. Music always provides something that the souls of the people want. It can also act as a monitor of symptoms of a society that is sick, like audio self-harm…that can be cathartic or just distracting. In the case of the music I am talking about, it is the former, mostly….

We may not all know it yet, but we are sick to death of consuming, polluting, destroying, exploiting, harming and becoming more comfortable. We have satisfied the hunger that drove our species to achieve what it has, now we are taking stock…and looking back sometimes seems like a better option than looking forward.We have fucked up, we were wrong, we need to change direction soon.

We need (our music is telling us) to place more value on family, the natural world…human interaction and understanding of the world and our place in it. We are starting to purchase material things that we need because they are useful, not just because they can be sold to us. The economic crisis is not a crisis…its an opportunity. We can spread the wealth around more, equalise instead of polarize, help our neighbor…listen to each other and do what is good instead of what just feels good. We can manufacture what we need, and use what me own for as long as it lasts, fix it when it breaks, hand it down to someone else when we don’t need it any longer. We can pick up an instrument and play a song that comes from our own core, not a synthetic emulation, but an organic soundwave that will reverberate in the tissues and synapses of those around, joining us together and helping us face the challenge of living in this world that we have altered so badly.

Visst är det märkligt hur man i känslan av en låt ibland nästan kan känna att man är en låt.
Som om den bara läser ens person fullkomligt.
Här är en sån, den ger rysningar och man går liksom in i låten, följs med….

Här är hennes Myspacesida

Njut!

Ornate Pendarvis Farm, a pirate band, late night trips to space in the galaxy barn, a cover of Salt -n- Pepa’s “Push It”, self-transforming machine elves, Dr Dog and C.W. Fucking Stoneking were just a few of my highlights at this years Pickathon.

I’ve got interviews from Thao, Alela Diane, Dr Dog, and Blitzen Trapper yet to come.  To wet your appetite, here are a couple videos from the festival.

Alela Diane featuring Alina Hardin
Alela & Alina EP ••••
Family

Having been consistently praised both by Wears The Trousers and by seemingly all other reputable sources, Alela Diane really needs no introduction. This year’s To Be Still has seen the folk star recording and touring with a full band – very much a family affair with her boyfriend on bass and father on guitar – giving the stripped back, haunting folk of 2007’s re-released The Pirate’s Gospel a fuller sound, easing more comfortably into the Americana aspects of her work. While her recent (and overdue) performance on ‘Later…with Jools Holland’ last month covered material from this third opus, attention surrounding the Alela & Alina EP has been eager to say the least, owing in part to its collaborative nature with newcomer Alina Hardin, who has been accompanying Diane on tours for some time now.

Their pairing has its roots in their hometown of Nevada City, where Alela attended school with Hardin’s older sister. Years on, as Diane recently divulged in an interview with us, a very demure Hardin approached her with some songs she’d penned, efforts which won the artist over immediately. She began her work with Alela as a touring backup singer, but Hardin’s voice complimented the headliner’s so well that each show found her stepping closer to stage centre, a timid walk that eventually culminated in this six-song EP, a blend of covers, collaborations and solo-scored numbers by both women. The result is an absolute pleasure, tailoring the skills of both the established star and her fledgling counterpart into a seamless, complementary blend of fresh folk magic.

Given that it was recorded over just two days, squeezed in between tours, the EP has a surprisingly dense energy, rich in quality and sounding both classically inspired and crisply original. The rounded breadth of the arrangements is testament to the women’s shared talent when considering their basic guitar-and-vocals approach, evoking the raw, primal sounds that propelled The Pirate’s Gospel but with an added rhetoric of nostalgic folklore. This breadth is largely indebted to the pair’s experiments with a 12-string acoustic and a Nashville-tuned guitar – an ingenious way of tuning a 6-string guitar to give a 12-string effect. And while their individual vocal styles complement each other terrifically, it’s clear that Alela’s experience has facilitated the younger artist’s burgeoning talent, guiding it and providing a platform, while being simultaneously kindled by her protégé’s presence.

Opener ‘Amidst The Movement’ cries out clearly with all the hallmarks of Diane’s intricate pastoral landscapes, setting the EP sailing away from port with a firm, strong hand. It’s this characteristic sound – surefooted and led with predominant, undulating bass stings – that is set against the more downbeat numbers like the Hardin-penned ‘Crying Wolf’ and their cover of Townes van Zandt’s ‘Rake’, a perfectly conflicting blend of light and dark that slip into each other effortlessly. The Myspace version of Hardin’s number ‘Crying Wolf’ has a sharper thrill than the EP cut, though the haunting harmonies and soft, tear-strung guitar picking loses none of their potency here. Rounding off the A side, ‘Bowling Green’ reanimates the Alice Gerrard and Mike Seeger classic with melodic, rolling praise, while the Bard tale of adultery and murder in ‘Matty Groves’ brings to life its medieval narratives to great effect.

The Diane-penned ‘I Have Returned’ recalls ‘Amidst The Movement’ in terms of style, but promises nothing so reliable in its dizzy, solemn strings and flighty, warning proverbs: “You never know how it’s gonna go / and you never know who’s going with it when it goes”. Stepping from the undecided to the sentenced, the women bow in ambivalent farewell with the bitter, melancholic ‘Rake’, a womaniser’s discordant, last-breath confessional of regrets, sorrows and stubborn refusals. It’s a dark portraiture, brimming with a contrasting poignancy when reworked through the blue-grey harmonies of these two young sirens. The bare, bark-stripped production that paves the EP is best felt here, creating an echoing cavity for the end song’s reverberating emotion.

The Alela & Alina EP effectively bridges the wholesome fields and mountain coves of Alela’s world with the medieval flavoured, high folk ballads favoured by Alina. Their voices curl around each other like smoke, with Diane’s earthy, grounded tones providing a rich base for Hardin’s more formal soprano, romantically otherworldly and aura-like around Diane’s beating totem heart. Vocally, lyrically and musically, this EP is a treasure, standing as proudly as any full length. Whether Hardin remains with Diane is yet to be seen, but even if she departs for more solo flights this pairing of souls has left an unbreakably beautiful work, a lush and spellbindingly bright affair that leaves minds dreaming in its graceful wake.

Charlotte Richardson Andrews
UK release date: 12/10/09; www.myspace.com/alelamusic

FREE MP3: Alela Diane & Alina Hardin, ‘Bowling Green’

Pitchfork è sicuramente il centro nevralgico della musica “”"”alternativa”"”" su internet, o almeno il centro da me conosciuto, il che non è una cosa di secondaria importanza.
In ogni caso la crew di questa mecca della musica su internet (ma non solo, siccome organizzano anche uno dei migliori festival al mondo in quel di Chicago) [lettore meno esperto impara a commuoverti a comando ogni volta che leggi il suddetto nome mentre si parla di musica, due nomi a caso usciti da un paroliere di tutti rispetto: Touch and Go e Jesus Lizard] ha deciso di compiere una certosina lista di tutti gli album, singoli, ristampe, EP e DVD a venire in questo autunno 2009.

Nella lista compaiono oltre ai, guardacaso, Jesus Lizard, Kraftwark, Alela Diane, Nirvana, Built to Spill, Neutral Milk Hotel, Misson of Burma, Port O’Brien, No Age, Editors, Fuck Buttons (presto in italia!!), David Bowie, Morrissey e tanti tanti tanti tanti tanti altri (immagino non riusciate neanche ad immaginare quanti).
Quindi dateci un’occhiata che non fa mai male: the lunghissima lista.

Alela Diane: To Be Still (Rough Trade, 2009)

Alela Diane is a true great among folk artists. She has found some masterful way to make this highly artistic music so easily accessible. As you well know, I’m a rather simple man and my problem with folk chanteusses often is that eventhough I appreciate the artistic value of it, I just find myself getting bored in the long run. Joanna Newsom is a prime example. As much as I would like to love her, I just have to admit that I don’t. But Alela Diane. I love her. That acoustic beauty of the songs. Those amazing vocal melodies. Like hugs wrapped around your heart. To Be Still is her second album and more than half of it is really wonderful folk music. Especially Every Path, Take Us Back, To Be Still and The Ocean are treasures that have taken the form of a song. If I want to complain about something than I have to say that soundwise it’s a bit too clean and polished for me. Therefore my folk album favourite of the year is still Haruko’s Wild Geese, because that home recorded beauty feels a bit more rural and alive.

Alela Diane Website
Alela Diane at myspace

New Order is dood! Lang leve New Order! Met deze woorden kunnen we ongetwijfeld het best de band Bad Lieutenant voorstellen, niet te verwarren overigens met de films van Abel Ferrara of Werner Herzog. De band New Order reïncarneerde met dezelfde bandleden in een nieuwe groep. ‘Sink or swim’ is de eerste single op hun deze maand te verschijnen debuut ‘Never cry another tear’.

Het tweede reguliere album van Flight of the Conchords,  ’I told you I was freaky’ genaamd is alweer een schot in de roos. Liefhebbers van de tv-serie zullen vast een heel aantal pareltjes op deze cd herkennen, omdat ze ook zijn voorbijgekomen in de serie. Vanaf 20 oktober officieel verkrijgbaar. De titeltrack krijgt u nu al van ons cadeau!

Hoewel hun debuut pas verschijnt begin 2010 wordt nu al reikhalzend uitgekeken naar Black Dub, een samenwerking tussen o.a. Trixie Whitley en Daniel Lanois. Hun uitverkochte concert midden vorige maand in de Brusselse AB kreeg lovende recensies.  ‘Love lives’ laat al een beetje zien wat er vanaf 2010 kan worden verwacht.

Achter Tiny Vipers zit dan weer een vrouwelijke singer-songwriter verstopt die hier en daar wordt vergeleken met Joanna Newsom, Alela Diane en Cat Power. Meer als een akoestische gitaar heeft ze niet nodig om ‘Dreamer’ ten gehore te brengen.

Achteraf gezien onwaarschijnlijk dat ik destijds geen blogbericht heb gewijd aan Grizzly Bear, die met ‘Veckatimest’ sowieso een plaats behalen in mijn eindejaarslijstje ‘beste cd’s’. Gelukkig heb ik ze ‘live’ kunnen bewonderen op Pukkelpop en dat was zeer de moeite.  ‘While you wait for the others’ zou hun nieuwe single moeten zijn. Tot volgende maand!

The End of the Road festival boasted a fantastic line-up just a few weeks ago and although we were unable to go, we did manage to take advantage of several of the acts booking into smaller venues for pre- or post-festival dates.

The first of our outings was to St George’s in Bristol – a chapel in the heart of the city – to see Alela Diane. It has the kind of old-fashioned feel to it that you’d expect from a building of its nature, and must have been a change for the musicians to face a seated audience in a well-lit room.  The acoustics of the space were especially perfect for the singer-songwriter’s first and last few spellbinding numbers including Tired Feet and Oh! My Mama in which her voice, accompanied only by guitar, resonated effortlessly through the space.

One of the things I love about this venue is that with its old-fashioned appearance come old-fashioned manners. When people are seated at concerts they don’t talk!  I don’t know why sitting down is or should be any different to standing up, but when people are seated there’s no argument that talking and moving around during the performance is frowned upon and the performer receives the attention and respect that they duly deserve.

Our next outing was to Coventry and the Tin Angel’s performance venue Taylor Johns House to see Efterklang supported by Peter Broderick.  Having seen Peter Broderick at the Green Man Festival and, quite frankly, having been blown away by his performance, the evening had a lot to live up to. This ludicrously talented musician didn’t disappoint and once again stunned the crowd with his intense performance, creating an orchestral sound with the use of a loop pedal and variety of instruments. The highlight for me was undoubtedly Games Again during which he paraded through the small crowd singing full belt whilst the sounds, just recorded, filled the room.  Efterklang followed with an energetic set of both old and new tracks including Swarming, Cutting Ice to Snow and ending with Chapter Six which left the audience baying for more.

Taylor Johns House is pretty tiny and apart from a couple of seats at the back of the room is standing room only. On the face of it – a small performance space with a bar in the next room – the chances of a gig marred by chatter were high, but this place is different from the rest.  Firstly, the organiser, whilst introducing the night, requested that we respect the performers and not talk. Secondly, it’s a venue that is largely filled with relatively unknown acts, therefore it’s not visited by casual punters – they’re there for the music. Corny I know, but true all the same.

Our final outing brought us back to Bristol and The Thekla (which, incidentally, does a fantastic lamb burger for under a fiver!) For a band who are yet to release an album, Mumford & Sons have already made an impact with their live shows and have a strong fan base to boot. The four exceptionally talented musicians gave a memorable performance which included White Blank Page and the fabulous Awake My Soul. At times they sound as though they should hail from Nashville not London, with their country-influenced sounds, but Marcus Mumford’s rasping rock-like vocals create a unique sound which makes them difficult to pigeon-hole so easily into any genre.

This is a venue at which I haven’t had the best experiences, simply in terms of the noise levels from the audience. Personally, I find there’s nothing worse than going to watch a gig and spending half the night listening to a variety of conversations shouted over the music. The main problem with the Thekla is undoubtedly the bar, which is situated only a stones throw from the stage, and not surprisingly leads to voices drifting over to the performance space.  This time, thankfully, was different, largely due to the volume levels of the band themselves and perhaps people being there because they really want to listen.

That’s what I don’t understand about gigs these days – why do people pay money for a ticket and then stand there talking all the way through? It just makes no sense to me whatsoever! Personally I think it’s not only disrespectful to the performer(s) but also fellow audience members.  If you don’t like it go outside or go home!  And anyway, why is standing and watching something any different to sitting? Does the act of standing affect one’s mentality that much? You wouldn’t dream of going to a West End show and sit there chatting about what happened at work yesterday. Would you?!

The Colston Hall in Bristol is a venue that is a perfect example of this weird phenomenon.  In the stalls, the front section of seating is often removed for bands with the back area left as tiered seating. In the seating area, you rarely hear people shouting a conversation at each other or find those who can’t stay still for the duration of the show. Yet in the standing crowd, despite the ‘got to get close to the front’ attitude there are always people who, despite the volume of the music, attempt to talk the entire way through the gig and also those who are constantly coming and going.

I’m not really sure where I’m going with this. Just venting I guess. I don’t think there are any answers or solutions – but if anyone has any interesting theories please let me know.

Got a last.fm account? Join the Wears The Trousers listening group here. We’ll be publishing details of what members are listening to every week throughout the year.

Week ending 27/09/09

Unique to the group

01 Alela Diane (-)
02 Tori Amos (-)
03 Ane Brun (-)
04 Alessi’s Ark (-)
05 Neko Case (-)
06 Bat For Lashes (5)
07 Kristin Hersh (-)
08 Marissa Nadler (-)
09 Regina Spektor (-)
10 Sarah Blasko (10)

Overall charts

01 Tori Amos (6)
02 Regina Spektor (2)
03 Bat For Lashes (1)
04 Yeah Yeah Yeahs (7=)
05 Radiohead (4)
06= Neko Case (-)
06= Cat Power (3)
08= Fiona Apple (-)
08= Kate Bush (7=)
08= Lykke Li (-)

* * *

This week’s stats are based on the compulsive habits of 263 listeners.

Go here to download an MP3 of Bowling Green. Ireally love this song from Alela’s EP with Alina Hardin.

The EP is titled Alela and Alina and is to be released on Names over here, on 10″ vinyl. Names are pretty awesome, they also released Nests this year, one of my favourites. Alela opened with Bowling Green at both Shepherd’s Bush Empire and End of the Road Festival. It was wonderful, listen to the song.

The Leisure Society on The Garden Stage

Well, it has been over a week since I got back from the End of The Road Festival, and the delay in writing is down to a busy schedule and wondering how on earth I could do justice to such an amazing weekend in a blog post (or few). I had such an incredible time I could probably waffle on for weeks, but instead I’ll try and capture my thoughts as efficiently as possible.

In a sentence:
“Had an amazing time at the End of The Road: 3 days, 24 bands, gorgeous setting, fab weather, great food, lots of laughs and very good company. I’ve found my festival!” [as I posted to Facebook immediately on my return]

In a paragraph:

A really welcoming, well organised festival that is clearly run and staffed by people who love music, and very good music at that.  The setting is unique and wonderful and the line-up was really excellent – that 24 band tally could have easily been 30 if it weren’t for scheduling clashes and not being able to be in two places at once. Got to see some bands I love play live for the first time, and discovered many more great bands and artists. Great weather helped, but the atmosphere was lovely and friendly, all facilities and refreshments were far better than expected and it all added up to a wonderful experience I’ll never forget. A cracking choice for my festival debut!

The top ten

So, who were the best? In order to build suspense slightly, I’ll cover my top ten favourites from the weekend in reverse order:

10.  Fleet Foxes (Garden Stage, Saturday 9.30-11.00pm)

They were good, but not as good as expected. Headlining on Saturday night was always going to be difficult for a band with only one album’s worth of material. Long gaps between songs, constant needless retuning of guitars and one awful cover version (‘Go your own way’ by Fleetwood Mac? Why cover a band/song that’s far worse than your own material?) used up the time, but detracted from the spectacle. As did the moronic wailing of a drunken idiot in our vicinity trying to ’sing’ along. Why would someone do that when listening to a band famed for their wonderful harmonising? Because he was an absolute ………  However, it’s hard to think of a better band to listen to in this setting – surrounded by a forest under a clear star-filled sky. Best songs: Tiger Mountain Peasant Song, White Winter Hymnal.

9. Neko Case (Garden Stage, Sunday 7.45 -8.45pm)

One of many very nice surprises over the weekend, Miss Case and her band delivered a very lively, varied set with great energy and enthusiasm. Good songs, great co-singer and amusing banter made for a very pleasant warm-up for The Hold Steady immediately afterwards. Best songs: Some People Gotta Lot of Nerve, Middle Cyclone, Don’t Forget Me.

The Acorn: two drummers, fine tunes

8. The Acorn (Garden Stage, Saturday 4.45 -5.45pm)

Another pleasant surprise. We’d decided to stay in the Garden Stage area after The Broken Family Band because it was such a gorgeous sunny afternoon. Had never heard of The Acorn before, but the programme write-up sounded promising, and so it proved. Folk rock with a world music tinge, two drummers and a very smiley and amiable lead singer combined with some chilled out, dreamy songs matched the weather and the mid-afternoon mood perfectly. Best songs: Crooked Legs, Hold Your Breath.

7.  Darren Hayman (Garden Stage, Saturday 1.00 – 1.45pm)

Biggest and best surprise of the weekend. Neither I nor my mate Jon had heard of Darren Hayman, but we were in such a great mood after the wonderful opening set from the Leisure Society that we stayed put on our comfortable chairs and gave him a chance. Very glad we did. Turns out he used to be the singer in Hefner, a semi-popular indie band of the mid to late 90’s and he is still in possession of an ear for a good tune and some of the funniest lyrics I’ve ever heard. He clearly loves this festival, and his enthusiasm, great humour and sunny disposition create a really convivial atmosphere in marked contrast to his arch songs of suburban tedium. Best songs: Pram Town, Rachel and Amy.

6.  Dirty Projectors (Garden Stage, Friday 7.45 – 8.45pm)

Immediately preceded by a great Festival moment – sitting down to give our legs a much needed rest, a couple of parrots flew just over our heads as the sun started setting. That moment of tranquility was soon shattered by the experiments in noise being conducted by Dirty Projectors. Three girls, three guys, some occasional screeching vocals, and frenetic guitar sequences produced a barrage of sound that was sometimes challenging but also very fresh and interesting. Their boundless energy and contagious enthusiasm combined with some impressive songs to create a very memorable set which would have been worthy of the headline slot they just missed out on. Best songs: No Intention, Two Doves, Stillness Is The Move, Remade Horizon, Knotty Pine.

The Broken Family Band: It's All Over - literally

5.  The Broken Family Band (Garden Stage, Saturday 3.30 -4.15pm)

In the three months between seeing the ads for the festival line-up and actually attending, I’d discovered the many delights of The Broken Family Band’s back catalogue and was greatly looking forward to seeing them. Even more so as they’d announced a couple of weeks before the End of The Road that they are splitting up in October, so this would possibly be my first and last chance to see them. They didn’t disappoint exactly, and produced a very enjoyable set, but because they didn’t include many of my favourite songs I was left a little underwhelmed, probably hampered by sky-high expectations. There were still some great moments, including great versions of ‘It’s All Over’ and ‘John Belushi’, but the understated set was perhaps  best summed up by the singer’s intro to their last song: “It’s not one of our best songs, but it’s in A”.

4.  The Leisure Society (Garden Stage, Saturday 12.00 – 12.30pm)

I knew very little indeed about this Brighton-based band before they opened Saturday on the Garden Stage, but they provided probably the nicest surprise of the weekend. They were only on stage for half an hour but made a very big impression, their intelligent, beautifully played indie-pop songs providing the perfect backdrop to a sunny Saturday lunchtime. In particular their female flute player and the two guys on violin and cello who’d travelled overnight from France to get here really shone. Another highlight was the very witty banter from the singer/keyboardist, which greatly amused us but seemed to pass over the heads of most of the assembled throng. The songs were more than enough on their own though, and ensured that I downloaded their debut album ‘The Sleeper’ on my return home. It’s since become a firm favourite and I’d love to see them play live again soon now I’m familiar with the songs. Best songs: Matter of Time, A Fighting Chance, The Last of The Melting Snow, Save It For Someone Who Cares.

3.  The Duke & The King (Big Top, Friday 6.00 – 6.45pm)

Friday’s highlight was a fantastic performance from The Duke & The King which really lifted the festival to another level. I’d been enjoying their first album recently and was looking forward to seeing them here, but wasn’t prepared for how good they’d be live.  Simon Felice (from the band the Felice Brothers) made an early bid for front man of the festival with a mesmirising display – shy he ain’t! In fact all four band members gave energetic performances full of soul that transformed many of their songs into really moving, uplifting experiences. They all enjoyed their moment in the limelight too: the female violinist and the bassist taking centre stage for a fantastic rendition of ‘Suzanne’, and the drummer pretty much stealing the show with his spine-tingling vocal contributions. Best songs: If You Ever Get Famous, Suzanne, Union Street.

2.  The Hold Steady (Garden Stage, Sunday 9.30 – 11.00pm)

They’ve been one of my favourite bands for a couple of years now, and this was the first time I was going to see them live. Given the fact that they were virtually closing the festival, in Sunday’s headline slot, I was a bit worried that my expectations would be too great and I’d be disappointed. Not so.

By the time they came on stage I was very excited, and it was just great to be able to hear so many songs I like given a new lease of life by a band on the top of their form. Well, eventually. It took a little while for them to get into their stride and the sound engineers took about 5 songs to get Craig Finn’s microphone right, which is a bit of a disadvantage when you miss all the lyrical nuances because the singer’s not properly in the mix.  They got better and better as the set went on, the whole band growing in confidence and enthusiasm. Franz Nicolay on keyboard was coolness personified – playing incredibly whilst appearing to be making no effort whatsoever, and as Craig Finn careered round the stage, yelling and jumping up and down he carried off a perfect impression of a man who loves his job. A great end to a fantastic weekend.  Best songs: Stuck Between Stations, Chips Ahoy!, Massive Nights, Your Little Hoodrat Friend.

1.  Joe Gideon & The Shark (Big Top, Sunday 3.00 – 3.45pm)

And the best performance of the weekend? An absolute belter, quite out of the blue, from this London-based brother and sister duo who have more than a whiff of The White Stripes about them. Except they have better songs. I’d checked them out on Spotify a week before the festival and was impressed enough to suggest to Jon that we should make sure we saw them. So glad I did! After a slightly unsure start, playing two of their weakest songs, Jon showed signs of wanting to do a runner, as we had on a couple of occasions already on Sunday. Thankfully we stayed put and were rewarded as from somewhere, something quite magical started to happen.  The Shark, on drums and sampler keyboards, started playing out of her skin and was mesmirising to watch. Her confidence seemed to rub off on her sibling, who discovered an unforeseen swagger and started wielding his guitar like a weapon.

A four song sequence at the end of the set was worth the admission price for the weekend alone: After the amusing and raucous ‘Hide And Seek’, came the wonderful ‘Kathy Ray’ gently unfolding the tale of a backing singer reliving past glories. By this stage there was a real emotional bond between band and audience and the next song took everything to another level. ‘Anything You Love That Much … You Will See Again’ is a really beautiful, moving yet uplifting song that just came to life in the Big Top here in a way you couldn’t replicate on record. Hit by wave after wave of raw emotion, I suddenly understood why bands play live. It was a spine-tingling, jaw-dropping moment, and the best song of the festival for me. I couldn’t believe they didn’t finish there, with the entire tent in their palms. As it was, the bold move of playing ‘Civilisation’ as their closing song paid off and left me buzzing and breathless. What a show!

Best of the rest

Suspense is not as important with these, so I’ll keep to numerical order:

11.  She Keeps Bees (The Local, Sunday)

An American boy/girl duo sounding a bit like Mazzy Star and The White Stripes – deserved a better stage and time slot than very last band on in the claustrophobic Local marquee.

12. Explosions in the Sky (Garden Stage, Friday)

Huge sweeping instrumental tracks with orchestral scope produced by three guitarists and a drummer. Headlined on Friday and were best enjoyed with your eyes closed so you couldn’t see their onstage gurning and hystrionics.

13.  Vetiver (Big Top, Friday)

Would have been great on the Garden Stage on Saturday instead of Alela Diane, but performed well enough in the Big Top without wowing anyone. Felt they were playing within themselves and could have been even better if they’d been a bit less laid back. One or two really good songs though. The only set I actually had a lie down for … it seemed oddly appropriate.

14.  Stars of Sunday League (Tipi Tent, Sunday)

Missed the start of this short but sweet set, and caught most of it from the back of the tiny Tipi Tent, but was worth the squeeze. Well written,  beautifully sung indie folk songs from a young bearded gentleman with a lovely Dundee accent and a young lady on a violin. One to watch out for.

15.  Bob Log III (Garden Stage, Sunday)

A man alone on the centre of the huge Garden Stage, dressed in a tight-fitting gold lame suit with flared trousers, and a motorcycle helmet with a microphone inside it, shrieking along to his incredibly fast slide guitar antics. Produced the best ending to any set, walking down into the audience playing guitar and then walking back up, across the stage and off, still playing with his back to the audience. In his own little world, and maybe it’s for the best.

16.  Alela Diane (Garden Stage, Saturday)

The ‘future star of Americana’ according to critics. ‘Sweet but dull’ according to me. Maybe it was because I was flagging after so many hours standing up and feeling hungry, but this set of pleasant-ish folk songs kind of floated over me without leaving any real impression. I can’t remember how any of them went, but I do recall with fondness the over-enthusiastic bassist called on for one or two songs towards the end and behaving like a hyper-active bearded toddler.

17.  Loney, Dear (Garden Stage, Friday)

First act we saw: Swedish bloke, bit mad, gibbering on with frankly baffling banter in between a couple of rather good electronic pop songs. Not very polished, but reasonably pleasant.

18.  Charlie Parr (Big Top, Friday)

Kind of a cross between Badly Drawn Boy and Giant Haystacks, he played the blues a lot, lot better than he looked. Came alive whilst playing his guitar, but lacking in stage presence. Bumped into him a couple of times that evening and he seemed quite a surly fellow with little patience for fellow artists. Looked a bit too much like an axe murderer to discuss those foibles with him though.

19.  Beth Jeans Houghton (The Local, Friday)

Could have, and should have been really rather brilliant. She’s quirky with a cute Northern accent and a set of self-written whimsical songs but her late night set in the Local was a right shambles. She took ages setting up and the sound engineers let her down badly: a catalogue of technical errors undermining a collection of interesting and sometimes beautiful songs. That, and the fact she was wearing a peacock on her head atop a huge blonde frizzy wig that kept getting in her way. When we saw her briefly again on Saturday in the Big Top she’d ditched the peacock but was wearing hotpants and looking frankly ridiculous. She doesn’t need such gimicks, the songs are enough. If she ditches the fancy dress, she might be huge one day.

20.  Herman Dune (Big Top, Friday)

Quite confused to discover later that these guys were French – seemed like a straightforward American alt-country band to me, even down to the accents. Fairly impressive, especially the drummer, though we didn’t stay too long so we could catch the above-mentioned Miss Beth Jeans Peacock. Stayed longer than Charlie Parr though, who stood in front of me for one song, grunted, and walked straight out.

The dregs

21.  The Low Anthem  (Garden Stage, Saturday)

A huge disappointment. Thought they’d be great having heard their latest album but it was a case of wrong band, wrong stage, wrong songs. Started off with three really quiet ones that bored us into submission and sent us in the direction of lunch.

T-Model Ford: What song is this again?

22.  T-Model Ford  (Big Top, Sunday)

Lovely old poppet, 80 plus years old. He can’t remember how old he is. Or the lyrics to any of his songs apparently. Helped onstage by his drummer/roadie/nurse, he looked at home playing his blues guitar, grinned happily throughout, but seemed to be playing exactly the same song eight times over. We left out of a mixture of boredom and embarrassment.

23.  Treecreeper  (Tipi Tent, Sunday)

Only decided to watch this lot because we had found a space in the Tipi Tent and didn’t feel like moving. That soon changed when this very poor pub band started playing. Worthy, hard-working but very dull. I lasted a song and a half.

24.  Brakes  (Big Top, Sunday)

But compared with this bunch of reprobates, Treecreeper were U2 or Coldplay (worthy, hard-working, very dull..!). Brakes were highly praised in the programme and had appeared here every year so we were quite expectant. Oh dear. Obnoxious bald singer suffering from short man syndrome did a couple of similarly short, shouty horrible songs, and we were almost running out of the Big Top to escape. Absolute rubbish and the only totally unlistenable band of the weekend.

The ones that got away

These are the ones that I wanted to see but missed, either due to scheduling clashes, or other unforeseen circumstances:

Mumford & Sons (Garden Stage, Friday)

We arrived too late to see them kick off the festival, which was a shame.

Shearwater (Garden Stage, Friday)

We had to miss them in order to get some food – having since checked out their most recent album on Spotify, I regret that decision.

First Aid Kit (Tipi Tent, Saturday)

We tried and failed to get to in the Tipi Tent to see these Swedish sibling songstresses which was a disappointment at the time, but even more so having checked out their most recent album and their fantastic version of Tiger Mountain Peasant Song by the Fleet Foxes. Should have barged our way in!

Efterklang (Big Top, Saturday)

Clashed with the Fleet Foxes. Jury’s out on whether we made the right decision, pending a Spotify investigation.

Blitzen Trapper (Tipi Tent, Saturday)

Clashed with tea time on Saturday – very good write up in the programme but will have to investigate further.

Alela Diane & Alina Hardin
‘Bowling Green’

When Alela Diane spoke to Wears The Trousers a few weeks ago, we quizzed her all about her upcoming EP with touring partner Alina Hardin (out October 5th), from which preview track ‘Bowling Green’ is lifted. In a nutshell, here’s what we learnt: the six songs were all recorded in just two days, in Portland, Oregon, between tours, using only six- and twelve-string acoustic guitars and basic home production, and is the first time they’ve worked up proper songs together. ’Bowling Green’ is not a cover of The Everly Brothers’ 1970s country-rock hit previously covered by Neko Case on her 1997 album The Virginian; rather, it’s a much more genteel take on the old-timey folk number popularised by Alice Gerrard and Mike Seeger that’s beautifully spacious, allowing room for both voices to shine. Alina’s airy turn adds levity to Alela’s earthier, accented tones to create a flawless, floaty gem. MP3 after the jump.

FREE MP3: Alela Diane & Alina Hardin, ‘Bowling Green’

visit Alela on Myspace
visit Alina on Myspace

Tot vóór zaterdag beperkte mijn festivalervaring zich tot een avondje Cactusfestival in 2004. Ik herinner mij nog vaag dat ik toen Admiral Freebee en Patti Smith gezien heb. Het hele gebeuren deed mij echter bitter weinig en ik was zelfs content toen ik de volgende dag terug thuis was. De daaropvolgende jaren waren er maar weinig haren op mijn hoofd die eraan dachten nog eens een festival mee te pikken. Om grotendeels onverklaarbare redenen kwam daar deze zomer echter verandering in. Toen ik begon te beseffen dat ik Pukkelpop voor geen geld wou missen, was het al te laat natuurlijk. Daar ging mijn kans om Bill Callahan en vele anderen live aan het werk te zien. Als een geschenk uit de hemel was daar echter ineens de combinatie van een week verlof, Leffingeleuren en Ray Lamontagne. Als klap op de vuurpijl bood er zich zowaar iemand aan als mogelijke festivalpartner. En zo geschiedde…Linn ging naar Leffingeleuren. Een kort verslagje van de optredens die ik er zag.

Vrijdag 18 september

Na lang twijfelen liet ik vrijdagavond aan mij voorbijgaan.

Zaterdag 19 september

Alela Diane

Sympathieke Alela heeft haar lange haren ingeruild voor een korte coupe die ik haar bijzonder goed vind staan. De zangeres stond niet alleen op het podium maar werd begeleid door een band met daarin onder andere haar vader, een ongeïnteresseerd kijkende achtergrondzangeres en een langharige bassist die duidelijk nog onder invloed was van de alcohol van de avond ervoor. Alela’s volle stem en dromerige folknummers kwamen naar mijn mening niet echt tot hun recht in een nog niet half gevulde tent die ook heel wat ongeïnteresseerde babbelaars herbergde. Tja, dat zijn de nadelen van een festival tegenover een concert in een gewone zaal zeker? De meeste nummers die Alela bracht kwamen uit haar meest recente album To Be Still. Ik had stiekem gehooptwat meer nummers uit The Pirate’s Gospel te horen te krijgen maar al bij al was het meer dan een fijn concert.

Interview met Alela Diane op Leffingeleuren [klik]

J. Tillman

Joshua Tillman is de drummer van Fleet Foxes en dat alleen al zorgde ervoor dat er heel wat nieuwsgierigen waren afgezakt naar Zaal de Zwerver om de man aan het werk te zien. Ikzelf ben eerlijk gezegd (nog) niet zo bekend met de nummers van Fleet Foxes maar Tillman’s vijfde (!) plaat Vacilando Territory Blues heb ik de laatste weken zowat grijs gedraaid. Er waren enkele luisterbeurten nodig om het album te kunnen appreciëren maar ondertussen zit het meer dan goed tussen Vacilando Territory Blues en mij. Het optreden was op z’n zachtst gezegd de moeite waard. Tillman en zijn muzikanten lieten zich volledig gaan. De nummers klonken live ook veel krachtiger en intenser dan op het album. Ik zou niet durven zeggen dat ze beter klonken, maar in ieder geval wel anders. Hun set eindigde met het prachtige ‘New Imperial Grand Blues’, één van de ‘hardere’ nummers op Vacilando Territory Blues. Een waar muzikaal orgasme!

Interview met J. Tillman op Leffingeleuren [klik]

The Bony King of Nowhere

Het was via een blogpost van de heer Coudie dat ik The Bony King of Nowhere leerde kennen. Al van bij de eerste luisterbeurt van Alas My Love was ik verkocht. Met het optreden in Zaal De Zwerver was het net hetzelfde. Van zodra ze begonnen te spelen wisten ze mijn aandacht vast te houden en niet meer los te laten. Het deed mij iets om die talentvolle jonge mensen van eigen bodem aan het werk te zien. Bram Vanparys lijkt mij trouwens een uiterst charmante jongeman. De reacties van zowel vrouwelijke als mannelijke fans tijdens het concert maakten mij duidelijk dat ik niet de enige ben die deze mening is toegedaan.

Eilen Jewell

Joe Gideon & The Shark lieten het op het allerlaatste moment afweten waardoor Eilen Jewell in de zaal in plaats van het café mocht spelen. “Jewell vermengt op onnavolgbare wijze Amerikaanse folk met blues, country en vooral stokoude rockabilly,” staat er op de festivalsite van Leffingeleuren te lezen.  Ze wist met haar optreden een deel van het publiek zowaar aan het dansen te krijgen. Helaas werden de toeschouwers minder talrijk naarmate het concert van Daan in de tent dichterbij kwam. Mijn festivalpartner en ik bleven echter tot de laatste noot van Jewell’s set. We waren het erover eens dat haar swingende concert de ideale afsluiter was voor onze zaterdagavond op Leffingeleuren.

Zondag 20 september

Ray LaMontagne

Naar het optreden van Ray LaMontagne keek ik het meest van al uit. Ik leerde zijn muziek kennen via het album Till The Sun Turns Black en was op slag verliefd. Wat meteen opviel toen Ray en zijn band het podium betraden was dat hij niet in het midden van het podium maar helemaal rechts plaats nam. Al van bij de eerste noten van het nummer ‘Be Here Now’ was ik helemaal in de ban van die mysterieuze man met zijn hese stem. Het onophoudende geroezemoes in de tent zorgde er echter voor dat ik op geen enkel moment echt van het optreden heb kunnen genieten. Jammer. Het viel Ray trouwens ook op dat er veel lawaai was want in het midden van zijn set sprak hij zijn bandleden toe met de woorden “Anything that requires listening, we skip…”. Met nummers als ‘Meg White’ en ‘Henry Nearly Killed Me (It’s A Shame)’ wist hij de aandacht van het publiek  opnieuw vast te houden. Na het laatste nummer richtte LaMontagne zich (uit)eindelijk tot zijn publiek met een welgemeende “Thank You”. Vraag me niet waarom maar deze man intrigeert mij.

Seasick Steve

Sinds Seasick Steve een aantal jaar geleden optrad bij Jools Holland ontstond er een ware hype rond deze 68 jaar oude bluesmuzikant. Ik had me niet verdiept in zijn muzikaal oeuvre  en wist bijgevolg totaal niet aan wat ik mij moest verwachten. Nu ik een optreden van de man meegemaakt heb, kan ik de hype volledig begrijpen. Seasick Steve maakte er een heerlijk feestje van daar in de tent in Leffinge. Aoooooooooh!

Interview met Seasick Steve op Leffingeleuren [klik]

Ik denk dat het vrij duidelijk is dat mijn uitstapje naar Leffinge mij enorm bevallen is. Voor herhaling vatbaar!

Underbara människor!

Idag är det höstdagjämning och här är en stämningsfull höstlåt:

Så vackert att det kvider i själen min. Jag och Maria lyssnar till hennes senaste skiva några gånger per dag just nu…

Hon spelar i helgen på Södra Teatern i Sthlm.

Kära lekar och sköna sånger!

Pierre