Believe you me, this was TOUGH.
First up, a confession. This is the first Liverpool Sound City in which I know probably only about 65% of the bands – 70% at a push.
That’s meant a lot of homework.
But work, play and All Tomorrow’s Parties commitments it has meant I’m still struggling to get my lugholes round everything on offer which means there’s bound to be someone I’m going to miss and regret.
But hey, them’s the breaks of a festival which specialises in the new and the exotic. And Cast.
So here’s what I’ll be paying particular attention to – I’ve left out all the Liverpool, Merseyside and local lot as that’ll land shortly from Getintothis‘ city dweller Jon Davies.
It’s also worth noting that I’ve left off the likes of Black Lips, Fucked Up, Jamie Xx, Pop Levi, Frank Turner, Yuck, Steve Mason etc… as the big hitters do what they do – punch like a tiger.
Similarly to Revo’s message, here’s Getintothis‘ top 10 of the Liverpool Sound City 2011 musicians you may not of heard yet, but should definitely be investigating.
Here’s the bizzle.. In no particular order..
1. Braids: Shimmering glass-cutting riffs trade with ghoulish vox on uber-hip label kaninerecords.com – part of Drowned in Sound‘s Kazimier showcase on Saturday night (10.45pm).
2. Colourmusic: BIG, GNARLY and SUPERFINE cerebral rocket-fire channelling the fuzz of A Place To Bury Strangers. May contain traces of evil (Static Gallery, Friday 11.15pm).
3. Publicist: Kraut flavour atmospheres ideal to ride into the darkness. If you like chocolate ice-cream and disco balls you’ll love this lot. I often find the two go hand in hand (Static Gallery, Thursday, 10.05pm).
4. Grimes: Another new lass on the block, Claire Boucher aka Grimes from Montreal, makes glitchy, sexy electronica which you can bathe in til you bleed. I’d not recommend that, because self-harm is never cool. Grimes most certainly is (Shipping Forecast, Friday 10pm).
5. Three Trapped Tigers: Noise doesn’t come much better than this lot – and the hype is off the scale. Don’t miss their headline set on Friday at the Kazimier it could well be the performance of the festival (1.15am).
6. Cults: Take a breather from the storm with some rattle and summer vibes from this lot. Like a bag of love hearts this lot are genuine cuties (Masque Theatre, Friday, 10.15pm).
7. ANR: Outrageous slasher vid meets warped eletro via John Carpenter with soulful melodic hooks. Nasty but utterly sensual. Like Grace Jones giving you a back rub (Saturday, Kazimier, 9.15pm).
8. Kurt Vile and the Violators: Dylan‘s songwriting verve imbued with the spirit of Neil Young played in the bowels of a vast canyon with a huge gust of wind in your hair. It’s simply unmissable (Kazimier, Friday, midnight).
9. Phoenix Foundation: Just honest-to-goodness proper boss tunes from one of the best indie labels, Memphis Industries, about (Masque Loft, Saturday 10.45pm).
10. Beat Connection: Not sure if they’ve deliberately named themselves after LCD Soundsystem‘s anthem but either way, DFA is a definite influence on these Moshi Moshi new kids. If progressive beats and infectious drones are your thang do this lot hard (Zanzibar, Saturday 7.55pm).
And one last one, cos we like to CHEAT…
11. Brazilian Showcase: Heebie Jeebies (Saturday May 21): Lord only knows what’s in store here but get yourself down early doors, 3pm, and revel in the fact that Brazil is landing in town. Music arrives in the shape of Musicas interminaveis, para Viagem, Black Drawing Chalks and Canja Rave – get involved.
