It would be easy to construct a case for Liverpool having gone through a musical revolution in the past few years, sort of like the Egyptian revolution, just with fewer camel charges and more burnt down venues. (In fact, so easy would it be to make a case that that’s exactly what Getintothis did, and very, very well, too) Mere years ago young & old people from the city gifted with discerning music taste floated the city hoping for the announcement of gigs from the bands of the day who’s tours seemed to travel the entire country, whilst skilfully circumventing Liverpool as if it were a foreign country or leper colony.
Things have changed. The many, many contributory reasons are cross-examined in far more comprehensive detail than I am able to at the link above, but without a doubt, the ascendancy of Liverpool Sound City has a lot to answer for. In a good way. The success of the festival itself is complex and, frankly, irrelevant, but a diverse and exciting line-up, along with venues crammed with character and the successful organisation and structure have much to do with it. As a result, all of the right tour managers, promoters and bands have been passing through Liverpool; and the festival itself has provided an excuse for the city’s ears to drag their friends into a slightly less mainstream world of music.
This year, again, will provide an opportunity for this process to continue, and if the announcement of the first acts are anything to go by (which… they are, of course) then it looks like the success of the festival itself is beyond doubt this year. Below is a deliciously listenable compilation of our picks from the first announcements, but before we go, it’s worth mentioning that this year the dramatic decision has been made to make all shows wristband-only shows which… may or may not be a good decision, we’re no experts (no pun intended) and it is unimportant – from May 19th many of the most promising names in music shall be in Liverpool, so bring your camels, comrades – it looks a lot like this particular “revolution” is continuing for another year, at least.
Wristbands are cheaper than 11 double cheeseburgers from Hardman’s at £35, until March 1st when, presumably, the price will go up. So if you’ve already pre-ordered The King of Limbs, then what could you possibly be waiting for? Water is free on tap by law and food is a bit of an unnecessary luxury so get cracking.
A quality that Chibuku’s 7th October headliners appear to have in common, aside from laying down beats so contagious that can only be described as incendiary, is the admirable ability to choose a really nice T-Shirt. It looks cool and it really helps me out in terms of amusing observational humour.
Take for example Roska (a pleasant revelation) – lower Torso read caption “In gold we trust”, a catchy line that might also be applied to the quality of his set. Boyz Noise favoured a more continental direction – T shirt caption reading “Bon Voyage”, (I’m sure some slightly more adventurous Chibuku attendees could testify to the relevance of the English Translation “Good Trip”), whilst James Rand pounded the T-Shirt competition with the motherbitch of all T-Shirts, yes that’s right; the Bob Marley.
And that is what is so characteristic about Chibuku. I have a lot of fun whenever I go. DJs wear excellent T-Shirts, 80+ year olds blaze across the dance floor (I saw one) and random Manchester bros talk to you whilst you piss away several quad vods. Of course, the music quality is tremendously high, and needless to say the bass level could rupture bone cartilage let alone ear drums, whilst the BPM leaves you spinning for the rest of the night. But what is irreplaceable about Chibuku (and why you should go if you haven’t yet) is that you get to see the best electro/D n’ B/ dubstep producers in the best atmosphere, yes I think I can go this far, short of heaven.
You have probably noticed by now our tendency to introduce our favourite music by tenuously linking it to frustratingly dead end but thought provoking discussions about weighty topics such as the state of the music industry today / the culture of music blogs / how is it so possible for so many people to like Scouting For Girls. That’s all well and good, and we do enjoy pretending to know what’s going on, but sometimes, just sometimes, possibly at about 2 in the morning, we just feel the need to say: this, without a doubt, is a fucking amazing song. (and an equally encouraging album as well)
This is absolutely how I feel about Archie Bronson Outfit’s “Hoola” right now. (and the attached album, “Coconut”) There’s no way that, in this state, I can forge even a questionable link between it and the depressing state of music consumption today, or the future of the music industry. Quite simply, “Hoola” is one of those essential songs that you’ll look back on a years time and see how it defined a short period of your life. It’s a song that the repeat button was made for. It’s the sort of tune that you’ll look forward to all night as you grind it out (attempt to pass the time, not embarrassing hip gyration) at yet another average party.
Two fairly lengthy paragraphs down and I’ve not yet managed to even faintly describe what “Hoola”, or “Coconut” sounds like. But then, all of the above is just what the song means to me, and any ridiculous attempt to describe it would just again, be my interpretation. Ultimately, why would you bother reading clumsy words (it’s clear that words were almost definitely not invented to precisely describe music) when you can listen to it yourself and form your own opinions? In that sense, music journalism really is fucking useless. I’m not here to tell you what to think, just to recommend music that I genuinely love, but it’s up to your to establish your own position. Strangely, I seem to have gone from discussing how I’m not going to end up in a philosophical back alley this time, to ending up completely unintentionally in my pseudo-philosophical back alley. I just hope that you’re listening to “Hoola” by now – they’re 3 minutes of your life that you’re not going to want to get back from me.
PS: If you thought that was even slightly average, then you need to get “Coconut” in your life as well – it comes out on Monday on Domino, and we all know how everyone is swimming in money at the moment and all that, so crack out a wad of 10s. And oh yeah, it really is very very good. A proper description? Nah. Not only do I genuinely believe what I wrote above about forming your own opinions and trusting recommendations, but it has surpassed the 2 o’clock that I mentioned and I will not last much longer.
PPS: Lucky inhabitants of Liverpool can catch Archie Bronson Outfit in an incredible line up with Oh No Ono and White Hinterland on 19.05.10 and can get rid of more of that money stuff here. The whole thing is going to be occurring in The Kazimier as well, which is, in my opinion, one of the most original and therefore best venues in the country, and is probably worth the ticket price alone.
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