The little-festival-that-could began over a decade ago now and has since become the grandaddy of them all. Following the demise of what used to be the other “big one”, Oxygen, there has been a subsequent proliferation of micro-fests and day festivals (like Longitude and Forbidden Fruits) and the continued growth and popularity of independent festivals (like Body&Soul, Indiependence, Knockanstockan and Castlepalooza) but Electric Picnic is now the biggest party of them all.
The line-up is huge and phenomenally diverse. The biggest name headliners – Beck, Portishead, Outkast, Chic – are all veterans boasting hugely impressive back catalogues. Meanwhile the undercard ranges from DJs like James Murphy, of LCD Soundsystem fame to live house and electronica from people like Dimitri from Paris, to the smooth, electronic soul of break-out start FKA twigs to gnarled indie-rock upstarts White Denim.
But it’s not just music that Electric Picnic deals in. There a veritable plethora of areas and stages and tents to spend your time in. The Mindfield features spoken word performances, debates, history lessons, coding classed; there’s comedy, even the Trailer Park is getting in on the action, becoming the “Montparnasse” of the festival replete with Trailer Park Tea Girls and a Foot Hospital, where you can park your weary bum on a deck chair and chill out. Then, of course, there’s the infamous Body&Soul Area (from which the fantastic festival sprung forth) where a holistic is the name of the game: an enchanted environment full of everything from yoga to visual art to, of course, live music with Body&Soul acts including tUnE-yArDs, Girl Band and Donal Dineen to name but a few. It truly is one of the highlights of the whole festival. Here are some top musical picks from TD:
FKA twigs
With her newly minted debut full-length LP1 hot off the presses (and ridiculously swoon-worthy), this month’s TD cover star FKA twigs is set to explode and her Electric Picnic appearance could well be the catalytic moment. Think slow-slung beats fronted by intense, heaving yet ethereal vocalising, with hints of trip-hop in terms of tempo but production that is bleeding-edge contemporary, and lyrical sentiments that are deeply intimate. The interview’s exclusive to the magazine – so go pick up a copy today! Also, I mean, have you seen her pick up a microphone?
Chic feat. Nile Rodgers
Nile “The Hitmaker” Rodgers’ late-career spot-light grabbing with Daft Punk was one of the biggest surprises of 2013. Not that Rodgers’ liquid-wristed guitar funk and procession of production credits on some of pop’s biggest hits meant he was under appreciated, but now the ultimate side-man gets a “featured” credit in his own band, so high is his star! Chic are a “good-time” band at a festival, mixing sizzling musicianship with sterling showmanship. Probably best not to match their all-in-white dress sense though…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjR35lCPQy0
St. Vincent
Armed with an electric-shock bleached hairdo that competes with her electric-shock guitar riffs, Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent brings both the demure and the demented to live performances. St. Vincent’s eponymous album, Clark’s fourth, not counting her recent collaboration with Talking Head and erstwhile dude David Byrne, aimed at “the sound of humans but the feel of machines” and highlights like Digital Witness have been making waves in the mainstream since its February release. Check out our cover story from February with St. Vincent right here.
tUnE-yArDs (Body & Soul Stage, Friday, Midnight)
Merrill Garbus’ all-action liver performances have seen her blow many bigger acts off-stage and many minds in the crowd. Mixing live looping percussion and hocketing vocal patterns with shrieks and howls of ecstatic rage, funky brasses with intimate ukulele, tUnE-yArDs are sure to be one of the main draws of the Body&Soul stage. We spoke with Merrill about the release of the latest tUnE-yArDs album Nikki Nack earlier this year – read it here. And seriously, check out this vid below.
Perfume Genius (Body & Soul Stage, Sunday, Midnight)
We weren’t always bowled over by Mike Hadreas’ super-super-personal and harrowingly intimate debut record in a musical sense, but his comeback single Queen hints at amazing things and we’ve high hopes for the next Perfume Genius record, and his performance at Body&Soul stage is sure to be a treat to those in thrall to the likes of John Grant and James Vincent McMorrow.
