The Cold Cut

Kings Of Leon- Crawl (Link 2) (Link 3) or download from the band (preferably).

Discuss: Kings Of Leon- Unstoppable?

Kings Of Leon will creep up on you. Just when did they get this big? "This" being "walk-in-the-park Glasto headlining" big and "trotting out brilliant albums every year" big. I get the simultaneously wonderful and terrifying impression that nothing can stop this band... Most optimistic fans weren't expecting to hear from the band until 2009, at the earliest. And yet, information trickled out of the KOL camp that a new album, 'Only By The Night' is to be released in the US on September 22.

Yesterday, NME broke the news that they would be doing an exclusive free download of a new album track 'Crawl' between the hours of 3-5 PM on Monday 28th July. And download I did. The album now feels within touching distance. You can head over to NME now (the download is still up).

So, the verdict? These boys can do no wrong. 'Crawl' is dirty, grimy and sounds like a direct progression of their 'Because Of The Times' sessions. They riff on pop culture, with the repeated chorus of 'Walk away, walk away', and there is even enough time at the end for a fitting guitar solo (an element largely left out of their music... until now). In short, this song is nigh-on perfect, and once again, they appear to be moving onwards and upwards. The question is, will the Kings ever hit a wall? On the basis of this and the three preceding albums, I wouldn't bet on it.

The album's first single is called 'Fri On Fire'. No news on the release yet, but a mid-August release woudl be the safe bet to allow the pre-album heat to build. The album can be pre-ordered via Amazon. The band are also embarking on a UK arena tour this Christmas:

Brighton Centre (December 1)
Nottingham Trent FM Arena (December 2)
Newcastle Metro Arena (December 4)
Sheffield Arena (December 5)
Glasgow SECC (December 7)
Liverpool Echo Arena (December 8)
Birmingham NIA (December 10)
London O2 Arena (December 11)
Bournemouth BIC (December 14)
Manchester Evening News Arena (December 16)
Cardiff International Arena (December 17)

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Beatology.zip (Link 2)

When Jay-Z performed on Glastonbury 2008's second night, he effectively altered British music festivals. In doing so, he simultaneously made a mockery of all those who doubted whether hip-hop belonged in a British festival atmosphere- yes, Noel, that's you. I personally hate the fact that these genres are largely left out of European line-ups, and when they're included, they are swept onto smaller stages.

Jay-Z- Wonderwall/99 Problems (Live At Glastonbury)
Jay-Z- Rehab (Live At Glastonbury)
Jay-Z- American Boy (Live At Glastonbury)

Jay-Z is the first rap artist to play on the main stage of a mainstream UK festival and to recieve extensive coverage, and his set was a huge success, hopefully opening up new avenues for artists such as Lupe Fiasco and Kanye West who also have brilliant stage presence. Let's all be honest- he bossed it. Jay had everything at Glasto: political relevance, controversy, the tunes and a brilliant show. As did Lupe, who gave a confident and energetic performance (watch it), on the small Jazz World stage, when in the US such an artist probably would have been centre stage. Although it looks like that is about to change. Especially with the following set of tunes flying the flag:

A-Trak ft. Lupe Fiasco- Mastered

A-Trak was the latest musician drafted to create a Nike+ soundtrack, entitled 'Running Man'. He must have pounced on the chance of distancing himself from Kanye West and his ever-expanding ego (I still love you Kanye), and he modestly illustrates why he has one five DMC championships. Using some of his contacts from the Glow In The Dark tour, he drafts in Lupe Fiasco, who all but carries the song. In small doses, this type of music is really great. I can't, however, see him successfully producing a Mark Ronson aping album. Myspace

John Legend ft. Andrew 3000- Green Light

It's a case of less musicianship, more commercial appeal with this song. John doesn't sacrifice too much, and the combination of the two vocals has a really strong R'n'B vibe. Myspace

T.I.- Swing Your Rag

Since 'My Love' was release, and running up to 'Love In This Club', T.I. was everywhere, and probably on the cusp of a Lil' Wayne style commercial breakthrough. Unfortunately, he's now under house arrest, and has been quietly working away at a new album, 'Paper Trail'. 'Swing Your Rag' is one of 50 recorded tracks- expect the album to drop mid September. Myspace

I know it officially started yesterday, but I don't think its fair to say Glastonbury is in full swing until the first band plays on Saturday. It has, however, already been predicted that there will be a shit storm of weather this weekend at the festival site, as there always is at Glasto. It might even be fair to say that Glastonbury isn't what it is without at least a day of crappy weather, and many people associate their best festival experiences with the permanently sodden Glastonbury fields.


What is it about rain that causes people to associate them with good festivals? I know from Lowlands festival last year that rain can have a weird affect on people in festival situation; on the last day of the 2006 festival it pissed it down for 5 hours. Yet rather than dampening (sorry, bad pun) the mood of the festival, everything seem to pick up- we were all content watching the bands with only our black bin bags as protection from the storm that was attempting to ruin everything. It's also important to remember that despite occurring in the summer months, all festivals in the UK have ground rules written in stone. These are:
1) Bring wellies
2) Bring a waterproof
The rest is really up to you, but if you forget either of these and it rains, you're in a very bad place.


Despite the large possibility of rain this weekend, I'm sure Glastonbury Festival 2007 will be one to remember; my brother and sister are both there are the moment, and the lineup looks fantastic. 200 different bands are playing over the next 3 days, and I can't really see anyone missing out of the current crop of good bands. I've included a couple of photos from Lowlands last year, and Glastonbury in general.

Over the last few months I have been waiting anxiously for any news concerning Lowlands Music Festival, which takes place in Amsterdam during late August every year. Lowlands is a festival with a lineup not dissimilar to Reading or Leeds, but also features more variety in terms of World Music; this year C.S.S, M.I.A and Interpol to name a few bands from afar. The first names playing this year have only just been announced: go to the bottom of this post to have a look at the promo posters.I went last year with about 10 other people and I really enjoyed it... it was a great place to go for your first festival: the atmosphere is really good (Dutch people are really nice, and most speak excellent English), the lineup is amazing and the facilities are traditionally Dutch. Now when most people think of festivals they get an image in their mind of shitty food, grotty showers and a general feeling of dirtiness. The toilets and showers at Lowlands are really clean and there a lot of them, which is good... I can't help recalling stories I have heard of overflowing bogs in Reading and Glastonbury.

Another huge difference at Lowlands is the quality of the food: most people don't eat much at festivals, because its all fast food. Well, at Lowlands, things are different; I can honestly say that the food at this festival must be the best out of all the festivals in the world, even though I haven't been to any others- there is a massive selection of fresh food on offer all day long, from falafels to pancakes and pizza and pretty much anything you could ever want. Its all pretty good value, and this also applies to the alcohol; everything at Lowlands is paid for with their unique currency, unfortunately named 'munten', and generally at low cost. I came back 100 euros poorer last time, which isn't bad considering I was there for 4 days. There is a supermarket where you can buy loads of fresh food each day, and you can trade a crate of any beer for a crate of cold Heineken. Not bad, hmm?

Lowlands is a superior experience in many respects; you only have to look at the ticket prices to get things into perspective. A full ticket, allowing you to stay there from the opening of the site on the 16th to the afternoon of the 20th, will set you back 125 euros, or £80. Compare this to the costs of Reading- a one day ticket to Reading can set you back upwards of £60... you do the maths. I suppose you have to factor in the cost of the plane journey over here, but there is nothing stopping you spending 2 or 3 days in Amsterdam beforehand and making it into a holiday. Also, the size of the festival site is way more convenient; all 8 stages are within 10 minutes walk of each other, so there is much more likelihood of you seeing lots of different bands on different stages.

So, to recap, Lowlands is an extremely cheap festival with a great lineup and brilliant facilities.... what more could a budding music fan want? Is anyone reading this going to Lowlands this year? Who are you looking forward to seeing?