Just listening to some of the BBC Glastonbury coverage, and thought I write a few lines on it.

Friday: I have to look around a bit to find something good. Much music there is quite cliched, caters to a safe segment of the audience, and doesn't interest me much. Oh, much "indie rock" is annoyingly predictable. I thought the same thing already 10 years ago and it hasn't changed. I've kind of lost my understanding why anyone could like it, say the more lazy version of it. The majority version, but I won't mention names. As Indie rock isn't really a very descriptive genre label, all kinds of stuff gets this stamp, and some of it is actually cool. Rarely, and accidentally. If I were one of these bands, I would HATE if somebody would call my music indie rock. That's even worse than prog.  Why some think that this label sells is totally beyond me.

Anyway, there is good stuff. Very charming and fun set by new band Wet Leg, probably also called indie rock by some, but anyway, they are fresh and original. That the two front ladies apparently can't believe this is really happening to them and the way it makes them beam surely helps.

St. Vincent, well, much of her stuff doesn't really get me, but I have to pay my respect to the lady. There are just so many different elements brought together in her music, delivered with competence and confidence. Maybe not my personal favourite but worthwhile stuff for sure.

Foals headline the Other Stage, and I knew that I'd think again what I always think... they are just head and shoulders above pretty much all the others. Very tight and sharp, glorious sound, they know how to play a crowd, and they know how to let the music flow. They also know how to unleash an impressive post rock crescendo that swallows everything around it. Some math rock elements survived from their beginnings as well. Even though their new album is kind of poppish these days. I'm not yet particularly keen on the studio versions of their new tracks, but on stage they are still the force.

On Saturday I heard Fela's son Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, although they had probably already been on on Friday. Great free flowing afrobeat this. Rhythm, rhythm, rhythm. His father would be proud.

The maybe only band on progarchive to play Glastonbury this year are Black Midi. Not sure how many in the audience get their stuff shortly after lunchtime, for me for sure this is a highlight, overall rather an outlier. Intellectual difficult music is hard to find here.  

In between I checked out some more African, dance electronic, and indie psych stuff but not much luck. I can see why Billie Eilish is a star, some good songwriting and attitude there, but live I can't make much sense about somebody jumping around pretty much alone on a huge stage. She even had two musicians there, but they were embarassingly tucked into corners so that Billie had 95% of the stage. Not my cup of tea as a way to present music. Then the dance/electronica duos jumping up and down behind their keyboard walls... dunno... those I heard were too sugary for my taste anyway.  (Kendrick Lamar at least comes with a sizeable group of dancers. Musicians nowhere to be seen though. I want to see musicians making music in a live show!!)

We're on Sunday already with headliner Paul McCartney, just turned 80. Hard to believe but the guy still has it. I mean his voice has suffered, and those who want impeccable vocal performances will not enjoy this, but he's better than Ian Anderson for sure and it is just so endearing to see him Helter Skelter with full energy at his age. He just has so much fun with his music. Seems some criticised that he insisted to put quite a number of songs in  his setlist that are not Beatles hits, but I like that he's keen on avoiding 100% nostalgia. Not sure by the way how famous the Band On The Run album is... probably pretty famous... anyway, all he plays from it is marvellous. And there's enough of that anyway, Hey Jude, Blackbird, Let It Be, he even plays Harrison's Something on a Ukulele that he says George has given him. And some Glastonbury specials like Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen turning up to play with him. Oh, and the duet with the isolated voice of John Lennon from the Get Back film, which leaves good old Macca very moved. At the end, even though quite a bit of his stuff is not my taste, a great set to watch.

And then one proper discovery that might interest some here. Squid did their first album in 2021 and they are what I have been waiting for: The seriously good stuff that I hadn't known before. Think post punk aesthetic with fun percussion and electronics thrown in, fast and sharp and cheeky. They cite Neu! and This Heat as influences, now this should make you curious, and rightly so! Despite the influences, they do their own thing, and I love it. 

Suzanne Vega was also in the Lineup, but I can't find her set on BBC, shame! Instead, I just discovered that Lianne La Havas is there, she's great (even though I have only seen 5 minutes of her set yet), no surprise there.

I had heard of Wet Leg (it’s kind of been impossible not to, given the hype they seem to have created), but had never actually heard anything from them. Last month, while wondering what to listen to, I decided to check out the music section of BBC iPlayer, as there are often some really good love shows that have been filmed for the Beeb. I saw that Wet Leg had a performance, so decided to hear what all the hype was about. And I was actually really impressed, and really enjoyed the performance. The sound was kind of like a combination of ‘70s/‘80s new wave acts (like Blondie and Talking Heads), ‘90s indie (like Belly and Breeders) and the current post punk sounds of bands like Idles, black midi, and Squid. But what’s impressive, really, is that Wet Leg has somehow grabbed the attention of the mainstream, and been phenomenally successful, with top charting singles and play on the most mainstream radio (eg BBC1, rather than BBC6). They don’t have the most original or innovative sound, and I’ve seen plenty of people knocking them on the Internet for not being as “good” as black midi and the like, or calling them pale imitations, and the such-like. That’s par for the course, but I the people knocking them are already very much into intricate and “difficult” music, so anything simpler doesn’t make it past their gatekeeping minds. Perhaps they are jealous that Wet Leg are getting more attention that the bands they like, that do it “better”? I really don’t know. All I know is that, from their live performance, the two girls are very good at what they do, and make some highly entertaining and enjoyable music. I’ll probably end up buying their cd. I did mean to post about Wet Leg last month, after watching them. I forgot about it until now, reading a review on my FB feed.

A friend commented

I like them.  They are one of many bands making what I call “edgy”, upbeat music that I sometimes want to provide a contrast to stuff that is more demanding to listen to.

, to which I replied

The edginess is more icing on the cake, for me. Their music would be just as delicious, I think, without it. I even wonder, if the edginess were not there, maybe they wouldn’t be receiving the criticism they are from some corners? They are two young girls making some pretty damn catchy music, and doing it rather well in my opinion. It will be interesting to see how far they go. The hype can’t last, and I just hope they can keep going beyond it. (Because once the hype is gone, that is when the criticism will really start to hammer down.)

I actually finally listened to Wet Leg’s album only two days ago, and it’s surprisingly different from the live performance I watched.

I know live and studio are usually quite different, but given the raw and edgy nature of the live performance, and all the hype I’d heard about the band, I wasn’t expecting the sheer amount of polish and shine to their studio sound. It’s still edgy, but rather than raw and edgy, it’s highly polished and edgy.

I still really like it, though. I will be buying this album, for sure. There’s a lot of enjoyment to be had listening to Wet Leg.

[EDIT] (to add Bandcamp link)

https://wetleg.bandcamp.com/album/wet-leg" rel="nofollow - https://wetleg.bandcamp.com/album/wet-leg

Gotta listen to their album then. I wonder where you see the black midi connection though. Wet Leg are edgy for sure, but the music they're playing is very straight and direct. black midi are young and edgy, too, but are complex and demanding pretty much all the time.

By the way, I thought it's remarkable what kind of performance Paul McCartney can come up with at 80, but in the meantime I've also found the set that Herbie Hancock plays at 82, which is every bit as fresh and enjoyable. Of course he doesn't sing, which means he can hide his age a bit better. (Oh actually he does some singing, but it's through a vocoder.)

Actually one idea of watching Glastonbury is to find out a bit about what's cool now, but it seems I am prone to getting stuck with the dinosaurs... getting old myself...

There actually is a black midi connection of sorts, given that Dan Carey is Wet Leg’s keyboard player and also produced their album. Carey is, of course, known for his work with black midi, Black Country New Road, Squid, et al. All of whom are certainly more complex (though I don’t think any more demanding) than Wet Leg. But I did not even know of that connection when I first (or next) heard Wet Leg.

I never thought there was a connection to black midi, and that seems an odd turn of phrase to use, as when people are reminded of other bands when they listen to another would rarely consider it a connection. Often it’s not even a similarity. I am often reminded of other bands when I listen to another, where there is no obvious similarity at all. I sometimes can’t even say why I’m reminded of the other. I just am. We all hear different things in music, so while you might not hear anything in Wet Leg’s music that reminds you of black midi, that doesn’t necessarily mean I don’t. Based on posts and comments I’ve seen about Wet Leg on FB, I’m certainly not the only person to have heard some similarities to/been reminded of black midi, but that doesn’t make me any more “right” in what I hear than you. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[EDIT] it strikes me that this comment from within the many my post on FB provoked is probably appropriate here:

Also, I don’t think Wet Leg is considered post punk. From what I’ve read of them, they definitely don’t seem to consider themselves post punk. A lot of the criticism they have received has come from post punk lovers who object to post punk comparisons being made. But those comparisons, like my own in the post I am now commenting about, don’t actually call Wet Leg a post punk band. Some people get far too bogged down by labels, and even worse, gatekeeping those labels. It’s a shame, because it means sometimes some people won’t even give a band a chance, because they’ve already decided they belong to a genre they are not interested in - or, conversely, that they are attempting to be part of a genre they are interested in, and that just won’t do!

https://drycleaning.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - https://drycleaning.bandcamp.com/

Yes indie is boring. I love Billie Eilish, Wet Leg (because unlike boring indie, fun indie is fun) and while not the biggest fan of St Vincent, she's extremely gifted and her latest album Daddy's Home is by far my favorite of hers. Black Midi is a no-brainer and fantastic live. Loove Jack White's two latest releases. Wild, eccentric, somewhat experimental rock and so much fun. Nubya Garcia is quite wonderful spiritual jazz, Kikagaku Moyo, Khruangbin (a little overhyped, but still nice), Greentea Peng, Fountains DC, Kate Tempest, Little Simz, Roisin Murphy, GO_A mm... I would have found lots to enjoy every day here. All this "world" or whatever stuff is definitely more interesting than most modern rock in general. Wish the vibrant new british jazz and neo soul scene was more present. I've probably been more into that, than new prog for the last five or six years or so.

In terms of the new UK post punk scene, other than the bands you mention, Warmduscher and Fontaines DC put on some fairly entertaining sets, but Idles set was pretty damn amazing - to watch, as much as to listen to. Definitely a performance, by more than one definition of the word!

I recently picked up the Fontaines DC album A Hero's Death. I'm enjoying it. Not mention here but the two Black country, New Road albums are great.

Don't know Warmduscher so will check them out. I surfed a bunch of other post punk based on Pitchfork, Guardian and the like, articles but only the Fontaines DC connected so far.

Please do tell. I guess I could use Google Translate, but I’m sure you will give me a better answer. I’m kind of late to the scene with them. A friend has been a fan of them for a long while, but never recommended them to me because he didn’t realise I was into all the new wave of post punk until recently.

https://warmduscher.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - https://warmduscher.bandcamp.com/

As Ian agreed with, the Fontaines DC set was rather good, for anyone wanting to check them out.

https://fontainesdc.bandcamp.com/music" rel="nofollow - https://fontainesdc.bandcamp.com/

I also mentioned Idles, who are probably the most well-known/popular/successful of the new wave of post punk within the UK. They definitely put on a great performance, which the crowd really reacted to, and which showed how much more well-known they are compared to other bands like black midi and Squid. (But I have to say, I absolutely LOVED Squid’s set, and the enthusiasm with which they performed.)

https://idlesband.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - https://idlesband.bandcamp.com/

https://bmblackmidi.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - https://bmblackmidi.bandcamp.com/

https://squiduk.bandcamp.com/album/bright-green-field" rel="nofollow - https://squiduk.bandcamp.com/

I love Nubya Garcia, so will definitely eventually work my way to her. I’m watching Bonobo at the moment, as I was interested to see how a lovely performance would look and sound.

Bonobo is essentially the stage name for Simon Green, who is an electronic musician who began in the trip hop and broken beat scene. I came to him by way of a recommendation from someone who knew I love Mark de Clive-Lowe, who was one of the pioneers of broken beat. Like Mark de Clive Lowe, that mix of jazz, electronic, funk and percussion heavy “world” music remains part of Bonobo’s sound, but utilities a lot more acoustic instrumentation, and he performs live with a full band. Like Mark de Clive Lowe, Bonobo is often now lumped in with the nu-)azz scene, which makes sense as broken beat is one of the scenes that gave rise to the nu-jazz scene.

Watching it is very much like watching a Mark de Clive-Lowe show, with Bonobo leading things from behind his synths and samplers, and so much going on across the stage to recreate his sounds. While much of the sound is coming from Bonobo, it is augmented beautifully by the live drums and brass section, etc. It’s a far more interesting and enjoyable set to watch than I expected.

[EDIT] (to add a Bandcamp link)

https://bonobomusic.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - https://bonobomusic.bandcamp.com/

Literally, it's somebody who prefers to have a warm shower. At some point, I guess in the 1990s, some people started to use this for somebody who doesn't take risks and likes everything nice and comforting. For some reason this became very popular and people made fun out of all kinds of other things that could be associated with it such as "laughing-about-your-boss's-jokes" or "manual reader" (which I very proudly am), and hardly a day passed by without anybody inventing a new synonym for Warmduscher to cheer up or annoy their friends with. Now I know that German humour is not for everyone (as far as it exists ), and the obsession with dissing warm showers is now long gone, but for a window of time it was quite something.

I've seen them now by the way, and find them OK... the music is good but the vocals are not my cup of tea, and not everybody on stage seemed to enjoy what they were doing there. On the other hand I had seen some 3 minutes of Idles on Friday and thought this is not for me, but now have given them a second chance and like them much more (even though once more the voice is an acquired taste at best). Same issue by the way with Skunk Anansie... I think it's really a weakness of mine when it comes to music appreciation that there is a pretty wide range of singers/voices that I have a hard time tolerating, and some more that I find very mediocre compared with the musician's skills in the same band, and that would surely drag a band down in my appreciation (if occasionally not very far, Idles being an example).

I'm a big Nubya Garcia fan, I've got pretty much everything. Her set at Big Ears Festival was excellent. 

My big issue with Warmduscher is definitely the vocals. It’s odd, because most of the time I can get past vocals I don’t particularly like, if I enjoy the music. I can’t stand Jon Anderson’s voice, but I like Yes. I’m not at all a fan of Billy Corgan’s voice, but I like Smashing Pumpkins. And within the new wave of post punk there are a number of vocalists that aren’t to my taste, but I still like the music. I don’t like the vocals for black midi or for Idles, but I enjoy the music of both bands. But somehow, I still struggle with Warmduscher. I have to say I did find their Glastonbury set to be the least inspired and least inspiring of all I’ve watched so far. As you say, some of them didn’t appear to have any interest in being there. Or maybe they were just renting to be too cool for Glastonbury. Whatever, something about their performance did rub me up the wrong way, though I still enjoyed it.

I love Skin’s vocals, but she has definitely sounded better. I guess maybe age has something to do with it? Not many can keep belting out their voice with the same power as they did in their youth. Back in the day, both live and in studio, no one could touch Skin’s voice for power and passion. Well, I say that, and I know plenty of people could easily refute that, and provide examples. But I’m speaking more for my personal musical experience. I didn’t have anywhere near the experience and awareness of the vastness of the musical world back then, and to me Skin was simply awesome. So there’s always a possibility that nostalgia allowed me to enjoy the Skunk Anansie set more than someone who wasn’t previously a fan of the band.

[EDIT] it also occurs to me, that if one only listened to the first song of their set, one could easily get perhaps the wrong impression of the band. I found it the weakest of the set, even though it is a song I have loved hearing live in the past. Skin’s voice seemed strained, and the song suffered because of that. The remainder of the set, though, I thought was considerably better, so maybe she just needed to warm up?

nick_h_nz wrote: it also occurs to me, that if one only listened to the first song of their set, one could easily get perhaps the wrong impression of the band. I found it the weakest of the set, even though it is a song I have loved hearing live in the past. Skin’s voice seemed strained, and the song suffered because of that. The remainder of the set, though, I thought was considerably better, so maybe she just needed to warm up?

With that I agree.

As I enjoyed the Bonobo set, I thought I’d give Caribou a go. Again an electronic solo artist who chooses to utilise a full band for his live performances, but this time not from a broken beat background. And, honestly, it is nowhere near as enjoyable, and Dan Snaith really doesn’t use the live musicians to his advantage in anywhere near the way Bonobo (and Mark de Clive Lowe) do. But I’m not sure if I didn’t enjoy it so much, because it’s further from my comfort zone. There were certainly some numbers I enjoyed far more than others. I guess I enjoyed it enough to keep listening, as I did listen to the whole set, but I’m not sure when or if I’ll be returning to Caribou to further explore his music. 🤔

I did see some of Billie Eilish, which was OK; also Diana Ross, whose voice is sadly passed it these days - I winced a lot throughout.

I noticed that, and thought the same. I was quite surprised to see so little interest shown by the crowd, as I thought black midi were better known and liked. Contrasting their set with other post punk bands playing, the lack of audience interest really showed.

Idles are, I suspect, the most well-known and popular of the new wave of post punk bands in the UK, and that definitely showed. The difference between the crowd’s reaction to Idles and to black midi was like two opposite ends of a spectrum. And you could see the band really bounced off the audience as much as the other way around. The Idles set was probably the most enjoyable of all the post punk Glasto sets I’ve watched, even though when it comes to their studio albums, I would put them a considerable distance behind black midi and Squid in my affections. It just goes to show how great the difference can be between studio and live.

Fontaines DC also put on a good performance, as did Dry Cleaning, and they both also seemed to get more of a reaction from the audience than black midi. Maybe black midi’s main fanbase and the average Glasto festival goer are mutually exclusive? It was a shame, though. They seemed to still be enjoying themselves, but it must have been hard seeing the lack of reaction from the crowd.

nick_h_nz wrote: Maybe black midi’s main fanbase and the average Glasto festival goer are mutually exclusive?

I thought the same. As I wrote earlier, black midi are intellectual and demanding, not really "have a good time" music. And neither your typical angry young men & women stuff. Their emotionality just isn't very direct. And then there wasn't really a second band catering to an audience who'd like that. Even Squid, quite clearly closest to black midi in the lineup, are far more accessible to a standard festival goer, I'd say.

I’ve started my day with Burna Boy, who is definitely not performing in English at the moment!

He is a Nigerian artist who describes his music as Afro-Fusion, and that seems an apt label, as you can quite a few genres mixed into his music. I’m quite enjoying it. It’s a nice easy start to the day…

[EDIT] And I’ve remained in an Afro-Fusion way, by following Burna Boy with Seun Kuti & Egypt 80. So more Nigerian music, for Egypt 80 is the band of one of Nigeria’s most famous musicians, Fela Kuti, and Seun is, of course, his son. Seun joined his father’s band before the age of ten, and has been leading it since his father’s death. Great stuff!

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 were an absolute highlight for me! I've also listened to Burna Boy, who wasn't quite up there. Anyway, Nigeria's official language is English, even though it is in fact multilingual, but if British people invite somebody from Nigeria, they will still probably think of them as anglophone, and it's in the Commonwealth. My point isn't that all of them sing in English, but rather that they don't look in many places when it comes to invitations. Of course Saperlipopette has pointed out that at least one artist from a non-anglophone Asian country was there, but that's for sure not a lot. I have little doubt that Ukraine was represented in order to make a political point (their music of course still being potentially fine), otherwise I do think some ignorance shows up there on behalf of the organisers. If I remember it correctly, it wasn't really different in the past with the odd exception maybe.

Oh, and Sigrid (Norway) was there. But still...

I will be honest - I really don’t understand your concern/criticism. If Glastonbury were a world music festival, you would certainly have a point, but if anything Glasto is the exact opposite. It is the most English of UK music festivals, and almost a celebration of Englishness. You are more likely to see people moan about a headline act not being English, than to hear them moan there is not enough diversity. You are more likely to see people moan that someone is not performing in English, than wish to see more of that.

And I keep saying English, rather than British, because England seems to like to think Britain is theirs (much to the annoyance and frustration and anger of the the other British nations), and this sense of almost ownership is sort of asserted over the Commonwealth, too. So it comes as no surprise to me that if international acts are invited, they are either from Commonwealth countries, or they perform solely in English. Glasto is not WOMAD. It’s almost the opposite.

Of course, many who actually attend don’t share these sort of nationalist and xenophobic views, but as a UK festival, Glastonbury is surprisingly conservative. There is some diversity and inclusivity, but it is not what Glastonbury is particularly known for.

(Also, it is ridiculous to me, to call a country anglophone just because English is a national language. There will be plenty of Nigerians who speak no English at all, and the most common form of English spoken in Nigeria is a pidgin dialect that would be near incomprehensible to most “proper” English speakers. English is a national language of Canada, but there are plenty of people in Quebec who speak only French, and know no English at all. Māori is a national language of New Zealand, and while most Kiwis would know a smattering of words, that certainly doesn’t mean they know or understand the language.)