Anyway, no footie today so some time to watch Glastonbury...

There were a number of artists on that I already knew and wanted to see. I was very positive on Squid's 2022 performance and I love both of their albums... like any adventurous proggy band they aren't that good a fit for Glastonbury as many of the audience don't get them. At the end I still love their music and they are very tight. Just the vocals wear out a bit over the full length of their gig and the drums could be more adventurous - maybe they should let their drummer/singer focus on either the drums or the vocals and add somebody for the other bit? 

I missed too much of Bombay Bicycle Club's gig (like Squid a band I discovered through Glastonbury) and have to hope for a full set video being added to the BBC site later. Anyway I wasn't so keen on the new songs I heard but I loved the brass section arrangement of "Always Like This" - eager to hear more new arrangements of their old material.

I absolutely loved PJ Harvey's set. For some reason I only have one album of hers and am not that familiar with much of her material, but apparently she has a never ending stream of great songs, all of which come with some oddball details that make them worthwhile. Also she doesn't rely much on stupid crowdpleasing and it's all about the music. The #1 set to play again up to now.

I expected most from Heilung and finally they won me over indeed. Their thing is just so unique and mesmerising, although it obviously doesn't have the same "wow"-effect anymore that it had when experienced for the first time. In the beginning I thought the newer tracks don't reach the legendary material from LIFA, but that became better later. Also adding more female singers (and female warriors) was a welcome addition to their show. Maria Franz' voice didn't seem to be quite at her best - maybe she had a cold, but the additional vocalists made up for that very well.

Not for the first time I'm fascinated how good a set LCD Soundsystem can play without apparently having much memorable or outstanding material. This is just made for making a huge crowd dance, and the flow of their rhythmic streams appeals to this Kraut/electronic lover.

Unfortunately I didn't yet succeed discovering something that I hadn't known yet and that is really great, but King Krule was quite interesting. I liked his heartfelt and "breathing" guitar work a lot and there are many elements in his music brought together in exciting ways. Actually it would've been great with better vocals (I know I complain about  vocals too often). 

I saw some 20 or 30 minutes of Dua Lipa's headline set, well, yeah, as often with Glastonbury headliners, the lady for sure knows what she is doing and I have some respect for this, but ultimately this kind of pop is wasted on me.

4h of football both Saturday and Sunday, let's see whether I can also watch some Glasto - otherwise maybe BBC lets the videos on the site for some weeks so that I can catch up... (somewhere I read that Toyah and Robert Fripp might be there but I couldn't find them in the lineup).

BTW Toyah is in the line up but couldn't see Robert Fripp, however it's very likely he will appear with her. Quite depressing that 99% of the audience will have no clue who Fripp is!

Is that so? Or are you getting depressed by a number you made up? (Of course we may think that even if it's not 99% it may be a far too large number anyway, but still I'd want to have some evidence before claiming such a thing.)

Although 99% of the audience will know who Toyah is. 

Robert Fripp & Toyah on All-Star Mr & Mrs, introduced by Philip Schofield as "Toyah Wilcox and her husband Robert who plays guitar" with no mention whatsoever of King Crimson. 

I am going to the Underneath the Stars festival in August, only a few thousand people, plenty of room, nice food and drink. That'll do me.

Fair enough... for me it has always been a TV experience; I'm much more comfortable with live music in smaller settings.

They indeed put a video up with Bombay Bicycle Club's full set. Normally I tend to be sceptical about putting too many people on the stage like brass section, group of additional singers etc. There's often more tightness and directness in a band of four or five. However I'm impressed how well the brass and singers are integrated here, a good fit for their positive Glastonbury-mood music. I'm still somewhat lukewarm about the newest songs but the set overall is very enjoyable.

Her latest album I Inside The Old Year Dying is stunning. And I would guess most of what you heard was taken from her most recent release. I love the "modern classic" Let England Shake too. Really most of her discography is worth investigating. Some of it is a little more straightforward "alternative rock" - but of a high quality nevertheless.

Although I wrote in 2022 or 2023 that most indie rock is shockingly uninspired, lovers of dark and sharp post punk can check out Fat White Family, Fontaines D.C., and Yard Act (although the latter didn't quite keep up the level after marvellous first two tracks).  Not too bad this if you are OK with getting depressed. NewDad (Shoegaze) and bar italia (post punk/indie with a twist) are OKish if you like that kind of thing (although the word "experimental" is very generously  used by BBC's band descriptions).

If on the other hand you like well done but straight positivity, there's Two Door Cinema Club.

Lewian wrote: Coldplay are so boring. Anyone here who could defend them? Apparently they are the biggest of the bunch but what exactly for?

It's music for people not really into music, and there's many of them out there. Coldplay is for rock what Kenny G. is for jazz.