Last year on The Musical Chairs, we provided some live coverage from a couple of festivals – The Great Escape and Reading. They were both fun festivals to cover and, from what I gather of those read the coverage and the detailed analysis afterwards, very good coverage. So, The Musical Chairs is once again planning to do some festival action in 2010, albeit with more events and more ambitious plans. Here is the proposed itinerary:

1st-2nd May: Camden Crawl

For two days every Spring, Camden becomes the centre of frenetic activity as a plethora of bands fill out just about every single venue/pub in Camden. Last year featured such big hitters like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs so expect more of the same in 2010.

13th-15th May: The Great Escape

It was so much fun last year that I’m going again. The seaside festival/music conference is a pretty important date for those in the industry and a chance to see the bands that will make a splash at the outdoor festivals in 2010.

6th June: Rage Against The Machine at Finsbury Park

Not a festival per se but it’s a pretty big deal nonetheless, with several bands playing throughout the day. I’ll be there gauging the mood of the people lucky enough to go and report on the day as a whole.

24th June-27th June: Glastonbury

We are hoping to do this massively, and we might have big plans for this. Stay tuned for more information in the near future.

31st July: Field Day

Field Day will be the final event in our summer of festivals. With Phoenix headlining and an eclectic supporting case, it should be one of the more interesting one-day festivals of the summer.

This year, there will be more expansive coverage and I hope to do more collaboration with you guys via the usual social networking tools. Of course, this is all a proposed itinerary and I’ll be beyond grateful to cover all five of these events, but let’s see what happens. Either way, I’m pumped and so should you be.

Posted on March 5th, 2010 by Max
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A few weeks ago I told you of the campaign led by Amnesty International to locate the whereabouts of some missing music journalists in Iran. The hunt is still going on but there was some good news recently. Behrang Tonekaboni, a journalist who was arrested alongside Kayvan Farzin at the Farhang va Ahang (an Iranian music and culture publication) offices, has been released. However, this isn’t the end of matter. Kate Allen, UK Director for Amnesty International, said:

We’re seriously concerned for the safety of Behrang, Kayyan, Lily and countless others. The crackdown on dissent and free speech since Iran’s disputed election has been brutal, and we’ve received many reports of torture.

All three should be protected from torture and allowed access to their families, lawyers and the medical assistance that they need. And if they are being held solely for the peaceful expression of their views, they should be released immediately. The Iranian authorities have no right to lock people up just for speaking their minds.

If you still haven’t taken action, you can do so by going here and sending an e-mail to the Iranian authorities.

Posted on March 4th, 2010 by Max
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It’s very, very easy to be sucked in by hype. Teen Dream, the third album by Baltimore duo Beach House was released nearly a couple of months ago and has received many plaudits from critics and is hailed as one of the best albums of the year thus far. They are the current flavour of the month on all your favourite hipster sites. This is also not their debut, but their third album following their self-titled effort and Devotion in 2006 and 2008 respectively.

I wanted to like Teen Dream so much. I wanted to be taken in by the dreamy aesthetics of Zebra and Norway and the subtle arrangements of 10 Mile Stereo. But I just couldn’t. Even after repeated listens there was nothing that could shake off my feelings after listening, of which there weren’t that many to speak of. What’s even more frustrating is that there are some songs that I really like, like Walk In The Park, which has a combination of slow beats of dreamy vocals that feels less like a walk and more like a waltz (and that’s a good thing, bizarrely).

The main problem I have with Teen Dream is that, for all its high points, it seems somewhat slightly confused. With the band putting this out on Sub Pop, a massive step forward in reach as well as budget, it sounds as if they couldn’t decide what to do when more options were available to them. Do they continue to go down the shoegazey path they have gone down in recent years or abandon that completely for more clarity? It seems that Beach House could do either perfectly well, but they can’t provide a satisfying middle ground.

That last sentence may sound pretty damning but I’m not saying that it’s a bad album per se. Teen Dream has definitely got a fair share of decent songs.  It just feels unfocused when you listen to it as a whole. I’m probably going to be alone in thinking this, but hey, if I don’t think an album is worth all the hype it’s been getting elsewhere then I’m bound to feel a bit disappointed.

Posted on March 3rd, 2010 by Max
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You must have by now heard of the news that the BBC is cutting down on costs and for this very reason will be cutting the one music radio station that it’s even possible to like in the UK – 6 Music. The alternative music station is, pending a review by the BBC Trust, going to be closed down alongside the Asian Network. This is a particularly outrageous decision for these five reasons:

1. It puts more emphasis on Radio 1 to play more genres during the daytime, which would make it less of a ‘pop’ station. You can hate that station for all the love in the world but it’s there to serve a purpose, and that purpose will get far more distorted.
2. The BBC will lose a lot of listeners who wouldn’t even dream of moving to any other BBC radio station that plays music. They have practically nowhere else to go for something similar to 6 Music.
3. It puts jobs under risk and we will lost a lot of talented DJs. Steve Lamacq is perhaps the finest music DJ this country has to offer and his loss will be felt, Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour is the perfect late night program and let’s not forget people like Shaun Keaveny and Lauren Laverne who might not have a job if 6 Music goes under.
4. They’ll lose serious credibility for their music/radio policies, giving people the impression that the BBC have just given up on music. This not only includes members of the public that they serve, but also many of their employees (Chris Addison and Charlie Brooker have already established their disdain). I don’t blame them, quite frankly.
5. This is no more than pandering to the needs of certain Conservative businessmen/women and politicians to keep them happy ahead of an election that they are supposed to win, but now isn’t looking as likely as once feared.

Absolute Radio would be willing to buy the station but I think everyone knows that its home is the BBC itself. If you want to e-mail the BBC Trust and let them know of your disappointment in the hope (not much, but good God there’s still some left!) that they might keep this unbelievably important radio station, the address is [s]trust.enquiries@bbc.co.uk[/s] SRconsultation@bbc.co.uk. We can only pray for some good news but whilst there is still a glimmer of hope it’s worth a shot.

If you get a response from them that isn’t an auto-reply, please share it in the comments below because not everyone who e-mails will get a reply.

Posted on March 2nd, 2010 by Max
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Mirror Mirror is an album by The Irrepressibles that will startle and surprise a lot of people, but for me, it’s also one of the year’s best albums so far.

The Irrepressibles themselves are a ten-piece unit that aren’t so much a band but more of a mini-orchestral ensemble, lead by Jamie McDermott, who not only provides lead vocals and guitar but is also the artistic director and composer. What lays before the listener are twelve tracks of exquisite chamber pop that has a wide-range of influences. From Antony & The Johnsons to Grizzly Bear to David Bowie, it all makes for an album that feels original.

McDermott’s voice, which reaches several high notes in his falsetto range, is very much his own despite sounding like so many other terrific singers on the surface. His range on Knife Song sounds like Thom Yorke had he gone to drama school whilst songs like Splish! Splash! Sploo! show him at his most playful. In his performances you can also detect influences of Antony Hegarthy, which is no surprise given how both artists’ similar ideas of what makes good pop music.

The songs on Mirror Mirror itself are all incredibly solid and memorable, and some would argue that they don’t need the lavish arrangements but those arguments are unfounded. The musical backing adds depth and an unexpected muscular driving force. The best song, without question, is the truly serene In Your Eyes, which takes a tune with an already beautiful melody and gorgeous vocal delivery and make it more atmospheric and dramatic with every flutter and swirl that the orchestra throws at it.

This is an incredibly mesmerising listen. Come the summer it will feel like the perfect soundtrack to walks in the park with loved ones and one can imagine that all twelve songs will blossom even more. What’s even more amazing is how this album has virtually come out of nowhere (I only decided to give it a spin after reading a couple of very favourable reviews a month or two ago) and presented itself as one of the unexpected and thrilling surprises of the year so far and I urge you to give it a chance too.

Posted on March 1st, 2010 by Max
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