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Leading on from the cliffhanger ending of Part One of our guide to Liverpool Sound City, in which we left you hanging as to, err, actually scrap that – it wasn’t a cliffhanger at all was it? Bollocks.
Lesson learnt – always leave them wanting more – even if it means littering a festival preview with references to a fugitive protagonist who may or may not be dead by the end of the piece and has secretly fathered a baby to the woman who may have killed him. Or something.
So yeah – Part Two then – it’s pretty straightforward. Notepads, pens and diaries at the ready kids, this is essential stuff.
Onwards to Thursday May 20 – if Wednesday May 19 is done the way it should be – uproarious, tipsy and with more than just a little after party goin down – then May 20 should be one helluva sour, hangover ridden day (unless you’re one of those indestructible lucky sods who ‘doesn’t get hangovers’ and could probably swallow a whole brick of scag without getting so much as a stomach ache).
With this in mind allow me to direct your sweet attentions towards the warm cuddly-wuddly, high spirited delights supporting Daisy Dares You at Korova. Brooklyn awesomeness Twin Shadow, in particular, are what I imagine vanilla roobois tea to sound like if it learnt to play synth, took up residency in a hookah pipe, and decided it’s long-term life plan was to slow dance it’s way out of it’s own existence.
Live we expect them to be the aural equivalent of a freshly dry-cleaned comfort blanket. Mmmm. If you don’t believe me check out Castles In The Snow on their Myspace page – if it doesn’t make your toes curl with rapture then you’ve obviously de-sensitized yourself to total, total joy. Fool.
Worth the biggest shout out though are Ganglians, playing at The Kazimier the same night. Holy cuss, are they good. Listening to them makes us want to escape to a forest wearing nothing but a romper suit, build a den, down some absinthe and live off sour strawberry laces for the indefinite future.
A chorus of echo, reverb, toy instruments and decadent messed up vocals – their sound is distant, as if drowning. Distant, as if spiked. Distant, as if in coma. We want it live. We want it to crawl in through our ears, give our cerebral cortex a good licking, and then dance out of our pores in a climactic farewell gesture. Gorgeous and highly recommended.
Friday May 21 is all about Speech Debelle at the O2 Academy. The winner of 2009’s Mercury Music Prize, we’re curious as a kitty-cat about this much hyped 26 year old hip-hop super nova. With songs proving themselves to have a far more compelling, confessional and darker edge than what you’d maybe be expecting, her style is a little reminiscent of Roots Manuva – which can never be a bad thing.
Festival end-day May 22 is again, quite the pickle of a furious fight off for your attentions. BUT – we’re being decisive and have whittled the stupidly vast choices down to these two bad boys.
First up – Zanzibar. We absolutely love the Zanzibar, and it often feels that their space just doesn’t get utilized nearly enough by the sort of bands that could totally kill the joint. So it’s with total childlike enthusiasm that we recommend you head here on the 22nd to catch this total treat of a line-up: Blood Red Shoes, Titus Andronicus, Male Bonding, Crocodiles.
God, we’re so excited about this that the mere thought of the gig is breaking us out into what can only be described as potent, feverish love sweats. Yikes.
For starters, the live delights to be sampled by Blood Red Shoes have already been well established and shouted from the rooftops of many a critics dwelling. THEY’RE AMAZING. There’s little else to say.
The support acts too are bloody outstanding. Titus Andronicus, who sound a little like the early, roughneck demos of Bright Eyes, and then Male Bonding, who resemble a Dalston based, male equivalent of The Vivian Girls, are two bands we’re practically doing cartwheels with sheer expectancy over seeing live.
If none of this is sugaring your cake particularly then at the other end of the guitar music spectrum this eve is The Maccabees, Los Campesinos! and Is Tropical at the O2 Academy.
With all three bands providing the kind of smile inducing pop indie triumphs that are notorious for pushing an entire audience into a loved-up, shout along frenzy, the atmosphere at this thing looks set to be a real soul feeding, high five fest.
We also strongly, strongly recommend that you don’t wimp out on seeing first support act Is Tropical by heading for a pre-gig bevvie in some dive bar nearby. Trust us, if Maccabees and Campesinos are your kinda chaps, then Is Tropical are definitely worth turning up on time for.
Is right. See you on the dance floor, champs.
Amy Roberts (Purple Revolver’s Liverpool Sound City Editor)
Read part one of Purple Revolver’s guide to Liverpool Sound City 2010 here: http://www.purplerevolver.com/bulletin/news/12411-the-purple-revolver-guide-to-liverpool-sound-city-part-one.html
Liverpool Sound City official site: http://www.liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk/index.html
Check out our recommendations:
Twin Shadow: http://www.myspace.com/twinshadow
Ganglians: http://www.myspace.com/ganglian
Speech Debelle: http://www.myspace.com/speechdebellemusic
Blood Red Shoes: http://www.myspace.com/bloodredshoes
Titus Andronicus: http://www.myspace.com/titusandronicus
Male Bonding: http://www.myspace.com/malebonding
Crocodiles: http://www.myspace.com/crocodilescrocodilescrocodiles
The Maccabees: http://www.myspace.com/themaccabees
Los Campesinos!: http://www.myspace.com/loscampesinos
Is Tropical: http://www.myspace.com/istropical