Pulp's Glastonbury Surprise

Worthy Farm’s annual mega music event has been and gone for another year, with some calling this year’s edition of Glastonbury one of the best yet. Unfortunately though, Glasto will be a no-show next year as the farm looks to take a fallow year, coinciding nicely with the London Olympics. The great Michael Eavis (founder of the festival in case you didn’t know) himself said that he wanted to make up for next year’s absence by bringing out all the stops with a stellar line up packed with variety. And undoubtedly, Mr Eavis did this by bringing out a multitude of stars and breaking new bands over dozens of stages. However, the star act of the weekend was nowhere to be seen on the line up. Billed as special guests on the Saturday, Pulp followed suit from Radiohead who surprised thousands of fans the day before on the Park Stage. When I say surprise, though, I mean it was one of the worst kept secrets of all time.

A record 30,000 attendees flocked to the Park Stage after it had been exposed by The Sun that 90′s Indie legends Pulp would return to Glastonbury as special guests after headlining the event in 1995 and 1998. Led by the dapper wordsmith Jarvis Cocker, the crammed crowd were left astonished by a career-spanning greatest hits set which featured anthems like ‘Disco 2000′ and ‘Do You Remember The First Time?’. Finishing on their biggest hit, ‘Common People’, the six-piece collective once again marked their stamp on the festival’s history whilst also providing the perfect soundtrack to this year’s Somerset gathering.



After a nine year hiatus it seems like we need Pulp more then ever to offer us a nostalgic revisit back to Jarvis’ quirky lyrics and the catchy tunes that helped to define the Britpop era as well as cementing Pulp’s place as one of Britain’s greatest Alternative acts. The evening can be summed up very aptly with Cocker’s greeting to the gargantuan crowd: “Well, you didn’t think we’d let you down, did you?”

Pulp played:

‘Do You Remember The First Time?’
‘Joyriders’
‘Razzmatazz’
‘Acrylic Afternoons’
‘Something Changed’
‘Disco 2000′
‘Sorted For E’s & Wizz’
‘Like A Friend’
‘Babies’
‘Mis-Shapes’
‘Live Bed Show’
‘This Is Hardcore’
‘Sunrise’
‘Common People’

Ones To Watch: Foster The People

Hey guys, I’ve decided to add a new weekly(ish) feature to my music posts. I’ll be focussing on the ones to watch in the music industry so I’ve cleverly decided to name the feature ‘Ones To Watch’ (cue round of applause). Anyway, enough of the intro, lets get things under way.

So, right now you may be thinking “who will be the prestigious first ever Ones To Watch?!?!”. Now this was a hard choice until I realised that their new single was the first song on my Spotify to have surpassed the dreaded 5 plays limit. The single, named ‘Houdini’, belongs to Indie Pop band Foster The People. This group from LA have a TON of hype surrounding them right now after a bunch of incredibly well received gigs at this year’s SXSW Festival in Austin. And just after checking out their first single ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ on YouTube, which has surpassed 2 million hits, this band couldn’t be any hotter.

Agreeing to the opinion of many a critic, I would liken Foster The People to a slightly more radio friendly MGMT/Empire Of The Sun. If you’re finding yourselves liking the sound of that, then I seriously recommend checking out their mellowed out first single below – which is a dead cert for one of the hits of the summer:



However, what really caught my attention regarding FTP was their shiny new single ‘Houdini’. This track has been rightfully dubbed the stand-out song off FTP’s summery debut album ‘Torches’ (released June 27) due to its upbeat, synth driven feel which perfectly accompanies Mark Foster’s smooth vocals. So what are you waiting for. Get up off that seat, give ‘Torches’ a listen on full blast and join the crowds at this year’s biggest UK festivals to get a nice live slice of Foster The People.



Foster The People are set to appear at: Reading & Leeds, Lovebox, Latitude and this weekend’s mighty Glastonbury festival!

Don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for future editions of 'Ones To Watch' for your latest, up to date fix of the freshest music.

Bombay Bicycle Club announce new album

This week, Bombay Bicycle Club announced the details surrounding the release of their third EP, a follow up to 2010′s Ivor Novello nominated acoustic album Flaws. The band, who are a quartet from London, revealed that the eagerly anticipated record will be released on August 29. This is to be preceded by the single Shuffle which will get its world exclusive airing on Zane Lowe’s Radio One show on June 22. The album which is titled ‘A Different Kind Of Fix’ was recorded in Atlanta, London and Germany, with work on the album beginning late 2010.

It is also revealed that the band have looked to venture down an intriguing new route, with the group going back to their electric roots as well as the introduction of synths and layered vocals. Frontman Jack Steadman has previously hinted to this when stating, “The first time I played it to any of my friends was at a house party and none of them believed it was Bombay Bicycle Club.” Bombay’s forthcoming album has been produced by both Animal Collective producer Ben Allen and Jack Steadman. This news defines an extraordinary journey for Bombay Bicycle Club who first came into the fray after winning Channel 4′s Road To V competition in 2006 which saw them bagging the opening slot at the 2006 V Festival on the Channel 4 Stage.

The tracklisting for ‘A Different Kind Of Fix’:

‘How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep’
‘Bad Timing’
‘Your Eyes’
‘Lights Out, Words Gone’
‘Take The Right One’
‘Shuffle’
‘Beggars’
‘Leave It’
‘Fracture’
‘What You Want’
‘Favourite Day’
‘Still’

And if you literally cannot wait for the August release, then check out a taster by watching a live performance of ‘Beggars’ below.