Glastonbury via armchair 2023

UnclePsychosis

I've finally caught up with a lot of it.

My personal highlights have been CHVRCHES and Jacob Collier. 

Vintage65

Blueingreen said:

monquixote said:
Just been watching Caroline Polachek

What an incredible singer and a great performer. It's weird she isn't more famous.

I'm always being surprised by how wrong my assumptions about artists' drawing power are when I see the pecking order at festivals.  I think it's easy to assume column inches and end of year album rankings are a reflection of public profile, but very often they really aren't.

I think that's a good thing, it's much healthier for artists to get well known through word of mouth than by conforming to the latest music journo orthodoxies.

Weyes Blood was one such revelation this year, her last couple of albums have been lauded to the skies but her set at Glastonbury seemed a surprisingly low key and I thought slightly bloodless affair. 

That is true.

Regarding exposure to the general public, I read that when it came to touring she had to decide whether to spend money on the stage design or a backing band, which suggests there wasn't a big promotional budget available. However, you can be sure that anybody who is connected to pop side of the music business is paying attention to what Polachek is doing in her role as a tastemaker.

thecolourbox

I watched my first bits last night, the Mrs put some junk on Netflix so I took that as my cue to put Jacob Collier on full screen on the laptop with headphones in. That guy is my absolute hero - so many sounds in every song, so much beautiful harmony and unexpected changes that just work, and the fact that while he had an (excellent) band with him, you know he could still smash it all by himself and keep it interesting. Enjoyed the new song as well, Djesse 4 sounds like it['s going to have some rock on it which is awesome. I've not heard him rapping either before, which was great fun especially as he seemed to be running around the stage like a wind up toy with ADHD at the time. The dude is just on another level to anything else for me, proper "head and heart" music as I like to call it. 

I also watched a song of Lana Del Ray but found that while it started well and her singing sounded great while the backing was quiet, when the volume rose up she just seemed to vanish into mumbling. I love her recorded output and the fact it's very different in focus than the usual pop singer thing, but live I'm just not sure it works with the full backing track sound for me.

A fair few of the names on my list don't seem to be available on iplayer which is a shame, but looking forward to Christine & the Queens, Queens of the Stone Age, and Editors. Sounds like I need to check out Caroline Polachek as well (although somebody mentioned Karen Carpenter in the same sentence, so I hope that's not to accurate)

I've no interest in Guns & Roses nor Elton, I don't like their music and by all accounts neither of them sound like they can sing them anyway, so while at least GNR have Slash to enjoy on guitar, I'm not sure Elton has anything redeeming for me (and I say that as a wedding pianist!)

JezWynd

Philly_Q said:

I watched quite a lot of Glastonbury over the weekend - some whole sets, some "oh no that's quite enough of that..."

Has anyone mentioned Måneskin?  We need more rock bands like them.  They're young, they look fantastic, they can play, and they unashamedly fucking rock.  I think perhaps being Italian helps them pull it off... if they were British or American their act might almost seem like parody.

I'm not sure any of their songs are even slightly memorable, or distinguishable from each other, but I was hearing most of them for the first time.  As a live act I thought they were great.

They won the Eurovision Song Contest a few years ago. Unless they’ve changed personnel, I’m not sure ‘young’ is a good descriptor.

EricTheWeary

My son put the QOTSA set on. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. They are playing where my other son works in November so given a fair wind and poor ticket sales I might go see them. 

thecolourbox said:

 Sounds like I need to check out Caroline Polachek as well (although somebody mentioned Karen Carpenter in the same sentence, so I hope that's not to accurate)

Skinny white women who sing. Otherwise nah. I went back to YouTube just to listen to Polachek again and really nah. 

JezWynd

EricTheWeary said:

My son put the QOTSA set on. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. They are playing where my other son works in November so given a fair wind and poor ticket sales I might go see them. 

thecolourbox said:

 Sounds like I need to check out Caroline Polachek as well (although somebody mentioned Karen Carpenter in the same sentence, so I hope that's not to accurate)

Skinny white women who sing. Otherwise nah. I went back to YouTube just to listen to Polachek again and really nah. 

EricTheWeary said:

My son put the QOTSA set on. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. They are playing where my other son works in November so given a fair wind and poor ticket sales I might go see them. 

thecolourbox said:

 Sounds like I need to check out Caroline Polachek as well (although somebody mentioned Karen Carpenter in the same sentence, so I hope that's not to accurate)

Skinny white women who sing. Otherwise nah. I went back to YouTube just to listen to Polachek again and really nah. 

I gave her a spin due to the praise hereabouts. Again, nah. Karen Carpenter had great tunes, something conspicuously absent from my toe in the water with Ms Polachek.

ICBM

If you want to listen to someone who sounds like Karen Carpenter - at least a bit - try Rumer.

thecolourbox

EricTheWeary said:

My son put the QOTSA set on. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. They are playing where my other son works in November so given a fair wind and poor ticket sales I might go see them. 

thecolourbox said:

 Sounds like I need to check out Caroline Polachek as well (although somebody mentioned Karen Carpenter in the same sentence, so I hope that's not to accurate)

Skinny white women who sing. Otherwise nah. I went back to YouTube just to listen to Polachek again and really nah. 

I'm not averse to that concept in general but yes I think I see what you mean, sometimes singists really appeal for some really specific small reason, and other times they just seem very pleasant but ultimately quite dull. I shall listen with an open mind though as half the stuff I wanted to catch isn't on iplayer so I'll have to make do with what is!

Re QOTSA they are one of those bands for me that I feel like I should enjoy more than I do - theyt tick a lot of the usual boxes I enjoy in a band but without ever really moving me to anything at all. I'll enjoy a well filmed festival set for what it is but I don't ever remember any of the songs afterwards and I don't ever feel compelled to seek it out on Spotify or learn to play any of it. I think it would help if they had a better vocalist (sorry!) as his voice gets on my nerves, and visually it's offputting to see a frontman with an annoying (to me) voice looking like a chap i'd expect to see working at Wickes or something

west

thecolourbox said:

I watched my first bits last night, the Mrs put some junk on Netflix so I took that as my cue to put Jacob Collier on full screen on the laptop with headphones in. That guy is my absolute hero - so many sounds in every song, so much beautiful harmony and unexpected changes that just work, and the fact that while he had an (excellent) band with him, you know he could still smash it all by himself and keep it interesting. Enjoyed the new song as well, Djesse 4 sounds like it['s going to have some rock on it which is awesome. I've not heard him rapping either before, which was great fun especially as he seemed to be running around the stage like a wind up toy with ADHD at the time. The dude is just on another level to anything else for me, proper "head and heart" music as I like to call it. 

I also watched a song of Lana Del Ray but found that while it started well and her singing sounded great while the backing was quiet, when the volume rose up she just seemed to vanish into mumbling. I love her recorded output and the fact it's very different in focus than the usual pop singer thing, but live I'm just not sure it works with the full backing track sound for me.

A fair few of the names on my list don't seem to be available on iplayer which is a shame, but looking forward to Christine & the Queens, Queens of the Stone Age, and Editors. Sounds like I need to check out Caroline Polachek as well (although somebody mentioned Karen Carpenter in the same sentence, so I hope that's not to accurate)

I've no interest in Guns & Roses nor Elton, I don't like their music and by all accounts neither of them sound like they can sing them anyway, so while at least GNR have Slash to enjoy on guitar, I'm not sure Elton has anything redeeming for me (and I say that as a wedding pianist!)

Dude agree with you about jacob , i loved it !   check out louis cole really great , im not so keen on the vox /rap bits but he and his band are fantastic ...

Philly_Q

JezWynd said:

Philly_Q said:

I watched quite a lot of Glastonbury over the weekend - some whole sets, some "oh no that's quite enough of that..."

Has anyone mentioned Måneskin?  We need more rock bands like them.  They're young, they look fantastic, they can play, and they unashamedly fucking rock.  I think perhaps being Italian helps them pull it off... if they were British or American their act might almost seem like parody.

I'm not sure any of their songs are even slightly memorable, or distinguishable from each other, but I was hearing most of them for the first time.  As a live act I thought they were great.

They won the Eurovision Song Contest a few years ago. Unless they’ve changed personnel, I’m not sure ‘young’ is a good descriptor.

They only won Eurovision two years ago.  And unless their bio is a pack of lies, they put the band together in 2015-16 when they were all schoolkids.  They're all 23 or 24 years old.  That, I think most would agree, is young.

thecolourbox

Just watched Sparks while working, ahem, they are great fun aren't they. I love the vampiric piano chap and how he has not changed his persona (or seemingly, his facial expression) for 50 years.  Do we reckon Lana del Ray's hairdresser was late because she was doing the lead singer's syrup?

EricTheWeary

thecolourbox said:

EricTheWeary said:

My son put the QOTSA set on. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. They are playing where my other son works in November so given a fair wind and poor ticket sales I might go see them. 

thecolourbox said:

 Sounds like I need to check out Caroline Polachek as well (although somebody mentioned Karen Carpenter in the same sentence, so I hope that's not to accurate)

Skinny white women who sing. Otherwise nah. I went back to YouTube just to listen to Polachek again and really nah. 

I'm not averse to that concept in general but yes I think I see what you mean, sometimes singists really appeal for some really specific small reason, and other times they just seem very pleasant but ultimately quite dull. I shall listen with an open mind though as half the stuff I wanted to catch isn't on iplayer so I'll have to make do with what is!

Re QOTSA they are one of those bands for me that I feel like I should enjoy more than I do - theyt tick a lot of the usual boxes I enjoy in a band but without ever really moving me to anything at all. I'll enjoy a well filmed festival set for what it is but I don't ever remember any of the songs afterwards and I don't ever feel compelled to seek it out on Spotify or learn to play any of it. I think it would help if they had a better vocalist (sorry!) as his voice gets on my nerves, and visually it's offputting to see a frontman with an annoying (to me) voice looking like a chap i'd expect to see working at Wickes or something

He’s no Karen Carpenter. 

My knowledge of QOTSA was hearing a couple of songs that were the aural equivalent of being repeatedly stabbed in the forehead by a boney finger. Over a set they seem to be a lot more dynamic. At one point I was singing along and my son wanted to know how I knew it, “ because it’s a Rolling Stones song.”

thecolourbox

EricTheWeary said:

thecolourbox said:

EricTheWeary said:

My son put the QOTSA set on. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. They are playing where my other son works in November so given a fair wind and poor ticket sales I might go see them. 

thecolourbox said:

 Sounds like I need to check out Caroline Polachek as well (although somebody mentioned Karen Carpenter in the same sentence, so I hope that's not to accurate)

Skinny white women who sing. Otherwise nah. I went back to YouTube just to listen to Polachek again and really nah. 

I'm not averse to that concept in general but yes I think I see what you mean, sometimes singists really appeal for some really specific small reason, and other times they just seem very pleasant but ultimately quite dull. I shall listen with an open mind though as half the stuff I wanted to catch isn't on iplayer so I'll have to make do with what is!

Re QOTSA they are one of those bands for me that I feel like I should enjoy more than I do - theyt tick a lot of the usual boxes I enjoy in a band but without ever really moving me to anything at all. I'll enjoy a well filmed festival set for what it is but I don't ever remember any of the songs afterwards and I don't ever feel compelled to seek it out on Spotify or learn to play any of it. I think it would help if they had a better vocalist (sorry!) as his voice gets on my nerves, and visually it's offputting to see a frontman with an annoying (to me) voice looking like a chap i'd expect to see working at Wickes or something

He’s no Karen Carpenter. 

My knowledge of QOTSA was hearing a couple of songs that were the aural equivalent of being repeatedly stabbed in the forehead by a boney finger. Over a set they seem to be a lot more dynamic. At one point I was singing along and my son wanted to know how I knew it, “ because it’s a Rolling Stones song.”

I preferred Karen Carpenter on the drums, maybe she could have joined Qotsa in another universe/lifetime. I do find their constant quaver chord bashing quite abrasive in a "repeatedly prodded in the face" kind of way but as you say, more tolerable on a live set where there's more than one volume present

Philly_Q

thecolourbox said:

Re QOTSA they are one of those bands for me that I feel like I should enjoy more than I do - theyt tick a lot of the usual boxes I enjoy in a band but without ever really moving me to anything at all. I'll enjoy a well filmed festival set for what it is but I don't ever remember any of the songs afterwards and I don't ever feel compelled to seek it out on Spotify or learn to play any of it. I think it would help if they had a better vocalist (sorry!) as his voice gets on my nerves, and visually it's offputting to see a frontman with an annoying (to me) voice looking like a chap i'd expect to see working at Wickes or something

Gosh, having followed Josh Homme's career for over 30 years (fuck, 30 years, that's gone fast...!), it's really strange to see him described as looking like a chap who works at Wickes!

Hadn't really thought about his voice.  It seems OK to me, but having said that I was much more of a fan of Kyuss than QOTSA, and he wasn't the singer in Kyuss, that job fell to the rather fantastic John Garcia.

monquixote

EricTheWeary said:

My son put the QOTSA set on. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. They are playing where my other son works in November so given a fair wind and poor ticket sales I might go see them. 

thecolourbox said:

 Sounds like I need to check out Caroline Polachek as well (although somebody mentioned Karen Carpenter in the same sentence, so I hope that's not to accurate)

Skinny white women who sing. Otherwise nah. I went back to YouTube just to listen to Polachek again and really nah. 

You are thinking of Weyes Blood

She's more like Kate Bush.

thecolourbox

Philly_Q said:

thecolourbox said:

Re QOTSA they are one of those bands for me that I feel like I should enjoy more than I do - theyt tick a lot of the usual boxes I enjoy in a band but without ever really moving me to anything at all. I'll enjoy a well filmed festival set for what it is but I don't ever remember any of the songs afterwards and I don't ever feel compelled to seek it out on Spotify or learn to play any of it. I think it would help if they had a better vocalist (sorry!) as his voice gets on my nerves, and visually it's offputting to see a frontman with an annoying (to me) voice looking like a chap i'd expect to see working at Wickes or something

Gosh, having followed Josh Homme's career for over 30 years (fuck, 30 years, that's gone fast...!), it's really strange to see him described as looking like a chap who works at Wickes!

Hadn't really thought about his voice.  It seems OK to me, but having said that I was much more of a fan of Kyuss than QOTSA, and he wasn't the singer in Kyuss, that job fell to the rather fantastic John Garcia.

Is Kyuss the only thing Prince wanted as well as your extra time? 

Honestly, it's all opinion and preference isn't it, I like plenty of singers and guitarists who aren't as proficient as Homme, it's just down to your taste and they don't quite do it for me. I'd rather them though than a lot of the other names quoted here

thecolourbox

monquixote said:

EricTheWeary said:

My son put the QOTSA set on. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. They are playing where my other son works in November so given a fair wind and poor ticket sales I might go see them. 

thecolourbox said:

 Sounds like I need to check out Caroline Polachek as well (although somebody mentioned Karen Carpenter in the same sentence, so I hope that's not to accurate)

Skinny white women who sing. Otherwise nah. I went back to YouTube just to listen to Polachek again and really nah. 

You are thinking of Weyes Blood

She's more like Kate Bush.

I watched the video a few pages back and skipped through the Glastonbury set and it didn't set me alight, and I do like Kate Bush (unlike Carpenter). Each to their own though, as always - I'm not the target audience so not too surprising

Reverend

Philly_Q said:

thecolourbox said:

Re QOTSA they are one of those bands for me that I feel like I should enjoy more than I do - theyt tick a lot of the usual boxes I enjoy in a band but without ever really moving me to anything at all. I'll enjoy a well filmed festival set for what it is but I don't ever remember any of the songs afterwards and I don't ever feel compelled to seek it out on Spotify or learn to play any of it. I think it would help if they had a better vocalist (sorry!) as his voice gets on my nerves, and visually it's offputting to see a frontman with an annoying (to me) voice looking like a chap i'd expect to see working at Wickes or something

Gosh, having followed Josh Homme's career for over 30 years (fuck, 30 years, that's gone fast...!), it's really strange to see him described as looking like a chap who works at Wickes!

Hadn't really thought about his voice.  It seems OK to me, but having said that I was much more of a fan of Kyuss than QOTSA, and he wasn't the singer in Kyuss, that job fell to the rather fantastic John Garcia.

His own voice is very much a Chris Goss vibe.

Philly_Q

Reverend said:

Philly_Q said:

thecolourbox said:

Re QOTSA they are one of those bands for me that I feel like I should enjoy more than I do - theyt tick a lot of the usual boxes I enjoy in a band but without ever really moving me to anything at all. I'll enjoy a well filmed festival set for what it is but I don't ever remember any of the songs afterwards and I don't ever feel compelled to seek it out on Spotify or learn to play any of it. I think it would help if they had a better vocalist (sorry!) as his voice gets on my nerves, and visually it's offputting to see a frontman with an annoying (to me) voice looking like a chap i'd expect to see working at Wickes or something

Gosh, having followed Josh Homme's career for over 30 years (fuck, 30 years, that's gone fast...!), it's really strange to see him described as looking like a chap who works at Wickes!

Hadn't really thought about his voice.  It seems OK to me, but having said that I was much more of a fan of Kyuss than QOTSA, and he wasn't the singer in Kyuss, that job fell to the rather fantastic John Garcia.

His own voice is very much a Chris Goss vibe.

Yeah, good point. I think there was an influence.  Now there's a band who should be better known, that first Masters of Reality album is still one of my all time favourites.

Philly_Q

thecolourbox said:

Is Kyuss the only thing Prince wanted as well as your extra time? 

I had to think about that before I got it....