Jagaara, IYES & Tei Shi

One of my favourite half term indulgences is losing myself in music and so that is exactly what I have been doing this week. Actually, even the thought of half term gave me a little surge in the final week before the holiday as I looked ahead to festival season to get me through grey days. I wanted to share these three artists in particular as they have provided my repeat tracks to get me through planning, marking, cleaning and tidying but also travelling (of course) this half term. I hope you'll like them too!

Jagaara - Faultline

The modern day Corrs (not at all really, in fact that's probably actually a little offensive), Jagaara are three sisters from my neck of the woods. They are playing Field Day this year, so I discovered them through my 'line-up research'. Currently they only have two tracks, and I adore them both. Faultline is my favourite though, with an eerie yet epic instrumental, gorgeous vocals and a sound that generally gives me butterflies. Must listen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuFjq0LB47s (turns out the video's quite good too; some nice train-track shots and good colours)

IYES - Simmer

Last Thursday I went to see these guys at a most intimate venue in Hoxton, Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen. I'd never actually heard their music before, but a friend invited me along because she knew they'd be my kind of thing! 

I loved the duo's raw sound, their chemistry and the fact that you could really tell they were having lots of fun! Male vocals were really present live, which is something that is missing in their recorded materials, and I did get the giggles over tambourine 'playing' (it is not a real instrument!!) but it was still the sort of gig that made me miss singing SO much and despite having not previously listened to their tracks, instilled a sense of nostalgia in me. They performed a song called 'Lessons' towards the end of the set which was absolutely beautiful, but unfortunately has not yet made an appearance on the Internet. One to watch out for though I reckon!
https://soundcloud.com/weareiyes/simmer-live

Tei Shi - Nevermind The End

In contrast to the innocent and straight-up nature of IYES' music, another artist brought to my attention by the lineup for Field Day 2015 was Tei Shi. Her sound again stirs nostalgia within me, with a simple instrumental that has an almost Spring-like feel. On the other hand, her lyrics bring to light a darker side (irony not intended), nevertheless a dark side that makes me feel all empowered every time it comes on as I'm walking along anywhere. In my opinion, the contrast just works! The EP this track comes from, Saudade, is on SoundCloud - enjoy!
https://soundcloud.com/tei-shi/nevermind-the-end

Field Day

Ben Pearce, Stealing Sheep, Jacques Greene, Dark Dark Dark, Solange, Bat For Lashes, Four Tet.

Having had such an amazing time last year, decided to grace Field Day with our presences again last weekend, and so glad we did! Ultimately, I’m still not that accustomed to festivals as although I have now attended a few quite a few times, I tend to return to the same festivals so have hardly had a broad experience. I only mention this factor, as things that I now go on to say that ‘I love about Field Day’, may indeed be things that I’d love about other festivals too if I gave them the chance!

Ecstatic over SO MUCH NACHO

Obviously the notable thing for me about Field Day is the way that the line-up suits my musical taste and attitude to a T (tee? tea? One of life’s little mysteries)! Whilst last year it was Andrew Bird who caught my attention, this year I was lured by Four Tet and Jacques Greene. Although I go in with a very definite plan of what I will be seeing, at the same time, each year I have been introduced to new likes as I find myself sitting by a random stage while I graze the various food stalls (another great thing about Field Day, the INCREDIBLE food selection)! As I write this post, I am listening to Stealing Sheep who were the accompaniment to my enormous portion of nachos with piled up toppings this year.

Not only does the festival have a great line-up and amazing food on offer, but it’s all for an extremely reasonable price too (which is probably the main selling point while I’m still a student if I’m honest)! This year there are even super early bird tickets on sale for £35 which I've leapt at!! It may sound like a potentially risky move to buy this early, but having perused ‘Field Day Past’ (and had my mind blown by the price for consistently incredible line ups of the past) on Facebook, I’d say it's a risk worth taking;

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151689481950820.1073741826.312769280819&type=3

I didn’t actually see that many artists due to a lot of unfortunate clashes, but I love how Field Day is a festival where the sun decides to shine so that lounging around and just taking it all in is made entirely possible, acceptable and highly enjoyable. This year ‘i’ from The Independent was available at the gates with the complete set-list and timings - yet another money saver, also providing somewhere dry to sit on ground that

Technicolour dreamcoat

Beautiful balloons

had unfortunately been rained on for a few days prior to the festival, as well as reading material for in between sets. My highlights were definitely Bat For Lashes and Four Tet, made even better by the fact that they followed on from one another! Both were highly aesthetically pleasing, with Natasha Khan in her shiny, rainbow cape and two-piece, and Kieran Hebden’s release of giant, colourful balloons which floated around above our heads for his entire set. I've been waiting 7 years to see Bat For Lashes as I’ve never actually made it to one of her gigs, so was very excited to see her at Field Day! She played a good mix of her old and new, her energy was boundless and she seemed so happy to be playing in her ‘back garden’ as she referred to Victoria Park; obviously her performance of Laura went down very well with me too, beautiful! I’d also never seen Four Tet live, and despite the silly males nearby who were only there to be in a good position for Animal Collective (although they did prove to be of excellent comic value), I was totally in my element! Thanks to a dastardly cold (IN MAY??) I hadn’t got the most energy on Saturday, but could not stop dancing the whole time – music and balloons is absolutely the best combination!

I don’t want this to turn into a review (if it hasn’t headed in that direction already), so won’t go through every act one by one, but had a truly beautiful day and can’t wait to be back again next year!