Bandstand Busking

Summer in London means snacking on bread & hummus on a picnic rug; sipping Pimms and lemonade whilst basking in the sun; watching the deluded hysteria over a Brit winning Wimbledon and Bandstand Busking.

For the uninitiated, this is a delightful venture where established and up-and-coming bands come play, mostly acoustically, in some of the capital's disused bandstands. It's totally free, available to the masses and the highlights of the shows are put up on the website so you can re-live the moment. Like the Black Cab Sessions, only without having to cram into the back of a taxi to share the experience.

The alumni is pretty impressive with Of Montreal, Wild Beasts & Black Lips amongst those who've graced their stages. Here's a selection of my favourite busks from last year:







This year's busk season has now kicked off in earnest with their second collaboration with Meltdown festival at the Southbank Centre. There's more in the pipeline so sign up to their mailing list and we'll see you at the next busk...

G.R.O.'s Best of 09

Does anyone remember the naysayers who boldly predicted that 2009 would be a thoroughly disappointing year in musical history? That theory collapsed in a heap after only a few steps into the year when "Merriweather Post Pavillon" dropped. This year it's felt like a Mensa sponsored compilation to arrive at my favourite albums and mix of songs to soundtrack the year. Here's my final entry:

Favourite Albums of 09
10. The Joy Formadible - A Balloon Called Moaning
9. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
8. Metric - Fantasies
7. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
6. Bill Callaghan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
5. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
4. Grizzly Bear - Vecktamist
3. Fever Ray - Fever Ray
2. The xx - The xx
1. The Antlers - Hospice

Best of 09 Mix - Download
1. Camera Obscura - French Navy
2. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Young Adult Friction
3. The Drums - Let's Go Surfing
4. The Antlers - Two
5. The Joy Formadible - Cradle
6. Jamie T - Sticks 'n' Stones
7. Silversun Pickups - Panic Switch
8. Jack Penate - Be The One
9. Django Django - Storm
10. The Molotovs - Flowers
11. Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard - Broken Broken Broken Heart
12. Local Natives - World News
13. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks
14. Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man
15. Wild Beasts - Hooting & Howling
16. Animal Collective - My Girls
17. Slow Club - Our Most Brilliant Friends
18. Bill Callaghan - My Friend
19. The xx - Crystalised
20. First Aid Kit - You're Not Coming Home Tonight

Let's Pretend It's Friday Five

A few tracks I've been listening to lately:

Bibio's album Ambivalence Avenue is one of my summer favourites. Remember Badly Drawn Boy? This track is like that, but better.

Bibio - Lovers Carvings

Slow Club's much-anticipated album Yeah, So was released on Moshi Moshi earlier this month. It's really good.

Slow Club - Trophy Room

Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig finally teams up with Esau Mwamwaya for his project The Very Best - how amazing is this album going to be?

The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa

You can take the boy out of Canada but you can't take Canadiana out of the boy. I'm a huge fan of the Tragically Hip's more recent work; it seems they've really hit their stride since In Violet Light and new album We Are The Same is incredible.

The Tragically Hip - The Last Recluse

You'd be forgiven for assuming that three white Australian dudes would create god-awful hip hop. Hilltop Hoods are happy to prove everyone wrong. State of the Art was released last month and it's actually very, very good.

Hilltop Hoods - Still Standing

Contest: Stag & Dagger, May 15 - London

Thanks to the kind folks at VICE Magazine UK, Bridging the Atlantic has 2 passes to Stag & Dagger to give away to a couple of lucky Londoners. The brand spanking new one day festival takes place in lovely Shoreditch next Thursday, May 15th, from 6pm to midnight and features over 100 acts including SebastiAn, Cadence Weapon, Times New Viking, 1990s, Black Lips, Jay Reatard, A-Trak, Slow Club, The Mae Shi, Diplo, Busy P, Operator Please, Atlas Sound, the debut performance of the new Hot Chip side project Booji Boy High, plus the Ed Banger Records crew. More info is available through the Stag & Dagger myspace page. The winner's passes will include free entry to all shows in each of the festival's 15 venues.

To enter, email us with the subject line "it's about damn time you jerks gave away festival tickets" before 3pm on May 12th.

SebastiAn - Dog
Atlas Sound - Recent Bedroom
Black Lips - O Katrina!
The Mae Shi - Run To Your Grave
Hot Chip vs Diplo - Shake A Fist
Booji Boy High - Doubleshaw

- a.m.p.m.

Jay Jay Pistolet and Slow Club @ the Enterprise

Slow Club seem to be playing everywhere in London all the time. They're practically omnipresent. Their recent residency at the Enterprise began on March 31st and has featured talented openers such as Eugene McGuinness and The Wave Pictures; I caught them on Monday when Jay Jay Pistolet warmed up the crowd with an incredibly engaging set. I've written about both bands before so I'll spare you a lengthy description of how awesome they are. Suffice it to say that it was a fantastic, intimate gig and Slow Club's encore performance of "When I Go" was the icing on the cake. Jay Jay and Slow Club will be at the Camden Crawl tomorrow.

Slow Club - When I Go
Jay Jay Pistolet - Friend

- a.m.p.m.

Join the Club

Slow Club may be just one of the many talented bands on London independent label Moshi Moshi Records, but they happen to be my favourite at the moment. The duo from Sheffield is among good company; the label boasts a list of accomplished internationals including The Mae-Shi, Lykke Li, Tilly and the Wall, Architecture in Helsinki and Mates of State as well as sterling British acts like Hot Chip, The Wave Pictures, Late of the Pier, The Rakes and Kate Nash.

Music Week's description of the band's sound as "sacharine folk-pop that turns your usually miserable scribe into a radiant ray of positivity" is accurate, as are comparisons to Tilly and the Wall. Slow Club's second single Me and You was released back in October and their debut album will likely be available early this summer. Catch them at the Camden Crawl in April with an entourage of their Moshi Moshi labelmates.

Slow Club - Me and You

- a.m.p.m.