Thank You!

Caribou, LCD Soundsystem, The National, Fever Ray, Janelle Monáe, Hot Chip (both times), Reneck Manifesto, Jape, Four Tet, R.S.A.G., Villagers (both times), Dirty Projectors, Wild Beasts, Efterklang, Tunng, Donal Dineen and friends, NSO, Channel One, Greg Wilson, Gold Panda, Pantha du Prince, Yeasayer, Kele, Armand Van Helden, Friendly Fires, Two Door Cinema Club, Foals, Girls.

Now that's what I call a summer, 2010.

BSITWT #104

Health - Before Tigers (Gold Panda Remix)

Gold Panda goes all Four Tet on Health, with very, very nice results.

From the new(ish) Health remix LP DISCO2 (also featuring remixes from CFCF, Crystle Castles and other good folks).

Gold Panda plays Field Day, Victoria Park, London on July 31st.

BSITWT #100

Caribou - 'Sun'

Taken from Caribou's splendid new album Swim and a fitting way to mark our 100th BSITWT. Caribou will appear on the EAT YOUR OWN EARS STAGE at Field Day, Victoria Park, London - 31 July 2010. We'll be there.

www.myspace.com/cariboumanitoba

HOMELIGHTS Festival - Whelan's, Dublin. Friday 27 - Monday 30 November 2009

Taken from the HOMELIGHTS MySpace page:

HOMELIGHTS is a weekend of music & visuals co-curated by Irish recording artist Adrian Crowley and independent music promoters Foggy Notions. It is a sister festival to Adem’s HOMEFIRES in London and the Fence Collective’s HOMEGAME in Fife and draws upon the themes of community and artistic kinship.

The line-up features numerous artists who Adrian has forged friendships with on his musical travels during his five album career to date, including some of his Fence Collective compadres, as well as legendary folk artists such as Vashti Bunyan and Andy Irvine for whom he holds great admiration.

This inaugural event will also double as a celebration of Adrian’s freshly consummated relationship with influential Scottish independent record label Chemikal Underground who will release his beautiful conceived fifth album Season of the Sparks in November 2009.

A long the way there’ll be numerous surprises, impromptu collaborations and surprise guests. Tickets are on sale including including the excellent value weekend tickets available from www.tickets.ie

___________________________________

Friday Nov 27th. Upstairs @ Whelan's. 8pm
Adrian Crowley & Friends (solo performances & collaborations)
Tickets €12 incl booking fee
____________________________
Saturday Nov 28th. Whelan’s. 3pm – 10.30pm
Adrian Crowley (full band performance)
James Yorkston
Adem
Alasdair Roberts
& special guests tbc
Tickets €20 incl booking
____________________________
Sunday Nov 29th. Whelan’s. 3pm – 1.30am
Vashti Bunyan (full band performance)
Adrian Crowley (accompanied by Geese)
Andy Irvine (Planxty, Sweeney’s Men)
Minotaur Shock
Lord Cut-Glass (Chemikal Underground)
& full line-up tbc
Tickets €25 incl booking fee
______________________________
Monday Nov 30th. Whelan’s 8pm – 11pm
Dosh (Anticon)
Hulk (Osaka)
& special guests tbc
Tickets €15 incl booking fee
_______________________________
Limited number of weekend tickets available from www.tickets.ie priced €45 (incl booking fee)

http://www.myspace.com/homelightsfestival
http://www.myspace.com/foggynotions
http://www.myspace.com/adriancrowley

DEAF 2009 - October 22-31

The programme for the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival is available here.

Some things of interest (I could have posted the entire line-up really):

Thurs 22nd-Sat 31st:Projector Collective present

ATOM: Meditations on the Disappearance of the Independent Record Shop
Filmbase, Curved Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2
Free 11am -8pm

Thurs 22nd-Sat 31st: Donal Dineen Mix Media installation (Irl)

Filmbase, Curved Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2
Free 11am -8pm

Thurs 22nd: Lunar Disko present DJ Jus-Ed

DJ Jus-Ed (Underground Quality – Connecticut, USA) + Dan Power (Electric Shock, Irl)
Kennedys, The Underground, Westland Row, Dublin 2

€10 11pm

Fri 23rd: I + E present Toshimaru Nakamura (Jap), Chip Shop Music

The Ireland Institute

8pm €10

Fri 23rd: u:mack present Modeselektor

Button Factory, Curved Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2

11pm €24 BUY TICKETS

Fri 23rd: Film Programme: Balkan Shorts, selected by Vladan Petkovic (Serbia)

Contemporary Music Centre, 19 Fishamble Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 8

Free 6pm -8pm

Sat 24th: ChoiceCuts present Hypnotic Brass Ensemble

Button Factory, Curved Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2.

8pm €20 BUY TICKETS

Sat 24th: Big Dish Go & Teknowarfare present

Surgeon (UK), Fran Hartnett (Live, Irl), Jamie Behan (Irl) + Conan O’Donnell (Irl)

Kennedy’s, The Underground, Westland Row, Dublin 2. 10pm €15

Sat 24th: DEAF presents Spilly Walker & Hunter-Gatherer

Filmbase, Curved Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2

8pm-10.30pm €8

Sat 24th: ’What We Do’ Irish label Showcase

Aciitone, D1 Recordings, Elevation, FVF, Mode Music, Nice & Nasty, Psychonavigation, SeedyR, Stereotonic

Pygmalion Bar, 59 South William Street, Dublin 2. 5pm - 3am Free.

Sun 25th: u:mack present Warp @ DEAF

Plaid (Live Classics Set), Clark (Live), Tim Exile (Live), Bibio (Laptop/ DJ), DJ N>E>D (Overkill)

Button Factory 8pm till late Tickets €25 BUY TICKETS

Sun 25th: Second Square to None present ‘Ten Second Rule Audio Recycling’.
Vince MakMahon (Irl), PushMoveClick (Irl), Ev Tiernan (Irl), Euphiophone (Irl), Melesta (Irl), Brown Cloud (Kachanski and Rory St John) (Irl), Dubreak (Irl), Fyed (Irl). Filmbase, Curved Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2. 2pm – 8pm Free

Fri 30th: Subject present

Donnacha Costello (Minimise / Look Long, Live, Irl), Jay Galligan (Test, Irl), Joe Morrissey [Subject, Irl] + Galactic Beat Club DJs & Enda Waldron

11pm POD, Harcourt Street, Dublin 2. €12/15

Sat 31st: DEAF Banter. 90’s v 00’s electronic music in Dublin with Francois, Sunil Sharpe, & Jim Carroll.

Twisted Pepper (The Mezz, Upstairs), 54 Middle Abbey, Dublin 1. 8.30pm – 10pm Free - capacity is limited- email your name to conor@bodytonicmusic.com

EP 2009 - New Additions

16 new acts just added to the impressive Electric Picnic lineup.


Kid Creole & The Coconuts
Dinosaur Jr
Neko Case
Dan Deacon Ensemble
Diplo
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
The Temper Trap
Buraka Som Sistema (live)
Major Lazer (Diplo & Switch)
The Acorn
First Aid Kit
Julie Feeney
One Day International
Fake Blood (DJ Touché)
Boy 8 Bit
The Lost Brothers


I managed to catch Buraka Som Sistema at the St. Jerome's festival in Sydney this year and was blown away by their energy, interaction with the crowd and how fun they are. Great to see Dan Deacon involved, always a top-notch performer and it will be my debut experience so particularly excited about that. Temper Trap are destined for big things and by all acounts were of the stand-out acts at SXSW. This is gonna be great! Count-down to Stradbally is officially on.

The full line-up now looks as follows:

ORBITAL
BRIAN WILSON
FLAMING LIPS
BASEMENT JAXX
MADNESS
MGMT
FLEET FOXES
KLAXONS
BELL X1
ROYSKOPP
RODRIGO Y GABRIELA
CHIC
SEASICK STEVE
2 MANY DJs
LISA HANNIGAN
EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY
ABC
DAMIEN DEMPSEY
ALABAMA 3
BAT FOR LASHES
ZERO 7
AMADOU AND MARIAM
A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS
EROL ALKAN
ROOTS MANUVA
THE WAILERS
THE SUGARHILL GANG
JAMES MURPHY & PAT MAHONEY SPECIAL DISCO VERSION DJ SET
BILLY BRAGG
LYKKE LI
IMELDA MAY
ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN
MAGAZINE
E.S.G
MODERAT
BELL ORCHESTRE
SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO
THE FIELD
SKREAM & BENGA's MAGNETIC MAN
NOZE
HEARTBREAK
HALFSET
CHRIS CUNNINGHAM
OKKERVIL RIVER,
MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC COMPANY
LOW ANTHEM
VILLAGERS
TUNNG
JAPE
WHITEST BOY ALIVE
MICACHU & THE SHAPES
THE WALKMEN
MICHAEL NYMAN
DUBLIN GOSPEL CHOIR
QUANTIC & HIS COMBO BARBARO
JAZZANOVA
FIONN REGAN
MUNDY
RICHMOND FONTAINE
MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS
JEFFREY LEWIS


Stradbally Estate, County Laois, Ireland. Friday 4 / Saturday 5 / Sunday 6 September 2009

www.electricpicnic.ie

Electric Picnic 2009 - First Names

2 MANY DJS, ABC, ALABAMA 3, BASEMENT JAXX, BAT FOR LASHES, BELL X1, BILLY BRAGG, CHIC, CHRIS CUNNINGHAM (LIVE SHOW), DAMIEN DEMPSEY, DUBLIN GOSPEL CHOIR, ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN, EFTERKLANG, EROL ALKAN, ESG, EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY, FLAMING LIPS, FLEET FOXES, FOUR TET, HALFSET, HEARTBREAK, IMELDA MAY, JAPE, JAZZANOVA (LIVE), KLAXONS, LISA HANNIGAN, LOW ANTHEM, LYKKE LI, MADNESS, MAGAZINE, MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO, MGMT, MICACHU, MICHAEL NYMAN ORCHESTRA, MODERAT, NOZE, OKKERVIL RIVER, ORBITAL, QUANTIC SOUL ORCHESTRA, RODRIGO Y GABRIELA, ROOTS MANUVA, SEASICK STEVE, SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO (LIVE), SKREAM & BENGA, THE SUGARHILL GANG, THE WALKMEN, TUNNG, VILLAGERS, WHITEST BOY ALIVE.

Woodstock returns, maybe....

Rumours of a 40th anniversary Woodstock gig have taken off, with gigs planned for New York and Berlin in August. Read more here
Here's some fun from the original

Early Bird EP Tickets on Sale Friday

Electric Picnic 2009 will be held on the 4rd, 5th & 6th of September next year. Early bird tickets go on sale this Friday at the very reasonable price of €199. That's €40 cheaper than the general sale price for last year's event.

Buy tickets online: www.ticketmaster.ie

DEAF 2008

Despite being supposedly on holidays Ed has managed to write the last million posts, and for this we apologise to and salute him. Now that things are back to something resembling normality until Thursday I feel obliged to look forward to one of the few real highlights of the Dublin Autumn/Winter - the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival. In its 7th year now, DEAF has brought the finest in experimental and electronic art and music to Dublin on a yearly basis, for, em the last 7 years. Returning to slightly more "conventional" waters after last year's more than successful Asian-themed event, the festival has a dream line-up in store this year. Highlights of the festival include:
- a night with M83 and Channel One, (a band that this blog has been tipping for greatness for roughly eighteen years now) in Andrew's Lane on Friday 24th October.
-‘Cycles’ : live outdoor art + projected video exhibition presented by Synth Eastwood in Meeting House Square (outdoor screen) on 6-11pm, Fri 24th & Sat 25th
- Chymera supported by John Daly in Button Factory Fri 24th
- A full day of talks from experts in the area on Saturday 25th in the Auditorium, Digital Exchange, The Digital Hub, Crane St, Dublin 8
- Luke Vibert, one of the absolute godfathers of acid house and techno, in Kennedy's on SAt 24th. This is a must-see. Here is Clikilk, a true classic.
- Donal Dineen (Irl) and 3Epkano (Irl) live - visual & music presentationNational Gallery of Ireland - The Shaw Room, Merrion Square West and Clare Street, Dublin 2, 3.00pm. I don't think we need to explain why we'll be attending this one....
- The MOTHER of all closing parties. Model 500 (feat. Juan Atkins and Mike Banks live - USA), Laurent Garnier (Fr), Moritz Von Oswald Trio feat. Vladislav Delay (Fin), Max Loderbauer (Ger), Fuck Buttons (UK), Point B (UK),Chef (UK), Americhord (Irl), Annie Hall (D1 Esp), Chequerboard (Irl),Rollers/Sparkers (Irl), Legion of Two (Irl), !Kaboogie and D1 Recordings DJ’s + more tbc. Visuals by Mercuryboy + Metaldragon
Village, Whelans and Whelans Upstairs, Wexford Street, Dublin 2, 7.30pm sharp to 3.00am

- This closing party promises to be something special. Juan Atkins and Mike Banks are pioneers of the whole idea of techno music. They were at the heart of the early techno movement in 1980's Detroit along with such names as Kevin Saunderson and Derek May. To see them in action will be a pleasure and an honour. Laurent Garnier is another name that most people will be familiar with, and another man to whom a lot of credit for the rise of techno must go. He has also produced some of the finest tracks ever made, including one that will never ever leave my list of favourite tracks, the Sound of the Big Babou. This line-up is one of the most prestigious to ever come to Dublin,. The access-all areas aspect in Whelan's and the Village, and the fact that it is a bank holiday weekend should make for an incredible night.

Picnic Preview - Rob Hood

Rob Hood is techno. Along with Jeff Mills and 'Mad' Mike Banks, Hood is a founding member of the seminal Underground Resistance label. Their influential releases throughout the 90's helped to shape the modern face of techno by fusing elements of acid and industrial with Detroit and Chicago house. He is often credit with being the pioneer of hypnotic stripped down techno and released his Minimal Nation MP on Jeff Mills' Axis label in 1994. Birmingham's Surgeon once remarked, 'When Hood released his pivotal 'Minimal Nation' EP in 1993, it was like a bomb went off.' Clearly ahead of the game his current releases are described as taking techno music to new levels of musicality and sophistication. He plays hard and fast techno often at speeds of up to 150bpm. He is know for using custom altered Technics which can pitch up to +16%.

Hood has shyed away from the mainstream as much as possible due to his desire to remain underground, he prefers to place emphasis on soul and experimentation over flash and popularity. When he started his own label, M-Plant, in 1994 he did so with the desire to create the music "I've always wanted to hear: the basic stripped down, raw sound. Just drums, basslines and funky grooves and only what's essential. Only what is essential to make people move. I started to look at it as a science, the art of making people move their butts, speaking to their heart, mind and soul. It's a heart-felt rhythmic techno sound. M-Plant is just M. minimal"

The return of minimal into the hearts of the masses over the past few years resulted in Hood completing a mix for Fabric's legendary series. Released in March, Fabric 39 is a stomping run-through of what is pure in techno music. It's hard but it's stripped down to the bare essentials and you cannot help but be sucked into the distinctive Detroit drum loops. For those Stradbally bound at the weekend, I would prescibe a heavy dose of Fabric 39 to get in the mood for this one.


Rob Hood headlines the Bodytonic Main Stage on Saturday night at Electric Picnic.

Picnic in Wanky Campsite Name Shocker.

The names of the four campsites are up: Warhol, Wilde, Hendrix and Chaplin; apparently so named in honour of modern pioneers in the fields of art, literature, music and comedy. Although prone to pretentious misgivings ourselves, one can't help but think that this is a gigantic load of cock, as Wilde himself may have said.

In other Picnic news, the line-up gets better and better. See it here (without, as far as I can see, the line-ups for the two most important areas at EP: Body & Soul and bodytonic). An unofficial / highly reliable line-up is available here, complete with Modeselektor, Milosh, Spilly Walker, Somadrone et al.

Melt! Getting More Ridiculous

We know we see Jape all the time; we know we should probably prioritise other artists but, well, fuck it. We can't wait.

Henrik Schwartz, The Notwist and Efdemin are amongst others recently announced to join Modeselektor et al at Ferropolis in two weeks. Huzzah!

Melt! o8 Line up so far:

Adam Green
Alexander Marcus
Alter Ego
André Gardeja
Battles
Berlin Battery
Björk
Blackmail
Blood Red Shoes
Bonde Do Role
Booka Shade
Boys Noize
Burger/Voigt
Caspa
Cobblestone Jazz
Commix
Crookers
Daniel Dreier
Daniel Haaksman
David Dorad
Deize Tigrona
dEUS
Die Türen
Dillon
Dirty Doering
DJ Beware
DJ Supermarkt
Doc Scott
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Dúné
Editors
Edu K
Efdemin
Ellen Allien
Empro
Fabiano
Fotos
Fraenzen Texas
Franz Ferdinand
Friendly Fires
Fujiya & Miyagi
Get Well Soon
Goldie
Gui Boratto
GusGus (live)
Henrik Schwarz
Hercules and Love Affair
Hot Chip
Jack Tennis
Jape
Jens Bond
Kakkmaddafakka
Karrera Klub
Kate Nash
King Kong Klub
Kissy Sell Out
Klee
Ladyhawke
Late Of The Pier
Len Faki
Les Yper Sound
Lightspeed Champion
Los Campesinos!
Luna City Express
Lützenkirchen
M.A.N.D.Y.
Marcus Meinhardt
Markus Kavka
Markus Welby
Mathew Jonson
Mathias Kaden
MC Glacius
MC Gringo
MC Kemo
MC LowQui
MEN (from Le Tigre / DJ-Set)
Metalheadz Special feat. Goldie
Miss Kittin & The Hacker
Miss Platnum
Modeselektor
Mr. Oizo
Mutlu
Møenster (Lexy vs. Gunjah)
Navel
Neon Neon
Oliver Koletzki
Operator Please
PeterLicht
Philipp Maiburg
Renato Ratier
Revolver Club
Robyn
Róisín Murphy
Ruede Hagelstein
Rummelsnuff
Sascha Funke
Say Hooo!
Shir Khan
Sick Girls
Skream
Stereo MCs
Steve Bug
Storm
Supermayer
Superpunk
Team Recorder
The (International) Noise Conspiracy
The Cheapers
The Count & Sinden (live)
The Mitchell Brothers
The Notwist
The Teenagers
The Whitest Boy Alive
The Wombats
Tobias Thomas
Tomas Andersson
Turbostaat
Uffie & Feadz feat. Technotronic
Why?
Zoot Woman

Portishead probably not coming to EP

A while back, rejoicing on the arrival of Portishead's third album, er, Third, we suggested a sneaky appearance at EP might well be on the cards. The West Country melancholics have indeed begun performing live again, but according to this interview, they are cutting the adventure very short, opting out of the summer festival circuit. According to Geoff Barrow:

You look at these faces in front of you and think, 'Isn't it supposed to be wonderful at this point? But it's not at all,'" he says with an almost apologetic grimace. "It's quite horrible."

Says it all really. If they do appear at EP, I will happily accept all the egg on my face for this silly inaccurate post and revel in the delight of seeing these guys live.

M_NUS at Sonar

Unfortunately BTBW will not be attending Sonar this year. Having had the privilege of being there before, we can seriously claim it to be the best thing EVER. My general melancholy at missing out on the fun was further compounded when I saw this:


CONTAKT @ SONAR

Friday June 20th

Hours: 2:00-6:00 am
Sonar by Night @ Fira Gran Via 2, Sonar Pub Stage
Avenida Botánica, 62 - L'Hospitalet de Llobregat/Barcelona

Line Up:
Richie Hawtin
Magda
Troy Pierce
Heartthrob live
Gaiser live
Marc Houle live

MINUS @ ROW14

Saturday June 21st

Hours: 6:00 pm-6:00 am
Tickets: 15,00 Euros incl. welcome drink
ROW14 :: Autovia de Castelldefels C31 :: Km. 12.6 Viladecans BARCELONA
http://www.row14.es/

Line Up:
Ambivalent Live
Barem Live
Matthew Dear (DJ)
Konrad Black
Fabrizio Maurizi
Paco Osuna
+ very special guest

Contakt is the new cube thing that M_nus are doing this year. Sounds a bit wanky but those guys can get away with anything in my book... The second line up is obviously one of the clubs in Barcelona that gets invaded with the world's finest electronic talent every Sonar weekend. If you are going over there this weekend, I hate you.

Bah...

The official line-up is but a phlegm beneath the brogue of the one below.

However, many more additions (in line with early predictions) are expected in the coming months. Still though, there's some seriously good shit there already - My Bloody Valentine, Silver Apples, Sigur Ros, Wilco, Micah P Hinson (beautiful, folksie, indie-americana), Kila, Nick Cave's Grinderman (not mad about the new stuff, but he's so fuckin cool), Franz Ferdinand (not to be lazily categorised with the jaded-NME-style of indie. Case in point: Kapranos writes food articles in The Guar... sorry, the guardian.), Jape, Faust, and the potential highlight, Balanescu Quartet.

And this is before bodytonic gets rolling.

Interesting to notice the disappointment amongst certain people. Perhaps they'd be best served by another fesival altogether.

EP is a lot more than a music festival.

Jesus.

Hurrah. The Electric Picnic line-up according to nialler9, who presumably gets his news from real sources. We like to make ours up.

I was about to highlight the good stuff but wow, like...

Official line-up to be announced on electricpicnic.ie at 18h00.

My Bloody Valentine, Sex Pistols, Sigur Ros, Moby, Tindersticks, Massive Attack, Underworld, Super Furry Animals, Fatboy Slim, The Breeders, Elbow, CSS, George Clinton, Chic featuring Nile Rogers, Gary Numan, Franz Ferdinand, The Human League, 808 State, The Roots, The Orb, Mogwai, Faust, Neon Neon, Jamie Lidell, Foals, Lee Scratch Perry, Baaba Mal, The Wedding Present, Sebastien Tellier, Henry Rollins, Billy Bragg, Marty Mulligan, Saul Williams, Booka Shade, Transglobal Underground, King Creosote, Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong, Damien Rice, The Duke Spirit, Crystal Castles, Tinariwen, Red Snapper, F*ck Buttons, Micah P Hinson, Dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip, Fish Go Deep, Grand National, Lisa Hannigan, Super Extra Bonus Party, Cinephile, Kings of Convenience, David Kitt, Donal Dineen, Gemma Hayes, The Gossip, Plaid, Kevin Rowland, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Two Gallants, Trentemoller, Richie Hawtin, Paul Weller, James, Bloc Party, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Cornelius, Buzzcocks, DJ Krush, Supergrass, The Coral, Bonnie Prince Billy, Notwist, Goldfrapp, Calexico, Jimmy Cliff, Robyn, Hayseed Dixie, Low, Dirty Three.

'Fuck me' - Ted Maul.

Grand National for Picnic. Maybe. Ish.

ED reckons Bestival is a pretty good indicator of who is Stradbally-bound this August. As you can see, they're just as mad for the ker-razy we're-so-wavey-and-liberated, not-even-a-country type flags too, so we could be in business.

http://www.bestival.co.uk/

If this is true we may FINALLY witness a much coveted Grand National performance, along with - possibly - Sebastian Tellier, Crystal Castles et al. Worth a look...

Aphex Twin is sadly out of bounds thanks to them MCD fuckers (see Fuck Off Oxegen post below).

Fuck Off Oxegen

Well hippidy-hoo, here comes the Oxegen bandwagon again.

Before I start, I will at least concede that yes, they have Aphex Twin, Interpol, Seasick Steve and one or two other interesting acts. But seriously, Oxegen can really fuck off this year. Shit organisation, shit queues, shit crowd, shit mud, shit bogs, shit price, shit acts (€250 to see Fratellis? Piss off).

Don't get me wrong, I was a keen follower in my time - there is seemingly no better release for a recently leaving-certified festival debutant - but once or twice is enough, unless you like big queues, knackers, trench foot, mud fights, traffic, getting things stolen, rain, stampedes, Kaiser Chiefs and invariably making a bollox of your leg or something.

Here's a sample of possibly the most powerful argument against this atrocity:

Melt
Exit
Pukkelpop
Eurockeenes
Benicassim
Sonar


Now.

Summer Loving

We all went to Oxegen last year so we have very little by way of moral high ground on this one. But this year will be different. This year there will be a Ryanair flight (god, very little moral high ground on anything today) at 6am rather than a Dublin Bus full of puking kids to bring us to our first festival destination. While nothing is confirmed and our agents are still negotiating with a whole host of possible sites, the bookies are shortening odds on the Melt Festival, outside of Berlin. Just check out the link and see for yourself. Line up is very electronic at the moment, but that is nothing but a plus these days. Prepare to shake your ass to Supermayer, Matthew Johnson, Tomas Anderssen (of "Washing Up" fame), Ellen Allien, Gui Boratto, Cobblestone Jazz, Booka Shade, and many more of the finest in all things minimal tech and electro. Add into the mix Bjork, Franz Ferdinand, Roisin Murphy and the undoubted tears which will flow when we hear Erlend Oye's sweet sweet voice for the first time live with The Whitest Boy Alive, the efficiency of the German rail network in getting us there, the €5 bottles of Yeltsin vodka and the hangover-curing German beers, and we are talking about one serious festival.

If this doesn't work out, leave the weekends of Exit, Sonar, Bennicassim, Eurockeenes and Pukkelpop free in case we decide to grace one of the above with our distinguished presence.