Features

As the 1970 Isle Of Wight festival celebrates it’s 40th anniversary this week, we take a look at the incredible five days which, amidst the clash of hippy ideology, establishment and near-bankruptcy, came to define the shift of power from fans to business and the beginning of big-budget festivals.

She has more YouTube subscribers than the Beatles, attracted over a million listens on her social networking sites - and has achieved all of this before her 18th birthday. The statistics speak for themselves.

Gabrielle Aplin is a singer-songwriter from Bath in England and has been learning her trade since the age of 14, a refreshing discovery in this age of the fame-hungry X Factor generation. It is her cover of the You And Me At Six song, Liar And The Lighter, that has helped amass a colossal following on her Myspace page, echoing a route to success made by other recent successful female musicians, namely Kate Nash. Gabrielle may be best known on the internet for her cover versions of other peoples songs, including Oasis’ Wonderwall, but she also dabs her hand at original material and has been a keen songwriter ever since she wrote her first track ‘Reverse’, the same year she picked up a guitar for the first time.

Whatever you consider to be the main elements for forming a great band, the Gin Riots seem to have all bases covered – catchy songs, insightful lyrics, engaging stage presence and already armed with enough rock n’ roll anecdotes for their first biography (stolen girlfriends, underwear-throwing fans and fence-impaled guitarists among the highlights).

Indie Bands Struggle to get a Piece of the Pie

- In November 1965, a young up-starting group from West London, calling themselves ‘The Who’, would release their third single, “My Generation” – one of the first songs to define 60’s youth culture and a spark a new revolt against authority. It was tracks like these and bands like this once-raucous four-piece that played a significant part in the youth uprising of the 1960’s, with the song’s most quoted line , “I hope I die before I get old” an adopted maxim for pre-adult rebellion.

It is always hard to believe that the Internet is less than 20 years in the popular domain. Throughout its short life it has been continually adopting a new and unpredictable guise and no one really needs to be told how it has revolutionized the music industry. Judging by the incalculability of this paradigm-shifting phenomenon, it would take an ignorant, and perhaps arrogant, point of view to predict where it will be going next.

But who better than Prince to rain on our parade and go so far as to declare it “dead”? The infamously aloof artist claimed that “the Internet’s completely over” and sees no point in handing over his precious compositions to the likes of iTunes, or any music-download site for that matter.  The artist formerly known as a symbol analogized the downfall of the world-wide-web with MTV: “At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”

Fresh from completing the tribute to the Buzzocks JD Set on Channel 4 together with Tim Burgess, The Answering Machine are off to the mixing studio next week to start mixing their second album.

The album, recorded in Manchester by the band themselves and produced by vocalist Martin Colclough, suggests a mature progression from their first album.

The following are Martin’s thoughts on what the band were trying to achieve with their sophomore album:

Live4ever’s Matt Humphrey met up with Beady Eye’s guitarist and Ex Oasis bassist Andy Bell earlier today. Andy had been visiting London’s  bustling Oxford Street Selfrideges where band mate Liam Gallagher’s Pretty Green clothing range is currently for sale.

Andy was kind enough to give us some exclusive behind the scenes info on the progress of Beady Eye’s first album currently being produced and scheduled for release sometime next year.

The delicate mix of electro and rock is one that only a few acts have had the musical dexterity to handle. Immediate names that spring to mind – Primal Scream, Kasabian, Chemical Brothers – are part of a very short list. But another to be added is New York outfit FIGO, who are delivering the rock/dance crossover with equal style and sonic craftsmanship and making waves with their noise-laden, guitar-driven electro-punk.

We love touring and playing live - It’s a really honest way of doing it.

You may well get a feeling of de ja vu upon hearing the name 22-20s. Don’t panic though, your instincts are still intact. After all, this is their second outing. Having endured an interesting career thus far the 22 20’s have finally buried hatchets and let bygones be bygones.

As the 2010 World Cup kicks off today, we thought we’d take a look at the murky world of Football Anthems. Occasionally brilliant, often total drivel, they’ve become as synonymous with International tournaments as Brazilian magic and England penalty shoot-out defeats. Here’s some of the best and worst examples.