Electric Picnic – My ruff guide..

A few people have asked for my recommendations for this years festival so I’ll try and do a roundup of stuff I’m looking forward to and you can take from it what you will. As a caveat, every decent festival experience should contain elements of surprise, so y’know, take a few wrong turns here and then. MP3 blowout at the end of the post.

Friday

1. Start the day with Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain who play all-ukelele covers of Ms Dynamite, The Clash, The Undertones, Kate Bush and Nirvana. A fitting start.
2. Headliners LCD Soundsystem should provide a bit of euphoria when “All my Friends” drops but I have a niggling feeling the live show won’t be up to scratch. I hope I’m wrong. FYI: James Murphy is DJing in Antics tonight.
3. My first time seeing Bjork WILL be fantastic, especially looking forward to the LFO “Freak” sample during “Hyperballad”.
4. Think I’ll give Hot Chip a miss this time, and I’ll be avoiding the Manic Street Preachers like the plague. Confession: I used to be a massive Manics fan. Not one of those Richie obsessed freaks, or a quasi-socialist Marxist teenager with a Guns and Roses obsession but I used to really love them as a teenager. Shudder because no-one wants to go back there.
5. I’ve heard great things about The Good, the Bad and the Queen’s live show but the album has not moved me at all. I have a lot of respect for Damon Albarn since he diversified his musical output (especially that Chinese Monkey Opera!)
6. I can’t stay up Friday night but if I was I would go to see Dark Side of the Rainbow – Wizard of Oz synchronized to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon in the Cinema Tent.

Saturday

1. Delighted to say that the reason I’m up early on Saturday is because I’ll be doing visuals for Super Extra Bonus Party in the Bodytonic Tent @ noon. You’ve no excuse not to come down to this as the Bodytonic tent is the first thing starting on Saturday, the only possible clash being your sleep and you shouldn’t need that yet!
2. A host of Irish acts kicking off the stages. Check out: Channel One, Jimmy Cake and Delorentos( to see what all the fuss is about).
3. Cannot stress enough how good Malajube’s Trompe d’Oeil album is. I hope live they live up to the album’s brilliance – Foggy Notions Stage 3pm.
4. If we don’t get the sun this weekend, it’ll hardly be a shock but Marlena Shaw would go down great if the sun shone.
5. Afternoon performaces to watch out for: !!! (Chk Chk Chk) 3:15pm – Electric Arena, Chequerboard – Body and Soul @ 5.30pm , 65 Days of Static @ 5.15pm – Trends Lab and most of all, MIA playing songs from Kala @ 5pm in the Electric Arena.
6. Novelty act of the day: Easy Allstars Radiodread – Main Stage @ 4.45pm. Reggae versions of Radiohead’s OK Computer. Watch.
7. Nice 5 in a row in the Bodytonic Tent from 4pm: Bonde do Role, Hexstatic, DJ Marky (good Drum and Bass DJ from Sao Paolo, used to be called DJ Marky Mark, people laughed, he shortened his name), the wonderful Jamie Lidell (who’s name is spelt wrong all over the place) and Simian Mobile Disco.
8. Big big highlight for myself this year is the Beastie Boys. Two sets from them: Saturday – full show, Sunday – instrumental set. Plus a solo set from Mixmaster Mike who I missed two years ago, due to a time change will be wowing all with his skillz. Beastie Boys fan blog Mic to Mic has all the setlists and some recent live sets.

Sunday

1. Start your day with a quick read of the special Electric Picnic edition of The Ticket which will contain “news, interviews, the first reviews of the previous day’s events, various views on what’s happening at the festival, updates and a certain quota of smart comments.” All delivered to your tent by a handsome fellah in a serene, calm, lush grass setting like that diriculous Ballygowan ad.
2. Head on over to the Cinema tent to catch the screening of Daft Punk’s Electroma @ 10.45am.
3. Pause and remember that you still haven’t been to the Comedy tent, Leviathan, listened to arty types Sweetness & Light (Mike Mills, Shynola!), had a barn dance at the Village Hall, got married in the Inflatable Church, or queued for aaaaages for the Silent Disco. Shrug your shoulders, resolve to go next year, then go to see Fight Like Apes in the Electric Arena.
4. Or Halves.
5. Or Warlords of Pez.
6. The Aliens and Bat for Lashes both clash with the Beastie Boys instrumental show. 🙁
7. A couple of acts to check out before the big finish: DJ Yoda – Bodytonic @ 5.30pm, Dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip , Foggy Notions @ 7.15pm, Sonic Youth – Main Stage @ 7pm.
8. I’m REALLY looking forward to UNKLE’s first live show in Ireland. Check out the video from Benicassim. Electric Arena @ 7.30pm.
9. The Go! Team, despite being guilty of noise-terrorism on the ears on record (so abrasive but I love them) are a great live act. Should be closing the Electric Arena on Sunday.
10. If I get the chance I’ll also be squeezing in Fujiya and Miyagi, Skream (Check out the Klaxons remix below) and Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid but don’t count on it.. 🙂
11. Whew!

MP3

LFO – Freak

[audio:https://nialler9.com/mp3/lfo_-_freak.mp3]

LCD Soundsystem – Freak Out

[audio:https://nialler9.com/mp3/LCD_Soundsystem_-_Freak_Out.mp3]

!!! – Must be the Moon (Emperor Machine Mix)

[audio:https://nialler9.com/mp3/!!!_-_Must_be_the_Moon_(Emperor_Machine_Mix).mp3]

Jamie Lidell – Multiply

[audio:https://nialler9.com/mp3/Jamie_Lidell_-_multiply.mp3]

MIA – Bamboo Banger – removed by request

Marlena Shaw – California Soul

[audio:https://nialler9.com/mp3/Marlena_Shaw_ -_California_Soul.mp3]

The Kills – Love is a Deserter (Simian Mobile Disco remix)

[audio:https://nialler9.com/mp3/The_Kills_-_Love_is_a_Deserter_(Simian_Mobile_Disco_remix).mp3]

Klaxons – Not Over Yet(Skream mix)

[audio:https://nialler9.com/mp3/Klaxons_-_Not_over_Yet(Skream_mix).mp3]

Beastie Boys – Sure Shot (at Heineken Open’er Festival – July 1, 2007)

[audio:https://nialler9.com/mp3/Beastie_Boys_-_Sure_Shot(live_full_band).mp3]

The Aliens – Robot_Man (Hot_Chip remix)

[audio:https://nialler9.com/mp3/The_Aliens_-_Robot_Man(Hot_Chip_remix).mp3]

Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid – The Sun Never Sets (James Holden remix)

[audio:https://nialler9.com/mp3/Kieran_hebden_and_Steve_Reid_-_the_sun_never_sets_James_Holden_remix.mp3]