Wychwood Festival announce BBC Stage lineup

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Wychwood today reveals that the dedicated BBC Stage will be returning to Cheltenham Racecourse once again with a hand picked selection of acclaimed newcomers and ones to watch from the surrounding regions. As the number one source of new music in the UK, over the years the BBC have discovered some of the biggest acts in music today, from Jake Bugg to Florence and the Machine. Aiming to follow in their footsteps hotly tipped Coventry band Pretty Rascals will play alongside a variety of acts across the weekend including singer songwriter Stylusboy, experimental synth 4-pieceBunsen Honey and Emma McGann, a favourite of Kylie Minogue. Both hailing from Coventry, indie/folk act The Fallows and electronic/hip hop duo Duplex are set to excite the crowds over the weekend with their high energy performances, while the addition of Tori Amos inspired Nina Bakerand punk/rock act Jet Pack will make the BBC Stage one of the main highlights of the weekend.

In addition to these amazing acts London promoters Smashing Blouse today announce 6-piece indie/pop act Haus, Manchester's No Ceremony, 5-piece Macclesfield band, Racing Glaciers, who will all be performing on the curated stage alongside King Charles, Bipolar Sunshine and Wolf Alice. Whilst the main arena welcomes singer songwriter Bela Takes Chase with her acclaimed four-piece band, producer and songwriter James Michael, plus Oxford's 20 piece Cuban Big Band Ran Kan Kan with their sizzling array of horns, flutes, guitars and string. 

Dedicated to improving the lives of underprivileged children through literature and education, the Booktrust Children's Reading Fund will welcome the popular CBeebies presenter and children's author Cerrie Burnell for a special reading. Booktrust is a national charity that changes lives through reading and whose vision is a society where nobody misses out on the life changing benefits of reading. Booktrust will take their Rhymetime and Story sessions to the festival, incorporating song, rhyme, rhythm and movement to help children develop a love of books and of hearing stories.

Wychwood is also proud to support and partner with  World Vision, the world's largest children's charity bringing real hope to millions of children in the world's hardest places. Their dedicated 'Hope House' will allow festival-goers to take part in ‘Calabash’ and be transported to Sierra Leone and hear remarkable and inspirational stories of children living from these areas. Wychwood festival also partners with Toybox for the first year, a charity on a mission to end the injustice of street children, one of the world's most vulnerable groups. Presenting a marquee packed with fun activities for the whole family, creative muscles will be flexed and pop up piano played out with a tree of life, story telling, workshops and entertainment. 

Anyone who has been to Wychwood before will know that the festival offers an unrivalled selection of activities for children, and this year is no exception. As former National Street Theatre champions and regulars of Jools Hollands' yearly Hootenanny celebration, Electric Cabaret will bring their always exciting, and often surreal mime performance to the Cheltenham Racecourse. Utilising anything that they can get their hands on, Stomp-inspired SoundSketch create high energy and exhilarating pieces of music using brooms, kitchen sinks and dustbin lids, with their own imaginations being the only limitation. While young and old alike can learn the basics of Bhangra dancing, become a 'bubbleologist' with SamSam the Bubbleman and join the Brazilian/tribal inspired 'Glamba' drumming band, Wychwood really offers something truly memorable for the entire family. 
 
Festival revelers are invited to visit the healing and sculpture areas to relax with a soothing hot stone massage or reflexology session. Superspa DJ will also return to Wychwood this year, allowing festival-goers the chance to catch their favourite acts from the comfort of their own hot tub located directly opposite the main stage. It really is the best seat in the house.

Slam Dunk Festival More Announcements

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Just when we thought all the artists and guests had been annouced Slam Dunk knock out other surprise with Sean Smith from The Blackout who will be making an appearance as a guest DJ and the main stage compere!

Slam Dunk have also announced their annual T-shirt design competition. Basically, you could be in the running of designing the official shirt that will be sold across this year’s festivals! Not only will you get your design idea produced, but the winner will also bag 4 tickets to the festival of their choice! So why not give it a try get your creative juices flowing and get designing! More details can be found on the poster below:

Tickets still available here 
http://www.slamdunkmusic.com

Slam Dunk Festival – The SFG Watchlist

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So Slam Dunk Festival kicks off in a couple of weeks starting at Leeds university then onto Hertfordshire and Wolverhampton but who should you check out while your there, Well……………..

This year’s headliner is The All American Rejects and Slam Dunk will be their only UK performances of 2014, No doubt they will be playing hits from their four albums, including ‘Dirty Little Secret’, ‘Gives You Hell’, ‘Swing Swing’ ‘ Move Along’ and more. So while they’re across the pond make sure you get yourself to the main stage to check out the Alt Rockers.

For the first time the Aussie boys in, I Killed The Prom Queen will be tearing up the stage at Slam Dunk Festival. A few months back they released new album " Beloved " which is full of heavy hitting tracks as you would expect and there is a good chance they will be playing " Thirty One & Sevens ", To The Wolves" and not forgetting older tracks like " Memento Vivere", " Sharks In Your Mouth " for all you metalcore fans out there. Plus IKTPQ have said that “ we will be seeing more of them in 2014 “.

Plus this year will see the return of Jason Butler (Letlive). Whose live shows are always full of energy and surprises.  Jason Butler, The singer of Letlive made a surprise visit to Slam Dunk in 2013 by performing with Pierce The Veil, and he must of had such a good time, he's bringing his own band back. These are defiantly worth checking out with such energy and interaction with the fans it’s one band not to be missed.

Also it will also see the return of the Southampton boys, Bury Tomorrow, whose brand new album RUNES will be release on the day of Slam Dunk Midlands. That in mind will the boys play any new material to there anticipating fans. Already fans have heard their first released track  “ Man On Fire “ off the new album but will they give us any more new material? Only way to find out is by making sure you check this band out on the day.
 

Finally last but no means less, We Are The In Crowd are set to be one of the favorites of the weekend with Taylor Jardine recently taking over  @SlamDunkMusic twitter account! To answer all of your questions, to go back and see what was asked search #SDF14! On twitter.

The dates for Slam Dunk are listed below, and tickets are still available HERE

May 24th – LEEDS University

May 25th – HERTFORDSHIRE Forum

May 26th – WOLVERHAMPTON Civic

 

Neneh Cherry and Mø have been confirmed for Flow Festival this August

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Flow Festival is pleased to announce that Neneh Cherry and Mø have been confirmed for this August’s glowing line-up.
 

The Helsinki-based event will provide a platform for performances from both international and local acts, with new additions including Swedish-born singer, songwriter and rapper Neneh Cherry, who will perform with the British instrumental duo RocketNumberNine. 

Neneh Cherry and RocketNumberNine recently released a collaborative album entitled ‘Blank Project’, produced by prominent British producer Kieran Hebden aka Four Tet. 

Other new international additions to the festival, which will be held from 8-10th August 2014, are energetic Norwegian indie-rockers Kakkmaddafakka along with electronic pop from feisty Danish newcomer Karen Marie Ørsted aka Mø.

Local Finnish acts added to the line-up include the instrumental rock group Siinai, who are about to release a highly anticipated album, producer and rapper DJ Kridlokk, plus rap collective Nyt Kolisee – live! performing their only gig of the summer. ‘Nyt Kolisee’ is a chart-topping album released this spring, where some of Finland's most talented rappers reinterpret popular Finnish singer-songwriter J. Karjalainen's album ‘Et ole yksin'. 
 
Also stepping onto the Flow stage to perform will be Paleface, Hosni, Tommy Lindgren, Kevin Tandu, Toinen Kadunpoika, Juno, Heikki Kuula + Tuplaaja, Pyhimys, Paperi T, Solonen, Kosola, Kube, Keke Kesken, Chyde, Lempi-Joe, Stepa, Are, Roope K, Timo Pieni Huijaus, Janne Haavisto and Mamba.

These new additions will join confirmed acts such as OutKast, The National, Janelle Monáe, Die Antwoord, Paul Kalkbrenner, Slowdive and Bill Callahan, with more artist confirmations expected shortly.

Everywhere Festival 2014 Review

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Like Christmas for electronic music lovers, dollop's sold-out Everywhere Festival returned for its biggest Nottingham event, offering an eclectic range of 53 acts across six city venues.

Tourist's blend of building house beats on Together and the added soulful vocals of Lianne La Havas on Patterns drew a large crowd to Stealth early on. Later, Jamie xx-like percussion is added to the pitch-shifted vocals of Haim's The Wire.

Over in the Rescue Rooms, an increasing crowd awaits hotly-tipped producer Lxury. Playing Disclosure co-produced, J.A.W.S, the punchy synths and house beats flow before The Mechanism – Disclosure's house collaboration with Friend Within.

It's not all just bass and flashing lights, as the upstairs Red Room holds a secret cinema showing classic cult films.

Meanwhile in Stealth, American future-R&B singer, Kelela, who later joins Hudson Mohawke onstage during his set, showcases her effortless vocals which skitter over forward-thinking bassy trap beats in Bank Head and Enemy. Dressed in a black jumpsuit,she glides across the front of the stage during Floor Show and Go All Night before appreciatively thanking the crowd and ending with blog-favorite track, Cut For Me.

Back in Rescue Rooms, chilled electronica comes in the form of Bondax-esque duo, Snakehips, who impress early on with an edit of Amerie's, 2005 hit, One Thing before their own funky production, On My Own. Eponymous visuals flash throughout their breezy remix of The Weeknd's Wanderlust before the energetic trap beats of Make It.

Over in Rock City, the Skreamizm party is in full swing, with Artwork and Skream, respectively dropping techno and house tracks including a remix of Crystal Waters' classic Gypsy Woman before Skream follows with a remix of Fatboy Slim's Song For Shelter.

Meanwhile, Birmingham producer Hannah Wants bought her bassy house tracks, like, Dappy and Rudeboy, to a full Walkabout crowd.

House legend Mark Kinchen consistently impresses with a two-hour set of back-to-back remixes. He opens strongly by playing his remix of My Head Is A Jungle which is later followed by his edit of Rudimental's, Powerless, with Becky Hills' vocals tweaked to fit the house beat. Remixes of Paloma Faith and Duke Dumont follow suit, before Aluna Francis' vocals on White Noise are mixed seemlessly into his number one hit, Look Right Through.

Paul Woolford closes Rock City, taking the packed crowd on a journey of techno and piano-house, including late 5am highlight, Erotic Discourse.

With London counterpart, Elsewhere Festival, also held over the weekend, dollop's parties are continuing to attract the biggest names in the world of electronic music.

A series of ten events marking dollop's tenth birthday are currently taking place.

As seen originally online on the Nottingham Post website:
http://www.nottinghampost.com/Review-Festival-Rock-City-Rescue-Rooms-Stealth/story-21059001-detail/story.html

Eclectic lineup set for Africa Oyé

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Summer Festival Guide has just had the latest announcement for Africa Oye hit its inbox and we can now let you know all about what is planned for 2014.

Finley Quaye will headline the Sunday night and is joined over the festival weekend by an eclectic mix of artists, detailed below:

The Artists

Rising to fame in the 90’s, Finley Quaye's sound made waves across the globe and he topped the UK charts with hIts like ‘Even After All’ and ‘Sunday Shining’. His debut album Maverick A Strike was an instant success racking up multi platinum record sales. Quaye (whose relatives include Afrobeat purveyor Femi Kuti and trip hop star Tricky) will play a mix of classic and new material when he brings his warm Sunshine sounds to the stage.

Jupiter & Okwess International have a unique story;  Jupiter was born into a family of griots from the Mongo region. His grandmother was a renowned healer and she taught him how to play traditional rhythms to heal the sick at a young age. As a teen his family moved to Berlin, where he collaborated with European musicians before returning to the Congo. A documentary about his musical exploration called “The Dance of Jupiter” was released in 2007 and his album Hotel Universe was released last year to critical acclaim.  Jupiter also collaborated with Damon Albarn to feature on the album “Kinhasa One Two” in 2011.

Also joining the bill are London based Cuban 9-piece band Wara, playing a mix of latin funk, hip hop and rumba. Bending genres with gusto, band members hail from across the globe; from Argentinia to Spain and this unique mix defines them.

Next up on the bill is HAJAmadagascar & The Groovy People who create Afro trance, in a project that gathers musicians from across Africa and the Diaspora. Rooted in Malagasy tradition (the spiritual music of Madagascar) the charismatic groups live show delivers immense energy, and is a must-see education for music lovers!

'Homage To Magool' feat. Farxiya Fiska, brings together some of the leading contemporary Somali singers living in the UK to present the music of their country’s most popular singer, Magool. 2014 marks the 10th anniversary of the death of the Somali legend, and this performance will feature Farxiya Fiska – the first Somali artist to have Youtube hits exceeding 1 million – amongst others, paying tribute to her legacy.

Also added to the bill are Joe Driscoll and Sekou Kouyate, one a hip hop extraordinaire from New York and the other a West African maestro. The expression “music is a common language” has never been more apt. US-born Driscoll speaks no French and Kouyate, who hails from the West African country of Guinea, little English. When they were brought together at the Nuit Metis (Mixed Night) festival in Marseille, France in 2010 and given a week to produce a concert, music was the only way they could communicate. They have since formed a band, recorded an album, and performed over 120 concert dates across Europe to rave reviews. Driscoll and Kouyate are mindblowing; blending hip-hop, spoken word, funk, and soulful, accessible rock with Afrobeat, reggae and irrepressible African grooves.

Mose 'Fan Fan' will also grace the stage at Oyé 2014. One of the original purveyors of ‘world music’ in the UK, Mose began his career in the 60s and is one of the ‘grand old men’ of African music in Europe. A central figure in the burgeoning area of 'world music' in the UK in the 80s, it is with great pride that Oye welcomes him to the festival for the first time in 2014.

Afrobeat star Abdoulaye Samb & Minnjiaraby hails from Senegal and brings sunshine sounds to Liverpool this summer. Another sterling addition to the line up includes Abdul Tee-Jay’s Rokoto from Sierra Leone, to truly get the Sefton Park stage rocking under the feet of such globally acclaimed talent.

The Big Feastival add Laura Mvula, De La Soul and more

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The Big Feastival has announced soul sensation Laura Mvula is to perform on Saturday 30 August and American hip-hop legends, De La Soul will play on Sunday 31 August. They join headliners Fatboy Slim and Jamie Cullum for a weekend of top music, food and family fun on Alex James’ Farm in The Cotswolds.
 
The music line up so far includes:

 
The Big Feastival also revealed today that chef extraordinaire Mark Hix, Parisian cuisine queen Rachel Khoo, MasterChef 2013 winner Natalie Coleman and celebrity chef Levi Roots have been added to the bill, joining an already stellar programme of chefs appearing on The AEG Big Kitchen stage across the weekend.
 
The latest roll call of culinary stars join leading chefs Jamie Oliver, Gennaro Contaldo,Monica Galetti, Ashley Palmer-Watts, Nathan Outlaw, Valentine Warner, Gizzi Erskine and Martin Morales for an incredible line up of epicurean talent.
 
The Big Feastival offers fun for all the family with the brilliant Adam Henson’s Cotswold Farm Park making a welcome return to the festival and live performances from CBeebies Superstars Justin Fletcher and Ben Faulks a.k.a Mr Bloom.

 

Sportbeat lineup additions for 2014

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We are excited to reveal the latest additions to this years SportBeat Festival 2014.  The funki dreds of Soul II Soul have just been announced as headliners for Saturday night and the Main Stage.  We're also excited by the prospect of Jaguar Skills doing a set on Saturday night.  Completing the Main Stage lineup are the energetic, East London 5 piece band, Dexters along with the SportBeat Battle of the Bands winner John Adams, the 

reggae sounds of King Solomon Band and The Tommy Drums.  Link to Main Stage lineup http://sportbeatfest.com/lineup/centre-stage/  
 
The GuildHall Stage headliners are up and coming Canary Swing, second headliner is yet to be announced. Line up for second stage which is packed full of up and coming bands http://sportbeatfest.com/lineup/guildhall-stage/ New this year is the Academy Stage for U18's, it's amazing how many great bands/acts there are around.
 
 

Bestival Unveils Boundary Breaking Acts And The Best New Bands

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This years Bestival unveils breaking new acts and some of the hottest bands around including:

Tune-Yards / Factory Floor / Mnek / Wolf Alice / The Amazing Snakeheads / Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats / The Wytches / MØ / Fat White Family / Say Lou Lou / Glass Animals / John Wizards / Ezra Furman / Joel Compass / Woman’S Hour / Pional / Rosie Lowe / Childhood / Kate Tempest / Jessy Lanza / Melt Yourself Down / The Front Bottoms / Hockeysmith / Wild Smiles / Black Orange Juice / Rag N Bone Man / Vaults / Ftse / Tourist / Sivu / God Damn / Happyness / The Correspondents / Bo Saris / Congopunq / Indiana / The Bulletproof Bomb / FÉ / Cousin Marnie

With a cavalcade of big hitters, including OutKast, Foals, Chic featuring Nile Rodgers, Beck, Busta Rhymes, Candi Staton, Sven Vath, Chase & Status and many more already lined up to take Bestival’s Desert Island Disco to stratospheric new heights, Rob da Bank and the Bestival crew have been beavering away behind the scenes, rooting out gleaming talents to ensure we bring you the freshest acts around. With a long history of championing the next big thing, unearthing the incredible and showcasing the best new sounds, both on his Radio 1 show and at Bestival, these are the cream of the acts getting the man like da Bank all hot under the collar. From boundary pushing mavericks to hip young chaps in this year’s slacks, we’re set to announce a ton of the most exciting bands in the world, who will be dropping in to Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight this September 4-7 to blow you away!

Rob da Bank says: “So in our humble opinion these are the breaking acts of 2014 from the worlds of rock, indie, electronics and pretty much any genre – a delve inside the musical brain of Rob da Bank to find the ones to watch, the ones who'll make records you'll love this summer and the ones who'll make you dance ya socks off in September”. 

With her third album Nikki Nack out this week, we’re pretty darn chuffed to announce Merrill Garbus AKA tUnE-yArDs will be heading across the Solent to bring her uniquely kaleidoscopic collision of aural extremes for your collective listening pleasure. Smashing buckled cheerleader chants into punk riffs with razor-sharp melodies and colossal beats, Merrill, alongside long-time cohort Nate Brenner, is a force of nature when it comes to performing live, so don’t miss out.

Riding a wave of critical acclaim for their eponymous debut album, released late last year, we’re very pleased to say that Factory Floor will return to Robin Hill with an all out assault of mind-melting sequences, crashing rhythms and twisted vocals, plus there will be sets from Grammy nominated singer-songwriter and sometime Rudimental collaborator MNEK, deliriously unabashed indie-noise merchants Wolf Alice, exhilarating Glasgow trio The Amazing Snakeheads, critically acclaimed psychedelic doom purveyors Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, apocalyptic surf rockers The Wytches, Danish electropop chanteuse Mø, and scuzzy rock n roll six-piece and all-round incendiary live behemoth Fat White Family.

We’re not stopping there though, we’ll have live music from BBC Sound 0f 2014 nominees Say Lou Lou, Paul Epworth protégés Glass Animals, genre-swerving pan-global types John Wizards, gritty rocker Ezra Furman, atmospheric soulster Joel Compass, archetypal indie quartet Woman’s Hour, Spanish vocalist and sometime John Talabot collaborator Pional, twisted R&B nightingale Rosie Lowe and hazy pysch dudes Childhood.

And the new music keeps on coming with appearances from Kate Tempest, Jessy Lanza, Melt Yourself Down, The Front Bottoms, Hockeysmith, Wild Smiles, Black Orange Juice, Rag N Bone Man, Vaults, FTSE, Tourist, Sivu, God Damn, Happyness, The Correspondents, Bo Saris, Congopunq, Indiana, The Bulletproof Bomb, Fé and Cousin Marnie.

There’s still plenty more incredible music, mayhem and madness to announce, so make sure you join us at the Desert Island Disco this September for an escapist weekend of off the chain behaviour!

Over 35 More Acts Join Longitude Line Up

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The countdown to this summers Longitude festival is on and over 35 stunning acts have just been added to this years line up alongside the return of the Red Bull Music Academy. Returning for its second year, the Marlay Park weekender already has festival goers excited for the summer with the likes of Ben Howard, Disclosure and Massive Attack as this years headliners.

Joining the line up are:
The Afghan Whigs
Bipolar Sunshine
Broods
Circa Waves
Conor Oberst
Dawes
Elliphant
Hudson Taylor
Joey Badass
Josh Record
Kyla La Grange
New Jackson
NONONO
San Fermin
Snakehips
Talos
The Academic
The Acid
Tourist
Tvvins
We Cut Corners

After an immense weekend last summer, the RBMA stage returns to the open-air festival held in the beautiful grounds of South Dublin’s Marlay Park. Performing on the RBMA stage this summer will be:

Adultrock
Axel Boman
Colin Devine
Colm K
Conor Feeney
Discotekken
Galactic Beat Club
Handsome Paddy
I Am The Cosmos (Live)
Jackmaster
Jonnie Foley
Lasertom (Live)
Mano Le Tough
Solar Bears (Live)
Tome DJ's

The new additions join an already stellar line up which will see some of the best international and homegrown acts perform across the July weekend. Previously announced are:

Massive Attack, Disclosure, Ben Howard, James Vincent McMorrow, Rudimental, Haim, Bastille, Bombay Bicycle Club, Chvrches, The 1975, First Aid Kit, Sam Smith, Hozier, Banks, Bonobo, John Talabot, Cyril Hahn, Le Galaxie, Bondax, Parquet Courts, George Ezra, Eagulls, Koreless, O Emperor, Krystal Klear, Say Lou Lou, Son Lux, Samaris, Josef Salvat and Roosevelt.

Ben Howard

Winner of Best New Festival and Best Medium Festival at the Irish Festival Awards, Longitude returns for its second year and is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the summers festival calendar.