Just as the Brandon Flowers of time approaches the MOR Rock Playlist of eternity, Manchester’s In The City festival continues to rocket unavoidably closer. And so once again, this Midweek Mixtape furtles around the edges of the ITC line-up and finds g0ld. GOLD!
MIXTAPE:
FIRST: Lissi Dancefloor Disaster is from Upsalla in Sweden. I have covered so many bands from that town in the past that I was sure I’d featured LDD on ANBAD before, but alas no. I would only ever use the word ‘kooky’ with the upmost caution, but that’s just what Lissi Dancefloor Disaster is – making the kind of balls-out mental music that entertains on its own terms.
Lissi Dancefloor Disaster – Oh My God by ITCManchester
Oh My God is suspiciously bizarre, yes, but so was the 25-year-old Angelina Jolie. It rushes along at a pace that is just beyond true control, and thumps brilliantly. Superb.
SECOND: Worship are from Berkshire, which – I think – is a nicer way to say ‘Luton’. I’ve been to Luton, and if I was from around there, I think I’d make music that was both thunderingly aggrieved and epically outward-looking too. Vast, soaring and unabashedly grand, Worship stamp their determination all over their songs. Great.
THIRD: Justin Van Der Volgen makes experimental house remixes. No, come back! Because they’re several cuts above your usual glut of remixologists’ (urgh) outpourings, crafted carefully with – most unusually – one eye on the extra-ordinary. Slow-paced and building to a humongous climax, his remixes are monster-sized songs in their own right, big, bold and blurry. Nice.
FINALLY: My First Tooth tread tippy-toes along that skinny line that is twee-indie-folk and solve the most complex puzzle of all – to make that particular niche genre palatable. This is achieved through – good grief – good old fashioned song-writing and a balance of sincerity and a lone raised eyebrow. Sweet songs, softly sung.