Glastonbury: Best Quote

The best quote I heard from Glasto this year came from Elbow frontman Guy Garvey, who was interviewed by Rufus Hound. This was in relation to the fact that Garvey was brought up in a catholic household, but is now no longer a Christian.

GG: "Yes, I've worn a dress for Jesus"

The image is astonishing.

Sound of Gold

It can truly be said that LCD Soundsystem occupies the space somewhere in-between electronic and rock, especially after listening to the wonderful "Sound of Silver", the third CD I bought last week.

Just like on "45:33", James Murphy doesn't find any reason to rush his songs, which is particularly evident on opener "Get Innocuous!", "Sound of Silver" and "All My Friends". The gradual build-ups add to the depth of his songs, which are certainly not cases of style over substance.

It may be hard to believe but there really aren't any weak points on this album. Yes, it really is all killer and no filler! Every song has its own charm, from the angry, twisted patriotism of "North American Scum" to the almost sweet, oddly heartfelt tracks "Someone Great" and "New York I Love You But You're Dragging Me Down". It is obvious that, compared to "45:33", disco takes a more modern twist and is rocked up with guitars, funky basslines and hot beats. The guitar line on "Time To Get Away" sounds particularly retro, with an almost video-game quality (I'm thinking something from Crash Bandicoot - only that could sound old-school and yet still cool and modern). "All My Friends" has an immediate, attention-grabbing piano base that provides the foundations for what becomes an epic smash after about five minutes.

Involving his band more was a good decision - on the whole, the album is a lot tighter than "45:33", and even that was pretty well put together. The long, long, incredibly long tracks may not be to everyone's taste but if you give them a go I think you'll find something special indeed. If nothing else, listen to "North American Scum" - not as threatening as it sounds, but it is a blinding tune!

What I'm Listening To Right Now - "Teardrop" by Massive Attack

Arular!

Everyone knows I love M.I.A. and everyone probably thinks that it's very strange since I seem to slag off nearly all other rappers (in a constructive manner, of course). So the second CD I bought this week was "Arular", her debut album.

While her second album "KALA" has political overtones and is particularly gritty in places (think "20 Dollar"), "Arular" is a more personal album, focusing more on M.I.A.'s relationships with people. But for the most part, it seems that on this album she just wants to have a bit of fun.

Opener "Banana Skit" seems like a completely mad piece of music, incredibly short with M.I.A. singing about, er, bananas. "Dash the Curry Skit" later in the album is just as mad. These "Skits" make "Arular", structurally, much like a Basement Jaxx album by breaking up different sounds and ideas. The space between "Banana Skit" and "Dash the Curry Skit" is filled with gritty, more western feeling songs but after that, her world music influences start to shine through more.

"Amazon" uses sounds that conjures up images of rain falling in the jungle with metallic shakers creating a tribal feel, while still maintaining a steady, danceable beat underneath. "Pull Up the People" and "Sunshowers" can be seen as more influenced by western R'n'B, especially compared to "Amazon" but she still doesn't leave her sense of fun. Still, they pail in comparison to the utterly bonkers "Bucky Done Gun" which has trumpets and a pounding drum punctuating M.I.A.'s rapping, flying along joyfully almost like a twisted carnival.

What I'm Listening To Right Now - "Stripper Vicar" by Mansun

45:33

I went a little bit mad buying CDs last week, although many of you probably think that 3 CDs isn't a lot at all. This included 2 LPs by electronic maestro James Murphy aka LCD Soundsystem.

The first of the 2 LCDs I bought was "45:33", named for the length of the first six unnamed songs on the album. Essentially "45:33" is a collection of mixes and experiments that Murphy created in 2006, prior to the release of "Sound of Silver" and includes an instrumental version of "Someone Great" alongside a remix of "North American Scum" and seven other previously unavailable tracks.

Disco feel? Check. Funky vocals? Check. 70s brass? Check. It's a very uplifting and funky collection. Personally I like Track 2 (no idea what the tracks are called - even iTunes doesn't know - so let's call it "Shame On You"). "Shame On You" sounds like old-school dance music, and takes its time to build up into the short bursts of brass and choppy vocals. "Freak Out" does the same, blending seamlessly into "Starry Eyes". Nearly all of the tracks here are over six minutes long, with one or two exceptions. However, "45:33" only benefits from its long build-ups and it is the perfect album to put no when you're getting ready for a night out.

If you liked Hercules and Love Affair earlier this year, you'll love this.

What I'm Listening to Right Now - "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time" by Jarvis

Glastonbury: Who Should've Been There

This is not a wishlist for who I'd like to see at Glastonbury next year but more of a small list of people who could've replaced, say, Jay-Z (you can tell I'm pretty steamed up about that!). So, you could have had:

• Coldplay
• Radiohead
• REM
• The Police

etc? Surely these could have been better headliners. Maybe they're on the list for next year. However, if you believe Michael Eavis then five acts have already been lined up. Apparently one of them came off the back of Jay-Z's performance, so can we expect 50 Cent next year? I sincerely hope not! Other people I would've liked to caught this year include:

• Santogold
• M.I.A (although I'm not sure if she actually turned up or not)
• We Are Scientists (I'm interested now - what I saw of them was pretty good really)
• Neon Neon
• Hercules and Love Affair
• The Gossip
• Goldfrapp
• Ida Maria

Curse my lack of red button action! Although I just caught some more Kings of Leon while eating my dinner...

Glastonbury: Other Bits And Bobs

Well, since my red button wasn't working (curse the BBC again!) I was reduced to watching the highlights, which generally only consisted of a song or two from each featured artist, which turned out to be very few. Still, here's some other little snippets of what I caught.

Mark Ronson: I'm starting with this guy because I want to get it over with. Ohhh..... This was slightly torturous. Especially his cover of the Smith's "Stop Me" which he has slaughtered, disembollowed and buried with a mass of horns and saxophones. Daniel Merriweather's voice just doesn't do Morrissey any justice. Oh, and he had Lily Allen on stage with him and the ditzy thing had forgotten the words to her own songs, even though she wasn't drunk like Amy Winehouse (there's a surprise. Lily Allen? Not drunk?). He did a slightly better job of Candie Payne's "I Wish I Could Have Loved You More" but I hope he doesn't go putting it on his next album.

Hot Chip: They had Wiley on stage with them, and together they did a version of "Wearing My Rolex" which was a lot more tolerable than the original - then again, would you expect a rubbish version from the Chipsters? As usual, it was "Ready For the Floor" and "Over and Over" which received the biggest cheers. They seemed to be trying a more rock sound that night - I'm sure there was a more heavy guitar sound than usual. It wasn't a bad thing though. Maybe they should keep the new sound.

The Fratellis: Bland, bland bland. They reckon they've made their sound bigger, but I still think they're trying too hard to be something they'll never be. Mix some rubbish lyrics with some "heavy" guitar lyrics and a lot of apparent style over substance and you've basically got the Fratellis wrapped up in a neat little package. How on earth these guys outranked the Editors is beyond me but still.... if it's what they really want. Glad I didn't see "Chelsea Dagger".

Kings of Leon: Not a bad performance for first-day headliners KOL. Now that frontman Caleb Followhill is off the drugs, his lyrics are now far more understandable. They gave a good solid performance while playing songs like "The Bucket", "Fans" and "Molly's Chambers" in a set that spanned all three of their albums. Nice, and I wish I could have seen more. I think I could really get into them if I just gave them more of a chance.

The Zutons: Their new album hasn't gone down that well in the press yet they still draw some massive crowds and always end up with the fans singing along. Yesterday it was to "Valerie". Yes, that song that Mark Ronson wrecked (like a reverse Midas touch musically, but he generates a heck of a lot of money). They actually made Ronson join him on stage during the song, and he stood there in a very funny looking bowler hat looking a bit lost and playing the guitar. The original version of "Valerie" is undoubtedly the best. I found "Pressure Point" and "Why Won't You Give Me Your Love" enjoyable as well.

Estelle: (Shudder). No heart. No soul. All feathery dress and high heels. R'n'B singer Estelle knows how to bore an audience. Well, except the people who were actually there who all seemed to be really into tunes such as "American Boy" and "1980". But it's simply flashy! There's just no substance to her songs and she never looks passionate about what she sings. The Jazz/World Stage has had a funny Glasto really.

Vampire Weekend: Soft, fairly safe New York indie for people who don't know where else to start. No, I'm being a bit harsh. I quite like Vampire Weekend and can imagine listening to them quite comfortably but I have to say that "Oxford Comma" annoys me to no end. The tune wouldn't be too bad, but I think it's the lead singer's high-pitched voice that completely grates. Please, take that little bit out and I won't be angry with you VW! Still, a pretty good performance that everyone seemed to enjoy.

The Futureheads: One million times better now that they've cut out all of the "oh oh ohs". Still, the staccato style of the lead singer is slightly offputting and annoying, despite the fact that live their sound seems to be beefed up a bit. On record, they're just a bit wet, but seeing them live seemed to confirm that their music is better when heard in a tent with a hundred amps. Nice, clean.... an improvement.

The Raconteurs: Jack White's other band put on one of the best performances I saw this weekend. You can never expect the guys to do a conventional performance and stick to what they've recorded in the studio. "Steady As She Goes" ended up as an improvised, seven-minute-long rock-fest. Easily one of the best bands of the festival.

Glastonbury: Jay-Z

This man has caused the most controversy at Glasto in ages. People, including myself, think that having a big American hip-hop artist as a headliner at Glasto would turn it into a dangerous, hip-hop fuelled annual event where there is no longer a place for indie. Which would be a shame. Glasto has always been a place for indie bands, usually from the UK.

But at least he was better than Amy Winehouse.

Yes, he put on a bit of a show, probably had the best video screens of the whole festival and got the crowd going.... but what the heck was he talking about? He was going so fast that I had no idea what he was rapping about, and the only song I had any recollection of from the past was "99 Problems". The rest was a mix of samples and rapping at 100mph with more expletives than you could shake a stick at - although, I only actually noticed most of these when, a day later, they showed a few songs and took out all of the swearing, which was incredibly weird but incredibly funny!

Watching the set on TV was strange because no matter how hard the camera tried to find a black face, they failed! There were incredibly small pockets but the vast majority of people were white and all of them seemed to say that he was "incredible". Hmm.... Wonder if they actually understand what he's talking about.

Having sat through his whole set, I decided that although it certainly wasn't as bad as I thought it could have been (perhaps because it wasn't as heavy on the gangsta scale as I thought it was going to be), I still don't think that acts like Jay-Z suit the festival. Hopefully next year we'll go back to the indie scene and all will be forgiven.