My (first) FIB (Benicassim Festival) so far

Since my last post about the Festival, more than a month ago, FIB has announced a few new acts, the latest bunch of them, today. I'm not going to insist/pledge for the lack of names from my wishlist, because I'm not really counting I'll get one of them* (sadly).

Anyway, adding today's acts to the previous bunch of names announced in the last couple of months, this is how "my" FIB looks now. Hoping for more though, especially on Thursday, still a day in need of a vast improvement!

+ The Streets + Paolo Nutini + Pendulum +Plan B + Chase & Status + Congotronics Vs Rockers + Crystal Fighters + Dorian + Julieta Venegas + Aldo Linares + Anna Calvi + Grupo Salvaje + Henry Saiz + Jack Beats +Layabouts + Violens +

The Strokes + Brandon Flowers + Elbow +James Murphy + Friendly Fires + The Stranglers + Atom Rhumba + Herman Dune +The Juan MacLean + nudozurdo + The 1945 +Ainara LeGardon + The Marzipan Man + The Morning Benders + O Emperor + The Paris Riots + Zombie Zombie +


Arctic Monkeys + Mumford & Sons + Primal Scream + Beirut + Big Audio Dynamite +Bombay Bicycle Club + Amable + Astrud & Col·lectiu Brossa + Lori Meyers + Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club + Logo + McEnroe +Nadadora + Smile + Spectrals + Tame Impala +


+ Arcade Fire + Portishead + Tinie Tempah +Noah & The Whale + Professor Green +Antònia Font + CatPeople + The Go! Team +The Joy Formidable + And So I Watch You From Afar + Anika + The Coronas from Ireland + Indienella + Hidrogenesse +Veronica Falls

Green- Definetely seeing them. Absolute must
Orange- If there are no overlaps (in particular with the green ones), I'll be there for sure
Yellow- Curious about it/"on research mode"

*Happy note: I'm going to see The Pains of Being Pure at Heart anyway this June in Barcelona, so I can cross off that name from the list 

"Last Night on Earth", first days of a new Noah and The Whale?

Last Night on Earth- Noah and The Whale
The first thing we heard from the new album was "Wild Thing", probably the only song that reminds us of the "First Days of Spring" band. Because on "Last Night on Earth" the folksy, sparse arrangements, are gone, replaced by an 80's flavoured synth pop. And this has pros and cons.

On the good side, we have some tunes, the majority concentrated on the first half of the record, that are refreshing. "Life is Life", "Tonight's the Kind of Night" and single "L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N" are enjoyable and charming pop gems. Even "Give it All Back", despite their many lyrics clichés and "American catch-all" (you know that Springsteen's "Glory Days" feeling) vibe is undoubtedly a strong and pleasant track.

But concerns are there too. The synths and lightweight drum machine beats that are replacing the acoustic sounds are not always that welcomed. I particularly believe that Charlie Fink's way of singing (these sort of crooning, storytelling) doesn't really fit with the new music direction sometimes.

But that's not the main issue. A pop record can be ok. A pop record can be, of course, excellent and delightful to hear. But this sort of pop approach  from Noah and The Whale seems a bit vacuous when the lyrics pretend to say so much. It's like eating candy: can be really enjoyable, but doesn't have enough substance to feed you. A nice pop collection, and a brave attempt to move on from a defined style, but something is missing to fully grab you here.

SCORE: 6/10

Amazing month of indie music

Off for the weekend, so there won't be new posts until Tuesday...but once we're back, an amazing month of March, full of promising music is awaiting: R.E.M., Elbow, Noah and the Whale, The Vaccines, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart... Have a great weekend!














Noah and the Whale- 'L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N


The Vaccines- Post Break-Up Sex


The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Belong