After such a glorious weekend of sun my thoughts have turned to festivals. Quite why I’m unsure, as my memories of festivals tend to involve mud and soggy tents rather than blazing sunshine, but hey ho.

LCD Soundsystem and Crystal Castles win the Purple Amp title of Festival Whores of 2010. LCD Soundsystem will perform their new material at Reading and Leeds, Glastonbury and Wireless, whilst Crystal Castles play at all those, plus Latitude.

The undisputed “will they wont they” title goes to The Libertines for their scheduled appearances at Reading and Leeds. If Pete ends up behind bars then headliners Arcade Fire can always perform a double set, which would be no bad thing!

Fans of the old timers have plenty to watch out for too. Guns n Roses headline Reading and Leeds after their shambolic appearance at Leeds in 2002. They turned up nearly two hours late meaning their set went on until 1am, threatening the festival’s license for the next year. Oh, and they were pretty dull too. Stevie Wonder closes Glastonbury, AC/DC, Aerosmith and Billy Idol play Download, Grace Jones and Roxy Music will be at Lovebox, while down at the Isle of Wight Festival we’re really spoilt, with Blondie, Spandau Ballet and Crowded House all taking to the stage.

Fans of all things dance and electronic may want to check out Rockness for Fatboy Slim, Friendly Fires, Crystal Castles, Pendulum, Leftfield, Soulwax, or Lovebox where Empire of the Sun, Chromeo, Cut Copy, Hot Chip, New Young Pony Club and Peaches all make the line-up.

There’s plenty of smaller festivals knocking around this year. As regular readers know, I’m a huge fan of Moseley Folk Festival where Donovan, The Divine Comedy and Turin Brakes will be playing this year. Sticking around Birmingham, Supersonic wraps up the festival season in October with headliners Swans. Up in Derbyshire, Indietracks is worth checking out if the idea of a boutique indie pop festival with heritage trains excites you!

Whilst I’m on the topic of festivals, it’s worth checking out the Greenpeace Taste of Glastonbury auction on eBay.

To sign off this post, what else but a YouTube video and one of the best festival performances I’ve seen at that. MUSE from V Festival 2008… turn off the lights, turn up the volume and watch full screen. Enjoy =)

British Sea Power are one of those bands I had always wanted to see, but never enough to actually go and see them. It was the era of so many explorative bands such as My Vitriol, The Cooper Temple Clause and The Music, that BSP simply strayed slightly under my radar.

Seven years later, I finally put that right – and am I glad I did. The band reaked of a group of mates REALLY enjoying what they do, a remarkable feat after so many years of under-achievement.

The Glee Club is a relatively new venue on the city’s music scene, moving from one-off to staple gig venue in the last few years. They’ve not yet cracked the sound though. It took four songs for the levels to be ironed out and even then they weren’t at all perfect. But that’s a mere niggle in the midst of a chaotic live show where you couldn’t take your eyes of the stage for a second, not least because, to quote my mate Andy, it looked like a scene from A Midsummer Nights Dream (I thought raves like these died in the nineties?)

As for the set itself, I was anticipating a more laid back approach with plenty of new, perhaps more experimental new material. But just a few songs in we’d already had the trippy Apologies To Insect Life and blistering anthem Remember Me. The sneaks! A few newbies were eventually performed to a pretty sedate reaction, but that was more to do with the vibe of the Glee Club than the quality of the songs. So much so even the awesome Waving Flags only received a smattering of applause. Credit to the band for keeping going with so much enthusiasm.

Like many before them, BSP keep things interesting by constantly chopping and changing the vocalists, guitars and adding in other instruments where necessary. But they risked this by dragging out the finale, a real pet hate of mine as you know the show has essentially finished, but you feel forced to watch a bunch of musicians indulge themselves. It’s the musical equivalent of eating an entire tub of Ben & Jerrys when you only wanted three scoops. It’s still nice, but each scoop gets less and less exciting.

But again, that’s a mere niggle. There’s a craftsmanship to British Sea Power’s music that kept my attention throughout, and I’m a fussy bugger. I’d see them again, so I guess that’s all you need to know.

Here at Purple Amp, we love a good confectionery mash-up.

To start an album with a nine-minute track is a brave move indeed, especially with the first three minutes so stripped down they’re reminiscent of a stoned Moldy Peaches playing around with kitchen utensils. But then “Dance Yourself Clean” springs to life when the razor sharp synths click into gear. Akin to Hot Chip’s Thieves In The Night in the “awesome-way-to-open-an-album” stakes.

You’ll no doubt have heard the single “Drunk Girls” by now and made up your own mind. For me it sounds like James Murphy hopped in a convertible with Ima Robot, heading down Sunset Strip for a rowdy boys night out. If that’s your bag, you’ll love this.

From then on we’re into more familiar LCD Soundsystem territory, from the beats and bleeps of One Touch and I Can Change, to the slow-burning craftsmanship of I Wanted a Hit.

As closing tracks go, “What You Need” is a real retro breakfast club funk-a-thon and if this is truly to be LCD Soundsystem’s curtain call, it’s an almost touching way to end.

So long, and thanks for all the olives.

Here’s the opening and closing tracks for your aural pleasure:

As if the Rainbow complex wasn’t already the most awesome venue in Birmingham. In a few weeks time we are being treated to yet another space – The Cellar Door. Parties in the new space will flow into the pub and courtyard upstairs.

I love underground venues – it’s why I love The Vaults in the Jewellery Quarter despite the extortionate prices and tossers who generally frequent it. I can’t wait to check this one out on Bank Holiday weekend!

Curated by Moseley Folk as part of Town Hall Symphony Hall’s English Originals weekend, Folk For Free saw some of Birmingham’s finest singer-songwriters take over the foyer of Symphony Hall for an afternoon.

I caught the latter half of Abie Budgen’s set whose fingerpicking and guitarslapping quirkiness kept my attention. The lovely thing about the venue was the opportunity to sit up on the balcony and have a picnic. In the interlude some lovely red pepper humous and carrot batons were consumed, followed by chocolate fingers. If only all gigs were like this. Promoters, take note!

Then came Deb Hodgson, who first came to my attention at the folk stage of last year’s OxjamBrum. Her voice is nothing short of sensational. She really made this relaxed setting her own, leading her band of guitar, piano, violin and cello on a journey from smokey New Orleans jazz club to the picturesque Moseley Park and back again. Of particular note was a beautiful interpretation of a poem “I Count The Days”, written by a member of the audience.

From a few conversations afterwards it seems Folk For Free is going to become a regular occurance in the Symphony Hall bar, in a similar vein to the Rush Hour Blues shows.

All this has really whetted the appetite for Moseley Folk 2010. Roll on the first weekend in September…

So tonight I went out for a few drinks and a good ole catch up with a couple of good friends from the Oxjam Brum crew. Hurrah! We took in Island Bar, a random Chinese restaurant and headed home via a quick stop-off at the Sunflower Lounge.

The theme for today has been memories, and the Sunflower always provides those. I walked in to Time for Heroes by the Libertines, and the tunes kept on coming. Then we bumped into Josh from Tantrums, which brought back lots of Oxjam Brum memories from October! For the uninitiated, I was part of the Oxjam Brum team last year at which Tantrums headlined along with Dinosaur Pile-Up.

Tantrums are supporting CasioKids on 27th May at the Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath – I suggest all those reading this should buy a ticket NOW as it’s just a fiver – an absolute steal for two awesome bands. See you there

Anyway here’s a kick-ass song from Tantrums (great song, not so sure about the fan video!):

The t’interweb is awash with excitement at the impending return of Australia’s greatest ever export.*

I’m yet to make up my mind about this song.

But it sounds like she’s spent all winter curled up on the sofa listening to the Killers.

* apart from barbeques and surfboards

Today I’ve been sorting out a whole heap of boxes. Boxes of stuff. Stuff I’ve had for years under the bed and in cupboards. It’s a really time-consuming job because you come across stuff you’d forgotten about and start reminiscing. In one dusty shoebox I found some flyers and vinyls from my all-time favourite band (apologies for sounding like a 14-year old girl): Ooberman. The memories came flooding back, so I’m going to explain why they are my all-time favourite band.

Quite simply, they were the act that showed me how to emotionally connect with music.

Their music isn’t groundbreaking; looking back now it isn’t even particularly great. But as a teenager there was something about the dreamy melodies, sugar-coated lyrics and sheer quirkiness that really hooked me in. That and they also gave a shit about their fans. I made a whole heap of friends through the online community and at gigs, some of whom I’m still in touch with now. Those meetings led to a couple of “Oobercamps” at Leeds Festivals in the early 2000’s complete with PANTS flag and even as I’m writing this yet more memories are flooding back. Good times indeed!

So thank you Ooberman, to the band and the fans, for showing me how important music would end up being to me.

What is this?

It’s a place for me to collect all my thoughts on the wonderfully diverse emotional rollercoaster that is the musical express. Choo choo!

I’ll record the gigs I go to, the videos that catch my attention, little titbits of gossip and news, and well, whatever the hell I like really. If I go off-topic, then that is what I shall do. This is my place, not yours. But you’re welcome to stay a while. Just respect my rules:

• Dirty trainers only. Or take them off, but if you do, wear socks, there might be shards of glass on the floor
• No flashing red horns, nurses outfits, or university sports teams
• Lively discussion welcome, but if you’re aggressive or insulting, you’re out the door
• Awesome people only
• Be awesome to one another
• Don’t make a drink without making me one
• No Ben Sherman
• No diving in the shallow end
• No heavy petting

Let’s do this.