Julian Victor Corrie
hinterland 2010
obviously, i’ve been out of the loop - i didn’t really understand the scale of hinterland until i turned up at macsorley’s last night, hoping to catch dam mantle, where all became clear - wristband access, six venues and a whole heap of music.
the schedule told me i was too late for that gig, so i headed back to the arches to catch the end of british sea power’s set. they came across as simultaneously brilliant and frustratingly chaotic, a lot rockier than i remember them from the days of songs like “carrion”. as the band generated walls of filthy guitar squeal, the stage was invaded by what looked like a minotaur, one of them climbed the arches lightning rig, and a violinist tried to make herself heard above the chaos. you get the feeling if they didn’t have a drummer they might be a power noise band, but it was good fun.
french wives played a wonderful set in arches south, flanked by trombones, glockenspiel, harmonies and a guest violinist, who this time was just about audible above the arches’ cavernous acoustic. it’s the first time i’ve really listened to them, and their songs are brilliant - i have a lot of respect for bands that can get me singing songs i’ve only heard once. “halloween” was particularly great, a miniature pop suite covering love and death and everything in between. i’m gonna track down their record.
by this point excitement was building for jeffrey lewis, who also delivered a brilliant set, despite technical problems and a sitting-bull related fuck up - “i don’t know how well known he is here in england” - which got a few drunken boos from the crowd. for the rest of his set, though, they were in awe, as lewis performed a gangster rap about killing mosquitos, sang a hilarious song about difficult girlfriends and, with the help of his projector, gave us lessons in hippie culture and the battle of little bighorn. part indie folk, part stand up comedy, part insane conference. brilliant.
finally the arches were interlinked for the dj sets from the luckyme crew, who dealt out slow, filthy house grooves, and greco roman in the north arch, preceded by a live set by totally enormous extinct dinosaurs. a guy dressed in a dinosaur suit bounced around a laptop, throwing huge, filthy fidget grooves from the massive pa. no idea was played through for more than a minute - massive basslines danced around, dropped out and slammed back in again every thirty seconds. this was ADD dance for the instantaneous internet generation, and i couldn’t help but love it, even though it makes me wonder where dance music is going. whatever happened to the slow build? perhaps i’m getting old.
friendly fires ended my night with a more straightforward house / techno set. i found a glowstick on the floor and started dancing like a tit, at which point it was obviously time to go home. thanks to all involved in putting on the festival, i had a blast. here’s to next year, when i’ll have more idea of what to expect.
