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Festival Headlines
This page is provided only for information, it does not apply to the 2002 festival.
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Get special discounted CDs by Glastonbury artists from Audiostreet in association with Playlouder. Also read bonus feature on the New Bands stage and the days performers on Audiostreet.
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New Bands Competition
This year, the stage is collaborating with musicunsigned.com in a competition for unsigned bands. The vote has been cast and 'User' & 'Later' have been your choice ! Click here for more details.
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ELLIOT SMITH
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"The best songwriter on earth", "vastly gifted" and "genius" are not terms people throw about lightly, but when it comes to Elliott Smith you have to dodge enormous volleys of them. The Texas-born Smith had a cult following for years, initially with alt rock band Heatmiser, but it wasn't until 1998, when he contributed to the soundtrack of Gus Van Sant,s movie Good Will Hunting and 'Miss Misery' won an Oscar, that he found widespread fame. A shy and quiet man and a writer of beautiful melodies and melancholic lyrics, he's regularly been compared to fellow introspective artists Nick Drake and Simon and Garfunkel. 1998's XO, which featured 'Waltz #2', a song about family arguments set to a (surprise, surprise) waltz rhythm, was hugely acclaimed and cemented his growing reputation as a star talent. His current and fifth album, Figure 8, is his most sonically experimental, utilising a wider range of instruments and multi-layering, and has been touted almost universally as his best yet. Its opener, the unusually breezy 'Son of Sam' is released as a single on 19th June and two days later Smith plays at Scott Walker's Meltdown at London's Royal Festival Hall.
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COUSTEAU
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Now this is what you need at Glastonbury - a good dose of loungey crooning done by a selection of blokes in suits. Well, the Tindersticks have always pulled it off, haven't they? And, while Cousteau may be a slightly different proposition, their credentials thus far offer up no less promise. They staked their claim on the hearts of the discerning pop nation last year with one of its standout singles 'Last Good Day Of The Year', but it was with their eponymous debut album that it became clear these were no one-hit wonders we were dealing with. Frontman Liam McKahey has the sort of luscious, silken voice that'll have older punters fondly recalling the heyday of Black, while if songwriter Davey Ray Moor had been around in the 60s he'd have had Dionne and Dusty battering down his door. Glasto won't have seen this much class since Tony Bennett left the stage in '98.
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KENT
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With a recent appearance at MTV's Five Night Stand (supporting and, to a certain degree, outshining James) just behind them and the release of their second UK album, 'Hagnesta Hill', in July, the odds on Kent being the next band to explode off the seemingly endless conveyor-belt of top Swedish popsters are slimming at a Posh Spice-like rate. Little wonder, really, as the Radiohead comparisons
that held them back around the time of their last album, 'Isola', have become about as relevant as saying that Oasis sound like the Stone Roses these days. The Y2K Kent might still be doing the old grandeur-with-a-pinch-of-ferocity type thing, but now at least it feels like
they're doing it with their own voice and, make no mistake, by the time Glasto comes round, resistance to 'Music Non Stop' is liable to be useless.
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BEN CHRISTOPHERS
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If you were on the hunt for a slice of acoustic entertainment last year you really didn't have to look all that far, with twangy types Inflicting themselves on an unsuspecting public at the rate of about twelve a week. Clearly, some method of quality control had to come into play, and, if You were looking for a reliable yardstick, you could do a lot worse than limiting yourself to people called Ben. Ben & Jason came first, of course, winning the hand of Martine McCutcheon with their Simon & Garfunkel schtick, but the real jewel turned out to be Ben Christophers, whose 'My Beautiful Demon' album proved to be one of the genre's greats thanks to its appealingly searing lyrics and, let's be honest, THAT voice. The critics rushed out and said "If Kate Bush was a man..." but if Christophers really was that much like La Bush then he wouldn't treat us to the live experience at all. Be grateful that he does, and savour the low-key thrills.
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DOVES
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It's no accident that a band that's been together for ten years is being billed as "new." The explanation lies seven years in the past. Back in 1993, when Doves were known as Sub Sub, they had a massive hit in the UK with a disco stirrer called "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)", which reached #3 in the UK charts. Although it was their biggest hit, it firmly placed Sub Sub in a pigeonhole. "It put us in a corner we didn't want to be in, with all the disco dollies," says Jimi. The three wanted to be a BAND first and foremost. Then a fire devastated the Sub Sub studio and master tapes. Jimi, Andy and Jez began to rebuild using the more traditional bricks and mortar of guitars and keyboards, and the reincarnation is the Doves of today. The spirit of Sub Sub lives on, though - Doves' guitar soundscape is
uplifting and surprisingly danceable. Expect great things.
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MOTORHOMES
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Swedish five-piece Motorhomes quietly made their debut earlier this year with a support slot on Shed 7's "greatest hits" tour. Since then, they have slowly been gaining momentum,
with February's well-received debut single "It's Alright," a support tour with JJ72 in May and June, and culminating in an appearance at this year's Glastonbury Festival on the New Bands stage. Pedar Claesson, Peter Mogenson, Adam Starck, Daniel Skaar and Mattias Edlund, who make up the Motorhomes, have been described as having "boy-band good looks" but their music couldn't be further from the sort of sappy dross normally manufactured by those who posess such features. Rather, the Motorhomes specialise in melancholic guitar pop that's heavy on the melodies. It hasn't escaped notice that their debut album "Song For Me (And My Baby) seems to be haunted by the ghost of tortured genius, Nick Drake. Don't miss out on the chance to be in the know when they take the New Bands
stage.
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BEN AND JASON
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London's B & J deal in acoustic melodies as fragile and sweet as their ice-cream namesakes. Ben Parker, with the voice of Elliott Smith dipped in sugar, and a falsetto as high as Thom Yorke's, sings Jason Hazeley's melancholic lyrics to slick string arrangements. Nick Drake is patently an influence - not just because they make similarly delicate, personal records - but also because Drake's String-arranger scored a track for them, 'Joe's Ark', on their debut mini-album, Hello. The album, which came out last year, was a well-received taster for their poignant Emoticons, which was recorded while both Parker and Hazeley's relationships were falling
apart. As the title suggests, this is an album which doesn't hide its pain and vulnerability, with lines like "Can I crumble and weep?", but the music the duo (who in person are unexpectedly down-to-earth and cheekily amusing) makes won't bring you down: it doesn't wallow, there's an openness to it and it's very, very beautiful. As Ben himself says, "I think the more melancholy stuff seems a lot more uplifting..." Hear more of that melancholy stuff in September this year, when they are release a new album.
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IT'S JO AND DANNY
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If you didn't know any better you'd be forgiven for thinking it's jo and danny were part of the Scottish lo-fi ex- (or maybe im-...!)plosion. Jo Bartlett (who has Scottish roots) and Danny O'Hagan's treatment of the kaftan-clad spectre of folk is somewhere between that of Looper and Arab Strap - dressed up in lo-fi Celtic cool, bursting with strange samples, honeyed melodies and slightly weird titles. Their debut album, Lank Haired Girl to Bearded Boy, released on their own Double Snazzy label, found sounds, weird boings, bits of racing commentary and seagull-cawing jostle for space with more regular instruments and Jo's lovely Natalie Merchant-esque voice. But, Bartlett asserts, "To us that just sounds how music should sound. We are drawing from quite a wide variety of influences, including literature and film." Having spent the beginning of 2000 concentrating on life outside music - relocating to the Brecon Beacons from
London's "deeply unfashionable" N16, preparing for the birth of their child and getting married - the duo, who have so far played one gig this year, begin a flurry of pop activity in June, kicking off with their Glastonbury appearance and followed by selected dates culminating in a September tour. Also look out for their new EP on August 7th, the aptly titled 'All in Good Time' on August 7th.
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RAE AND CHRISTIAN
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From the team who brought you Fat City, the Rae and Christian experience is all about soul...albeit in a hip hop and dub variety. Very much a kindred spirit of early Massive Attack, the live sound takes the spirit of the album 'Southern Sulphuric Soul' and adds turntable trickery, deep funk vibes and more soul than a Sunday service. Don't be fooled by collaborations with Texas - Rae and Christian are a million miles removed from chart fodder: they're simply one of the UK's finest urban beat collective.
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TERRIS
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It's pretty rare for a band who've yet to release an album to make the cover of a national music paper, but Terris adorned the front of the NME even before they'd released a proper single. The South Wales foursome garnered glowing praise late last year when they brought out the limited edition EP 'The Time Is Now', a slab of rock aggression definitely not to be confused with Moloko's melodious single. But it is their gigs which have had journalists predicting greatness. Passionate and intense, with a lead singer in Gavin Goodwin who dances like Ian Curtis, Terris have been been likened to a louder, faster Joy Division. Eminently quotable and not shy of the odd bit of controversy, they've dissed the Manics and notoriously wrecked the stage at a London gig. Having released their debut single, 'Cannibal Kids' in April, they are currently working on an album. See them and see if they live up to the hype.
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OOBERMAN
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The vagaries of the music biz should perhaps be taking their toll on Scouse hopefuls Ooberman given that, not eighteen months after being awarded Single Of The Year in The Times for their sublime debut 'Shorley Wall', they currently find themselves without a record deal: but they've never been the types to let a little thing like that get them down. After all, they've built a career out of unfeasibly infectious exuberance, from the chirpy psyche-romp of 'Million Suns' through to the exhausting Blurry thrash of 'Bees' (both featured on last year's critically-admired 'The Magic Treehouse' album), and they're unlikely to risk their reputation as one of the bands presently
most capable of reminding the unsuspecting punter of why gigs are ace in the first place. Besides, where did the Ooberfanbase pick up speed in the first place? That's right, the festivals. This could be the shot in the arm the band need, but should be quite a half-hour regardless.
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BADLY DRAWN BOY
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Of all the artists to have emerged in the last few years, few have put on a live show that's polarised opinion as much as that of Mancunian maverick Damon Gough. Hugely unpredictable and often prone to what looks like mischievous improvisation, his take on the singer-songwriter's craft is a world away from the shy shenanigans of the burgeoning nu-acoustic scene and, while he may be a Badly Drawn Boy, he's also been responsible for some wonderfully written records, from those oh-so-collectable early EPs right through to his forthcoming and long-awaited debut opus 'The Hour Of Bewilderbeast'. With previous performances including such highlights as
Gough handing out roses to members of the audience and demonstrating just how Ricky Martin ripped 'Livin' La Vida Loca' off him, how will he be able to top them at Glastonbury? Only one way to find out...
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MY VITRIOL
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Every so often a new band turns up that has the whole of the music business racing to lay claim to them, and while, admittedly, for every Elastica that happens to there are another ten Ultrasounds, at least last summer threw up an outfit that actually look set for fame and fortune proper. Probably the best band to come out of London since... ooh, Basement Jaxx, My Vitriol have sewn up the all-round unspecific fury of the Slipknots of the world and allied it to an air of tunesmithery that even Travis wouldn't argue with. With their gig tally having settled swiftly and comfortably into double figures in recent months and already two abundantly fawned-over singles ('Losing Touch' and their cracking, ultra-limited debut 'Always Your Way') behind them with more to follow, their superhuman rise shows no signs of letting up, and their Glasto appearance may yet be the final push they're after. Get down the front while you can.
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JJ72
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They may be one of the youngest bands in the festival's line-up this year, but anyone looking for Symposium-style frolicking from Ireland's JJ72 is set to be sorely disappointed. Instead, stylishly moody atmospherics and mightily epic pop songs are the order of the day, which was just the right concoction to make them fixtures in most people's tips for 2000; and, while they may not quite have taken up a Britneyesque permanent residency in the top forty as yet, they have got on with the business of quietly releasing a series of hugely cherishable singles, with January's 'Snow' and newie 'Long Way South' picking up not only shedloads of attention from such leftfield gurus as Whiley and Lamacq but also enough across-the-board exposure for celebrity to seriously threaten. Irresistible in a small space, Glastonbury'll be the biggest test yet for JJ72, but you wouldn't bet against them coming through just fine.
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DAY ONE
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Pop stars, to be honest, don't have the best of track records when it comes to signing excellent bands to their own labels, but, just to prove that it's not just the Delgados who can get it right, Massive Attack have managed to snap up fellow Bristolians Day One for their Melankolic imprint and, as their gigs to date and February's 'Ordinary Man' album have more than amply demonstrated, this was a good call on their part that ranks with reviving Tracey Thorn's career. Based around the unlikely partnership of pirate radio rapper Phelim Byrne and terrifically-named converted rock freak Donni Hardwidge, Day One are about as close as anyone's been yet to a two-man
Beck, marrying bohemian sensibilities, joyous freeform playing and courageous, wrong-footing lyrical observation to invariably dazzling ends. With much international festival experience to their name too, success at Glastonbury should be assured.
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SIX BY SEVEN
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In an environment where most bands are out to save rock from one hideous development in modern music or another, Six By Seven's mission is to single-handedly destroy it. Their sneering take on psychedelia makes Oasis and Blur's interpretations sound like Muzak. Forget the days when the Hammond was a benign tinkling on 60's hi-fi demo LPs - in James Flower's hands, it's an instrument of sonic terrorism. Six By Seven have been compared to everything from Wire to Love and Rockets to Sonic Youth's more obnoxious moments. The Six By Seven live experience is simultaneously frightening and delicious - if the wall of noise doesn't knock the wind right out of you, then the imposing figure of frontman Chris Olley snarling his macabre lyrics will. Not to be missed (but bring those earplugs.you'll
need them!).
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BLACK BOX RECORDER
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"La haine" is French for 'hate', which is a rather amusing coincidence for those familiar with Luke Haines' lyrics and previous bands, the Auteurs and Baader Meinhof. Few who have heard Black Box Recorder, his latest project with absinthe importer John Moore, can deny that Haines is a truly talented songwriter, if rather bitter (the lyric 'life is unfair/kill yourself or get over it' upset radio honchos enough to get the 'Child Psychology' single dumped from national airwaves). Sarah Nixey sugar-coats Haines' Facts of Life with her poisonously sweet vocals (i.e., hopes are usually dashed, adults are fucked up, and most men will never witness lesbian sex), and the catchy Air-like atmospherics of BBR's music creates Prozac-like quality of jollity - "hey guys, despair can be FUN." Black Box Recorder is a good healthy dose of reality, but if you're feeling a bit fragile from too much festival hedonism, a new single, 'The Art of Driving', is out on Nude Records on July 3rd.
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