The Farmacist’s first Glastonury
Posted by faculty of art and music on
May 29, 2009
This year is my first time at Glastonbury festival. Like a fellow Faculty member(Smitherz), it’s the only thing on my mind. I have heard a lot of bad press about how old the line-up is this year, and how bad it is, I massively disagree, I can’t bloody wait. This is who I would like to see this year.
Metronomy
Maximo Park
Qemists (DJ Set)
Ben & Lex (from my local town)
Neil Young
The Specials
The Bays
The Delegators
Bruce Springsteen &
The E Street Band
Fleet Foxes
Bloc Party
Hot 8 Brass Band
Animal Collective
Dan Le Sac Vs Scoobius Pip
Erol Alkan
Mystro
Crazy P
The Blockheads
Crosby, Stills & Nash
Dizzee Rascal
Spinal Tap
Jarvis Cocker
Bon Iver
Horace Andy
Easy Star All-Stars
Wiley
DJ Food
Badly Drawn Boy
Dub Pistols
Don Letts
Stereo MCs
Tayo
Blur
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
Status Quo
Seun Kuti and Fela’s Egypt 80
Motown 50th Birthday
Mr Scruff
Infadels
Appleblim
And a load of cider and ale.
the Farmacist.
Japan Party!
Posted by faculty of art and music on
May 26, 2009
Our good friend Hiromi Suzuki, has returned from her 2 month exile to Japan and is back with us in the glamorous London! Come down to FAM HQ this Saturday and celebrate her presence, with live disc jockeying from the Farmacist, Roots Romeo and myself – bbq – japanese dress – and possibly some good ol’ karoke (which we all know is japanese for pissed business man sing bad).
Smitherz
Look out Pilton… ‘ere we go again!
Posted by faculty of art and music on
May 25, 2009
The sun is shining til late in the evening, cold cider is swiftly becoming one of my ‘5 a day’ and it’s almost time for me to make my annual pilgrimage down to Pilton, Somerset. Yes – it’s almost time for Glastonbury Festival!
For the next few weeks, nothing else matters. Any kind of sane thought I may have normally had in my head is replaced by bangin’ reggae and happy memories of staggering around muddy fields – stinking of piss, sweat and cider. All conversation is linked to a festival story of some discription and my stomach is constantly in complete knots of excitement (or fear of the battering it’s gonna take).
As any regular Glastonbury Festivaler will already know – the line-up is of little importance. The true essence of Glastonbury will always be, in the words of Massive Attack’s 3D, “gettin’ fucked and hangin’ out with strangers”.
However, the 2009 listings were revealed today and it aint looking half bad. Here’s my own hand-picked selection of artists, I’m getting all excited about.
Amadou and Mariam
Tunng and Tinariwen
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Horace Andy
Crosby Stills and Nash
The Whip
Echo and the Bunnymen
The Specials
Fairport Convention
DJ Food
Badly Drawn Boy
Dub Pistols
Don Letts
The Aliens
The Blockheads
Joe Goddard
Neil Young
Skream and Benga
Broken Family Band
Bon Iver
Spinal Tap
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Eagles of Death Metal
Fleet Foxes
Hudson Mowhawke
Q-Tip
Roots Manuva
Easy Star All-stars
The Rumble Strips
… and loads of amazingly wicked stuff I don’t even know about yet!
Smitherz
Beards are hard as fuck!
Posted by faculty of art and music on
May 22, 2009
Tomorrow marks the 9th World Beard and Moustache Championships, this year held in Anchorage, Alaska. Such a prestigious event, would alone be worthy of a plug from the Faculty of Art and Music – but what elevates the WBMC from brilliance to sheer genius, is this perfectly illustrated poster campaign by Jason Nitti and Neel Williams.
A perfect marriage of humour and simple design, these posters hark back to those good ol’ days – Milton Glaser meets Alan Fletcher – or something… I hate those kind of annotations, but whatever the influence, you have to agree, they’re great posters and they work.
Smitherz
Where’s the Format?
Posted by faculty of art and music on
May 15, 2009
This morning I have a hangover. Working would have been hard without
the help of DJ Format. I had forgotton how good this album is, definately
one that needs to go back in my record bag.
Where has he gone? Since his Fabric mix I haven’t heard anything about
him, no releases, no mixes, no tours. I’m hoping he will come back soon.
the Farmacist
Tu t’appelles comment?
Posted by faculty of art and music on
May 4, 2009
I had worrying moment a couple of weeks ago on the way to work when my iPod fell out of my pocket and landed face down on the floor of the 156 bus. As my face reddened under the glare of the other zombified passengers, I thought it had finally died.
It threw me back to the time that a PC of mine flatlined during the closing bars of ‘Caroline, No’ after I’d played Sergeant Pepper’s and Pet Sounds back to back on it. Unlike Brian Wilson that computer never recovered.
The death of my little white box would’ve been no less inglorious – I was listening to Histoire de Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg.
Gainsbourg is best known for his chart-topping ‘Je t’aime… moi non plus’, which was banned by the BBC and later used to soundtrack two ladybirds humping in front of a pint of John Smith’s.
In my ignorance I’d always assumed Gainsbourg was just another totem for dirty old French men. Stereotypically gaunt and yellowed by years of chain smoking, boozing, shagging and, most importantly, thinking about shagging. Now I’m older and Histoire has become one of my favourite albums, I’ve realised that I was right about Gainsbourg, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
It seems Gainsbourg was a man, who loved a bit of dirt – he’s even made an album all about farting, which I’ve been meaning to track down – and on this album dirt has never sounded so good.
This concept album, although only 28 minutes long, tells the story of a man who knocks a school girl off her bike, whilst out driving his Rolls Royce, and the ensuing love affair.
Although Histoire was released in 1971 it never sounds dated and from the moment it begins with a loping bass guitar, you realise just how influential it has been. Beck ripped-off the swooping strings, which Gainsbourg deploys throughout, on his break-up classic, Sea Change. And French-duo, Air probably wouldn’t exist without this record’s softer moments awash with plucked guitars and orchestral flourishes. From song to song the pace may vary from fraught to languid, but the result is always cinematic.
Whilst his much-lauded sonic blueprint is so admirable what makes this album so compelling is Gainsbourg himself. He casually purrs his way through the story with a lingering sexual menace and when he actually sings he conveys a perverted tenderness that only Gallic people can conjure. Lines, like “Melody Nelson has red hair. It’s her natural colour,” could only come from a dirty old Frenchman’s mouth and sound so inspired…
Michael Lane