GREEN MAN FESTIVAL 2019

"Getting It Together In The Country..."

Last month I once again packed up my wellies, my rain hat and a plentiful supply of wet-wipes and made my way back down to the gloriously enticing Usk Valley in the Brecon Beacons for another fantastically fulfilling four days of festival fun and frolics as the 17th edition of the mighty Green Man opened its gates to the great and the good who had been lucky enough to bag a ticket. I'd come very close to missing out on this one due to a 'just missed the tickets sold out deadline' snafu, but fortunately - and thanks to a very kindly soul on the internet - I was able to join my festival buddy and set up tent with a smile on my face and a spring in my step. 

Weather-wise it was a mixed bag with torrential thunderstorms on the Friday which caused a hefty old quagmire to form around the heavier footfall areas, but happily the sun appeared on the Saturday morning and never really went away, which meant my aforementioned wet-weather gear stayed in my rucksack for the remainder of the festival. Happy days! Food and drink was, as usual, a mighty cornucopia of sights and smells that didn't stop my stomach from rumbling and my tastebuds from salivating all weekend. I stuck to imbibing hefty quantities of Maker's Mark bourbon which kept the wheels juiced quite nicely thank you very much, whilst indulging in lip-smacking fare that ran the gamut from spicy seafood paella, chocolate brownies, soft and tender rotisserie chicken and garlic potatoes, a veggie breakfast from the gods and all other manner of snacks and goodies that kept the hunger pangs at bay.

Other than the music of course, the festival offers a whole range of events and activities that should appeal to almost everyone in attendance with the younger kids and little ones enjoying the Little Folk area with this years Space Travel theme, and the older teenagers indulging in their artier talents in the Somewhere field. Science experiments and all kinds of mind-bending activities take place in Einstein's Garden, whilst over at the Performing Arts area you'll find circus performers, fire-eaters and puppet shows to delight and amaze. Concealed within the leafy environs at the far end of the grounds lies the Fortune Falls area which hosts interactive art installations, wild waterfalls and the Green Man Rising Stage for up and coming unsigned acts to ply their trade. For the inner hippy, there's the Nature Nurture nook, hosting yoga workshops, meditation sessions, sound therapy, hot tubs and massages to ease those aching festival limbs. And for the more cerebral, the Cinedrome tent offered a full range of festival-relatable movies and documentaries such as the 90's rave-era set Beats, Rudeboy: The Story Of Trojan Records, the Frank Sidebottom doc Being Frank and the wonderful Aretha Franklin performance Amazing Grace. Meanwhile, over in the Babbling Tongues tent there were talks and lectures through the day from the likes of Caitlin Moran, Jarvis Cocker, Richard Thompson and Anais Mitchell after which the comedians took over during the evening with stand-up sets from many a funny-boned soul such as Rob Deering and Phil Kay.

It's all about the music for me of course though, and this year I do believe was one of the very best lineups that Green Man has put together. The main Mountain Stage saw incredible performances from scuzzy South London refuseniks Fat White Family and legendary US post-rock heroes Yo La Tengo on the Friday, whilst during the Saturday sunshine there were sterling sets from London psych-jazz exponents Sons Of Kemet, Anglo/French synth-pop indie stalwarts Stereolab and a quite stunning headline appearance from one-man techno legend Keiran Hebden - otherwise known as Four Tet - who laid down an hour and a half of loose-limbed, arm-waving and downright hip-shaking electronic beats that had the whole main stage throng (your faithful scribe included) throwing some serious shapes and grinning like loons as the lasers flew around our heads and a full moon looked down upon us benignly. It was really rather ace.

Sunday was a more relaxed affair, just as well really after the immensity of the previous night, with some hushed Americana from Anais Mitchell before a couple of the best sets of the weekend in the alt-rock proto blues of Eels and the synth-laden drama of Sharon Van Etten - both of whom were far worthier headliners than the slightly too arch and knowing Father John Misty who closed proceedings. Across the other stages - the beating hub of the festival that is the Far Out tent, the relaxed and family friendly Walled Garden and the late night funk-filled shindigathon that is Chai Wallahs - there was some utterly splendid fare from Green Man stalwarts Richard Thompson, Pictish Trail, Gwenno, Steve Mason, Stealing Sheep and James Yorkston as well as debut appearances from Malian desert blues husband and wife team Amadou & Mariam, Thai-funk inspired Texan trio Khruangbin, the truly wondrous Gallic noir-rock of The Liminanas, US art-rockers Bodega, slap you round the chops Bristolian punkers Idles, Belgian funk-frilled jazz nutjobs Blow 3.0, Sons Of Kemet nabob Shabaka Hutchings other psychedelic infused modern jazz trio The Comet Is Coming, middle eastern inspired folk craziness from the Urban Folk Quartet and a fabulous surprise Thursday night headline turn from legendary late 80's indie kings The Wedding Present. As usual, the festival was brought to a close late on Sunday night with the ceremonial burning of the Green Man himself - a giant construction of wood and foliage - followed by a massive firework display that officially brought the curtain down on GM19. The whole affair really was tremendously magnificent from top to tail and as we made our way back to the car park on the Monday morning we were already planning for next year. Thanks Green Man - see you in 2020!

VIDEOS OF THE WEEK:
The Best Tunes On Current Release

So much fantastic music out there at the moment that I couldn't possibly just choose one video of the week for this post so I'm more than happy to regale my readership with a whole bunch of stupendous clips to ease you into the Autumn now that summer has waved us goodbye. Most of these artists will no doubt be jostling for position at the sharp end of No Static At All's Top 50 Albums Of The Year list in a few short months time. Once again, this year has been a tremendously fruitful and exciting one for new music. Long may this state of affairs continue. 

We start with the return to the fray of Justin Vernon and his Bon Iver collective. Fourth album "i,i" - again with those weird titles - is another sparkling collection of electronica-infused, harmony-laden and folk-tinged Americana that soothes, caresses and embraces the listener right from the top. Lead track Hey, Ma could have found a home quite easily on Vernon's second Bon Iver opus from 2011 which means it's one of his finest tracks. Glorious, as ever.

Lionel and Marie Liminana have taken some time out from their day job as the main thrust behind terrifically exciting garage-rock crew The Liminanas and have hooked up with frequent collaborators Anton Newcombe from The Brian Jonestown Massacre and actress/singer Emmanuelle Seigner to produce a wonderful set of driving indie-rock, jangly surf-pop and psych-drenched Gallic cool. If you have even the smallest slice of love for any of the protagonists other work, then you're absolutely going to adore this.

The reunion a few years ago of Oxfordian shoegaze titans Ride was a real thing of wonder for your faithful scribe. Hugely popular with the indie kids in the early 90's - and the architects of the classic albums 'Nowhere' and 'Going Blank Again' - the floppy-fringed quartet called it a day in 94, just missing out on the Britpop explosion that they had arguably been instrumental in forming. The comeback 5 years ago started with the usual greatest hits and albums in full performances before 2017's brand new 'Weather Diaries' opus upped the stakes and sent Ride into new territory, leading to chart success and sold out worldwide tours - all of which was thoroughly deserved. They're back again with the reliably excellent 'This Is Not A Safe Place' and it's wonderful to see them gaining the critical respect and kudos that eluded them back in the day.

Mid-90's Washington State bred riot-grrrl trio Sleater-Kinney have been through many ups and downs during their career, culminating in an 8 year sabbatical before returning refreshed and full of vigour for 2015's magnificently in your face slab of alt-rock that was 'No Cities To Love'. Far and away their most successful album, the big question of how to follow it up has been answered in spades with the stupendous 'The Center Won't Hold'. Produced by art-rock doyenne St. Vincent, the record sees principal duo Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker embrace huge swathes of synth-pop and thumping glam-based rock and roll for a real volte-face that sadly has seen long-serving drummer Janet Weiss leave the band under something of a cloud. Despite this setback though, the music shines through quite brilliantly.

And finally, and even though I've already previously posted a new Angel Olsen track, I make no apologies for posting her latest single. Taken from next week's long-awaited fourth Olsen opus 'All Mirrors', this quite astonishing meld of orchestral strings, brain-caressing synths and powerhouse production could well be her finest hour. It's a tough listen certainly - the end of a relationship has never sounded more intensely heartbreaking - but, as usual with Olsen, her lyrics and the incredible way she sings them sweep over you in such an all-encompassing way that you're right there in the dark with her, desperate to take her hand and bring her out into the light. On this evidence, the new album could well bag my top spot at the end of December. Watch this space....

OBITUARIES:
Neal Casal 1968 - 2019
Daniel Johnston 1961 - 2019
Ric Ocasek 1944 - 2019

More sad losses within the rock and roll universe over the last couple of weeks as we bow down and wish a fond farewell to three huge No Static At All faves in the forms of legendary Cars frontman Ric Ocasek, cult alt-rock singer/songwriter Daniel Johnston and the Americana/folk rock polymath Neal Casal. All three revered gents have been mainstays of my record collection over the last few decades and will be sorely missed. 

Ocasek - who has died of heart failure at the age of 75 - was possibly the least likely looking rock star in all of recorded music history. Ridiculously tall, beanpole thin and very rarely seen without his trademark dark glasses, he was about as far removed from a mega-selling frontman as it's possible to imagine. However, during their imperial phase of the late 70's and early 80's, his band The Cars were as big as bands get in America. Their self-titled debut album flew off the shelves and stayed in the upper reaches of the Billboard chart for nigh on three years. Bursting with gloriously life-affirming power-pop and 50's inspired rock and roll - best exemplified by the peerless My Best Friend's Girl - the album struck a chord with American youth who hadn't quite got to grips with the whole punk rock thing, as well as their parents who recognised the Beatles influenced pop smarts throughout Ocasek's songwriting. More classic albums followed and hit singles were plentiful: Just What I Needed, Since You're Gone, Shake It Up, You Might Think. The band were at the vanguard of the US new wave explosion of the early 80's with a sound that embraced angular art-rock, AOR balladry and driving rock/pop that eventually mellowed into bombastic power ballad territory in the mid-80s when they finally broke into the UK mainstream with their gargantuan hit Drive. By this time, tensions were running high between Ocasek and the band's other principal songwriter Ben Orr. Ocasek left the band in 1987 and after a middling couple of solo albums, threw himself into production helming albums by bands who were heavily influenced by that classic Cars sound: Weezer, No Doubt, Nada Surf, Hole and The Cribs. There was a short-lived Cars reunion in 2010 but Ocasek was more happy behind the mixing desk and living a quiet life with his wife and sons. 

Daniel Johnston - who has left us at the far too young age of 58 - was a real anomaly in that crazy alternative rock explosion of the early 90's. Feted by many of the big grunge era bands - famously, Kurt Cobain wore a Johnston t-shirt pretty much solidly throughout the 'Nevermind' treadmill of 1991 - their patronage of his abilities got him signed by Atlantic Records who released one album before realising that they were unable to carry on working with him. Perhaps if they had taken enough time to investigate Johnston's history then they would have left him alone. Johnston was a bi-polar manic depressive - before such mental illnesses were that well known - and he had struggled throughout his life to come to terms with his issues, as well as his schizophrenia that had been diagnosed in the early 90's.

 He had spent a fair amount of time in mental institutions and had spent most of his life outside hospitals squirreled away in the basement of his parent's home, recording countless cassette tapes of his lo-fi love songs and vignettes on life and death. Armed with nothing more than a cheap, out of tune keyboard and a beaten up acoustic guitar, this astonishing hoard of tunes would be given away by Johnston in their hundreds at gigs and record shops throughout his home town of Austin, Texas. Embracing ramshackle folk, woozy alt-rock and a spare, haunted strain of Americana, Johnston's songs eventually reached the ears of the great and good of the burgeoning underground US rock scene that was just about to tip over into the mainstream. Johnston regularly appeared with some of these artists as a tour support but found the idea of playing live increasingly difficult - on one occasion in Australia, he fled the stage after three songs, apologising profusely but leaving the assembled audience in tears because of the beauty of the songs he did play. Johnston carried on writing and releasing songs by himself for many years after, seemingly not that bothered about any form of financial gain. He had also spent many years drawing and painting, showing his work in exhibitions across America and publishing comics as well. In the mid noughties, his story was told - brilliantly but heartbreakingly - in the excellent documentary 'The Devil And Daniel Johnston', and there was also a fantastic tribute album released with artists such as Tom Waits, Beck, Wilco, Eels, Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips covering his songs and bringing in some much needed monetary assistance. In recent years he had been dogged with physical ill health which, along with his previously diagnosed issues, had stopped him from travelling and touring. He had continued to live at his parent's old house and leaves a brother, Dick, who had spent his whole adult life taking care of Daniel's affairs. Daniel Johnston's life wasn't a happy one but, with the legacy of songs that he left us with - such as the truly heart-wrenching True Love Will Find You In The End - it was one filled with a unique talent that will be very much missed. 

Finally in this little tribute to fallen heroes we say goodbye to Neal Casal who has tragically taken his own life at the age of 50. Born in New Jersey, Casal followed his muse down to California where - after a few years as a session guitarist - he recorded a bunch of well-received Americana albums under his own name, including the excellent 1998 opus 'Basement Dreams'. After a couple more solo records, Casal formed the short-lived band Hazey Malaze before retiring the band to join Ryan Adams in his latest venture The Cardinals. Appointed as lead guitarist and co-songwriter, Casal appeared on 5 albums with Adams before leaving to pursue other projects.

Those projects included putting together three other bands - GospelBeach, Hard Working Americans and The Skiffle Players - as well as collaborating with artists as varied as Lucinda Williams, James Iha, Willie Nelson, Mark Olson, Vetiver and Minnie Driver. In recent years, Casal had hooked up with former Black Crowes nabob Chris Robinson and had become an integral part of Robinson's Grateful Dead inspired groovesters The CR Brotherhood. He had also formed another psych-rock infused instrumental jam band called Circles Around The Sun. Throughout all of this stellar work, Casal's laid-back guitar playing and easy on the ear vocal delivery were both full of a relaxed charm and were a joy to listen to and to watch live. He had been touring solidly this summer with The Brotherhood before returning home for a short break before the tour's resumption. A really talented guy and a life gone too soon.

Here's a clip of the surviving members of The Cars - minus Ben Orr who died in 2000 - performing the utterly splendid Just What I Needed at their Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony last year. This may very well be Ric Ocasek's final live performance.

Recent clips of Daniel Johnston performing make for a heartbreaking watch - and this one is no exception. However, the spine-tingling beauty of this song makes it almost impossible not to post here as an accompanying video to the above obituary. He truly was a complete one of a kind artist.

Finally, here's a three year old clip of Chris Robinson and His Brotherhood - featuring the late Neal Casal on fabulous lead guitar - absolutely OWNING Bob Dylan's It's All Over Now Baby Blue. Just wonderful.