One of our favourite albums of 2008 was Chad VanGaalen’s Soft Airplane; a collection of “heartfelt songs and lo-fi tinkering” which hasn’t been too far from our record player over the last 12 or so months. VanGaalen has made quite a name for himself as a songwriter, producer and animator – and now he’s dabbling [...]

The final day of Primavera Sound kicked off in a dehydrated panic after realising we’d slept in. Ponytail are about to play a midday session in the Joan Miro Park, so we dive out of bed and into a taxi. Arriving a couple of songs in, the loveliness of the outdoor setting is very much [...]

The Spanish sun and too much alcohol takes its toll and we don’t make the festival until Bat For Lashes is finishing what sounded like a decent set. We head over to the ATP stage for some Sleepy Sun, and the San Francisco band’s psych rock is perfect for a sunny billing. Expanding on the [...]