The first tracks from his debut offering Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz have surfaced online, and they don’t disappoint; strange and beautiful sounds mixing acoustic instruments with glitchy beats and lots of weird ambiance. Each track is almost entirely different to the one that precedes it; the albums 19 instrumental tracks taking in all sorts of bizarre sounds. There’s an awful lot going on, at times it’s a bit overwhelming; but there’s plenty of gems to be heard throughout.

Black Mold – Metal Spider Webs

Black Mold – Tetra Pack Heads

Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz is out on Flemish Eye records, and will come with another albums worth of music to download. You’d wonder if VanGaalen has slept at all in the last few years…

The physical versions of “Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz” will come with a coupon to download an entire bonus album of material by Black Mold. Composed of glitchy odds and ends, unfinished ideas, analogue improvisation and experimental manipulation, the 100+ minutes of material will be available to download from the Flemish Eye website.

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 enhanced by a great set (check our video, new song?) combined with ice cream and lots of sunshine. Every day should start like this!  [Ronan]

On the other stage of the park are Bowerbirds, who play gorgeous folky melodies with a some nice slide guitar playing and accordions aplenty. I’m not too familiar with their music but in this setting it sounds pretty much perfect. Next are Sleepy Sun; but despite being very impressed by them at ATP on Day 2, it’s time to make tracks back to the Forum. We head to the metro as the sound of tambourines and maracas drift away into the Spanish afternoon from across the park.  [Ronan]

Back on festival grounds, I watch half of Alena Diane’s set in the auditorium, but never really get into it. The soft, wistful elements of her recordings sound a lot more countryish onstage, especially when her backing band join in and and add a sort of cowboy feel to the show. Bar a couple of songs like White as Diamonds; I’m not really feeling it, so I wander off to explore the other stages.  [Ronan]

On Pitchfork the The Lions Constellation have an early slot and a sparse crowd, but they make a decent show of some broody rock, steeped in JAMC cool and garagey riffs. ATP meanwhile plays host to the glam rock synth extravaganza that is Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti… Vamped up in eyeliner and a multicoloured tunic; Ariel’s show reminds me of some sort of Garth Marenghi music video. It’s an endearing mess, but musically it gets a bit tiresome.   [Ronan]

On the expansive Rockdeluxe, we witness a performance from Chad VanGaalen that can only be described as a let down. With a band comprised of fellow Calgary-men Women; he toys around with his songs until he seems to end up confusing even himself. Phoned-in and disinterested, a hungover VanGaalen doesn’t do justice to his solid back catalogue, with Soft Airplane being one of my most listened albums in advance of the festival.  [Joe]

Herman Dune follows up with a cheerful set that suits the laid back mood of the crowd, his songs being in both Spanish and English helping to unite a large crowd in approval. At the back, the universal appeal of the band’s music is represented by an enthusiastic baby who does his best to steal the focus from the stage.  [Joe]

From there we join the huge crowd at main stage to soak up the last of the day’s sunshine to the sound of none other than Neil Young. It’s an idyllic setting, and a great performance that sees the audience more than willing to indulge new material on the promise of classics. Young’s croon is captivating on moments like The Needle and The Damage Done, his guitar playing epic on Cortez the Killer. We stick around close to 2 hours for numbers like Mother Earth and Heart of Gold, but miss out on his encore of The Beatle’s A Day in The Life. [J & R]

Heading down the steps of the Ray Ban/Vice stage feels like descending into another world. The darkness is densely crammed with pretty much everyone who wasn’t at Neil Young (all the other stages were shut for a 3 hour period to facilitate Shakey’s headline slot). A lot of people appear confused, others  ecstatic; for Oneida are playing somewhere amid this throng and they sound huge. Their meandering songs take in a wide array of styles; krautrock, psychedelia and noise coming together in long repetitive grooves that at times seem to overstretch the attentions of the crowd. For a psych fan such as myself, this is pretty much heaven!  [Ronan]

Next we head to RockDelux to see how Deerhunter handle a big stage. Their billing, along with Phoenix on the first day, draws a crowd the likes I’ve never seen at the setting, and they take to it with aplomb. A healthy mix of tunes from the new EP, Microcastle and Cryptograms keep everyone happy, with highlights being the bass heavy Octet and the awesome wig out of Nothing Ever Happens.  [Joe]

Sonic Youth feel like unofficial curators of the festival – so many of the bands here bear testament to the influence and evolution of the New Yorker’s music and attitude. Their last appearance 2 years ago saw them revisit Daydream Nation in it’s entirety, now they bring The Eternal to Barcelona. New songs dominate the setlist, which makes for hit or miss moments; album strengths like What We Know and Antenna sound right at home amid older classics like Hey Joni and Bull in The Heather. They play 4 numbers off Daydream Nation, including a back-to-back double whammy of The Sprawl and ‘Cross the Breeze. With Mark Ibold of Pavement fame now a fixture on bass, Kim Gordon is more to the fore as a front-woman while Lee and Thurston assault their guitars in trademark SY fashion. They finish their encore with an apocalyptic version of Expressway to Yr Skull, the song that Neil Young once described as the greatest ever guitar song, like Young; SY look like a band who’ll keep on going forever.  [Ronan]

By now the second wind has hit. We dance off to Simian Mobile Disco and some great visuals before hitting Pitchfork one last time for some A-Track and DJ Mehdi. By now everyone is in messy dancing bliss, and when a remix of Jape’s Floating is played a sizable portion of the crowd go wild. How many non-Irish are here? [Joe]

It’s time for bed by 5.30 am, and we leave exhausted but satisfied at another great Primavera Sound experience. Word of mouth will spread around Ireland once again and who knows, next year the question might be much different to reflect the demographics of the event.

< Day #1 Review | Day #2 Review

Check out some of the great WFM.org live recordings of some of the shows which they’re streaming here. Our festival photos and videos are gathered here.

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 groove-laden sounds of their recordings, the band take brilliant tracks like New Age and Lord to dizzying heights. My first experience of this lot left a good impression and they’re earmarked as ‘follow up on them’ on my timetable.  [Joe]

From there it’s to RockDelux for some fittingly soul-lifting Spiritualized. Though Jason Pierce has returned to playing full electric shows after the recent Acoustic Mainlines tours, he’s retained the gospel choir and they sound fantastic mixed with the rest of the band. Highlights for me were an epic I Think I’m in Love and Ladies and Gentlemen.  [J & R]

Art Brut are a great festival band; Eddie Argos’s  auto-biographical rants are pure entertainment. The dialogue that runs through tracks like Modern Art and Rusted Guns of Milan wouldn’t be out of place in an episode of The Office, yet it fits perfectly with the punky din crafted by his bandmates.

“I doesn’t mean that I don’t love you, One more try with me above you… Don’t tell your friends! Don’t tell your friends!“

At ATP, Chinese three-piece Carsick Cars are playing catchy, spiky indie rock in the vein of Sonic Youth. They’re an impressive band, but we need to head off after a few songs to secure  an auditorium seat for MBV… shame really.  [Ronan]

Sound quality was an issue for me at My Bloody Valentine, but no such problems second time around. The indoor Auditorium has a huge queue of fans eager to get in and the show is delayed as the venue packs out. The earplugs issued as standard as we enter come in handy, with the devil’s advocate in everyone daring them to take a plug out for a second to endure the sonic bludgeoning dished out. The quantity of decibels doesn’t diminish the quality of the show, and witnessing tracks from Loveless with the visuals seen at last year’s Electric Picnic in this intimate setting is something special.  [Joe]

After that we head back to the Pitchfork stage for The Mae Shi, who are bouncing energetically around onstage to pre-recorded backing samples and engaging in bizarre a cappella improves. It’s a bit trying at times, with long stretches of crowd interaction and self-amusement taking place between songs. When they do actually play though, it’s great stuff and numbers like Run To Your Grave are lapped up by an eager crowd.  [Joe]

As the clock strikes twelve, we head to ATP where The Drones are kicking up a loud, sinister storm. The Aussie band put on a fierey performance; bent double over battered guitars, they throw themselves around the stage. The unmistakeably snarly tones of frontman Gareth Lilliard sound perfectly at home here under the hot night sky, and it makes for my highlight of the day. Go see them on their imminent Irish tour if you can.  [Ronan]

We stay at Pitchfork for The Dan Deacon Ensemble, and while his live show has lost none of its zest with the introduction of the large live band, most of Deacon’s crowd participation is lost in translation and slows down the whole affair. When they do get around to playing songs, it’s nothing short of amazing to witness his Bromst compositions coming to life in all their eclectic glory. Even older numbers like the The Crystal Cat sound absolutely huge when played on live instruments.  [J & R]

It was with a large degree of trepidation that I approached Bloc Party on the Estrella Damm stage for my final band of the night. Regardless of the merits of ‘Silent Alarm,’ the Londoners diminishing returns have since left me cold. I need not have worried. Kele and co dish a blistering set, accompanied by dazzling visuals and even the inclusion of tracks from Intimacy doesn’t take away from a satisfying experience.  [Joe]

The late night/early morning party is in well underway at Mahjongg, who prove to be one of the best surprises of the festival. Their electronic sounds are driven home by impressive, tribal percussion that transforms manages to turn an inquisitive crowd into an ecstatic one.  [Ronan]

After Mahjongg, plans to go and see Michael Mayer got sidelined by some impressive tuneage drifting up from the ATP area, where Barry Hogan & Declan Allen are DJing an ‘ATP best of’; playing everything from At The Drive-In’s One Armed Scissor to LCD’s Losing My Edge. It’s plenty of fun and a great way to round off day number two.  [Ronan]

< Day #1 Review | Day #3 Review >

“How many Irish are here? That’s insane” - Dan Deacon.

The New Yorker’s observation on Friday night summed up what Barcelona’s Primavera Sound has become to the Irish – a musical Mecca away from the weather and prices of the Emerald Isle. Word of mouth has seen a growing return year on year of Irish fans and another enjoyable week, where even a Manchester United fan can have a ball in Barca, will undoubtedly see another increase in Irish attendees in 2010.

Nursing a broken heart; the result of our host city’s triumph the night before, I made my way to the Parc del Fòrum to catch my first act of Primavera – Women, who kicked things off on the Pitchfork stage with some off-kilter jagged noise pop. Some songs justify the praise that was heaped on their debut album, while others fall flat on their collectively hairy faces. Their set was well-received if a little underwhelming, almost as if the cooler than thou audience were more forgiving to the Pitchfork-approved band. Hit and miss stuff.  [Joe]

On ATP, Magik Markers start softly with long sinister ballads. Their droney pieces loose a lot of the crowd, more than half of whom abandon the stage during the set, which slowly starts to lean towards their louder; squalling material like Don’t Talk in Your Sleep and Taste. A furious duo when in full flight, they finish with a marvelously ragged din. Enjoyable, but they might have been better suited to a darker nighttime slot. [Ronan]

Back at the Pitchfork Stage, Girls somewhat contradictorily follow on from Women with a mass-appealing collection of indie pop songs that quickly wins everyone over. They manage to make good use of the sort of lyrics that would induce cringes from most artists, and go down well (pun intended). [Joe]

The third show on the Pitchfork stage was an absolutely amazing performance by The Tallest Man On Earth. We were somewhat blown away by ‘The Scandinavian Bob Dylan’ – such throw away tags doesn’t do Kristian Matsson justice. His fleeting guitar strings and howling alt-folk is combined with a stage presence that leaves the crowd transfixed, and Matsson, who toured with Bon Ivor in the US last year, deserves to be every bit as successful as his American counterpart. [Joe]

A visit to Vice/Ray Ban proves a short one when Marnie Stern delivers a pretty uninspiring performance. Without the slick production of her last album and the talents of drummer Zack Hill, it all sounds a bit flat and lifeless so we turn tail towards Lightning Bolt. Some initial disappointment that they’re playing onstage rather than in the crowd (as they normally do) is quickly erased once they begin; it’s just insane. Brian Gippendale is sensational to watch live, his drum assault almost inhuman – definitely one of the festival highlights for me. [Ronan]

Over at the Estrella Damm stage, indie demi-gods Yo La Tengo open with a massive jam, toying with some huge electric guitar sounds for almost 20 minutes before taking a hugely enjoyable stroll through their substancial back catalogue. Autumn Sweater and Sugarcube sound marvelous, as do the airings of new songs they offer up from their forthcoming album.  [Ronan]

Pheonix draw huge numbers to the Rockdeluxe stage, and rightly so – the French indie/electro act prove the perfect band for the late evening sunshine, with the likes of 1901 and Listomania drawing great cheers from the crowd as the festival party atmosphere starts to take shape. [Joe]

The ATP stage is an entirely different kettle of fish for The Jesus Lizard. From the get go, it’s very much a balls-to-the-wall-affair, with human cannonball David Yow shedding his shirt and diving headlong into the crowd to kick things off. It’s entirely Yow’s show – as the band crank out riffs and noise aplenty, he returns time and time again to the moshing fray where he is carried aloft by a sweaty, adoring mass.  [Ronan]

Next stop is The Bug aka Kevin Martin, whose dubby basslines sound nothing short of enormous when pumped out via the sizeable Pitchfork stage soundsystem. The rumblings are topped off by the excellent skills of his MC, who keeps the crowd from getting too distracted by hypnotic electronic grooves.

It was then onto the grassy knoll for the aural assault of My Bloody Valentine. The sheer wall of sound from Kevin Shields and Co didn’t quite carry all the way back from the Estrella Damm stage. Lost in translation? No, it seems to be the sweeping influence of the sea breeze. Upon relocating to the front everything sounds and feels as it should – Colm Ó Cíosóig’s drums hitting you in the chest, Debbie Googe’s bass thumping at your ankles and the dual guitars of Kevin Shields and Belinda Butcher devouring the entire world around you in a snarly swirl. It’s a gorgeous, ferocious, mindfuck of a thing. The crowd ‘sing’ ecstatically along to When You Sleep and Soon; songs that a year ago seemed unlikely to ever again be performed before their very eyes and ears. As the set comes to an end, we flee before the band commence their infamous white noise finale.  [R&J]

Arriving mid-set to Ponytail, it seems the Baltimore bunch are literally in flying form – Molly Siegel seems to be permanently mid air during another fantastic performance. One of the most exciting and energetic bands of the festival, their final song saw cameos from Dan Deacon and Him Harrington (I think) who came onstage to carry the diminutive singer around like some sort of human trophy . [Ronan]

It’s around this stage of the evening that things start to get pretty hazy. Literally – Wooden Shjips are playing a seriously tripped out psych show down on ATP. There’s so much dry ice it’s almost impossible to see anything, and similarly the songs are almost buried in echo and organ; to a point where the Stoogesque guitar grooves of their recordings are almost lost completely. [Ronan]

By now Wavve’s Primavera Sound performance has become famous for all the wrong reasons, personally it was the biggest disappointment of the festival by far. Unfocused, sloppy and muddled, my disappointment was only compounded on discovering that by leaving early in disgust I missed that flip-out.  [Joe]

The end of the first night morphs into a bit of a blur around this point. I catch the end of Aphex Twin on the Rockdeluxe stage, playing a far less cryptic set than I’d anticipated. The crowd are treated to cuts from most stages of his career; from the ambient stylings of Richard D James through to the warped visions of Drukqs. The music is complimented by typically derranged visuals, splicing synced loops of blobs and waves with stomach churning autopsy clips when you least expect it. Aphex must get a good chuckle from seeing  thousands of people wince simultaneously! By the time Squarepusher starts, I’m too exhausted to continue and I head for some rest before round two. [Ronan]

Day #2 Review | Day #3 Review >

For me personally; 2008 was a pretty great year, I had a lot of fun got a lot done. Highlights would be the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona in May, Roskilde, and many Irish adventures; boating on the Shannon, hosteling in West Cork and yet another great year at the Electric Picnic.

In terms of music, here are my Top 30 albums of the year. I’ve thought about this quite a lot, and compiled the list based on how often I listened to and became immersed in their various sounds.

1. James Blackshaw – Litany of Echoes

Following on from last years amazing Cloud of the Unknowing, the London guitarist adds some piano and viola playing to his already considerable skills with beautiful results. The songs are patient; building subtly and slowly through ever-evolving melodies, without ever overstating themselves.

Second track ‘Past Has Not Passed‘ shows Blackshaw at his finest, building upon a long intro of drones which eventually give way to a gorgeous flow of melancholy guitar melodies that interweave sublimely over about 12 minutes. There’s something magical going on amid all those notes, and no words of mine can truely do it all justice… Listen: Past Has Not Passed

2. Jape – Ritual

From rising star to superstar, in national terms anyways – 2008 finally saw Richie Egan’s Jape start to get the kind of attention he deserves. After plenty of incubation on the live circuit, the release of Ritual allowed everyone to witness the slick new sounds of Jape 2.0; synthy pop tunes that were as dancefloor friendly as they were endearing and witty, taking the heartfelt nature of the ‘bedroomy’ sound of past albums and building a big sweaty electro party around it.

After near-disasters with labels and thieves, critical acclaim and excellent live shows at the ‘Picnic and Tripod, 2008 saw Jape rise to the of top Irish music. Now for the rest of the world!
Listen: At The Heart of All of This Strangeness

3. Deerhunter – Microcastle

Deerhunter’s 3rd release in 2 years comes with another new album included for free (the slightly more experimental Wierd Era Cont) ; showing how ridiculously productive Bradford Cox and Co have been of late (in addition to the well-recieved recordings as Atlas Sound). What’s most impressive is just how bloody good it is; perhaps their finest yet. Like 2007′s Cryptograms, the songs are awash with reverb and strange imagery, but the treatment is less menacing and far more melodic than ever before. Standout tracks like Agoraphobia and Nothing Ever Happened display a new pop sensibility to the band’s ambient post-punk sound, making Microcastle their most welcoming record to date. Listen: Nothing Ever Happened

4. The Alps – III

The finest psych record I heard this year was by The Alps, a folkish bunch from San Fran I’d never heard of until I chanced upon their album. Opener A Manhã Na Praia comes on like Fuck Buttons getting the acoustic treatment; splicing the breezy guitar pluckings and keys with sinister waves of noise, alternating between cheery sunshine and creepy shadows with great (un)ease. The album takes in a broad range of sounds, mixing elements of folk, krautrock, prog and electronica in impressive fashion, coming on like a kaleidoscopic summer nightmare. Captivating stuff.
Listen: Cloud One

5. Gang Gang Dance – Saint Dympna

Saint Dympna heralds a bold step towards the mainstream for Gang Gang; they’ve managed to create a captivating, dancey record while holding onto their wierd avant garde roots. The songs lurch about with mathy guitar lines, warm electro swathes and crazed vocals (including a grimey collaboration with Dizzee Rascal), bursting with ideas just crazy enough to work. With a history of being overly-erratic, Saint Dymphna finally sees the New Yorkers relax just enough to keep their songs in focus – and the results are marvelous indeed.  Listen:  First Communion

6. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

Ok, enough about log cabins already. The beauty of ‘For Emma’ lies in the songs, not in their well documented conception. Vernon’s tear-jerking falsetto is completely arresting; lonesome, exposed and honest, and well highlighted by the albums often bare instrumentation. As a live band, Bon Iver are even more engrossing, stripping songs to their basics or lifting them to new heights; they know a thing or two about nurturing the fundamentals of a song to expose it’s emotional core.  Listen: For Emma

7. Torche – Meanderthal

Torche may well have simultaneously managed to create the finest pop album and hard rock album of 2008. It’s a monstrous collection of riffage; loud, slick and catchy – initially I was disappointed that the slower, more expanse sound of their previous albums had been bulldozed to make way for something more instanly gratifying – but I was soon won over. The songs on Meanderthal are doomy and anthemic; highly produced to raise roofs and shake foundations.  Listen:  Grenades

8. Foals – Antidotes

Foals arrived into 2008 plagued with the sort of hype that threatened to overshadow their promise; being heavily praised by the NME, featuring in TV show Skins and being associated with a tiring wave of new UK music. Easily dismissed as another batch of landfill indie, the Oxford group managed to convert many naysayers with Antidotes, an album that manages to occupy a middle-ground between the jangley electro stylings of the Klaxons et al and the dynamic math rock of Battles; varying from crowd-pleasers like Cassius and Balloons to the darker textures of Electric Bloom. Live; they add texture and energy aplenty to their songs, willing to experiment and play with new sounds while knocking out the hits. Foals successfully avoided pigeonholing and in Antidotes have made a very impressive debut.  Listen: Red Sock Pugie

9. Chad Van Gaalen – Soft Airplane

Canadian mulit-instrumentalist/producer Chad VanGaalen’s strongest album to date; Soft Airplane is full of heartfelt songs and lo-fi tinkering, with a vocal quality reminiscant of Neil Young. Recorded in his home basement; it’s a bit of a bit all over the place, but it’s a charmily warm mess crammed full of suprises and beautiful songs.  Listen: Bones of Man

10. Adebisi Shank – This Is The Album of a Band Called Adebisi Shank

Hurtling along at 100mph, Adebisi Shank sound like a band possessed. The speed and virtuosity with which they play are breathtaking; songs being chewed up and spat out and then chewed up a bit again – you’ll either love it or hate it. Metallic guitar riffs lock into grooves more akin to Daft Punk than Slayer; changing direction sporadically and then collapsing into glitchy noise without warning. It’s not for the feint hearted. With A.D.D. tendacies aplenty, TITAOABCAS captures more moments of blissful chaos in it’s 23 minutes of length than most bands accomplish in a lifetime.  Listen: You Me

11. Black Mountain – In The Future |  Listen: Tyrants
12. Ponytail – Ice Cream Spiritual | Listen: Late for School
13. Grouper – Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill | Listen: Heavy Water/I’d Rather Be Sleeping
14. Times New Viking – Rip It Off | Listen:  My Head
15. The War On Drugs – Wagonwheel Blues | Listen: A Needle In Your Eye #16
16. Hush Arbours – Hush Arbours | Listen: Rue Hollow
17. RSAG – Organic Sampler | Listen: The Climb
18. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes | Listen: Blue Ridge Mountains
19. Beyond The Wizards Sleeve – Ark 1 | Listen: Electric Bananas
20. No Age – Nouns | Listen: Teen Creeps
21. Ancestors – Neptune With Fire | Listen: Neptune With Fire
22. The Dodos – Visiter | Listen: Walking
23. Kaki King – Dreaming of Revenge | Listen: Can Anyone Who Has Heard This Music…
24. Awesome Color – Electric Aborigines | Listen: Eyes of Light
25. A Place to Bury Strangers – A Place to Bury Strangers | Listen: I Know I’ll See You
26. Lykke Li – Youth Novels | Listen: Breaking It Up
27. Paavoharju – Laulu Laakson Kukista | Listen:  Kevatrumpu
28. Halfset – Another Way of Being There | Listen: A Place To Stay
29. Chrome Hoof – Pre-Emptive False Rapture | Listen: Tonyte
30. Spook of the 13th Lock – Spook of the 13th Lock | Listen: The Hare

I’d also like to tip my hat to some great 2007 albums that I only really got to grips with in the last 12 months; The Octopus Project – Hello Avalanche, Magik Markers – Boss, and MV & EE with the Golden Road – Gettin’ Gone.

Next year will see the release (and the acclaim) of the self-titled debut album by Women, a rather google-challenging band from Alberta, Canada. Combining elements of shoegaze, jangly math-rock, pop melodies and experimental blasts of noise, the band somehow manage to gel every conceivable influence into a dense, challenging sound. Expect to hear a lot more about this band next year.

Ahead of the release, Women will be visiting Ireland as support to experimental songwriter Chad VanGaalen (a longtime friend of the band who produced the album). VanGaalen was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize in 2007 for his second album Skelliconnection; an impressive set of delicate songs based on synths, guitars and various homemade instruments.

You can catch the two acts in Crawdaddy, on Nov 30th. Tickets are onsale now for €14.

Their debut album is due for release in Ireland on Jagjaguwar (home of Bon Iver, Black Mountain, Okkervil River) in January 2009. Check out the awesome cover art!

Women – Black Rice

Links:
http://www.myspace.com/womenmusic
http://www.myspace.com/chadvangaalen