listening2… is a series of regular posts on what I’ve been listening to. Tracks from my travels. New songs and music to explore further. Half forgotten tracks from my collection. Roadtrip gems. If you like this post, let me know or, even better, let someone else know!
UK election day: 4/7/2024
#06: Glastonbury edition, part 1
In this week’s listening2… Like most of us, I didn’t go to Glastonbury this year – probably never will. There comes a time in a life (my life anyway) when it becomes clear that the discomfort and toilet faff would probably outweigh the fun. I may be wrong, but I can live with that…
I have, however, been digging into the wonderful archive that is BBC iPlayer and its BBCMusic YouTube counterpart. Within a couple of days of the festival ending there are loads of songs, playlists and whole sets up there to browse and marvel at.
So this edition of Listening2… and the next, celebrate the whole multiplicity of culture and diversity that is the contemporary music scene, and which gets duly celebrated each year at Worthy Farm for three days in summer. It’s not a perfect event of course, but it does embody values that are progressive, joyful, inclusive and celebratory, and that’s something to be said in these times. And on election day 2024, we can only hope that these values prevail.
So, happy election day, dear readers, and I hope you find something new to love, dance, rave and vote along to. There’ll be another listening2… trawl through the 2024 Glastonbury archive in a week or two…
1. Little Simz - Gorilla
Pyramid stage, Saturday evening
Little Simz came on before the Saturday night headliners (Coldplay in case you wondered) and blew the place apart. This performance, of a track from her deeply personal 2023 album, No Thank You (one of my own favourite records from last year) exudes class, confidence, exuberance and joy. Her connection with the crowd and with her musicians was almost touching at times –
– there’s such love between those lines and edges.
Or as Kae Tempest might put it “‘Cause, I can see your faces / There is so much peace to be found in people's faces”. Or Little Simz herself: “Ain't life what you make it? Yeah, it is…”
This one is probably my most obvious choice for this Listening2… party, but Little Simz has blown in from the underground to the mainstream, and deserves all the plaudits. She is, as they sometimes say, at the height of her powers…
The track is awesome - the full set can found on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0j2wnv3/glastonbury-little-simz
2. Arooj Aftab - Raat Ki Rani
Park stage, Saturday afternoon
Ziggy’s Lament is all about discovery, and sometimes it’s not someone new and upcoming but an artist who has been around for a while, but might have slipped under our personal radar. Glastonbury is great at offering a stage for these artists, and when it is someone as accomplished as Arooj Aftab, it’s truly amazing.
This beautiful song, from her set on the Park Stage is the title track of her latest album, Raat Ki Rani (Night Reign). The full set can found at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0j2p1zz/glastonbury-arooj-aftab
3. Brittany Howard - Power To Undo
West Holts Stage, early evening, Sunday
Well known to many as the former lead singer and guitarist of the band, Alabama Shakes, Brittany Howard has been forging a solo career in recent years. Again, someone who has been under my personal radar a bit, but I love this track. Her 70’s fuzz guitar in the second half of the track is sheer magic!
Full set at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0020srf/glastonbury-steel-pulse-and-brittany-howard (the video also includes the Steel Pulse set as a bonus).
4. AURORA - Starvation
Park Stage, Friday early evening
I’ve been a fan of AURORA since discovering her work with Askjell (see my previous oddfind post), and there are a number of excellent live videos online that showcase what a versatile and thrilling performer she is, though she might sometimes seem more at home in Norwegian churches than festivals!
Three songs into this set, she stops and comments: “introverts aren’t meant to become artists and do things like this… sometimes it is as unnatural as shitting in front of someone. That’s how I feel…”. A bit graphic. But she got a laugh, and a murmur of recognition and real connection.
Her whole set was spellbinding however, and this song a genuine highlight. Her small band make a big noise and I love the way they bring in the unexpected. The song builds and builds till a techno beat drops hard at 2’19’’ – it’s genuinely exciting – clubland scattered in amongst the early evening sun vibes, ethereal voices and electronics. Later in a darker evening, it would have been genuinely euphoric!
Full set (highly recommended!) at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0j2mlt8/glastonbury-aurora
5. Confidence Man - I Can't Lose You
The Other Stage, Friday afternoon
Disco inferno alert!: In 2022, I was searching around the Glastonbury sets and stumbled across this Aussie band on the Park stage. They were awesome. I dad-danced around the living room for an hour and loved their energetic dance fusion. Cheesy? A bit… but hey…
I’d was going to try to describe what they are like, but if you go to the bonus video you can find out their own ‘essential tracks’, which does the job for me !1
And there they were again in 2024, this time on Other Stage. It seems they could become a Friday afternoon fixture! Just amazing fun. Put them on loud, clear the room and smile!
Full set: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0j2w1tw/glastonbury-confidence-man
6.The Last Dinner Party - Nothing Matters
The Other Stage, Saturday afternoon
It’s taken me a little while to get around to listen to the highly rated The Last Dinner Party, so it was great to find their set on the Other Stage this time. This track, Nothing Matters, has been on repeat for me, so it was a no-brainer for this playlist. However, there’s a couple of others flying around YouTube too – The Killer and My Lady of Mercy – both of which are worth a listen.
They feel like true originals, and it’s great to see bands like TLDP, Wet Leg and others really coming through. Their full set is awesome. Find it on: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0020sq3/glastonbury-corinne-bailey-rae-and-the-last-dinner-party
Confidence Man bonus playlist: (Janet Planet and Sugar Bones) talk about their essential tracks: More than a Woman by the (Australian!) Bee Gees; Dancing Queen by Abba; Galvanize by Chemical Brothers; Once in the Lifetime by Talking Heads and Good Luck by Basement Jaxx, plus a couple of bonus tracks, Wannabe by the Spice Girls and Harvest Moon by Neil Young). I’d go with these – classics all – and I might add in the B52’s (especially Love Shack) as a band that, if they’d been starting out now, might have looked and sounded a bit like Confidence Man!