10 of the Best: The Big Chill 2011 Line Up

Another festival looms, time to get listing! Much like I did for Melt! (which was amazing by the way) I have compiled a list of ten of the acts I am most looking forward to catching at this year's Big Chill festival. Some of these acts will be ovbious picks but there will be as usual some hidden gems selected, usually on a post-dubstep/future garage tip. I will note that Jamie Woon and Metronomy are both worthy of places in this top ten but in the interest of not repeating myself I shall point you over to the Melt! post for information on those two.

Upon completing the list I have realised it may be a bit more mainstream than I had first expected, if you feel this is the case let me redeem myself by pointing you in the direction of three DJs from the People's Ear stage who I will be hoping to catch. On Friday I will be enjoying the sounds of Hot Flush recordings boss Scuba who's recent Boiler Room set is superb. Saturday is time for a bit of old school jungle vibes as I plan to take in Congo Natty & Tenor Fly. Finally on Sunday, in addition to Fantastic Mr Fox there is also the brilliant Sepalcure flying the flag for the post dubstep elite. Anyway on to the list proper now!

10. Craig Charles' Funk & Soul Show
Saturday/Starburst Stage

"Fancy going to see Craig Charles DJ for 20 minutes for a laugh?"
The above quote was made by one of my friends at last year's Big Chill. We duely adhered to this request and went to see good old Dave Lister on the ones and twos. However this was no laughing matter and twenty minutes turned into the full two hours of his set as we discovered Craig Charles is an extremely talented DJ with an excellent selection of funk and soul, both new and old. In 2011 with a set on the outdoor Starburst stage, I and my friends will be there from beginning to end fully getting our funk on!


9. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
Friday/Deer Park Stage

Creator of one of the buzz albums of 2010, Ariel Pink brings his band to The Big Chill and is likely to be one of the first acts that I catch on the Deer Park Stage. With a slight look of Kurt Cobain about him and a tempremental streak that saw him walk off half way through his Coachella performance Ariel is what you might call a "proper rock star". His music certainly has a feel of the 80s about it, synth laden pop with an experimental twist. It is going to be an intriguing performance, one that I am very much looking forward to.

8. Fantastic Mr Fox
Sunday/Starburst Stage

The Big Chill are really quite good to me, last year I had been waiting a long time to catch a Joker DJ Set and they booked him. Much is the same this year I have been wanting to catch Fantastic Mr Fox since I heard his FACT Podcast and subsequently awarded it the mix of the summer award for 2010. He is a DJ who was handpicked by The XX to play the after shows of their US tour, high praise indeed for a producer/DJ who has already had several EPs of critical acclaim released. His future garage infused with an emotional edge has the potential to be one of the highlights of the weekend, especially as he plays on the outdoor Starburst stage on Sunday (hopefully under the stars!).


7. Aloe Blacc
Friday/Revellers Stage

Upon hearing 'I Need a Dollar' my initial thought was that it was a catchy tune, but I immediately thought he would either be a one hit wonder or even worse go on to be a Cee Le Green rip off. Listening to his album and in particular watching his Glastonbury performance set the record straight, a consumate performer who can deliver incredible live soulful vocals and theres lots of fun when he's around as can be seen in the above video as he bursts into a bit of Bob Marley. Also worth checking is his Jay Z '99 Problems' cover from the Live Lounge, which I would very much like to hear performed on the Revellers Stage.

6. Digital Mystikz
Friday/People's Ear Stage

At Glade 2009 I bore witness to the best dubstep set that I have ever experienced as Coki and Mala, joined by Loefah absolutely destroyed a full to the brim 3000 capacity Vapor tent. Rare banger after banger, but these two do not deliver the Radio 1 friendly wobble, expect some underground melt your face off type bass music. I hope the People's Ear stage is structurally sound as the low frequencies delivered by these two coupled with the guaranteed vociferous reaction of the crowd. Mala and Coki will smash it!


5. James Blake
Thursday/Deer Park Stage

Post Dubstep's poster boy appears at the Big Chill for a special Deer Park stage Thursday night performance where the attention will all be on him. Attention that he has earned, fresh off the back of a much deserved Mercury Music Prize nomination for his stunning self titled album he will blow the crowd away with amazing vocals, haunting use of the piano and lets not forget the quivvering bass. Having been fortunate enough to catch Mr Blake in a small 300 capacity show in Liverpool in June I know how good he is live and I am looking forward to seeing how this very astute and charming performer steps up to the big stage, I have every faith in him.


4. Janelle Monae
Saturday/Deer Park Stage

Having been a fan of her album I was pleasantly surprised to see that the BBC had chosen to air a good portion of her Glastonbury performance. What was to follow was a 'wow' moment, talk about an electric performance. She is all action, she raps, she sings, she dances - a lot! On stage she resembles a child with A.D.D. who hasn't taken their Ritalin for a couple of days, but in a good way. Her vocals do not suffer one iota despite the strenuous cardio vascular workout that she partakes in during her show. A true show woman.

3. Kanye West
Saturday/Deer Park Stage

From a show woman to a show man, possibly the best show man to burst into the public eye in the past decade. There's not a lot I need to say about Kanye West; he's brash, cocky and self assured but he has continued to back it up and has an unenviable back catalogue to woo the Big Chill crowd with on his Saturday night headline slot, including tracks from an album which many critics rated as 2010's best not to mention a forthcoming duel album with Jay Z that is due to be released three days before the festival. Exciting times, there is a very good chance that Mr West will be the show stopper of the weekend.

2. The Chemical Brothers
Friday/Deer Park Stage

I am so excited for The Chemical Brothers, having watched two of their past Glastonbury performances on TV wishing I could be there so badly, the time has now come to experience their live show in all its glory and in a much more intimate surrounding than the hoardes upon hoardes of people at Worthy Farm. I don't really need to sell this act with their amazing visuals, incredible back catalouge of anthems all mixed together with pounding acid techno they sell themselves. Unmissable.

1. Warpaint
Sunday/Deer Park Stage

Previously featured in this piece is The XX's handpicked US Tour DJ, well now its time for their handpicked US Tour support act. This all girl quartet have both an incredible EP and longplayer to their name, both of which I have played a ridiculous amount of times. Packed with emotion and brilliant vocal harmonies - all four of the group can and indeed do sing. They take to the stage in a humble girl next door type of way before launching into songs of great depth and meaning. I stayed up until 3am to catch their Coachella performance live and it was all worth it to hear the live version of Billie Holiday, I will be right at the front when these girls take to the Deer Park stage. In the run up to the line up announcement I was praying for Warpaint, so maybe there is a God.

If anyone reading is going to the festival I'd love to hear who you are looking forward to catching. Tweet me @therealmikael. Also of interest to some of you might be the Big Chill 2010 review that I wrote in the wake of last year's festival. Thanks for reading.

Event Preview: TRM @ The Lovely Job III

The third installment of TRM’s residency at Liverpool’s stalwart bi-monthly indie night The Lovely Job is scheduled for Friday 29th July at its usual home of The Zanzibar on Seel Street in central Liverpool. With a tantalising line up as ever the night is shaping up to be full of fresh new music not to mention the usual fun and frolics. Resident band Tone Puppets return after having the night off for the last event. They are fresh off the back of delivering an epic performance in The Monto in Kings Cross, London which saw a pretty rowdy mosh pit develop during 'Ignore'. Tone Puppets certainly left their mark on the capital, so much so the next installment of The London Job has already been confirmed! (More info at the end of this post). Expect high energy, great tracks and who knows maybe mosh pit part two!

Ignore by Tone Puppets

Also on the bill are a Liverpool band who are causing a bit of a stir lately in Bird, recipients of regular radio airplay, their music is very atmospheric and has a folky feel, Phantoms actually reminds me in certain ways of Warpaint and regular readers of the blog will know how much I love Warpaint. I also love a good female vocal and this band certainly have one of those in abundance, its no wonder they have been selected to join Tone Puppets on the bill at the next edition of The London Job, in addition to gracing this month's Liverpool installment.

Phantoms (Radio Edit) by Birdofficial

Support comes from the elusive Slow Motion Stranger (Ian Ruddock) from whom you can expect an acoustically driven performance which will encapsulate facets of blues, fock, funk, folk and even Asian music. With his complex structures Ian Ruddock creates a strong dark and twisted atmosphere whenever he plays and will certainly offer something for The Lovely Job audience to think about. The evening is also the place to catch a rare Liverpool performance from Chris Selmen who brings a full band back with him to the city where it all began to play tracks from his new longplayer 'All or Nothing'. The next band on the line up are a 3 piece outfit who have been described as having a 60's Merseybeat sound with a slight psychedelic edge, so when The Romley's take to the stage there is a chance that the Zanzibar may be akin to a certain Eric's nightclub. Completing the bill and performing live together for the very first time will be Sons of Caligula, replacing Chemical Casino, who unfortunetly had to pull out.


Slow Motion Stranger - King of Rock & Roll


Debuting upstairs on July 29th is going to be long time Lovely Job favourite DJ Dean Mack who begins his new party 'Uptight' where he will be playing a variety of northern soul, mod, ska and reggae in between two acoustic performances by Mark James and Western Promise. For more information about Uptight check out their official Facebook group.

As ever this blog will be providing the backing soundtrack to the evening downstairs, the date of this edition of The Lovely Job is sandwiched in between my visits to Melt! festival in Germany and The Big Chill, not to mention much time spent watching the TV coverage of Glastonbury and T in the Park. So expect a heavy emphasis on music that will be rocking this summers festivals, maybe even a little Beyonce (well more likely Destiny's Child) well if she is good enough for Glastonbury! For an insight of what to expect check out the post about my top 10 acts to catch at Melt! and keep your eyes peeled for a post in a similar vein about my trip to The Big Chill. Also enjoy the below hour selection of tracks that I put together for my own aural enjoyment during my flight to Berlin, many of these have featured at past TRM appearances at The Lovely Job.

The Real Mikaél - A Selection of Good Music Vol 1. by therealmikael on Mixcloud

The Lovely Job kicks off at the earlier time of 7pm with upstairs opening with Australian comedy folk duo 'Anyone For Tennis?' who are due to take the stage at 7.30pm with yours truly kicking off proceedings at a similar time downstairs. The event takes place on Friday July 29th 2011, the door charge for the night is £5. If you are planning to come, why not let us know by clicking 'Attending' on the official Facebook event or by using the official hashtag #thelovelyjob to discuss the event on Twitter.

As promised earlier in the blog a little mention about the next installment of The London Job featuring Tone Puppets and Bird. This night takes place at The Bowery on Saturday September 10th 2011 and there is a return coach from Liverpool which will be departing at 10am, giving people the chance to spend a full day in the capital. Tickets are priced at £25 this includes entry to the venue and return coach travel. For more information e mail Colin at riseinfo@hotmail.co.uk