Artists from across the South West of England have come together to raise funds for venues in Glastonbury affected by COVID-19.

Music venues across the UK have understandably had to close their doors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Running a venue can be a precarious business. The current slashing of income adds to their challenges.

To help venues in Glastonbury, the town that lends its name to the more famous festival down the road at Pilton, a mammoth 91- track fundraising album has been released.

Imprints performing at Glastonbury Calling, February 2020. Pic by Joe Lepper

The album has been created by the organisers of the Glastonbury Calling festival, which takes place at venues across the town each February.

It features those that have played or simply want their tracks on to help venues across Glastonbury.

“Mainly these artists are based in the West Country and we can’t thank them enough for contributing a track on this epic sprawling album,” say festival organisers.

“Thanks to everyone who contributed their help by buying, promoting and putting this beast together.”

The album is called Now That’s What I Call Glastonbury Calling and is available on June 12.

The Legendary Snake, Snake, Snake at Glastonbury Calling, February 2020. Pic by Joe Lepper

The album is split into two ‘sides’ costing £10 each, or £15 if you buy both. Side one includes 48 tracks from local acts such as Craig & Alex Priddice, The Legendary Snake, Snake, Snake. A cover of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine’s The Only Living Boy in New Cross by Nick Parker and Les Carter himself also features.

Meanwhile, side two features 43 tracks so far, with more to be added. This includes tracks from among others: Imprints, Lonely Tourist, Liam Howard, Steve Henderson, Flipron and Zion Train.

By Joe Lepper

A perfect turn of phrase and video collaborations are among the innovative ways musicians are tackling Covid-19 lockdown.

No gigs, no recording studio dates. Covid-19 lockdown has pretty much killed off much of music industry.

Well, so we thought.

Nick Parker is among musicians being creative online amid lockdown

Being creative types, musicians have been busy being innovative at home and using tools like Zoom in new ways. Online gigs are now commonplace. Some you pay for to watch. Some free but with donations asked for. Others are for charity.

Among the most innovative we’ve spotted is Somerset songwriter Nick Parker’s Stranger Tunes series of online collaborations. Here he teams up with a bunch of musicians online and they perform some interesting cover versions. Mostly they are complete strangers. Nick and co’s take on Midlake’s Roscoe has been a particular highlight for us.

Meanwhile, musicians have been busy putting the whole, crazy mess of our pandemic world into song.

John Howard’s Stillbeat of A Silent Day,  is particularly poignant. The fiercely independent singer songwriter’s renaissance in recent years was recorded from his home in Spain and sums up how the world is so very, very different.

Using Howard’s multi-vocals on the tracking and backed by percussion and accordion its sound is still fundamentally what he does best – a bloke with a good voice playing the piano.

It’s lyrically though that its particularly impressive.

There’s some nice turns of phrases, with the title itself summing it all up so well. The “stillbeat of a silent day” indeed.

Other lyrics here that impress include “Smiles beneath the masks where no party plays. Joining gloved hands for the angels care. Cheers from the balconies’ grateful gaze”.

No, its ok, (dabs tissue to face), I’ve just got something in my eye.

Elsewhere, John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats has also summed up the current craziness well in verse, on Exegetic Chains from his lockdown home produced album Songs for Pierre Chuvin.

“Keep the chains tight. Make it through this year….if it kills you outright.” It’s a nod to one of his most well known tracks This Year but like Howard has managed to put our feeling perfectly in song.

What other lockdown songs or virtual gigs have impressed you? Let us know in the comments below.

By Joe Lepper

Welcome to the first part of our end of year round up of the top 20 best albums 2017. In keeping with our ethos of promoting new and diverse music our list contains a raft of independent artists.

Keep checking back over the next few days when we will be revealing who has made it into the Top 10 of our list of  best albums 2017.

20. El Goodo – By Order of the Moose

Welsh psychedelic act El Goodo spent eight years making this pop gem, which puts their own distinct slant on the US garage music scene of the late 1960s.

There’s a cinematic quality too. This makes it sound at times like a cross between a Spaghetti Western soundtrack and the Oompa-loompa songs from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the good version with Gene Wilder, that is). It Makes Me Wonder is among many high points. A worthy inclusion in our best albums 2017 list.

19. Warm Digits – Wireless World

Newcastle duo Andrew Hodson and Steve Jefferis’ third Warm Digits album is an electro gem for 2017. Here they team up with a host of guest stars to showcase their squelchy synth music.

Peter Brewis from their Memphis Industries label mates Field Music excels on End Time. So too does St Etienne’s Sarah Cracknell on Growth of Raindrops.

18. Nick Parker – Besta Venya

This third album from Somerset singer-songwriter Nick Parker blends the two sides of his live shows perfectly, from upbeat, crowd pleasers, such as Down With the Yoof, to poignant numbers such as Guess I’ll Never Know.

The Other Half at the end of this 12 song collection even takes him to Beatles territory, complete with flugal horn. Read our full review here.

17. Granite Shore – Suspended Second

With Brexit approaching we could perhaps all do with listening to this second album from Granite Shore – the musical project of Nick Halliwell, who runs Exeter based label Occultation Records. Here all our fears of the unknown, the anger (well for remainers at least) of the decision and sense of hopelessness are laid bare.

His savviest move though is to channel these emotions through smart 1970s inspired pop, with legendary singer songwriter John Howard bringing added class with backing vocals and piano on tracks such as Buyer Beware and Where does the sadness come from? . Read our full review here.

16. Ralegh Long – Upwards of Summer

On his second album singer-songwriter UK based Ralegh Long has looked to his early inspirations of 80s/90s college indie rock to produce a decidedly more upbeat affair than his debut Hoverance.

Gone are the pastoral folk subtleties of that first album to be replaced by jangly guitars, smart pop hooks and euphoric choruses, such as on Take Your Mind Back. This best albums 2017 entrant has impressed others too, with the album scooping this year’s HMUK and Pledge Music Emerging Artists Award. Read our full review here.

15. Fazerdaze – Morningside

New Zealand’s Amelia Murray (aka Fazerdaze) emerged as one of the best breakthrough acts of 2017 thanks to this highly impressive debut. While it relies heavily on the C86 indie scene for influence it sounds thoroughly modern.

Signed to New Zealand’s esteemed Flying Nun Records label, she played a raft of gigs in the UK this year to promote this May release, which features highlights such as Lucky Girl.

14. Co-Pilgrim – Moon Lagoon

Mike Gale’s Hampshire and Oxfordshire based band Co-pilgrim has been releasing smart melancholic pop albums for years now, always impressing us. Here he’s dusted off his distortion pedal for a first half of belting 90s US college rock tracks. This includes Turn It Around and You’ll Look Pretty As A Picture….When The Acid Rain Hits Ya.

He then shrinks back into the shadows for a second half of introspection and poignancy. Every home needs at least one Co-Pilgrim album.  This is a great place to dive in to Gale’s world. Read our full review here.

13. The Mountain Goats – Goths

Goths get The Mountain Goats treatment in 2017, with singer-songwriter John Darnielle telling tales from the subculture, daringly with a lounge, jazz feel, complete with sumptuous Fender Rhodes keyboards. Gene Loves Jezebel’s footnote in music history on Abandoned Flesh is among man high points.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire’s provincial Goth hot spots are given an ode on Andew Eldritch is Moving Back to Leeds, as Darnielle cements his role as America’s best story teller in song. Read our full review here.

12. Android Angel – The Hissing and the Hum

Since he sent us the debut EP from his band Free Swim back in 2010 Paul Coltofeanu has never let us down. Time and again across Free Swim’s funny and perfectly executed pop he has impressed.

Here, in his other guise The Android Angel he excels again, blending club sounds, soundtrack rock and whimsical pop perfectly on tracks such as Cloudless Sky and West Wind.

11. The New Pornographers – Whiteout Conditions

Even with a stronger focus on synths, and the disappointing lack of Dan Bejar, this is unmistakable as a New Pornographers record. The tunes are as strong as ever.

There’s also a couple of “should have been a top 10 hit” singles among them, including High Ticket Attractions. A.C Newman is in fine voice and with the vocal support of Neko Case and Kathryn Calder it sounds pretty great throughout.

Coming soon: Best albums 2017 Top 10.

Compiled by Joe Lepper and Dorian Rogers

As a recording artist Nick Parker has something of a split personality.

On one hand the Somerset based singer-songwriter is keen to commit to disc his upbeat, often funny, proven crowd-pleasers from a relentless touring schedule that takes him across Europe and the UK festival circuit each year.

On the other, each of his three albums also showcase at least three or four slower, subtler track. It is often these more nuanced songs that emerge as the best. Free from the pressure of trying to please a crowd, they are given more time to develop across their chorus and verses and often have the melodies that linger the longest.

The same applies on his latest Besta Venya, with the best three tracks tucked away at the back.

The first of these is a wonderful duet with his daughter Flo, backed by just mandolin and aptly titled A Simple Song. With the less is more ethos in full flow this may well be the best on the album.

Then there’s Not Fooling Me, a lullaby written with after show gigs in mind and almost hidden at the 11^th track mark. Backed by cello, violin and piano this has the best arrangements on the album.

Right at the album’s close is The Other Half, with another fine melody and this time accompanied by a Beatles-esque arrangement of flugal horn and full band. It may be the last track on the album but is often the  first I go to.

As for the crowd pleasers, they demand attention too, especially as they will have just delighted many of those buying this album at post-gig merchandise stalls.

Down With the Yoof, about embarrassing dads, will be a particular welcome inclusion for those who have just seen him perform. This involves a neat multi-media aspect, where a member of the crowd places a mobile phone featuring footage of Parker’s singing mouth over their face.

Nick Parker performing Down With the Yoof

Es Tut Mir Leid, about the English trait of apologising all the time, is another interactive track that works as well on album as it does live, where the audience is asked to help out with sing-along prompt cards.

Each track comes with an explanation about its subject matter or how it was written. This is important as these are a key part of Parker’s engaging on-stage banter.

When talking of the tracks about his life as a songwriter and performer,  this is particularly effective.

A case in point is Make Yourself At Home, which references a mis-booking for Parker where he was asked to play in the lobby of the Cheese and Grain in Frome, as people made their way to their seats to see John Cooper Clarke. A support slot gone wrong.

An Open Letter To My Human is another that requires this self-deprecating explanation. This focuses on his inability to write about politics, as seen through the eyes of his disapproving dog. Given he travels frequently to Europe from a country that has voted for Brexit it may not be long before he relents in spite of the inevitable pet protests.

8/10

by Joe Lepper

For more information about Nick Parker visit his website here.

After a day of relentless rain the River Brue, between Street and Glastonbury in Somerset, decided enough was enough. In a fit of rage it cast aside its sodden verges and pushed itself out into the surrounding fields. Just metres away from these new muddy lakes at the Bocabar on the edge of Glastonbury another typical west country event was taking place, with Bristol’s Gaz Brookfield, his fiddle player Ben Wain and Nick Parker performing in front of a loyal following.

Ben Wain, Nick Parker and Gaz Brookfield (l-r)

The trio were in Glastonbury on the fourth night of a 20 or so date tour across the UK, Netherlands and Germany. For Parker this was the home leg and he brought along his band for the occasion, called the False Alarms and including Swampgrass’s guitarist Brad Lister and Flipron’s bassist Tom Granville.

For the independent spirited Brookfield, who deliberately remains unsigned, he’d brought along a fair few followers too. But he was also venturing from his Bristol base on his ongoing mission to win over new fans. On this evidence it’s no wonder he recently sold out Bristol’s 400 capacity The Fleece and is busy all year round playing around 200 gigs.

There’s an engaging appeal to Brookfield as a performer but also his songs demand attention – part tongue in cheek commentary on modern Britain, part stream of conscious musings from his hectic life on the road.

Ben Wain and Gaz Brookfield

Among those tracks getting an airing tonight were Be the Bigger Man about the universal issue of bullying. And with the opening line “I’m sick and tired of renting, I want a place to call my own” on Sailor Jerry’s Kitchen he is speaking to the hundreds of thousands of young people trapped in high rent Britain.

In Wain, Brookfield has the perfect foil and a virtuoso fiddle player. The music just sounds action packed and heartfelt from start to its rousing sing along finish.

Nick Parker and the False Alarms

Parker is cut from the same cloth as Brookfield as a singer songwriter embedded into the west country music scene and with a focus on being an engaging performer. He admits on a new song tonight that he “doesn’t do political”. Instead his tales are about growing up in awe of Irish music on I’ve Never Been To Dublin and stories of modern love and odd relationships.

At the end of Parker’s set, which also featured the versatile Wain, Brookfield joined in for an epic medley around the folk classic Plastic Jesus.

Alex and Craig Priddice

*Support tonight was from Alex and Craig Priddice, locally based brothers with some perfect harmonies and great tunes under their belts that are building up a reputation locally as another quality live act.

For more information about the Gaz Brookfield, Nick Parker and Ben Wain tour click here.

Words and pictures by Joe Lepper

Recommended to us by Somerset based singer songwriter Nick Parker, this German trio have some stadium sized hooks and great melodies in their small indie band locker.

As a result Fly Cat Fly could be equally at home amid a sea of several thousand waving iPhones torches or in a dimly lit backroom of a little pub.

Fly Cat Fly. Photo by Robert Krampitz

Opener Staring Holes is a case in point. It’s got some huge drumming in the intro, beautiful festival twinkling guitar but with its whispering vocals is also a slight, subtle track.

Third track Ready To is another high point with a great soaring chorus amid the distorted guitars, as is I Don’t Need Eyes To See, with its simple guitar part and Bowie like vocal delivery.

The centrepiece comes with Kingdom Come, a film soundtrack of a sweeping song that starts slight and slow then goes wonderfully ballistic towards the end.

Across all 11 tracks there’s plenty to like here and shows that there are still interesting new, guitar-based indie rock acts around.

For those UK readers wanting to see Fly Cat Fly they have a string of dates taking in London, Glastonbury, Bath and Swindon over December. More details here.

7/10

By Joe Lepper

For Minor Works Unit, one of the acts appearing at Glastonbury’s long established weekly open mic night at pub venue Hawthorns, the evening had an extra special meaning.

Hawthorns’ youngest attendee

The central Somerset based act was left devastated earlier this year when their frontman and songwriter Dan Bradford died suddenly.

As the local paper The Central Somerset Gazette reported in February he was a hugely popular local singer and actor, with Minor Works Unit proving an excellent vehicle for his witty and often surreal lyrics. A Somerset based version of 1960s pop surrealists Bonzo Dog Doo Dah band would not be far from the mark.

A Minor Works Unit

Since Dan’s  tragic death the band have kept rehearsing and  brought in new vocalist Matt Crisp, with the aim of keeping Dan’s songs going.

Tonight at Hawthorns, amongst the mainly acoustic guitar based acts, they got back on the horse, took a deep breathe and began a new era for the band.

For some attending they would have known Dan and how emotional performing without him for the first time is for the band. For others they wouldn’t have known the back story. For all attending though the band proved a hit, with Matt doing a great job of belting out Dan’s lyrics ably backed by the band, of double bass, percussion, ukele and guitar.

Andy Badman

Organisers Steve Henderson and Brad Lister clearly realised this act was a little different and allowed them an encore.

Seeing the return of Minor Works Unit also gave me a chance to experience this popular open mic evening for the first time. I was left impressed by the breadth of talent amongst the seasoned musicians and new recruits to performing alike. For some like Andy Badman, who usually plays in a 50s rock n roll band it gives him a chance to hone his folk blues skills. He’s an accomplished guitarist with more than a few nods to the likes of Bert Jansch in his style of play.

Rainbow Tony

Then there was the friendly Rainbow Tony, who invites the audience into a singalong and is full of chat afterwards about his guitar heroes.

Another more seasoned pro appearing on the night was Nick Parker, who tours Europe regularly as a solo artist and with his band The False Alarms. Tonight he was accompanied on vocals by his daughter Flo, with their version of The Decemberists The Engine Driver proving a highlight.

Nick and Flo Parker

I sadly missed the final part of the evening, what with it being a school night, but amongst others that impressed were the guitar and slide playing duo of Spencer Cox and Nick Balura and the strong vocal performance of Tolly Snell. Nick Balura’s solo instrumental set was also excellent.

Spencer Cox and Nick Balura

Open mic nights offer so much in an era where venues are shrinking in number but what impressed me most was the strong sense of community amongst the acts tonight, which made it a perfect occasion to mark the return of Minor Works Unit.

by Joe Lepper

Matt Creer came onto our radar thanks to a tweet by Chris T-T declaring his love for the Isle of Man singer songwriter’s latest track North Northwest. We listened, we agreed, we got in touch and Creer popped his new album The Leeward Tide in the post.

As befits a biography that boast music credits working with the aforementioned Chris T-T, as well as Mike and the Mechanics’ Paul Carrack and Beverly Craven, on The Leeward Tide Creer straddles mainstream, independent music and folk with aplomb.

There is an immediate comparison with Seth Lakeman, who with the aid of a Mercury Music Prize nomination brought his Devon folk rock to a wider audience. Creer could quite easily do the same. In fact listening to this album I’m struggling to see why Creer isn’t headlining Cambridge Folk Festival and gaining regular UK airtime as Lakeman does.

Creer is getting there though. He’s made the top ten of the iTunes singer songwriter chart over 2014 and 2015 and at the time of writing The Leeward Tide was in the top 20 of the same chart just a day or so after release.

As well as the instant appeal of North Northwest, there’s the beauty of the harp on Flesh and Bone and the tender Islands that also stand out; as does Shout Me Down, which reminded me of Scottish based folk collective Southern Tenant Folk Union.

Another song that deserves a mention is Your Dancing Shoes, which reminds me of the smart observational lyrics of Somerset singer songwriter Nick Parker.

The Leeward Tide sounds polished and beautiful, especially on Flesh and Bone, but crucially it is not over produced. It still feels like a group of musicians in an Isle of Man bar or a friend’s living room performing an intimate gig.

It also feel very Manx. As someone who has never been to the island though I should clarify that it sounds like how I imagine its coastal and rural landscape to be. As calms after the storm go this is just about perfect.

8/10

by Joe Lepper

To Download The Leeward Tide and find out more about Matt click here.

Everyone has their own Glastonbury experience. It’s so vast, with 200,000 people and thousands of acts scattered across two large Somerset farms that this giant muddy city is able to offer something for everyone. There are those that like the big name acts of the Pyramid and Other stages, some who can dance all night at Shangri-La and Arcadia and then there’s some like me who enjoy finding new bands and watching music in the many smaller, more intimate venues.

Storm clouds over the Pyramid Stage

I was attending this year as a judge for this year’s Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition so was especially keen to catch up with some of the finalists. During this review I’ll cover each of my day’s trek around the storm hit, mud strewn site’s smaller venues to bring some new acts to your attention.

Friday

After discovering it was Kaiser Chiefs not my dream of Prince playing the surprise slot opening at The Other Stage I headed to this year’s best venue, William’s Green, where new bands rub shoulders with more established acts looking to play a second, more intimate gig. Ralfe Band were first on and provided the perfect start with Oly Ralfe’s accomplished Baroque pop on keyboards and acoustic guitar putting in great versions of tracks such as Crow and Ox.

Ralfe Band

As I made my way over to the BBC Introducing stage I stopped off to watch a little of Blondie. I knew it would be a soul destroying experience for this fan and was proved right. Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and one of the world’s best drummers Clem Burke remain from the original line up but they were supplemented with some rent a rock session musicians and were now very clearly a spent force. Harry shouted rather than sang her way through the classics like Hanging on the Telephone and their bland ‘new ones’ were met with groans and sighs from the crowd. Is it time to call it a day? In Blondie’s case, definitely.

Wood Burning Savages

Over at the BBC Introducing stage Dan Hyde proved a welcome antidote, backed by cello and giving a new take on the skinny jeaned young singer songwriter genre. Derry’s Wood Burning Savages were next and immediately looked like a band destined for bigger things. Every track in their short 20 minute set of fast paced indie rock sounded like a single, especially Lather, Rinse, Repeat. In singer Paul Connolly they also have a great frontman; part Bono, part Danny Kendall from 1980s Grange Hill.

Carnabells from Leeds were next at BBC Introducing and were brought on stage by fan Steve Lamacq. All giant hair, paisley shirts and velvet jackets they play rock and roll with a huge dollop of indie rock and did Steve proud.

The beauty of the BBC Introducing stage is it is next to the Gully Outer National stage for world music as well as John Peel for the more established BBC 6 Music style acts. Birmingham’s Eternal Taal – Bhangra Entertainment Team were hard to ignore with their energetic crowd participation act at Gully as were Temples over at John Peel with their carefully crafted late 1960s psychedelic rock. It’s a little Tame Impala light but they still do this genre justice.

Carnabells

Following a brief burst of sunshine some menacing clouds began to appear. I sought shelter back at William’s Green to see We Were Evergreen. Anyone who has heard Canada’s Rural Alberta Advantage will be impressed by this smart, Parisian electro pop act.

The next event was the weather, with a truly frightening electrical storm bringing the festival’s music to a brief close due to health and safety fears. Everyone at the festival will have their tale to tell of where they were when this intense rain came down. For me it was in The Leftfield where Neonfiller.com favourites The Tuts were just getting going in their punk pop set when the generators were shut down. Billy Bragg, who is curating proceedings at The Leftfield apologised but audience didn’t care though as they launched into a Cliff Richard at Wimbledon style sing-along to Bohemian Rhapsody. The guitar solo bit was particularly funny.

Young Knives

Back at William’s Green and the electricity back on, Young Knives played a storming set, filled with tracks from Neonfiller.com top 20 album of 2013 Sick Octave and an incredible performance from lead singer Henry Dartnell as he snarled, barked and jerked around the stage.

Billy Bragg’s Friday night Leftfield show is a tradition of the festival. Tonight it was just him and telecaster and acoustic guitar, belting out his hits and reminding us of the late Tony Benn, who was a regular at the festival. It’s a political venue so the politics is ramped up through tracks such as Between the Wars and There is Power in a Union. But he’s also a preacher with heart and Handyman Blues about his father was among many tearjerkers. Bragg always puts on a good show, but there’s something special about his Friday night Leftfield slot.

Billy Bragg

My evening ended with two Somerset based bands, Flipron and Nick Parker and the False Alarms who share members and played a great joint set at Avalon Café. Both Parker and Flipron frontman Jesse Budd were playing a number of times at the festival but you’d never know they were probably wrecked from exhaustion as they belted through their most festival friendly tracks. There was even dancing amid the tea drinking.

Nick Parker

Saturday

John Peel openers Black Tambourines were one of the Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition finalists this year and left me impressed during their short set at the Pilton finals in April. It was great to see a full set from this Falmouth act, which owes a lot to the 1960s garage punk and mod sounds of the Unrelated Segments and other obscurities from that era.

The Black Tambourines

At BBC Introducing by coincidence another Falmouth act, Polly Money, is proving that the Cornish music scene is in fine voice. Her intricate acoustic guitar work and looping vocals show she is another accomplished, emerging talent. After a surprise gig at BBC introducing from Little Dragon I headed back over to William’s Green for the billed psychedelic rock segment of the weekend, which started with the Nirvana-esque grunge-sters The Wytches, Brisbane’s Blank Realm, Smoke Fairies and Dinosaur Jr’s favourites Bevis Frond.

The Wytches

All these William’s Green acts were great in their own separate ways from Smoke Fairies’ style of dressing in designer white outfits, Bevis Frond’s love of life, Blank Realm’s insane vocals and The Wytches massive hair.

The Smoke Fairies

The evening was spent in the company of two great songwriters. Watching Nick Lowe sing What’s So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding with his perfect pitch and intonation is one of those ‘things to see in music before you die’ moments. He was especially suited to the beautiful Acoustic tent with its hanging red drapes and giant disco ball.

John Grant

John Grant at the Park was as amiable and fun as he appears to be on disc, with his clever lyrics and liberal swearing. As joints were being passed around at the front Grant dazzled us with tracks such as Mars and GMF, perhaps his greatest song. On the way back home that night (I live near the site and was popping in each day) I managed to catch the Arcadia landing show, an outstanding spectacle of fire breathing giant space spider pyrotechnics.

Arcadia

Sunday

The Black Tambourines and Wood Burning Savages prove the festival has emerging talent that has seemingly arrived fully formed. But some of today’s BBC Introducing stage acts showed that some have a little way to go in terms of stage presence. Glastonbury Emerging Talent finalists FURS have the right look and sound but fell into the trap of not looking like they wanted to be there. Kagoule have their chops around a distortion pedal but while excellent musically they looked nervous and were smile-shy.

Kagoule

We are told by the BBC DJ who introduced singer songwriter Lapsley that she will be one of those acts that will be making a swift move from the BBC Introducing to a main stage swiftly. It does happen, with Ed Sheeran playing the stage in 2011 and bagging a Pyramid slot this year. Lapsley could do well with her  haunting electronica. She has some nice touches to her act as well, especially through voice manipulation gadgets. But she’ll have to do a lot of work on her stage presence to follow Sheeren’s lead. She looked  like she was on work experience at an office, desperately trying to pluck up the courage to ask a manager where the coffee machine is, rather than at a music festival.

Gallery Circus

Gallery Circus though showed these acts how it should be done. This Newcastle duo of twins Graeme and Daniel Ross play sibling blues rock in the White Stripes vein and are  sensational live; Graeme’s frantic drumming especially. After seeing the energy they put into playing live I want them to get wider attention and a main stage slot that so many on the BBC Introducing are touted for but today only Gallery Circus deserve.

After the storms of Friday and Saturday the mud was thick and getting about the site was tough work. I decided to stick to one area for the duration, even if that meant missing the Festival’s buzz act Dolly Parton. The Park was my venue and provided the best segment of the festival as well as the best live act I’ve seen since Nick Cave’s astonishing Pyramid Stage set in 2013.

M+A

Phosphorescent brought the songwriting talents of Matthew Houck and key tracks, such as Song For Zula and Ride On/Right On from his Neonfiller.com Top 20 album of 2012 Muchacho, to the Park. He had a little wobble early on, having a hissy fit with a mic, slamming down the stand in disgust. Perhaps realising that this made him look like an utter knob he backtracked, thanked the sound engineers for their hard work and the gig resumed.

Ahead of next act Yoko Ono with Yo La Tengo I popped up to the Rabbit Hole, the crazy bar near the Park’s ribbon tower to catch a second gig from Glastonbury Emerging Talent winners M+A. Their blend of European pop and electronic trickery was superb in this tiny venue and they proved worthy winners of this competition.

Yoko Ono and Yo La Tengo

I was not expecting Yoko Ono to be good. I was mostly there for the novelty of seeing such an well known figure of modern culture and had always been of the opinion that her and Lennon’s preaching was more pretentious than heartfelt. There was pretension, but she is such an engaging personality I can see why so many listened to her and husband back in the day. Before she came to the stage people with flowers in the hair went around the crowd handing out labels to write down wishes and hand back in a bucket. Then Ono arrived, tiny, focused and full of smiles backed this time by Yo La Tengo as the Plastic Ono Band.

Packed full of tales from her own life, including the tragic loss of her daughter due to a marriage break up and artists visiting her and Lennon, the audience immediately warmed to her. Musically it was pretty fine too. Backed by Yo La Tengo’s indie rock, Ono throat warbled her way through tracks such as We’re All Water and Mind Train as the audience beamed back at her.

St Vincent

St Vincent provided one of the most astounding show of the weekend. Looking sensational in gold trimmed black dress and stiletto boots she moved around the stage like a android doll that is smirking as it discovers rebellion and music for the first time. Coordinated dances with the band, a move onto a giant white pedestal, a coordinated roll back down it and two of the most insane crowd surfing moments I’ve witnessed then followed.

St Vincent being helped into the crowd

The crowd surfing was particularly impressive, still playing guitar she struggled through the mud in her heels, had to be helped up by security staff, fell over a number of times, jumped on people, managed to borrow a flat cap and then popped back on stage still in android doll character as if nothing had happened. How she managed to still look cool after that I’ll never know. Your Lips Are Red and a tender version of Prince Johnny were among many highlights of an incredible masterclass in performance and music for some of the emerging acts here to take note of.

Words and Pictures by Joe Lepper. All pictures are copyrighted to News and Features Ltd, if you would like to use any please email joelepper@newsandfeatures.co.uk

To see more photos from the weekend head over to our Facebook page.

At its heart this second album from Somerset based singer songwriter Nick Parker is folk. But dig deeper and there’s a far broader range of styles on offer, from alternative indie pop to stadium-sized, get your lighters out, rock.

Production from Twin Falls man Luke Stidson helps the alternative indie feel and with a collection of local musicians and friends in tow the album also has a warmth to it.

In places those taking part even steal the limelight, such as guitarist and harmonium player Dave Little whose country twang brings to life opener Could We At Least Try. Singer Beth Rowley is another talent given room to shine and provides a star turn on the melancholy Oceonographer.

Parker and Stidson clearly know how to get the best out of a range of musicians with Clare Tarling’s fiddle playing deserving of praise for highlighting some fine melodies in the songs but never veering into the clichés of Irish folk/rock, that are thankfully avoided on this album, even though on Never Been To Dublin Parker admits to adoring that genre.

Another musician involved is Billy Shinbone, the alter ego of Flipron frontman Jesse Budd, who brings not only banjo but some fine 1950s style lead guitar work to elevate songs such as Jerusalem.

The collection of tracks here are those Parker has been gigging across the UK and Europe for much of the last year. But while the stomp of up tempo tracks such as I’ve Never Been to Dublin Before and the stadium rock bombast of Another Journey Home are sure to be crowd pleasers on stage, it is the sadder, more atmospheric tracks such as Oceonographer, Come on Jump Over Your Shadow and Something Someone Said where Parker’s writing really shines on disc.

7/10

By Joe Lepper

Nick Parker and his backing band The False Alarms, which features many of the musicians on this album, will be performing later this month at the Glastonbury Festival 2014.