RADIO KURTODROME'S PUKKELPOP SPECIAL (PART 1)
Hanne Hukkelberg - You Really Got Me
Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
Architecture in Helsinki - Do The Whirlwind
Sophia - Oh My Love
Low - Breaker
The Arcade Fire - My Body Is My Cage
Liars - Plaster Casts of Everything
In just over a week it's time for the 2007 edition of the Pukkelpop festival (August 16-18). Which means high time for our first (of two) Radio Kurtodrome special about artists playing at the festival. Von Südenfed and Gogol Bordello have already been featured here, so scroll down for more info on them. Time now for a look at some of the other artists (over 150) who'll be appearing on one of Pukkelpop's eight stages.
First up, let's praise YouTube (and the likes) for existing. They allow you to see something that otherwise only would've been visible to people living in a certain country. Norwegians were able to see Hanne Hukkelberg on national tv, transforming a Kinks song into a Hukkelberg track. Normally we wouldn't promote an artist with a cover, but Hanne Hukkelberg (Saturday at 21.30 at the Chateau) has been featured here before, so we reckoned you do know her by now. Hence: All Day and All of the Night.
Speaking of Radio Kurtodrome attention, Patrick Wolf's third album didn't get as much attention as the first two albums. We will only go as far as say this is because of "personal issues", but never mind that, Patrick's third album gathered more attention for this former boy wonder. The single The Magic Position has a video and all you need to do is a click to watch it. Patrick is playing at Pukkelpop on Friday (club, 21.30). We're not sure if we'll be there to watch him (because we're not sure we'll be there on Saturday and because of the "personal issues" stated above). Nevertheless, good luck to him.
No doubt about it, one of the toughest choices you'll have to make on Pukkelpop (if you aren't us) is whether you'll go and see Patrick Wolf or Sophia (Friday, 21.30, marquee). Robin Proper-Sheppard has promised to make this a special show and he'll bring a string quartet, a woodwinds section as well as a trumpet, a guitar, a piano, a bass and drums. It will not be a rock concert, he warns us. Don't worry, we don't mind a bit.
Now finding online material of Sophia has proved to be tricky, so for once a repeat performance will have to do: here's the video for "Oh, My Love".
On Thursday it'll be the Australian Architecture in Helsinki who'll turn out the lights in the Chateau (00.50). Not a bad way of ending your first night at the festival with some feelgood music one can dance to. As a prelude, here's the video to "Do The Whirlwind". Architecture in Helsinki say The Mighty Boosh is one of their influences. Is that right? We'll believe them if they cover the soup song!
Now, while we're on the subject of animated videos, would be a good time to switch to Low, whose 2007 album Drums and Guns featured track called "Breaker". Drums and Guns wasn't made in the cheeriest time of Low's life and you can hear that on the album and it takes a step back to how Low sounded before The Great Destroyer. So wiser and with a confident sound for loyal Low fans, no doubt all of them already own a copy of Drums and Guns. Will the band make new fans at the biggest alternative festival in Belgium? Let's hope so. Especially if their concert will be as good as their 2006 concert in Antwerp, which started barely okay but grew out to a very enchanting experience. If thousands of people will hover slightly above the ground at a quarter to one on Thursday night, no need to question why: they've just seen Low (club, 23.45) and it felt good.
Have you been to Neon Bible, the site for the latest Arcade Fire album? It's a weird experience. Yes, Arcade Fire are finally coming to Belgium again (please don't cancel your concert this time, people) and will be at Pukkelpop right after Sophia or Patrick Wolf. We've mentioned the band before a couple of times and thought we'd might as well skip them now (I'm sure you know them by now), but then we saw this video on YouTube: a fanmade video, which combined "My Body is My Cage" with images from Sergio Leone's classic Once Upon A Time in the West. The result is well worth being seen, so here we go: it's the Arcade Fire!
Liars are coming to Pukkelpop. I know, we've heard that one before, but this time it'll be for real (allegedly) and the band will be promoting their new album, out on August 20. Plaster Casts of Everything will be the first track of the new album. Nothing to download, so let's watch the YouTube video.
And that is it for this edition of Radio Kurtodrome. Didn't we already complain last year that it became harder to find legal MP3s of people playing at festivals? This was the first time a Radio Kurtodrome had to go without even a single download. We hope you didn't mind as the music was nice. Next time part two of our Pukkelpop special, so stay tuned!
