A RITUAL FOR ELEPHANT & CASTLE
The Coronet Theatre, London
5th June 2009
featuring Wildbirds & Peacedrums
Commissioned by NOMAD and Qu Junktions
In association with - Rockfeedback
Directed by - Michael Smythe & Nicholas Abbott
Produced by - Chiz Williams, Mark Slater, Michael Smythe & Piera Buckland
Cinematography - Annemarie Lean Vercoe, Nicholas Abbott, Maria Benjamin, Sebastian Cort, Toby L & Thomas Hannan
Editor - Nicholas Abbott
Live Sound Recordist - Sam Nightingale / Organic Sounds
Art Design & Direction - Rod Maclachlan
Lighting Design - Barra Collins
Lighting Assistant - William Ingham
Sound Engineer - Erwin Hamilton
A very special thanks to - Kevin Molloy, Le Gun & the Ritual Drum Circle: Rob Ling, Rob Ellis, Matt Snowden, James Pearce, Ben Hartley, Lee Allatson, Jonathan Winbolt-lewis, Laura Padfield, Bernard Keenan, Mark Blay, Rozi Leyden, Ralph Cumbers, Frank Byng, Mark Simms, Tom Kirton, Ben Webster, Adam Jacobs, Kushal Gaya, Nina Wyllie
Sponsored by - Arts Council England, Southwark Council
(21.10.09)
Appearing as part of Nomad and Qu Junktions' peculiar but brilliant A Ritual For Elephant and Castle evening, Swedish duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums took not to the stage but to the floor of the Coronet in south London for a unique performance in which drummer Andreas Werliin was joined by an additional twenty percussionists acting as backing to the lone, incredible voice of Mariam Wallentin. Here, in a Rockfeedback special, we present to you both an interview with one of alternative rock’s most fascinating couples, and the one off set in its entirety.
Artists in this video: Wildbirds & Peacedrums
(08.02.10)
First Aid Kit are Klara and Johanna Söderberg, a duo of sisters from Sweden. They perform on stage at a Rockfeedback club night at The Lexington, performing songs from their 5/5 RFB-rated debut album, and a Fleet Foxes cover.
(08.02.10)
Fed-up of being asked to define his mid-90’s sunshine hip-hop influenced grooves, Sargent Garcia (or Sargento Garcia as he’s known across Latin America) dropped a colloquial language bomb, choosing to grandiosely title it “Salsa-muffin”. Confused? You need not be. Just sit back, and relax to some grin-inducing Hispanic Hip-Hop, filmed at InMusic festival. In Croatia of all places.
(03.02.10)
A strong part of a New York scene that exploded in 2009, bringing us the likes of Crystal Stilts, Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Woods and many more, Brooklyn’s Vivian Girls have been bringing their new wave no-fi garage rock assault globally to a fast-increasing fanbase. Here we catch them live at a sunshine-filled Primavera Sound festival in Spain, and grab 'em after as they reveal themselves as pure fan-girls, delighted to be sharing a bill with so many of their musical heroes and friends.
(01.02.10)
Talking about, amongst other things, how Rockfeedback were the direct reason they decided to play at Field Day 2009 (receive no wrong impressions – we're pretty proud about that fact!), Mogwai perform a bewildering, stunning set to Victoria Park, and chat to us in a tipi backstage. Yes, we felt pretty blissed out throughout...
(29.01.10)
Experimental techno is one of those genres that seems to be open to vast amounts of re-interpretation. Animal Collective have fiddled with it, Bjork has flirted with it, and now Owl Project have completely turned it on it’s beaty head. Rockfeedback filmed the art, music and woodwork(?) collective dragging the genre into new, organic pastures via a mesmerising installation piece at Concrete and Glass Festival. This is an absolute must see.
(28.01.10)
Glitching minimal techno? Caustic soundscapes? Colon-loosening sub-bass? Vladislav Delay? Most Certainly. Using the latest in light and motion capturing devices, we filmed the man and his noise in futuristic technicolour and full stereo sound at East London’s Concrete and Glass festival. Fact: His name can only be said if you pronounce it in an accent crossed between Gordon Brown, Edgar Allen Poe and Giles from Buffy.
(27.01.10)
Garage died out like, ten years ago didn’t it? Wrong. It just went into hiding, started itself on a lean diet of minimal IDM and dubstep and got down to work. Out of that cave emerged Bass Clef. We catch up with Ralph Cumbers as he drops musical bombs at East London’s Concrete and Glass festival in 2008.
(26.01.10)
Owen Pallett, under the guise of Final Fantasy, was an early highlight of this year's Field Day festival. With pitch-, note-, time- and tone-perfect precision we were seduced by his looping string refrains and ethereal vocals. Chatting to the man afterwards we came to know the man behind not only his own solo project, but also Arcade Fire's string arrangements (amongst many other side projects, including the Rumble Strips' latest LP).
(09.12.09)
Two Gallants have been wooing us for a while with their sublime mix of punk, country and folk. Rockfeedback were blessed with an exclusive performance and interview from the San Fran indie kids in a hot Austin car park at SXSW.
(25.11.09)
More used to rocking out than kicking back, Sky Larkin thrive in a more stripped back session, performing a rare, exclusive acoustic set and chatting to Rockfeedback at Glasgow's inaugural Hinterland Festival.
(30.09.09)
Rockfeedback caught up with Noah and the Whale at London’s Field Day festival back in 2008. We filmed both their on stage performance proper as well as a breathtaking acoustic performance backstage, in a Gibson trailer of all places. Grown men cried.
(23.09.09)
He’s made a fan of everyone from TV On The Radio to Grizzly Bear, and gosh darn it, he’s made a fan of us too. Miles’ gritty, gutsy vocals deliver brazenly honest songs that dissect huge themes in the prettiest of terms, made all the more beautiful by this riverside setting for an exclusive acoustic performance at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Miles grants us a chat too, as he’s nice like that.
(14.10.09)
The latest star of our unique Rockfeedback sessions – artists playing in a room with little more than a light bulb and their instruments for company – if Jess Bryant isn’t widely adored pretty bloody soon, we’re going to take to the street and start smacking random strangers ‘round the face. A uniquely delicate but powerful, disturbing and beautiful voice singing an array of quite haunting songs, we also chat with Jess about her music, the nature of performance and compositional ideas.
(28.09.09)
A privilege it was to have spent a particularly gorgeous afternoon in the presence of Marcus Mumford and his sons recently, as they performed for us the fourth of our Rockfeedback Sessions in the space below our London office. Further to four spellbinding versions of tracks from their debut album ‘Sigh No More’, the band reveal themselves to be wise beyond their young years in a frank and revealing interview, discussing life as a ‘new’ band, the wait to finally make their debut LP, and their place in the folk scene, indeed, if such a thing exists.
(07.09.09)
We heard that the San Francisco-hailing Dodos were in town, and couldn't rest until they'd played a rockfeedback session for us. Playing in their original duo form, we're treated to Meric Long's soaring vocals and acoustic riffery, and Logan Kroeber's almost melodic rhythms on three tracks from their latest album, 'Time to Die'. Inbetween times we chat to them about the nature of their music and its performance, and the very fabric of the universe itself.
(17.08.09)
When we were offered the chance to have Emmy the Great down to perform for our fledgling 'Rockfeedback Sessions', we jumped at the opportunity. One of those writers who transcends the label 'singer-songwriter' despite sitting there with nary but her voice and guitar to carry her songs, we get in-depth and in-session with one of the most genuine folk talents on the circuit.
(21.10.09)
Appearing as part of Nomad and Qu Junktions' peculiar but brilliant A Ritual For Elephant and Castle evening, Swedish duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums took not to the stage but to the floor of the Coronet in south London for a unique performance in which drummer Andreas Werliin was joined by an additional twenty percussionists acting as backing to the lone, incredible voice of Mariam Wallentin. Here, in a Rockfeedback special, we present to you both an interview with one of alternative rock’s most fascinating couples, and the one off set in its entirety.
(01.10.09)
Spring 2009, and Rockfeedback found what’s probably our new favourite festival. Primavera Sound combines not only some of the most idyllic scenery of any festival site we’ve been to (it’s set on the beautiful Barcelona coast), but also one of the finest line ups we’ve yet to gawp in amazement at. We caught incendiary sets and talks with the likes of headliners Sonic Youth, Lightning Bolt’s first ever attempt at playing on a stage instead of a crowd, Deerhunter at the very moment they seemed to go massive on continental Europe, Dan Deacon’s insane crowd participation exercises, St. Etienne’s comparative suave cool and time with everyone from Throwing Muses and Vivian Girls to the Mae Shi to boot. All of the artists seemed to love the festival as much as we did – truly, what’s not to dig? – which makes for a continual vibe of both good times and artistic prowess.
(01.09.09)
It was possibly our stupidest idea yet - invite Future of the Left back to our house after a headline performance at the 2008 Camden Crawl and get them to play a set in our living room. What's more, we thought we'd put together a support bill consisting of Soko, Jeremy Warmsley and Shinghai Shoniwa of The Noisettes, meaning that the line up for our living room gig actually began to rival some of the stages at the actual Crawl itself. The floor nearly caved in, the police shut us down, the council gave us a massive fine... no regrets.
(10.08.09)
Rockfeedback were invited up to Glasgow for the inaugural Hinterland Festival - and of course we jumped at the chance. A gruelling 11 hour round trip on the moving pub we called a train and a wet start to the Scottish summer were more than made up for by the amazing music we beheld. Herein lie the highlights - delve deeper into the site to find the complete performances.
Watch this is you like: Fanfarlo / good live music / Sky Larkin / glasgow city / Your Twenties / deep fried pizza / Orphans and Vandals / underground warehouse venues / Copy Haho / acoustic sessions underneath railway bridges / Dan Black / nice n sleazy's / Sons and Daughters / venues you can't stand up in (subclub) / Two Door Cinema Club / venues you can't see the roofs of (the arches) / Slow Club / stupidly long lists / Edie Sedgwick.
(18.12.09)
Perhaps still best known for an unflinching desire to party hard, Andrew WK is also a renowned noise musician (once a member of Wolf Eyes, no less), classical pianist, and motivational speaker. Espousing a philosophy that delves in to both rampant hedonism and quasi-solipsism, we attended a lecture given at London’s Madame JoJo’s club, and spoke with Andrew ahead of his appearance. Part 3 of 3.
(16.12.09)
Perhaps still best known for an unflinching desire to party hard, Andrew WK is also a renowned noise musician (once a member of Wolf Eyes, no less), classical pianist, and motivational speaker. Espousing a philosophy that delves in to both rampant hedonism and quasi-solipsism, we attended a lecture given at London’s Madame JoJo’s club, and spoke with Andrew ahead of his appearance. Part 2 of 3.
(15.12.09)
Perhaps still best known for an unflinching desire to party hard, Andrew WK is also a renowned noise musician (once a member of Wolf Eyes, no less), classical pianist, and motivational speaker. Espousing a philosophy that delves in to both rampant hedonism and quasi-solipsism, we attended a lecture given at London’s Madame JoJo’s club, and spoke with Andrew ahead of his appearance. Part 1 of 3.
(02.10.09)
Kim Fowley has worked as a musician with the likes of Frank Zappa, produced some of the biggest pop songs in history and written songs for the likes of Kiss. He remains a wild eccentric first, and an incredibly important music industry figure second.