jemmatheprocrastinator-blog

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Y NOT FESTIVAL

This weekend was meant to be a celebration of music in Derbyshire. It was meant to be a joining of cultures; for everyone to be a part of something. Unfortunately, weather conditions became severe and led to the festival being labeled as unsafe. Even more unfortunate was that people failed to pull together. When I first heard about this, I was agitated that people were complaining, demanding refunds and throwing hissy fits over the weather. Festival goers claim that the organiser’s should’ve known the weather was going to be bad. Because we’re all psychic, right? Even more frustrating was Amy Osborne, a figure people will be looking to, taking to facebook to helpfully say “You have totally ruined my weekend. I expect a refund”. Is it just me that finds this slightly selfish? Where’s your sense of community? You weren’t the only one to be disappointed by the turn of events. She also commented on the fact that there were a lot of bands she wanted to see but couldn’t because of the event being cancelled. The festival organisers clearly stated that it was for safety reasons that the event was cancelled, so for the sake of keeping not just the guests but also the performers and crew safe, was it not the most sensible decision. I think some people handled their disappointment incredibly immaturely.

 However, after my first initial annoyance, I discovered just how unorganised the event truly was. People have commented on the fact that staff have not been around to support attendee’s, a situation that got so dire that local farmers had to come out with their tractors to help people push their cars through the mud! In addition to this, there were no signs so people have no way of leaving. The festival was cancelled to apparently ensure the safety of the guests, so I can’t understand why they’re safety wasn’t ensured whilst they were leaving. And staggeringly, over 28 bands were cancelled. A couple who had been attending festivals since the early 1990‘s said that its the most poorly organised they have ever been to and that security was so bad that people were having stuff stolen and others were injuring themselves in the mud with no one to help them. So the main question is, should people be getting refunds? Of course they should! A lot of money has been payed for a weekend of music and culture, and had the organisers pulled together to make sure things ran as smoothly and as safely as possible, my opinion may have been different. I’m incredibly saddened at how this weekend has transpired.

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London Grammar captivated at The Round Chapel

Like a goddess, Hannah Reid entranced the audience of the round chapel as soon as she stepped on stage. The stunning, serene venue perfectly enhanced the atmosphere that the lyrical trio create before they had even been sighted. Despite previously admitting to suffering from stage fright, Hannah opened the set by performing the hauntingly enchanting but vocally arduous Rooting For You a cappella. Her completely individual tone ricocheted off every wall and reverberated through every single person. Hannah stayed fixed to the microphone and let her voice do the performing, however, no one would dare take their eyes off of her. The spell was broken when Reid had to restart Strong because she couldn’t stop laughing but instead of looking unprofessional, she charmed the audience and they were right there laughing with her. It made the three untouchable talents on the stage seem human and filled the intimate church with a warm energy that was a perfect juxtaposition to the beautiful tension created with the first song. Every song demonstrated London Grammar’s ambient and ethereal mood with dark undertones which could have become overwhelming were it not aptly broken in between each song by the groups comfortable banter and gentle ribbing of each other which allowed for the heavy emotion to recede and the most amazing bond to be created between the audience and the trio. The night began feeling incredibly spiritual and inspired and ended on a high with their fast paced 2013 track, Metal and Dust which had the whole church praying the song would never end.

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“This is the big story of rysk, the breaking interview”

It’s an early thursday evening in a small attic bedroom and a set of krk rokit 5 moniters are vibrating with some soon to be released rysk tracks. As the rich low end and beautifully manipulated samples pulse around the room, the 19 year old from Shillington talks about his motivation for music. “When I make something awesome, I’m like, holy fuck, it feels like I’m on crack and I go all crazy, I Love music”. Despite all the passion and seriousness in his words, the young producer has us all laughing as he jokes through his childhood. “My cousin, Isaac was a very large influence on my musical upbringing because he was older and liked music as well so I looked up to him. We used to be in a band together. We played Green day and My Chemical Romance and I played guitar and a little bit of the old singing. Everyone used to say I had a beautiful voice but then, like, my voice broke. But I was a beautiful boy, in terms of the voice that is”. As he grew into his teenage years, rysk had his first love; Skrillex, the man who began it all.��I was on FL studio and then I swapped because Skrillex makes on Ableton and I was like Aw that looks nice, he’s nice, so I thought, hm I better swap cause’ I want to be Skrillex, and then the rest is history baby”. When Skrillex began his relationship with Ellie Goulding, so did rysk, and he started sampling her vocals and experimenting.  

Nowadays, rysk samples vocal riffs and redesigns them into intricate patterns that creates a completely unique sound. His future bass style and the way he reinvents and interprets music is rapidly attracting attention. “I have a track on Elysium Records coming out soon, I’m just waiting for a vocal and once thats out, I’ll release monthly and ride the wave of the Elysium Release” He’s also had positive responses and comments to previous releases on Soundcloud from what he refers to as ‘Big Dogs’ such as Subtact, Enschway and Dimebag. His Drake remix got 325,000 plays and if the Elysium release is a success, his fan base will only continue to increase.

“What is my end goal? I want to be president of Czech Slovakia, nah, I wanna be able to live off music and tour and thats it, and just keep going, you feel me?”

rysk ladies and gentleman.

Soundcloud- rysk

Spotify- rysk

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Vince Staples' Big Fish Theory pushes the boundaries of modern Hip Hop

Big Fish Theory can be summed up in one word; energy. Unlikely collaborators such as Zack Seckoff and Flume push Vince Staples’ new creations away from his previous Hip Hop beats with a manic fusion- steering him into progressive, avant garde tempo’s. In an interview with High Snobiety, Staples described Big Fish Theory as ‘pretty personal’ in comparison to his past records as it is based on ‘Free thinking’ as opposed to ‘Reaching into the past’ an inspiration which was executed effortlessly with scattered structures and experimental intonations. Despite the new venture into futuristic cadences, Vince still manages to capture his trademark urban purr to deliver a cryptic message. To some people, Big Fish Theory is the theory that fish can only grow to the size of their tanks; the fish being African-Americans and the tank being society. While this could be an underlying message, Vince Staples tells Vulture in a pre-release interview in association to the meaning of the title that ‘You’re never going to get it right. No one will ever know unless I tell them.’ The opaque significancy adds to the complete essence of the album and creates deeper layers to every song, making each listen a completely new experience. Alyssa Interlude perfectly implements the ever changing animation. A sample of Amy Winehouse discussing her music and tendencies creates a moving atmosphere that is emphasized with the mellow mosaic of sound. The fractured arrangement blends with Staples out of place vocals that shouldn’t hypnotise, but they just do. Over 36 minutes, Vince Staples transports you into the future of rap and leaves you there, desperate for more.

 “PLEASE EXPERIENCE BIG FISH THEORY IN THE APPROPRIATE SETTING             BECAUSE I DO INDEED SERVE THE BASS”- Vince Staples