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The Future West - Radio Town EP

  • Published in Singles

 

The Future West are a fixture on the thriving Dundalk independent scene. Centred around The Spirit Store venue, the border area is churning out quality acts like Seattle in the ‘90s. Following the likes of Accidents In The Workplace, Ae Mak and Richard Richard, Francis Watters and his troupe released their debut album, the fantastically titled, Holy Shit… Here Come The Future West, last year and Radio Town is the three track follow up.

It was recorded in the isolated surroundings of Black Mountain Studios; a place that is becoming as central to the local scene as The Spirit Store itself. Word of mouth is spreading about the studio with Nix Moon, Sonnets And Sisters and Elephant all cutting records there in recent times.

Working at Black Mountain with producer Joseph Edwards has paid off for Watters et al. While last year’s album had a disjointed feel, Radio Town takes the disparate influences that The Future West are trying to capture and focuses them. It gives the EP an overall feel of unpredictability and spontaneity that you would expect from The Flaming Lips or The Butthole Surfers but with a unified sound.

‘Dream Catcher, Mind Snatcher’ sums up the bands “retro psych wave” vision with its Beta Band verses, and a chorus that marries Stoat to The Small Faces and The Jam. The title track serves up some Jefferson Airplane mixed with modern stoner rock (if that’s not a tautology) while ‘Dark Day Dawn’ channels ‘90s Britpop through the dual prism of The Killers and Whipping Boy.

Radio Town is a great leap forward for The Future West. It’s mellow and chilled even as it continually reinvents itself. This is a creative and ambitious record that hopefully translates into an equally powerful live set on this summer’s festival circuit. We’ll be looking out for them.

Radio Town EP is available from bandcamp.

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Festival Preview : Vantastival 2017

  • Published in Live

 

Vantastival kicks off the festival season in Ireland this coming weekend. Now in its eighth year, the festival returns to Beaulieu House for two days of music over the bank holiday weekend. As usual, campervan passes are free and we’ll be livetweeting both days from the @musosguide account on Twitter. Tickets are still available from the festival website here.

Andy Smith (ex. Portishead), The Eskies, Fish Go Deep and Blood And Fire Sound System feat. MC Brother Culture are among the main acts at this year’s festival. London-based DJ Andy Smith made his name as Portishead’s international tour DJ and his sampling formed the basis of the band’s unique sound. Since the Portishead tours Andy has established himself as an underground producer of some of the most irresistible hip-hop breaks-based music around and has a strong cult following. He will close the woodland stage with a late night set on Saturday 3rd June.

The Eskies have been busy bringing their unique brand of folk noir/gypsy jazz/sea shanty and swaggering stage spectacle to venues across Europe over the past couple of years, and will have their first opportunity since 2013 to perform at Vantastival on Sunday night, 4th June.  Blood And Fire Sound System will also play on Sunday night, featuring original Rasta MC Brother Culture, while producer duo Fish Go Deep from Cork will headline BackwardS, a new late night area in the woods at Beaulieu, where DJs will keep revellers dancing till the very early hours.

Vantastival’s impressive line-up also includes The Riptide Movement, Overhead, The Albatross, Lankum (formerly Lynched), Kíla, New Secret Weapon, MINDRIOT, Cat Dowling and a host of other Irish names with the usual focus on up-and-coming unsigned acts. The Glasshouse Stage is another new addition to the site, an intimate acoustic experience featuring solo slots from singer-songwriters including Keith Plunkett, Grainne Hunt and Niall McGuigan (ex. Speedking) among others. Meanwhile Dun Laoghaire College of Further Education will bring back the popular DFEi Music Stage, run by students and featuring a line up of former and current DFEi students. With still more acts to be announced, this year’s festival will be a veritable feast for music fans.

And, of course, some of Musos’ Guide's favourites will play the Firestone Stage. Over the course of six weeks, competing against eleven other acts, Nix Moon have prevailed victorious at Firestone’s Battle of the Bands Competition. The final took on Thursday the 11th of May in Odd Mollies, Drogheda, where the band battled it out against four other acts. As well as headlining the Firestone stage at Vantastival, the prize consists of a €1,800 voucher for Musicmaker, Dublin, and three days recording time at world renowned Grouse Lodge Studios, Co. Westmeath. Joining them will be fellow finalists Grand, Makings, Accidents In The Workplace and Lowlight Ensemble, with Sun.Set.Ships, We, The Oceanographers, The Periods, Pine The Pilcrow and The Future West also popping up on our clashfinder.

Vantastival 2017 will take place on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th June at Beaulieu House & Gardens, Drogheda. Other attractions will include art installations, fire performances, drum circles, festival traders, an Alice in Wonderland-themed kids’ camp and much more. Vantastival has something for everyone, with or without a campervan. Weekend tickets are on sale now at €85 + booking fee for two nights camping. Day tickets cost €40.

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