10 Bands to See at Bestival 2010

The festival finale is upon us, and we will once again be setting sail for the glorious valley that is Robin Hill Country Park, Isle of Wight, for Rob Da Bank’s Bestival. So you’ve packed your wellies (sorry folks, looks like we’re in for at least one downpour) and you decided the kigu unicorn is where fancy dress is at; but what of the bands?

Fixture some of these into your itinerary and it could just be the best decision yet…

Crystal Fighters
As the only band touting the traditional Balearic touch, Crystal Fighters are a surprising live find. It helps that they’ve also got undeniably catchy electro-pop in the forms of ‘In The Summer’ and ‘I Love London’ to temper the exoticism with some proper tunes that it only feels right to wig out to.

Echo & The Bunnymen
Original purveyors of a sound so dark and morose, the cloud-cracked skies will feel right at home during their set. Being name-checked as the starting reference points for everyone from O Children to White Lies (don’t let that put you off), we’re imagining their headlining will be a quotable: “this is how this should be done.”

Fever Ray
As Karin Dreijer Andersson’s only UK festival showing this year as Fever Ray, punters can expect one of the most beguiling performances of the weekend. Typically no strangers to costumes in her other band, The Knife, Fever Ray show a similar appreciation for the visuals – lazers, headdresses and stage props, oh my!

Flying Lotus
Producer extraordinaire Flying Lotus, aka Steve Ellison, hails from California, but don’t expect any of that west-coast lofi, sun bleaching; no, this guy is all about the beats. Jazz, bouncing off of Hip Hop, nestling up to Rap and god-knows-what-almighty-genre, it’s slick beyond words. I think what we’re trying to say is it’s badass without guitars, which is always nice.

Gil Scott-Heron
A spoken word pioneer of songs that inspire freedom of thought and master of one of this year’s finest LPs? Not bad for a man now in his 60s. While Gil Scott-Heron’s temperament may have mellowed, it has certainly not been to the detriment of his soul or his narrative, feverish conscience. The prototype for some of the greatest rappers, Scott-Heron will also show you a vocal as rich as his history. Seriously, not to be missed.

Janelle Monae
To many of us P Diddy is a guy famed for his perfume, expensive partying tastes and a minor identity crisis. But, we’ll admit it, he might just be responsible for this decade’s most important female figure: Janelle Monae. The female Andre 3000, Monae is one class act who’s debut LP ‘The ArchAndroid’ features talents from Big Boi and Of Montreal, to name just two. Hot property is an understatement, as her style, eccentricity and vocal ability has Beyonce checking herself.

LCD Soundsystem
An eight-year long love affair is being celebrated this Bestival, as the weekend’s performance from New York’s reluctant king of cool, James Murphy, could be his last under the guise of LCD in the UK. Always seemingly one-step-ahead, the most recent album ‘This Is Happening’ was no different, and while a performance at Wireless may have left some with the taste of disappointment, Bestival is a perfect setting of excess to banish those memories in a haze of drink and dancing. ‘Dance Yrself Clean’ indeed.

Mount Kimbie
It can’t surely have escaped any of y’all’s notice that 2010 seems to have been the year of dubstep? Whether anyone actually has a handle on what that means is debateable. But what we can say is that Mount Kimbie (duo of Dominic Maker and Kai Campos) have been of a more interesting ilk under this label, with ‘Crooks & Loves’ aptly displaying their sporadic gift with sounds, that not only makes the floor feel like you’re on the back of a shuddering sperm whale, but gives your ears and brain something to process at the same time.

Neon Indian/Hurts
Coolly tipped last year, Neon Indian has been making waves on t’interweb for about year now, in ever increasing ripples. A live show band who pull out a variety of stops, there’s will be a performance to catch while it’s hot. Meanwhile, they may look like Bros and be making the 80s sound earnest, but Hurts are no joke. Pop at it’s pivotally poignant and simultaneously silly, you may just want to sneak a peak.

Race Horses
Argh! This band are so FUN (yes, demands capitals), thrashing and awesome it makes us want to tear out our hair and do some flying limbed dance. If you’re game for venturing into some lesser-known but high energetic antics, Race Horses are the ones to track down. Wonky in the Art Brut sense, I can think of none better band to complete this feature.

For all the line-up and Bestival goings on, visit the website: www.bestival.net