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Is Coachella The World's Best Music Festival

Here at Whiteboard, we have recently evaluated the decline in interest for the festival season. However, boasting a desert location, blazing sunshine and sparkling array of world stars lining up to steal the show,we feel it is fair to ask : Is Coachella the best festival on Earth?

The line up is enough to make Morrissey smile, including acts such as Arctic Monkeys, Pulp, Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg, Radiohead, Bon Iver, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and many, many more. Although the festival takes place in a setting half the world away, the ticket prices are reasonable and it is fair to say you are probably going to turn a fairer shade of brown at Coachella than you may do in Berkshire or Leeds.

Coachella is seemingly a U.S version of a wide scale Glastonbury festival, sans the Olympics and port-a-loo dramas. For us, there is no better place to be adventurous festival punters. For those of you who can’t really afford to go over to America for a weekend of great music, the generous organisers decide to stream each set onto YouTube, for everyone to enjoy. Last night, we saw the return of Tupac on the big screen. Appearing via hologram during the Snoop and Dre set, the appearance of the deceased rapper worked the crowd into a frenzy. The footage seemed far removed from BBC footage of UK festivals.

Those of you who stand steadfastly by UK festivals as the beacon of all that is holy in live music may hate us for doing so, but we are hanging our hats firmly on Coachella. Now, who wants to send us tickets for next year?

Jonathan Hatchman

Bon Iver: The Next Act To Fulfill Their Rap Dreams

In recent times, we at Whiteboard have noticed an increase of crossovers between indie-rock and hip-hop. From Lana Del Rey’s mixtape collaboration with A$AP Rock to Pete Doherty’s plans to write and create a hip-hop album, it seems that artists are intent on living out their rap dreams. On the surface, these seem to be pretty gruelling ideas, but elements of urban music are found within the indie stratosphere, much more than you would perhaps think.

The next to take a journey into the world of hip-hop is Bon Iver frontman, Justin Vernon. The beardy-mountain man with the ghostly falsetto has formed a musical alliance with the rapper Astronautilis, leading to the formation of a hip-hop inspired band. The pair have already recorded an entire album together, but it will remain under lock and key for now. The work is said to include up to eight hours worth of free-styling, something that does not immediately come to mind when you think of the ethereal Bon Iver.

In fairness, the idea seems pretty exciting. As always in projects like this, there is an element of risk. If it all goes well, you manage to appease both existing fans and create more from another genre. However, if Vernon trying his hand at free-styling ends up a bit of a vocal mess, it could drive away fans. But who knows? We will wait with baited breath until we get our grubby hands on it.

The record will be released on Chigliak Records, Vernon’s own label, when the time is right. Let’s hope it’s worth the wait. We can’t promise that it’ll be wonderful, but we can at least promise that it’ll be very different.

Jonathan Hatchman

Skrillex: What's The Deal?

Having formerly fronted the post-hardcore band From First To Last, Sonny John Moore, better

known as Skrillex, took the plunge into a solo career back in 2007. Since then he has dedicated his music to an electronic vein similar to that of Chase and Status, Nero or even Daft Punk through some aspects.

However, it’s not until the past twelve months that the floppy fringed, screamo kid’s career exploded into the stratosphere of success that he now encompasses. Playing electric live shows to his ever growing fan base, as well as using his keyboard nous to cyber-woo that royal favourite Ellie Goulding, has seen Skillrex become one of the most polarising artists around, a sonic marmite, if you will. We can't help but ask : what’s all the fuss about?

His latest single, Bangarang, featured guest vocals from Sirah. Taking her choppy rap vocals and fusing them with an element of dubstep with leanings towards a 90’s house style, the track gained a fair deal of commercial success by charting in eight different countries. Yet, Skrillex still receives a wide range of negative criticism, with many ' purists' going as far to say that he is

killing dubstep. Indeed, Skrillex’s style of music is very different to that of, say, Magnetic Man.

Skillrex supporters are quick to point out that their man is not treading the same boards of those

who came before him, that he is leading the sub-genre leading to a 'new- wave.'

We are not massive fans of dubstep, and you probably won't find us covered in fluorescent paint at a Skillrex gig. However, with five EP’s, four music videos and 14 credited singles at the age of just 24, He must be doing something right?

Jonathan Hatchman

Interview// Sharks

Sharks’ outstanding debut album will be released on Monday, proving that Punk Rock is still alive and kicking! We were given some time to catch up with James Mattock, the band’s frontman, to discuss the album, prior to it’s release. Featuring five minutes, five questions, one man and one whiteboard. Here’s how it went…

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Interview// Bowling For Soup

It’s that time of year again, that Jaret Reddick and Erik Chandler of Bowling For Soup jet out, over to the UK to provide us with an acoustic jaunt around the British Isles. With the annual event, now in its third year, we headed to Southend’s Chinnery’s to catch up with Erik, whom plays bass for the band,the better off out of the two after night of heavy drinking.

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Marilyn Manson: Do We Still Care?

A fair deal of hype has been blossoming around Marilyn Manson recently. The impending release of the band’s ninth studio album, the recent demise of Sonisphere Festival (where the band were scheduled to appear for their only UK show of 2012) and fervent tabloid gossip mongering over the relationship between the prince of goth and Lana Del Rey has meant that Marilyn Manson has not been lacking column inches as of late.

A controversial video has been revealed for the upcoming single, No Reflection. A promo that literally wont be seeing the light of day, the video is a post-watershed affair of dinner parties and vomiting blood, ending with a climatic death scene which seemed to manifest Marilyn Manson into some sort of 21st century, cinematic incarnation of Edgar Allen Poe.

The follow up to 2009's The High End Of Low will be released on 30th April. Titled Born Villain,the album is being muted as Manson at his fearsome best. The question on the lips of many remains: Do we still care?

18 years have passed since the release of their first long play, a time when New Romanticism had faded out, whilst the future looked bright for grunge music. At the time, Manson’s whole image and body of work were shocking, even achieving a few controversial, televised news pieces. But now Warner has become a dark rock institution. So has the novelty worn away? Should Warner realize his age and tone down the lipstick and hair dye? Perhaps, but the band’s sound has become known worldwide and renowned for a new wave of goths.

Either way, Manson still have a gigantic fan base, and play horrific shows that are as captivating as they are terrifying. So if Manson wants to carry on doing what he does best, then good luck to them.




Jonathan Hatchman