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

One Direction-Mania

Since the earliest recognition of popular music, there has always been a revolutionary band/movement that carries a generation and passes the torch on to the next. For instance, The 1950’s had Rock ‘n’ Roll, which paved the way for The Beatles to dominate the 60’s and led to the revolutionary punk spirit of The Sex Pistols and The Clash, still omnipresent upon today’s society. Fill the gaps with healthy doses of new romanticism and Britpop and hopefully you'll see where we are coming from...

The Beatles are widely regarded as the biggest band to have ever graced us with their presence, with many believing that their legacy that will never be fulfilled. Those people will no doubt be aghast at Simon Cowell's One Direction being compared The Beatles. So let’s evaluate the comparison.

Since the millennium, we haven’t really witnessed a revolutionary generation of music, instead, there’s an increasing eye for pre-packed pop music. Indeed, there are some similarities between The Beatles and One Direction. Seemingly, there are obvious similarities. Both acts signed to a major record label. One Direction are evidently a group of talented young men, as far as vocal arrangements are concerned and like Paul and co. in their heyday, get followed by the herds of screaming fans.

However, it’s plainly obvious that The Beatles produced twelve superb studio albums. Yes, One Direction are still at the beginning of their career as musicians, so there’s no telling as to what will happen in the future. Will One Direction still be remembered in 50 years to come? As ticket sales and popularity goes, it’s may be possible. Or are they just a passing trend that will be forgotten in a couple of years down the line? Only time will tell.

Jonathan Hatchman

Lana Del Rey Teams Up With ASAP

Since the release of her single Videogames, Lana Del Rey has achieved an astronomical amount of hype, scooping up awards like Next Big Thing Award from Q Magazine and the Brit Award for Best International Breakthrough. Proving not to be all hype, she made friends at WB with her spectacular long play effort, Born To Die.

Whilst Blue Jeans, the third single from the album, will be released on Monday (9^thApril), the former Ms. Grant has contributed her contralto vocal range to something a little different. Collaborating with Brooklyn’s own A$AP Rocky, the fast rising pair will appear on a mixtape by highly acclaimed producersThe Kickdrums, which will be officially released and available today, from 5PM (GMT) over at Livemixtapes.com.

Ridin’ is the track in which the pair contribute to, of which a short preview can be viewed below. The track is astonishingly different to the material present upon Born To Die. Manifesting itself into a sleazy dose of bubblegum R&B, seeing Del Rey take on vocals similar to those of Ashanti or Mariah Carey.

Digging up the question of whether this collaboration is a good idea or not? There is evidently a vast amount of hype surrounding the two acts, obviously following Del Rey’s second studio album, whilst A$AP Rocky is currently in the midst of working on a new album; LongLiveA$AP, successive to his appearance in the BBC sound of 2012 poll. Both have strong credentials for their individuality, yet, surely it’s a good thing for an act to play a wildcard at some point in their career? It doesn’t always come out great, yet this really could work. Thus gaining more and more notoriety whilst dipping into alternative genres.

The mixtape will be released this afternoon, providing the track in its full glory; meanwhile have a listen to the preview, whilst we wait with baited breath to welcome the arrival of the new mixtape from The Kickdrums.

Jonathan Hatchman

The Demise Of Viva Brother

Since the dawning of popular music, bands have been splitting up over personal issues. From The Beatles to The Smiths, right up to LCD Soundsystem, amazing bands have been disappearing and leaving a irreverable mark upon the history of music. So now we move on to Viva Brother.

Since releasing their debut album last year; the Slough foursome have been faced with nothing but trouble. Firstly, a Celtic trio threatened with the lads with a lawsuit over claims that they were performing as Brother long before the Berkshire boys. Rather than go wild and start afresh, the band stuck the word Viva in front of their name, thus forming Viva Brother.

However, the band have been rather quiet for a while, except for the recent announcement of their second studio album on the band’s Facebook page. This was soon followed by a tweet from the band on the morning of 1^st April, claiming that Viva Brother were no longer. People initially believed the band were skylarking around on the day of all fools, yet it was soon officially stated that there was no intention for the statement to come as a joke.

The tweet read: ‘Thank you to everyone that has ever supported us or believed, It has been an unbelievable journey. This is us signing off. Goodbye.’ The apparent reason for this is the fact that the NME placed them into the category for ‘2012 Worst Band’ at the recent NME awards. Followed by the band’s famous last words – ‘And as for NME. Shame on you.’

Following Viva Brother’s social networking suicide note, a number of ideas have been circulating our minds. Perhaps the band’s new album wasn’t quite up to scratch, thus proving it better for them to fizzle out now than to release the album and gain even more journalistic put downs. Or, perhaps the reason is that Viva Brother cannot take a bit of criticism? Either that or Lee Newell is struggling to come to terms with the fact that he is the only person to have a large poster of himself upon his bedroom wall.

Either way, where does the ‘new wave of Britpop’ stand, as of now? Will Viva Brother’s ever be replaced? The answer is, probably yes. Meanwhile we still have legendary bands such as Blur and Pulp resurfacing, so lets wait and see. For the meantime, Viva Brother did reveal one last song, from their second LP, which will be under lock and key, for the foreseeable future. However, here’s Viva Brother’s curtain call – I Don’t Want To Be Loved. Then what's all the fuss about?

Jonathan Hatchman

Live// Sharks, The Lexington, London. 3/4/12

Nowadays, it’s becoming increasingly hard to find a youthful punk band with the raw integrity of proper punk rock, following the recent demise of The King Blues; the amount of great English punk bands is becoming very scarce. Fair enough, we still have Pulled Apart By Horses, Enter Shikari and Young Guns, amongst a few others. But none manage to live up to the spirit or standard of Sharks, having just released their outstanding debut studio album – No Gods.

Taking to the stage to a pre-warmed crowd, following the nautical folk-punk of the Cornish chaps of Crowns. Opening with the opener to their new album; ‘Til The Wonders Rise, followed immediately by latest single Arcane Effigies, providing one of the high points of their short set. A fair-few new tracks were premiered, including On A Clear Day You Can See Yourself as well as Matthew’s Baby. Dropping a number of older songs from set, Apart from Trains, brewing up a storm before the penultimate finale of the debut album’s title track. Followed by deepest obligations from frontman James Mattock.

Closing a fine set, fair enough a few fan favourites were forgotten, but what do you expect from a tour to promote their new album? Which is in itself a strong contender for punk album of the year, thus far.

Jonathan Hatchman

Single// 2:54 - You're Early

From the ominous bass that opens the track, it is clear that 2:54 take their music very seriously. And, now they have another addition to their collection of Lo-Fi gems, in the form of You’re Early.

Slowly building its way into the opening verse, with gentle guitars and a rumbling bass line, that ever so gently builds, inviting a crescendo of hazy female-fronted Lo-Fi extraordinaire. Containing swooning, hazy vocals and arpeggiated guitar lines similar to those of John Frusciante, and lets face it, that certainly isn’t a bad thing.

Another triumph from the sister act, not quite as exciting as their previous single; Scarlett, but an intrinsic insight into the band’s forthcoming debut album, set for release in May.

Jonathan Hatchman

Up-&-Coming// TOY

Having formed in 2010, it wasn’t until 2011 that TOY came along, joining the live circuit, thus being snapped up by The Horrors, rather quickly, to act as the main support for just about every show that they have played since their almighty return, way back in June last year. TOY, have since, began to obtain a somewhat cult status among their fans, rapidly selling out their very scarce back catalogue of releases, though it is their live shows that are events to keep an eye out for.

The band went on to release their debut single; Left Myself Behind back in October 2011, in the form of a seven-minute injection of intense shoegaze taking on topical lyrics and clashing guitars, building perfectly to acclimatize with the Korg/Delta synth set-up. Whereas Clock Chime, the B-side, would fit nicely alongside the material from The Horrors’ latest album. Adopting all of the trippy paraphernalia that gradually builds the songs into a climatic assault of psychedelic brilliance.

However, the brand new song from the six piece has already been receiving radio play, thus gaining outstanding acclaim. Set for release on 16^th April, Motoring is blatant proof that TOY are not a one-trick pony. Providing a distinctly Krautrock backdrop, with the catchiest chorus of the band to date.

TOY will hit the road next month, embarking upon their first UK headline tour; including dates in Manchester, Brighton, Nottingham, Bristol and London’s XOYO. Make sure to catch the band on the lips of many, about to burst into the big leagues.

For Fans of: The Horrors, The Psychedelic Furs, S.C.U.M

Listen To: Left Myself Behind, Clock Chime, Motoring.

Jonathan Hatchman