10 Picks for Bestival 2015
Bestival is landing on the Isle of Wight again this weekend for another 4-day session of glitter, borrowed clothes and desperately trying to light cigarettes on the deck of ferry.
There is a lot going on at Bestival. If you’re not careful, you might end up with a half full Kronenburg in your back pocket while Fatboy Slim’s mate’s brother plays Jump Around. It doesn’t have to be this way. To help you navigate yourself round the Summer Of Love, we’ve compiled 10 picks of where Crack will be this weekend. It’s all good stuff.
FKA twigs
You’ve heard how amazing twigs is live. Your mate told you. And your mate was right. When she headlined our stage at Field Day this year the entire crowd were fully mesmerised. A visionary, a luminary, an undisputed game-changer, twigs is the most important cultural figure in the UK right now.
Ben UFO b2b Joy Orbison
As part of Benji B’s Deviation takeover, two of the country’s finest purveyors of left-field party-starting go back to back. Hessle Audio chief and master of merging the esoteric with the populist and general man-who-can-do-no-wrong. You can trust these DJs to steer your night right.
Kero Kero Bonito
The jury’s still out on whether or not the PC Music sound is a genuinely exciting and worthwhile movement or whether it’s just a footnote in the annals of Dalston-based inside jokes gone too far but some acts are quietly putting in the work and building something more long term. Enter Kero Kero Bonito. Blending the hyperreal sounds of J-Pop with the tropes of hip-hop and UK dance music you’ll be hard pushed to find a sound as infectious anywhere else.
Big Narstie
Uncle Pain. Managing director of BDL. EastEnders enthusiast. Accomplished agony-uncle. Hello hi, Big Narstie is coming to Bestival. While you might know him best for solving the trials and tribulations of young people looking for real talk, Narstie brings the mayhem. In cahoots with Mike Skinner and Murkage’s TONGA night, this will be worth a look.
Sleaford Mods
Arriving on the island with a few feathers to ruffle and a few establishments to decimate, Sleaford Mods have been roundly declared the unlikely saviours of British music. Sharing a bill the faux-antiestablishment major label parroting of Slaves, the Mods’ seething depiction of working class ire gets better every time we see it.
Missy Elliott
Cynics are often far too quick to denounce the bookers of UK festivals for pulling out the same names year in year out. This criticism isn’t viable for Bestival 2015. They’ve secured a headline slot from Missy Elliott – a European exclusive and her first UK date for half a decade. Get your bloody freak on. If you’re still decanting vodka into a disused Buxton bottle when you should be at the Main Stage for this then it’s time to reevaluate.
Hudson Mohawke
Previous Crack cover star Hudson Mohawke will be arriving on the Island for a headlining DJ set. Make no mistake, nobody is better qualified to bring your night in to a finale of aggressive, intense euphoria than HudMo. If you thought his recent LP Lantern was the peak of his joy-inducing powers then wait till you see his selections.
Mala
DMZ kingpin, UK club music connoisseur and seasoned, legendary bass slanger – Mala is muscling in on the action of Rodigan’s Ram Jam at Bestival’s Bollywood field for a night like no other. This man has literally travelled the world to find the best sounds to make bones rattle and feet move. Also, Rodigan may well deliver an impromptu seminar on dubplates and peace and dubplates. So stick around for that.
Special Request b2b Mella Dee
Two masterminds of slicing, heavy beats take to the helm. Under the Special Request alias, Paul Woolford channels the murky sounds of pirate radio through a hardcore filter that bends the more chaotic areas of house and techno into a party-starting thunderstorm. This meeting of minds with Digital Soundboy’s steely junglist Mella Dee will be a no-frills showcase with maximum impact.
Boy Better Know
Skepta is hellbent on being the most famous man in the world, JME is swapping Pokemon cards for vinyl and tweeting more than Jaden Smith in the glory days, Jammer is swegway-ing around with Lily Allen and Shorty is – well – probably playing What’s Going On? to a batshit crazy crowd somewhere. The BBK family is as dysfunctional and brilliant as it has ever been. For Bestival, the organisers have given them a high-profile Main Stage slot which they undoubtedly deserve. Don’t pretend it’s no longer fun just because Drake got caught listening to Murkle Man, get down the front and join in the mayhem.
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