Britain – and all the other facets that bring The Isles to life – still has a place in setting a tone for the shape of music to come. Not just the obvious past of The British Invasions 1, 2 and 3 but through a destined distinctive sound that usually has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the charts (And those are? No. 1 single, what?)
So pop your ears open to the 28 bands you can hear from these free downloads. They’ll ALL be at the Wychwood Festival, June 4-6, with The Happy Mondays headlining.
“But Temple” you would say if anyone was reading this site yet, in our soft launch period (OK, there’s one reader I know of who isn’t writing for the site) that’s a newspaper site; how good can that shit be if it’s already in a rag? Good question. One, everyone has to start somewhere. 2. You haven’t heard of any of these bands so the rag is ahead of you. 3. They’re all unsigned and England’s Independent Newspaper along with the British Broadcasting Service (the infamous BBC that brought you John Peel Sessions and the Rock DJ wonder that was Alan Freeman (bless im)) just work differently than corporate speak ad-driven television media outlets stateside.
The author of this piece wrote about the experience of judging the bands that’ll appear at the festival. The judges listened to 70 acts straight-up live since they will be showcased live. They have to have chops, y’know? How can a person not be enthusiastic hearing newness? Sure, not all bands are going to rock your joints or the joint, but everyone knows good musicians go begging for a break with about equal frequency that a decades-old band tries to come back for some of that same spotlight time.
You’d think with everyone being buried in information and entertainment choices that new bands would have an easier time of it. Yes and no. There are more opportunities for someone to catch fire, to go viral. Yet there’s so much. Too much. It’s still just as hard to be heard.
(Update – Only 23 downloads of the 28 available)