Avenue Kurtodrome

Okay, so we’re already a couple of days into this new year, but we haven’t put up a list of my favourites of 2007. (Not that anyone would lose some sleep over that if I wouldn’t post them.)

* F * I * L * M *

As it’s a film site after all, let’s find out who made it to my top 10 there. 2007 wasn’t the most inspiring of years, I’ve noticed. A lot of the films I watched didn’t get more than 5 out of 10. Maybe I missed out on some movies. Like The Assassination of Jesse James By The Rest of That Very Long Movie Title I Can Never Remember: that one got quite some praise, but sadly just didn’t play long enough for me to go and see it. But I did have time to go and watch Notes of a Scandal (oh, the horror).

Anyway, enough chit chat: here’s the list.

MOVIE TOP 10
1. PERSEPOLIS
2. EASTERN PROMISES
3. CONTROL
4. PAPRIKA
5. DAS LEBEN DER ANDEREN
6. INLAND EMPIRE
7. FAY GRIM
8. NAISSANCE DES PIEUVRES (WATER LILIES)
9. OBER
10. MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS

(I chose a picture of Water Lilies to accompany because that’s the only movie in my list that didn’t get a single mention on DV. The full list, albeit in Dutch, can be viewed here.)

* B * O * O * K * S *

Before we get to the music, I want to remind you that my book of the year was Paul Merton’s Silent Comedy. I did get time to read lots of other books and one I never had gotten round to before but that I was manage to crawl through in 2007 was Mark L. Danielewski’s House of Leaves. I beg your pardon, House of Leaves.
If you aren’t an avid reader, I’d advise you to stay away from this. But if you like to read and don’t mind a gigantic challenge: try that one out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Leaves

And if you’d like some music with that, here’s my 10 favourite tracks of the year.

* M * U * S * I * C *

1. TUNNG - Bullets
2. COCOROSIE - Japan / Rainbowarriors
3. BLONDE REDHEAD - 23
4. THE FIERY FURNACES - Ex-Guru
5. LOW - Breaker
6. BEIRUT - Cliquot
7. FEIST - Sealion
8. THE RAVEONETTES - Aly, Walk With Me
9. LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - Get Innocuous
10. ARCADE FIRE - Black Mirror

Please visit the special Democratische 99 page on my website to find the entire list (all 99 tracks) plus lots of MP3s and YouTube links.

Ever wanted to see Nine Inch Nails, Sonic Youth and Tool back to back? Well, welcome to day three of Pukkelpop 2007. Tool and NIN had brought so many fans the festival grounds started looking like ant hills. Yes, even the chateau was quite packed during several concerts.

But this isn’t just about the festivalgoers. Many of the artists say wonderful stuff about the artist area: good food, people taking care of you… it’s nice to be at Pukkelpop in Belgium.

For some reason, people feel a need to label everything, even days. This third day of Pukkelpop was labelled ‘the heavy day’ because of Tool, Sonic Youth and NIN. It was also labelled “the final day” for people who can count.
But we would like to think of this day as “the charming day”. Yes, above all this was the day that we felt charmed by some of the artists.

Pukkelpop day 3: prepare to feel loved, this day - contrary to what you’d expect on a day with NIN and Tool - was adorable.

We would like to offer you a genuine festival review, but first… a lot of timetable changes. Were 120 Days (club, 15.15) still reading up on their de Sade? No idea, fact is that the band were late and they switched with Belgian band The Tellers. Lacuna Coil (main stage, 14.35) had bad news for their fans: they’d missed their flight and had to cancel their concert. Their friends Enter Shikari would fill in for them on the main stage and play their own set at the skate stage (19.20). Goldie is a DJ and so he had missed his flight and told everyone he wouldn’t play full stop. And just as that news had hit the festival area, Lacuna Coil had better news: they could manage to get to Belgium after all if Pukkelpop could give them a later spot. And so Enter Shikari agreed to start their second performance a little bit earlier and play back to back with Lacuna Coil, so that the latter would still get 40 minutes of glory on Pukkelpop.
Conclusions? 1) It takes amazing skills to keep up with the changes at Pukkelpop and 2) of all the people at a festival, DJs are the most obnoxious and pretentious twits.

That said, I find the music of Enter Shikari (main, 14.35) tolerable for a couple of numbers, but that’s about all. And recently they’re getting a bit too much emo for their own good. Nevertheless, many kudos for helping Lacuna Coil out and giving the fans extra value for their money. Enter Shikari are 2007’s version of Radiohead (who, upon hearing a band had cancelled at the last minute, had offered to play an extra hour for free - as they were there anyway).

The Tellers (club, 15.15) could profit from the tardiness of 120 Days by playing their gig in a larger venue, proving these Brussels boys and their acoustic indierock deserved a bigger spot. It was alright.

Kate Nash was residing in the chateau (15.55) and the audience learned what ‘breath control’ was all about. The chateau was so packed the place had become a sauna.
Kate Nash said she’d never been to Belgium before. Not everyone is greeted this abudantly by thousands of people on their first visit to a country. On the other hand, Kate’s concert was quite good, so there was good reason for cheering. Whereas not every track made by Kate Nash can be classified as a masterpiece, this concert proved that Kate Nash has a serious amount of talent up her sleeve and that she isn’t afraid to show it to the world every now and then. Her album, Made of Bricks, is a melange of brilliant tracks, okay tracks with one or two brilliant lyrics, beautiful mistakes and songs one better skips. Her concert showed the brilliance of her better songs and made you feel kinder to the lesser songs.
Kate Nash had delivered a bunch of T-shirts to the merchandising area: the T-shirts read “If asked, I must say I mostly listen to Kate Nash. Mostly.”
Kate’s a charmer. No really.

Meanwhile on the main stage: The Streets (15.55). Yes, the overpacked chateau might’ve been a reason to see what Mike Skinner was doing, but his previous concert at Pukkelpop was so abysmal one couldn’t have dragged me to the main stage. We heard it was okay. Then again, we also heard that last time.
Streets fans really must learn how music should sound.

Which meant it was onto the boiler room for us, where Agoria vs. Oxia (15.00) had a nice set, which was even extended a bit so the last-minute replacement act for Goldie (DJ Leno) could arrive. Here’s a little question on the side: if a DJ doesn’t arrive at such a big venue, how many people would actually notice?
An hour into DJ Leno’s set we heard someone talking to a friend on the mobile and apparently the girl on the mobile was enjoying dancing to Goldie. (Unless the girl was at the same airport as Goldie, which is also a possibility.)

In the marquee Bromheads Jacket (16.45) were exposing their audience to fiery rock. We caught the last part of their concert, which included what was probably the highlight of the set: the singer dived into the public and had himself carried all over the place. Without skipping as much as a note. Respect.
This meant that the Bromheads Jacket singer still hadn’t learned from his experience in Holland last year: that night his crowdsurfing ended disastrous when the audience dropped him and he crawled back on stage, his face covered in blood and his guitar missing. Not that this stopped him from going on with the show. Again, respect.

In a recent Radio Kurtodrome (over at my site) I said Loney, dear (17.35, chateau) probably couldn’t live up to The Postal Service, a band they were often being compared to. The Pukkelpop concert highlighted what made Loney, Dear… erm… Loney, Dear, which means we’ll have to conclude: concert better than record.

Meanwhile, 120 Days had arrived and were ready for their gig (wablief, 17.55). This was a good concert, but one tends to expect a little bit more from a band that names itself after a work by De Sade. Well played, but missing a cruel finishing touch and therefore amusing me, but not blowing my mind out. And sometimes one wants to have his mind blown and doesn’t feel like settling for anything less. Call me a masochist.

Always willing to go that extra mile, sisters Bianca and Sierra had dressed up in bright clothes and put enough make-up on for ten girls. Welcome back, CocoRosie (18.30, marquee). I’d seen CocoRosie (backed by Bunny Rabbit) in April and now they didn’t have three hours to take the audience to CocoRosieLand. The first songs were a bit hesitant and focused too much on the toys the sisters had brought along.
But after a while CocoRosie managed to incorporate all the toy noise gimmicks and human beatbox Tez into their songs so well noone dared to complain. Sure, during the opera minute (in “Japan”) a couple dozens of people rushed to the skate stage to hear Lacuna Coil instead, but one doesn’t miss 50 people in a fully packed marquee (there were even tons of people following the concert on the big screen next to the marquee).
And tough on time, it only means they missed out on a staggering finale, which included an excellent version of “Rainbowarriors” (slower, sexier and superior to the record version). After which the girls returned to the backstage, only to be summoned back to the stage. Yes, had CocoRosie not returned for an encore, LCD Soundsystem might not have had a stage to play on. It was the first time that night an encore was demanded by the audience. A promising sign.

And from one highlight to another: Spoon had never played at this festival, they confessed and now they made their debut in the chateau (19.25). One critic complained that the audience reacted quite calmly to the band’s concert. Yeah, well, mate, that’s because you could watch them backstage in the press area and we were standing in the audience. There were so many people in the chateau you couldn’t have squeezed in an extra ten people.
It had nothing to do with the quality of the concert (which was very good), it was all about being unable to move an inch. I’d already regretted not having seen Spoon and now I’d like to see them again, if possible with a bit more space. Anyway, this concert proved that Spoon is even excellent music for in a sauna.

It’s not that I wasn’t aware there were eight stages at the festival, it’s that the line-up in the marquee and chateau was so good that night my attention focused mainly on those two stages. Spoon had left the chateau, which meant it was time for the next act in the marquee: LCD Soundsystem (20.25).
James Murphy and band have been to Belgium so often we’re losing count. This can also be a burden: one starts getting high expectations for a band, they certainly have to be as good as (or better than) last time.
The band visited one day after their concert in the Netherlands, where apparently they’d ruined some of their material and not everything sounded right. Anyway, this was how James Murphy apologized to the audience. As has been mentioned before, the man is capable of giving Nancy Wong the evil eye and making her readjust a couple of wires with a result that often only Wong and Murphy can hear. Perfectionists, really.
The first tracks sounded uninspired, but after ten minutes (enough time for your local reporter to go and buy himself another drink) the flash was in the pan and the high expectations were met.
All in all, not the best LCD Soundsystem concert we’ve seen, but still 80% better than most bands you’ll get to see on a stage at such a festival.

A quick check in the boiler room learnt us that Andy C. (21.00) was doing the same as in Rock Herk, only for a bigger audience. We can’t say this was not deserved, but we’d seen the man in action only six weeks earlier, so off, once again, to the chateau. If you ever want to encounter me at a festival and you don’t have my mobile number, there’s a fair chance you’ll find me in that tent.
This time I was there to look at the wonderfully charming Hanne Hukkelberg (21.30). Hanne was up against local dance/rock heroes Goose in the dance hall and the highly successful Nine Inch Nails on the main stage and seemed genuinely amazed so many people had turned up to see her play. The place was half filled at the time. Not unimpressive for an artist maybe, but to us (the people who’d survived the sauna experiences of Kate Nash and Spoon) the place looked a bit deserved. What? “Place to move? They have that here?” was a look I noticed in many an eye.
Hanne Hukkelberg is sweet and charming. In fact, so charming that during the concert innoncent passers-by were drawn into the chateau to hear the Norwegian and her band sing. Hukkelberg gave a lot of compliments to her band and also thanked the audience abundantly. It’s not often an artist starts clapping for you, but this was such a gig. Yeah, there were thousands of people in the place, but it felt like visiting a friend.
Not every Hanne Hukkelberg song is a masterpiece, but there’s so much warmth in them you’re willing to forget about rational arguments.By far the nicest experience (of all the three festival days), which is why we eagerly put Hanne Hukkelberg’s face at the top of this article. Definitely worth going to see her if she’s playing a gig near where you live.

Sadly, this meant we were missing a considerable deal of Nine Inch Nails (main, 21.30), but Reznor and band sounded like they also needed a bit of time to get into shape. The final part of the concert was definitely better and was able to send a couple of chills through the thousands of people attending with the dark and brooding sound NIN likes to incorporate into their songs.
The concert ended with “Hurt”, a track Johnny Cash had stolen from Trent Reznor. At first, one thought Reznor should’ve done the decent thing and not play his own song anymore, but as the song progressed it became evident Nine Inch Nails were stealing their own song back again. A haunting conclusion to a concert in crescendo.

And speaking of crescendos, let us hurry to the marquee once again. Sonic Youth (22.30) were back at Pukkelpop after 11 years and were going to treat the audience to a special concert: to celebrate the re-release of Daydream Nation the band would play the entire album and return for an encore with some more recent tracks (most from Rather Ripped).
The Sonic Youth concert quickly divided the people who were there because they love the band and those who wanted to look cool and go to an allegedly cool band. The latter didn’t stay that long, which is one of the better things about Sonic Youth: if someone only pretends to like the band, they’ll have a hell of a time listening to all that noise. The joke’s on them.
The band was in great form. Kim Gordon may well be in her fifties, but jumped all over the stage like a young girl. And frankly, the other band members weren’t any less motivated. A highly enthusiastic experience from a great band. Quality reigns supreme.

While the beat-inclined were dancing their soul out to Felix da Housecat (boiler, 23.00) we found that a bit too commercial to finish this long edition of Pukkelpop. The other options included Tool and Woven Hand. As Tool didn’t impress me too much at first, I went back to the chateau. David Eugene Edwards was on stage, a man you might know as Woven Hand (00.00) or from his earlier band 16 Horsepower. Or from one of his many collaborations with Belgian choreographer Wim Vandekeybus.
Yeah, Edwards may be American, but Belgium seems to have become his second home. The concert felt like the band were coming home. The songs were kept tight and the atmosphere was cozy. It was not the first time I’d seen Edwards play, but it was one of his better performances…

… and it would’ve made an excellent conclusion to Pukkelpop 2007 had it not been for James Meynard. Apparently someone had forgotten to tell Tool (23.50, main) that Pukkelpop was supposed to stop at 1 o’clock (not counting the afterparty), because the band went 25 minutes over time.
And this would not have been a reason to complain if the concert had been amazing. But, as I’d said earlier, despite having seen Woven Hand before, I chose to see them again because Tool couldn’t impress me that much at first. And when Woven Hand had left the stage, Tool were still on stage (in fact, they’d still be there for another 45 minutes, but we didn’t know that at the time) and still weren’t too exceptional. We would like to point out that Tool had had to cancel a couple of concerts because their singer was sick and that the Pukkelpop concert was one of the first concerts after the unintentional break. I’m not sure if that was the reason, but for some reason Tool just didn’t get into it. I encountered a couple of friends after the concert and they had similar feelings (so it wasn’t just me and the fact I’d seen CocoRosie, Spoon, LCD Soundsystem, Hanne Hukkelberg, Nine Inch Nails and Sonic Youth warming up for Tool).
I found the band to be a bit too boombastic. And I don’t mean that in the most regular sense (Tool is boombastic after all), but in the sense that it sounded as if someone had put an extra layer on top of the music and the result didn’t really fit. Songs were overlong and outstayed their welcome. The concert didn’t grip you, but buzzed and hummed around you.
Quite a shame as Tool has been responsible for the boost in ticket sales, but nevermind, afer Tool had finally left the stage it was time for the traditional fireworks. Pukkelpop 2007 was over and a sign said the organisation hoped to see you again in 2008.
If that edition will have as many highlights as this year’s Pukkelpop, we’ll gladly oblige.

SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
1. Sonic Youth
2. Hanne Hukkelberg
3. Spoon
4. CocoRosie
5. Kate Nash (her charm just beat the return performance of LCD Soundsystem)

PUKKELPOP 2007′S BEST
1. Dinosaur Jr.
2. Sonic Youth
3. Hanne Hukkelberg
4. Sophia
5. Spoon
6. CocoRosie
7. Patrick Wolf
8. Hayseed Dixie
9. Sharko
10. Mouse on Mars

(If Mouse on Mars now ends up in the top 10 despite just ending up below Arcade Fire in Friday’s list (and aren’t in the top 10), that is because I only had one spot left and I’d seen Arcade Fire in better shape, whereas Mouse on Mars were in great form. Sometimes rational arguments just don’t cut it.)

P.S. If you want to go back in time, we also have reviews of Day 1 and Day 2.

On the second day of Pukkelpop my To See list was drastically changed after a bad phonecall. You know the four stages of getting a bad phonecall: you get annoyed, irritated, upset and depressed. Hence I decided to not get near the two dance stages and dedicate this second day to pitchblack music.

Luckily for me, there was plenty of that available on Friday.

Black Strobe, Badly Drawn Boy, Chris Cornell, Arcade Fire, The Smashing Pumpkins, Sophia, Dinosaur Jr, UNKLE, Canser de Sei Sexy, The Black Dahlia Murder, Juliette & The Licks, James Holden, The Noisettes, Patrick Wolf, Henry Rollins, The Besnard Lakes,  Mouse on Mars, irritating manager types and girls dancing to the tones of hitch-hikers being raped by the roadside… this is the review of day two.

Three years ago I had to work all day, all night and all morning. I was up for 34 hours straight, which can only be survived by drinking coffee and listening to music. The webradio I was listening to had “Italian Fireflies” by Black Strobe (dance hall, 16.40) as song of the week and played it at the beginning of every hour. For me the sign another hour had passed and (later that night) another hour was survived.
This does not stroke with the image of Ivan Smagghe, the man behind Black Strobe. He looked odd, like a gay stereotype they’d use on Arrested Development (currently shown almost every night on BBC2 after the late-night movie). And all of a sudden it feels as if you’re not listening to Black Strobe, but have been sent by a cruel man to a ill-conceived revue in a seedy part of town.
Why is it that this genre of music has singles which sound completely different from the album tracks and live versions which sound neither like the album nor the single? This was not a bad performance, nor was it good. It was different. Next time I’ll stay home and put the record on again.

No bad word about Damon Gough here: the man is born on October 2, like me and the girl behind the snackbar counter (I only know because I know her from school). We, like Gandhi and Sting (also born on that day) will stick up for each other if necessary. I passed by Badly Drawn Boy (marquee, 18.10) a couple of times. I never regretted walking by, but I didn’t feel lured into the marquee either. A bit like his music then.

I was on my way to Cansei de Ser Sexy, who were described by some papers as “brilliant fun” and by one as a “one-hit wonder”. I wonder which of the CSS hits is that one hit, because I’ve counted four. Oh, and “Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above” has been used by the BBC for one of their adverts, always a good sign (as the BBC knows they’ll play that clip at least 100 times a week they choose something which you can listen to for more than fifty times).
Yes, one could retort I hadn’t seen all the bands in the dance hall, but CSS (18.10) was the first band I saw there that gave the dance hall a dance hall vibe. The kaleidoscope of lights went well together with Lovefoxx’s outfits (she wore more than one - an outrage according to the Flemish version of The Guardian, and yes, it were they who described the band as a one-hit wonder).
Okay, this ended up several points from being a terrific concert you’ll remember for the rest of your life, but the band had fun and so had the crowd.

And now our new section: mini-reviews.
- The Black Dahlia Murder (skate, 18.55): the name is better than the band.
- Flip Kowlier (marquee, 19.40): overrated and not worthy of an evening spot on the second-biggest stage
- Skream (chateau, 18.25-20.05): nice for one set, not enough to keep me thrilled for this double-length set.
- James Holden (boiler, 19.00): my spies told me good stuff, but - as mentioned in the intro and as sung by the Scissor Scissors - “I don’t feel like dancing, no dancing today”

The Noisettes (club, 19.40) were also going to be a mini-review (”It’s not good if your headware is more impressive than your songs”), but I only heard two songs, didn’t like them that much and went onwards to UNKLE. I did hear from other people that a couple of songs weren’t good, but the rest were a lot better. Not sure whether to think I just passed them during their worst part of the concert or if I’m not a fan of The Noisettes.
Then I saw them play an acoustic set for the BBC (good old television), which was better than what I’d heard in the club. So for once: no verdict passed, next!

Had I mentioned my gloomy attitude towards the day? Quite fitting then that UNKLE was playing next. That UNKLE’s music is based on electronical music is a fact. That I would classify it as music worthy of being in the dance hall is another thing. But other than the boiler room (where the attitude is “the show must always go on”) the dance hall only has an act every other hour and, above all, it dares to experiment. The Knife’s concert there last year was quite different from the other dance hall performances, but still quite fitting of the venue. UNKLE (19.25) has music that can be very gritty. Of all the dance hall acts I’ve seen over the three days, UNKLE was the odd one out. The one you could least dance to.
I wasn’t fully gripped by what was offered, but it was an okay performance. And kudos to Pukkelpop for showing you cannot dance to all dance music.

Other things you can’t do: get inside the Wablief tent. Was it a bad decision to put Henry Rollins (19.50) on the smallest stage? Sure, who hadn’t anticipated the Full House sign would’ve been taken out for this act? My guess is they were even especially made for this performance. The Wablief stage tried out a few things this year, like adding comedy performances to Pukkelpop. Henry Rollins was the icing on that cake and Pukkelpop released a press statement saying that comedy would return in 2008. We understand that it is the sort of performance that needs to happen in a closed tent (not very funny if you can’t understand the comedian), but a bigger one might be handier.

Chris Cornell (main stage, 20.25) was the soundtrack to my dinner. The man used to be in Soundgarden and has now become a quiz question at movie quizzes: “Who performed the soundtrack to Casino Royale?” From subtop in the grunge movement to movie quiz question: if that is an honour, it’s a questionable one. I wouldn’t classify it as awful, but I would’ve preferred an encore from Soundgarden and quickly noted “the food was spicier than the music”.
And so I went to the chateau: home of the lesser known acts and a good place to hide if you don’t want to hear what’s on at the main stage. Various (20.30) used to be called Various Production and dropped half of their name. The note I made said “Various offered a bit of variety”. We will blame the food and Chris Cornell for the bad pun.
Seriously though, variety is good but some experiments will be weaker than others. The same could be said of the Various concert: occasionally good, occasionally not.
And worse: I actually had to look up what Various sounded like again when I was writing this up. Fame, as they say, can be fleeting but remembering is essential. I’m not saying there isn’t any potential (there definitely is), I’m just saying Various isn’t in my hard drive yet.

Patrick Wolf (club, 21.30) is in my hard drive as is Robin Proper-Sheppard (classified as Sophia). I know choices have to be made as who’ll play when and where, but this was a clash Pukkelpop should’ve avoided. As they didn’t, it became a tough decision. Anyway, as we felt used by the Wolf Team a couple of years ago and as we’d seen Patrick four times and Sophia only twice, the decision was easily made in my case.
However, the marquee has an obnoxious audience: I was standing behind a couple, both looking like the sort of managers one would avoid in your professional life, let alone on a festival. Evidently, they were looking for a friend and - rather than meeting her at a point one can easily find each other - stayed put in the middle of a crowd. Of course one can do this if the entire world evolves around you. It doesn’t matter that you’re 1m95 and annoying the hell out of all the people in the next twenty rows and that you’ll never find a friend in such a mass of people: eventually the world will face that you are the most important person in the world and everyone will bow to you.
Deciding not to have my Sophia concert ruined by a bunch of assholes I decided to listen to the rest of the concert on the other side of the marquee. I took a really big detour and checked how Patrick was doing: fine, evidently. The club was completely filled and Patrick was all over the stage. Literally, I mean. I caught four songs and it looked as if Patrick was going through his entire catalogue. The first song I heard was a pumped-up version of “The Childcatcher”, with Patrick and many people in the audience dancing to the music (ever listened to the lyrics?). A bunch of teen girls were dancing as alluringly as they could to the next song, which was “Tristan”. A song that features a teenage hitch-hiking girl bound, gagged and raped on the roadside. It looks as if Patrick Wolf is performing a next stage of his own exorcism: he is now using the songs he made earlier and giving them a more glamorous look. No problem with that, but I do think it is strange to see people dancing with joy to the beat of children being abused by a childcatcher.
But - let there be no misunderstanding - Patrick Wolf deserves every inch of success he gets. And more.

Robin Proper-Sheppard can’t be accused of making dance versions of his music. But he had promised his fans he would do something special for the Pukkelpop festival. He’d brought the string quartet we’d seen last time he played at the festival. This time he had decided to leave all the rock instruments home and called in the help of some friends, like Malcolm Middleton (talented and underrated, according to Sophia). Robin told the crowd he had been nervous about this gig, sleeping only five minutes that night and rehearsing for hours with a Belgian friend. He had asked her for the background vocals, but she was also welcome to turn a couple of songs (incl. “Oh My Love”) into duets. Annoying manager types aside, Sophia succeeded in turning a large marquee into an intimate living-room. All praise to Sophia.

No praise by the way to the Flemish version of The Guardian: they’d confronted Patrick Wolf with his quote of qutting the music scene later this year. A moment of weakness early in the year is how Patrick Wolf has since described this at least a dozen of times, but apparently the journalist in question never picked up on the 50 press statements telling us not to believe the earlier one message. (Become a journalist, you’ll be paid to suck!) The rest of the interview was equally annoying (genre “So Patrick, tell us why you’re such a weird guy?”). If this sparked Patrick to go from tired before the concert to fully energetic during the concert, we really should send in more journalists to festivals. Anger is still a good motivation.

I do not trust Juliette Lewis. I’d seen her before and Pukkelpop and it was dreadful. A friend went to a later concert and hated it equally. I was not looking forward to Juliette & The Licks (skate stage, 22.25). This concert was better than what I’d seen before, but breaking your arm is also better than having your arm amputated.

So onto the main stage: The Arcade Fire (main, 22.25). I’d seen them before: it started okay, but then grew into something that was so thrilling you’d started watching it with your mouth wide open. This concert was similar, but it took me longer to become flabbergasted. It was a good concert, but not the wonderful experience I’d have hoped it to be. Can one be disappointed after a very good concert? Yes, if you’re spoilt. Or yes, if you’d just seen The Arcade Fire doing a very good but not excellent show. (A week later, at Reading and Leeds, the BBC showed some footage of their concert there and it had the magic I’d badly wanted to see at Pukkelpop.) So are we complaining about a 8.5/10 show? And where was “Guns of Brixton”? We’re spoilt, I tell you, spoilt!

And speaking of spoilt, next up was Dinosaur Jr (marquee, 23.30). Deafening and just too good for their own good. J Mascis had been spotted by the Flemish version of the Guardian as “attending the CSS concert for a short while but not liking it and leaving it”. How could they know this? Mascis was a complete blank during Dinosaur Jr’s concert, maybe he wanted to get some food. All I’m saying is: 1) some journalists suck and 2) it is not possible to tell how J Mascis is feeling just by looking at him. And ain’t it weird to see Lou Barlow stuck in the role of the talkative one?
As for the concert: after ruining two amplifiers during the early stage of the gig, Dinosaur Jr did not cave in. A few songs later the concert was briefly halted because Murph broke the snare drum. “We are cursed, Pukkelpop, we are cursed,” Barlow mumbled before starting a mantra, “we have broken the snare drum, we have but one.” Having only one snare drum may be a problem but the Pukkelpop crew managed to find one backstage and, only minutes later, Murph was okay again, Barlow started rocking again and Mascis started another song without having said a single word.
With Patrick Wolf, Sophia and Arcade Fire billed on the same day I thought Dinosaur Jr and Von Südenfed would be the subtop and one of those first three acts would be the best concert of the day but Mascis, Barlow and Murph outshone the rest.

I would’ve loved to see a bit of Groove Armada, but The Besnard Lakes (23.50, chateau) hadn’t arrived in time for their 3pm gig and the entire festival was slightly rescheduled to fit in the band later that night. As Von Südenfed had cancelled their gig, the replacing band Mouse on Mars (so really, what you’re saying is that Mark E. Smith couldn’t make it) were asked to start half an hour later (and cut the concert ten minutes shorter), so The Besnard Lakes could do their set. Mouse on Mars obliged and The Besnard Lakes hit the stage.
As is always the case, despite all the signs on the festival not everyone sees these frantic reschedulings and so the chateau was far from full during the concert. The band was pleased there were still people who had found them on this extra spot and gave it their best shot. Most of it was indeed pretty good and The Besnard Lakes occasionally sounds like Low (try listening to “And You Lie To Me”). That’s a reference and a compliment.

No compliment for Smashing Pumpkins (main, 00.30). I myself spent some time talking to the girl I knew from school (thereby upsetting some people who wanted their fried sausage a.s.a.p.) and Billy Corgan became background music. Not that the music was good enough to be anything better. Oh, it wasn’t bad, but these were Smashing Pumpkins. I’d seen them before years ago, probably on the same grounds, but with James Iha and D’arcy Wretzky. None of the songs really shone and the concert sounded as if the band had been on hold for many years. Iha and D’arcy were truly missed.

Not missed that much: Mark E. Smith. Mister Smith (whom you should know from The Fall) and Mouse on Mars are Von Südenfed. No Mark E. Smith meant Mouse on Mars (chateau, 01.00) would do it without him.
I’d assumed the two Germans would feel a bit guilty there was no promised Von Südenfed concert and would do their utmost best to entertain the audience without the missing member. I wasn’t far off.
Would you believe they managed to make “Actionist Respoke” even more fucked-up than it is on the record? Nevertheless, as freaky as it was now, it sounded good and made lots of people dance. This, probably one of their better known tracks, was played early in the set, perhaps as a sign that - while we wouldn’t get to see the highly anticipated clash between Smith and Mouse on Mars - you would not be disappointed you were spending your last hour of Friday’s line-up in the chateau. And you know what, they kept their promise.

And as Mouse on Mars left the stage and we the chateau, we heard Billy Corgan in the background and found out we’d done the right thing by going to watch Mouse on Mars. Friday night was over, two days down and one more to go. Tool, Sonic Youth and Nine Inch Nails were the headliners of the final day. Would they manage to outshine Friday’s line-up? Would there be any new artists who’d leave a lasting impression?

All we can say now is: (to be continued)

P.S. You can reread our coverage of day 1 here.

If you ever wanted to test your IQ for free, you could try and remember all the bands one can see at one edition of Pukkelpop, Belgium’s biggest alternative festival. You get 20 starting points and then one point added per recalled band.

Yes, Pukkelpop did become a bit more expensive (€69 per day, €130 for 3 days), but one does get an extra stage in return. As well as several extra activities on the grounds.

Welcome to DV’s Pukkelpop review, from your knackered correspondent who spent three days on sacred grounds.
Because we don’t want to turn this into a novel but keep this review at an article’s length, all three days will be reviewed seperately.

Welcome to part one: day one.

Chronic hipsters had told us Bonde do Role (dance hall, 13.05) was something to look out for, but not even every single could fascinate me. Live this was even worse: if Bonde do Role is coming to your town, please bribe the people responsible for the sound to turn off the fat guy in the green T-shirt’s microphone. The noises he made could best be described as scrreaming, and definitely not of the pleasant sort. Bonde do Role are two boys and a girl. The boys were too macho on stage, the girl not impressive enough. Knowing I’d be able to stomach them better on record, I quickly headed to Gogol Bordello.

Super Taranta! The biggest criticism Gogol Bordello (main stage, 13.40) get is that their music is more appropriate on a stage than on a record. Which doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t have great songs: take “Supertheory of Supereverything” for instance. But yeah, Gogol Bordello is as much theatre as it is music. You’ll see members chase each other on stage, the singer will go and sit on a security member’s neck and have himself carried through the frontstage. All fun, all good. Musically not unlike the Levellers, only better and a lot more diverse.

The Cribs (marquee, 14.40) and Baloji (dancehall, 14.40) were playing at the same time as far from each other as one can get on the festival grounds, but personally I did spot a resemblance: both concerts went in my one ear and straight out my other.

Liars (chateau, 15.25) was nice, but it was still during the daytime and their set was shorter than a normal concert. Result: not the time for the band to play themselves in a trance and no time for us to get in one either.
But at least they made it to the festiva, which is more than could be said of the next artist to appear in the chateau: Willy Mason (17.05) had missed his flight and was replaced by… Willy Mason’s band. A band member took over from him and sang his tunes, while the rest did their usual business. See, that’s something I like, even if some journalists pilloried the performance as being ‘merely background music’: a band just doing their best, even if the band leader is not around. Was it a Willy Mason concert? No, but it felt like a good performance, so why pretend it wasn’t? Well, I guess that’s the difference between having to pay for a festival and being paid to write about it: you appreciate efforts.

Editors hit the main stage at roughly the same time (17.05), but it’s my love for watching people in chaotic situations that made me opt for Willy Mason(’s band) and not Editors. I did catch a couple of songs, though, so here’s my verdict: good, but not exceptional. Still, they managed to keep their cool on the big stage. That’s gotta be worth a couple of bonus points, no?

Playing with plastic orcas (though Manuel called it an orca) and giant plastic balls or throwing them in the crowd, confetti dropping down from the ceiling… I’m From Barcelona (marquee, 18.00) made it clear: they were here to have a party with the audience. Lots of people in the marquee and lots of people on stage (I lost count at 14). Manuel told the audience to “get crasy”, but I felt like I was the only sober and casually dressed person at a dress-up party. It would be unfair to say this wasn’t good, but for some reason I’m From Barcelona just doesn’t touch me. And left me pining for Belle and Sebastian.

Off to the dance floor then… Riton (18.30) was the name of the DJ in the boiler room. Our verdict: energetic, but deafening. Nothing wrong with energetic beats, but does one need to play it so loud my ears start to bleed? (I’ve been to the boiler a couple of times during the festival and I think Riton was the loudest DJ there.)
So the two reasons why I didn’t stay very long in the boiler room were: 1) I could still think of plenty of occasions where working ears might come in handy and 2) Hayseed Dixie were next up (skate stage, 18.40). Many a skate fan looked a bit weirded out of the sight of these four hillbillies and were a little hesitant to listen to some country music. However, once the band covered “Ace of Spades” and “I Don’t Feel Like Dancing” (back to back, mind you) the audience really started to know who Hayseed Dixie were. And that’s when the band dug out their perennial classic “I’m keeping your poop (in a jar)”.
Lots of smiles and smirks on the skate stage.

I have plenty of reservations regarding the latest Dizzie Rascal album, so I decided to give Jamie T (club, 19.45) a shot instead. The verdict: at times good, but not enough to grip me. There might be a future for Jamie T, but at this point I’m just seeing a work in progress. I must say his mix of rap, reggae and funk worked better on record.

What is there left to say about Iggy Pop and the Stooges (main stage, 20.30) that hasn’t been said before? An Iggy Pop concert is an Iggy Pop concert. What you see is what you get. And you know what you will get. Yes, Mr. Pop looks leathery. Yes, he doesn’t stay still for a moment during the entire show. Yes, he invited lots of people on stage. Which he’s done so often, but it remains a lovely sight to witness.
Also lovely to witness, My Brightest Diamond (chateau, 20.35). Apparently realizing they were up against Iggy Pop on the adjacent stage, the band played a set that was a bit harder than their album work. Nevertheless, it was very good and you could see these people were into their music. You really had the feeling human beings were up on the stage, rather than the often witnessed singers who’re reciting some of their work. One of the bigger surprises of this Thursday.

And one surprise led to another: I’ve known Sharko (wablief, 21.20) for many moons now and a couple of years ago I had some correspondence with David (singer) and Teuk (guitar). At the time (2002) Sharko were complete unknowns here in Flanders, despite getting some foot on the ground in Holland and France. It even looked as if Germany and the UK would open up to this Wallonian band before Flanders would. The national radio didn’t want to play their singles, allegedly because the songs didn’t fit the profile. That never stopped the radio from airing similar tracks for foreign bands, though. Some people said it was because they came from Wallonia. Which might be the case, but would be odd as one third of Sharko is from Flanders. Still, who would believe the national radio would bother to look up some personalia?
Why this introduction? Because the wablief (Flemish for ‘begyapardon?’) might be the smallest of the eight stages, but it was packed during Sharko’s performance. And because people were singing and dancing along to Sharko and watching how David Bartholomé acts like a bouncing ball on stage. In his own lyrics: “No contest, I’m the best.” Honestly, I was glad to see that a couple of years ago the Dutch radio VPRO shared my slightly negative feelings towards the band: we’d seen them a couple of times and weariness was setting in. The band looked to be on a trodden path and even they themselves had some reservations towards their third album. Then a new album was released and Sharko revitalized. What we witnessed on stage at Pukkelpop 2007 was Sharko in a better shape than I’d seen them before. There’s the energy, there are the oddball lyrics (” I went down to see the face of you in a bag down in the garage / I feel more myself with your skin on, it’s a big surprise”) … it looks as if one of Belgium’s best kept secrets are finally getting the break they deserved. Finally.

Ever wondered what it would sound like if two girls would be the only people in an empty factory? Especially if one girl would bring large drums and the other would shout through a megaphone? Meet M.I.A. (dance hall, 21.40) and the sound problems. If M.I.A. herself wondered why the dance hall was only half full: there were more people following the concert outside of the dance hall, where the concert did sound better.
M.I.A. also demanded quite a bit of audience participation, which is something I don’t like that much: not only because they are there to entertain us but also because - if a concert is really good - people will start to clap to the music or raise their hands automatically. Nevertheless, half of the bands in the marquee and dance hall asked the people to clap to their music. I didn’t oblige once. I am not your monkey.
M.I.A.’s concert didn’t have the punch I’d expect it to have and apparently more people felt like this afterwards. A small disappointment, but we’ll be lenient: it may have been better if she’d known how many people were outside or if the sound had been better. Plus, going straight from Sharko’s “I Went Down” to M.I.A.’s “Jimmy” was the best good song combination of the day. Bonus point.

I waved at M.I.A. as she was transported from her stage to the artist village. I was standing at the back of the skate stage, near the fences so I could call someone. And in the meantime La Coka Nostra (skate stage, 22.35) were playing. They brought rap music. Oldskool. For some reason, this felt as a relief. Yes, modern rap has gotten so awful one starts fondly remembering traditional rap artists. Hey, I’ll gladly pick anything that sounds more like Public Enemy than like 50 Cent, but not if there are several other stages. Me and rap will never marry.

Not that I was at the wablief… Fixkes (22.50) are a hype. They’ve released one highly popular track. And only one. They didn’t want to play a gig for the family-oriented radio station or for the commercial tv channel because they think they’re better than that. (Quote: “When you start a band, you want to be on a stage at Pukkelpop or Werchter, not on a stage of a commercial station.”) However, they did show up at the radio station’s award show when they heard they would receive a prize. They demand to be taken seriously, but they’ll dress up as The A-Team for another festival (not that anyone even closely resembled a member of the A-Team). Shameless opportunists!
And one could’ve turned a blind eye if the music had been okay, but it is not: their melancholic single is a third-rate track (mind you, they were playing that as I was walking past the Wablief on my way to the boiler) and another track (which I heard on the way back) was even worse.
Some journalists claimed the concert was good. Those journalists may be biased: especially if the singer is the editor of their sister paper. Let’s just state the facts: the Wablief is the smallest tent and the “Sorry: Full House” was not up during this concert (which did happen with the comics and Henry Rollins’ performance). Plus, of the 46.000 people present a rough 40.000 people chose not to be near the Wablief at the time (it was remarkably empty near the tent, usually there’s always some people chilling on the ground.) Not since 50 Cent was there so much outrage amongst loyal Pukkelpop fans of a band not deserving to be at the festival. And loyal Pukkelpop fans are always right.

Balkan Beat Box was playing at the chateau in the mean time (22.35). Their mix of traditional sounds and modern beats worked quite catchy at times, but not good enough to keep me in the chateau for 50 minutes. Which meant there was some time to see Kaiser Chiefs at the main stage (22.35). I’m not a big fan of the Kaiser Chiefs, but they’re one of the groups who I don’t really like but who can still have all the success in the world as far as I’m concerned. Some of their singles are okay, but generally I miss a certain something. However, if you see Ricky Wilson running through the frontstage crowd or if you see the main stage audience explode to the chorus of “Oh My God”… let’s grant them their success.

The Low concert (club, 22.45) was a typical Low concert: it started soft and just not boring (”We’re glad to be here, we hope you won’t fall asleep.”) and then there’s something that ignites the band. In 2006 it was when a fan shouted a request (Low’s response: “That’s our favourite song too.”), here it were Alan Sparhawk’s musings on being at Pukkelpop and being able to see Iggy Pop and the Stooges live for the first time. Alan was watching it gleefully in the frontstage, he told us. And that was the spark that made the Low concert from an okay set to a very good show.
One valid point of criticism: the band ended with a symphony of distortion that lasted several minutes. No problem with that, except that at a festival (if you’re running late) you might end up hearing the first sounds of the next band at the adjacent stage and your distortion will not sound as impressive. And except that, when it comes to distortion, you might want to throw in the towel early if Sonic Youth is also playing the festival. Oh, and except that it took so many minutes they could’ve played another song (how about “Monkey”? I missed that one and it would’ve sounded good at this venue). Yes, we’re spoilt and I did see Low’s excellent concert in 2006 in Antwerp (when they were playing behind fountains), so that will bias me a bit. Still, an 8 out of 10 is far from a bad score. See you next time, Low!

Lots of people on stage… no, it’s not I’m From Barcelona again. No, Iggy Pop didn’t do an afterparty in the chateau. It’s Australian band Architecture in Helsinki (00.50). Cheerful and good, quite a way to send the chateau audience to sleep on their first night of this three-day festival. And a decent-sized audience too.
Which is something that Basement Jaxx (main stage, 00.50) couldn’t say. The first culprit is Tiga, who was playing at the same time in the boiler room. Apparently Tiga is immensely popular in Belgium. Last year he was playing at the same time as Cassius and Cassius had to play in a dance hall he could only fill for one third or, during his luckiest moment, for one half. And this year Tiga made sure the main stage was only half full. As for the Jaxx themselves, the concert started without some form of commitment that would guarantee you 70 minutes of good time. After a couple of songs they did manage to get themselves in better shape and the concert started being good. A bit too late to save the night and to call them the deserved headliners of the first day. But if you stayed in the chateau for Architecture in Helsinki until the end and then made it to the main stage for the final twenty minutes of Basement Jaxx, you would’ve heard the Jaxx in top form only.

And at the end of the concert everyone left the stage apart from one of their singers. She went flat on the floor and asked a fan to get near the stage and then she kissed him.
Pukkelpop 2007, day 1: it ended with a kiss.

(to be continued)

There’s the music, there’s the nonsensical announcements (my favourite still being “The next band is angry with our cook as they’re vegetarians and he was serving them flesh tomatoes. Here’s Enon.”), there’s the second stage - which is actually a gazebo - where all the hardcore bands play, there’s the large pond next to the main stage, there’s the fact that it’s free. Still free. Rock Herk had a good reason to celebrate this weekend: this was the 25th edition of the free festival. Twenty-five years ago there were only two bands and the music was pop-oriented. That changed at the end of the 80s and the focus came to lie on alternative music (from Buffalo Tom to Dead Moon). A bit of dance was added in the naughties and in 2007 it was time for a splash-out bumper-sized festival: dance music on Friday, rock on Saturday. And - I don’t know if I already mentioned this - all still free.

The Datsuns and 108 were the headliners for this special edition. One old compagnon stayed away this year: no rainon Saturday (but the grounds were muddy as hell from earlier showers), but one thing didn’t change…the announcements. “You probably thought long and hard about what you were going to wear to Rock Herk today. We didn’t. We were easily content with our Archie Bronson Outfit.”
You gotta love Rock Herk.

The Five O’Clock Heroes cancelled after a car accident, Archie Bronson Outfit moved from 2pm to 9pm, leaving the vacant space to a band called The Mighty Roars. I’d have loved to see them, but Daddy’s getting old, kids… due to sleeping problems earlier this week, my biorhythm told the alarm clock to shut up. I had a good night’s sleep (read: morning + early afternoon), but I missed them as well as NoMeansNo (they still around??) and The Thermals. Oh well, too much noise on one day isn’t too good for your ears, my doctor had told me and I always do what they tell me, here at the old people’s home.
But here are The Mighty Roars with a track called Sellotape. Look at the video and you’ll know why some people compare Lara to Karen O. (That’s right, it’s because both are women.)

Dour is the second biggest alternative festival in Belgium and it takes place on the same weekend as Rock Herk, which is why some bands just pass by Herk on their way to or from Dour. After all, Rock Herk doesn’t have a big budget and can’t afford the usual names. Amazingly, there is the occasional band that only comes to Rock Herk (mostly because they love the fact that it’s a free festival). We don’t know Windmill’s motivation to come to an outskirt of Belgium for just one gig, but there they were.
Matthew Thomas Dillon of Windmill has a most peculiar voice and it’s eager to make some people run off screaming, while others’ll love it. I find myself somewhere in the middle, really liking some of the songs but not finding other to my particular taste. One track I really like was “Boarding Lounges” (you can stream it on the band’s MySpace), but there’s no video of the song. Which is why we’ll give you the video of the single “Fit” and the demo version of “The Planning Stopped“.

“Die! Die! Die!” was how I was greated at the gazebo. Not by one of my hords of enemies this time, but by Belgian hardcore band Homer. Singer Johan Quinten is allegedly “blessed with a good voice which is also great for screaming songs”. Undoubtedly one of the better acts on the skatestage.
And of course the band has a MySpace profile. Here’s the link.

One highlight leads to another. Working my way through the mud, I arrived back at the main stage to see 65 Days of Static. The band had taken a projection screen, which was a nice diversion - even if the daylight caused most of their projections to look like rorschach blots on a white background.
The band have often said they love playing live and it showed. The concert may’ve started a bit unsteady, but soon picked up a good pace. Well played and diverse, my personal favourite of the day. Someone near where I was standing called it “a soundtrack to a movie”. It should be a hell of movie to keep up with that music. Yes, some parts had a roadtrip feel, but one where you stop watching the road after a while and follow the path of your inner thoughts. The band have a new album out, The Destruction of Small Ideas. “Don’t Go Down in Sorrow“, the first video, is a track of that album. The second video is “Radio Protector” and it was also screened last night. Yes, just when you’re enjoying yourself there’s a band which has to present math facts about global warming. Spoilsports!

I tried. I really tried. I didn’t like the beginning of the Archie Bronson Outfit concert, so I went for some food. I returned, still unsatisfied and left to get me a drink. I returned to hear the last three songs. The first one of that sounded excellent and, if the previous songs were of an equal standard, I’m sorry to have missed those. The penultimate song has flashes of genius and moments of utter boredom. The last song sounded muddled and chaotic, and not in a good way either. How do you call a concert that’s occasionally excellent but overall half-arsed? Next!

Not much better over at the skatestage. I stayed approximately one minute at Justice’s gig, was very annoyed at the way the singer sighed (out of breath, dear? Do some exercise!) the security hadn’t been challenged enough and off I was again. There’s something about mediocre singers trying to stage ill-conceived riots in a very bad way. Appalling and so was the concert. I heard part of it in the background, didn’t even sound good from a distance.

No Turning Back also asked people to go ahead and stagedive if they wanted to, but at least the singer didn’t make it sound as if the security was part of the system that keeps you down. The singer of this Dutch hardcore band also remembered loving Rock Herk before, but now that he was singing there, in front of an audience, he really had a wonderful time. And it showed.
For more info and soundbits, check out their MySpace.

The next band in the gazebo was Final Fight. I’d love to share my highly esteemed comment about the band, but I completely missed out on their concert. The culprit? The National, who were playing on the main stage. Well, playing… the soundcheck took ages because one band member had to play electric violin, electric piano and synthesizer as well as provide backing vocals. And for some reason there were technical problems which caused either one or two of his instruments to remain mute during the soundcheck. A guitarist started jamming out of boredom and the singer asked if he could have one of those balloons floating through the audience up on the stage and fiddled with it. Somewhere a fuse blew, which made one band member remark: “It’s all good.” At one point the singer remarked: “This is the best part of the show.”
Yes, there’s always one band that fucks up the schedule, but after technical difficulties which lasted over half an hour, The National redeemed themselves by playing a very good concert. Boxer is the band’s fourth album and the band is still awaiting a breakthrough. Based on their concert at Rock Herk, that breakthrough would be well deserved. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.
Oh, you want some audiovisual proof as well? Here’s “Mistaken for Strangers“, the first single from The National’s new album Boxer. Enjoy!

I’m sure this quote won’t make it to their website, but The Datsuns were not as bad as I’d imagined. It’s true, it’s the sort of band I can like for one song, tolerate for three and then I’ll be out of there. But if I return to the main stage, it can start from scratch again: oh, good song, nice song, okay song, outta here. I can understand why this band was the headliner of the festival, even if I can’t call it my sort of music.
They’ve been compared to The Ramones (a more tedious version perhaps) and they’ve been called revivers of 70s rock music (a comparison I can understand, but you can make me happier with the original bands). However, by having a burning man running over the stage, the band brought some spectacle to the festival. Let us pray that was planned.
Here’s the video for “Stuck here for days“.

The headliners of the skatestage were 108. A New Beat From A Dead Heart is the latest release of this American hardcore band, which has been around since 1992 (with a tiny break from 1996 to 2005). True to message, the band dedicated one song to the real people, not those who liked hardcore now they were young but that would betray the scene in five years by becoming just the opposite of all they stood for nowadays. And the crowd cheered. Yeah, now they do. Let’s remind them of that cheer in 2012.

108 showed the audience they were headlining on the skatestage because they deserved that spot and not because they’d travelled the most miles to get to Herk-de-Stad. A worthy conclusion to this year’s activities in the gazebo. And yes, they too have a MySpace page.

And what do you want to do after all that loud music? Go home? Party on? Rock Herk likes to treat its visitors to an afterparty of completely different music. Enough rock, here’s some dance. This year drum’n'bass wizard Andy C. (MySpace) got the honour of closing down the festival. Not only did almost everyone at the main stage dance, even much further than that on the festival grounds people were shaking their butts to the drum’n'bass tones, even if they’d just come from The Datsuns or 108.

Diversity, ain’t it beautiful?

No New Year is complete without a look back at the year that was… 2006 brought us movies, films and books. As Delirium Vault is mostly a movie site I’ll just mention the books and music I feel should be mentioned and then we’ll go to my personal movie favourites of 2006.

BOOKS
- Fiction: Thomas Pynchon - Against The Day
Pynchon released a new novel in 2006 and this time we only had to wait nine years! 1085 pages of postmodernist nonsense, a book spawning from 1893 to just after World War I. The good airship Inconvenience will guide the Chums of Chance through their adventures, cameos of Tesla and Groucho will pop up, Icelandic spar, people drowning in mayonaise… Pynchon’s latest novel is impossible to describe (that’s 1085 pages chokeful of characters), but oh what a joy to read.

- Non-fiction: Joris Luyendijk - Het Zijn Net Mensen (They’re almost people)
Former news correspondent for the Middle East Luyendijk has published a book about his experiences as a media man. His analysis of the region: the more you learn about the Middle East, the less you understand. Neatly describing how the media work in countries governed by dictators, the way the media distort the news and the Israeli-Palestinian media wars… this book is so essential to read it’s well worth learning Dutch for.

MUSIC
Usually I publish a list of my favourite tunes, but 2006 proved to be a bit too busy to listen to a lot of music, so I think I’ll skip one year. Which doesn’t mean I can’t make a top three:

1. The Fiery Furnaces - I’m In No Mood (album: Bitter Tea)
2. Stereolab - Interlock (album: Fab Four Suture)
3. Sufjan Stevens - Dear Mr Supercomputer (album: The Avalanche)

And now it’s onto the movies…

1. El Laberinto del Fauno (9,5)
I’ll discuss this movie, better known as Pan’s Labyrinth, later on DV. Let’s just say, for now, it’s definitely the best movie of the year. And I’ll only let you disagree with me on this one if I’m in love with you.
2. Zwartboek (9)
Paul Verhoeven came back to Holland and what a comeback Black Book is! People are finally understanding why I’ve been saying Carice van Houten (pic) is an incredibly talented actress. Stylish, fun and good…
3. United 93 (9)
Paul Greengrass already directed Bloody Sunday and proved to be the best man for the job to make a movie about the hijacked plane that didn’t reach its target on 9/11. Thanks to the talent of Greengrass the movie stays sober and good. Let’s face it, this could’ve easily become a sad work of propaganda. Worst error: the scene where the terrorists tape a picture of their target onto the steering wheel. I didn’t know we knew for sure what the target was. See, there’s always a bit of propaganda with this sort of film.
4. The Secret Life of Words (8,5)
I’ve already discussed this on DV. Please scroll back.
5. Good Night, And Good Luck (8,5)
I’ve already discussed this on DV. Please scroll back.
6. Children of Men (8,5)
Utterly mind-blowing when you see it, but you do get a feeling of “it wasn’t that great” after a few hours and days. Nevertheless, notice how long certain scenes in this movie are and you’ll just have to admit this movie was a product of a lot of talented people coming together.
7. Slither (8)
Not the most original movie of the year, but one with its heart on the right place. References to Slugs, Shivers, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Yuzna and Henenlotter are never far off. Who said horror couldn’t be fun??
8. Capote (8)
Hoffman is amazing, the film is good.
9. Walk The Line (7,5)
Oh, how Reese Witherspoon deserved her Oscar for this movie. Phoenix and Witherspoon are so good you get to feel the love between Johnny and June. They even sing the songs themselves and get away with it.
10. The Descent (7,5)
I’ve already discussed this on DV. Please scroll back.

Bubbling under…Brick, The New World, An Inconvenient Truth, The Inside Man and  Tideland.