Bonafide Magazine @ MSN: Live Review: Unknown Festival |  |
- Live Review: Unknown Festival
- Souls of Mischief to release 20th anniversary reissue of ’93 Til Infinity
- Review: The Weeknd – Kiss Land
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Posted: 13 Oct 2013 11:34 AM PDT
Unknown Festival
Rovinj, Croatia 10.09.13 – 14.09.13 Croatia has steadily become the festival location of choice, the natural progression for those whose arms have been previously adorned by the wristbands of Reading, Benicassim and Bestival. This year Unknown Festival was added to the fray, brought to us by the wizened organizers of Field Day, The Warehouse Project and Hideout. So how did this triumvirate fair against its competitors? Despite a couple of violent lightening storms, pretty darn well.  Compared to the rapidly expanding Hideout and Dimensions festivals, this was relatively small, set on the somewhat idyllic location of the Maistra Resort just above Rovinj. Its resort status meant that daytime lounging began to resemble spring break at Cancun (significantly fewer wet t shirts), with hundreds of people lounging by the pool, drinks in hand. Attendees also had the option to rent 4* apartments on site. This slightly undermined the festival atmosphere but certainly added welcome luxury to anyone not in favour of awaiting imminent death by electrocution under the canopy or being swept away by the floods which twice graced Unknown. However, such meteorological drawbacks did not manage to dampen the spirits of artists and audience alike. Right on the doorstep of the campsite and apartments was a progression of stages sandwiched between the beach and fairy light-illuminated forest. Between these eclectic sound systems were hammocks, bars and art installations which offered welcome, temporary respite from the music which played for 13 hours each day. The organisers paid acute attention to detail, ensuring that the stage areas took on thematic lives of their own. From the Moroccan Medina to Mad Ferret's Mirror World, a surreal ambience was ever-present.  A common criticism was that the music started too early, at 5pm (1pm if you were on a boat party). With music going until 6am it was ambitious to expect an audience ready at the stages the following afternoon. Coupled with this was the somewhat misdirected decision to include a plethora of indie bands on the lineup. The organisers' mission-statement to be ‘unique’, with its varied acts, was certainly noble. This was unfortunately largely lost on the predominant dedicated ravers, leaving these shows under-attended. It is with crossover bands that electronic festivals have been most successful, a pertinent example being Little Dragon headlining Dimensions last year. Unknown's choice of Jessie Ware, however, was successful in this aspect, with a set featuring tracks remixed by popular house DJs such as Disclosure. This Mercury shortlisted duo predictably brought in the biggest audience on the beach-situated main stage. Reinventing themselves as a ‘live act’, Disclosure insisted on dabbling with the odd novelty bashing of a synth snare and superfluous addition of bass guitar on top of their pre-recorded loops. Despite this, with the combination of an incredible light show and an arsenal of popular singles they undeniably put on a good show. They were nevertheless outshone by a main stage SBTRKT DJ set which mixed album tracks with popular hip-hop, a nice break from the 120 bpm which dominated elsewhere. Oneman and Jackmaster's back-to-back set equally continued with this vibe, throwing garage and grime into the mix.  Aside from these established and ubiquitous artists, Unknown featured many lesser-known across the stages with crowds choosing acts like PBR Streetgang, Subb-an and Todd Terje in lieu of the headliners. Representatives from disco and techno were also present, with Tim Sweeney and Nina Kraviz waving the flag for each respectively. For many, the festival's crown jewel was the secret set which raged at the Forest Stage until midday on Saturday. Here, over the crowd of wide-eyed revellers you could see Joy Orbison, Jackmaster, Disclosure and Optimo fight for the decks back-to-back. This final rare performance made a thoroughly satisfactory end to the festival, ushering in the bleak arrival of shuttles taking the haggard masses to Trieste and beyond. Minor gripes aside, Unknown was certainly an excellent festival with a picturesque setting, prestigious acts and an enthusiastic audience. This is not a festival for those craving little-heard-of DJs (as evinced by the acts mentioned) but one for those who enjoy the scene in all its forms and don't mind being on a Croatian beach while doing so. Next year will surely see expansion as word of mouth spreads, forcing the Croatian veterans onto Bratislava in search of the new so-hot-right-now Eastern European country.  Words and photography: Adrian Choa  |
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Posted: 13 Oct 2013 10:54 AM PDT
Undisputedly one of the defining albums from the Golden Era of 90s hip-hop, Souls of Mischief‘s debut album ’93 Til Infinity is seeing a special reissue to mark its 20th anniversary through Get Down Records (the team behind GZA and Nas box sets amongst others).
The two-disc reissue will include the original album tracks on disc one, 11 remixes and instrumentals on disc two and a 36-page hard-cover book of liner notes and exclusive interviews. More details below. Read Bonafide’s interview with Souls of Mischief here. Disc 1: 01 Let ‘Em Know 02 Live and Let Live 03 That's When Ya Lost 04 A Name I Call Myself 05 Disseshowedo 06 What a Way to Go Out 07 Never No More 08 93 ‘Til Infinity 09 Limitations 10 Anything Can Happen 11 Make Your Mind Up 12 Batting Practice 13 Tell Me Who Profits 14 Outro Disc 2: 01 93 ‘Til Infinity (12″ Remix Version) 02 That's When Ya Lost (I Ain’t Trippin’ Remix) 03 Make Your Mind Up (Rock on Mix) 04 Never No More (76 Seville Mix) 05 Good Feeling (12″ Version) 06 93 ‘Til Infinity (LP Instrumental) 07 93 ‘Til Infinity (Remix Instrumental) 08 That's When Ya Lost (LP Instrumental) 09 Never No More (LP Instrumental) 10 Never No More (76 Seville Mix Instrumental) 11 93 ‘Til Infinity (A cappella Version)  |
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Posted: 13 Oct 2013 10:42 AM PDT
The Weeknd has always been an enigmatic act. Achieving respected hipster status whilst regularly collaborating with Drake is no simple feat, and this November he is headlining the O2 arena, joining the ranks of Rihanna and One Direction. With this meteoric rise in mind, there are two important questions that need to be posed: first, has this progression gone to his head, and second, does it matter? To the artist's detriment, the answers are yes and yes. Kiss Land is a work of abstract self-obsession, lacking the basic aural aesthetic which had made The Weeknd popular in the first place.
In Abel Tesfaye's previous EP Thursday he created an ethereal and haunting soundscape depicting the dark underbelly of fame in L.A. With the visual aid of his seedy music videos, you could almost hear the cocaine being snorted off the chest of a struggling actress at the Chateau Marmont. The darkness of the production in conjunction with the melancholia of the lyrics resulted in tracks which were revealing but not celebratory. In a novel departing from the hip-hop creed, excesses of women and drugs were painted in a negative light, evinced most strongly in The Zone. The chorus proclamation "this the shit that I live for" in Live For (the opening single on Kiss Land) represents a drastic, fatal change in attitude. This debut LP is saturated with a grating arrogance; only taking a breather for ending track Tears in the Rain which offers only consolatory self-deprecation. This is accompanied by large doses of misogyny as Tesfaye peppers tracks with lines like "go head strip it down, close your mouth" and "the only thing you're taking is your clothes off". The addition of a girl continuously screaming on title track Kiss Land makes this all the more ominous. Consequently, The Weeknd's sound has lost the sensual quality that charecterised his previous releases. Put simply, no couple would get down to this record.This is in part also due to the fact that the production is both repetitive and tedious. The album flows cohesively not because of the establishment of an overarching theme, but because the songs are too monotonously similar. The same off beat, heavily reverbed kick drums and dramatic synths merge each song into the next.Wanderlust however shows a departing from the record's sound with its zeitgeist 80s production, only improved upon greater in Pharrell's bonus track remix. Continuing in this 80's vein, the Kavinsky-produced Odd Look is also a standout track. With Drake's somewhat redeeming vocal contributions also in mind, it is evident that it is only the talent of others that redeems Kiss Land. Indeed, if you came looking for vintage The Weeknd, your search may be more fruitful if you were to buy Drake's Nothing Was the Same. Ultimately, with the proliferation of successful and diverse contemporary R&B acts such as Frank Ocean, Autre ne Veut and AlunaGeorge, it is clear that Tesfaye needs to drastically up his game in order to compete. The future avoidance of this, and a return to the sound of his effective EPs, will require both a drastic reevaluation of his ego and the hiring of new producers. Words: Adrian Choa  |
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