If you are here looking for the free download of Echaskech at Festinho please head to the blog below....or click here.
So, we come to the end of our summer festival season and what better a way to finish things off than by heading to Bestival on the Isle of Wight.
Compared to the previous festivals we have attended this year, this is definitely the most manic and intense...but in the best way possible. This place is about as full on as it gets with 40,000 people packed into a reasonably confined space and a bewildering array of things to do and see.
If the madness and eccentricity of Brits in fancy dress (Space Oddity being this years theme) isn't enough there's also polka dancing, a steam punk spectacular (meh?), a 19th Century style Belgian mirrored Spielgel tent, a place serving Christmas dinner, an insect circus, a naked sauna, the Afterburner, a 'Most People in their Pants' record attempt....and that's before we even mention that Kraftwerk are headlining.
This year the event is blessed with superb weather which more than makes up for last years Biblical downpours and further enhances the party atmosphere that permeates the entire site throughout the weekend.
Musically, there is a never ending choice of wonders and plentiful opportunities to check out acts from across the spectrum.
Hello there! We are Echaskech and we've been lucky enough to head to a fair few festivals this Summer. We've been punters at some and played at others and we thought it might be nice to share some of these experiences with you dear reader.
This time you find us at Festinho and just as we thought our festival fun couldn't get any better following The Big Chill, Festinho comes along and slaps us in the face with an absolute beauty of an event.
This is greatly helped by a lucky bump for us to support Saturday headliner Jon Hopkins on the main stage - but more of this, and a free download from that set, later.
So, how does one cook up such a splendid festival and what are the required ingredients??
First into the pot must go a liberal dosing of goodwill - in this case it's all about street kids in Brazil as much of the money this festival makes goes towards the ABC Trust.
Don't forget to mix in more than a pinch of legendary and saintly volunteers to help glue it all together and keep costs low in order to maximise charitable monies:
Next - get yourself an uber venue deep in the Suffolk countryside and make it look the nuts (see video at the end of this piece!)
Now stir in a diverse selection of quality acts to tempt the crowd - some Cuban Brothers here, a dash of Carnival Collective there, a bit of The Egg on top, some Crazy P around the sides and then some Music from The Penguin Cafe as a garnish.
It might be worth going for something high class and a touch experimental as a Saturday headliner - somebody that exudes rare pungent basslines from another dimension, scrunching stench filled beats to rattle the senses and an otherwordly energy to really make our nostrils flare. That Jon Hopkins should be able to deliver this and then some...
Don't forget to order in some much bigger stages than last year and definitely get some kind of festival guru to programme one of them - Pete Lawrence from The Big Chill should fit the bill nicely. It's most likely he'll bring his own magical ingredients to the party - hopefully some attractive and excellent female vocalists like Kirsty Hawkshaw and Sabira Jade....he might even invite some truly awesome bands such as Mawkin:Causley and The Shadow Orchestra..
Do remember to order up a nice smattering of anglo-latin vibes by booking artists like The Fontana's and Heather McClell...it's important to give your dish a little bit of a Brazilian touch:
Right, now you've got your main ingredients it's probably best to make sure your festival has some nice extra side dishes...
Knock up a Gingerbread House in the woods for some proper partying mayhem.
Make sure you pick up a large and eclectic bag of DJ's for this Gingerbread party pit - Daft Pink, Mixmaster Morris, AGT Rave Cru - those kind of guys please.
Get yourself some acrobats to perform in the woods too. And make sure you add a little bit of a Cockney Knees Up in that vicinity as well - a Cockney Knees Up is essential to any festival so please ensure it has a presence in your dish..
Oh,and make the most of the local barns - put some masseurs in one and get a load of excellent electronica acts to play in another (Minke, Dialog, The Beaufort Scale and Input Junkie will definitely deliver that extra spice to your event).
It's also crucial that people dress in something strange so bung a bit of fancy dress in there.....pyjamas and nightwear should do the trick.
Finally make sure you are extremely well organised in the overall presentation and running of your tasty repast. Stir everything together.....and hey presto! An uber festival!
So, yes - it really was an excellent weekend with fantastic performances from all the artists we saw and a truly great atmosphere all round - many congratulations to the organisers and big ups must go to the lovely volunteers for helping make it such a top notch affair..
As for us - well, our lucky bump to the main stage was apparently due to The Egg being unable to make the Saturday and being moved to Friday. Thanks for being so busy Egg Men!
Nervous setting up:
A huge merci must also go to the organisers for trusting us not to balls up on such a big stage, and a massive thanks to all the lovely stage manager types (Kirsty and Craig especially!) and sound engineers for running such a tight and friendly ship.
We hope we delivered a reasonable set for all those who came to see us. We certainly enjoyed ourselves!
Thanks to Andy F for the following vid from the early part of our set. The track is 'The Calm (After the Storm)' - to be released as part of The Storm EP later this year:
Echaskech Festinho Set List (originals available on albums 'Shatterproof' and 'Skechbook' unless otherwise stated):
On Your Mind She Likes Colour Future Sex The Calm (After the Storm) - out on The Storm EP later this year Cause and Effect Frequency Apogee Brief Moment - unreleased Gothic Monks - our remix of an original track by Dialog > The Storm - out on The Storm EP next year
Here's a recording of Gothic Monks by Dialog > (Echaskech Mix) which we played live at Festinho.... for you to listen to.
(Please note this was recorded by our friend Dave Dodd who stood in the middle of the audience with a giant hairy mic and recording gear - having to put up with people shouting 'nice muff' at him. Cheers for that Dave. This recording is not straight off the desk so the quality reflects that - we hope it brings a bit of the atmos back though!!)
The original of this is available on the Dialog > album 'Run Silent, Run Deep' along with our remix - all available on iTunes and direct from Dialog. Shatterproof and Skechbook are available on Just Music..CD and digital....
It's also had some plays on the'Solarstone/Deepblue' radio show - synced across various international stations from Brazil to Russia - lovely jubbly!
So just a one off show for you, as I’m still running around at weekend on the festival trail (next is Festinho, then The Thames Festival) and after that the missus and I are off to America for a 3 week road trip across the South West of USA. Normal service should resume on my return. Until then…
Tracklisting
Dan Arborise - Feet in the Sea, Head in the Stars
Fink - Q & A
Bibio - Fire Ant
Yimino - Squeeze Me
Echaskech - Future Sex
Bombay Monkey - Are the Stars
Florence & The Machine - Between Two Lungs
School of 7 Bells - White Elephant Coat
Echaskech - Reduction
Hell - Electronic Germany
Lindstrom - Where you Go I go too (part 1)
Subway - Xam
Echaskech - She Likes Colour
TrenteMoeller - Moan
Echaskech - The Calm//The Storm
ASIP
If you go to the rather good music blog 'A Strangely Isolated Place' and tell us what you see when you stare at our new album cover...you could win in it....
This was possibly one of the funest dj sets I’ve played this year - big up to the Tom, Jasper & Caro from the Bubblebus and to the wonderful Nettiefor taking the footage.
