by Marcus Clarke on the
Arguably the U.K’s coolest metropolitan festival, Tramlines, is back again this year. Headliners include Wu-Tang Clan, Basement Jaxx and The Charlatans but there’s a butt-tonne of other delightful gems dotted around the bounty of venues in the city including a Fringe event hosted by Neighbourhood. We’ve put together a list of the oddballs, the weirdos and wildcards that’ll throw your perceptions right out the window. OPEN YOUR MINDS AND LET THEM IN.
1. Blood Sport:
Steel-City locals Blood Sport have been key figures in the Sheffield DIY scene through their affiliation with The Audacious Art Experiment and their own label Hybrid Vigor Records. Through the latter, they’ll be curating their own stage at this year’s Tramlines. Blending afro-beat rhythms with experimental but melodic guitar tones and mangled vocals, Blood Sport offer something of a hypnotic, cross-continental experience in their live shows.
2. Nozinja:
South African DJ/producer and Shangaan electro pioneer Richard Mthethwa has taken traditional local folk music and injected it with the Daft Punk philosophy of ‘harder, better, faster, stronger’. Whether it’s Footwork in Chicago or Makina in South Shields, there’s something that attracts the heart to awkwardly high bpm’s and with Shangaan electro it’s a similar scenario. However you want to dance to it, Nozinja is sure to make your feet lose it.
3. James Holden:
James Holden’s 2013 album ‘The Inheritors’ is an arpeggiated modular-synthetic transcendental exploration. The pulses become beats and in turn become moments of inspiration and deep reflection on the thumping heart powering our existence.
4. Bartholins Glands:
Try Googling ‘Bartholins Glands’ and you’re not going to find the artist I’m talking about, but you may learn a thing or two in the process. The Newcastle artist, whose real name is Bartira Sena, uses a mixture of records, tapes and broken toys to create an otherworldly soundscape that’s highly intriguing. Her 2014 release ‘Abençoada ( Orixæs Index)’ is at times intense but mostly a breathtaking journey through her unique mind and musical score.
5. Evian Christ:
All you need to know is that the Merseyside progressive-electronic producer is featured on Kanye’s ‘Yeezus’ and has recently signed to Warp Records to release a conceptual art installation with David Rudnick about a Trance War, which will include a public monument to the 30,000 dogs that lost their lives in said war. Seems legit.
6. Strange U:
One of U.K. rap’s most stand-out acts right now. If sci-fi rap is your thing, then Strange U is the dope you need. Headed up by emcee Kashmere AKA Lord Rao and beatmaker Dr. Zygote they supply a potent dose of dank funk, whimsical rap quotables and some untouchable stage swagger.
7. Inga Copeland:
You may know her as one-half of duo Hype Williams, but with the recent news that Inga and fellow collaborator Dean Blunt are no longer in cahoots you may be about to hear a lot more from her. The jarring electronic squelches and screeches invoke a creeping urge to swing. Copeland is one sharp nocturnal dub tech architect.
8. Mugstar:
Also playing Tramlines Fringe are ferocious Liverpool psych trio Mugstar. Taking influence from kraut and space rock the band charge on like a dank spaceship chugging through star clouds in search of dark matter.
9. Stealing Sheep:
These poppy psych-folk scousers released their second album ‘Not Real’ to critical acclaim back in April. This is sweet surrealism that’ll have you hooked from the off.
10. Neneh Cherry:
You probably know the Swedish-born singer/rapper Neneh Cherry (step-daughter of famous jazz artist Don Cherry) through her classic record ‘Buffalo Stance’. She’s recorded with virtually everyone from Michael Stipe to The Slits and Gorillaz to Gang Starr. 2014’s ‘Blank Project’ was her first release in over 18 years and saw her planting herself firmly in the contemporary as she always has. Neneh is surely going to be giving the Tramlines crowd a performance to remember.