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Ok, so first off I must iterate the fact that this particular run down is in no particular order, nor is it a definitive list of the best British record labels of all time (as if such a breakdown could ever be truly quantified). It is simply a list of some personal favourites within the British...MORE>>
British summer time is, even at the best of times, a somewhat unpredictable thing. This particular summertime, thus far, has been equally unpredictable. Encroaching high pressure weather systems have resulted in unseasonable highs juxtaposed against torrential downpours, thunderstorms and even the odd dash off lightning to complete the meteorological menagerie that has been July.
This unpredictability is underpinned by the almost mechanical regularity of certain British summer time events, often hinting towards the propensity for a stiff upper lip, in spite of certain natural shortcomings. Wimbeldon, Strawberries & Cream, Garden Parties; All events which are undertaken with the regimented, almost tyrannical reliability that only the British are able to initiate. Thus, come rain or shine, last years winners of the coveted ‘Best Small Festival Prize’, The Secret Garden Party will take
place between the 23rd & the 26th of July amidst the Cambridgeshire countryside, bringing with a bevy of suitably eclectic musical acts.
The Secret Garden Party can often be regarded as a surrealist exercise into the veritable virtues of music as the art form it is, a small utopian corner of the world where music is the autonomous tyrant under whom all must bow without questioning, for to question is to think, and to think is to use ones brain as opposed to ones soul, and this seems to be an ethic The Secret Garden Party solely reject.
Such an abject disregard towards the ‘overthinking’, & to a certain degree the ‘overselling’ of the musical art form has seen SGP scouring the fringes of the musical underworld for the best, the brilliant & sometimes the downright bonkers as opposed to booking ‘safer’, more ‘sellable’ acts. This years’ SGP will see the likes of Jarvis Cocker, back with a vengeance from his period amid the Indie wilderness, & Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Latin fusion giants, undertaking headline slots upon the Great Stage. The Great Stage will also play home to the wonderful French Funksters, Phoenix, embarking upon a somewhat unprecedented assault upon the UK.
The SGP’s unrivalled appeal is the almost innumerable abundance of stages being set for an equally innumerable superfluity of acts, amongst which several have appeared between these very pages, including; The Jessie Rose Trip, Peggy Sue & the Pirates & the unequalled Goldheart Assembly. All of whom, whilst being entirely different from one another, maintain a single unified solidarity in that each has talent & each is displaying that talent away from any major commercial backing. Much like The Secret Garden Party itself, come to think of it.
Unfortunately, at the time of writing, the SGP has entirely sold out, an indication that the popularity and hype surrounding an event such as this is entirely justified. So whilst we may not be able to be there let us this weekend revel in the metaphysical marvel of our favourite music, indulging in the ethic of SGP if not the event itself.
