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Eamon was on the 6 Music news with a few words saying how they've moved up stages each year (they started on the acoustic stage) He also said they've just finished recording their album, mentioned sitting on porches with Cerys Matthews. He also talked about recording the album and David Briggs, the guy who used to play piano for Elvis: "It's just brilliant". Truck Festival Sessions at BBC Collective. What's In It For Me (acoustic with Eamon & Marc) Brakes are also on the festival report (short interview & Disco Party clip) BRAKES & ESP LIVE AUDIO Download Brakes at Truck from 6 Music: Can't Stand To Stand Besides You, Shut Us Down (originally by Camper Van Beethoven) Margherita (new one) Heard About Your Band, Hold Me In The River (new one) All Night Disco Party, Comma Comma Comma Fullstop. Buy from Truck ... Proceeds go to charity ... More info Truck have put up The Friday Before Christmas on their downloads page truckfestival.org If you didn’t manage to get a copy of the festival cd at the festival, they are now available from our webshop, click here 18 tracks from bands who performed over the weekend, and most of them are exclusive recordings for the CD. Includes brand new E.S.P. track, Brakes Metway Session of You're So Pretty and Danny George Wilson's The Shadow Of The Wolf - "featuring the delightful musical talents of Tom White". heathenangel.co.uk Truck Records - Truck 9: The lovely people at the Truck Festivals yearly disc shaped representation of the goings on at the Festival is a right ol mixed bag. The highlights are no doubt provided by the already established artists (Youthmovies, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, Forward, Russia!, 65DaysofStatic and a shockingly good post rock assault from the Electric Soft Parade of all people) while in amongst we're treated to a fair amount of electro-dance dirge (Anat Ben David, Trademark and the Atari blips of Nervous_Testpilot) but a couple of unkempt gems come courtesy of The Colony, Shimura Curves & Undertheigloo. If you were at the festival and picked this up, well done you. If not, pester Truck for one. Sounds XP Every year the Truck Festival crew put together a CD of tunes from bands who play the festival and the takings go to the charities supported by Truck Festival. This year the CD has 18 tracks, 14 of which are new or unreleased and five were written especially for the CD. Brakes offer the amazing Neil Young/Byrds-flavoured ‘You’re So Pretty’ with its barbed lines: “you know I trust you, babe/don’t fuck me up”. The CD starts and ends with epics: Electric Soft Parade open with the epic guitar instrumental ‘The Friday Before Christmas’ and, with Goldrush, they back Danny George Wilson on his also-epic alt-country ‘The Shadow of the Wolf’ You should buy it because the Truck Festival is a great idea from nice guys who put out good music, because this is a non-sucking festival souvenir and, above all, because the money goes to good causes. From nightshift.oxfordmusic.net/2006/jul/jul.p Sounds XP It’s back to a sunnier main stage for an amazing set by Brakes. Intense, fresh and frantic, they’re like a young and fit Pixies and blow everyone away with Heard About Your Band and All Night Disco Party. They’d be the perfect Saturday night headliners next year. Click the link to read all about the Truck Festival at PingMag: Interview with P-C Rae PC: Usually the line-up of a festival gets written in different font sizes: the head-liners are in the biggest size and young bands are written in tiny letters. But that’s not fair, right? There are some young bands, who are much better than some big bands. That’s why our line-up is in alphabetical order and all in the same font size. Pingmag: I think you are pretty brave to do that! How do you explain that to your big name headliners? PC: “You guys are not going to be announced in the big letters!” (laughs) But that’s what the Truck Festival is all about. God is In The TV on Electric Soft Parade: Regrettably, 65daysofstatic, who the boyfriend wants to see, clash with established favourites The Electric Soft Parade, so I trade in the boy for a mate who also worships the ground Tom and Alex White walk on and we saunter off to grab a perfect spot at the Truck Stage. It’s been a couple of years since I last saw them live, but ESP don’t disappoint. The focus is on recent EP The Human Body, which is an inventive, melodic, coherent and wildly underrated record. It also sounds bloody brilliant at Truck, even if it takes a bit of gruff reprimanding to get people off their asses to join us in front of the stage. When I approach Tom later that evening to gush embarrassingly at him, he reveals that the band is in the last week of recording a new album. From what we heard in their set and the strength of the EP, this is an exciting prospect indeed. Brakes put in a solid performance of punchy start/stop blasts and countrified indie, with Eamon spitting the words out as if his life depended on it. Most of their album Give Blood receives an airing, as well as a couple of b-sides, such as Porcupine or Pineapple which gets a good portion of the crowd singing along. One of my personal highlights of the festival, I was of course ecstatic to get a double-helping of the White brothers (they of The Electric Soft Parade, more of whom later), but Brakes have emerged as a confident, idiosyncratic band in their own right. No more talk of super groups from now on. Maybe. powpowpow.com The main stage array of Good Books, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, and Brakes must have stunned all in attendance. Good Books’ melodic indie charms, Get Cape’s heartfelt acoustic lyricisms and Brakes’ throbbing alt-country-rock-craziness added fuel to an already sparkling fire. From nightshift.oxfordmusic.net/2006/aug/aug.pdf lostmusic.co.uk Brakes, the indie super group, who are, in my opinion, about the best festival band around. With song styles veering between pop, rock, country, and dance, sometimes in the same song, the crowd love them. All their songs are catchy, even the 6 second Comma Comma Comma Full Stop, and I love their cover of the classic country song Jackson. And, being the perfect festival band they even manage to put the brakes on the rain, and by the end of their set, the sun was shining again, hooray for Brakes! Electric Soft Parade: I am pleased to write how they finally convinced me that they can be a decent live band. I am so glad, as on record, they make some fine indie pop tunes. burnt-jamb.livejournal.com Wow! Like the Pixies, but a tiny bit like British Sea Power (that's a given, considering frontman Eamon used to be their keyboardist) and all types of indie rock driven goodness, this band really surprised me with their awesome hooks and equally excellent vocals. Featuring "those two" from Electric Soft Parade, the music ability on offer is outstanding, they even jokingly brought the sun out (oh yeah, the weather was a wash out up until Brakes started playing, it did mean however I got to wear my Polar Opposites wellies!) Gigwise.com Brakes promise to clear the clouds for us, and by the time they've got through their joyous set of weird country and the occasional nine second song to 'All Night Disco Party' they've brought out the sun, good lads. ShadowPlay Fanzine Brakes (ESP & BSP if you will) coax the sun out with a rattling rocknroll set which explains why Tom and Alex Soft Parade now seem to practice only their quieter and more expansive side in their own band. All the hits - Heard About Your Band, All Night Disco Party, I Can't Stand... are rolled out in fine style, audience and old man who looks a little like a turtle alike bellowing them out. Jackson also gets a huge roar of country approval as the sun finally shines out fully and the plastic bags are taken off the speakers before their JAMC cover, Sometimes Always bangs a lump into my throat. Truck 2006 in Moving Pictures (with photos of Brakes) Truck photos at underexposed.org.uk: Electric Soft Parade and Brakes Electric Soft Parade review at sweepingthenation.blogspot.com Semi-bravely Holes In The Wall is ignored and their newest material gets the airing it on mostly first listen deserves, building on their developing harmonic subtleties and pop dynamics, never pinning itself down to one set of marked influences. With an album due on Truck itself next year, there's something afoot here. Photos of Tom & Eamon at photography-of-rock.com mapsmagazine.co.uk Brakes put in the best performance I've seen from them, finally proving that they are more than the sum of their parts - for which read 1 part British Sea Power, 2 parts Electric Soft Parade + 1 bassist of unknown origin (to me at least) -- Marc from The Tenderfoot -- They manage to keep a lid on their tendency to play 45 second bursts of silly voices and loud guitars, and instead play a set of urgent lo-fi sprinkled with surprises and obscure cover versions (Camper Van Beethoven anybody?) See the photos national-student.co.uk Throwing in some new tunes like the banging, dirty-rock stomper ‘Cease and Desist’, written on a trip to Nashville, today’s performance indicates that Brakes can get only get better. domdadom.blogspot.com Brakes were awfully good as usual, and it was pointed out to me that there are few other festivals in existence where the whole audience at the main stage would be able to sing along with Brakes songs word for word. sweepingthenation.blogspot.com Just as the rain eases and the sun appears on the horizon, we welcome Brakes, joined for two songs by Electric Soft Parade's Matt Twaites on sterling tambouring/smoking work, and they mean business. Not that Eamon Hamilton has ever been particularly easy on his targets, but they're on raging form today, where even a solo version of Jackson makes sense, semi-legendary B-side Porcupine Or Pineapple gets a singalong and the new songs sound superb. The crowd participation builds right throughout NY Pie and an impromptu Heard About Your Band until the traditional closer Comma Comma Comma Full Stop, and it's clear we've all had A Moment. See a photo They also have an interview with P-C Rae (Truck festival organiser) Electric Soft Parade photos: Boggles ESP gave us a short but sweet set that went something like... A Beating Heart, Cold World, Lose Yr Frown, Bruxellisation, If That's The Case, Then I Don't Know, Everybody Wants. blog.myspace.com/jack_and_the_elations Brakes were the band that coaxed the sun out to play, complete with hat and received a rapturous reception possibly as a result. Not to say their abrupt brand of equally irritated and agitated country seasoned punk didnt deserve such a reaction, with 'Heard About Your Band' and 'Hi How Are You' becoming more and more relevant with every playing. Despite lacking the energy and vigour of past performances on far smaller stages slightly, they still proved a very good turning point for the afternoon. Brakes photos: Sally J Saveall and attentiondeficit blog.myspace.com/thefamousnelly Electric Soft Parade only played new stuff, but really sounded good. Brakes were brilliant fun, bonkers but fun! Brakes photo: blog.myspace.com/robsell01 E.S.P. photo: romahotshot Brakes photo: georgeorwellwasright blog.myspace.com/georgeorwellwasright Brakes were great and really got the festival going as the sunshine reappeared over Truck. A really energised performance. Truck wouldn't be the same without the Brighton collective. Brakes photos by jollyness: pic 1 -- pic 2 and Phil & Maria |