Following a late cancellation from Azealia Banks, Parquet
Courts get to steal a big share of the crowd for their late afternoon slot.
Although scattering four new songs in your opening six is no way to keep them
there, thankfully most stay to witness the set’s crowning moment of “Master
Of My Craft / Borrowed Time” – boasting possibly the best segue that
garage rock has ever seen.
I’m happy to admit that I’ve enjoyed listening to Disclosure’s album in the car a couple
of times. With the windows down and the wind in your hair, the soulless, hollow
beats sort of make sense. Disclosure’s role today seems to be getting in my car
and pressing play for me whilst I drive, because watching them play “live” is
to listen to their song with a large number of other people who probably wish
they were in their bil too (that’s
Norweigan for car, FYI).
The crown jewel in Disclosure’s recorded work is the broad
range of featured vocalists across the tracks, but with those guests’s presence
coming in mp3 form today, you’re left thinking that Disclosure might as well
have stayed at home too.
James Blake returned to the festival circuit this year, and
thankfully brought a band with him this time. Seeing him in this setting on his
first album tour, with only his keyboard for accompaniment, was almost
cringeworthy – as drunk punters talked their way through his more delicate
moments, merely waiting for that bit
of bass in “Limit To Your Love”.The full band James Blake show really beefs things up, with
“CMYK” benefitting the most from some carnival-esque drums. Though the slower
songs still tests the audiences patience, the Londoner now provides a much more
engaging live experience. Bravo.
Back on the Sjosiden stage, a small crowd gather for Beach House’s headline slot. Clashing
with three dimensions of Kraftwerk
was always going to prove problematic for the Baltimore duo, and as the minutes
tick by before their arrival on stage, it looks as though the Germans will be
stealing their spectators, and their thunder. All is not lost, however, as
flocks of people come rushing down from the main stage as each song passes,
discarding their 3D glasses in the mud, and swaying along in unison to dream
pop hit after dream pop hit.
After the festival site closed for the day, a midnight
excursion to the candlelit Oslo Botanical Gardens proves the perfect seeing to
see Norweigan songstress Jenny Hval. Playing
through tracks from new album ‘Innocence Is Kinky’, Jenny manages to silence the
crowd and induce blushes, muttering “At night I watch people fucking on my
computer” with a confidence you wouldn’t expect from the softly spoken,
cardigan-clad singer songwriter.
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