Only 17 Days Until Shambala!
Yes, it's getting to be that time again. The bizarre Shambala bazaar will shortly be popping into brightly-coloured existence near a Market Harbourough near you, and bringing with it the requisite lashings of theatricality, silliness, random tangents and, naturally, stompingly good music.
This year, rather than yet another alliterative list with far too many adjectives, we've decided to focus on three particular artists that showcase the diversity of this especially special little festival. First up we have DJ duo The Nextmen!
Otherwise known as Dom Search and Brad Baloo, these highly skilled selectors redefine the word eclectic with their idiosyncratic crate-digging and superb blending. Expect everything from house to hip-hop, from disco to dubstep, from the Prodigy to Marvin Gaye via Sub Focus and Stevie Wonder. You'll be guaranteed to spend at least 50 per cent of the time gobsmacked by combinations of tunes you could never have imagined working - and at least 100 per cent of the time dancing the soles of your keen little feet off.
Next up - The Imperial Tiger Orchestra!
These "self-proclaimed counterfeiters" bridge the gap between the melody and fluidity of traditional music and the buzz and thud of contemporary dance, taking classic Ethiopian songs and updating them with cutting-edge electronics, a blistering horn section and a keen sense of what will make a dancefloor erupt in frenzied wobbling. You'll pretty much definitely never have heard anything like this before.
Aaaaaaand finally, we have... The Destroyers!
If you've never encountered these Balkan hooligans before, you truly won't believe your eyes... or your ears... or any other part of your anatomy, for that matter. This fifteen - YES, FIFTEEN - piece ensemble of lunatic instrumentalists, aided and abetted by the madcap beat poetry of possessed grandfather figure Paul Murphy, play some of the most intricate and demanding knees-up gypsy jazz this side of Django Reinhardt's subconscious, with enough twists, turns and devillish rhythmic trickery to keep even the most light-footed of dancers on their toes. Infectiously fun, deliriously talented... there's really no excuse not to go mental to this lot.
And of course there'll also be Monsieur Roots Manuva, the fairytale-meets-cyberpunk wonderland of the Enchanted Woods, legendary punk poet John Cooper-Clarke, funk collective The Apples, drum'n'bass badboys Ed Rush & Optical and GAWD only KNOWS what else. Tickets are still on sale but they're being snapped up fast - go and grab yours NOW before it's SIMPLY TOO LATE!
You know it makes sense.
"Shambala - putting all the goodness in one place so all you have to do is go to it" (rubbishly-worded but accurate rejected festival slogan).
Go here for more, and for tickets, and for suchlikes.
