by MariaElisa *nocore*
*Festivals - Still can't get enough of these. Highlights of my festival season include: going to Glastonbury without a ticket and ending up dancing on stage with Iggy Pop. Spending two hours making a *GIRLCORE* racing wheelchair for the Secret Garden Party Grand Prix, only to miss the race by deciding to play "hand tennis" in the grounds of a Lord's stately home. Enjoying the messy and somewhat painful wonders of watching a Fucked Up gig right from the front (ie. massive moshpit) and recovering by going for a 3am swim in the secret swimming pool at Tales of the Jackalope. The incredible and long-winded afterparty to Lovebox, right after seeing my friends dance with Felix Da Housecat's mum. Dancing to Chromeo at Field Day, before losing my bag in a haze of alcohol and Battles-induced stupor. Getting thrown off the stage on Shitdisco's set at TDK and threatening to sue (on that note, getting thrown off the stage is starting to become one of my specialties). I can't wait for Bestival!
*Animal Collective - Yes, I am a late starter. Having been introduced to their sound by my noise-loving friend Erik some time last year, my uncultured mind wasn't yet prepared to fully appreciate the experimental pop wonders of this band. Fast-forward a year and my housemate Karley is dispatched to Portugal to write a piece on them for Dazed and - since my laptop doubles as the local internet cafe and Karley's office - suddenly I have the whole of two Animal Collective albums and one Panda Bear's in my iTunes and a ticket to see them at The Coronet! Suffice to say, I have been converted.
(While I'm at it, may I take this opportunity to recommend a Scottish band called Life Without Buildings. Threading the line between experimental atmospheric pop and eighties girlrock without any problems.)
*Architecture in Helsinki - Again, late starter. My journey to the australian shores of AIH started with my obsession with Portland band The Blow (who I already wrote about for this blog - see below). As it sometimes happens when you're obsessed, the internet becomes your best stalking weapon and you spend hours looking up for any information on the one you're obsessed about. In this case, the name YACHT turned up, which was the side project (and as of June 2007, the only project) of The Blow's Jona Bechtolt. After a quick trip to his website, I was the proud owner of YACHT's remix of "Nevereverdid" by Architecture in Helsinki. This sparked my curiosity but wasn't enough to make me find out about them until about two months ago, when I decided to look them up on The Hype Machine and jumped around with the realization that I WAS IN LOVE!! ...Well, not really. But it did make me go on my own to their gig at Hoxton Bar recently.
*Facebook.com - I tried no to. I swear. "Myspace is enough" I said. But what started as a little tickle of my curiosity has developed into a full-on addiction to 'new notifications', zombies, photos of people I haven't seen in 10 years, etc. Look me up and poke me while you're at it.
*slutever.blogspot.com - Call it a shameful plug, but this blog by *GIRLCORE* member and general legend Karley Sciortino is actually the best thing since God invented big boobs. Not for the faint-hearted.
