My Chemical Toilet

Bat For Lashes - MCT's favourite tip for the Mercury Music Prize

Natasha Khan It’s not often I advocate gambling, but in the case of Brighton’s Bat For Lashes, I know I'm onto a winner. Seriously, I've been rambling on about the sheer amazingness of this band for so long nobody will actually talk to me anymore. Still, you'd be best off forgoing that round of beers after work tonight – instead, head to your nearest branch of William Hill and put that tenner on the ethereal group to win this year’s Mercury Music Prize. Read my lips: Bat For Lashes are making the most stunning music this side of 1990.

Fronted by the band's songwriter, the extremely nice Natasha Khan, this four-piece made one of the best albums of 2006 with their nominated debut, Fur and Gold. Fizzing with theramins, haunting lyrics and the sort of tunes you’d sell your own mother for, it’s testament to its spine tingling beauty that I spent an entire day in a weird state of hypnosis listening to four 50 second clips when the review copy failed to materialise.

From the melancholic beauty of 'Bat's Mouth' to the sexual Duracell that is 'The Wizard' it's impossible to pick a favourite. Oh go on then, 'Prescilla'. No, 'The Horse and I'. Damn.

In-Tents Questioning: Latitude - Kat Brown

Kat Brown is a new writer here on My Chemical Toilet, bringing with her much experience of gigging, ligging and - quite probably - swigging. That's her on the left in cartoon form. As an introduction she agreed to share her experience of this year's Latitude with us. Theft, twats and a star of Spiderman singing about bait all featured.

1. Kindly tell us your name, age and where you’re from. Now.

My name is Kat Brown, I’m 24 and I'm from London. Sir.

2. Which festival have you recently attended?

Latitude!

3. Have you attended this festival before? If yes, how does this year compare?

Yes I have. And to be honest, this year was a bit shit. Not in terms of line-up which was lovely, or what was on offer, but from the wankers who decided to go along. I mean, seriously. It’s an arts festival in the middle of Suffolk, it’s hardly Leeds, so why all the beered-up twats with lax attitudes to suncare decided to come and “WEY-HEY!!!!!” their way into next Tuesday I’ll never know. Oh, and there was thievery, which was crap.

4. Which act gave the best performance, and why?

Patrick Wolf. He could recite the times table and still be entertaining.

Cold War Kids @ Latitude 2007

Their cred may have taken a dip with the hipster brigade when it emerged that they're - *gasp* - christians, but CWK still have a hatful of terrific tunes. Here they are performing "Hang Me Out To Dry" at Latitude this year.

Is Latitude now the preferred festival for older Glastonbury fans?

Interesting that, just as Mr. Eavis announces that Glastonbury needs to appeal to younger music fans, Latitude - which is aimed at an older crowd - has been receiving glowing reviews across the board this year. The latest to submit enthusiastic opinions are The Times and The Guardian.

Given that the conditions at Glastonbury differed greatly from those at Latitude, it's perhaps unfair to compare the two based on this year alone. And it would be naive to ignore the brand loyalty Glasto has built up over the years. But the fact remains that after a couple of good years, Latitude, which this featured headliners Jarvis Cocker, Arcade Fire and Damien Rice, seems to be persuading a certain section of the festivalgoing public to switch allegiance.

Bill Bailey sings Love Song @ Latitude Festival '07

10 reasons why Latitude is better than Glastonbury

kings%20of%20neon.jpg 1. The line-up managed to be awesome and managable, all at the same time.

2. It took 10 minutes to walk from the tent to the stage, not an hour and a half.

3. The weather. It was sunny. I almost cried.

4. The crowd were brilliant, which made all the performers happy. There was not a single "you're not clapping loud enough" diva strop.

5. There were a lot of kids. Whilst this in itself is not a positive, it meant there was lots of face painting, opportunities to make farms out of clay and cutemenwithbabies. (There was also lots of accidental swearing in front of young ones, but the parents were so down-with-the-kids cool, they didn't mind. In fact, they enjoyed how it broadened their life experiences. Or something).

Festivals round-up: Everyone loves Latitude, Live Earth most watched entertainment event in history, Jarvis has the Eye of the Tiger

- The opinions on Latitude, in general, seem to come down on the side of "delightful" (apart from the litter). Even a self-confessed miserablist enjoyed it

- Hold onto your hats - an MP went on a jolly to Glasto courtesy of the BBC and some people aren't pleased

- Guilfest gets some better press from The Sun, after reports of problems with speaker stacks and, well, open sewers

Festivals round-up: Latitude and Indian Summer brighten rather than dampen spirits, problems mar Guilfest, Marilyn Manson footage from Download

- A speaker stack collapsed at Guilfest on Friday, and the comments below this story suggest that while the festival was designed to be mud-free there are other mucky elements they need to look at sorting out

- Observer Music Monthly has a focus on a few of the big events that have taken place this year. Glastonbury this year was "amazing", according to Emily Eavis (but then she would say that, wouldn't she?). Also interviewed are Damon Albarn and Johnny Borrell

- Latitude's growing reputation won't have been harmed by - whaaaat?? - good weather. CSS were among the many acts who impressed Uncut.co.uk (who are one of the festival's sponsors)

Festivals round-up: Wickerman nuptuals, Eden Sessions Winehouse betting, Latitude spirits and the undampening thereof

wine.house.gif - Where's that "dampened spirits" cliche counter? It's just gone up by one, anyway, courtesy of the Lowestoft Journal's preview of Latitude

- Next week's Wickerman festival will see four weddings take place on site at Dundrennan, south-west Scotland. Let's hope none of the stag nights involve fire and the Wickerman himself

- The Eden Sessions kick off next week as well in Cornwall, with Pet Shop Boys, Hot Chip and Lily Allen featuring among the headliners. You can place a bet as to whether Amy Winehouse will / won't turn up for her show

Festivals round-up: Latitude now sold out, Glasto too grown-up, Lovebox plan to halve world hunger

- This year's Latitude has now sold out. No mean feat in such a competitive festival landscape

- You can get a preview to the grown-up arts fest here, or a local paper gives some handy tips here

- Talking of "grown-up", that's a tag that's been thrown at Glastonbury - by its own organiser

- Lovebox Weekender is taking part in an ActionAid initiative which plans to halve world hunger by 2015

- One of the risks Live Earth ran was bad headlines in several countries - unfortunately that's how it's transpired, with viewers apparently switching off in Australia and the U.S in addition to here in the UK. But hey, at least organic soap sales are up

Festivals Update: T In The Park reviews, Guilfest's mud-free offerings, Madonna goes gypsy-punk

- Despite experiences like those detailed here at this year's event, the early tickets for T In The Park 2008 have sold like hot tatty scones

- Latitude will have an open-air stage this year, after the original tent was ripped apart by the good old British weather. This article seems to tempt fate the whole way through, emphasising how beautiful everything looks... let's hope it stays that way after the rain, eh?

- A naughty Spiderman has been charged after climbing a speaker rig and interrupting Snow Patrol's set at T In The Park. In happier news, he interrupted Snow Patrol's set at T In The Park

The most ridiculous band names on the festival circuit: Sportsday Megaphone, The Trouser Trumpets are just the tip of the iceberg

Remember how stupid you felt when you tried to make your mates buy tickets to see a random teenager called Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly? Or when you raved about the unknown New Young Pony Club? Or you heard somebody snigger when you tried to tell them that the Victorian English Gentleman's Club is actually a group of teenagers?

Yes, they're ridiculous names, but I can now reveal that next year's successful-yet-stupidly-named band will feature the words tree or monkey and / or be called Dave. Honest.

So if you're off to a festival and you arrive early, I suggest you check out these bands or DJs. I've got no idea if they're any good, but it's worth a snidey snigger at their name now, and possibly a smug smile and getting to say "Oh yes, I saw them live last year. Keep up" when they make it big.

Festivals round-up: Latitude's carbon-neutral DJ, Flaming Lips hit Indian Summer and Lounge On The Farm

Recovered from the weekend? Good, because there's a whole heap of good stuff happening at the end of this very week...

- You lucky Scots have another cracker coming up - the Indian Summer festival is taking place for the second year at Glasgow's Victoria Park, and tickets are still available here. Line-up info and MySpace shenanigans, meanwhile, can be found here and here. Wilco and The Flaming Lips headline an impressively eclectic bill

- The other biggie this weekend is Latitude, which prides itself on offering a broader range of attractions than most fests. Bill Bailey and The Hold Steady answer questions about the festival at Virtual Festivals, while DJ78 sounds like an interesting proposition; he claims to be carbon neutral and plays shellac records on antique 1930s gramophones

- Also on this weekend, and with tickets still available, is Lounge On The Farm in Kent. Super Furry Animals, The Bees and Alabama 3 are among the acts playing Merton Farm in Canterbury. The list of things you're not allowed to bring onto the site includes dogs, alcohol and guns. So if you own a gat-wielding boozed-up chihuahua, leave it at home, yeah?

Festivals round-up: Oxegen survival guide, Guilfest movie, Live Earth debutants, T in the Park weather, new Latitude stage

So many fests, so little time. If you're going to any of the below events here are some nuggets to nibble on:

- "You know me, I'm all about saving lives." Bono? Sting? Nah - Ludacris, who appears on the US leg of Live Earth. Yes, that Ludacris

- It's a point more and more people seem to be making - Live Earth will need to clean up its own mess to be taken seriously as an environmentally conscious event.

- The Oxegen festival takes place this weekend in Co Kildare, Ireland. You know what that means, don't you? Survival Guide time

- There will be rain at T in the Park, you won't be surprised to hear. What may shock you is that you can also expect some sun, according to the met office. That's what happens if you get a Beach Boy in

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