Yet another St Jerome’s Laneway Festival has been and gone. The big fiesta down at Perth Cultural Centre in Northbridge brought along its usual friendly atmosphere, polite crowd and a splendourific mix of exciting acts. Empire of Perth went down to check out the vibe, chat to people, snap some shots and enjoy the oh-so-anticipated acts.

This year’s line-up featured The Drums, Active Child, Chairlift, Feist, M83, The Horrors, Toro Y Moi, Washed Out and SBTRKT, just to mention some of the main names. Needless to say, we’ve been very lucky having these international acts hitting our shores. We tried to catch them all, but unfortunately we’ve to admit we were unsuccessful in that regard. Read Sara Mattsson’s report from the day.

One of my first thoughts was: “there are so many well-dressed people here”. And there were. Everywhere. I came across some really funky outfits, hats and brighty coloured lips — and watches! I’m such a sucker for accessories.

Entering the festival just in time for Chairlift, I walked through the big crowd that had just watched the end of The Drums. The trio from Brooklyn, NY, had managed to draw a lot of people, that was for sure!

Caroline Polacheck, Chairlift

The electronic pop group Chairlift, also hailing from Brooklyn, consists of Caroline Polacheck and Patrick Wimberley. The set’s stand-out was Polacheck’s voice — it’s to die for. ‘Take it out on me’ from 11-tracker Something released this year was very well executed. The American singer sounded impeccable throughout the whole set. She looked pretty impeccable too, in her blue cropped top and big sunglasses. Apparently the band usually has a ”no-sunglasses-on-stage-rule”, but this hot and mostly sunny Saturday they had to contravene that rule. The duo got a loving reception when 2008′s “Bruises”, from debut album ‘Does You Inspire You’ (2009), was introduced.

My friends and I wandered around, checked out the surprisingly quiet markets and popped past the Spiegeltent where people were waiting for Total Control. I was expecting the tent to be unbearably hot, but as a matter of fact it was quite cool in there.

Outside, the heat had dropped a few degrees. Canadian Leslie Feist entered the Museum stage, and the energy this singer-songwriter busted out amazed me. Accompanied by the female folk trio Mountain Man, they together headed straight into our music hearts.

It was now time to make an assessment of the food. After warm recommendations from all my friends, I went for Govinda’s vegetarian food. $8 for a large portion of curry and rice — totally worth it. I bumped into an interesting duo in the line, two guys happy to chat. The fact that they then proceed to becoming my dinner company demonstrates one of the main features of the festival — the open and friendly atmosphere.

The clock had just passed 6.20pm, when I fell in love. Chaz Bundick, aka Toro Y Moi, — what a babe. This is a man to watch. On his first Perth visit the South Carolina native presented impressive productions, among them ‘New Beat’ and ‘Still Sound’ from his 2011′s Underneath the Pine album. His music can be categorized as a mix of electronic/synth-pop/funk, but he’s been mostly linked to the genre chillwave. What I like so much about his compositions is they can be both great breakfast company as well as played at the pre-party. A medium-sized crowd was dancing in front of the stage, and the rest (this writer included) sat down on the surrounding stairs chilling. By staying to watch the whole of Toro Y Moi’s set, I missed out on The Horrors. As every festival-goer knows, clashes are unavoidable. However this day, most of them were manageable thanks to the venues considerably small size and a well-organised timetable.

Anthony Gonzalez, M83

My friends and I made it down to the Museum stage about five minutes before the French synth-popper M83 were due to start. It turned out to be way too late, which equalled mission impossible to find a spot anywhere close to the stage. It was totally packed. Thankfully, Anthony Gonzalez put on a show that was both a feast for the ear and eye. They went through ‘Reunion’ from latest double album Hurry Up We’re Dreaming (2011) and ‘We Own the Sky’ from 2008’s album Saturdays = Youth among many more tracks. I got the feeling people got a bit sick of the packed crowd and started moving towards the Pica stage to catch Active Child. However as soon as the quite overplayed but insanely catchy ‘Midnight City’ started, people rushed back to dance along to the track that made it into #5 of Triple J’s Hottest 100’.

Active Child

Los Angeles lads Active Child put on a fine show. Starting off slowly with a distinct sound, the harp and Pat Grossi’s beautiful vocals were definitely the highlights from these dreamy synth-poppers. They rolled through ‘Playing House’, ‘You Are All I See’ and the Hottest 100’ favourite ‘Hanging On’ from You Are All I See of last year.

It struck me at one point later in the evening, after having experienced tunes from this wide-range of different genres, that the term ‘genre’ is dying. By taking a look at alternative and electronic music — the core of this festival — artists nowadays seem less keen on belonging to one genre. Instead they come up with new ones such as ‘chillwave’, and that puts you into an endless wonder: What on earth is that?

The final card (and my personal pick) SBTRKT, Aaron Jerome, featured soul vocalist Sampha. They had some technical difficulties as they prepared their launching track. The London producer has been labelled the ‘genre-everyman’, which proves my point mentioned above. Today’s technology compiled with a savvy generation is leading the way, but I feel quite confident in saying I do think we like it.

Sampha launched into the set with ‘Hold On’ and a powerful voice. They ticked off ‘Wildfire’, ‘Trials of The Past’ and ’Pharaos’ just to name a few from the highly praised self-titled LP of 2011. It was magical to see the mass move as the heavy bass in ‘Living Like I Do’ went through our veins. My favourite feature of the show was Sampha’s percussions addition. However, the 50 minutes the pair was allotted to entertain went all too quickly. All in all, the men-with-the-masks were such a perfect ending of the day.

I just have a few last words to add: For the significant amount of dollars we spend on a festival ticket, we expect a certain level of performance from all parts involved. We know exactly what we are after, and this year, I actually think we got it all. Nice vibe? Check. Brilliant performances? Check. Honestly, I would really like to give some constructive feedback, I just can’t come to think of anything. So, thumbs up Laneway!

Words: Sara Mattsson
Photography: Adam Leigh

This Saturday, February 18th, our friends at Villa throw a party (for FREE!) featuring New York producer AC Slater. Empire of Perth’s Sara Mattsson got the opportunity to exchange a few words with Aaron Clevenger (aka AC Slater) ahead of the show. He’s in Los Angeles as we speak to him, in between phone interviews for the Australian tour.

When did you start out as an artist?
“I grew up on all kinds of music. My parents are both music lovers and my dad is a musician so it was just always around. When I was about 15 I started collecting drum machines and samplers and slowly taught myself how to make music.”

How was your very first gig?
”I played a rave in a forest camp ground with three different stages. When it came time for me to play, the power generators blew for the other two stages and mine was the only one with music for the rest of the night. So the whole party ended up there during my set. It was such a rush!”

“Australian’s love to party and are hungry for new music. It’s very hard to match the vibe of a good Aussie crowd!”

Your show at Villa in May last year was sold out. That’s awesome! Why do you think you are this popular among people?
“People know they are going to get a solid set of brand new bass music from all across the board. I feel like I’m a music fan first and foremost and people see that in my sets and that keeps them coming out when I come through.”

After playing Parklife in 2010, The Brooklyner said this was one of the best gig he’d done. Clevenger even today speaks warmly about the Australian audience. “Australian’s love to party and are hungry for new music. It’s very hard to match the vibe of a good Aussie crowd!”

What role do your fans have in you own development as an artist?
“It’s all about the fans; it’s so important that they like what I’m doing. But I’m in a lucky position because I think my fans trust my taste and like to follow my musical progression.”

After Perth, you’ll loop through Adelaide, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and New Zealand before heading back to the States. What else does 2012 have in store?
“Writing more new music, developing my record label [Party Like Us] further, and more endless touring!”

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You’ve got until 5pm Thursday February 16, to get on the Guest List for AC Slater – Guest List Only Show! 

See you there!

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Hilltop Hoods, Kaiser Chiefs, Public Enemy, Kimbra and 360 have all been announced on the first line-up for the Groovin The Moo festival this year.

360 is concurring Australia with a sold out tour and if you didn’t get your tickets in time, dont cry, cause GTM is saving us all with a stellar line-up. This years Groovin The Moo happens on the 19th of May in Bunbury(its worth the trip) and tickets are on sale from the 16th of February.

The full line-up features:

360
Adrian Lux (SWE)
Andrew W.K One-Man-Party Tour (USA)
Beni
Big Scary
Bluejuice
Chiddy Bang (UK)
City and Colour (CAN)
Digitalism (GER)
The Getaway Plan
Gold Fields
Hermitude
Hilltop Hoods
Kaiser Chiefs (UK)
Kimbra
The Maccabees (UK)
Matt Corby
Muscles
Mutemath (USA)
Naysayer & Gilsun
Parkway Drive
Public Enemy (USA)
Purple Sneakers DJs
San Cisco
Wavves (USA)

D12 have just this week finished touring Australia and have announced that in celebration of said tour, they are offering up a brand new track ‘Fame’.

Their first Australian release for quite some time, ‘Fame’ not only features Eminem (Marshall Mathers), but was also mixed and mastered by Eminem himself in Detroit.

The track is lifted from last year’s mixtape “Return Of The Dozen II”, which was an extremely limited public release with hardcopies available only through the d12 website. Free downloads were available for 2 weeks only before they were cut off.

It has now been released as a stand alone single and have a listen below, what do you guys think?

Check out this new track from Coldplay from their album Mylo Xyloto – Simply cannot wait until they hit Perth! They haven’t released a date yet, but when we know, you’ll know!

The Netherlands; most famous for clogs, the rich art culture, being a powerhouse in football, and home to one of few cities in the world where smoking marijuana is legal.

It’s also known for producing some of 21st Century’s most popular DJs too, with the likes of Armin van Buuren and DJ Tiesto hailing from Holland. And the latest DJ making his mark in the music world is Laidback Luke.
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A few Groovin the Moo memories to get you in the mood for when the country music festival hits Bunbury this year!

Grazing again this year at Hay Park in Bunbury on Saturday May 19th – You can pick up your presale tickets from 9am Thursday the 9th of Feb until Midnight on the 10th through our friends at Moshtix!