Podcast Episode Summary
Bon Iver- “Flume”
Myself and P Rice, accompanied by a number of friends and families, had the pleasure of attending the rather lovely Croissant Neuf festival in the lush valleys of Monmouthshire in Wales the weekend before last.
Croissant Neuf is an off-shoot of the longest running area at Glastonbury (besides the main Pyramid stage), and is a solar powered and chilled zone they have apparently been running since the 60’s. Unlike it’s mothership festival, it thrives on being small and sustainable- the organisers reckoned there were only about 1500 people there, and these of all ages and pursuasions.
Rather than getting in the big name bands to bring hordes of punters and ramp up the entry fee (eg this year’s festival was headlined by the Magic Numbers), C9 features a diverse range of sounds of generally high quality- I dont think I saw a programme as such, so no one really knew what was good and when it was playing, so instead we found ourselves pleasantly surprised to hear good music fairly regularly.
The site itself is beautifully located- there’s views across the Welsh valleys, and an Iron Age fort nearby- and because it’s so small, you cant lose your tent and you dont have to pack for the day out or trudge for half an hour to go from home to where the action is at.
Add to this a range of arts and craft type activities (I am the proud owner of a lamp I made out of twigs and some hairy string), circus types showing and sharing their skills, a nice selection of wholesome foodage and an amusingly named bar (the “Stumble Inn”) situated in an old barn selling only cider and real ale (neither of which I particularly like, mind) with real spit & sawdust on the floor, good friends and a nice break in the Welsh weather, and you’ve got a really good festival experience.
Highly recommended!
And to the ode- I was introduced to the track here by one of our campers who played it nice and loud on the last day as we were about to start packing up. It’s a bitter tune that fitted the end of a good time very nicely, lifted from an album called For emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver, who at the time the album was written, consisted of just one chap- Justin Vernon.
The album was conceived and recorded in a cabin in the mountains of Wisconsin, where Vernon had decided to isolate himself for the winter season in 2007, following a particularly difficult year where he suffered the break up of a relationship, his band and a severe bout of glandular fever:
“I left North Carolina and went up there because I didn’t know where else to go and I knew that I wanted to be alone and I knew that I wanted to be where it was cold.”
The resulting music is really achingly beautiful, featuring lots of rich guitar work, found percussion and overdubs of harmony and melody that are just stunning.
Not news to many, but news to me- thanks Rhys!
not usual fare for DC, either, but it’s so lovely I thought I would share…
File Download (3:39 min / 11 MB)
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