Following another day of insightful panels – covering everything from aligning brands with bands to the spirits of the world – the music of day two of Filter Magazine’s Cuture Collide festival kicked off with a couple of regional focused parties. First up were the Swedes, who brought with them some traditional Swedish herring and meatballs for our eating pleasure as we watched a couple of talented artists from their country!
First up was Melpo Mene (pictured above), the project of Erik Mattiasson, who filled in last minute for Frida Sundemo. Performing solo, the Swedish artist showcased a beautiful voice, playing with just an electric guitar. The track “We Should Be Walking” sounded oddly familiar, though I fail to place it… while a track we certainly knew – Madonna’s “Into The Groove” – was a surprising choice, though one Erik totally made his own. A fine talent indeed!
Swedish three piece Like Swimming followed (pictured below) – a new project featuring members of the now defunct You Say France & I Whistle, a band who featured on last year’s Culture Collide lineup. Though the music is new, this is a group of musicians who have been playing together for some seven years, so it comes as little surprise that they are a tight outfit. With a female vocalist, keys, drums and plenty of cowbell, Like Swimming produce a fun, engaging sound with fantastic energy. An all too brief performance, but one we won’t soon forget.
We unfortunately missed The Deer Tracks, who were next at the Swedish party, however we made it back in time for the start of the Dutch party, where Bombay Show Pig from Amsterdam took to the stage. With a Linda van Leeuwen on drums and Mathias Janmaat on guitar, this two piece showed themselves off as one of the bands-to-watch at this year’s Culture Collide. Both were incredibly impressive musicians. Mathias was superb on the guitar, with solid, heavy riffs and a nice bit of shredding where necessary. Linda meanwhile proved just as talented, jumping between electronic pads and her standard kit to produce a full sound. Both members, meanwhile, act as vocalists, with plenty of harmonies running throughout, and the odd bit of reverb thrown in just to keep you on your toes.
A special guest bassist (I want to say his name was Adrian Rodriguez) was thrown into the mix for two of the tracks, and this really filled out their sound nicely. With comparisons to The Kills, The Dead Weather, Big Scary and more, this Dutch band proved to be my highlight of the whole weekend.
Next up were Jacco Gardner, who had a bit of a psychedelic Tame Impala vibe going on, with a similar falsetto; though there was a lot more organ to be consumed. A solid band, though nothing earth shattering. And then Birth of Joy closed things out, with more organ and some 70’s rock and roll vibes. Think The Doors and you’re on the right track. Keys, Guitars, Drums… what more do you need? Well, I guess you also need to be consumate musicians – and I daresay these guys have that box ticked as well!
