Music 2010

Head of Programmes is the alias of singer-songwriter James MacGregor, who with the help of his band of musically-gifted friends, plays a mixture of intimate alt-country and indie rock likened to Smog and Leonard Cohen. It has so far spawned two albums, The Magnificent South (2008), dubbed “a timeless masterpiece” (The Fly) and “breathtakingly beautiful” (GO2 Magazine), and Goodbye Forever, due for release this summer.
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The Farnaby Brass Ensemble is a Cornwall and Devon-based brass quintet that honours the music of 16th century Cornish composer Giles Farnaby. Formed in 1976, the Ensemble has performed at festivals all over the UK, and at major venues such as the Barbican, and on BBC Radio 2, 3 and 4. Their repertoire draws on influences from classical music, jazz, baroque and 20th century works, to create a suitable ode to Farnaby’s compositions.
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Hailing from Plymouth, The Wireless perform unique acoustic interpretations of great songs from the 1950s to the noughties, with a sprinkling of original material. Wah-wah driven acoustic guitar, pulsing electro-bass, percussive breakdowns and three-part harmonies are just some of the elements that this rockin’ little combo incorporates.
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Harper Simon is a country folk-rock musician, and the son of legendary American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. He recently released his first album Harper Simon (2009), declared as “a scenic trip between divine cosmic country, Elliott Smith’s gossamer pop, and Paul Simon’s esteemed variety” (Mojo), and “full of crisp couplets and classically beautiful songs” (the Telegraph).
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Belles of London City are an all-singing, all-jigging troupe of corset-wearing female Morris dancers, currently taking the folk world by storm. The group consists of Michelle Bloom, Ellen Hobson and Alex Merry, who first met at the English Folk Society in London, and have been performing their highly technical Cotswold jigs together ever since, in a bid to transform the unfashionable public perception given to Morris dancing in the UK.
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Back by popular demand, the wonderful St Germans based band Wurlitza will be starting the festival on Thursday evening with their performance of a live soundtrack to a silent film; A.E.Dupont's 1929 masterpiece Piccadilly, starring Gilda Gray and Anna May Wong.
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Showcasing a frenetic, somewhat unhinged cocktail of ‘Kernow ska’, Latin, jazz, blues, swivel-eyed folk-punk and other delights, Lost in Space are on a mission to get people off their iPods and on their feet, propelled by a barrage of brass, bass, keyboards, amped-up gypsy violin and more percussion than you can shake a stick at.
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With instruments ranging from ukuleles to yoghurt pots, Lulu and the Lampshades are a passionately ramshackle, upbeat and harmonic folk-pop foursome. With songs about drinking summer wine and old nautical handbooks, their quintessentially English sound has been branded as jolly and jaunty ‘good mood’ music. Their recent single ‘Feet to the Sky’ (2009) was described as “so cheery they could use it to advertise fun” (the Guardian).
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Brixton-based nine-piece Alabama 3 bring their eclectic brand of chaos to Port Eliot, in a new unplugged form. Flirting with an array of unique sounds from acid house to delta blues, the band are perhaps best known for their song ‘Woke Up This Morning’, which featured as the title track for cult US show The Sopranos. Their most recent album Revolver Soul (2010), is described as “soul music with a gun against your head”.
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Antony Elvin is a singer/songwriter whose songs promise to take you “on a spree through a London of your dreams! Gaslit yet modern – pastoral yet subliminally violent…” He’s appeared (albeit briefly!) in The Mighty Boosh, gigged at The Big Chill and is also a member of Princes in the Tower and Circulus.
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