Late Junction presenter Max Reinhardt describes his experiences recording sets and interviews in the Lavish Lounge and exclusive truck sessions at the 2013 Latitude Festival.
'Latitude is a state of mind’ - a fab philosophical assertion from Lauren Laverne to us, over at the BBC6Music Studio caravan. Team Late Junction ‘s state of mind after 48 hours of musical thrills and spills is - more more more music till we drop. Great to see the Lavish Lounge brimming with people who keep coming back for more - audiences wanting to have the sonic envelope stretched before their very ears, rather than going for the fast food of more accessible audio fare. No doubt the organic food outlets here feel the same.
Bobby Womack
Alison Balsom
Another all transforming revelation!!! No, that’s not idle hyperbole, that’s the chamber techno set from Anna Meredith and Horsebox. Partly because I knew very little about her music and because she’s an astonishing, game changing genius. How have I missed out on her music till today? I mean … its only been broadcast on BBC Radio 1, 3, 4 & 6Music, performed everywhere from the Last Night of the Proms and London Fashion Week to flashmob performances in the M6 Services - dazzling, ear-bending works performed by symphony orchestras, body percussion, beatboxers and MRI Scanners. They opened with the shimmering polyrhythmic triumphant fanfare that is Nautilus and the crowd in the Lavish Lounge gasped when the first drum beat dropped and shattered and rebuilt the rhythms. Later in the day, the Foals used the recorded version of the piece as their entrance music on the main stage and the distinctive sound soared all around the site, much to the delight of Anna! The 21st century replacement for Fanfare for the Common Man and Thus Spake Zarathustra is amongst us and it is Nautilus!!!
Nancy Elizabeth’s late Sunday afternoon set was just so summery. Was it the angelic harmonies, the shiny new arrangements, the magic of her new tunes, her unflappable, down-to-earth banter between numbers, the tropical colours of her dress, the way she and her band seemed to be having such a good time on stage? Well it was all that plus the powerful soaring solo acapella of her encore which crowned her set with sunlight.
Back in April I played tracks by Graveola each night of the Late Junction week. We were under the spell of the nu-skool psychedelic tropicalistas from Minas Gerais, Brazil who gleefully declared their music ‘Polyphonic Garbage’ and ‘Carnival-Cannibalism’. But what was going to happen when they came on stage? Could they deliver the grand finale for Late Junction at Latitude 2013? As soon as their wonky samba groove rocked out into the darkness the densely packed Lavish Lounge crowd rose to its feet and wanted them to play till dawn. As it was they played two encores and even though they were jetlagged and exhausted after playing two gigs in a day, they hung out with the crowd dancing and chatting until the guys came to take the p.a. away
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