ATP Nightmare before Christmas

I totally agree with the words Caribou fancifully mentioned in their festival booklet introduction – Minehead makes an unlikely Mecca, Butlins a peculiar Bodh Gaya. I couldn’t wait to make my first pilgrimage down there since I’ve seen the ATP documentary movie at a festival in my home country two years ago. Now, a few days after the weekend, I’m still slightly dazed by the ultimate experience any music fan can boldly dream about. Each of three days headlined by the artist that picked the line-up of their favourites.

The first day curators Les Savy Fav kick-started the festival with the show I’d call absorbing,
despite I’m not a fan of their music. The simple reason was the visually outstanding performance of Tim Harrington. I’m sure not a single person was able to take their eyes
off this vocalist spectacularly showing off with his weight, hardly effortlessly disappearing
in a pillar above the stage or constantly pleasing the audience with the closer interactions
(physically closer).

The next to come was Marnie Stern, she and the bassist keeping some entertained with dirtyish anecdotes. Surfers Blood most interesting feature was their merchandise, namely the Joy Division Unknown Pleasures paraphrased tshirts, so I decided to check out the band I haven’t even heard of, playing at the smallest stage. That was the best thing I could do and the reason why I adore music festivals – they let you discover the most amazing artists in so wonderfully easy way. As soon as I entered the room, Total Control instantly swept me off my feet. Garage punk band with deep understanding of what music is all about, a pleasure to watch and listen to. Disarmingly powerful music and the vocalist singing with utter passion made you sense the vehement emotions underlying their tunes. Henge Beat immediately hammered its place in my top 2011 albums, the band being the greatest discovery of the festival.

Afterwards I caught the end of performance of The Budos Band – the most danceable dirty funk. Girls from Wild Flag, Oxes heaviness and Future Islands leader Samuel Herring literally beating the lyrics out of his chest kept me busy until the next highlight of the day. No Age spurred the biggest chaos with their amazing pop noise, turning the space in front of the stage into the cauldron full of whirling sweaty bodies. If a duo of a drummer-singer and a guitarist feels as not to much, I can assure you they are making most of it, driving people crazy with the intense sound. Or making them have absolute fun at least, like two boys randomly picked from the audience to sing Revenge and Wasted certainly had.

ATP grandeur means each of curators played twice, so I went to see what Les Savy Fav prepared for their second show. Lovely Tim in silver skin-tight outfit, glazing himself with glitter, buds of enormous silver baloons – fair enough. I was sure that Holy Fuck would be something more in my taste. They turned out to be magnificent, serving a proper live set of tasty electronics. The floor was actually moving, so just imagine the omnipresent happiness
of dance. For the still unsatiated, Simian Mobile Disco played a 2-hours-long DJ set. I tried
to see one of the ATP cinema movies, but the tireness won me over and I headed for the well-
deserved sleep.

On Saturday the pleasure continued, starting with the opening concert of Battles. Boys had
some problems with instruments and looked somewhat tired. Indeed, they mentioned Les Savy Fav throwing a decent party the day before and Dave Konopka admitted without any embarrasment he had just puked before entering the stage. Cute or not, their remarkably puzzling music made me eagerly anticipate the evening performance. Three japanese girls from Nisennenmondai stunned those who managed to appear as early as 4pm. What the tiny drummer performed was simply unbelievable, massive sound corresponding with crashing guitars. Wonderfully noisy girls. Later on Walls presented beautiful passages of fresh and inventive electronica, preceding the concert of Washed Out – nothing you could expect given their chillwave-defining records. The music was much more simple, condensed and energetic live. It lacked the cosmic element, but secured fun anyway.

The Field stood up to the reputation of the acclaimed Looping State of Mind, setting the people in motion with multi-layered and firmly engrossing electronic tracks. The hardly moving humble musicians stood in perfect contrast with the darkly industrial show Gary Numan served. Men in black occupied the stage and Gary himself gripped the audience completely, behaving like he was 20-something years old, making you feel the 80’s were back. A total artist that never ceases to amaze.

Battles again – this time in much better shape, playing their wicked tunes totally convinced
me to their music. Uncomparably better late-evening atmosphere made the enthusiastic audience absorb the complex sound and melt away in pleasure, with songs like Atlas or Ice Cream becoming the fun-peak. The following slots were filled with the ones that surely know how to keep you entertained – Cults cheerful pop, always prepossessingly smiling Flying Lotus and his awe-inspiring performance (he charmingly agreed to add requested Lotus Flower by Radiohead to his set), Matias Aguayo to end the day and dance your guts out or simply dig the 80’s most golden hits played by a winsomely moustached japanese middle-aged DJ at the smallest stage.

The sadly last Sunday abounded in the most diverse set of artists. Traditionally Caribou began the day, appearing onstage with a little company – a brass section that was only a prelude to what was about to happen during the second show. Meanwhile an array of the most stylistically different musicians performed. The curators expressed their jazz inspirations by inviting the old masters like Pharoah Sanders or Sun Ra Arkestra, who turned up in glistening foil capes equipped with Egyptian gods attributes to present likes of the Nightmare Before Christmas themed composition, achieving quite a surprising effect. Add some crazily confusing artists as Orchestra of Spheres (Asian hats, chains of lightbulbs, flood of weirdness) and you get something you had never seen before.

Much awaited show of Connan Mockasin enchanted me completely. Ethereal pop of exceptional beauty, dreamy sound-cobwebs, pastel landscapes. Musicians with colourful personalities and a sense of humour, what else do you need?

There was a place for the energy boost as well. Junior Boys, Toro Y Moi, Four Tet – each of those names stands for quality and provided decent fun, but it were the less established ones that turned out to make people insane. The Arabic king of uncontrolled feast Omar Souleyman ruled the crowd, leading a party that let everyone discover the spirit of East in the soul, leaving one craving to vanish in the music. Factory Floor bombarded with the intense sound drilling inside your head, throwing you into state of absolute amazement. The hypnotizing beat and moaning bow-tortured guitar exerted strong influence on your mind, causing some undefinable pleasant anxiety towards the sinister sound. Overwhelming raw power.

Finally it had to happen – the last show: Caribou Vibration Ensemble. The additional musicians helped to create the delicious arrangements, leaving loads of space for the jaw-dropping improvisations. Over an hour of music so good you could only continue dancing in awe or indulge in this ultimate pleasure that ended with biggest craze of the hits: Odessa and Sun.

That’s it, the best festival I’ve ever been to. The tiny venues, intimate atmosphere and passing your favourite musicians everywhere add something to its coolness – you can be approached by a band asking about your tshirt or spend half of night dancing with them. It is not hard to become ATP-hooked.

ATP Nightmare Before Christmas curated by Les Savy Fav, Battles, Caribou
Dec 9-11, Butlins, Minehead