AFRI-KOKOA Allstars London based Afro collective Afri-kokoa, definition: "music + art + creativity" bring a selection of their talented ‘Afri-kokoa Allstars’ to the Nova Festival 2012, performing live Afro-acoustic sessions throughout the weekend.
Anna Phoebe She's toured arenas, concert halls and festivals around the world with some of music’s biggest names including Roxy Music, Oi Va Voi, Jethro Tull and Jon Lord (Deep Purple). Her electrifying stage presence and unique style have cemented her position as a leading performers.
Appearing in the Sofar tent.
Belle and Sebastien djs (See Late Night Tales) A band that takes its name from a French children's television series about a boy and his dog would almost have to be precious, and to be certain, Belle & Sebastian are precious. But precious can be a damning word, and Belle & Sebastian don't have the negative qualities that the word connotes - they are private but not insular, pretty but not wimpy; they make gorgeous, delicate melodies sound full-bodied.
Bird Radio "Herefordshire's Mikey Kirkpatrick loops flutes, bones, a red kick drum suitcase and his own very un-ethereal vocals to create an intensely curious mash-up of electronic music and traditional folk tales.” (Critic's Choice - Time Out). Mikey is currently working on two new albums for 2012.
Appearing in the Sofar tent.
Chris Coco Is a renowned tastemaker, DJ, broadcaster, producer, music curator, musician and journalist. His radio show, Melodica, has been an internet success story broadcasting on Mixcloud and Ibiza Sonica radio, streaming to Sydney, Istanbul, Chicago and more. The Guardian called Coco's style “the hazy, lazy sound of the summer”.
Crazy P From the anthemic ‘Beatbox’, with its freeform acapella work, to the Detroit techno of ‘Sonar’, with the frenetic payoff... Crazy P are widely accepted as one of the best live dance music acts in the UK. They might be crazy, but they sure know how to start a party. Festival audiences love them.
Speech Debelle Soulful and raw, she blew up seemingly out of nowhere and delivered one of the most critically-acclaimed debut albums of the last few years, the Mercury Music Prize-winning Speech Therapy. Two years on, having ridden a rollercoaster through life, she’s back, with a follow up that packs a powerful punch. Freedom of Speech is outward-looking, high energy, powerful and engaging.
Duffstep Jeremy Duffy is one of the founders of London-based label, Join The Dots. Duffstep’s debut album Getting To Sirius was a myriad of beats and sonic backdrops; his melodies, synths and vocals have warm and fuzzy edges. His new beats embrace a more uptempo 'garage' sound. We look forward to him moving feet in The Cocktail Bar.
The Dø Olivia Bouyssou Merilahti and Dan Levy are a truly cosmic French/Finnish tour de force, otherwordly sonic voyagers who colour their music with complex hues. With Radio 1, XFM and 6 Music radio support and shows in some of the coolest venues worldwide this duo are hotly tipped for 2012 and beyond.
Fink Fin Greenall is an English singer / songwriter best known for the 2007 song This is the Thing and the 2011 album Perfect Darkness. Greenall's skills as a songwriter are in demand, most recently he has collaborated with John Legend, Ximena Sarinana and Professor Green. With Amy Winehouse he co-wrote the song Half Time, which appears on Winehouse's posthumous collection Lioness: Hidden Treasures. Fink will be appearing on stage with a full band accompanied by a unique light show.
Ghostpoet He has quickly and quietly cemented his stature as one of the UK’s most exciting and original MCs these past twelve months. Heralded as a mighty force to be reckoned with, by inspirational figures such as Roots Manuva and Mike Skinner of The Streets, Ghostpoet is no flash in the pan. His rise to fame has been leisurely but assured, not unlike his characteristic vocal delivery. Catch the Bronwood Recordings artist on The Valley Stage.
Howie B (Late Night Tales) is one of the creators of trip hop. He collaborated with Soul II Soul on their epochal Club Classics Vol 1. He’s written songs with Björk. He’s produced U2. He’s played bonkers sets of boshing techno. He’s remixed everyone from Placebo to Annie Lennox. Howie B is all these things: a musical polymath in a sea of pop inebriates.
Indigo Earth A folk five-piece from north London who recently supported Ed Sheeran. Fiercely hi-energy as a full band act they can also do a beautifully harmonic acoustic set, Indigo Earth have inspired audiences all over the UK with their anthemic melodies and close harmonies.
Appearing in the Sofar tent.
Norman Jay Outdoor dancing never felt better than when Mr Jay is behind the steely wheels. He will take to the Valley Stage for one of his famous Sunday afternoon sunshine sets. Feel the love while shaking your stuff to this pioneering British DJ. His diverse and deep musical knowledge and his refusal to be restricted to playing any one genre distinguishes him from his peers.
The Joker & The Thief They are back in the studio after touring their Secret Ballroom record up and down the country. Since meeting on the first day of school they've played thousands of shows including Glastonbury, Hop Farm, Ronnie Scott's, Koko and pretty much anywhere that would have them, thanks to support from Radio 2, BBC 6 Music, BBC London, NME, Q and the Evening Standard.
Performing in the Sofar tent.
Keep Up! presents Tom Central & Cosmo Lopez in Sound & Vision The long-running collective presents a new show from two of its members. Recent sets including their Koko, London gig, have confirmed these two as one's to watch on the AV scene.
Kinny was born and raised in Canada with a mixture of Jamaican, Native Canadian Indian, French and Swedish heritage. A fantastic live singer, she describes herself as a freestyle improv vocalist, fusing a classical mezzo-soprano sound with a jazzy, hip hop, soul attitude.
Krystal Klear Born and raised in Dublin and inspired by boogie, funk and hip hop, the Krystal Klear moniker was born in 2008. His recent club sets at The Warehouse project and Hoya Hoya have solidified his presence on the UK club circuit. We expect he'll raise the roof in our Super Nova Cocktail bar.
LateNightTales Bring Belle and Sebastian and Zero 7 djs to Nova. Late Night Tales invites the world’s best artists to delve deep into their music collections to create the ultimate "late night” selection. The series now features over 25 diverse Artists such as MGMT, The Flaming Lips, Nightmares On Wax, Snow Patrol, Cinematic Orchestra, Four Tet, Jamiroquai, Arctic Monkeys and more recently Trentemoller who have all taken us on their nocturnal musical journeys…Each offering an exclusive cover version and with spoken word by the likes of Will Self, David Shrigley, Bootsy Collins and Brian Blessed. Look back, look forward, relax and enjoy...
Tim “Love” Lee The eccentric A&R maverick behind the Tummy Touch record label, Tim started out his professional music career playing Hammond organ for 80s pop stars, Katrina & The Waves. It was as a DJ on the early UK acid house scene that Lee really developed his skills as a “selector” of fine and far out music. Tim is also a keen collector of beards.
Jono McCleery is a London based solo artist, recently signed to Ninja Tune, which will soon be releasing his eagerly-anticipated new album 'There Is'. He completed his first album 'Darkest Light' independently in 2008. It was self-produced and funded by fans including folk-star Vashti Bunyan and BBC radio DJs Tom Robinson and Fiona Talkington. Jono has toured with the likes of Gil Scott Heron, Bonobo, Fink, Jose Gonzales, Little Dragon, and cites influences such as John Coltrane, Bill Withers, Jeff Buckley and John Martyn.
The Midnight Barbers "We LOVE playing live. We want it to be an experience as much as it is a performance. We don't know how we're going to play our music until we've played it. It makes things fun. This isn't something to be preserved, it's meant to be a moment in time."
Performing in the Sofar tent.
Mixmaster Morris started DJing in the 80s at indie gigs and then on pirate radio/tv station Network 21. He opened his first club in 1985, toured as DJ for The Shamen and then signed with Rising High Records for albums Flying High and Global Chillage. He remixed Coldcut’s Autumn Leaves, which went on to become a classic. He played at Love Parade and Glastonbury festival throughout the 90s and is still going stong in 2012. Witness this silver-clad legend at the Nova Arms Pub.
Mother Feather "If you're feeling this you're my next victim," frontwoman Ann Courtney intones with steely-eyed confidence, assuring the audience of their submission. With their ferocious and enthralling live show, Mother Feather has ignited a wildfire of followers since hitting the New York club scene in 2010.
Appearing in the Sofar tent.
The Nest Campfire Sessions will convene in time-honoured fashion around roaring fires enveloped in music and entertainment including high spirited sing-a-longs, storytelling, special guests and who knows what else! Every night will be unique with a magic concoction of spontaneity and the unknown. Songbooks and marshmallows will be provided. Co-curated by the Nest Collective, London’s go-to home for discovering the amazing resurgence in folk music.
The line-up so far includes:
James Morgan - storyteller
And local Sussex performers:
Pete Lawrence Co-founder of the lauded, much loved Big Chill festival. Recording artist, writer, broadcaster, event producer and DJ. This magical mixer of tunes will bring alchemy to the Nova Arms in another one of his legendary sets.
The Phenomenal Handclap Band broke through in 2009 with their debut single 15 To 20, a club hit both in America and Europe that set the scene for a self-titled debut album later that year. Their sound and style had roots in New York and San Francisco, San Paulo and London, some physical and others more spiritual. But imagine a scenario where Curtis Mayfield and Deee-Lite threw a Nu-Yorican party with Afro-beat, Italo-disco, Turkish psych, ‘70s West Coast rock and Boney M also on the decks. Kaleidoscopic or what? They return with their second album for Tummy Touch - Form & Control performing at just two uk summer festivals, and one of those is Nova!
Psychemagik Not content with making sophisticated disco as well as contemporary dance music, the duo of Dan & Tom are well versed in the art of the edit, which can be heard via their respected releases for The History Clock imprint and their now legendary Fleetwood Mac ‘Everywhere’ Summer Of Love remix. The spirit of summer is nestled in their hearts and souls, and it's infectious.
The Hunger present Fionn Regan Fionn is an Irish singer/songwriter and artist from Bray, County Wicklow, who came to prominence in 2006 with the release of his Mercury-nominated debut album, The End of History. In 2010, Regan released his second album, The Shadow of an Empire, and in 2011 released his third studio album, 100 Acres of Sycamore, with the track Dogwood Blossom recently featuring in Shane Meadows' TV drama 'This Is England '88'.
Seahawks Pete Fowler and shipmate Jon Tye have been on the waves since 2009, sailing on solar winds, cooking up their catches and beachcombing discarded, unwanted and buried treasures. Psychedelic yacht rock, deck shoegaze, hazy beach pop vibrations and marina drone are all ports of call.
DJ Shepdog DJ legend and Nice Up! label man provides countless reggae/hip-hop mashups that keep floors jumping worldwide, with a little extra rabble-rousing MCing thrown in for good measure. Woof!
Sofar Sounds Seminal, inspiring, innovative, many words describe Sofar Sounds. This is a movement that brings music lovers together in secret living room locations to hear some of the world's most cutting edge artists. In order to create an intimate and spellbinding atmosphere, nobody talks, everyone listens. Sofar hold pop-up gigs across 5 continents, supporting and uncearthing emerging music. This is a ‘quiet revolution’ you'll want to hear. Sofar have their very own front room at Nova… you’ve just got to find the door!
Stumblin' Slims and The Black Kat Boppers Stumblin' Slims is London's hottest rock'n'roll club. 'A cross between a prom night and a late night drag race,' The Guardian. The Black Kat boppers will be joined on Sunday by 40 dancers and all the girly glamour and leather clad sexiness of the '50s and '60s.
Solid Steel AV Special feat: DJ Food, DK, Cheeba, JFB and Hexstatic presents Solid Reel.
Born from Ninja Tune’s famous Solid Steel radio show, this AV special sees each artist presenting a mix where sound and vision are inextricably linked. What you see is what you hear. This isn't sit-down cinema, each of these artists know how to move a crowd, playing all genres of music – hip-hop to rock, techno to breaks, drum and bass to dubstep – they will move your feet (and free your eyes).
Cocktail Bar, Fri.
Soul Jazz Soundsystem Legendary label, shop and soundsystem has provided quality music spanning all genres for the past 15 years. With their 100% Dynamite, Nu Yorica and countless other nights and compilations, they have cemented their name firmly in the UK music scene, spreading the joy of music from all nations via their roots in London.
The Staves Prepare to be blown away by beautiful harmonies, acoustic gentleness and a sound that is nothing less than flawless, by sisters Jessica, Camilla and Emily. Singing in perfect three-part harmony The Staves are captivating audiences, earning rapturous encores with exquisite songs of love and longing. Guaranteed to give you goosebumps, The Staves’ Mexico EP is out on Atlantic Records.
Appearing in the Sofar tent.
tUnE-yArDs The moniker of Oakland-based musician Merrill Garbus. Her debut album Bird-Brains was first released in June 2009, and a second album w h o k i l l was released in 2011 to critical acclaim from those in the know (No 10 in Top 10 albums of 2011, The Guardian). A uniquely creative act that we can't wait to see on The Valley Stage.
The Hunger present Jessie Ware Jessie has already cemented herself as one of the freshest talents to emerge from the UK underground, collaborating with some of the most respected producers on the electronic spectrum including SBTRKT and Sampha. Critics are citing her as one of the UKs highest hopes for 2012.
We Were Evergreen Alternative indie-electro-pop band from Paris, France the trio got together in 2008, after a new year's resolution that, for once, actually stuck. Sharing a love of pop music and nursery rhymes, there's a naïve freshness to their toy-like instruments, throw in live sampling, a lot of percussion and a dash of electro and you'll be humming their mellow-yet-uplifting choruses all week.
Performing in the Sofar tent.