Kevin Molloy

I’ve been intending a huge selection of posts about all of the events and happenings of 2009, but time has simply slipped away. So instead, another list, this time simply of everything that happened to me in music this year, according to my google calendar (which this year, in a triumph of tech over romanticism, took the place of my moleskine):

• COUNTLESSS Club Rockfeedbacks and other shows at THE LEXINGTON. Literally beyond counting. Highlights included Underground Railroad, The Subways (January), Todd [VIDEO] & Part Chimp [VIDEO], The Rakes (February), Acoustic Ladyland (April), Miles Benjamin Antony Robinson [VIDEO FROM SXSW] (May), Blue Roses [VIDEO] (July), Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes [video below], Health [VIDEO inc footage from a gig at Tufnell Park] (August), Pulled Apart By Horses, That Fucking Tank (massive Bruce Springsteen fans) (September), Cymbals Eat Guitars (November), Rumble Strips (December)
• My personal favourites, the ROCKFEEDBACK SESSIONS, this year’s highlights being Alessi’s Ark, J. Tillman [video below], Jess Bryant [VIDEO], The Dodos [VIDEO], Mumford and Sons [VIDEO], Laura Gibson (absolutely awesome).
• SXSW 2009 – Austin, heat, music, cigarettes, music, frozen margehritas, music, Austin… we filmed Graham Coxon in a hat shop and a record store [VIDEO]. We interviewed Daniel Johnston in a park, and he played us an acoustic song or two there. We filmed A Hawk and A Hacksaw on the porch of our B&B [fricking AWESOME VIDEO]. We talked to the old school too – Echo and the Bunnymen, New York Dolls and Dinosaur Jr. And I chatted to Buck 65 for nearly an hour (personal hero). AWESOME.
• Camden Crawl 2009 – the most intense city festival. Was introduced to new favourite thing ever, Peggy Sue, in a park [video below]. Kasms and Pulled Apart By Horses blew the roof off everything [VIDEO]. And the Rumble Strips played in a pub [VIDEO].
• Pulled Apart By Horses – deserve their own bullet point. We caught up with these guys at the Camden Crawl, for the xbox show we booked with them, at the Lexington for a rockfeedback show, for a session, playing on our festival stage at Leeds, reviewing albums for us with facial expressions alone, and being found on our office floor the morning after a heavy night at the Lexington downstairs. Best band of 2009.
• Hinterland Festival 2009 – we stayed in a terrible youth hostel in Glasgow, but the upside was the excellent music in Glasgow’s astonishing array of awesome venues. Filming Fanfarlo under a bridge [video below] and Slow Club in the back of their tourvan [VIDEO] were highlights, though.
• The London Eye – we filmed four acts (all signed to the wonderful Bella Union) whilst on The London Eye… we caught awesome acoustic sets with The Low Anthem, My Latest Novel, The Acorn and Ohbijou. Video coming soon!
• Primavera Festival 2009 – the best festival on the planet. We filmed and chatted to Sonic Youth [VIDEO]. And Lightning Bolt’s first show on a stage [VIDEO]. A whole Sunn 0))) set, plus their first ever video interview. Deerhunter in their hotel room [video below]. And a thousand things too amazing to list. If there’s one place I want to make sure I visit in 2010, it’s Primavera and the wondrous Barcelona (surely the world’s best city?)
• The Pixies – we filmed the bloody Pixies. We can rest now.
• iTunes Festival – we filmed the first two weeks of the iTunes festival – an easy highlight for myself was Oi Va Voi, who are brilliant [video below].
• Field Day & Underage 2009 – both in Victoria Park, London; both brilliant. Mogwai were awesome, if slightly too quiet really. Toumani Diabate was astonishing [VIDEO].
• Bell Orchestre – a random but captivating find, we filmed them at The Garage. Two members from the Arcade Fire, and absolutely brilliant. A lovely interview too, although I was a bit nervous in this one! [video below]
• End of the Road Festival 2009 – this is my influence on rockfeedback – I bring the folk! Bob Log III was an eye-opener, and a full set from Fleet Foxes was awesome (as well as seeing J. Tillman in the teepee tent). It was also here we discovered Laura Gibson – our director nearly lost his legs when she stated singing, and we promptly booked her for a session. We also interviewed a convicted murderer, in the shape of T-Model Ford.
• Transgressive 5th birthday at Union Chapel – Johnny Flynn, Jeremy Warmsley, Mechanical Bride, Dan Michaelson and the Coastguards, Graham Coxon. One of the best shows of my life. Followed by the DJ set to end all time, with fellow conspirator Tom Hannan, at the Buffalo Bar.
• Xbox Reverb Shows – there were loads of these, we’ve been booking the acts and filming them, but my favourite was the Pulled Apart By Horses show, mostly because I got to see a whole Sky Larkin show, and was promptly thoroughly converted.
• Jarvis Cocker Makes An Exhibition of Himself – one of the odder ‘shows’, this involved burlesque dancing, poetry recitals, a circus, hula-hooping and all sorts. And an awesome Jarvis Cocker set at the end of the three days.
• Rockfeedback On A Boat – an awesome show, which cemented my love of Peggy Sue. And it was on a boat!

This first draft is in the run up to my NYE celebrations, and I’m running over! Posting now, and will update with links later! Links now in place. Phew – there were a lot of them! Hope you enjoy, looking forward to what 2010 holds!

UPDATE 1st Jan, 5pm – added a load of embedded video links – it looked pretty boring without!