If you're already thinking about going to Wide Awake festival this year chances are you already know with heavy hitting names on the lineup such as Caroline Polachek, Daniel Avery and Black Country, New Road but Wide Awake is (excuse the pun) widely known for hosting some of the best new talent out there and it's a must on the festival calendar for any music nerds. So without further ado here is my 5 unmissable acts for Wide Awake 2023 that may not already be on your radar:
1. O.
I'm going to kick of this list with a band that only has one song out on Spotify in true pretentious music publication style and tell you that they are absolutely awesome. I first caught these guys supporting Black Midi way back in 2021 and they are a duo constructed solely of sax and drums. Very minimal but absolutely immense. Never has a saxophone sounded so humungous and dense with their incredible use of pedals and effects, the riffs are BVIG. The wonderful use of this instrument paired with genre spanning drumming is something truly unique and I think something you really need to see to understand.
2. Joy Orbison
Next up a name you might already be familiar with (oops) but if you're not he's sure to be your favourite producer and DJ. The magnificent, eclectic and wonderful Joy Orbison. One of the most consistent producers around who dropped one for the ages with Still Slipping vol 1 in 2021. Since then we've seen a string of unmissable singles including an Overmono collab as well as an official remix of Jorja Smith's blue note cover of "Rose Rouge" which might just be my favourite club tune of last year. I was lucky enough to see him twice last year and I can confirm his live selections for the DJ sets are just as strong as his own material.
3. Model/Actriz
Third I've got New York's own Model/Actriz who have one of my favourite albums of the year so far with their debut record Dogsbody. One for fans of heavier music this record was a crazy mashup of industrial, post-punk, shoegaze and noise rock. Think if Scalping had a baby with Nine Inch Nails and brought the kid up at the Windmill in Brixton. An absolutely unmissable album from a band that I am desperate to see live and it appears that Wide Awake will be the place.
4. Coucou Chloe
If heavy club tunes are your jam look no further than frequent Shygirl collaborator Coucou Chloe. With major collab highlights with the lights of Lady Gaga and Cobrah her remix game is on fire and that's before we even dive into her solo work. Massive throbbing baselines is the name of the game with some industrial flair and wobble mixed in. Sure to get the electronic tent grooving hard.
5. Habibi Funk
Finally I've got one of the most interesting artists on the list with Jannis Sturtz aka Habibi Funk. Habibi Funk is not an artist but an alias for Sturtz's Doing and label of the same name. This label specialises in deep cuts from various genres from the 1960’s-80’s across the Middle East and North Africa. You can find anything from Libyan reggae to Lebanese folk to Algerian disco and beyond all released in compilations for easy access! Expect plenty of groovy slices of world music curated by the maestro himself. Check out the incredible playlist next to this to get a taste.
This year it's especially cool to see more of a focus on some of the best names in some more electronic genres and "hyper pop" (whatever that is). Always great to see festivals evolve their lineups and styles and Wide Awake has done a great job of staying one of the freshest around.
Last year was amazing with highlights from the ridiculously good Floating Points, nutty 7 piece Keg and jazz heavy weights the Comet is Coming and this year is shaping up to be just as good, if not better.
tickets are available here.
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