Electric Fields: Ten Acts to See

Ahead of its fourth year, we take a closer look at 2017's Electric Fields line-up and recommend ten of the best acts we think you should check out over the weekend

Preview by Tallah Brash | 24 Aug 2017

Car Seat Headrest
Car Seat Headrest's 2016 album, Teens of Denial, made our albums of the year list back in December, coming in at number 12. A follow-up to the previous year's Teens of Style, it's full of earworms and singalongs aplenty. Stylistically at times sounding like the scuzzier end of The Strokes, you can't go wrong by checking out Will Toledo's band at this year's Electric Fields. Listen to: Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales, Times to Die

Dizzee Rascal
You might think we're bonkers for recommending this, but ol' Dizzee Rascal has to be one of the best entertainers on the UK music circuit. We saw him perform at 2016's Iceland Airwaves festival in Reykjavik and to be perfectly honest, we haven't looked back. July saw him release his sixth studio album, Raskit, and we're almost certain some of his earlier bangers will make an appearance too. It's a festival after all. Listen to: Fix Up, Look Sharp, Bonkers, Space

Future Get Down
Edinburgh-based electronic outfit Future Get Down, fronted by Oliver Kass alongside long-time collaborator Ally Dennis, only played their first live show in January of this year. Since then they played a blistering set for us, complete with beekeeper outfits, strobes and visuals, at The Caves; have played Stag & Dagger festival and XpoNorth, and they just supported Jenny Hval at Summerhall, where we described Kass as a "psychedelic James Murphy". Take our word for it, or go see for yourself. Listen to: End of the World After Party, Dreamkillers 

Aldous Harding
Describing her music as gothic folk, New Zealander Harding has really come into her own with latest record, The Party. Captivating from start-to-finish, with one of the most unique voices we've heard in time, she's definitely one of the acts we're most excited about seeing at this year's Electric Fields. Expect it to be intense, at times uncomfortable, but ultimately breathtaking. Listen to: Imagining My Man, Horizon

Kate Tempest
We saw Kate Tempest at Primavera Sound in Barcelona earlier in the year; she performed one of the pre-festival nights in the Sala Apolo venue and it was easily one of the highlights of the whole festival. Stepping on stage, she informed us at the start that she would be performing 2016's stunning Let Them Eat Chaos in order, in its entirety. It was phenomenal. To be perfectly honest, we can't imagine hearing Let Them Eat Chaos out of order, so we reckon there's a pretty big chance you'll hear the album in full at EF. Listen to: Europe is Lost, Ketamine for Breakfast 

Marnie
Helen Marnie is perhaps best known as the vocalist of Liverpool electronic outfit, Ladytron (Seventeen is still a banger 15 years on). As Marnie, though, she's now living in Glasgow and recently put out her second solo album, Strange Words and Weird Wars via Disco Piñata, which we described as "deeply accomplished avant-pop: an artful and advanced enterprise." There's no doubt in our mind that Marnie's brand of pop will be perfect for getting you dancing at EF; we'll see you down the front! Listen to: Lost Maps, The Hunter

Anna Meredith
Since the release of her award winning 2016 debut record Varmints, composer and musician Anna Meredith has gone from strength to strength, and is a force to be reckoned with live. When we saw her at Trans Musicales at the end of last year, a man fell down under the weight of the sound. Varmints opener Nautilus is perhaps one of the best opening songs of any set and any album of recent times, and live, it's HUGE. Listen to: Nautilus, The Vapours

Sacred Paws
Fresh from winning the 2017 Scottish Album of the Year award for their debut long player, Strike a Match, Sacred Paws are guaranteed to get the party fully underway at this year's Electric Fields. Strike a Match is full of joyful call-and-response vocals, stitched together with buoyant African highlife guitars, making for music that simultaneously makes you smile and unable to keep still. Live, they are a pure joy, unable to keep even themselves still. They are truly infectious and we promise you'll have bags of fun. Listen to: Everyday, Voice

Savage Mansion
At the end of May, Glasgow four-piece Savage Mansion released their double A-side debut single via Eigg-based label Lost Map. Released as a PostMap postcard single, we debuted the video for the wonderfully scuzzy Do You Say Hello to Your Neighbours back in April (watch here). Live, you can expect everything from manic drumming, masterful sideburns, dungarees, and if you're lucky, an impromptu rendition of the Jurassic Park theme tune, which genuinely happened at this year's Howlin' Fling festival. Listen to: Do You Say Hello to Your Neighbours, Honeymoon

Wuh Oh
Glasgow-based electronic producer Wuh Oh makes the kind of fun, glitchy electronica with samples and sounds reminiscent of computer games gone by. Live, Wuh Oh gets so immersed and lost in his own world of bleeps and beats that it's utterly refreshing to watch, and is guaranteed to get you in the mood for whatever the rest of your day/weekend at Electric Fields holds. Listen to: Wolverines, Hairstyle


Electric Fields takes place at Drumlanrig Castle, 1-2 Sep

http://electricfieldsfestival.com/