August 5, 2024 |
It’s been 17 years since pioneering London day-festival, Field Day, opened its doors, luring punters from across London to Victoria Park with the promise of killer tunes and boozy merriment. Over the ensuing years, the festival quickly garnered a name for itself within the scene for its expert curation of off-kilter and experimental faces, oft-featuring the cremé de la cremé of the contemporary electronic and live music scenes, and this year’s offering is certainly no different.
Pulling a vast selection of acts from across the globe, from headliners like Justice and Charlotte De Witte to Shygirl’s worldwide clubbing experience (Club Shy), crowds at the festival’s 2024 edition can expect to be enchanted by a smorgasbord of driving sounds, from hard-hitting tech and euphoric house to classic clubland and strung-out, experimental indie.
To say this year’s lineup is stacked is a colossal understatement, so as always, we’ve honed in on a few must-sees to ensure your day is soundtracked by the best tunes out there. Take a look below…
Afrodeutsche
Joining Radio 6’s Mary Ann Hobbes in the highly-anticipated return of her ‘All Queens’ stage takeover, which aims to spotlight the many talented queer, femme, trans and gender non-conforming selectors in the electronic music space, Afrodeutsche and her unmissable selections will surely go down like a few swigs of Calpol: hot, healing and admittedly delicious. The Manchester-based musical multihyphenate is known not to dwell on any particular sound, instead blending elements of techno, house and electro into a unique amalgamation of beats that are simply perfect for sun-kissed grooving. For those of you with pickier (and let’s face it, annoyingly unsatisfied) friends, this should satisfy everyone’s sonic appetites. If not, perhaps a conscious uncoupling is on the horizon?
BAMBII
Hailing all the way from Canada, BAMBII is a selector who was truly raised by the clubs. With an ear to the ground of clubs the world over, the Toronto-based DJ-producer has set about the globe with a penchant for bump-heavy sounds, delighting crowds with her favourite dance music flavours. From UK Funky, DnB and Dembow to Jungle, 2-step and the casual drop of a Britney Spears banger, we hear it’s physically impossible to leave a Bambii set without feeling like you’re on cloud nine – so don’t you dare sleep on this one!
John Glacier
Now, we’re not ones to pick favourites, but we’d be lying if we said John Glacier wasn’t one of the top names on our itinerary for this year’s festival. Armed with an already untouchable discography, Glacier’s recent EP Duppy Gun (her second this year after Like A Ribbon dropped in February) is chock-full of poetic storytelling and murky, club-oriented production. We’ll be waiting to spontaneously combust after the singer (hopefully?!) launches into Emotions, but who’s telling what kind of sonic tricks Glacier will really pull out of her bag? We’d advise getting there early, or you’ll be jostling us for the best spot there.
I. Jordan
If we were to sum up all you could expect from an I. Jordan set in one word, it’d be wobblers. Lots and lots of wobblers. You’ll find that the spirit of bouncy Northern rave is alive and totally kicking in the heart of this Doncaster-born spinner and producer, each transition falling deeper into the weird and wonderful world of UK Bass. With Jordan recently celebrating the release of their debut album, I AM JORDAN, back in May – a decade-long culmination of delectable sounds garnered from the scene-at-large alongside ruminations on gender and the power of community – we suspect the ensuing mix of self-produced bangers and timeless club classics to be just the ticket at this year’s festival.
Yves Tumor
Tumor is an artist not only operating in their own lane, but another plane of existence altogether. The Warp Records signee’s 2023 LP, Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds), or PALWCBWDN for short, is a masterclass in genre-experimentation, melding elements of vast stadium rock with the softness of strung-out shoegaze like an expert cattle wrangler. A complete master at their craft, expect a commanding on-stage presence tantamount to seeing a divine being in the flesh, and rest assured the crowd will be hanging off every word, at least speaking from experience…
Top Image: Photography courtesy of Sarah Louise Bennett.
