The HarderFaster Guide to Noisily Festival of Music and Arts 2016
Reported by Tara
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Submitted 22-06-16 17:06
It’s somewhat paradoxical that although there are now more music festivals than ever before, a really special festival is still hard to find. Last year’s Noisily Festival of Music & Arts therefore surpassed all expectations, for the line-up was so good that I could easily have spent the weekend at any one of the four stages, while its pristine location deep in the woodland meant that even the odd downpour didn't kill the party. And with the atmosphere around the perfectly condensed site consistently peaking, we sure did party!
With Noisily 2016 just around the corner on 7th-10th of July at Coney Woods near Leicester and the excitement building, we thought we’d have a look at what’s on the menu for the forthcoming weekend of music, art – and yes, of course, the odd bit of hedonism.
Recent research shows that, while there now seems to be a festival for absolutely every type of music and sub-culture, most people say they actually go to festivals to have fun with their friends. Now while this is obviously a big factor in any event, in my humble opinion, the better the soundtrack, the more friends will be there. And this is one aspect that Noisily has got well and truly covered, for it actively aims to bring you the best of global techno, house, glitch hop, breaks, drum ‘n’ bass, psy trance and progressive, with artists travelling from as far afield as Brazil and Mexico, New Zealand and Australia, South Africa and Denmark to help get the party started.
First up, let’s take a look the flagship Noisily stage. With more headliners then you can shake a stick at, it specialises in deep techno, house and progressive and features the cream of international electronica from the likes of Sebastian Mullaert, D-Nox & Beckers, Dave Seaman, Solee, Just Her, John Monkman, Uone, Aiden Doherty, Einmusik, Take It Deep, Nanoplex, Aliji, Audley and Mexican man of the moment Jossie Telch, who played such an awesome set last year that the organisers just had to ask him back. Situated only a couple of minutes’ stagger from the camping area with a well-stocked bar at the rear of the dancefloor, it would be very easy to start your festival at this altar of light and sound and never leave.
A short stroll through the woods and up a small hill takes you to the Tree House Stage, home to the bottom line in bass music. glitch hop, drum ‘n’ bass, neuro and breaks all share this fantastic space where you really do feel like you’re dancing in a tree house. Indeed, one of Noisily’s many great gifts is that it’s on family land that is cared for throughout the year, and nowhere is this appreciated more than when you’re dancing surrounded by lush green woodland. Tree House headliners this year include Koan Sound, Culrate, Kalya Scintilla, Far Too Loud, New Zealand electronic pioneers Pitch Black, Nick Interchill, Joe Ford, Atomic Drop, Duburban Poison, Reso, Bunkle and Bayawaka. On Friday night there’s going to be a takeover from neurobeats crew Wonk#ay Records, while Sunday has drum ‘n’ bass and future beats in store from Methlab Recordings.
Follow a path through the trees down the other side of the hill, and you’re at the Liquid Stage, the mecca for UK psychedelic trance fans where one of the best international psy trance line-ups around is a given. There’s a theory that the various frequencies and layers of sound in your average psy track can only be truly appreciated outdoors and a trip to the Liquid Stage may well convince you this is true. Last year the explosion of crisp sound, mind-blowing décor, visuals and lighting in the trees combined to create a gorgeous psychedelic feast for the senses.
This year’s highlights include takeovers from South Africa’s Nano Records and Denmark’s Iboga Records, with sets from Headroom, Avalon, Tristan, Future Frequency, Tongue and Groove and Diego Varela (Nano) and Morten Granau, Vice, Bakke and Emok (Iboga). Local UK talent is also well represented, with Lucas, Scorb, Sinerider, Hypnocoustics, K.I.M., Baelter, 0db, Beardy Weardy, Hopi, Bahar Cancar, Neill Moore, CIMI and many more all taking centre stage. Plus eclectic Kiwi Grouch returns – one of the favourites of Noisily 2015, this year he’ll be playing tracks from his brand new album, Corpus Callosum.
Like all good events, Noisily is continuing to evolve and this year’s edition sees 2015’s Nicholas Cage Stage replaced with the Pablo Discobar, while behind the cocktail bar in the trees there’s going to be a Future Bedouin Chill Out set up by Vapour Evolution, which boasts beanbags, hammocks, hot drinks and snacks and of course, vaping. Other additions include the Kawaii Baby Tequila Tea Party, while Bear Gateaux brings an Arcade of Fortune Tellers, listed as an immersive art installation with a twist of black humour.
As with previous editions there’ll be the usual plethora of performers and art installations which all converge to help create that special carnivalesque festival vibe. Art director Ruth Herbert and artist Michelle Townsend have been working hard to turn the woods into a visual wonderland for you to explore and enjoy…
On top of all of the usual festival providings, Noisily has the makings of a truly transformational festival with the new Mind, Body and Soul area offering free daily yoga, talks, panels and healing as well as massages and facials to sooth and energise the weary party animal. Curated by Florence Cannon, this new relaxing and playful chill space offers somewhere to escape the madness and get cosy by the fire with a cuppa.
Noisily also has impressive enough green credentials for it to be considered an environmentally sustainable festival. Initiatives include Loowatt, where you can buy a wristband at the gate to use a toilet that converts your waste into energy and tree planting to offset its carbon footprint. The festival uses carbon neutral biodiesel for all of its generators and recycles 90% of its waste, as well as encouraging car-pooling and the use of public transport and asks festival-goers to bring their own re-usable water bottle, which can be filled up at the various water taps around the site.
Finally, if this is all sounding like your cup of Chai but you can’t afford a ticket, there might just still be time to participate, or else enter the Bassport FM DJ competition, where you can win a set at the festival, with runner-ups winning tickets.
One more thing that really should be said under current circumstances is that Noisily’s location is the perfect place to weather a storm. Despite the downpours last year, the site never really got muddy and the various communal sitting areas in the trees offered plenty of opportunities to chill and socialise while taking shelter from the elements. While there’s loads of places around the site to have fun with your friends, my favourite place will always be on one of the dancefloors – but looking at that line-up, I couldn’t say which one yet!
Noisily Festival of Music & Arts is from 7th-10th of July at Coney Woods, Noseley Hall, Leicestershire. Tickets can still be bought directly from the Noisily website, but as they are limited to 4000 there were only a couple of hundred left at the time of writing.
Links
Listen to the This is Noisily Stage 2016 playlist on Soundcloud
Noisily Festival website
Buy tickets
Noisily Festival on FaceBook
Noisily Festival 2016 event page
Noisily Festival on Twitter
Images courtesy of AElise Photography and Noisily Festival. Not to be reproduced without permission.
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Other Features By Tara:
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A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden
Telling Cosmic Tales with DJ Strophoria
Tom Psylicious aka EarthAlien takes 50 Spins Around the Sun: Raising Awareness Through the Power of Music
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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