Whats with today, today?

Song of the day:

City Middle - The National

The Culprit?

On an old bank statement I found an add which read:

HOME LOAN SALE

Is this evidence of the root of the financial crises? Surely home loans should never be on sale.

My Father's Wisdom

"The trouble with being tall is that you have to deal with short people."

Starfields Vanquish: The Reviews

The up and coming talent

Dickie Drysdale

Fresh from Edinburgh, this new face to St Andrews was totally unknown. In the bubble of music that St Andrews maintains, there are a handful of well known DJs that seem to play all the gigs. Recommended by several people, Dickie Drysdale held several sets at the festival, each one truly exceptional. He was an unknown entity, his musical taste and DJing style totally different to the norm in St Andrews. A mixture of house, electro and breaks, Dickie's set was refreshing and very welcomed. His energetic and charismatic antics on stage won over the crowd and created the perfect party atmosphere, captivating everyone with his skills on the decks. Dickie, a regular on the Edinburgh club circuit, is definitely one to watch out for.





Cristiano Van Zeller

A new comer to the St Andrews event scene, Cristiano hasn't had the same exposure as some of the other student DJs seen at the festival, but none the less he put on a great performance. His style features heavy elements of electro and his personal choice of minimal techno. There are not many DJs in St Andrews who deviate from electro house and whether you think it's good or a bad thing, variation is always highly welcome.

Cristiano holds a residency in Catch Beach Bar, situated at the start of West Sands in St Andrews. Every Thursday he entertains a full venue, playing bass heavy tracks that resonate throughout the two floors of the Ibiza reminiscent beach bar. What the future has in store for Cristiano, only time will tell, maybe he'll follow in the footsteps of previous St Andrews DJs and become a mini celebrity like others before him, notably Rory Mitchell, DJ Weatherbeats and James Matthews; or maybe he'll be content in staying for what is St Andrews deemed as an 'underground DJ'.

James Matthews

Over the past year in St Andrews, there has been one DJ in particular who has ascended to DJ fame. James Matthews has gone in one year, from being relatively unknown to one of the most in demand DJs in St Andrews. He used to hold a residency at The Lizard and this year has played a few nights in Mackays, but his main love is big events and the crowds they attract. Starting from a young age and getting his set of vinyl decks when he was 12, James' musical heritage rests with breaks and drum and bass. He then moved into house and electro, purchased a pair of CD decks, started breaking into the St Andrews scene and the rest, as they say, is history. Playing nearly every major last year, from the original Starfields to SF:08 and the May Ball, James has had widespead exposure.

One of James' talents is knowing how to read a crowd and give them what they want. He may not have the onstage antics of someone like Dickie, but what he does have is an eye for what people want and is a master of controlling atmosphere. At Starfields Vanquish he played a house set that perfectly set the stage for Bodyrox and cemented his status as one of St Andrews premier DJs. Winning the St Andrews branch of the Corona DJ competition and coming second in the Scotish finals, James is rare talent for St Andrews and the prediction is that he will go very far indeed.

Starfields Vanquish: The Reviews

Bodyrox
The UK's house music maestros Bodyrox took the stage as the tent headline act on the Sunday evening. Nick Bridges, one half of the Bodyrox team, commanded the decks and dominated the crowds with his take on electro, house and dance classics. Bodyrox, famous for their UK no.2 single with Luciana 'Yeah Yeah', have received wide spread acclaim.Their songs have charted in countries across Europe, been described as some of the biggest in Miami and have even featured in a Ford TV commercial.

At Starfields Vanquish their hour and a half set bellowed out from the impressive sound system and electrified the crowd. Some critised it for being too housey, but from an electro house group, what do you expect? The mixes were precise and the overall performance inspiring, the light show mixing seamlessly into the music. Throughout all of this, the greatest thing to see was the smile on Nick Bridges face, which never failed to fade and showed he was enjoying himself just as much as the crowd. The two highlights were the opening use of 'Yeah Yeah', igniting the crowd and setting the level for the rest of the evening; and the world premier of Bodyrox's new song, a special treat just for St Andrews.

First two day event hits St Andrews by storm

Starfields Vanquish makes a name for it self

Two weeks ago today saw Starfields Vanquish descend upon St Andrews. The town's first two day student run music festival saw a whole host of international artists grace its streets. Over the weekend we saw Drum and Bass pioneers 'London Elektricity', UK beat boxing champion 'Beardyman', DJ legends 'Scratch Perverts', dance music maestro 'Bodryrox' and the institution that is Utah Saints. The focus was not only on the DJs and we were also graced with performances from local four piece 'DanDanDan', T in the Park performers 'Day of Days' and up and coming band 'The Gentlemen'




The event was held in a colossal festival tent in the grounds of one of the University's oldest colleges. Unfortunately for the event goers, the site had to be evacuated on the Saturday due to severe storms and gale force winds, however the event was saved by moving it to the local student's union where people didn't even notice the change. On the Sunday, all was well and the festival goers enjoyed an afternoon and night of entertainment on the festival site which had everything from a red bull support tent, food stands, University society village, an epic dance floor and one of the grandest structures in St Andrews.



The question on everybody's lips is now with the unheard of 'two day event', what will be next to the St Andrews event calendar? In the space of one year, we have seen the first St Andrews music festival, a full on rave in a 15th century quad and now a two day full blown music extravaganza. All I can say is watch this space.

Reviews of the acts to follow