@Vukoviband, @SPRINTSmusic, @dangeroussummer, @BIGSPECIAL_, Baby Lasagna, and 40 more PHENOMENAL bands are joining the 2000trees 2025 lineup!!

https://t.co/kHTc2260Mt pic.twitter.com/PnIcKxTybK

— 2000trees Festival (@2000trees) February 6, 2025

In addition to these headliners, the festival has unveiled over 45 new acts, including Scottish duo VUKOVI, Birmingham’s punk duo Big Special, and Irish garage punk band Sprints. Other notable additions are Welsh post-hardcore veterans Future of The Left, dance-punk ensemble SNAYX, and metal-pop favourites Blood Command.

Kneecap is an Irish hip-hop group known for their politically charged lyrics, bilingual rapping (in Irish and English), and rebellious energy. Formed in Belfast, they have gained widespread attention for their provocative themes, often tackling issues like Irish identity, nationalism, and class struggles. One of Kneecap’s most well-known tracks is ‘C.E.A.R.T.A.’, which means ‘Rights’ in Irish. This song gained popularity due to its high-energy beat, politically charged lyrics, and bilingual delivery.PVRIS is known for their dark, atmospheric production, haunting vocals, and emotional lyrics. Their sound has transitioned from a heavier rock base to a more electronic-driven, synth-infused style, often drawing comparisons to bands like CHVRCHES, Paramore, and Halsey. For PVRIS, their breakthrough hit ‘My House’ remains their most iconic track. The song’s eerie and introspective themes about isolation and personal demons made it a fan favourite, cementing PVRIS as a rising force in the alternative rock world.Taking Back Sunday is an American rock/post-hardcore/emo band from Long Island, New York, formed in 1999. They are considered one of the defining bands of the early-2000s emo and alternative rock scene, known for their raw emotional lyrics, dynamic vocal exchanges, and anthemic choruses.Their biggest hit is undoubtedly ‘MakeDamnSure’. The song features passionate, almost desperate lyrics about obsession and destructive love, making it relatable for many fans.
The 2000trees Festival specializes in rock, punk, emo, post-hardcore, and alternative music, with a strong focus on underground, emerging, and independent artists. It’s known for showcasing the best of the UK’s alternative music scene alongside well-established international acts. The 2000trees Festival gets its name from its founders’ commitment to environmental sustainability. When the festival was launched in 2007, the organisers aimed to create an event that not only celebrated music but also had a minimal environmental impact. As part of this ethos, they planted 2 000 trees in the early years of the festival to offset its carbon footprint.

Tickets went on sale in October and include discounts for NHS staff and students. As of now, 4-day and VIP tickets have sold out, but 3-day and single-day tickets are still available. For more details on ticketing and the complete line-up, visit the official 2000trees Festival website.

According to the BBC, musicians of all varieties were lining up to audition two days ago (4/3/2024). London’s rich tapestry of cultural diversity is certainly being reflected in the 280 people that auditioned this week in the Busking competition. This reported audition on the 4th March took place at Southwark station and was judged by three expert music industry judges. The other judges (unofficial of course) include the passing public who are intrigued and pulled to the vibrating musical tunes that echo through the underground. Auditioners are judged on their technique, overall performance and unique style. According to the TfL, the ‘shortlisted musicians will perform to a panel of musical experts and TfL operational staff in a busy station environment and judged on technical ability and audience response.’

The busking auditions have been a 20 year tradition and it is particularly exciting this year because it is happening for the first time since 2018, due to the Covid19 pandemic. To name a few auditioners, there is 19 year old Macy O from Shropshire, and Andrew Bruell the garage / R&B saxophone player, and Fabio, also known as the “Pianist Without Borders”. According to the BBC, Fabio is one of the 200 buskers registered for the Busking Scheme. He’s been busking for 20 years and wants to continue to do so forever. He busks 7 days a week and compares playing the piano in the underground to “meditation for 5 hours a day”. His love for busking began through a story that can only be defined as divine intervention. He took the bus in the wrong direction at 1am in Leicester Square, and his attention was gravitated towards buskers playing the drums and he instantly fell in love with it. He has been living like this for 20 years believing that “the more you give, the more you receive.” He compares the competition to “X-factor,” as they play for 4-5 judges, then they send an email saying if they will take you and give provide you with a license. There is a community underground. Fabio mentioned a lady who gives him an “amazing sandwich” daily, and has done so for years. Despite this community, each contestant wants the same thing – the prize. The BBC reports that you “can smell the competition in the air.” The prize is not a record deal, or cash, but it is a license to busk on the London Underground. The successful singers will join 200 buskers on the Tube, London Overground and Elizabeth Line. 

What we can compare to Britain’s Got Talent, is ‘TfL’s Got Talent.’ TfL stands for Transport for London, and they are working with ‘Found in Music’. The auditions are coordinated by ‘Found in Music’, a program supported by the Mayor of London (Sadiq Khan) and they run the Busk in London. According to the Music Programme Director Kate Jones: “Found in Music is delighted to be working with TfL on the audition process for the iconic London Underground Busking Scheme.”

Overall, it is clear that “London’s Calling” (The Clash) from the Underground, where there is over 100,000 hours of music on an annual basis. It is an exciting and unique time in London’s Underground. Emma Strain, the TfL’s Customer Director, said: “As we enter our busking programme’s twentieth year, I can’t wait to hear the songs of a whole new generation of buskers. It is a vibrant part of London culture and we’re proud to celebrate 20 years since we introduced the busking scheme on our network by opening auditions again…”

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  We are very excited to announce that @lateworks_  of Noise will be out on @slowdancerecords on 10TH NOVEMBER You can pre-order the limited edition vinyl now via our website in our bio and on @roughtrade The 40 minute album features members of @bmblackmidi @goatgirlofficial @404guild @sorrybanduk @powerplant___  @curlrecordings & more who came into a studio in six groups to record with a set of instruments sculpted by @mathildabgreene @a4ngus @joe.bradleyhill & @jonaspequeno     The groups were only allowed to sample the instruments and their voice, and any lyrics had to be written in the time (of which they only had six hours). You can listen to a sampler and find more information on the Slow Dance & Late Works websites. Tracklist: A1 – “forged in fire” ft.( @djdairy2020 @thegreep @agaujma @silkarmour100 & @jerskinfendrix ) A2 – “diggy diggy fuck off” ft.( @plopper5000 @mrinstargram @maxsyedtollan & @tobyevansjesra ) A3 – “don’t sleep on” ft.( @glowsmusic & @felix.raman ) A4 – “unmenacingly violent” ft.( @marthaskye @krnlnrd @skrillig & @cajm_ ) B1 – “DRAIN MYTH” ft.( @bathwater.404 @devenny.404 @eliot.404 & @sonny.404 ( @404guild )) B2 – “DARK LORE BINGO” ft.( @bianca_scout @jacobfsamuel @homerhands @j_b_glazer @h__smart & @elenaisolini ) Musicians selected by @ggskips @joe.bradleyhill @maddymokeefe & @biancascout . All tracks mixed by the respective artists and @felix.raman and mastered for vinyl by @technodaddy666 (@pva_are_ok ) . Concept + vinyl design by @joe.bradleyhill inspired by Luigi Russolo’s 1913 manifesto “The Art of Noises”.

A post shared by Slow Dance (@slowdancerecords) on Oct 5, 2020 at 4:06am PDT

Ventures like this are typical of Slow Dance, run by three entrepreneurial music lovers Marco Pini, Darius Williams and Maddy O’Keefe. Slow Dance is a label, management, radio and events company that grew organically out of a college art zine. It has been recognised for its status as ‘one of the capital’s finest arbiters of taste’, and for its grassroots ethos, by publications such as NME, Dazed and The Quietus.

Fitting with their artistic origins, Slow Dance have collaborated with intermedia arts organisation Late Works on this project. Late Works founder Joseph Bradley Hill, who designed the concept, was inspired by Luigi Russolo’s 1913 manifesto The Art of Noises which classifies noises into six categories. Hill chose the four sculptors to contribute while O’Keefe, Pini and Bianca Scout weighed in to choose the musicians.

One group of musicians includes Lottie Pendlebury and Rosy Jones from the Rough Trade signed band Goat Girl while another saw DJ Dairy & MC Spritz, from the 2019 Mercury nominated black midi, team up with burgeoning experimental-folk musician Aga Ujma. The musicians were only able to sample the instruments and their own voices. The result is a fascinating cross-genre set of tracks, created over six hours, that demonstrates the innate musicality of its participants.

The physical product is covered in interesting graphics and contains a black and white risographed concertina booklet detailing the project. Projects like these are important because they question the purpose of music and push its parameters.

He explained that Be a Rebel was originally written for the last album, 2015’s Music Complete, but never made it on. Its new incarnation is a remix by Sumner himself, made during lockdown. Some fans have expressed disappointment that New Order’s long-awaited return only takes the form of an old album leftover being remixed, but nevertheless there is a buzz about it.

New Order rose like a phoenix from the ashes after the death of Ian Curtis and dissolution of Joy Division. After starting off in the shadow of their former band, New Order have managed to arguably surpass Joy Division in popularity.

Their first single Ceremony in 1981 used lyrics that Curtis had written a week before his death. This and their subsequent debut album, Movement, was fairly similar to the sound of Joy Division. Both Sumner and Hook seemed to be trying to emulate the dreariness of Curtis’ vocals and the lyrical content was equally dour.

It was after the band started spending time in New York City that they began to find their unique sound. The thriving underground club scene there in the early eighties was accompanied by the sounds of Chic, Sylvester and Afrika Bambaataa.

Sumner’s told Q magazine in 1991: ‘I literally saw the light when I was in New York with New Order and I went to this club… someone had spiked my drink with a tab of acid…and all of a sudden this electronic music – Giorgio Moroder, Afrika Bambaataa – made sense’. Sumner had seen the light, electronic dance music was the future.

From then on, New Order experimented more heavily with electronic equipment and synths, creating innovative dance tracks like Confusion and famously Blue Monday in 1983 that epitomise their fusion of post-punk and dance music. This movement from ‘dark gloomy gothic group‘ to ‘disco divas’ was described by Jon Savage as ‘incredible’. But the seeds may have been sown as early as the Joy Division days when Curtis used to bring Kraftwerk records to band rehearsals.

Blue Monday was New Order’s first big hit. That distinctive thumping dance beat from the drum machine and the video-game-like synths still get the crowds going. The iconic use of church organs gives the song a sense of reverence and Sumner’s vocals were by this time hitting the mark. This time there was no attempt to recreate Curtis’ voice because let’s face it, no one could.

With their 2015 release Complete Music, however, the band lost some of their early energy. Likewise, Be a Rebel is a pleasant listen, but ironically sounds more dated than their earlier output. Let’s hope the phoenix that is New Order will rise once again.

Jockstrap have been on the radar since their debut EP Love is the Key to the City earned them features in publications like DAZED, DIY and The Quietus. Since then, the band have produced a remix album Lost my Key in the <3 Club <3, several singles and most recently an EP titled Wicked City.

The City appears to be a running theme in their work. Georgia said in an interview that the City as an idea ‘represents [the] formative experiences [she’s] had here, in London’. Both Ellery and Skye came to London to study at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Ellery from coastal Cornwall and Skye from the East Midlands.

The duo met during their first year of studies, at Uni halls in the Barbican and are now in their final year. While Ellery is a Jazz violinist, Skye studies electronic music, but neither are pigeonholed by their disciplines. Ellery cites Joni Mitchell, Elton John and drone metal band Sunn O))) as influences while Skye refers to John Cage, Leonard Cohen and Muse in interviews.

Their creations are academic, almost to the point of being inaccessible. Wicked City is definitely the product of two people studying music at a high level and, in the words of Pitchfork, there is ‘more than a whiff of art-school hijinks to the project’. At the end of penultimate track The City, Ellery narrates a passage from Kathy Acker’s postmodernist novel Blood and Guts in High School over a squeaky and discordant beat laid down by Taylor.

Ellery says she’s drawn toward the ‘perverse imagery‘ in Acker’s writing, perhaps shedding light on their choice of band name. Another thing she shares with Acker is a reluctance to abide by linear narratives. Jockstrap’s 2020 track Robert featuring Injury Reserve makes no effort to be coherent. It starts with Ellery addressing Robert Mapplethorpe in a robotic voice with the words You’re provoking me Robert// I want to your playmate// I want my own portrait.

Then comes a drum interval and the entrance of Steppa J. Groggs rapping over an industrial sounding beat: Pull up to the blacktop party wearing Vans, I’m off the wall// Burn the body with some gasoline just to top it off. Toward the end of the track, Skye chops up the words with some seriously experimental beats and the overall result is baffling. Jockstrap are the first to admit this, saying in an interview that they spent a long time ‘questioning’ whether the song ‘made any sense’.

This contrasts with songs like City Hell, where Ellery’s classical training is more apparent. Only for a short while though, until Skye’s glitchy beat comes in and subverts our expectations yet again. Their club mix of this is a dance track that I can’t imagine dancing to. But it exemplifies the duo’s disregard for genre and desire to make something that challenges their listeners. Jockstrap are one to keep watching; what other band could convincingly claim ‘Skrillex and Robert Mapplethorpe inspired this track‘?

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!!! BIG NEWS !!! This Wednesday I will be dropping ‘Smash Hits Vol. 1.5 – All Star Charity Remix Edition’. This brand new 12 TRACK remix album will be available for download via Bandcamp with 100% of all proceeds going to the Beirut relief fund. So basically this is an excuse to donate to an incredible cause and get a whole bunch of amazing tunes in the process – what could be better?! I’ve had an absolute ball putting this thing together – all the musicians involved have pulled through with 100% BANGERS and I could not be more proud of the finished result. Stay tuned tomorrow for the full track list and lineup – it’s actually so fucking good you aren’t bloody READY! Big love, lynks xxxx

A post shared by lynks (@lynksafrikka) on Aug 17, 2020 at 8:48am PDT

 You may not know who Lynks Afrikka is yet. His most streamed song on Spotify, How to be Successful, only has 74,779 plays. But it is clear Afrikka defines success in different terms.

23 year old Eliot Brett, the man behind the flamboyant make-up and costumes, says that creating Lynks Afrikka was all about making something ‘entertaining and interesting‘. This has certainly been achieved. Like Grayson Perry, Brett uses humour and bravado to comment astutely on society and politics. The last track of ‘Smash Hits, Vol.1‘, Pandemic, finishes with the words: ‘Boris Johnson likes big business// and if I catch him walking ’round Brixton// I’ll cut his fingers off right at the signet’. 

Although Lynks Afrikka may not have entirely hit the mainstream yet, he has already attracted the attention of publications like DIY, Loud and Quiet and NME. NME hailed his humorously titled EP ‘Smash Hits, Vol.1‘ as a ‘thumping success’, drawing attention to deadpan lines like the one describing straight clubs as ‘a lot like a pub but with slightly less chairs’. ‘Smash Hits, Vol 1.5 – All Star Charity Remix Addition‘, dropping today, will be a remix of these socially conscious dance tracks.

The release features remixes from exciting London musicians Happyness (who share a love for drag), PVA and Glows, to name a few. These musicians all have connections with Brixton’s The Windmill, a famed institution that has been fostering and showcasing new British talent since the early 2000s.

‘Smash Hits, Vol 1.5 – All Star Charity Remix Addition‘ is well worth purchasing, especially considering all proceeds go to such a worthwhile cause.

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We have contributed two remixes to this fantastic album out tomorrow via @lynksafrikka’s bandcamp – all proceeds go to the Beirut Disaster Relief Effort – you can pre order now via Lynk’s page

To promote the EP, the band have announced they will be going on a tour of the UK, supported by Wight and Bright Curse for all but their first date, where they will be supported by Steak and Kerela.

Tour dates:

Aug 21: Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar, Brighton

Aug 22: Exchange, Bristol

Aug 23: The Black Heart, London

Aug 24: Scruffy Murphy’s, Birmingham

Aug 25: The Moon Club (HUB Festival), Cardiff

Aug 26: Pure, Sunderland

Aug 27: The Bay Horse, Manchester

Aug 29: Bannerman’s Bar, Edinburgh

Aug 30: The Man On The Moon, Cambridge

Aug 31: The Three Cranes, Sheffield

Listen to Trippy Wicked’s new track, Underground, here: