Unpredictable weather and a hectic 12-hour-long roster on Feb 12 didn’t stop the audience of about 8,000 strong from having the time of their lives at the indie music festival.

This year, with experience and a little help from UrbanWire‘s Laneway Survival Guide, many fans came prepared with ponchos, umbrellas, and even wellingtons after last year’s torrential downpour led to the event being nicknamed “Rainway Festival”. However, despite slight drizzles in the early afternoon, the audience was treated to a typical hot Sunday afternoon – which they basked happily in.

American pop duo The Cults gave the festival a great start, at 1.30 in the afternoon, as the first of 14 bands to play during the show. Beginning with an entrancing improvised instrumental, the band moved on to showcase their signature “bedroom pop” style of music with favourites such as ‘Go Outside’ and ‘You Know What I Mean’ creating a sweet, chill-out atmosphere as the early crowd bobbed along.

Brian Oblivion of Cults looking suave while playing the keyboard

Coming in as replacements for Wu Lyf (who pulled out), Chairlift certainly didn’t disappoint with their synthpop, which was sometimes reminiscent of an old Atari video game track. Lead singer and keyboardist Caroline Polachek wowed the crowd with her haunting vocals mixed with captivating falsettos, while still mashing out electro-lines on her synthesizer and even breaking out in short spurts of dance.

Despite having a dark, gothic musical style that doesn’t always go down well with the majority, Canadian act Austra definitely left a mark on fans with their larger-than-life outfits (think Wonder Women-turned-goth) and quirky interpretative dance moves that wouldn’t be odd in a Bollywood flick.

“Austra’s dance moves make up for what I may not understand about them musically. I won’t be surprised if they fly away on broomsticks at the end of their set,” exclaimed Alexander Goh, a 26-year-old university graduate and an impressed Austra fan.

While most bands opted for a simple stage with minimal decoration due to their short sets, Girls (who aren’t actually girls), lavished theirs with daisies and were constantly giving out fake flowers as mementos to delighted fans. Despite being a rock-centric band, the highlight of their set was when they performed a very emotional cover of ‘I Will Always Love You’ in memory of Whitney Houston, who had tragically passed away earlier that day.

In their sophomore performance here, The Drums still proved to be crowd-pleasers. Their set had the crowd jumping along almost constantly to their post-punk hits such as ‘Money’ and ‘Let’s Go Surfing’. Singer Jonathon Pierce made a deal mid-set with the audience, promising to dance if they danced, which instantly transformed the crowd from a jumpy one to a groovin’ one.

The second half of the day featured big acts such as Anna Calvi, who added a bluesy edge to the festival with her virtuosic guitar playing that shows strong influence from the likes of Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones. New wave artiste Twin Shadow shocked the crowd when he calmly gave away his Fender electric guitar to a lucky fan just before ending his set with ‘Forget’ – definitely making it a set to remember.

Twin Shadow having to settle the rest of his set with his Rickenbacker guitar after giving away his Fender

Things started getting more intense when Laura Marling’s highly anticipated set began. Being the only act with a focus on acoustic instruments, her indie-folk crooning added a sweet contrast and was definitely a highlight of day. The 21-year-old songstress showed maturity beyond her years with in her country-esque folk rock, recalling famous musicians such as Ani Difranco and Alanis Morissette. Her acoustic guitar went through a wide range of music genres, often combining Spanish and Arabic musical influences, infused with folk, in her own unique style. Despite her soaring vocals and impressive guitar playing, the young musician spoke with much timidity when addressing the crowd, often giving them soft “thank you’s” after each song.

Unfortunately, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart had a rocky start. Not only was singer Kip Berman pitchy in their first few songs, but their set was also marred by technical difficulties, forcing them to stop their set for a few minutes due to faulty audio equipment. However, the young New Yorkers weren’t discouraged by this and came back in full throttle after the glitches were dealt with. What with their jumping around while bursting into hit after hit – such as ‘Heart in Your Heartbreak’ and ‘A Teenager in Love’ – without a breather, The Pains provided 1 of the most energetic sets of the day.

“Whatever The Pains came off short vocally, they definitely made up for in attitude with their insanely convincing performance on stage,” said Royston Chua, a 21-year-old National Serviceman. The crowd danced and sang along to songs of heartbreak and redemption accompanied by jangly guitars and sun-soaked melodies – a definitive formula for classic indie-pop.

The whole crowd was on their feet during Toro Y Moi’s funk-fueled set. Despite coming out dressed in a sloppy orange tee, looking like he was going to buy groceries rather than performing to a crowd of 8,000, the multi-talented 24-year-old (he’s also a designer and photographer) showed great creativity in his synth-playing, driving the audience wild with his fusion of electronica, funk and dance music. His recent shows have been described as similar to a “flashy, sex-fueled 80s rooftop fiesta” by Michael Roffman of Consequence of Sound and he certainly lived up to expectations in his Laneway appearance.

Don’t let his looks deceive, Toro Y Moi induced the crowd into a crazed dance fiesta

In her return to Laneway after 4 years, Feist proved to Singapore why she once ruled this festival. The Canadian starlet, who’s on her first trip here, teased her fans by asking, “Has anyone wondered how come I never came here?” before jumping in to her recent single ‘How Come You Never Go There’. Her set consisted mainly of songs from her latest single “Metals”, with a few favourites from her back catalogue such as ‘I Feel It All’ and ‘My Moon, My Man’. Her way with the crowd was commendable, spurring a gender-divided sing-a-long for the choruses of ‘The Bad In Each Other’ where the ladies sang, “the good man” and guys went “the good woman”. Supporting her were her 3 back-up singers. Together, they whipped up epic vocal harmonies, including a remarkable segment during a darker, slowed-down version of ‘Mushaboom’ that dropped many jaws. But Feist wasn’t the only one who impressed during her set. The reception from the crowd left the experienced singer in amazement, even sayingthat “Singapore is raising the bar for Laneway” and that the Singaporean crowd was “shaming Australia”.

Photo courtesy of Aloysius Lim

As the last act of the night, French electronic dream-pop band M83 started their set with ‘Intro’. Singing “carry on, carry on”, accompanied by a fuzzy, trance-like synth track, lead singer Anthony Gonzalez delivered a reverberating start to an end. It was a truly mind-blowing set, with both the band and the crowd exceeding expectations. To give the crowd had the full M83 experience, their set showcased fog-machines and intricate lighting setups, perfectly complementing their dream-pop image.

Despite being worn out from almost 12 hours of continuous hard partying, everyone was uplifted by the band’s intense performance. Seeing the whole crowd pumping their fists religiously in the air in unison during hits such as ‘Midnight Cities’ and ‘We Own The Sky’ was enough to make anyone’s hair stand. The response, so unlike the Singaporean reputation of a passive audience, overwhelmed Gonzalez, who exclaimed, ”You guys are the best. The best, the best, the best,” while bowing down in respect to the ecstatic crowd.

The Highlights:
The awesome crowd
Cover of Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ by The Girls
Austra’s quirky dance
Twin Shadow’s guitar giveaway
Much better weather, with nothing more than slight drizzles!
Feist and her amazing back-up singers
Dr. Martens shuttle bus services and survival kits

The Downers:
Technical problems during The Pains
Ridiculously long food and drinks queues (it took some fans over 40 minutes just to get a beer!)
Feist fans want more!

The most wonderful time of the music calendar, St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival, is back! An overwhelming success, it drew a crowd of thousands at last year’s inaugural show, and is set to happen once more at Fort Canning Park on 12 Feb 2012. This year, 5 more performing acts will be there to turn the stage into an indie utopia.

We’ve already gone over how to metamorphose into the ultimate indie hipster butterfly in Part 1 of our Laneway survival guide. But for tasteful festival-goers, knowing at least an info-bite about each artiste is as crucial as having your ABCs down pat. UrbanWire gets you prepared for the 12-hour, 14-act festival with this all-inclusive guide.

Feist

Laura Marling

M83

Cults

Chairlift

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

The Drums

Toro Y Moi

YUCK

The Horrors

Girls

Twin Shadow

Austra

Anna Calvi

1 2 3 4 Feist!

Leslie Feist, better known as just Feist, is a Canadian songwriter who shot to fame through an iPod Nano advertisement campaign. Having amassed legions of fans, she’s also recently released her 4th album, “Metals”.

She’s also worked with the Muppets on an episode of Sesame Street, and her tracks have been featured in several films and TV shows, such as Grey’s Anatomy and Paris je t’aime (this feisty songbird’s French warbling is just too awfully cute!).

With her androgynous facial bone structure, the quirky finger tricks she graces her banjo with, and that playful hip swing she’s always showing off, this commercially-successful singer looks set for bigger and brighter endeavours.

(For more on Feist, check out the Laneway 2012 Special by fellow writer Ulysses Goh!)

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Indie Folk Darling

At 21, talented songstress and folk poetess Laura Marling is on the rise after beating out formidable contenders like Ellie Goulding and Cheryl Cole to claim the title of Best British Female Artist at the Brit Awards 2011.

What sets this pale, lean musician apart from haughty teen pop singers are her humble, down-to-earth strumming and passionate drive to make music out of street performing. Her 3rd and latest album, “A Creature I Don’t Know”, is a refreshing hybrid of Joni Mitchell and Jason Mraz with a dash of free spirit.

Her 2 previous albums were largely shaped by her experiences with past lovers – among them Marcus Mumford from Mumford & Sons and Charlie Fink from Noah and the Whale. Highly sentimental, her emotions ring right through in her music.

Ex-beau Fink had once professed that the muse, Marling’s divine vocals could “summon the fairies” and her loveliness could “bring the dead to life”.

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Sounds of the Galaxy

Fronted by electronic dream-pop inspiration Anthony Gonzalez, M83 catches the ambient sounds of true hipsteria in the single ‘Midnight City’ from their 6th and latest album “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming”.

Having been invited to tour alongside Depeche Mode, Kings of Leon, The Killers, and Midnight Juggernauts, M83’s certainly matured due to these experiences, and gained the confidence to record songs that have never been done before.

Indie music webzine Pitchfork has also recently picked up the European-infused electro synth band’s shiny new track as the best song of 2011.

Check it out here:

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Evangelising Rock ‘n’ Roll

Fret not – Cults doesn’t engage in any shady religious practices. Apart from rattling your skulls and delighting you with their magnetic harmonics, of course.

New Yorkers Brian Oblivion and Madeline Follin certainly have a winning formula, as 2 tracks (‘Go Outside’ and ‘Abducted’) from their self-titled EP were selected as Pitchfork’s “Best New Music”.

The thrilling pair bring out the true nature of their melodic desires in sweetly sick bedroom pop that delves unexpectedly into the pains of growing up.

Listen to a sample of their music here:

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Psychwalk Safari

Chairlift, a duo consisting of Caroline Polachek and Patrick Wimberly, jazzed up their pop-infused creations with a dose of hazy romanticism in their previous album, “Does You Inspire You”.

After ‘Evident Utensil’ was nominated for “Breakthrough Video” at the 2009 MTV Music Video Awards, the band’s next single, ‘Amanaemonesia’, meant for their upcoming album “Something”, came out late last year.

If you’ve been hooked on their pop-psychedelic humour, watch out as their forthcoming tracks have themes as crazy as faux-jazz sulk, pizza punk, road-rage surf, infomercial spiritual, and gothic pastoral!

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Does Your Heart Belong?

It’s definitely not easy being pure at heart, as these 4 New Yorkers explain in their hits. And it’s clear that The Pains of Being Pure at Heart sure knows how to steal them, too.

These obsessive music nerds have come a long way from “emo” in their early days to indie sonic bliss, complete with strong songwriting.

Their thoughtful euphony has had cultural tastemakers like The NME, Stereogum, Pitchfork, and The New York Times validating their hard work as sublime and addictive pop gold.

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Not So Summery

There are some bands that you remember by their harmonious whistling, and The Drums is 1 of these. Brooklyn lads Jonathan Pierce, Jacob Graham, and Connor Hanwick engaged listeners with their escapist collection of beach pop in 2010 and quickly rose to fame, especially in the UK. It wasn’t long before they scored a 6-week USA tour and sold-out shows in 13 countries, including Singapore, throughout 2010 to 2011.

Their latest album, “Portamento”, features more obscure, but still cheery, tones that reflect great introspection by the band.

Vocalist Pierce, explained that he took inspiration from every issue that he “couldn’t get away from even if he tried”, such as extreme religious roots, violence, and heartbreaks, to create the broader palette of sounds in “Portamento”.

Now, this is the band you’d want to get personal with.

And don’t be surprise if you catch a 5-piece band on stage, as Myles Matheny and Danny Lee Allen are added to the equation for “sonic expansiveness”.

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New Age Funk

Columbian-raised Chazwick Bundick, better known as Toro Y Moi (pronounced as Toh-roh E Mwah), has been incorporating French house, 80’s R&B, hip hop, and Brian Wilson’s pop into his solo work.

With his chillwave style, he’s garnered much acclaim and plenty of fans since the release of his 2 albums, “Causers of This” (2010) and “Underneath the Pine” (2011).

Spacey disco, pervasive funk, and sonic beats make it tough to put a finger on his genre, but the prolific composer is, if anything, a die-hard musical experimenter.

Don’t you wish that you were as cool as Chaz?

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YUM!

They’ve been compared to Sonic Youth, The Cure, and even Dinosaur Jr., but the throngs of YUCK supporters beg to differ. The band’s wonderfully strange fuzzy guitars, noisy grunge, and twisted music videos are certainly one-of-a-kind.

Made up of Daniel Blumberg, Max Bloom, Mariko Doi, and Jonny Rogoff, with Ilana Blumberg putting in an occasional appearance at live shows, this sadly underrated band hailing from New Jersey recorded and self-produced their 1st album at home.

There are so many layers in their sound that their “ugh” essence is completely unique. For example, the song ‘Rubber’ is about a hot chick languidly daydreaming about being a dog groomer. How’s that for surreal?

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Out to Boo Your Mind

5-member English band The Horrors, made up of Faris Badwan, Joshua Hayward, Tom Cowan, Rhys Webb, and Joe Spurgeon, started out with a frantic, crazed sound, leading to their gigs being jammed with young punks “dumb with lipstick and blind with mascara”.

3 albums later, their exploration of different combinations of sub-genres has resulted in the trippy psychedelia of their latest album Skying. Their hit single ‘Still Life’ outsold all the previous ones and was even listed on Radio One for 4 weeks.

The process of getting there was quite a horror, but those trying times have brought out the true passion and commitment of this inventive British group.

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Girls Don’t Shy Away

Put together hardcore-punks-turned-indie-slackers Christopher Owens and Chet “JR” White and you get Girls. Their refreshing ensemble of shows, lyrics, and chemistry propels their influence beyond just a band movement.

The latest addition to their discography, “Father, Son, Holy Ghost”, is even more unorthodox than usual, but critics and fans have raved about the depth and personal development it shows.

Moving on, it looks like the deft pair will be working on new tracks bearing a blend of Girls’ past and present.

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Your Favourite Daydream

Raw and powerful. That’s the Twin Shadow thrown by American musician George Lewis Jr.

Dip into his debut album, ‘Forget’ and you’re on an absolute hipster ride. He’s known to blend intimate R&B textures of with the sophisticated harmony of his lyrics, and credits Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear for fine-tuning his 1st release as his producer.

Don’t miss his 2nd album, coming out in the 1st half of 2012!

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Dazzling Dark

Canadian indietronica trio Austra, formed by Katie Austra Stelsmanis, Maya Postepski, and Dorian Wolf, put out their debut dance album “Feel It Break” just last year.

Lead singer Stelsmanis had wanted their tracks get people to completely let loose and dance. The band’s certainly achieved that, as their synth-driven new wave act has gotten much attention for being a poppy, spellbinding musical escapade.

Armed with towering vocals and a marriage of classical and electronica, this ‘holy’ trinity (Austra is the Latvanian goddess of light) will only be burning brighter.

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Powerful and Fearless

Anna Calvi deals with the inevitable tragedy of life by creating a sense of hope through her music. Such is her drive that the intensely laconic figure produced her 1st album alone in a basement.

The classy Calvi, who describes her songs as “sexual”, always picks out the microscopic details in her visual music such as the middle section, crescendos, and bravados. She’s also acknowledged influences like the opera, flamenco dancers, and the orchestra on her music.

As her music deals with themes such as, lust, dramatic surrealism, and devils, the soft-spoken blonde puts on a different, more seductive persona whenever she performs live.

Her arresting vocals have earned her a Mercury Music Prize 2011 nomination for Best Debut Album.

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Now you’ve got these little gems, go and be awesome!

Photos courtesy of Bohemian Musings and Chugg Entertainment

St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival

Date: 12 February 2012, Sunday

Time: 1:30pm – 1:30am

Venue: Fort Canning, Canning Rise

Official Promoter: Chugg Entertainment

Tickets are sold through SISTIC at $135 and an additional $3 for booking fee.

For more details on the St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival, check out their Facebook , Twitter, and official website. Groove along to the mix of Laneway Radio 2012 right here!