Radio Kurtodrome 31: Pukkelpop (1)
What's that, Sooty? You think Pukkelpop, Belgian's biggest alternative festival, is completely losing it? You're such a clever puppet: it totally lost its senses indeed. And in the words of Bob The Builder: "Can we fix it?" No, we can't, but we can direct you to the decent music on the festival.

Today a look at Thursday's lineup, the best festival day if you ask us.

GALACTICAMENDUM - Turn it up (D)
You tell me: is this world fair? Is now that Galacticamendum (add .com and you have their site) finally have an album out (Medic Royale) it fair they're not on Pukkelpop? And that instead we'll have to endure the likes of Shrimp Bizkit, Jackass and Kelly Osbourne (though we just received news Kelly won't come. Our heart bleeds and two more to go)? No, it isn't and that why we start this edition with a song from a band who isn't on a Pukkelpop stage. (The MP3 is only available for a limited time.)

LADYTRON - Cracked LCD
"And here's the new single from Siouxsie and the Banshees?" was the first thought we had when we heard this song. But no, it's Ladytron. We remember them performing as zombies nailed to the floor in Holland two years ago, so we hope they'll drink more coffee this time.

ELECTRIC SIX - Danger! High Voltage
The remarkable video to this song has been a choice of ours a few weeks ago and now that the band is coming to Pukkelpop, we'll include the song to see if there's more to this song than glowing breasts and crotches.

THE ALKALINE TRIO - Private Eye (D)
"To dismiss Chicago's Alkaline Trio as pop-punk is to cheat them and yourself out of something that's much more than a handful of chords and a little attitude," says Insound, or those who offered this MP3. Okay, so they've grown up a little. Still quite pop though.

SPARTA - Mye (D)
At The Drive-In showed it's possible to break in two and keep alive: ATDI became Sparta and The Mars Volta. Both will appear on Pukkelpop's grounds, but Sparta is first.

CEX - Florida (is Shaped Like a Big Droopy Dick for a Reason) (D)
Cex is pronounced Sex and he released his first album when he was 19. He has made better tracks, but here we obviously went for the title.

SPINVIS - Ronnie Gaat Naar Huis
I think that yes, this means we'll have put all of Spinvis's online tracks that are available on one of the Kurtodrome pages. Ronnie goes home, but Spinvis comes to Pukkelpop. And if one breakthrough artist deserved it, then that's Spinvis.

TURIN BRAKES - The Door
Not just any version of this single, no: what you'll hear was recorded acoustic and live.

DAMIEN RICE - Volcano (radio edit) (D)
Pukkelpop is more than the Massive Attacks and the Stainds of this world (big bands with no songs online). It's also a place to discover some artists. Take the Irish artist Damien Rice, his name didn't ring a bell (even though this song is already a year old), but this radio edit of "Volcano" (that Rice stresses isn't available in shops) is a thing of beauty. Download, enjoy and be convinced.

LUOMO - The Right Wing (D)
Luomo is a pseudonym for one of Scandinavian�s leading artists in electronic music. It is Vladislav Delay (who thus appears twice on the festival). His debut album on Force Tracks, Germany�s amazing minimal house label, is a document of modern House sound, but truly independent.

SUPER NUMERI - Electric Horse Garden
Super Numeri were picked up by Ninja Tune. "Electric Horse Garden" is the single of their album Great Aviaries.

RADIAN - Jet (D)
Radian are Austrian and make noise. Not in the unwashed rocker meaning of the word 'noise', but in the experimental meaning of the word. And because we play it all... here's Radian. Protect your ears.

TORIKO NOJIKO - Give Face (D)
After a successful visit to the Domino Festival (see RK19) Toriko Nojiko returns to Belgium for another festival. Hard Ni Sasete was released in Autumn 2002 on the Austrian Mego label.

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