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Purple Sneakers Approved: By The Meadow 2016

29 March 2016 | 12:34 pm | Tom Hutchins

We've already taken you through the lineup, but who makes the cut when it comes down to Purple Sneakers Approved at By The Meadow festival.

We've already taken you through the lineup, but who makes the cut when it comes down to the finest of details. That's right, Purple Sneakers Approved is back and we're looking at this weekend's BY THE MEADOW festival.

As a disclaimer, it's been damn hard to pick four acts to focus on, we were very keen to feature every act from our first By The Meadow article, but we're pretty happy to be showcasing the following for you. And just in case you're slow to the party, PS Approved is a new-ish series where we ‘approve’ aka tell you why you should love acts from event lineups. Let's see who's worth penciling in this weekend.

THE HARPOONS

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We originally said: Victoria’s pop-meets-late-night-club darlings, The Harpoons will make you swoon all night long; we promise.

To elaborate: It may be a little redundant to feature a headliner, but you can't not approve of these guys. Rising from the ashes from so many of our favourite local acts over the last decade, The Harpoons are the little supergroup that could. Taking a pop sound and jamming it through some warm synths and R&B grooves, the band are a prime example of what soul can sound like it's applied to a Melbourne context in 2016. 10pm on a Saturday night on the farm, the perfect time to snuggle up to your best pals and move slowly to some sultry shit!

HABITS

We originally said: Dark, loud, inspirational, industrial synth heavy creations; if they don’t play at 5am, we don’t know why they were booked.

To elaborate: Well, it's not a 5am slot, but we can deal with 1am instead. It's truly hard to try and fixate words to what HABITS are now doing. It began as woozing R&B influenced beats, but things have a taken a dramatic and slightly disturbing (in a good way) turn. With pulsating tribal rhythms surrounded by lazering synths (like dance-punk styles), those R&B tones are pushed so far deep into the mix, with ghoul-like screams taking the forefront of their work. They work best in the dark, so expect a truly captivating and potentially distressing (again in a good way) performance.

PLANÈTE

We originally said: We don’t know anyone else who creates 10 min downtempo electronica tracks constantly that still make me play them on repeat; listen to ‘Altair’ and you’ll get it.

To elaborate: Although his creations sit in that downtempo house sphere, there is literally so much going on, that it's impossible to get bored of a Planète creation. The guy is one of the smartest producers we've heard in such a long time, moulding dense soundscapes out of the weirdest array of samples. There's heavy percussive elements, a driving beat and serene moments throughout. A fluid, incredible late night performance awaits you this weekend.

LANKS

We originally said: A really versatile and eclectic project from a great guy; it’s as if folk was like “hey let’s get real and be a genre that makes sense in 2016”.

To elaborate: LANKS has been pushing hard for the last few years, supporting acts like The Antlers, touring across the country and featuring in huge banger from Just a Gent; all this passionate drive has paid off, as in 2016 the project seems to have hit its most profound moments. With a beautiful range, great pop instrumentation and smart production, LANKS is creating intricate and yet powerful statements every time we hear from him. A great way to close out the festival.

By The Meadow will run between April 2 and 3 (this weekend) in Bambra, Victoria. Full set-times have been released and are below. They're down to the final release tickets which are still dirt cheap at $85 + bf. Get your grubby mitts on them here. For more info, head to: bythemeadow.com

Words by Tom Hutchins

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