Festival season has once again walked into our thoughts, dreams and desires; scantily dressed, heavily perfumed, and looking pretty damn good; walked by our desk wearing nothing but a backstage pass and an inflatable hat, smiled provocatively (Hmpf, Dour!), shaken its ass in our faces (damn you Primavera!), tempted us to part with large sums of cash (leave me alone Reading!), sleep (For the last time, NO! Benicassim!) and sanity (Grrr, Glastonbury!).
And, like sandwiches (sandwiches? is that really the best metaphor you can come up with!? ed.), festivals come in all shapes and sizes. Some tiny, some huge, some just plain weird (but you know we love you anyway, right, Standon Calling?). Line-ups too, vary hugely. Actually choosing from one of these however can prove rather tricky, a bit like standing in front of the counter at Subway (Ah, now I see where that was going. But still, sandwiches? ed.). This year LHNA simply decided to follow the best line-ups...
Pitchfork, the website everyone loves to hate and hates to love, recently published its annual Guide to Summer Festivals 2009 article to assist in this choice. LHNA, already planning a journey up, though, and across Europe this summer, and therefore already armed with a vague itinerary and before mentioned line-up criteria, chanced upon the festival we're featuring today:
OFF Festival 2009
Held in what for many people may well be considered the middle of nowhere, this little brother of indie festivals has only been around for a few years, yet has already hosted the likes of Architecture in Helsinki, Of Montreal, Electrelane, Clinic, British Sea Power, Menomena and Iron & Wine on its stages. This year's lineup looks even more impressive:
To be honest, we don't really know much else about it. The website is somewhat 'enigmatic', while everyone writing on its LastFM page is Polish. From what I've seen, it appears to be held in something of a park, and camping is available. For us, the not really knowing what to expect (at all!) is part of the fun. Anyway, here's a map:
Follow the rabbit to Off!
Four-day tickets are already sold out, but 2-day tickets are still available and cost only 85 Polish Zloty, which is €19.50 (or $27), i.e. insanely cheap.
For flights, I suggest having a look at Ryanair or Easyjet. If you book now you'll probably be able to find something decent.
Off Festival 2009 playlist on Spotify
-> and for those of you from Hype Machine or Elbo.ws, yes, we have a few songs for your listening pleasure:
The National - Mistaken for Strangers
The Thermals - No Culture Icons
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Killers
Final Fantasy - This Lamb Sells Condos
-> and for those of you from Hype Machine or Elbo.ws, yes, we have a few songs for your listening pleasure:
The National - Mistaken for Strangers
The Thermals - No Culture Icons
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Killers
Final Fantasy - This Lamb Sells Condos
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