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Leeds University, located in West Yorkshire England, is one of the most prestigious higher learning schools in the world, having been established back in 1831 for their School of Medicine, and backed by the motto "et augebitur scientia", or "and knowledge will be increased." This weekend, the literal volume will be increased, as this Russell Group affiliate (Ivy League equivalent in the UK) will be home to Ghostfest 2010! 
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Sikth
Originating in 2005, Ghostfest is a metal and hardcore festival pulling together undergound metal and hardcore acts from Europe and America.  For festival standards, tickets to this ear explosion have been ridonkulously cheap, as in £15-£30 for the entire weekend.  Insanity!  The first festival featured 18 bands, including Sikth, Azriel, Bring Me The Horizon, and Architects.  It was filmed and made into a rare/hard to find DVD. Party.
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Gallows
This year, the line-up has 32 bands ready to perform one after the other on two stages over two days.  An awesome idea, so that audience members don't have to sacrifice seeing one band over another.  One band that shouldn't be missed are the Gallows, a punk band from Watford, Hertforshire.  They will be headlining the second night, before continuing on their Euro fest trek throughout the summer.  Hey,  and they just supported a Cypress Hill show at Brixton Academy.  Mega.
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Knuckledust ((c) Cindy Frey)
And headlining the first night is the London-based hardcore band Knuckledust, who've been around (and maintained the same line-up!) since 1996.  When they formed, hardcore was a near-dead scene in London, but with the help of other local groups, the scene once again grew in the underground, and eventually led to Knuckledust opening for acts like Agnostic Front, Madball, and the Misfits. 
For more info and the rest of the line-up, check out Ghostfest's site.

Written by Dawn Reed
 
 
When Barry (Jack Black in Hi-Fidelity) wanted to uplift his co-workers at the record store with some happy tuneage, the best way to start off his Special Monday Morning Mix was with Katrina & the Waves over the top sunshiney pop smash "Walking on Sunshine."  It was probably the best use of this song in a movie ever...  take that back. Funniest.  The best was in American Psycho.
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Katrina and the Waves formed back in the early 80's when a couple of American "Air-force brats" (holler!) joined the already formed UK group, The Waves, and toured throughout the military bases of Great Britain before hitting it big in Canada (via record sales and radio promotion.)  With some major re-recording, and plenty of horn tracks added on, "Walking on Sunshine" went on to become a worldwide hit (1985's #9 US, #8 UK) and garnered them a Grammy nomination for "Best New Artist."
Now, in it's 25th Anniversary, the single is getting gobs of new attention, and more revamping.  Such as an iPod game, a karaoke contest, a re-release of their back-catalouge, and a new version of the tune as performed by the Soweto Gospel Choir. 
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From Soweto, South Africa, the Soweto Gospel Choir is composed of over 30 members who blend African gospel, with reggae and pop.  They've won 2 Grammy's (2007 & 2008) for Best Traditional World Music Album.  They were also the first group to perform at Nelson Mandela's AIDS benefit concert series, 46664 (Mandela's prisoner ID number.)
So the Soweto Gospel Choir gave it some global rhythm. Dolly Parton made it bluegrassy.  And Me First and the Gimme Gimmes took it to a whole new level of obnoxiousness with a pop ska twist (barf.)   I wonder what Barry would think if Belle and Sebastian were to cover it...
 
 
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Ooo la la!  Next week, Canada will be saying bonjour to summer with it's 22nd annual Les FrancoFolies de Montreal Festival.  Why, since 1989, has it been known as the largest francophone music event in the world?  Hmm, let's see. Well from June 10-19, they'll manage to cram in 70 indoor shows, as well as 160 FREE outdoor shows, filled with over 1000 songwriters, composers, musicians, and bands from all across the francais-speaking world.  Zut alore!  Befitting that it's held in America's largest French speaking city, tout à fait.
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Tricot Machine
A variety of genres will be represented, as is the case at most summer festivals.  A notable Montreal native indie pop act that'll be making it's way to the fest this year is Tricot Machine (French for Knitting Machine.)  The duo formed towards the end of 2005, with a 9 song demo floating around until their debut s/t album was released in March 2007.  Through that album, they received the ECHO Songwriting Prize via SOCAN, (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada.)  Terrifiant!
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Sexy Sushi (c. Myspace)
If you're into electro, then the French duo Sexy Sushi should not be missed.  Formed in late 2002, this dude and dudette had this to say about their chance meeting, "We met by chance on what a distributor of Super U, we have shared our respective work one and so we have started sammanfattningly to work on our first songs with the band aim is simply to have fun!"And they sure are getting around this summer on the Fest Circuit! (Just noticed they will also be at the Dour Fest, which we covered early on in this series.)
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The Hop La! (by GG)
Pop punk will take stage at the fest as well, as seen with the band The Hop La!, another out source from the motherland of France. Forming in 2004, these dudes have been on the road since 2005, hollering their mantra,"Qu’on se le dise : LE ROCK’n’ROLL n’est pas mort!" For us anglophones, that translates to "Spread the word: Rock'n'Roll is not dead!" Party!.. I mean, escouade! 
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Angélique Duruisseau
And a new edition to this year's extra activities is the FrancoFolies dinner cruise aboard Montreal's "Bateau-Mouche" (tour boat).  Politely binge out on the five-course French-faire while literally cruising on a cruiseliner, and take in the sweet Edith Piaf tribute via Angélique Duruisseau.  This mademoiselle was the winner of the "Ma première Place des Arts" contest in 2003, and received "best singer" title at the Festival International de la Chanson de Granby in 2005.
For more info on the festival, check out their website.

by Dawn Reed