This time next week I will be recovering from Friday evening while checking out afternoon bands at Electric Picnic. With the Summer we've been having I've been worried about whether it would rain at EP this year. We were lucky last year with the odd shower, not enough to dampen anyone's spirits or take from the festive atmosphere.

So what can we expect this year?

Well, at the moment the weather forecasts are good. We're looking at zero rain for the weekend, temperatures between 14 and 17 degrees and Saturday looks to be a great day with very little cloud cover.

Fingers crossed people, fingers crossed.

Damn! Just over a week to go at the time of posting... this time next week I'll be on my up the country headed for the Picnic early Friday.

Someone on Facebook asked if anyone had any advice regarding heading to Festivals, and of course last year I swore I would remember all the things I should and shouldn't do. Can I remember them now? Can I f*ck.

Here are two things I do remember:

1. Don't bother lugging loads of DIY food. If you're lazy like me you'll never feel like sorting it out. There are better things to be doing. It's costly eating from stalls etc all the time, but it's even more costly buying a load of food, not eating it and buying stall food anyway. Bring bottled water and cereal bar supply to keep you going.
2. Running around trying to see everything just doesn't work. Not for me anyway. It has it's advocates, but my method is to make the hard choices. Decide who you're first preference is, and have a second choice just in case they turn out to be crap. Get to your first choice venue 10-15 minutes early. This can be tough because you will have more timing problems trying to get to gigs early, but it pays off. It is SO much easier to get into the mood when you have a prime position. You won't get a prime position without major hassle for popular acts once they kick off.

Maybe I'm just getting old... let's have a little poll about the best way to approach the Festival:

There's so much on at Electric Picnic I haven't had time to scour the line up properly to decide who are my must sees. Thanks to John Cav for pointing out one I totally missed - Dans le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip. Their single above, 'Thou Shalt Always Kill', took the internet by storm via YouTube, and they have a new single which is also excellent - 'The Beat That My Heart Skipped.'

Reportedly playing on Sunday at 8pm...

I came across this wonderful video some time back and was really impressed by both the video and the song... so I am thrilled to hear that Loney Dear will be playing Electric Picnic! Even if he is listed as 'Lonely Dear'... easy mistake to make. I know it's Loney Dear because they mention his real name, Emil Svanangen.

Loads of other acts have been announced, so we now have the full line up - this one jumped out at me, but I must go and look ut some of the others again... Warlords of Pez and Kila jumped out as Irish acts who will be playing.

When I saw UNKLE listed to play EP I thought they sounded familiar but couldn't place them. A quick search of YouTube revealed that they were responsibe for teaming up with Thom Yorke and producing the above gem 'Rabbit In Your headlights', that music video was around when I was in college and it stuck in my mind ever since. The music video was directed by Jonathan Glazer. He also directed Sexy Beast, a great movie, and several great Radiohead videos from around the same time - Street Spirit and Karmma Police.

But back to UNKLE... according to Wikipedia, UNKLE is a British musical outfit founded in 1994 by school friends James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy. Originally categorized as trip-hop, the group once included producer DJ Shadow and has employed a variety of guest artists and producers.

Check out another excellent video here, 'Burn My Shadow', best I've seen in a while now. The song features vocals from ian Astbury from the Cult and is directed by Miguel Sapochnik.

The only reservation I'd have about going to see UNKLE at Electric Picnic is that I love vocals, and seeing as UNKLE work with guest vocallists, will it be instrumental, or who does the vocals at live gigs?

I don't really know Primal Scream at all. Except I remember they used to be played a lot at parties when I was in college. In particular I remember this track... and of course this one.

JUST OVER TWO WEEKS AWAY!

Jim Carrol has a secret source who leaked him the day by day Body & Soul lineup. Go check it out, coz Body & Soul area is the place to be.

Just heard on the Last Word on Today FM that Bat For Lashes are to play Electric Picnic! Check out their MySpace page for confirmation! Yes! The album is great, been listening to it for the last week or so...

Could there be a more perfect festival band? The Polyphonic Spree. Don't miss them!