Harvest Leads With Massive Attack, Franz Ferdinand, Primus, Goldfrapp & More

The past two years have seen Harvest put together festival line ups that look to cater to something of a more discerning music fan. Today we are pleased to inform you that their modus operandi continues along this line, with a diverse and mind boggling array of talent enlisted to make the third Harvest event far and away the biggest to date.

The bill, as it stands, is as follows:

Massive Attack, Franz Ferdinand, Primus, Goldfrapp, Neutral Milk Hotel, Desaparecidos, Eels, CSS, The Drones, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, M Ward, Superchunk, Wallflowers, Walk Off The Earth

Listen to it here:

Massive Attack:

Trip hop progenitors, alternative music icons, electronic geniuses, and experimental masterminds – these are just a few descriptors that you could use to describe British production duo and songwriters Massive Attack. Honestly, have a listen to Blue Lines or Protection or Mezzanine or 100th Window or 2010's Heligoland and try telling us that there is any other trip hop act in the world you'd prefer to have headlining Harvest. Their live shows are ridiculous and will blow your damn mind, make sure you're nice and comfortable when they hit the stage late in the evening at Harvest this year.

Franz Ferdinand:

They released one of last decade's most iconic tracks in Take Me Out almost a decade ago (you're getting old, let's face it), but since then they have kept a pretty consistent output and hopefully this will continue with their fourth LP Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, which will drop in August. One thing we already know is that these Scots are a scintillating live band and they'll have all and sundry singing along to their indie-post-punk gems.

Primus:

There was a while there where we thought we might never see Primus back in Australia again, but now we get the second chance in a few years to witness this trio of freakishly talented musicians, led by the warped mind of Les Claypool. They're irreverent and wacky and they play a hybrid of rock and funk and metal that is just too much to explain. Hell, we probably don't need to sell them to you anyway.

Goldfrapp:

A new record will be out in September and a trip to Australia seems a logical call for the British electronic duo. Over the past decade and a half they have produced some stunning music, each of the five records currently out there are brilliant examples of a broad range of electronic music styles. We haven't heard Tales Of Us as yet, but if it's even close to the quality of their past releases then consider us very excited indeed.

Neutral Milk Hotel:

If you haven't ever heard their classic 1998 album In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, then can we strongly suggest you do so right now? It is called a classic album for a reason, it's one of the finest pieces of indie rock ever committed to tape and we cannot even believe that the band have come back together, let alone that Harvest have secured their services for their festival. This is crazy. Learn all the words and scream them along with us. We won't be quiet for anyone.

Eels:

It's really hard to do Eels justice with a mere paragraph or two; Mark Oliver Everett, the man who started the band and continues to lead them through any number of different odd and wonderful musical pathways, makes music that's not easily categorised. At once he has made gentle, breezy indie-pop hits, heavy, dirgey blues romps, songs of beauty and songs that are just plain weird. An Eels live show is always an experience as well, so whether you're a devotee or you just know them from a movie soundtrack back in your youth, you won't want to miss what E and the gang are putting down.

Desaparecidos:

The Bright Eyes performances at the first Harvest events were really something special and it comes as no surprise that there has been plenty of questions asked about when they will return. This doesn't answer them, but seeing as Desaparecidos are led by Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, it'll have to do for this year. We don't actually mean that, this post-hardcore/emo group are absolutely killer and, while fans of Bright Eyes will find a lot ot like about them, you don't have to love that band to enjoy their steez.

Superchunk:

We've wanted them to return to Australia for so many years now that we've lost count. With the release of 2010's Majesty Shredding we thought it was a sure thing that they would return to Australia, but they haven't done so. Until now. They have a new LP called I Hate Music due later in the year and just released an amazing song as a part of Matador's Singles Going Home Alone collection. Superchunk are still in fine form almost 25 years since they first got together and we cannot wait to see them in the flesh – some of us for the very first time.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club:

Their Specter At The Feast LP has been copping rave reviews all over the shop this year, but that doesn't even matter that much; Aussie audiences love BRMC and have done for years, so their psych tinged classic hard rock is going to be very well received at Harvest this year no matter what.

M Ward:

He's been made far more famous thanks to his recent musical dalliances with Zooey Deschanel as She & Him, but M. Ward fans know that you can expect something pretty different when you delve into his substantial catalogue of music. He has written some of the most heartbreaking tunes you'll ever hear and he has the kind of voice that carries incredible emotion. The guy is a sheer talent and he has been quite open about not much liking being away from home and on the road, so relish every chance you get to see him!

The Drones:

Do you really need us to tell you about The Drones? One of Australia's best bands both live and on record, a band that will be perennially underrated purely because it's impossible to overpraise a band that are this fucking great. I See Seaweed is one of the year's best albums thus far, another devastating set both sonically and lyrically that is bleak and brilliant and makes us bloody proud. They could well destroy everyone and everything on this festival.

CSS:

Their 2005 debut was a classic cut of songs from right in the belly of the dance punk revolution that stands up brilliantly eight years on. Since then the Brazilian indie group have undergone a few changes, but continue putting together amazing and highly danceable tunes, in fact they just dropped a brand new LP a couple of weeks back. This is a band who will get you dancing and hopefully just make you feel good about something for once.

The Wallflowers:

To some, they're the band that had One Headlight, while to others they are just the band that features Bob Dylan's son as the frontman. Sure, both of these things are true about The Wallflowers, but the fact is they have held their own as a more than capable roots rock back since the end of the 1980s and continue pumping out records to this day. They might have made it to Australia years ago, we can't remember, but there'll be plenty of fans who are gagging to catch a glimpse of the group live, no doubt.

Walk Off The Earth:

We weren't at all familiar with these Canadians until we saw that Gotye cover. Turns out the group have been around for quite a while and make some pretty endearing and often massive sounding radio-ready indie-rock. We could see these guys being really, really popular, Harvest will show us whether they have what it takes on the live stage.

Harvest takes place on the following dates. Tickets are available from Friday 12 July onwards.

Sunday 10 November – Werribee Park, Melbourne VIC
Saturday 16 November – The Domain, Sydney NSW
Sunday 17 November – City Botanic Gardens, Brisbane QLD