TheDayman

For me, there's one absolute standout moment. So much so, that to this day I still can't listen to the song without welling up. 2017 - London Grammar, Rooting For You. Before she starts, Hannah explains that the song is very difficult to sing so she'll need to sit down to perform it. What happens next.... oh my. Everything about it was just absolutely beautiful. I don't have a video from Glasto but here it is at Radio Ones Big Weekend of the same year. Goosebumps.

Probably the problem you navigated with the playlists & maybe being too lazy to learn a new interface. Both of those left it serving music that wasn't for me and I didn't want to spend the time teaching it tbh. On Spotify I have a family plan and also use release radar and suggested playlists a lot so I suppose it would have taken a fair bit to win me over!

Daft Punk 100 (+2) Elton John 63 (-8) Kate Bush 33

This is also an absolute banger to drive around to. Volume up... Way up.

You've probably already seen this but Bicep at the Printworks is probably my favourite driving around set. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY7M3pzXdUo If you're a Jon Hopkins fan, I threw up his set from his Glasto 2019 on soundcloud. Also a banger. https://soundcloud.com/never-the-less/jh-gf-19/s-qxSHt9k8YTd?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing Jamie XX at the Park Stage in 2015 is also excellent... I'll throw that up later if anyone wants it.

Daft Punk 100Elton John 65 (-5)Kate Bush 65 (-5)

I only did a few trials with it - and thought it was okay but not enough to pull me away from Spotify - however with John Hopkins now experimenting with 3 dimensional sound, I'm keeping an eye. That said, I also pay for YouTube premium these days (got sick of the ads) which comes with YouTube music, something I'm finding myself using more and more particularly given my penchant for electronic and listening to full live sets. Might be worth considering too @AshwaGandhi

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Maybe so but let's see how it all unfolds. If she's dropped, I'll be coming right back here to say I told you so! 😉

Ultimately, the reason we are debating this is because we don't have outright evidence either way. It's also the reason juries have 12 people. We plead our cases and it's up to each individual to make their decision. I'm here to express my view and if that influences others, fair enough. I believe at a minimum there's enough smoke to cast a shadow over her appearance at Glasto. The size and impact of that shadow is ultimately up to the festival to decide. ---------- Re: Khodorkovsky - this has the potential to spiral into an entirely different conversation on Russian politics (which I have a keen interest in) so I've separated it slightly. Do I believe he committed the crimes he was convicted of? I'm very skeptical. Do I think it's very convenient that he was convicted shortly after he was outspoken against Putin? Absolutely. An absolutely fantastic book to read is Red Notice by Bill Browder, it's eye opening. Here's also a great New Yorker article on him https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/08/20/how-bill-browder-became-russias-most-wanted-man The accounts of Khodorkovsky and Browder, the murder of Boris Nemtsov, the poisoning and eventual death of Alexander Litvinenko, the poisoning and imprisonment of Alexey Navalny - these are all things that have provided context in informing my opinion the Russia state. The fact that she is on record as being Pro-Russian state, that doesn't sit well with me.

I just did, right before your post.

As mentioned in my original post, the general consensus is that there is no evidence to state that she is Pro-War. Plenty here stating they haven't seen much to make a judgement (as I did also) so here's the original video that began my change in thinking - This is a segment from the film on Mikhail Khodorkoysky an exiled Russian businessman / Oligarch , who fell foul of Vladimir Putin. Have a read, particularly the section on his relationship with Putin: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Khodorkovsky When Nina was addressed on this a few years later in an interview, she effectively confirmed that her opinion has not changed and rather she now just keeps it to herself rather than argue with the more liberal minded. Full text attached below. Now fast forward to more recently, we have videos of her performing at private parties for Russian Oligarchs as well as fellow DJs making pretty strong claims, the most pointed of which coming from Ukrainian DJ Nadia who claims that in a conversation with her in 2014 regarding the annexation of Crimea, she states that Putin was "the smartest man". This is the context that changed my position on her. I went from "I'm not just going to believe a few social media comments" to "actually, there are direct quotes and comments from Nina that substantiate the claims against her". I'm not going to go as far as saying she is Pro-War (even the phrase is silly, is anyone really Pro-War?) but I do believe she is Pro-Russian state, was Pro-Putin at least up until very recently and may very well be someone who considers the invasion of Ukraine a "special military operation" rather than the outright war that is. These are the reasons I believe her addition to the lineup is in poor taste and personally think she'll be removed from the lineup before the festival.

Fired this up on the Arcadia thread but thought I'd throw it up here in case anyone else wants it too. Audio rip of Sir. Hopkins on West Holts. By God it was good. Might have a dig through the archives tonight to see what else I can find.

Sound ain't great but this might give people a flavour of what a Jon Hopkins DJ set sounds like...

I think in that video there's a comment from a Ukrainian DJ who claims she said Putin was "the smartest man" in response to the annexation of Crimea. So if that's true, there's that.

West Holts was incredible and the album Singularity is a thing of beauty. Unfortunately, you won't find it on YouTube but look at the audio rip I just conveniently found for you... 👀

You're missing the point. If she is Pro-Russian state, Pro-Putin and whatever else goes with that, imo she shouldn't be given a platform at Glastonbury because it's in direct contradiction with the festivals ethos. It's like saying it's fine to have Jars Bolsonaro on the Other Stage when you've got David Attenborough speaking at the Pyramid.

I think @Blisterpack might disagree with you on that!

Absolutely agree (I think my other comment clarifies this). Editing my original comment so that it's more clear 🙂

There's a viewpoint on here that's not too dissimilar to the type that lead to Asian people being attacked as a result of covid. There's another way to look at this too... why is this all being directed at Nina when Arcadia - or Glastonbury Festival - are the people paying her to be here? If people have such strong views, I would have thought they should also be directed towards the bookers. Maybe even more so?

Well, we're going to disagree so. I won't bother getting in to it, other efesters have already articulated my view very well. I will however point out that Nina Kraviz isn't Russian culture. It's her political position that has called in to question the validity of her place at the farm, not her nationality.

Absolutely agree. Russians, like everyone else in world, should be proud of where they come from. Being proud of your country is different than being proud of your governments choices.

No worries, mate. I completely appreciated the sensitivity of the topic. Look, I actually agree with you for the most part. I don't think it's in the right taste to book her and that's why I think she'll probably get dropped. Where I think we're differing is the motivation to drop her. I think it should be because of views she's expressed in the past, not just because she's from Russia. (I may have even misinterpreted your meaning here earlier too). My worry is when we draw lines around nationalities. Lending from your example, Oskar Schindler, a German and member of the Nazi party during WWII, is credited for saving the lives of 1,200 jews. Sometimes things aren't as black and white as we'd like hence my reply when I took your comment as meaning that every Russian needs to be targeted.

From what I can make out, because she hasn't actively condemned the war (she called for peace on insta I think) some have taken that as being pro-war. A "if you're not with us, you're against us" stance, if you will.

Haha, I was happy to run away but now I can't help but get involved! I mostly agree too but I think we just need to be careful about lumping everything under the one banner... Is Nina: Pro-Russia: Definitely Pro-Russian State: Looks like it Pro-Putin: Possibly, maybe even probably Pro-War: I haven't seen anything to support that *Edit: I'm not suggesting there is anything wrong with being Pro-Russia, I just think it's worth being a little more defined