Five of the best acts at Glastonbury Festival

With a bumper crop of acts once again at Worthy Farm we sifted the wheat from the chaff to bring you our five must see acts.

Henry Lewis

Last updated: 15th Jun 2016

Image: Glastonbury

Glastonbury announced their full line up and set times earlier today, causing thousands around the nation to scrabble about planning the madness that takes place in a few weeks.

The Glasto line up is year upon year one of the most talked about and controversial things in UK music, with petitions signed when shy rappers from Chicago play and everyone bemoaning the unavoidable clashes. Just no pleasing some people is there?

We've probably got about a gazillion picks of people we'll be checking out from the fields and the safety of our TV sets, but we've narrowed it down to five choices from our office experts...

Mac Demarco 

The darling of indie slacker music, Mac Demarco's rise from bedroom bound chain smoker to cult icon has taken little over five years. 2014's Salad Days brought the Canadian born New Yorker firmly into focus and became the default backdrop for stoners everywhere.

Prior to that, the likes of 2 and Rock and Roll Nightclub had largely gone unnoticed spare a few discerning listeners but these days Mac's languid appeal is many adored. His performance at this year's eventon the John Peel Stage Sunday at 830pm, remarkably, will be his first - quite honestly there are few acts who suit the festival better. 

Henry Lewis

Carl Cox

The biggest smile in dance music is a guaranteed festival joy, bringing the kind of full on hedonistic techno which makes perfect sense when you leave reality behind - standard practice when entering Worthy Farm.

Carl Cox is on for three full hours on Saturday in the Glade from 9.25pm, but we reckon the best place to catch him is on Bez's Flying Bus from 2am later on, where he'll be bringing the old school goodness like he did to such devastating effect for Mixmag recently (see above).

Jimmy Coultas

Earth, Wind & Fire

Described by Rolling Stone as the group that "changed the sound of black pop", Earth, Wind & Fire's legacy is immense. With monster hits like 'September', 'Boogie Wonderland' and 'Let's Groove' expect their set at Worthy Farm to be jam packed with moves and grooves.

The recent passing of founder member Maurice White will make this a poignant  performance but the band will doubtless pay tribute in the funkiest of fashions. The funk troupe will also play this year's Parklife, but closing out the festival as the last act to play the West Holts Stage on Sunday evening will be a truly memorable experience.

HL

Check the Skiddle Festival guide.

Tame Impala

Having only played a handful of UK dates (read our Manchester review) since the release of last year's Currents, Tame Impala are somewhat of a rarity in these parts since engaging a thirst for all that is trippy and groovy amongst anyone that could get an ear to the album (See them perform 'Let It Happen' above).    

Quite honestly, you'd be a fool to miss out on Kevin Parker and co pinging the glammy guitars and working the mind-melting synths on the grandest stage of them all. They play the Pyramid Stage prior to Adele at 8pm on the Saturday. 

Ben Smith

Eats Everything B2B Ellis Dee

The Arcadia stage is arguably the biggest and best spectacle at Glastonbury, and the huge flame-throwing mechanical spider is back for 2016 to host more of dance music's favourites - covering house, bass, breaks and techno. But there's one combination in particular on the line up which has got us itching to be part of it all.

Eats Everything has always been proud of his love of hardcore dance, a genre which sparked his interest in dance, and he's no stranger to slipping in a high-energy classic into his sets still. He'll be partnering up with Fantazia legend Ellis Dee, who Eats has previously praised as his favourite DJ when he was younger. They close the stage on the Friday 1:50am-3am - prepare for a proper rave.

Becca Frankland

See the full Glastonbury line up - who would be in your top five?

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