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Earth woman: Björk's latest songs have a tribal feel that will male you want to coat yourself in mud

Restless eclecticism: Manu Chao

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Björk goes mad at Knebworth

Anyone with a microphone will be playing a gig in a field somewhere this summer but few will be more suited to their green and brown surroundings than Björk and her Volta stage set.

The Icelandic singer has already taken the show to the Hammersmith Apollo this year, where its dazzling colours, primal rhythms, flag- waving pageantry and a 10-piece allfemale brass band made it one of the most extraordinary concert spectacles I've ever seen.

Dressed in outfits that make the Day-Glo chicken costume she sported on Volta's album sleeve look acceptable for Ascot, Björk shoots Spiderman strings from her arms and dances wildly amid confetti, lasers and bursts of fire. Her latest songs have a tribal, earthy feel that will make you want to coat yourself in mud and never leave the carnival.

In demand though she must be, she has tried to limit her festival appearances around Europe. Her headlining slot at the new Wild in the Country event next Saturday is the only chance to see her in the UK this summer, and will be well worth the short trip up the A1 to Knebworth Park.

'I try to pick the fun festivals,' she tells me, 'where nature has really made an ideal place, for example by the ocean or between two mountains by a lake. I also like the hedonistic ones, but not as much.'

The union of music and nature that she seeks will be best served tomorrow in Reykjavik, when she joins her countrymen Sigur Rós for the one-off N·túrra concert in the city's Laugardalur park. It is Iceland's equivalent of Live Earth, intended to raise awareness of the damage done to this hitherto unspoilt country by the aluminium smelting industry.

'We are probably where a lot of Europe was 300-400 years ago when it comes to the balance between nature and factories,' she says. 'A lot of Icelanders feel we should bypass the industrial age and go straight into the 21st century to build green dams, invent new green solutions and stay organic. That's why we are doing this concert.'

It's great to see Björk, at 42, ready to fight again (her latest airport attack on a New Zealand photographer in January notwithstanding). Her last two albums, Medúlla and Vespertine, were made in a peaceful state of domestic bliss with artist partner Matthew Barney and their new daughter Isadóra.

After the extremely beautiful though rather muted songs of those two albums, Volta's uplifting beats and futuristic Timbalandproduced hip hop demands a more physical response. It's warrior music.

'This tour is definitely more feisty, heading for a more primitive raw thing. I'm not sure why, it was just important for me at this stage. Something to do with some good justice-fighting fun.'

The tour has also seen her getting more broadly political during the frenetic closing number, the punky electronica of Declare Independence. Its spirited cry of 'Declare independence! Don't let them do that to you!' was meant to have a more personal meaning, but depending on where she is performing, the song has been dedicated to Kosovo, Greenland, Scotland, and - controversially during a gig in Shanghai - Tibet.

'I was very surprised at the fuss. And yes, I would like my art and politics to stay separate. But since Volta is about justice, it is kind of comical but predictable that I am in this position now. I can blame myself.'

One thing is certain. When she starts yelping: 'Raise your flag! Higher! Higher!' it's easy to be so caught up in the euphoria that you're ready to start your own country and make Bjork the president. Long may she reign.

Wild in the Country is at Knebworth Park on 5 July, 1pm-7am (www.wildinthecountry.co.uk).

Everything you need to know about Glasto

It's all kicking off down Somerset way as you read this, but as Glastonbury didn't sell out this year, that controversial superfence to keep out the clamouring masses suddenly seems redundant. If you believe the critics, the barriers will be more useful for keeping people in once rap god Jay-Z begins his Saturday night headlining set.

It's remarkable that the festival can be considered a failure with 3,000 unsold tickets as opposed to the last three events, when major rainfall made it a thoroughly miserable, brown-ankled sell-out.

Aside from the booking of one super-rich rapper whose wellies are surely solid gold, Glastonbury's earthy creative spirit remains very much alive. One of the joys of the festival is that it turns thousands on to music they might otherwise never have tried. For those staying away this year, take pleasure in downloading some of the following highlights of the 2008 line-up.

Manu Chao epitomises the restless eclecticism of the festival. His track Politik Kills is free at www.politikills.com. Experimental beatboxer Shlomo and his Music Through Unconventional Means set will feature many of the weekend's key acts dropping in for a jam. He's all about live performance rather than recorded music so it's best to seek out his clips on YouTube.

Glastonbury is great at enhancing the Indian summer of older acts. Try to get hold of the raw guitar ferocity of Dog House Blues, the latest album by grizzled hobo bluesman Seasick Steve.

Another set by an elderly bunch and a remarkable one-off is the concert by Ethiopiques. It's the first chance for UK audiences to see, gathered in one place, a collection of Ethiopian musicians who coloured the country's late Sixties golden age of music. Theirs is a jazzy, soulful, completely alien sound that will hopefully bring some sunshine. Much of their Best Of album is streaming at http://ethiopiques.info.

Some exciting new artists could also treble their fanbases with great sets this weekend. Look for the tortured hollering of Florence and the Machine on her Kiss With A Fist single, Ida Maria's pop rocking track Queen Of The World and the bastardised Afrobeat of New Yorkers Yeasayer on their excellent All Hour Cymbals album, all in download stores.

 

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