Big Chill 06 - Friday *High*lights

Lou Rhodes: A wonderfully serene start to the festivities, Ms Rhodes (ex-Lamb) captivated with her stunning, ethereal voice. Big Chill was loving her Lamb classic, 'Gabriel'. I was loving 'Fortress', from the new solo album. Beautiful stuff.

Mr Scruff: Perfect for a 1st afternoon bop, Finlandia Bar was jumping to an eclectic mix of house, reggae and funk. Highlight? Dancing across the field to the sounds of 10cc's 'I Don't Like Cricket'... I loved it.

Nizlopi: Um, ok. Positive: the double bassist was excellent, layering rapid finger-tap beats over rolling bass. Heavy. Positively rubbish: the singer is shite. Im afraid his cheesey guitar ramblings just doesn't cut it at a festival of great performances. The lowest point came with his embarassing 'rapping' efforts, Plan B style. Cringe-worthy. Shame, because Nizlopi are halfway good! Everyone else seemed to enjoy it though... poor bastards.

Jose Gonzalez: The obligatory 'Heartbeats' was accompanied by the hypnotic 'Crosses' and the surprisingly moving interpretation of Massive Attack's 'Teardrop' which, with a band, really comes to life live.

Aim: A remarkable set of hip hop and funk soundscapes. A water-tight 9 piece band encompassing bongos and trumpets was completed by the gorgeous and talented Kate Rogers. She really impressed, proving she was equally suited to folk, hip hop, rock and dance tunes. Covering tunes from Aim's 3 diverse albums, the show culminated in an jaw-dropping extended rendition of their classic 'Cold Water Music'. Speechless.

Dub vs Jungle Soundsystem: Funkywormhole aka the 24 hour cafe became reggae home for the weekend, with various soundsystems keeping vibes irie all day long. The Dub/Jungle ssmacked it, entertaining ravers with bubbly reggae punctuated with big DnB tunes (Pendulum takeover) and Old Skool classics ('On A Ragga Tip'... huge!!). Proper brock on with Snappa et al.