FESTIVAL MUSIC | NEHH
ESKA Withered Hand
Love’s bolshy hip hop. On the list of old-timers-but-still-goodies, godfather of political songs Billy Bragg performs on Mon 15 Aug and dreamy indie- electro types Grandaddy pop up on Mon 22.
NEHH has its eye on clubbers too: Cosmic Disco Nights is on Fri 5 Aug, an ‘interstellar kosmische zone’ that promises Italo and pan-continental disco futurism. Soulsville Especial is the following evening for those searching for deep funk, unpolished blues and Latin sounds, and Awesome Tapes from Africa, curated by Brian Shimkovitz, is on Thu 25 Aug. And we’re not the only ones giving the lineup a bit of an appraising glance. ‘Awesome Tapes from Africa looks like something I’d love to take my ears to attend,’ says Sermanni. ‘I’d also like to go hear ESKA. The songs that I have heard of hers are beautiful recordings. Great noises.’
ESKA, whose self-titled debut album was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize
last year, will be at Summerhall on Fri 26 Aug for one night only.
‘It’s really special to be doing one of my favourite festivals with my own material,’ she says. ‘It’s such a shame we’ve got a gig the next day otherwise I’d just hang out because I love the Festival.’ Although she’s performed at the Fringe a few times before, this is the i rst time ESKA will be centre stage here. Playing solo material, she says it’s a new direction for her.
‘It’s always a slightly scary thing to dive into the great unknown. You don’t know what the reception is going to be. You don’t know how people are going to relate – or not – to your music.’ As a musician who lives in Edinburgh year-round, Withered Hand doesn’t have much to worry about when it comes to how he’ll be received. For his NEHH show, he has a slightly revamped band – he’s added a new drummer and ‘it’s put a rocket up some of the songs’ he says – as well as the welcome prospect of playing a non-solo show in his adopted hometown.
‘I didn’t make music until I lived in Edinburgh,’ he says, ‘so it’s really entwined with me i nding that I had a voice as a musician. It’s totally intrinsic to that, so it always feels more special to play a hometown gig than anywhere else. That’s cool.’
Nothing Ever Happens Here, Summerhall, 560 1580, 5–28 Aug. Go to list.co.uk/nehh for the full lineup.
76 THE LIST FESTIVAL 4–11 Aug 2016