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Looper are a multi-media marvel, an irresistible scramble of beats 'n' prose; Fatboy Slim with soul
ELECTRONIC/POP
Looper
The Geometrid (Jeepster)
Whether he likes it or not, the name Stuart David seems to sum up the peculiar ethos of Belle & Sebastian. The boy with two first names: it could be the title of the Glasgow demi-God's latest pop epistle, a curious tale about a quiet bespectacled boy (there are no 'men’ in the 8&5 world) who escapes his daily humdrum by writing critically-lauded novels and funky-plimsoled techno-pop records.
Reality, of course, is much less compliant than fiction. The ‘real' Stuart David has little in common with the stereotypical 8&5 member/fan. He does not spend his days writing winsome poetry, dreaming of ponies and wishing his life were a Julie Christie movie. Nor is he terrified of anything involving plugs and sockets. Indeed, technology is David's life-blood. The internet, samplers, digital watches, Stuart David is afraid of none of these things. His band, Looper (who he now devotes all his time to since leaving 8&5 earlier this year) are a multi-media marvel, an irresistible scramble of beats ‘n' prose; Fatboy Slim with soul. Their new album, The Geometrid, is the follow up to last year's delectable debut Up A Tree. David, currently on tour in the US with the Flaming Lips, sees its (hopefully) chart-friendly hybrid of squelchy, blipping techno and Primal Scream- shaped melodies as a welcome quickstep forward from
its predecessor. 'I haven't listened to it for a while, but we’ve been playing a lot of the songs here in the US, and I'm very happy to play them. Compared to Up A Tree it was much more of a collaboration. Some of the songs I didn’t even hear until they'd been finished being recorded. I like that it has more songs this time. I was tired of my speaking voice.‘
50 what exactly were his reasons for leaving Belle & Sebastian? 'To be able to give all my time to Looper really,’ reveals the hardened Norman Cook fan. 'It had got to the point where I'd lost interest in working in a traditional way, and I was only interested in working with samplers, and cutting things up. And I think Belle & Sebastian were going on tour, and we were going off on another long US tour, so I didn't think it was fair on them to have to wait on me while I was off with Looper.’
Every inch the Renaissance Man, David's novel Nalda Said was released last year to almost unanimously positive reviews. 'The response was great, and very surprising. I'd mostly forgotten it cause I'd written it so long ago. But I’m glad people liked it. And got upset by the ending . . .'
Stuart David, man of loops, man of letters. One day, Ibiza will be his for the taking. (Paul Whitelaw)
. The Geometrid is released on Mon 8 May and is reviewed on page ??. Looper play King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow in June.
._/ . .'
'We‘ll keep fucking kicking
ass until we can't fucking do it anymore.
bands in both Britain and America. They are to today's long-shorted metal babes what Black Sabbath were to Motorhead or Iron Maiden in the late 705.
So Korn, Marilyn Manson and Blink 182 are all their fault? 'Fraid so, but while others are getting dreadlocks, aping Bauhaus or hanging with orchestras to conform to this week's US rock stereotypes, Pantera are going back to their rock roots with what they describe as an album of ’straight-up metal’ entitled Reinventing The Steel. Sounds nice. What's it like? It pretty much does what it says on the tin: mammoth, crushing guitar grooves
Exposure
Bringing you the brightest gems from the darkest recesses of planet rock. This issue: Pantera.
Pantera? What’s all this about the age of the undergarment? No, No, No. It’s one word, not Pant Era, these are the
original Texan metal titans.
Oh. Christ, more redneck long hairs I
42 THE U81 27 Apr—ll May 2000
Our fans can breathe easy - we're back'
suppose? Erm . . . well, kind of, but don't let that put you off.
So why should I care? In 1992, Pantera released an album which was to become the benchmark for all future metal records, Vulgar Display Of Power. A spectacular example of rock at its most dynamic, it gave the band two top 30 hits and paved the way for the subsequent generations of rock
from the delightfully monikered Dimebag Darrell and rasping vocals from frontman, ex-junkie, and all round boozy nutbag Phil Anselmo.
OK, I'm sold. Where do I find them? They’re dropping into a sold out Barrowland this week so it will be sell a kidney to get a ticket or wait until they confirm festival dates later in the year. (Mark Robertson)
I Reinventing The Steel is out on WEA
Surface noise
All the cropping, trapping and rapping from the wonderful world of music
AFTER SEVERAL MONTHS of rumours and speculation Glasgow Green is to go ahead on 25/26 August. The two day festival subtitled Festival In The City sees Stereophonics, Paul Weller and Beck top Friday's bill while Oasis, Primal Scream. Foo Fighters and Asian Dub Foundation appear on Saturday. Colours and insideout will host a dance tent and the line up for the Radio One Evening Session stage plus one other stage will be announced in the next few weeks. Tickets are available priced £30 per day or £55 for the weekend on 0870 7300 247.
ONE TIME BRYAN Adams collaborator and epic trance merchant, Chicane, was forced to cancel his appearance at Colours Easter bash at the Arches on Sunday 23 April, citing 'really heavy international commitments’ as his reason for the no show. Whether he means prior bookings or the lardy Irish singer Andrew Strong was not confirmed at time of going to press.
LOOK OUT FOR a new club/live venture being set up in Edinburgh in the coming months called Push. Attempting to traverse the line between a live show and a club night, details are to be released in the coming weeks. We will keep you posted.
VIRGIN MEGASTORE IN Glasgow's Buchanan Street hosts three more in store live sets. One from Steve Harley of Cockney Rebel fame on Friday 28 April; one from the Radio Sweethearts on Thursday 4 May; and Human Condition Records recording stars Imperial Racing Club, Sawyer and Sputniks Down show up for their in store birthday party on Thursday I 1 May. Admission to all events is free.
BILL WYMAN HAS been confirmed as the final addition to the Blues 2000 Festival at Edinburgh's Corn Exchange on Sunday 30 April. He is also filming the event for a documentary on the history of the blues he is making.
JUST ANNOUNCED
Stranglers bassist II Burnel comes to Glasgow's Cottier Theatre on 1 June for a solo show of chat and songs from his days as one of the men in black.
Other shows also announced: Bellatrix, Venue, Edinburgh, 14 May; Kirsty McColl, Venue, Edinburgh, 15 May; Dodgy, Venue, Edinburgh, 24 May; Hobotalk, Venue, Edinburgh, 25 May; The Exploited, Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 13 Jun; The Bloodhound Gang, Barrowland, Glasgow, 25 Jun; Tony Bennett, Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, 1 Jul.