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Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Thu 19 Apr; King Tut's,
Glasgow, Fri 20 Apr.
To their legions of followers, Napalm Death have always been a band who refused to tow the corporate line, an unholy bunch of misfits who never, ever, pussyfoot around. They've been described as utterly uncompromising purveyors of teeth-grinding experimental noise, ferocious adherents to the punk ethos, constantly pushing back the boundaries of sonic mayhem. To their detractors, they simply make a right bloody
racket.
Their debut album, 1987’s Scum, was (and still is) breathtaking in its stripped down brevity, a frenetic, turbo nuclear assault on the evils of multi-national corporations and bloated politicians - not that you‘d realise, mind you - the lyrics, completely indecipherable, were
bellowed out by a voice that can only be likened to that of a prize bull with its knackers on fire, while the music was played with unrelenting ferocity and maximum speed. In short, they made The Ramones sound like bloated, prog rock dinosaurs. It wasn't pretty but it’s been damned effective over the years and consequently, has attracted such diverse celebrity fans as John Peel, Vic Reeves (allegedly) and even New York avant-garde composer, John Zorn.
‘Yeah, apparently he was a big fan. Our ex-drummer, Mickey, worked with him,’ laughs genial vocalist, Barney Greenway in his Brummie drawl. ‘You’d be surprised, I mean, Radio 4’s Kaleidoscope did a programme on us and we seem to get these weird music professors coming to our gigs. It’s odd. I suppose it‘s down to the syncopation and dare I say it, that seems to appeal to a lot of art
wanks.’
The original and best
In between turning tweed clad academics onto the joys of ‘grindcore’ (a term the band themselves coined . . .), they’ve survived beatings from neo-Nazi thugs (thanks to their solid anti-fascist stance), recorded one of the fastest pieces of music ever (‘You Suffer’ - 0.75 of a second - now that’s minimalism for you . . .) and constantly maintained a healthy contempt for the music biz as a whole.
‘Oh, I’ve always been highly cynical of the whole thing and quite rightly so,’ snorts Greenway. ‘I mean, I’ve got to be honest, I wouldn’t piss on
‘Nu-Metal’? It’s a load of old cock
really, isn’t it?’
get ripped off but we’ve been on the end of some fair old shaftings.’
most of the people in the music business if
they were on fire. That’s always been my attitude, not only have we seen other bands
Backstabbing and numerous line-up changes aside, it obviously hasn’t put the band off - it’s fifteen years since their first album confounded the critics:
‘Yeah and twenty years this year, that we started properly and we’re proud of that. We’re too proud to let it go, we’ve made an impact and there’s still points to be made. And to be frank, when you look around at all the fucking lame arsed bands around, real nothing bands, real industry backslappers, I
mean, forget it!’
Hmm - we take it you’re not too enamoured with the current music scene and the rash of Nu-Metal bands clogging up the charts? ‘Nah . . . It’s a load of old cock really, isn’t it?’ (Neil Ferguson)
JAZZ
(EIE(JII(3IE (:()LJ.I(EI\II Henry's Jazz Cellar, Edinburgh, Fri 13—Sat 14 Mar.
Up until the Edinburgh Jazz Festival last August. GeOrge Colligan was almost certainly unknown to most jazz fans in these parts. The pianist had already made one believer. though. in the shape of Roger Spence of Assembly Direct. He had been alerted to his qualities by Richard Cook. editor of Jazz Revrew. the magazine which they publish through their Direct Music offshoot.
Spence invited Colligan to the festival. and used him in several combinations. including working
48 THE LIST 12—26 Apr 2001
in different bands with singer Sheila Jordan and saxophonist Julian Arguelles. It was immediately apparent that he was a formidable yOung jazz pianist. He has been back once already. and now returns for two not-to- tie-missed trio dates at Henry's Jazz Cellar.
Colligan was brOught up near Baltimore. but settled in New York. still the epicentre for Jazz muSiCians. where he is much in demand as a sideman on gigs and record dates. as well as leading his own bands. He has cut several albums under his own name for established Jazz labels like Fresh Sound and Steeplechase. His most prestigious assooatron to date. however. came when he had the chance to work wrth singer Cassandra Wilson.
‘Working with Cassandra is the highest profile sideman gig that I‘ve done. and it's been a real pleaswe. She was one of my faVOurite vocalists anyway. I got the gig in 1999 when her pianist
couldn't make a tour of Japan and Europe. and Lonnie PIaxrco. who is her musrcal director as well as her bassist. asked me to Join the band'
Collrgan brings a distinctly contemporary senSibiIity to bear on classic jazz. He is a remarkably inventive and expressive improViser as well as a dazzling technician. He actually started out on trumpet. but turned to piano as his primary instrument. although he also plays Hammond organ and various electric and electronic keyboards. not to mention drums. More recently, he has been getting into the world of computer-generated music.
‘I know a lot of musiCians who have been have been sequencmg their own compositions since the late 80s. and I figured it was time for me to try to get into computers and catch up to the rest of the world. I got myself some eQuipment last year. and I'm WOrking on it.'
(Kenny Mathiesoni
NEIL FINN Royal Concert Hall. Glasgow, Mon 23 Apr.
For more than t\.‘.e"t\ \ears. Neil F’Illll has been pouring out catchy little tu'ies that like it ." Pct. can't get tit Q) .(‘Li' Ml’d‘tl ;'\\”\ .Wt‘fl‘.‘ .lj't)il"" if}; Uie' to s t‘" 'i l inn and his Crowded House cohorts chucked out songs that exer‘. HI ‘s coxer hand tried ihut Tailedi to Perhaps the thought of enduring .ir‘other hopeless nelson ot Heaths" '.'. ." tell hiiii Ik‘(11t1k()tiK\L)H{‘(‘IIK)[‘K»?‘\l[1\}LH(:H" untatt'ln ditties on lilt; .‘Iltll solo alhunr. In. Ilr‘isfi'rxr I’m: And now lIIt. second solo album. the is out. and has this Stottisn late to i ointtide
Since the inakinti tr? that first album, the Nev. Zealander has tit't‘til'lt,‘ inoie experi'riental, One is still unrnistakahl‘. Neil I inn. '.‘.ith songs such as Secret tied and ‘l ast lo Know.” reminiscent of his Crowded House days. but the album as a whole has a funkier frisson running through it. This is larger due to liinn teaming up With Wendy lvlelyoin and l isa Coleman. former Prince collaborators. But some of the old Neil is still there. apparent in the wrenching lyrics on ‘Anytirne' and in the hopelessly romantic 'Wherever You Are'.
To Finn. this album represents an ongoing search for new z'rays of making music. 'I haven’t discovered fully what the Neil Finn sound is.' he says. ‘hut I'm enjoying the exploration."
Finn enjoys ‘a thrilling flirtation with complete strangers’
His exploration extends to the creation of his own Illll()‘.’<'ltl"/(: website lwww.iiilfunneti where he performs live. and to his current tour. where he has played with a ramshackle group consrsting of members of Pearl Jam and Radiohead. as well as his brother and former Crowded House rnember Tim Finn. And now he is inViting local musroans in each City to audition to be his band for part of the show each night. ‘For me. it's ab0ut willineg embracing the unknown for the possibility of brilliance: a thrilling flirtation wrth complete strangers. It may well be hair-raising, funny, disastrous or sublime. but it wrll certainly be an adventure . . . I can't wait' (VICtOrla GOOCh)