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DAMO SUZUKI’S NETWORK Studio 24, Edinburgh, Fri 19 Mar
A lovesick boy gatecrashes a swinging nightclub circa 1970. Inside, the groovy, good-time-girl object of his affections and her sophisticated older lover trip out to the naggineg insistent pulsebeat. A voice, disembodied and ethereal, wafts sager over it. lnfatuated and intense, the boy makes a nuisance of himself. Punches are thrown, drinks spilt and the boy is thrown cruelly out into the cold London night. The girl will never love him, but inside, the beat goes on regardless. The film: Deep End, Jerzy Skolimowsky’s little- seen swimming pool-set study of psychosexual obsession starring future cakemaker Jane Asher and John Moulder—Brown. The soundtrack: ‘Mother Sky’, a blistering 15-minute freakout by German musical innovators, Can, whose coruscating improvisatory genius anchored to relentless rhythmic intent was a perfect mix of the hippy and the hip. The voice: Damo Suzuki, the Japanese space cadet the band found busking in Munich, and whose spectral presence across four albums, Soundtracks, Tago Mago, Ege Bamyasi and Future Days, added Zen soul to
an already liberating cosmic force until 1973. Suzuki was a free spirit and former cast
member of hippy musical Hair long before he replaced original Can vocalist Malcolm Mooney, and by the time he quit music for 11 years to become a Jehovah’s Witness, the influence on the original art-punk set was already trickling down. Ex-Teardrop Explodes’ Julian Cope wrote a book about the ‘Krautrock’ scene that Can were at the helm of, and the Fall’s Mark E Smith was inspired enough to pen a tribute song, ‘I Am Damo Suzuki‘. A good 34 years later, peace, love and making music are still on the man’s mind via a never- ending tour under the banner of Damo Suzuki’s Network. This is effectively Suzuki orchestrating a pick-up band of more open-eared musicians from
|l\'l)ll ROCK THE ORDINARY BOYS King Tut's, Glasgow, 24 Mar
Far from ordinary
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Since the, started rr‘akang rritrsrc together age l~'.. and after a r;r.ef sperl as a Bad llrarns oLsessed hardcore liét’ltl. tire ()rdrnan, Boys narr‘ed after a Morr‘ sse‘, song rn (‘ase j.'orr're interested are frr'rr‘i“. at the forefront of a British grrrlar pop renaissance l'ne hype rs ourldrng after onl‘, t'.'.o singles and there's an t l) arread‘, r.“ the bag lielrr‘ed b‘,‘ ESrr‘rtlis Hitrr‘ producer Stephen Street. due out rrr .lrrrte. featuring exerytrrrng front lard back l larr‘rr‘ond fuelled seal to ll‘rtirtflfletlllélSlI.MI!(}31[){1‘.’:53 esriue horns and a tribute to He‘re and Sebastran. Preston rs exceedrnglg, proud of It and rs <.ertarrr people ‘.'.'rT| be pleasantly, surprised, ‘l‘rn reailr, liappg. ‘.'.'rtlr the alburr‘ so know '.'.'t: can definitely corne .rp '.'.'rtli the gooris,' he says. 'I fee. !rke I'rr‘ rrr a state )f lirattrs. ‘.'.artrng for rt to corr‘e out. and I really, Just .'.ar‘l people to "near it. We'd eke to think of ourselves as er the ct; ssrc pop heritage of llrrtrslr guitar bands. Irke the Knik’s and the f‘irrirths. lhats what ‘.'.re're strrxrng for.' Don‘t let the narr‘e fool you trrrs lot are out to prone tho/[re far frorr‘ ordinary. '(larr‘rlla l’rar
Music
Damo remained unfazed, it was just another stage invasion by an oversized toadstool
whichever town he happens to be playing in. For his return to music in the mid-19805. Since then his forthcoming Edinburgh date, the master will hook up with members of anarcho-punk veterans and the late Michael Karoli, though he isn’t Badgewearer and Weimar decadents Alleschwindel for a mammoth three sets, followed by a club night of Krautrock classics. ‘Music is about communication,’ says a still impish Suzuki about his free-falling musical methods on an ice-cold day in Cologne. ‘If you don’t know the people you’re playing with you can get much more intense within the music itself. It’s a risk, but risk is like an adventure,’ he That way it’s never boring. I’m still a hippy in that adds. ‘And I like adventure.’ Suzuki founded his Network in 1997, following make music until I die.’ (Neil Cooper)
he’s worked with both Can drummer Jaki Leibizit
interested in raking over a colourful past archived recently on the Can DVD. With another ex-Can man lrman Schmidt, set to take part in this year’s Triptych festival, however, interest in the band is at a premium.
‘The past has already gone so there’s not much there to interest me,’ he says. ‘I put my faith in the future, and with communicating creatively.
way, but I’m punk too, and this is my mission, to
tltcriroNIcA ZERO 7 Carling Academy, Glasgow, Sat 20 Mar
lire phrase ‘coffee table' has been used in conjunction Willi Zero 7 before. and it no doubt r.‘xrll be agarri now they "re foliowrng up llre successful debut Simple
In rigs '.'.'flll the rrr‘n‘rnerrt release of [Wren if l-arrs. that's a mile unfair. you have to suspect. because if s.rr‘pl{, shows that the duo are fulfilling their potential by rrr‘burng their frnei\, honed chrll out sounds ‘.'.'llll a measure of crossover potential.
Not that llenn. Hrnrrs rnaif of the band's core along wrlh Sam Hardakerl seems \.'.'or'rred about a backlash frorrt their srrtall ar‘rr‘w, of deyotees. Intact. he seems l't)l!(?\'(?(l. more than anything. tltat /ere r' hate managed to exorcise that difficult second allxrrr‘ at last. '\.‘r.’e spent a long line \.'.'or‘krng on the songs. first of all.' he recalls. 'And I think if took us a '.'..’l||(‘ to get rnlo the flour because there was a certarn amount of pressure. ()t)\.'l()tr33l‘, the last album did well for us and we ‘.'.'eren't itiéttl‘, for that at all. so you feel the pressure. Why do you feel the pressure“? I dunno. i thank pr‘obabn, because you want to do well agarn.’
So 'i()‘.'.' the records in the can. '.'.'hat's hindsrglrt's verdict? ‘Yeah, I'm pleased.' he says. 'I lhrnk it's srrght ‘, rr‘ore refleclrxe than Srrnpre Things. and an album that's rr‘ore rer>r‘esentatrxe of us at the lure we made rt. for“ \'£ll'l()tl8 reasohsl '.'.on't go rnlo. ()ne of our friends. rn fact. said if was downbeat. but I say "(l()‘.'."rrl>eal. shrrro'sxnlreal" . . . they didn't call Nick Drake downbeat. did they? Or hold on. vr‘aybe they did . . .' r[)a\.’rd Pollock-
Chilled out about being chilled out
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