THE fv PERSONALITIES The Tron, Glasgow, Sat 30 Apr; St Bride's. Edinburgh, Sun 1 May
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Born on the King's Road and sired on inod culture. the l\/ Personalities put l‘.’.’|(_)t)\,’ on their record sleeves, and (‘reated perfect pop inelodrarnas wrth titles culled from kitchen sink But licks. li'eacey named his record label Whaaih‘. after Ho\y l..i(:htenstein's seininal appropriation of (I()ll‘.l(‘. book f3(}llt3{lll(fll(’lllf3lll. Without Whaarnf. Alan Horne would nexer haxe started Postcard Records. and Alan McGee would never have done Creation.
‘Alan knocked on in, door one day] Tl‘t?il(7\ recalls. ‘and asked how he went about starting a record label. He ended up stavng for about 1320(1an then ‘.'i.’(‘,lll .l‘.‘.d\ and started Creation'
B\. that fine 'Part flint: Punks' was legend. A sniping satire on the cartoon that punk \llllChh becairre. it has a scene ’lreat‘x \.'.itnt:ssed literall, from his own doorstep.
‘You used to see the Blt‘llTIO‘. set hanging round in their smart clothes before changing into their pink gear at the weekend] to guffaws. 'it was a Joke. really Especially as we regarded our'seh es as mods.’
Cleaner up and don‘iciled in London once more. Tl'GCtCt“, played a ceirreback gig last autumn. and :s set to ha\ e an album of brand new TVP songs released by DO'l‘illQ Records.
‘|'\.e rediscm ered n‘us‘rc again.' he says. ‘so let's see hos. long can keep it up th.s tin‘ief Neil Cooperr
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM Venue, Edinburgh, Fri 29 Apr; Tramway, Glasgow, Sun 1 May
James Murphy, DFA and LCD are all one intertwined aspect of the same mutant electroid beast. As one half of production duo DFA (Death From Above) Murphy helped create the punk-funk sound that tore up dancefloors across the land. The Rapture’s ‘House of Jealous Lovers‘ was the soundtrack to 2002. He was also in the studio brewing up his own take on the format with LCD Soundsystem.
Having spent his formative years in a selection of punk also-rans - Speedking and Pony - he finally found his voice with the world-weary ‘Losing My Edge’, a caustic take on the current scene. There was a self-depreciating humour at play that elevated his output above the majority of electronica.
Releasing his long player and the single ‘Daft Punk are Playing at My House’ and its juddering refrain has elevated him above being just the name the cool kids like to drop. ‘We’re a pop band, I guess,’ he explains from a
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KANO
Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Thu 28 Apr; Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 29 Apr
The trouble with being 'the next :‘xhatever' is that there's al‘.‘.’£i‘/8 an
original ~.-./hate\.'er to ll\.'(2 up to. Nllll(3(jll-‘,'C£lf-Ol(l east London rapper Kano ireal name Kane Robins )n: is being Widely touted as the next Dix/s. Rascal. due to a similar style and grounding in the so-called
'grime' garage sounds of urban London, but the kid himself is unperturbed by the comparisons.
We're different. but obviously you gotta make that comparison cos we come from the same kind of music. the nil-school garage thing. grime. ‘.-.'hate‘. er too wanna call it.' he says in a rather hyper i/Oice. ‘So e're alt-.ays gonna be compared. but my album setinds very d:ft’erent to his so after it comes Ctll. all of that wrll hopefully stop.’
That debut album is due for release in the Summer. and if the Singles so far are an; indication finere ‘.'.’lll be plenty of variety. heaps of sonic :"‘.(}'lil0l and plenty of quality lyrical dexterity on show For now Kano
is earning from the best. playing a handful of Triptych shows
aicngsroe Roots Manuxa. and l‘:8‘.!flg tOured Supporting both Nas and tne Streets th whom he is mates and shares a record labeli in "ecer‘t riioriths. it speaks ".’QlLllll€S for Kane's diversity and maturity
that 'we's equally name with eac": of these disparate Crowds. en dong support slots and
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been watching the main acts and do earn stuff, innt. frcm the .'.'a\,' the; perform} he says.
do it for m,seif. nave my own tour arOund the
hotel room in New York. ‘Or a disco band. Or basically a cover band of a record I made.’
His lyrics are sharp and insightful, an outward look from behind the beat. ‘I pretty much just write about music, really. Music is a big part of my life, and I like to think about it. Of course it’s horrible, depressing and typically makes me want to shoot myself, but that‘s the deal.‘
He's full of praise for our very own electronic malcontents Twitch and Wilkes, who play alongside him on both these dates. ‘I love them. I think Optimo’s the best club in the world,‘ comes his impassioned response. ‘I love their dedication, and how seriously they take their responsibility to the crowd. It’s an amazing and beautiful thing they’ve created.
‘l’ll probably drink too much,’ he explains of the forthcoming Triptych shows. ‘There will be technical difficulties; we will play as hard as we can; some people will dance while others will wonder what all the fuss is about. We will be the best band we can be; we will cover a Siouxsie and the Banshees song and Pat [Mahoney, drummer] will sweat a lot.’ Sounds like a normal night down Optimo then. (Henry Northmore)