ELECTRONICA MEETS POST-ROCK FOUR TET coo EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY 0...
Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh, Fri 4 Nov
Eclecticism is the name of the game. as Kieran Hebden's folktronic Four Tet collide with the organic post-rock shapes of Texan four-piece Explosions in the Sky. and on the whole the disparate nature of the two bands complement each other well. Explosions create a maelstrom of instrumental mayhem with only guitar. bass and drums. subtly building layers of intricate guitars over each other to create something which is strangely seductive. and which usually ends in an almost entirely pleasant meltdown of rock noise. FOur Tet's live outings bear little resemblance to his recorded output. which is folky. bleepy. gentle stuff. Live. Hebden ditches all that to produce a robust. angular. nu-techno mash-up not a million miles away from Aphex Twin. While that's all very well. it's clubby rather than giggy. and it's not exactly an exciting spectacle. leaving you feeling slightly deflated amongst the bruising beats and skewed samples. (Doug Johnstonel
ELECTRO FOLK MONEY CAN’T BUY MUSIC
The Arches, Glasgow, Sat 5 Nov .0000
Taking the same sort of sung/spoken word and guitar strumming approach utilised in his other. er. night job as front man of ballboy (he‘s a school teacher by day) Gordon Mclntyre's
new solo project features the applied touch of loops. swirls. “sampled Swedishness' and all sorts. care of a computer. But. as ever. it's those fantastically wry lyrics that are the fOCus.
Fairytales for grown-ups maybe. with bangin' SOundtracks for effect. It's unlikely to set the world on fire. but is simple. smart and special enough to be capable of taking you somewhere else entirely — just for a while. Money certainly can’t buy that.
(Malcolm Jack)
INDIE ROCK
THE LAST GREAT WILDERNESS
Gig, Edinburgh, Fri 4 Nov 00.
Considering the fact that penetrating the cavernous depths of space and infamy that are still very much a part of the old Revolution is a challenge akin to chucking the proverbial sausage up an alleyway. the likes of Last Great Wilderness are in many ways probably about as fitting a band as c0uld be booked by Gig. Mostly because their songs are big. with everything — the kitchen sink. the taps. the plumbing — hurled in from the off. creating an angsty din that's full and grimy enough to go about as far to filling the hole as anyone c0uld feasibly hope to. PIOughing an early Manics furrow not dissimilar to that of perennially underachieving fellow Edinburgh alt.rockers Degrassi. it’s difficult to see where it'll take them. being perhaps a bit too torpid for the Current climate. But who knows. maybe the genre's due a revival. Then getting a gig at Gig'll be a tough gig. Arf. (Malcolm Jack)
Arab Strap
FESTIVAL ONE IN FOUR Various venues, Edinburgh, Wed 23 Nov-Wed 30 Nov
It’s not always the case that good music and a good cause come together, but that’s what’s happened with One in Four. The music festival has been going since 2001 and is run by the Scottish Association for Mental Health. The name comes from the startling statistic that one in four of us will experience mental health problems at some point in our lives, and this year the event moves from Glasgow to Edinburgh for the first time.
Over the space of a week from 23 November onwards an amazing line- up of great Scottish indie fare is on offer at various venues around town. Cabaret Voltaire is the main focus for activities, with the Zephyrs, Arab Strap and Mogwai headlining three nights of diverse and entertaining line- ups, with support acts including St Jude’s Infirmary and the Magnificents. Elsewhere the Fence Collective will be doing a turn in the Caves on the Sunday night, while King Biscuit Time (former Beta Band frontman Steve Mason on a solo tip) is doing his inimitable thing at Ego.
Over the years One in Four has had great support from the Scottish music community, who clearly see it as a cause close to their hearts. ‘lt’s time to drop the stigma surrounding mental health, and to help people to feel understood,’ says Mason. ‘Give them the help and support they need, because if you yourself aren’t suffering, then someone close to you is.’
Supporting a good cause has never been so easy.
I See listings page 72 for full details or V/S/f WWW.one—iri—tot/htxxzik.
FESTIVAL FIDDLE 2005 Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, Fri 18-Sun 20 Nov
Edinburgh's annual fiddle overdose hits us when fiddle 200:") takes one tt‘e Assembly Rooms for a whole weekend. Concerts. (:eilidhs. ‘.'/()lkf§ll()l)f;. "H: talsz. masterclasses. instruments for sale. repairers. book and llléllltiStTl'll)‘. stats. mrs. food — hundreds of instruments and thousands of people. We organisation if}; the tenth anniversary. and it's all run by volunteersl has pulled in the usua' "I x at great players and teachers. including the ubiquitous Scottish Amei'mi‘ .ruo o" Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas. the dynamism and fun of Highland s;tt'ai><:~':; Blazin' Fiddles. and Dan Cassidy's Stateside style. But they also have a rare gem. the first Scottish appearance for decades by a man who has (as: a <th shadow over Irish music. A unique. intense. somewhat Sl‘i‘y man. orig;;r:a.¢1. MW Donegal. and known early on for his ferocious triplets and (la/sling itX‘l‘l‘r {hit}. Tommy Peoples. now in his mid-50s. has influenced untold numbers of musicians. and that from relatively few recordings. Y 2s. he's the fiddler a)" t"e original Bothy Band. And yes. he made one of the best ever Irish. {tiliti'Y‘S "is old pals Matt Molloy and Paul Brady. But Peoples has always (:haiprtzoned tar:- music. and especially on a small scale. ‘I was never stage oriented.” m:- saxri. Dublin. it was just in these little clubs where we got together just to tl‘e sake playing. At the time. Matt Molloy. Mary Bergin and other people of that age group were around. Then there was the older generation. like John l;.gar:. lies O'Connor and Tom Mulligan.‘
So what does he make of the huge boom in traditional fiddle ;)l;t‘.'l‘ig .‘ 'lt':; fashionable.' he says. ‘But I think it's pretty safe. I feel it's iriaxhe a nil 'e"‘..>‘.ed from life.‘ (Norman Chalmers)
" ‘f‘au ' THE LIST 65