MW,
2‘. )1 'r/ BEIRUT Arches, Glasgow, Wed 7 Nov
“IU’J’JY‘T', of the opposite sex. soft , rlriiri'. arl'l '.r:',;,liftinr; tend to occupy w,- rnirid 9‘ .our axerarie 16-year-old drop out. p lt New Mexico dreamer /ar, Conderi was no normal teen llpon prematurel, ditching education be. his likelele and trumpet headed across the Atlantic to indulge romantic flUilUll‘) of "Old Europe. inspiring some enchanting sounds.
After liolirir; up in Paris and discovering Balkan gypw music, he " returned to lllf) Stateside bedroom in 200i) and crafted an album under the moniker Beirut: (ill/(K) Orkestar. a Moo/y blend of neo Eastern European and indie folk whose tracklisting reads like an lriterRailer's scrapbook: 'Bratislava'. ‘Brandenburg'. 'Rhineland (lleartlandi'. A second fantastic long player, The Flying C/ub Cup followed. again seeing Condon pine for ‘Old [Europe'. albeit With a strong Gallic influence and a grand chamber pop aesthetic which rendered him as a kind of Junkshop Jacques Bret or Rufus Wainwright after one too many absinthes
'l here's perhaps something slightly naive about the now 21 -year-old's scattered. mistyieyed wsrons of the old world, most of which sound like they've been learned from arty black and white moVies rather than real bohemian travels. but it hardly
matters. (Malcolm Jacki POP ROBYN
Classic Grand, Glasgow, Tue 6 Nov
Since storming to number one earlier this year, Swedish pop star Robyn isn’t that worried about being remembered for her brief dalliance with the charts in the 905.
‘It was such a long time ago I don’t know if people remember,’ she says of her old hit ‘Show Me Love’. ‘lt’s great being a ‘new’ artist again, I’m really enjoying that because they don’t have any expectations of me, it’s good)
With songs like ‘With Every Heartbeat’ and a rather beautifully heartbreaking number called ‘Be Mine’ (we defy you not to get upset at the ballad version) it’s obvious that Robyn is very much steering away from
FOLK BLUES ROCK THE PROCLAIMERS Playhouse, Edinburgh, Thu 8 8. Fri 9 Nov; Academy, Glasgow, Thu 15 & Fri 16 Nov
Whichever way you look at it. it's been an astonishingly successful year for The Proclaimers. It‘s 20 years since the Reid tWins' groundbreaking appearance on The Tube led to a string of hits. but 2007 finds their stock at its highest ever level. First there was the Comic Relief version of their claSSic ‘I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)’. apparently inspired by Peter Kay's wrtness‘ing of the remarkable reaction of the Murrayfield crowd to the song at Live 8. Then there was Sunshine on Leith. the acclaimed musical play based on the brothers‘ extensive back catalogue. And finally, capitalising nicely on all this publiCity. is a spanking new album. Life With You. their first on a maior label for 13 years. having self-released their last three records. For a pair of perennial outSiders. they're pretty damned popular. really.
'We thought we'd have a career. but not at this level.‘ says a clearly thrilled Charlie Reid. ‘We thought it would be pubs and clubs. enough to stay off the dole. But we didn't think we were commemial enough to have success; that's always been a surprrse.‘
In truth. this is no real surprise. The Reids are consummate writers of pop anthems, and by ‘pop' I mean ‘popular'. They have an unerring gift for grafting a universal sentiment to an impeccably soaring melody. iust go to any football match or public gathering. and see how long it takes for a Proclaimers song breaks out.
The secret of their success lies in the pairs ability to combine statements of love. loss and camaraderie wrth an underlying sooalist stance. something which makes even their most personal and political songs ring true. a trend which continues impeccably on Life With You.
'We always wanted to write songs and do performances that inspired people.' says Charlie. ‘We want to have live shows that people are uplifted by. To do that. I think you've got to have courage. you have to believe in what you're domg.‘ (Doug Johnstone)
80 THE LIST 145 Nov 2007
pre-packaged ‘Iite-pop’ with her new self-titled album.
‘Everything I write is from my life. I really think that’s what pop music is all about: you handle the human condition and you talk about things that are universal. You can be really straight forward and hard at the same time,’ she thinks for a moment and then laughs. ‘lt’s not really fun to write about “oh today I went to the bathroom and I got a zit on my nose".’
Since setting up her own label and naming it Konichiwa Records, any nerdy 80$ kid would be tempted to enquire if she’s ever seen Neighbours.
‘lsn’t that the old Australian TV programme?’ she asks before we explain the legendary Mr Udugawa, whose visits to Lassiters prompted many a school-yard greeting. ‘That's good,’ she considers. ‘He paved the way.’ (Darren Gleeson)