SEBADOI'I
ln mastering the lo-fi aesthetic at the turn of the 90s, Sebadoh did their part
to keep the four-track recorder industry
flourishing with a host of sparse, barely tuned DIY albums. Plus, in shaggy- haired Lou Barlow they had an unlikely style icon who made cardigans cool long before Kurt Cobain. lnitially emerging as an outlet for Barlow's frustrations as bassist in Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh found themselves veering between louche douchebag guitar pop and raw, heartfelt ballads. Breakthrough Bubble and Scrape is probably still their most characteristic release, with tear-jerking lost-love opener ‘Soul and Fire' giving way to the likes of another kind of jerking in self-love anthem ‘Homemade’ (‘l‘m naked and loose when no one's home,’ sings Barlow). And this reunion. the trio's first since 1999 are sure to sound naked and loose. (Jan F Zeschky) I Classic Grand, Glasgow, 25 Apr.
ANNIE NIGHTINGALE
Last month. Annie Nightingale was giving a lift home to Slyde. two breakbeat DJs who she'd just showcased on her BBC lntroducmg Tour. She got a weird pang of pride when they started talking about their cover of ‘Sex and Drugs and Bock <3 Roll by Ian Dury and the Blockheads. a band whose career she helped kick- start 30 years ago. 'It was an interesting feeling; suddenly I saw this connection between two generations of music. and l'd been part of this very strange journey.’
As Radio 1’s longest serving DJ. and a long-time champion of underground music, she's built a career on giving unknowns a footy-up, first with punk, then new wave, acid house, chill—out, and more recently breaks.
‘lt still gets me excited finding undiscovered DJs whose sets send shivers up and down my arms,‘ she
says. ‘I credit my audience with intelligence. I know they want to hear the deepest, craziest. most wonderful
thing I've got.’ Sharing her ex— colleague and friend John Peel‘s tireless passion for ‘music I‘ve not heard before‘. she admits she draws a line at anything too sentimental. ‘l'm definitely a fan of ‘up music’. I can‘t stand greetings card lyrics or bland sounds. I heard some Chinese pop
recently. It's so depressing! l‘d probably
slit my throat if I lived there.‘
For her Triptych appearances, she's bringing together breaks pioneers Krafty Kuts, A Skills and Utah Saints DJs. but confesses she’ll be preparing her own set with extra-special care.
‘Scottish crowds are very discerning. They know their music. I remember once playing Glasgow and being
warned if they didn‘t like it, they’d throw chairs. Luckily they liked it.‘ (Claire Sawers) I Annie Nightingale plays as part of Triptych at Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Fri 25 Apr. She also plays the Sub Club, Glasgow, Thu 24 Apr.
Triptych veterans to pick their highlights from past festivals
Chris ‘Beans’ Geddes DJ, and one seventh of Bel/e & Sebastian
Candi Staton played Renfrew Ferry and ended a triumphant show by passing the mic into the audience as her band played endless choruses of ‘Young Hearts Run Free”. It gets passed between increasingly drunk and out of tune girls and boys before the band launch into ‘You Got the Love'.
Harri Sub Club resident and Glasgow DJing legend Highlights for me would be meeting Dr Alimantado at one of the Glasgow launch nights. Jimmy Cliff's great chat at the screening of The Harder they Come. Adrian Shen/vood's blistering live set at the CCA in Glasgow with excellent DJ Support from Jerry Dammers. All cases of your heroes more than living up to your expectations.
David Shrigley Artists and designer of the Triptych livery for 2007
The highlight of Stockhausen's showat Tramway was him introducing the two pieces. He explained how best to listen to it (in darkness with eyes closed). It was memorable just to be in the company of someone so important to the history of modern music. it was like meeting Mozart or something.
Neil Mowat Triptych Co-programmer
l guess Grace Jones re—uniting with Sly and Robbie is pretty much unforgettable. It took a couple of days to cajole Grace into rehearsing but when we finally got them in the same room together it was magical. It was the first time they had played together in 20 years; they just eased into this incredibly tight version of ‘Pull Up to the Bumper'. l was spellbound by it.
Jerry Dammers DJ, musician and raconteur
It has to be a toss-up between the Sun Ra Arkestra and Prince Buster. Hearing Prince Buster performing ‘Enjoy Yourself’ was a very special
Specials moment!
Bill Wells Musician and Triptych regular Supporting Teenage Fanclub after having recorded and mixed an entire album with Jad Fair that same afternoon . . . watching Tori Kudo respond to a heckler's impatient ‘1, 2, 3, 4' by starting the whole band playing on that count in at a completely different tempo . . . Arab Strap’s event in Aberdeen . . . Terry Riley confounding expectations.
George Kyle Tennent’s Lager The launch party at Tall Ship with Teenage Fanclub was the culmination of over a year’s hard w0rk and planning; frantically setting up a great venue a couple of days before the big event, worrying about people turning up and over 250 people coming along to welcome something completely different in the Scottish music scene.
Stephen McRobbie The Paste/s / Geographic Geographic Day, The Tron, Glasgow, 2005. Movietone moving slowly through the audience playing playing their beautiful homespun jazz-folk summed up the ad-hoc brilliance of our annual Tron event which Triptych were kind enough to facilitate.
10—24 Apr 2008 TH. LIST 2!