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PREVIEW FOLK/ POP/ PSYCH HERE WE GO MAGIC King Tut’s, Glasgow, Fri 2 Jul
Not since zeppelin-eyed sex-warlock Paul Daniels first vanquished the beautiful Debbie McGee has the term ‘magic’ been so closely allied with a hotbed of yearning, birdsong and fantasy. Here We Go Magic’s versatile disco-folk is passionate, hopeful and spellbinding.
The progeny of New York-via-Boston’s Luke Temple, Here We Go Magic first emerged as a kaleidoscopic alt.pop response to his earlier self-named solo folk confessionals – 2005’s Hold a Match for a Gasoline World and 2007’s Snowbeast – which were borne of, and honed at, NY anti-folk open mic nights in tow with Adam Green, Diane Cluck, Jeffrey Lewis et al.
Feeling an increasing affinity with the sounds, ideas and ideologies of Ariel Pink, Arthur Russell and Robert
Music THEATRE/ EXPERIMENTAL NURSE WITH WOUND ‘A Midsummer Day’s Dream’ with Nurse With Wound, Tramway, Glasgow, Sat Jun 26. Daytime events noon–6pm. Evening live performance 7–9.30pm.
Former Monty Python Minister of Silly Walks John Cleese isn’t the first name that springs to mind when you think of Steven Stapleton’s veteran underground institution, Nurse With Wound. Without Cleese, though, NWW would probably never have existed. ‘I was a sign-writer,’ says Stapleton from his computer-free farm in County Clare, where he’s just been stung by a wasp. ‘I was working at a place on Wardour Street in London, when on the other side of the street John Cleese walked past. The way he was walking looked like one of his silly walks, and we just fell about.’
Also bearing witness to Cleese was a recording engineer, who offered Stapleton some studio time. The debut album, ‘Chance Meeting on a Dissecting Table of a Sewing Machine and an Umbrella’, was the result. ‘Once I got the bug,’ he says, ‘I couldn’t wait to do the next album, and that’s how it’s been ever since.’
Wyatt, however, Temple began exploring more beat- driven, aurally complex song structures, and thus Here We Go Magic – now a five-piece – was born. Extensive tours with Grizzly Bear, Department of Eagles and The Walkmen, among others, followed. While the eponymous debut album, a mesmeric
bedroom four-track endeavour, was released on micro- imprint Western Vinyl early last year, Here We Go Magic’s new follow-up, Pigeons (and their first signed to US indie hothouse Secretly Canadian), is a more lavish, ensemble affair – and it’s all the better for it.
Krautrock, psych-jams, chill-wave, minimalist electro Thirty years and 40-odd albums on,
and downtime alt.country all play their part, but the band’s chromatic allure is best showcased on recent single (and album highlight) ‘Collector’ – which conjures the increasingly resonant Jon & Vangelis trying their hand at indie-pop. To paraphrase Daniels, you’ll like it a lot. (Nicola Meighan)
COUNTRY ROCK CROSBY, STILLS & NASH SECC, Glasgow, Tue 6 Jul
Since a guest-star spot at last year’s Glastonbury (playing near, but sadly not alongside, erstwhile fourth member Neil Young), this trio have been pounding the comeback trail so favoured lately by bands of their generation. Hopefully they aren’t written off as a nostalgic anachronism, for the artful intent of their music still stands up well after all these years.
Just listen to Young’s plaintive ‘four dead in Ohio’ line from 1970s single ‘Ohio’, recorded in reaction to the Kent State shootings is to hear the ache of bitter disappointment as the last hopes of the flower children were crushed underfoot. Of course, not having Young to hand, they didn’t play that track at Glasto, but the spirit of those times rings through their songs, from the dream-like ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’ to the blissful drop-out escape of ‘Marrakesh Express’.
Covers of The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, as well as Young and
Stephen Stills’ old band Buffalo Springfield found their way into that festival set, bolstering the already impressive songwriting combo of Stills, David Crosby (The Byrds) and Blackpool’s Graham Nash (The Hollies). CSN are the only group whose members are in the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame with two bands each, and this show will be the perfect opportunity to hear three great 20th century songwriters at once. (David Pollock)
NWW are headlining an all-day Midsummer co-production between Tramway and leftfield superclub Optimo. Culminating in a NWW live set, daytime events will include a series of events and interactive artworks by the likes of Adam Bohman, Luke Fowler and Torsten Lauschmann. Such a themed event is in keeping with Stapleton’s original aim in the live arena, which NWW returned to after a 21-year absence in 2005. ‘I always thought if we were doing
anything we should make it theatrical,’ Stapleton says. ‘But my friends in Coil and Current 93 were playing constantly and having tremendous fun. I’d never considered it could be fun, but now I love playing live. It’s only an hour out of your life, so if you fuck it up it doesn’t really matter, and I like to have a laugh.’ NWW may be as fertile as ever, but for Stapleton it remains a hobby. ‘I’m a farmer,’ he says, ‘and since my divorce last year, a single parent, so I’ve got my animals and my kids. As far as music goes, I’m happily treading water.’ (Neil Cooper)
24 Jun–8 Jul 2010 THE LIST 63