Festival Music
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THE LOW ANTHEM Americana, borrowing from jazz, gospel and folk With a relaxed, mellow sound steeped in the traditions of American folk and blues, the Low Anthem (below) are a group of Ivy League music graduates from Providence, Rhode Island, currently touring Europe with their unique fusion of instruments, ranging from horn to harmonica, married with a mix of gravelly vocals and soft,
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gentle falsettos. Inspired by gospel music, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and the New York jazz scene, the band produce a fresh blend of quintessentially American music from the past five decades. Always experimenting, the band
record on rotation, explains bassist Jeff Prystowsky. ‘We never know what building we’ll be in, so that affects the sound,’ he says. ‘We’re always collecting instruments: we recently bought an old zither, and are trying to find a way to fit that in.’
Supporting the band are fellow Americans Avi Buffalo, and Mountain Man. Both with the same chilled out
tones as The Low Anthem, Mountain Man are an all-female trio from Vermont who sing with a lush, warm blend of vocals, whereas Avi Buffalo has a true Californian style that’s slightly reminiscent of The Beach Boys. (Miranda Heggie) ■ Queen’s Hall, 08444 999 990, 30 Aug, 7.30pm, £14.50.
PORGY AND BESS French company take Porgy and Bess to the Deep South ●●●●● When Opera de Lyon’s Porgy and Bess is remembered, it will be for the extraordinary multimedia staging by the directorial double-act of Jose
Montalvo and Dominique Hervieu. It isn’t only that we get 50-odd performers on stage – the dancers giving it their head-spinning street moves – it is also that we get a big- screen accompaniment providing a parallel narrative. It starts with period images of Deep South deprivation onto which dancing figures are superimposed then frozen in time. Jumping between live and recorded pictures, it moves on to roaring seas before reminding us of the opera’s political roots with scenes of modern-day ghettoes, racist assaults and civil rights campaigns. At times, this can upstage the live
RETREAT! Home-grown, DIY city festival, in a church
As we stagger, tired and bewildered, in the twilight of this year’s Edinburgh Festival, there’s a DIY pop haven on the horizon, and it’s got all of our names on it. It’s locally-sourced, it’s BYOB and it’s for all ages. Its name is Retreat. Sorry – Retreat!
Whether its designate suggests a late-Fest kickback, a lost weekend, or a grassroots call-to-arms – most likely all three – the third annual Retreat! will amass independent Edinburgh music stars like Meursault, FOUND, Withered Hand, Wounded Knee, Rob St John, Milk, 7VWWVW and many more for an underground carnival that also promises film screenings, record and book stalls, costumery, foodstuffs and an arch- compère.
The recently rechristened ‘Tracey Trails’, of Edinburgh promoters Tracer Trails, co-founded the micro-festival two years ago, but its counter-cultural doctrine goes way back. ‘Retreat! has been ripped directly from the handbook of self-organised popular music,’ she says of the event, which ran through several weeks in 2008, and as an all-dayer in 2009. It’s over a weekend this time around. ‘The present incarnation might bear
resemblance to the first International Pop Underground Convention held in Olympia, Washington in August 1991; or Homegame 1 in Anstruther, Fife, April 2004,’ she offers. Co-organiser Bart Owl, of local gig-hosts The Gentle Invasion and, of course, the melodic heart of eagleowl – who’re also playing – thinks the event offers a celebratory and artist-friendly sanctuary for local bands too. ‘Retreat! has a different feel [to regular concerts] as it’s always been in a non-venue space, or at least a space not usually used for gigs,’ he enthuses. ‘I think this year’s venue is amazing – it’s a nice size, there’s a proper stage with plenty of room. We played a show there a couple of weeks ago with Calvin Johnson and there was a really relaxed atmosphere,’ he says.
Retreat! may thus experience a lack of disgruntled musos and battling egos, but Bart confesses that there’s a risk in playing at an all-ages festival. ‘We’ve had kids dance at our shows before, but then again we’ve also had them run away screaming,’ he sighs. ‘Kids can be the harshest critics.’ (Nicola Meighan) ■ Retreat! Pilrig St Paul’s Church (Leith Walk / Pilrig St), Aug 28–29, £7 (day) / £12 (weekend. www.retreatfestival.co.uk, www.tracertrails.co.uk
38 THE LIST 26 Aug–9 Sep 2010