Music
OUTSIDE THE FESTIVALS
A PROJECT ROOTED IN MELANCHOLY AND DESPERATION Hitlist THE BEST ROCK, POP, JAZZ & FOLK*
✽✽ Alex Cornish and Jon McGraw Catchy, hooky, radio-friendly indie pop from Edinburgh singer-songwriter Alex Cornish (pictured), who has a new album out later in September, called Call Back, about complicated family relationships. With Jon McGraw, 13th Note Café, Sun 29 Aug, Glasgow; with The French Wives, Electric Circus, Edinburgh, Mon 30 Aug. Part of The Edge Festival. ✽✽ Health, Prayer Rug and Mr Peppermint Electro noise rock from California. Go on, give Health’s ‘Crimewave’, their 2007 single with Crystal Castles, another listen on Spotify. It seems to sound better every time. David Shrigley’s suggestion. For more, see Shrigley’s Top 10, page 60. The Arches, Glasgow, Mon 30 Aug. (Rock & Pop) ✽✽ Miaoux Miaoux and Fox Gut Daata Soft, purring electronica from Glasgow’s Justin Corrie, aka Miaoux Miaoux. Nothing to do with Meow Meow, the cabaret star currently entertaining Fringe crowds, or that plant food drug, FYI. Captain’s Rest, Glasgow Tue 31 Aug. (Rock & Pop) ✽✽ Wintersleep and Curators Melodic indie rock – not a million miles off the sound of Band of Horses, or a chirpier Interpol for that matter, from this Nova Scotia fivesome. Stereo, Glasgow, Thu 9 Sep. (Rock & Pop) ✽✽ The Felice Brothers and Admiral Fallow Sleepy, weary country-rock from upstate New York, with more than a whiff of Dylan about their storytelling style. Supported by Glasgow’s Admiral Fallow, formerly Brother Louis Collective. Oran Mor, Glasgow, Thu 9 Sep. SOLD OUT. (Rock & Pop) 26 Aug–9 Sep 2010 THE LIST 97
Fever breaking
Dark, creepy electronica is what Karin Dreijer-Andersson, aka Fever Ray, does best. She’s come a long way from those coloured bouncy balls, says Ryan Drever
P icture a sunny, cloudless day in San Francisco; the streets are engulfed by thousands of brightly coloured bouncy balls, tanning down the road in a glimmering haze whilst accompanied by a sweetly picked guitar tune. Ring any bells? It was a soon-to-be-iconic ad hawking Sony TVs, and a pivotal moment for largely unknown Swedish solo artist, Jose Gonzales, who became a ‘star’ in the public eye, pretty much overnight. At the time, few paid quite as many dues to the artists behind the song in question (‘Heartbeats’) but after four acclaimed albums (including an electronic opera of sorts inspired by Charles Darwin) and several Swedish Grammys, brother/sister electronic duo The Knife have done pretty well on their own.
But that’s The Knife, and there’s a lot more to vocalist Karin Dreijer-Andersson, aka solo artist Fever Ray, than that. Following the duo’s third album, 2006’s Silent Shout, The Knife took a hiatus, allowing Dreijer-Andersson to craft her own solo material. Still grounded in the electronic sounds and textures of some of her previous work, yet considerably darker in places – no mean feat when compared to Silent Shout – these tracks formed the basis of her self-titled debut; an album appealing to fans of her previous efforts while remaining interesting and eccentric enough to lure in many a virgin listener. It’s interesting to look at the evolution of Dreijer- Andersson as an artist, beginning in the early 90s with a more standard role as lead singer and guitarist for the excellent Honey Is Cool (very briefly put: a Scandavian take on US ‘alt.rock’) right through to her collaborations with Norwegian ambient dance-
masters Royksopp and beyond. Initially, her vocals possessed a disarming, even cute quality, and though there have been no drastic changes to the timbre of her voice, when combined with her knack for atmospherics and dynamic shifts, it provides the perfect accompaniment to a project rooted in melancholy and desolation.
The Knife made a point of avoiding live performances until Silent Shout, when the duo made a small handful of spectacular appearances, reworking many of their tracks for the stage, combined with the added theatricality of masks, video projections and light shows. With a stage show designed in collaboration with long-time artistic cohort, Andreas Nillson, Fever Ray makes her debut appearance in Glasgow this week and looks set to follow in similarly breathtaking footsteps. Standing at the front, face painted like a black metaller, cloak rippling in the onstage breeze, recent show footage depicts Dreijer-Andersson as a spectre, bringing to life a unique live persona as captivating and unsettling as the music she creates. Support on this tour is from 21-year-old Nika Roza Danilova, aka Zola Jesus. Dipping her toes in the same artistic pond as Fever Ray, American singer Jesus is equally obsessed with darker electronic textures, frequently attracting several uses of the word goth; like a creepier Florence And The Machine with a bit more musical clout. Whatever way you look at it: a night of dark beauty awaits.
O2 ABC, Mon 6 Sep. www.feverray.com, www.zolajesus.com