Music PREVIEWS
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MALIAN BLUES VIEUX FARKA TOURÉ The Arches, Glasgow, Sun 5 Feb (part of Celtic Connections); Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Tue 7 Feb
Farka Touré. Where have you heard that name before? Vieux is the son of legendary Malian guitar player Ali Farka Touré, one of the stars of the world music scene. Farka Touré senior passed away in 2006, but junior has picked up where he left off, incorporating blues and country & western riffs as part of his Mali sound. Vieux’s 2011 album, The Secret, is a showcase both for his sensitivity to traditional forms, and for his lightning fast finger-picking. It’s smile- on-the-face stuff, no more so than on the title track, which marks the final collaboration between father and son. The ‘secret’ is not just a metaphor; it refers to the sacred styles of playing – soft, nostalgic and wildly beautiful – passed down through generations of African musicians. ‘It was the most important session I have ever done,’ Farka Touré
remembers. ‘My father was very sick so my brothers and my cousins needed to carry him into the studio. Yves the engineer put a guitar in his lap. Then we simply played together for three songs. It was magical – the transfer of something sacred between father and son.’ And to think, Ali had wished to sign his son up to the army. It’s
something Farka Touré holds no grudges about. ‘You need a lot of the same virtues – strength, character, hard work, courage. It’s just you are using your hands for different things.’ A military life is anathema to your average musician. But Farka Touré is not your average musician. For him, music is duty – to family, to tradition, and to the sacred forms he has mastered. It’s a happy union, one which has produced some hauntingly good music. And his talents don’t end there: ‘If I couldn’t play music anymore I think I would become a chef. If you ever need a nice steak, give me a call!’ (Jonny Ensall)
LO-FI ROCK REAL ESTATE The Arches, Glasgow, Sat 18 Feb POST-PUNK/POST-ROCK THE TWILIGHT SAD Grand Ole Opry, Glasgow, Thu 9 Feb
Let England Shake may have topped most critics’ lists, but for many it was Days, the word-of-mouth, you have to hear this, slow-burner by Real Estate, that became the hands down album highlight of 2011. This much-lauded sophomore record was an Ariel Pink does 70s and 80s soft rock and suburbs-inspired dreamy riffs-filled listen, proving the trio’s ability to pen compelling, creep-into your-consciousness melodies.
When The List catches him in his native New Jersey, vocalist/guitarist Martin Courtney (pictured, far right) is as laidback as you might expect from his band’s serene sonics. Live, he assures us, it’s a different story. ‘We’re more energetic,’ he drawls. Really? ‘Yeah, we really surprise people because they come to our shows expecting us to be mellow but actually when we start playing it’s fast and urgent.’
When it comes to writing, too, Real Estate don’t hang about. Instead of
soaking up the acclaim for their second effort, Courtney, Matt Mondanile and Alex Bleeker have plans to get back into the studio this year. ‘We’ve just made a new track for Record Store Day which we’ll add to between tours, and we’ll put it all out as part of a six-track EP by fall.
‘When we were thinking about what we wanted Real Estate to sound like ultimately we had this idea of Fleetwood Mac and Steely Dan and the lo-fi sound and DIY home recording of Woods and Kurt Vile. With Days I feel like we finally achieved that. It will be interesting to see where we can take it next.’ (Camilla Pia)
With their third LP No One Can Ever Know (see review, page 86), masters of the dark side anthem The Twilight Sad add impressively to a catalogue that includes one of the finest Scottish debuts of recent years. It’s a bit of a surprise then to discover that the Kilsyth trio still consider themselves the outsiders – as evidenced by frontman James Graham’s gratitude to The List for ringing for a chat ahead of the new album’s release and a UK and US tour. ‘It always means a lot when a miserable band like us get any kind of coverage,’ he imparts, only half-jokingly. ‘We’re not on the radio constantly; we’re definitely not on the front of magazines because we’re not exactly the most photogenic bunch,’ he adds. Don’t mistake Graham’s self-deprecating humour for grumbling – the singer admits that he and guitarist/producer Andy MacFarlane and drummer Mark Devine are pleased to be free to please themselves, and concedes that they haven’t always made the wisest moves when it comes to gaining exposure. ‘If you call your first single off your second album “I Became a Prostitute”, you’re not looking at good radio play.’ On the new songs, the band boldly swap their trademark guitar-heavy wall of sound for something trimmer, doomier and more driving – think Neu!’s Motorik beats, or early New Order’s unsettling synths. Graham credits The ‘Sad’s loyal listeners with being open-minded: ‘Our fans are the sort of intelligent people who will hopefully move forward with the band.’ (Malcolm Jack)
2 Feb–1 Mar 2012 THE LIST 83