Music PREVIEWS
list.co.uk/music
PROG-FOLK TWO WINGS Nice N Sleazy, Glasgow, Sun 8 Apr
Hanna Tuulikki is musing on deficiencies in the human form. ‘I’d much rather have a syrinx [bird’s vocal organ] and wings than a larynx and arms,’ reflects the singer-songwriter, visual artist and multi-instrumentalist. ‘Birds are masters of the two things that I admire – and long for – most: to sing and to fly. I’ve managed something akin to the first of those . . .’ If you have encountered Tuulikki – perhaps in free-folk voyagers
Nalle, or on RM Hubbert’s glorious single, ‘Sunbeam Melts the Hour’ – you will know that’s an understatement. Her voice is remarkable.
Two Wings sees Tuulikki take flight in joyous, glittering folk-rock style, alongside co-songwriter, guitarist and singer Ben Reynolds (who’s worked in the past with Trembling Bells, Baby Dee, improv explorers Ashtray Navigations), backed by Lucy Duncombe, Kenneth Wilson and Owen Curtis Williams. Their lavish, vintage debut, Love’s Spring, is out in April. ‘It grows out of Anglo-American traditions of folk, soul, gospel, country, rockabilly, pop and a shared passion for the craft of composing and arranging songs,’ offers Tuulikki. Reynolds further identifies ‘Ray Davies, Tom Verlaine, Smokey Robinson, Bruce Springsteen, old soul, Fleetwood Mac, Richard Thompson and Peter Green’ as touchstones.
When Reynolds released a solo album called Two Wings in 2008, did he have any sense its title would assume such a lively, communal life of its own? ‘I had no idea at all,’ he says. ‘At that time I was most concerned with developing my steel string finger-style skills – something I have since entirely abandoned for the far more satisfying craft of playing electric guitar solos . . .’ (Nicola Meighan) ■ Love’s Spring is out on Mon 30 Apr via Tin Angel. See a review in the next issue, out 26 Apr.
EXPERIMENTAL/FOLK COUNTERFLOWS FESTIVAL Various venues, Glasgow, Fri 6–Sun 8 Apr INDIE-ROCK 2:54 Captains Rest, Glasgow, Thu 5 Apr
Held over nine days across Glasgow, London and Berlin, Counterflows is a glorious stramash of experimental songwriting, clamorous avant-rock, and absurdist improv. In bringing Japan’s great Kazuki Tomokawa to Europe, the organisers have pulled off a real coup. A unique artist, Tomokawa’s music is a devastating combination of graceful folk melodies and harrowing guttural rasps. Also appearing in the UK for the first time is the remarkable Kim Doo Soo, Korean acid-folk troubadour and star of Damon & Naomi’s International Sad Hits compilation.
Austere and Old Testament-heavy, a Michael Gira (pictured) solo set is, in its own way, as powerful an experience as his band Swans in all their elemental fury. An inspiration to a new generation of freak-folk artists, picker and lupine howler Michael Hurley shares a bill with the uncanny Josephine Foster, the latter performing a rare piano set. Grouper’s Liz Harris offers her spectral songcraft up to noise-techno mutants Diamond Catalog, while Bill Wells appears with his National Jazz Trio of Scotland (they’re neither jazz nor a trio). In a co-production with The Arches’ Behaviour Festival, artist Torsten Lauschmann and Red Note Ensemble present performance-installation Inconsistent Whisper. Other highlights include drone-prog duo Volcano the Bear and relentless guitar army Opaque. Clear your diaries and open your minds. (Stewart Smith) ■ See list.co.uk for an interview with the organisers.
Like a louchely worn black leather jacket, moody guitar music will never go out of fashion – see 2:54 for proof on both counts. Having toured with Warpaint and The Big Pink since emerging a year ago, the London four-piece based around sisters Colette and Hannah Thurlow will release their self-titled debut album next month. Singer/guitarist Colette took time out from a frantic first trip to SXSW to describe the band’s genesis. ‘Hannah taught herself guitar and then she taught me,’ Thurlow explains, ‘and we just started playing together for fun.’ The band wear their influences on their sleeves – Colette’s vocals speak of PJ Harvey and Liz Fraser, while Hannah’s playing echoes alternative guitar heroes from Thurston Moore to Billy Corgan. Which makes some of 2:54’s recreational listening tastes slightly surprising. ‘The first album I bought, I think it was Now 27,’ reveals Collette. ‘I was really into R&B – I still am a massive R&B fan, TLC and stuff.’
As crowds have grown, confidence has followed suit: ‘We’ve been trying to build it up and not feel not terrified when we play.’ The Thurlows take reassurance from a powerful rhythm section in Alex Robins and Joel Porter – equal partners in the band, even if they don’t always share equal billing in photos and interviews with 2:54’s leading ladies. ‘It’s like a family atmosphere,’ says Colette. ‘The boys have a sibling quality like Hannah and I, so it really works.’ (Malcolm Jack)
29 Mar–26 Apr 2012 THE LIST 83