MUSIC | Previews 70 THE LIST 14 Nov–11 Dec 2013
ESOTERIC POP JULIA HOLTER CCA, Glasgow, Wed 20 Nov
Julia Holter is orbiting a foreign city, discussing a ghostly experience, and this scenario seems strangely apt: the LA alt-pop alchemist has long fused urban voyages with haunting arias, as heard on her wonderful third album, Loud City Song.
She’s approaching Copenhagen when we speak, on a tour that includes her debut Scottish date, and the aforesaid eerie occurrence ensued during filming for new single, ‘Horns Surrounding Me’. ‘The “Horns” video was shot where the Silencio scene [from David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive] was shot,’ she wrote on Twitter. ‘On set I believe I experienced a supernatural experience and almost fainted off the balcony.’ What happened? Holter laughs quietly. ‘Well, it could have been the fog machine, or it might have been the mould, but I was standing on the balcony, and I don’t get faint, so I don’t understand what was going on. When we started to shoot, I couldn’t stand up. I was really lightheaded and dizzy. I went into a cold sweat . . . ’
As with her remarkable debut, Tragedy (based on ancient Greek play Hippolytus), Loud City Song takes impressionistic inspiration from an existing work, in this case 1950s musical movie Gigi. Its highlights include skewed jazz-chorale ‘In the Green Wild’ and an otherworldly cover of Barbara Lewis’ ‘Hello Stranger’. ‘There’s a scene in Gigi with a song called “I Remember It Well”, with two old people reminiscing about a past romance they had, but can’t remember properly,’ says Holter. ‘I thought “Hello Stranger” had a similar feel, because the subject matter is vague and dream-like.’
Her new album artwork shares this aesthetic: a blurry photo of a ghostly city. ‘Actually, that was taken around the very area where the “Horns” video was shot,’ remarks Holter. A chill wind blows. ‘I’m sure that’s just a coincidence.’ (Nicola Meighan) ■ Loud City Song is out now on Domino.
ROCK SHELLAC Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Fri 22 Nov; SWG3, Glasgow, Sat 23 Nov
There are few live music experiences like the one Shellac provides, not only because the Chicago trio cook up a buffeting storm of post-hardcore noise that’s fiercely played and soaked in invention, but also because they’re three of the most self-deprecating and wickedly funny individuals to have ranted at each other and their audience between songs. ‘I’m sorry to report that there’s nothing new other than us getting older and perhaps playing newer songs that you haven’t heard yet,’ reports bassist Bob Weston ahead of their latest tour. ‘We really love playing together and enjoy the aggression and release that comes from a liv e show.’ When you see them, it shows.
Regarding those new songs, he says that he, drummer Todd Trainer and guitarist / production icon Steve Albini are in the final production stages of their sixth studio album in two decades and first since 2007. It’s called Dude Incredible. ‘It sounds like a Shellac record,’ he says. ‘There are no piano or percussion overdubs, just the three of us playing live in the studio as always, with most of the vocal parts recorded afterwards. The release date will be whenever it’s ready to go.’ There’s a bittersweet edge to their latest UK visit, though, because the final date of this tour will
see them play the last ever holiday-camp edition of seminal underground festival All Tomorrow’s Parties. ‘It really feels like a big family to us when we’re at ATP,’ says Weston, ‘with the people who put on the festival, the other bands there, and the fans who come to it.’ (David Pollock)
SYNTH-POP MACHINES IN HEAVEN Stereo, Glasgow, Thu 21 Nov
Machines in Heaven are a synth-pop quartet who aim to simultaneously enrapture and befuddle listeners with their multi-layered, beat-driven instrumentals. The brainchild of performance poet Graham Crossan, MiH are gathering fans with their epic shows and EP, ‘The Glasgow Jihad’. We caught up with them to talk technology and religion. . . One blogger commented that your music goes off on tangents, then wraps up before anyone gets totally lost. Is that your intention? Graham: ‘I got that from the Pixies. Nobody has ever spotted it! The Pixies are a gigantic influence on the way MiH songs are arranged. Because they would do that; they’d go off, and you’re like “Where’s this going?”, then, boom, it all kicks back in, and you’re like “Aaah, right.”’ Also confusing is the thought of machines going to heaven. Please explain.
Graham: ‘I like things that mix the mundane and profane. I do think of our music as hymns in a way. There’s a lot of church organ and haunted Gaelic singing in there. I think machines are a human thing, an extension of us. I think machines are our friends . . . but the Terminator is excluded.’ (Lake Montgomery) ■ MiH play as part of the next ListLive gig, Stereo, Glasgow, on Thu 21 Nov with Miaoux Miaoux and Turtle. Ticket includes a complimentary Hornsby’s Cider (over 18s only). For a longer version of this interview, see list.co.uk