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MUSIC | Reviews
ROCK THE REFLEKTORS Barrowland, Glasgow, Fri 15 Nov ●●●●●
It’s the worst-kept secret in indie rock that The Reflektors are actually the alter ego of Montreal’s Arcade Fire. But this barely veiled mystery helps hype the anticipation: we know this won’t be your average Arcade Fire performance. Each ticket has ‘Formal Attire or Costume Mandatory’ printed across it. At least three quarters of the audience have complied with the dress code, from full fancy dress to dinner jackets or feather boas matched with cocktail dresses. And while it feels alien standing in the Barrowlands dressed to the nines, it adds to the sense of occasion. As do the high-school prom-style decorations: tinsel, fairy lights, posters and glitter festoon the venue. There’s an otherworldly quality to proceedings: surrounded by a sea of weird and wonderful masks and attire, it feels like an event, not just a gig. The venue is plunged into darkness. When
the lights go on the band are already on stage, resplendent in their costumes. Win Butler sports a mirrored face mask and full mariachi outfit. They immediately tear into ‘Reflektor’, and its pounding rhythms are instantly taken up by the audience. Tonight’s intimate soirée is ostensibly a showcase for their new album, also called Reflektor. Produced by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, unsurprisingly it’s more beat-driven and has a dancier edge. It makes even more sense live than on record. ‘Joan of Arc’ and ‘It’s Never Over (Hey Orpheus)’ in particular match the energy levels of the surging crowd. The folky elements have been jettisoned in favour of pulsing rhythms and dub reggae. The carnival vibes even bleed into their older material: ‘Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)’ is reworked as a steel drum remix; Régine Chassagne does her customary rhythmic ribbon dance during ‘Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)’ – the result is strangely beautiful and utterly mesmerising. The build-up and quirks of tonight’s gig mean
there’s an unbeatable party atmosphere, with Butler enthusiastically praising the crowd and their costumes in gushing tones on several occasions. There are giant papier mâché heads, group dance routines and a Devo cover (‘Uncontrollable Urge’), then there’s a moment during their final song, ‘Wake Up’, as everyone in the Barras sings along, where Arcade Fire prove the power of music. It transcends simply being a gig and transforms into a shared experience, a brief magical moment where audience and band become one. Simply stunning. (Henry Northmore)
100 THE LIST 12 Dec 2013–23 Jan 2014
POP SPARKS The Arches, Glasgow, Mon 25 Nov ●●●●● FOLK/ EXPERIMENTAL GLENN JONES Glad Cafe, Glasgow, Sat 16 Nov ●●●●●
Sparks have a knack for turning concepts associated with worthy rock authenticity – classic album shows, stripped-down sets – into art-pop magic. This two- man show begins with a brace of songs from 2002’s brilliant Lil’ Beethoven. ‘Your Call’s Very Important To Us’ is reworked as a Russell Mael solo shot, his vocals looped up in real time. Enter Ron Mael, who pounds out the massive Chicago house piano riff of the magnificent ‘How Do I Get To Carnegie Hall?’.
Sparks are up there with Cole Porter and Leonard Cohen as the funniest men in pop, genuinely witty and humane. In lesser hands, extracts from an opera about Ingmar Bergman could be unbearably arch. The Brothers Mael manage to combine affectionate mockery of Bergman’s miserablist persona with an affecting sense of existential dread.
From the tacky tiger glam of ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us’ to the hubristic synth-pop of ‘When Do I Get To Sing “My Way”?’, the show is an unbridled joy. The disco encore of ‘Number One Song In Heaven’ is utterly euphoric, Russell’s still- fabulous falsetto soaring over Ron’s trancey synth throb. (Stewart Smith)
Two weeks previously, the Glad Cafe was witness to Bill Orcutt’s cracked take on the American Primitive guitar tradition, all scrabbles and hobo moans. Glenn Jones may move the expanded folk forms of John Fahey, Robbie Basho and Jack Rose forward in a more modest fashion, but his vision is as deeply personal. Jones has a remarkable ability to evoke a sense of place through his reflective acoustic guitar and banjo compositions. New tune ‘The Great Pacific Northwest’ uses chromatic folk melodies and rolling rhythms to map cedar forests and grey waves breaking off Puget Sound. Slide-guitar piece ‘Island 1’ is his ‘attempt to create an island feeling without it being Hawaii’. The result is something like the reverb-drenched desert-scapes of Ry Cooder’s Paris, Texas soundtrack, transplanted to the New England coast. ‘My Garden State’ is a New Jersey fantasia that makes a stately procession through a winter landscape, each resonant plink a freezing-water droplet falling from an overhanging pine. A magical evening, the songs interspersed with Jones’s warm- hearted ramblings about his late friend Jack Rose and the time he met Elvis. (Stewart Smith)
ROCK ARCTIC MONKEYS The Hydro, Glasgow, Thu 21 Nov ●●●●● SLOWCORE/DRONE LOW Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Tue 19 Nov ●●●●●
Arctic Monkeys should have played Glasgow three weeks earlier, had it not been for lead singer Alex Turner contracting laryngitis (possibly from a dodgy bottle of Mercury Awards champagne? *cough*). Although Turner slips in an awkward apology, their show is much like tonight’s pristine venue – undeniably impressive. Turner looks rejuvenated, toying with an audience
through comedy, charisma and his newfound crooning style. ‘No. 1 Party Anthem’ sees his John Lennon influence (beyond his dress sense circa 1959) fully reveal itself.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is ‘Arabella’. Although veiled on album AM, live, it’s seven musicians strong, pulling each thunder strike of Jamie Cook’s guitar to produce something stunning.
Given that AM is simultaneously their most daring and their most commercially successful record yet, the band’s nosedive into the unknown has been a masterstroke, and their Hydro debut a near-faultless performance to cap off a near- faultless year. (Harris Brine) ■ For a longer version of this review, see list.co.uk
Those keeping up with Low since 2005’s The Great Destroyer will know that their days as the easy- to-characterise ‘quiet band’ are long gone. Their artistic reawakening has produced four albums that get pretty loud in places and effortlessly make many end-of-year lists with a typical lack of fanfare. On record, Low’s vocabulary might centre on Alan
Sparhawk and Mimi Parker’s male / female vocal harmonising, but live, with sparse instrumentation and everything on show, it’s Sparhawk’s guitar that dominates the sound of the three-piece. He coaxes tones from it that range from fluid, delicate beauty to a shredded-speaker dirge that envelopes you like a blanket of warm noise. Live, as on record, ‘On My Own’ descends from borderline-jaunty to a squall of droning heaviosity. Similarly intense takes on ‘Murderer’, ‘Pissing’ and ‘Monkey’ contrast with the simple prettiness of ‘Nightingale’, all met with captivated silence and loud hollering from an appreciative crowd, including the Glasgow contingent across at this only Scottish date. Never has the Queen’s Hall felt more like the church it once was. (Hamish Brown)