list.co.uk/festival Previews | FESTIVAL MUSIC
RISE KAGONA & THE JIT JIVE BAND The Bhundu Boy talks jive
Zimbabwean group The Bhundu Boys stormed the world music scene in the 80s, drawing praise from Elvis Costello and supporting Madonna at Wembley, but the subsequent story of fall-outs, death and trouble with the law is one of music’s sadder falls What is jit jive? ‘Jiti (spelled in Shona, our language) is a traditional dance music played by younger generations. Under the moonlight, boys and girls beat hand drums, play shakers, sing, clap and dance. The Bhundu Boys transformed that style with modern instruments.’ What was your high point with the band? ‘Coming out of Harare ghettos just five years after independence to become the first African band to conquer Europe with our music, something we never thought could happen to people like us who grew up in Apartheid.’ What do you miss about it? ‘I miss the brotherhood. Although we had our differences, when it came to perfor- mances we were like children of the same family.’ Why did you move to Edinburgh to live? ‘Only God knows why I’m here. It’s a secret I don’t know, time will tell.’ You’ve got a new band together now? ‘Yes. We’ll play new songs and old Bhundu Boys songs.’ (David Pollock) ■ Jazz Bar, 226 0000, 10 & 14 Aug, 10pm, £10 (£8).
CUT HANDS Afro-noise explorer William Bennett, now making music under the name Cut Hands, chats to Claire Sawers In your days with 80s extreme electronic noiseniks Whitehouse, you wanted ‘a sound that could bludgeon an audience into submission’. When you started Cut Hands what did you hope it would sound like? ’Until I began learning about my collection of Ghanaian percussion instruments, I was never really sure how it would sound. Only that the Haitian musicians I’d seen were making some of the most mindblowingly intense music I’d ever experienced, with almost none of the electronic technology I felt that I’d become addicted to using.’ What’s the plan for Summerhall – will there be any visuals from past live shows? (with African subtitles, voodoo symbols, monochrome scribbles etc) Oh yes! Lots of new stuff has been added to those themes and best of all is the exciting transition to full colour. Last year’s Black Mamba was a very full-on, beautiful, polyrhythmic exploration of drums, ritualism and darkness. How did it differ from your first CH record? Afro Noise I was more eclectic, with more abrasive noise elements, probably because it was recorded over 8 years, partly during the Whitehouse years. ■ Read a longer version at list.co.uk. Summerhall, 8 Aug, 8pm, £6 (£5).
SWANS The return of the angry birds
Since they were mostly reviled in their earliest incarnations, the revival of Swans was never liable to be a cosy nostalgia trip. Michael Gira’s fierce vision, too heady and intense even in the glory days of post-punk, may pursue an orchestrated majesty in this comeback, but the shuddering brutality of their first recordings is still audible beneath the complexity.
If Gira’s original version of Swans matured from a grinding, loud monotony into the more textured melodies of the 1990s, his influence is clear on the generation of post-rock bands, like Mogwai, who sprung up while Gira developed other projects. Yet the unexpected reformation of The Swans – and their two startlingly coherent albums – has Gira chasing a sophisticated ecstasy. Denying that the music points to any spirituality other than itself, he nevertheless encourages an immersion in sound, skilfully manipulating dynamics.
Although there are occasional nods to the past – some early tracks are revisited, Gira continues to follow a new muse. Elements of American folk and even funky repetition are filtered through an epic vision. Extending songs over instrumental work-outs that are taut and groove heavy, Swans in 2013 are heading towards a bracing fusion of psychedelic ferocity and minimalist compulsion. (Gareth K Vile) ■ The Liquid Room, 225 2564, 13 Aug, 7pm, £22.50 (£20).
8–15 Aug 2013 THE LIST FESTIVAL 69