Festival MUSIC
For more info go to LIST.CO.UK /FESTIVAL
HITLIST THE BEST ROCK, POP, JAZZ & FOLK
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N A M P H C E L R A H C
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✽ Nuala Kennedy Band with AJ Roach The Irish flautist joins the Virginian guitarist
(above) for Americana-tinged folk. Acoustic Music Centre @St Bride’s, 668 2019, 16 Aug, 9:45pm, £12 (£10).
✽ RM Hubbert He just won a SAY and has a new album out next month. He’s so hot right now. Read about his sleeping patterns on page 64 and catch him in WGYTTN (below). Henry’s (part of Pale Imitation), 629 4101, 17 Aug, 7pm, £5.
✽John Taylor The Duran Duran dandy
discusses his pop memoir, In The Pleasure Groove at the Book Festival. Charlotte Square, 0845 373 5888, 17 Aug, 9:30pm, £10 (£8).
✽ Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra Performing work written for them by
ex-Sonic Youther, Jim O’Rourke, ‘Some I Know, Some I Don’t’. Summerhall, 0845 874 3001, 17 Aug, 10pm, £12 (£9).
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K R S T N B U R N S
✽ Classic Album Sunday: Fleetwood Mac A communal listening session of the 1977 classic, Rumours, with refreshments. Loud+Clear, 555 3963, 18 Aug, 12pm, £6.
✽ Whatever Gets You Through the Night Scottish performers and musicians
combine for a late-night piece about what happens between midnight and 4am. See feature, page 64. Queen’s Hall, 668 2019, preview 20 Aug (£13.50), 21-25 Aug, times vary, £15-£16.50.
✽Frank Zappa Cologne’s Ensemble musikFabrik pay tribute to the wacky music
maverick. Read Paul Morley in appreciation of Zappa at list.co.uk Usher Hall, 473 2000, 28 Aug, 8pm, £12-£34
MEREDITH MONK One of America’s most distinctive composers: a handy CV break-down
M eredith Monk is renowned for works which combine vocal-led music with elements of theatre, dance and performance art. As she has said, ‘I work in between the cracks, where the voice starts dancing, where the body starts singing, where theatre becomes cinema’.
Monk began as a solo performer, before forming her vocal ensemble in 1978. Her music remains predominantly vocal-led, with intricate contrapuntal arrangements which blend medieval plainsong, 20th century minimalism and extended techniques into a timeless form of avant-garde folk ritual. Her staging is equally visionary, with great attention paid to costume, lighting and choreography. This August’s EIF boasts the European premiere of On Behalf of Nature. A poetic meditation on the environment, this music- theatre piece draws inspiration from the Buddhist notion of realm categories and
62 THE LIST FESTIVAL 15–26 Aug 2013
the nature writing of poet and activist Gary Snyder, taking as its point of departure Monk’s 2012 piece for vocalists and instrumentalists Realm Variations. The night before the first performance, Monk will be discussing the artist’s relationship with the environment with Philip Campbell, editor of Nature magazine. Monk’s influence has been widespread, with artists such as Björk, Terry Riley and John Zorn paying tribute at a 2005 concert celebrating her forty years in music. In 1996, DJ Shadow sampled the distinctive cello part from 1979’s ‘Dolmen Music’ for his track ‘Midnight In A Perfect World’, while two years later, her vocal piece ‘Walking Music’ was featured in the Coen Brothers’ beloved film The Big Lebowksi. (Stewart Smith) Meredith Monk, On Behalf of Nature, Royal Lyceum, 16–17 Aug, 8pm; 18 Aug 2.30pm, £10–£30; Conversations, The Hub, 15 Aug, 5pm, £6.