list.co.uk/festival Previews | FESTIVAL MUSIC
IF IT WASN’T FOR THEIR WELLIES Edinburgh rubber factory inspires WWI songs THE LIVING MOUNTAIN Avant garde pop-up record store
ASIAN DUB FOUNDATION London punk / ragga / bhangra band
’When I got this commission I didn’t think it was the most exciting idea to write about welly boots,’ says composer John Maxwell Geddes (pictured), ‘because it’s hardly writing about romance. Or about the start of the First World War, because I don’t celebrate that at all.’ Yet when he started to hear the stories, ideas began to form. Following Live Music Now Scotland’s ‘Composing With Care’ model, the story of the old Castle Mills rubber factory in Edinburgh’s Fountainbridge was gathered from historical documents and one surviving worker, a 103-year-old lady, to create Geddes’ Castle Mills Suite.
The Living Mountain, a specially designed and curated record shop offering a host of the best avant garde releases in a suitably innovative environment, will be running throughout August as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
It's the brainchild of Edinburgh-based record label owner, graphic designer, vinyl collector and DJ Lindsay Todd, and will feature left-field electronic, ambient, house, jazz and field recordings, as well as second-hand records and hand-printed, stamped and numbered releases from Todd’s own labels Firecracker, Unthank and Sacred Summits.
Presented as part of the 14–18–Now WWI ‘It’s kind of a natural progression, really,’ says
Centenary Art Commissions series (and paraphrasing the project’s title from the Billy Connolly song), Geddes’ work consists of five songs celebrating the mill’s work in supplying the frontline. The songs tell of love, industry, the loss of a fighting child and the 1916 Zeppelin bombing raid on Edinburgh. Composed for female voice and piano, these works are intended to live on beyond their initial performance. ‘I could be dead and gone,’ says Geddes, ‘and hopefully they’ll still sing it.’ (David Pollock) ■ National Museum of Scotland, 0300 123 6789, 6 & 8 Aug, 2pm, free. Also part of Museum After Hours, NMS, 8 Aug, 7.30pm, £16 (£14).
Todd, who will be DJing daily in the store, situated in the basement of Summerhall’s Church Gallery. ‘I think the way I’m working – doing limited editions, work for other labels and my own labels – I’ve always thought it needed a front end where I could be selling the stuff as well as sourcing bits that you really just can’t get in these parts.’ ‘And just tying in with Summerhall. We’ve got a thriving contemporary art scene here and it’s good to have a space that evolves naturally and organically.’ (Colin Robertson) ■ Summerhall, 560 1581, 1 Aug–26 Sep, from 11am, free.
‘The word “political”, it’s been a bit of a millstone,’ says Steve ‘Chandrasonic’ Savale of the Hackney- formed Asian Dub Foundation, for 20 years a group who have fused a social consciousness to a melting pot of Great British street sounds, from punk to dub to UK rap and bhangra. ‘We just sing about what we wanna sing about. The only difference is we’re not concerned about “demographics” or “brand identities”. Music isn’t a lifestyle accessory.’
The group’s commercial peak came in 1998, as the hard-edged anti-racism of their second album Rafi’s Revenge won them a Mercury nomination and support from the likes of Primal Scream, but their lack of recent mainstream profile belies their success elsewhere. Earlier this year they headlined a stage at Poland’s Exit festival, their new live score to George Lucas’ debut film THX-1138 will premiere in New York soon, and their forthcoming album The Signal and the Noise has already been released in Japan. These live shows with DJ afterparties will bridge the gap between Scotland’s two big non-political events of the year. ‘It’s perfect for us,’ says Savale. ‘We’re big fans of common wealth and we’re a fringe group.’ (David Pollock) ■ Liquid Room, 225 2564, 2 Aug, 6.30pm, £15; Summerhall, 560 1581, 2 Aug, 11pm, £10 (£8).
MUSICAL THEATRE ROUND-UP Things you didn’t think they’d make musicals about
We’re used to how ridiculous the Fringe can get. Who hasn't accidentally ended up in a show with 18 naked Australians throwing paint on a woman wearing a nappy? Still, serial killers and chicken restaurants getting the musical theatre treatment? We round up some 2014 shows that made us do a double-take. Try UCAS (Greenside @ Nicolson Square, 1–23 Aug) for
starters; a chance to relive your least favourite conversation and sing along to ballads about deciding whether someone should go to uni or not. Or Bonded By Blood (Spotlites @ the Merchants Hall, 2–16 Aug), a musical about the killings of Myra Hindley and Ian Brady. Cashing-in on a nation’s morbid fascination, or an important new fresh look at their crimes? See if you can still boast 'I'm not offended by anything' after that. There's also an opera on Jack the Ripper, Jack and I (C nova, 30 Jul–25 Aug), but at least the victims’ families aren’t around to know it’ll be flyered on the Royal Mile next to a man upside down with his head in a bucket. There are obviously thousands of excellent piercing, jabbing,
painful needle jokes that could be made with our next find, Adventures of the Singing Acupuncturist: Big O Finds Her Soul (Just the Tonic at The Mash House, 1–24 Aug). For example, we could say she probably has a voice like someone swinging a bag of cat-shaped partially unproven medical practices. And finally there's Nando’s and Nandon’ts: A Musical
(Phones 4U, 1–10 Aug, see page 23), in case you thought that the only thing in the Fringe catering to lower-league footballers and stoners was that guy from Police Academy who makes noises with his mouth. (Alice White) ■ See list.co.uk for full show details.
31 Jul–7 Aug 2014 THE LIST FESTIVAL 61
Bonded By Blood