MUSIC
V SINGLES
I Barkyl Barky: Animals (Lllkl) Bet you thought they didn‘t make records like this in Kilmarnock any more. Not that they ever did. Metal guitar, snapping bass. a drum machine and an attitude that‘sjust warped enough. On top ofthat, this has good production and packaging. and all three songs sound refreshingly different from each other. One of the best independent Scottish releasesthis year. (AM) I Saint Etienne: Only Love Can Break Your Heart (Heavenly) Boring hippies out there (sorry. older readers) may remember the Neil Young original, but this is 100 times better than he‘s ever sounded. These New Age hippies blend sweet. soulful lyrics and harmonies with a throbbing Soul II Soul type beat to perfection, showing Candy Flip how to cover a classic and actually improve it.(CS) I Sly & Lovechild: The World According To. .. (Heavenly) With a name like Sly & Lovechild you just better be damn funky. and thankfully we aren‘t let down. Making ambient house with an Eastern feel (xylophones, sitars. flutes, chants) was an obvious move. but is still worth listening to. The only minor complaint is the singer beltingthe lyrics 0 la ’Ride On Time‘. Featuring an Andrew Weatherall mix, but for once I prefer the B-side which keeps the singing to a minimum.(CS)
I Oubh Chapter. Happy is the Bride (58) When Steve Hillage, who produced this single. is credited only as ‘the man behind the classic Simple Minds album Sons and Fascination'. the re's no little disservice being done. Dubh Chapter. an Irish band on their debut single, can't seem to decide whether they want to be the B-52s or Magazine, and give both a shot. The latter will probably win out. (AM)
I Goodbye Mr Mackenzie: BlackerThan Black (Parlophone) After seeing them in stirring form twice in one week, and noting that they‘ve got their shit together (once more). cold black vinyl is quite a comedown. But this is the Mackenzies going cajun — an event in itself, and not a little weird. With a little help, it should crack the Top Forty. i want to see this on Top oflhe Pops. definitely. (AM)
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V CLASSICAL
Weekending S r“:
‘ I. > -- » r [a It may be called Weekending Stravinsky, but BBC Scotland’s mini-Stravinsky lestival is week-beginning Stravinskytoo, straddling as it does the lour days over Saturday iii—Tuesday 19 June. Behind the idea is BBC Music Producer Hugh Macdonald, who explains, ‘We were trying to think at some special events tor 1990 in Glasgow and I thought we ought to do something which would leature one at the major European composers ol the century to highlight European culture.’ Stravinksy seemed an obvious choice, not only because he is the giant of European music this century but because, says Macdonald who is attached lull-time to the orchestra, ‘Jerzy Maksymiuk, our Principal Conductor, is so passionately keen on his music and it seemed like a good idea to exploit his special leellng
travinsky
lorthe music. It’s not an earth shattering idea, but it does provide a locus on a maior ligure tor a lew days.’ The opening and closing concerts are orchestral ones lrom the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra with guests Paragon Ensemble and pianist Murray McLachlan sandwiched inbetween and the tour days cover all the phases at Stravinsky’s career lrom the early ballet music such as Petruschka to the serial music at the 60s. ‘The original idea’ says Macdonald ‘was to do undiluted Stravinsky, but that seemed a bit too much so we’ve included compatible contemporaries and those who lniluenced him.’ The closing concert on Tuesday 19 is Petruschka preceded by Bimsky Korsakov’s Scheherazade. ‘When you listen to them side by side’ says Macdonald, ‘lt’s extraordinary how strong the lniluence ol Blmsky is.’ Admittance to the llrst three concerts at Broadcasting House is tree and, not surprisingly, the tickets lor these have gone llrst, although there are still seats available tor the larger City Hall and, says Macdonald, ‘lt’s always worth trying at Oueen Margaret Drive as we may have a lew empty seats on the night.’ (Cami Main)
Weekending Stravinsky. 16—19 June - all perlormances at 7.30pm. Concert Hall, Broadcasting House and City Hall, Candlerlggs (see Classical Listings).
Capital jazz
Perhaps anxious not to be iorgotten in the current hubbub emanating irom Glasgow in general and the Glasgow Jazz Festival in particular, both the McEwan’s’s Edinburgh International Jazz Festival (18-27 August) and the TOK Round Midnight Festival (2741 August) have announced their programmes.
The immediate conclusion to be drawn is that the old boundaries between the ‘traditional’ McEwan's event and the ‘modernist’ TOK one have well and truly disappeared. Both otter a varied programme covering a wide range otjazz styles, although Mike Hart has surely taken his biggest plunge yet into modernity with the Sun Ra Arkestra.
Sun Ra will bring his extraterrestrial presence to Meadowbank on 21 August, when the band will premiere a new commission, with the help at Oick Lee’s Chamber Jan and piper Hamish Moore. This one is unmissable, and the same goes tor Tam White’s Blues Night on 23 August, with the great Mose Allison. The rest looks strong and varied, ranging irom the Original Prague Syncopated Orchestra through to Iain Ballamy’s Balloon Man and Tommy Smith, and including Bay Brown, Monty Alexander, Joe Temperley, Sweets Edison and Humphrey Lyttelton, among many others. Oetails irom 031 5571642.
The TOK event boasts an equally wide
The real Tom Bancrott. . .
stylistic spread across its live concerts. The programme is dominated by singers, with the immensely popular Nina Simone on 27 August, George Melly and John Chilton’s Feetwarmers the lollowlng night, and Carol Kidd with tull string orchestra on SO August. A hybrid ‘ln Blrdland’ concert pairs the excellent 29th Street Saxophone Quartet and saxman Steve Williamson, while the Don Cherry Band and the Tom Bancrott Orchestra (to whom The List owes apologies tor the picture mix-up in last issue's preview) provide an essential wrap-up to two weeks oi high quality jazz in the capital. TOK tickets irom Oueen’s Hall Box Oltlce (031 668 2019). (Kenny Mathieson)
30 The List 15- 28June 1990