MUSIC
VALBUMS
I t Immaterial: Song (Sit) It‘s a long way from ‘Ec Funky Diner‘ and ‘Ding Away from Htie‘. that‘s for sure. anvithout the
conercial appeal of
the singles. Song is one bille of desolation. dispointment and deession. and ifJohn Czpbell and Jarvis Wehead intended it to beavened by a dose of quzy humour, that
ha't worked. For this. thrwent to Pencaitland to recorded by Calum Maolm. who performed theme work for The
Bl Nile, and Song‘s suzined mood of mmcholy has been dred in similar textures. Jo Campcll‘s vocal
writing for this British jazz-rock outfit is always going to cause problems for some listeners. It‘s often densely structured and highly melodic stuffto be sure. but every so often the keyboards go all anthemic and the ugly spirit of the progressive 705 is staring you in the face. Still. saxophonist Dave O‘Higgins shines throughout. especially on his soprano ballad feature ‘Song For Elaine‘. where everyone sounds a good deal more relaxed and the music approaches a genuine emotional impact. (Trevor Johnston) I John Zorn: Naked City (Elektra/Nonesuch) The most definitive statement so far ofJohn Zorn‘s musical worldview so far has jazz blowing. hardcore guitar attack. and movie soundtrack kitsch shaken up in a cocktail that has a different taste every sip. John Barry. Ornette Coleman. Ennio Morricone and the Batman theme nestle side by side with ferocious aural assaults (all eleven seconds of ‘Fuck The Facts') and Zorn‘s own uniquely stylistically compendious
1
connections— while the latter are lush. the formei are brash. as exemplified by their recent single. ‘Blush’. a masterly splurge of hooks and pop perfection. Thereafter. the guitars strum unendingly. the boy-girl vocals jaunt along in the best tradition of classic Pommie indie-pop and th« listener gets lost in a welter of short. sharp tunes. The fact is. The Hummingbirds know their craft so well. too well. that their music-making case becomes the case with which the songs rush by. The album ends: one mammoth Top Forty hit. long on overall sensation. short on pleasuer detail. (Craig McLean)
I Reptile: Fame and Fossils (Worker’s Playtime) Similar qualities between the voices of Magga Stina and her compatriot Bjork
Sugarcubc may be safely overlooked. Reptile. snapped up by the ‘Cubes‘ Bad Taste label early last year. are an even more bizarre proposition than that rather more famous lcelandic group. They utilise violin. sax. marimba and banjo among the more usual instruments. their lyrics are even more baffling (I‘ve often thought myself that love is very ‘like a strange pig‘) and anything on Fame and Fossils knocks spots of Here Today Tomorro w Next Week. Seriously. (Alastair Mabbott)
I Urban Dance Squad: Mental Floss for the Globe (Ariola) Out of Amsterdam they charge — a live band inspired by American rap/metal crossover. Not that I‘m one to get Messianic about ‘real instruments' (what's a sampler. a
hallucination?). but UBS have a sinuous flexibility about them that's hard to beat. Anyway. they don’t. as 1 first thought. use guitars and drums purely to impersonate samplers and rhythm computers. Stylistically restless. UBS are showing their facility for fingerpicking and slide-playing by the second track. even
' straying into blues and
finishing up with the sheer noise of ‘God Blasts the Queen'. which sounds like Napalm Death and The
Young Gods tuning up on
adjacent stages in one of the grottiest dives in Hell. Reports indicate that UBS are a firestorm live.
‘Mental Floss‘ offers persuasive evidence.
(Alastair Mabbott)
I Talk Talk: Natural History (Parlophone) Baby. life‘s what you make it. So Talk Talk make theirs exclusivelytheir own. At
the birth lie ‘Today‘ and ‘Talk Talk’. two snippets from a time when New Romantics ruled the roost. Now. of course. kilts. eyeliner and minds of toys are laughable. but Talk Talk somehow managed to slip the trap and veer off on their own increasingly perverse tangent. Stop off at the three topping singles from It's My Life. cock a snook at the multi-hued excerpts from The Colour of Spring. finally to arrive at the organic wholenessthat is Spirit of Eden . Talk Talk‘s zenith so far. Lifted from that album. the tracks represented here are isolated and limbless. yet serve as telling bookends on a diverting and diverse career. And fortheir next trick . . .who knows? (Craig McLean) I The Popinlays: Bang Up to Date With. . . (One Little Indian) Presenting. for your pleasure. an entire album‘s worth of three-minute heroes and four-minute sunbursts. Mixing the cutiness of Tallulah Gosh and the beatbox bottom-burps of Westworld with a dash of Stop the Penguin thrown in for good measurc.The Popinjays‘ debut isa
gfllcnhgafifn too compositions, Enormous splash of vivaciousness as day for comfort in fun. and already one of garish their so, places. That aside, the records of the year. wild n groovy sleeve. The. So’sounds like (TJ) singles Please Let Me Go sorthing they had to get I "'3 Humminflb'Vd‘: and . Herv' (gac‘kio thc‘ offeir chests. but falls LOVQBUZZ (mom) Bcg'm‘mg) fm' summ” shcof being similarly LoveB uzz is 53 minutes I lightness tyglcal of on f catrtic for the listener. 0f dogma‘ic gUitariSm ! dim") pc’rfccuy or (Ami; Mabbou) from Perth. Australia. thu ; mcnidlgdrqcn Pdl'UCS 0" IRdslde Picnic: ForMad home of those other I thew-With Iolwf Mainly (RCA/Hows) maestros. The Triffids. SendWlChCS and 1m BT11; Mao Castronari‘s BUT illch end the ; Fizzy fun‘and fab frolics all round. (Craig McLean) 1 BOOK NOW Iggfilgfggggflggggn ; "B'WnTaanmG'asW lcuscowriiwiie 0312255756)Saitollinen Camera,3Aug'Magnum l ' ' ' s ‘°““""°"°"'" Orchestra 12 Au 'Pra ue 138 Bi ' ' 12 Oct; Orchestra ottheAiie ' Orchestras 13-18 20.25 "0"”04133‘123‘) ' 9'. 9 '9" ""s'bb'mr ‘5 CRSSICAL o, Enligmnmm. 15 a“; ' ' ' Scottish Opera/ Tosca.1, 30.13-14. 15 Aug. Sept; Brendan Shine, 19
I .ASGOW CATHEDRAL (0:227 5511) Cappetla Rel, 6 Aug.
I.ASGOW CITY HALLS (0227 5511) Le Grand Ecle et la Chambre du Rt. 4 Aug; Glasgow Feival of Youth Oitestras. 11 Aug; Oeestre De Lille.19-20 SA; LSO, 26 Sept. ILASGOW CONCERT
London Phil. 30 Oct; Leipzig
I Gewandhaus Orch. 31 Oct-2 , Nov; Israel Phil. 21 Nov; 3 Orchestra De Paris,16—17
Dec.
I I GLASGOW HSAMD (041
332 5057) Bremen Youth 80. 18 July; London Oboe
| Band. 4 Aug; Jordi Savall. 7 I Aug; Gothic Voices. 5 Aug;
The Complete Baroque. 6 Aug; Honus Muslcus. 8Aug;
27—31 Aug. 1 Sept; BetYour Lile. 13—18 Aug; British Youth Opera/ Marriage of Figaro, 3. 5 Sept. Eugene Onegin. 4. 6 Sept.
I GLASGOW SECC(O41227 5511)Bolshoi Opera. 3—6. IO-IZAug.
I GLASGOW TRAMWAY (041227 5511)Sequentia.
l 10Aug; La Vita Humana. 9.
|
11 Aug.
Tickets from :
Queens Hall 031 668 2019 Usher Hall 031 228 1155 Ticket Centre (Waverley Bridge) 031 225 8616 Edinburgh Quartet 031 332 8691
Summer Evening Concerts at Hopetoun House
THE EDINBURGH QUARTET WEDNESDAYS AT 8PM
July 11th : Haydn, Delius, Beethoven
Ticket price of £10 includes viewing of the State apartments and wine & canapes.
20.22.26 Sept. 19 Oct,1. 30 Nov. Les Troyens18—19. 28-29 Sept. 4-5. 30-31 Oct. 28 Nov.
I EDINBURGH KING‘S THEATRE ((Festival Box Office 031 225 5756) Slovak National Opera. 27. 29—30 Aug.
I EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE (Festival Box Office 031 225 5756): Bolshoi Opera, 14—16 Aug; Slovak National Opera. 20. 22—25 Aug.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN'S HALL (031 668 2019) Scottish Independent Schools Orch. 16 July; (Festival Box Office 031 225 5756): Nash Ensemble, 13—14Aug; Suk Ouartet. 15. 17Aug; Peter Donohoe.16, 20. 24 Aug; ECAT. 18Aug; Panocha Ouattet. 21. 23 Aug; Steven Isserlis. 22 Aug; Maninu Concert. 25 Aug; Zuzana Ruzickova. 27 Aug; Thomas Allen. 28 Aug; Rudoll Firkusny. 29 Aug; Evelyn Glennie. 30 Aug; Arleen Auger. 31 Aug; Academy ofAncient Music. 1 Sept.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (Festival Box Office
BBCSSO. 15 Aug; Bolshoi Orchestra. 17. 21 Aug; Jutland Opera,18Aug; SN0. 19 Aug; Montserrat Caballe. 19 Aug; City of London Sinfonia. 20 Aug; Teresa Berganza. 23 Aug; ECO, 24 Aug; Rotterdam PO. 25—26 Aug; San Francisco 80. 28-29 Aug; Yo Yo Ma/EmmanuelAii. 30 Aug; Berlin SO. 31 Aug, 2Sent.
ROCK
I GLASGOW BARROWLAND (041 226 4679) Aztec Camera. 4Aug. I GLASGOW PAVILION (041 332 1846) Gary Numan, 25 Sept; Gene Pitney. 19 Oct;Joe Longthorne. 7—8 Nov; Daniel O'Donnell. 20—21 Nov.
I GLASGOW SECC(041227 5511)The Christians. 3 Dec.
I STIRLING FALLENINCH
FIELD (031 557 6969) A Day
i ForScotIand.14JuIy. i IEDINBUHGHINGLISTON CENTHE(0315576969)
Clash of the Titans, 12 Oct. I EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE (031 557 2590)Aztec
Oct; Tangerine Dream. 31 Oct; The Shadows. 4 Nov; Motomead. 19 Nov; The Christians. 1 Dec.
JAZZ & FOLK
I EDINBURGH MEADOWBANK CENTRE (031 225 5756) Intematlonal Opening Ball. 19Aug; Salute to Louis Armstrong. 20 Aug; Sun Ra Arkestra. 21 Aug; New Orleans Mardi Gras. 22 Aug; Tam White's Blues Night. 23 Aug; Farewell Ball, 24 Aug. I EDINBURGH OUEEN'S HALL (031 668 2019) lain Ballamy. 19 Aug; Monty AlexanderTrio, 20 Aug; Prague Syncopaled Orchestra. 21 Aug; Tommy Smith. 20—21 Aug; Jools Holland Big Band. 22—31 Aug; Nina Simone. 27 Aug; George Melly, 28 Aug; In Birdland. 29 Aug; Carol Kidd. 30 Aug; Don Cherry. 31 Aug. I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (Festival Box Office 031 225 5756) East Meets West. 22 Aug; Cleo Lalne, 27 Aug.
42’he List 29June— 12July 1990