MUSIC
Hamid Drake on drums. makes its L'K debut in the final concert ofthc
TDK Round Midnight Jazz Festival.
to complete a night of firsts. the concert will also feature 'l‘om
Bancroft's exciting big band project.
playing new music written with the help of a Scottish Arts (‘ouncil Commission. It promises to he an occasion to match the magnificent Sun Ra concert earlier in the Festival.
Don ('lrerry's .llultikulti and The Tom Bancroft ()rc/zestra. Queen 's Hull, Edinburgh, 3] August. 7.30pm.
um:- Younger than yesterday
.5 .~ \O
Eighteen months were dealing with a curiously polarised situation: pushing the aural limits of traditional musical perceptions, probing rock to its murky depths and pulling the plum from the pie with the
relish ol individuals privy to
excitement’slosttormula.
White, at the other end at the spectrum, daily conversions were being made among the mainstream ot the record~buying public. Suddenly, getting vinyl in shops became a salient issue. ‘We were having problems with distribution and we weren’t really satisfied with the way things were going,’ explains bassist Kim Gordon. ‘Daydream Nation got a lot at attention in the States and yet it just wasn‘t in the stores when it should have been. You put all this work into something and you just want it to be heard as much as possible, but it’s really dillicult because at the size at the country. Blast First came over and tried to do something, but they didn‘t know anything about America. Even in Britain, it was hard to get records out, though we probably would have been happy to continue on an independent there.’
But not in America, itwould seem. Enter Getten Records, a huge conglomerate, even in Stateside terms, with the muscle and the money Sonic Youth needed. And enter a prolusion ot journalists touting expressions like ‘emerging from the
“its: t s ‘ underground’ and ‘casting ott cult status', as inevitable as they were erroneous. Kim was prepared: ‘To some extent, every interview has been
“do you think you've sold out?" and it's
so obvious it you listen to the record that it’s not so. ldon’t even think the people interviewing us think that.‘
Certainly ‘Goo‘ is as uncompromising
as anything they've done yet. Kim explains the development thus: ‘Each record is a reaction to the last, not being happy with certain things on the previous record, production-wise wanting the bottom at the record to be stronger.’
The song remains the same, but has major backing brought any tangible benefits? ‘I notice it more now that we're touring. Itjust means a bigger crew, more people involved. It‘s strange in thatwe can‘tyet tell how we‘re being presented or how we‘re being perceived. It’s like, “here’s your strange band tor mass consumption".‘
‘You do what you do to keep things going the way you want, but the company don’t expect a band, especially a band of our stature, to have creative control, so you have to educate them, making sure everyone on the label knows everything has to be approved. . .We're trying to develop this image with them so that they think we're just completely insane and leave us alone.‘ (Fiona Shepherd)
Sonic Youth play the Barrowland, Glasgow on Tue 4. .
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V SINGLES
‘Hey Joe‘ riffs when the occasion demands). There‘s a detectable 605 influence to their melodic rock. and they only
when they start to sound like they‘re taking themselves far too seriously. Which isn‘t often, thankfully. (AM)
IThe Honeysmugglers: Listen (Non-Fiction) Graccd with the most exciting moment in this batch of singles. The Honeysmugglers (the first signings to a new offshoot from Fiction Records. the label that brought us The Cure), set up the songand break into a furious bash with Hammond organ and drum kit fleeing all over the shop. It's actually quite shocking and unusual nowadays. When bands talk about ‘going for the take with the best feel to it‘. this is what they mean. (AM)
I Maxi Priest: Peace Throughout the World (Ten) Perhaps ‘Soul II Soul. with featured vocalist Maxi Priest' would better sum up the contents. And in truth it seemsa cobbled-together exercise. the syrupy sentiments not helping matters much. (AM)
I Diana Brown and Barrie K. Sharpe: Sun Worshippers (flrr) Brown and Sharpe come on to us in a manner which suggests that any minute now they're going to tell us what their star sign is. Suspicions that they were going to dothat very thing on the B-side prevented me from flipping it over. (AM)
I Spin: Scratches (inthe Sand) (Foundation) The most immediately appealing release so far on Foundation and the one with the most easily traceable roots. The Beatlcy riff. the obligatory wah-wah and. no doubt. floppy tringesas well. The Rub“ love it. (AM)
the List 3| August l3 September l‘Nll41