BLOWOUT
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Picture the scene: Mancunian comic and New Order video star Keith Allen poses as a (ienevan psychologist bearing wondrous tidings about the aphrodisiac properties of that vilest ofcultural
l0 . In musm
Barriers collapse. boundaries disappear, the US and the Continent encroach. . . Fiona ; Shepherd investigates New Music World. I
Wilson browbcats American House l connoisseurs about their monopon ‘ on dance music. The ensuing oral fisticuffs culminate in the vociferous retaliation and/or purposeful departure ofa roomful of beleaguered American musos. Meanwhile, in some claustrophobic sweatbox on the other side of town. Teenage Fan Club bring the house down in a more positive fashion.
Britain’s first music industry seminar.
offenders. Ecstasy. A bellicose 'I‘ony
l i i l I l
'I‘hus went the more notable incidents of New York's 1 1th New Music Seminar. lfthe presence of two of those prime movers (Wilson and Teenage Fan Club) at Glasgow's (and Britain's) first New Music World means even half the controversy. then that shouldn‘t necessarily mean first and last. ‘At the moment, it has to be regarded as a one-off.‘ cautions John Williamson. press officer for The Precious Organisation. former 1.1.x! scribe and one of the event‘s co-ordinators. ‘It could go either way. and from that we‘ll decide what to do about anything in the future. The fact that the event is happening l
is a success for us because it's not been easy to put together.
'We had initial funding. which was quite small. from the l’estivals ()ffice. Which was basically to start us up as a business. Subsequently. we've had financial support from the Scottish Development Agency. Other than that. we’ve more or less had to scrape things together as they
went along.‘
Distant rumblings of New Music \Norld first surfaced a few years ago. partly inspired by New York's New Music Seminar :...d Berlin’s lndependents' [)ays. but also betraying more local motives: ‘We wanted to do something for 1990
The List 31 August — 13 September I‘NU81