MUSIC
Sober (AaM)/lzabeila: Substitute (Virgin)/Double Trouble’s Collective Eiiort: Celebrate (Desire) Festive cheer. anyone? Good will to all men? Buggerthat. the musical silly season is well under way. and so too are the dodgy cover versions. Worst ofthe bunch (well. I still haven‘t heard The Alarm’s 'llappy Xmas (War is ()ver)') must be Andy Taylor trying his hand at Rod Stewart's ‘Stone Cold Sober‘. The former Duranie delivers the whole thing so deadpanl can only assume he is serious. Worse still is the cod HM of Bowie's ‘Suffragette (‘ity' tucked away on the B-side. complete with the most ineffectual ‘Wham bam thank you mam' imaginable. lzabella. on the other hand, gives her attempt at Clout‘s 1978 monster ’Substitute' — a song so bad that ifyou can‘t remember it don't torture yourselftrying. It‘s done in crap Euro-pop meets SAW style, which means that it will be hugely successful. Best of a bad bunch is Double Trouble‘s remake of Kool and The Gang‘s 1980hit ’Celebration‘. At least an attempt is made to add something to the original with the obligatory rapping. Suffice to say. however. the chances of breaking down the frontiers of music have been completely ignored. (Jll) l The Beautiiul South: My Book (60! Discs) Now this is more like it. Paul. The only track on (‘lmke worth getting even vaguely flustered about. this is a perfect vehicle for everything 1 leaton does best. A humorous autobiographical lyric and chirpy melody are treated to a sassy brass arrangement. Briana keeps the irritable cooing in check before letting rip for the perfect finale: ‘back to bed. back to reality'. The rest of the EP seems to confirm suspicions that no one is safe from the towering influence of one Steven Morrissey. (FS) I Yazoo: Situation (Mute) Are Mute not reaping enough financial rewards from Depeche Mode'.’ Do they really need the extra cash this sure-fire hit is bound to draw in'.’ And is Youth (the party responsible for this
34 The List 7 — 20 December l9‘)l)
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MUSICW LISTINGS
Polish carols
The SCD is already well known ior its concerts where the composer conducts. This highly successiul iormula reaches one oi its most triumphant heights on Saturday 15 when Polish composer Witoid Lutoslawski visits Edinburgh to conduct a programme devoted entirely to his own music. One oi the most important composers oi this century, Lutoslawskl was born in Warsaw in 1913. in his early 30s he wrote his 20 Polish Carols ior soprano and piano, and has now completed his rearrangement oi this work, which is premiered by the 860
with the Scottish Philharmonic Singers .
and young Scottish soprano Susan Hamilton in Aberdeen and Edinburgh over the weekend oi 14/15 December. ‘They’re basically traditional Polish carols,’ says Hamilton, ‘with really nice melodies.’ Although instantly attractive, they are not likely to be iamiliarto Scottish audiences. ‘The only one I’ve ever come across beiore is lniant Holy,’ she says. ‘The songs have been published ior sometime, but this is the first time that they will be heard in their new English translation.’ For Hamilton, an ex-St Mary’s Music School pupil and still only twenty, this concert is an important step in a career which is already showing great promise. ’i’ve just been in London
doing Falla’s Master Peter’s Puppet Show with the LSD, which is a piece i did last year with the SCD,’ she says, ‘and I’m about to go to France ior concerts with the Belgian choir Coilegium Hegale.’ While she’s calmly composing herselt in the artistes’ room ior the SCD date, the orchestra plays Lutosiawski’s Partita, originally ior violin and piano, but now specially orchestrated to iorm a companion piece to Chain II, the two works being united by the specially written interlude. (Carol Main).
800 - Lutosiawski Concert, Saturday 15 December, Dueen’s Hall, Edinburgh. See Classical Listings.
New roots
I;
Easy Club’s citte and percussion playerJim Sutherland produced a small book oi his own populartunes a law years ago, and has oiten thought it would be a good idea to gather a collection oi contemporary compositions in Scottish iorms. Money was always the problem, but now the Traditional Music and Song Association oi Scotland, with iinancial support irom Texaco, have taken the project on board.
A competition has been launched ior Melodies in the Traditional Scottish Style. The categories are Straihspey, March, Pipe Tune, Heel, Jig, Air, Waltz, Hornpipe/Polka/Duickstep, to be written in either standard or bagpipe notation, the entries to be sent to PO Box 20, Edinburgh EH7 SJE, closing date 14 January 1991. Entry iorms can be obtained irom music shops such as lona Records in Glasgow and Blackiriars Folk Music in Edinburgh or direct irom the TMSA National Diiice, Fourth Floor, 10 Belmont Street,
Aberdeen. That should give you something to do over the holidays.
Shortlisted entries will be adjudicated on 30 March and the winners’ compositions played that evening in the Award Ceremony/ Ceilidh in Aberdeen Music Hall. The judges include Aly Dain, Hamish Henderson and other well-known ioik musicians and personalities.
The purpose oi the competition is to generate a large number at original melodies ior ‘The 90s Coilection', a book oi several hundred previously unpublished compositions, to be edited by Jim Sutherland. All the finalists will be included.
Jim admits to ’not supporting competitions in music ior their own sake, but this seems a good way at drawing out the sort oi person who writes tor a hobby, or has maybe only written one or two tunes but they are gems.
’There has deiinitely been a recent upsurge in composing traditional-style tunes, but there has been no major new collection in Scotland ior over 1 00 years. With desktop publishing, there’s been plenty at good but smaller individual publications, but i think it will be good to look at the whole country and see what lniluences are now shaping Scotland’s music.’
Jim’s own catchy tunes will sadly not now be heard at Glasgow Arts Centre on Fri 14. The Easy Club concert has been postponed, but the group will appear at Edinburgh Folk Club’s New Year opening concert on 9 January. (Norman Chalmers)
mutton chops is back
‘Everything we have done and everything we will ever do will be cardinally stupid” —Justin Currie. Discuss, we said to Alastair Mabbott, with the following results.
What we have in Del Amitri is the proofthat facial hair and music can have a profound effect on each other. or so the band insist. The last time rock musicians were seen to be quite this hirsute. they were often in the process ofaugmenting their
icid-rock groups with a pedal steel J
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