MUSIC LIVE REVIEWS MUSIC
V LIVE
MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO
Venue. Edinburgh. 19 Oct.
50 who wants to talk fear, paranoia and psychosis blues? Who‘s gonna give vent to our darkest emotions? There aren't too many volunteers around right now, and those that there are (Consolidated, Hiphoprisy. Ministry) are all doing it from the other side ofthe ocean. In new-style Major‘s Mogadon Blighty. who can you turn to? Certainly not the new glam revivalists, as they retreat from reality into a narcissistic reverie of indulgent wishful (and often surreal) thinking. But you could. should you feel brave enough, consider Meat Beat Manifesto.
With a brace of hardcore techno beat-bombing mash-ups like ‘Edge OfNo Control‘, ‘Mindstream‘, ‘Psyche-Out‘ and the bowel-emptying grand finale of ‘Original Control’, MBM are the sound of society teetering on the brink of total chaos. Time to be afraid, time to be in awe. Not even the flickering celluloid backdrops that present a fractured visual accompaniment to the duo's cut‘n‘paste sonic collages can distract from their overwhelming aural attack.
lt‘s dance music. sure. but desperate times call for desperate measures. so the live percussive breakbeats are faster than fast can be; the heavy dub bassline of ‘Drop‘ charges like elephants stampeding in slow motion; and the snaking beat of‘Helter Skelter‘ and ‘Fire‘ twist every which way but loose. MBM are an edgy,
v LIVE . MDHONEY
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Barrowland, Glasgow, 9 Oct. The Joyriders are balancing on a knife’s-edge. Not that that’s an assessment of their merely stolld performance tonight; it's the hair’s breadth of a dllterence between making ltor, indeed, breaking it that we’re talking here. In a climate that laps up the earthy but ordinary college rock of Sugar, The Joyriders’ workmanllke approach and occasional standout melody could prove as popular as it Is unremarkable. However, next to Leatherlace, The Joyriders are the sweetest smelllng rose In the garden. Leatherlace have lound the murkiest puddle in the street and are having super fun splashing about in it, sending stagnant flecks oi impenetrable thrash monotony raining
into the hapless crowd. Varlous marginalised punters are rightly outraged that a band ls allowed to be this calamltous and getaway with it,
because - amazingly- Leatherlace are
deemed to be a reel good laugh by a slzeable faction ordinarily termed ‘muslc tans’. People actually dig this grlm parody of pub-rock purgatory. By the time the novelty covers are rolled out, you know it’s time to load up with projectiles or ship out.
Thank heavens for Mudhoney.
Geek-rockers par excellence, they can
take guitar-playing back to primordial basics without sounding sloppy. Call
me infidel, but in pre-emptlng Nirvana,
Mudhoney swiped all the best rills.
‘You Got it (Keep It Outta My Face)’ has
the brattlsh simplicity of a terrace chant but Iunges abruptly, leaving a smartlng flesh wound. That’s their
ultimate potency-just enough surgical
precision to placate the
technically-astute obsessive, allied to
the trademark dumb trlballsm that ensures a headbanging good time for the proles.
Trouble is, the new stull doesn’t really ROCK, not next to the surging powerhouse of ‘Thls Gift’ orthe enonno-thrust oi “Touch Me I’m Sick’. On this brietest of encounters the unfamiliar tracks sound like filler, but perhaps by the time we’re on first-name terms we’ll be clearing
them a space at the table next to all the
other grubby underground classics in the Mudhoney annals. (Fiona Shepherd)
! Music Box, Edinburgh, 15 Oct. Caution: slow-moving vehicle. Caution: space hanging heavy in the
air. The pre-gig shufllebeat mantra
' went something like ‘Holy are you, holy
are you, there is no god but you, praise be to god.’ So Verve amble on, genullecting before the Great Godhead, The Lizard King, presaged by
‘ some deep head cosmic trip, and
hoping to summon up more of the same. This means an eardrum-lul ot stoned blues riddims, fronted by
someone who’s more Marcel Marceau
than Jim Morrison, more Fabulous Furry Freak Brother than Jim Morrison. More sham than shaman, too . . ?
It’s difficult to ignore Richard Ashcroft, but it’s easy to go numb to Verve. Theirthree singles have seen the Wigan band go progressively spacier, increasinlgy elongated. That initial sunflare of ‘All In The Mind’ has been dilated, modifying the
3 pawing the log that envelopes and j muftles. He is mesmerised by the music, just like a goldfish is
mesmerised by its bowl. He bounces up and down, then chills out like a laid-back dude should, affecting another likeness: a cross between Zebedee and Dylan (the rabbit not the
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Concerts listed are those at major venues, for which tickets are on public sale at time of going at press.
ROCK
I GLASGOW BARROWLAND (226 4679) Ministry. 18 Nov; Hue & Cry, 21 Nov; Wedding Present, 27 Nov; Faith No More. 4 Dec; Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, 5 Dec; Little Angels. 13 Dec; Ramones. 17 Dec; Gun. 19 Dec; Del Amitri. 22—23 Dec; Bjorn Again. 31 Dec.
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 551 1) Chuck Berry. 6 Nov; Smokey Robinson, 9 Nov; Mary Black. 23 Nov; Neil Sedaka. 25 Nov.
I GLASGOW PAVILION (332 1846) The Stylistics. 14 Nov; Voice ofDr Hook. 16 Nov: Hue & Cry. 22 Nov.
I GLASGOW SECC (031 557 6969) Simply Red. 3 Dec; Status Quo, 5 Dec; Jason Donovan, 6 Dec; Extreme.11 Dec; Gary Glitter. 23—24 Dec; Chris Rea. 12 Feb.
I EDINBURGH INGLISTON CENTRE (557 6969) The Farm, 21 Dec.
I EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE (557 2590) The Cure, 20—21 N0v; Curtis Stigers. 4 Dec.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN’S HALL (668 2019)John Cale, 16 Nov; Jimmy Rogers, 20 Nov.
I EDINBURGH USHER
: HALL (228 1155) Bootleg
Beatles, 23 Nov; Mary Black. 25 Nov.
JAZZ
I GLASGOW CITY HALL (227 551 1) John Scofield. 14 Nov; Jimmy Rogers. 19 Nov; Chick Lyall. 21 Nov; Tam White. 3 Dec; Kidd & Fame. 10 Dec; Tommy Smith. 21 Jan; Lyttelton & Bilk. 4 Feb; Kevin
MacKcnzic. 6 Feb: Michel E
Petrucciani, 13 Feb; Don Cherry. 25 Feb; Melanie O‘Reilly. 11 Mar;Tom Bancroft Orchestra. 20 Mar; Rebirth Brass Band, 25 Mar.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN’S
HALL (668 2019) Roy Hargrove, 6 Nov; John Scofield. 13 Nov; Jimmy Rogers. 20 Nov; Kidd & Fame. 11 Dec; Lyttelton & Bilk, 5 Feb; Michel Petrucciani. 12 Feb; Don Cherry, 26 Feb; Cauld
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1155) Edinburgh Fiddlers. 28 Nov.
LIGHT
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511)Jack Jones, 8 Nov; Glenn Miller Orchestra UK, 16 Nov.
I GLASGOW PAVILION (332 1846) Lena Martell, 6 Nov; Charley Pride. 12—13
Nov.
I GLASGOW SECC (031
557 6969) Shirley Bassey. 2 Dec.
I EDINBURGH KING'S THEATRE (228 5955) Hooray for Hollywood, 15 Nov.
I EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE (557 2590) Lena Martell, 7 Nov; Magic ofthe Musicals, 18 Nov.
CLASSICAL
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) ECCO. 11 Nov; Oslo Phil. 12 Nov; [.80. 15 Nov;Tokyo Quartet. 29 Nov; Rostal & Schaefer. 1 Dec; Shura Cherkassky. 2 Dec; Polish CO.1Feb;John Williams, 10 Feb; Vienna SO. 4 Mar; Philharmonia. 22 Mar; Itzhak Perlman, 20 Apr: St Pctersburg Phil. 11 May.
I GLASGOW RSAMD (332 5057) St Pctersburg Exchange. 6 Nov; SEMC, 6—7 Nov, 11—12 Dec; Paragon Ensemble. 8 Nov; John Kitchen, 13 Nov; Voices. 15 Nov; Evelyn Glennie. 17 Nov; Acad Strings. 20 Nov; Soundstrata, 20 Nov; John Currie Singers. 22 Nov; Acad Wind Orch, 26 Nov; Michael Roll. 27 Nov; GCO. 29 Nov; King‘s Consort. 4 Dec; Scottish Ensemble. 4 Dec; SCO Brass, 6 Dec. 12 Mar: Acad Cont Ensemble. 10 Dec; SCO Chamber Ensemble. 11 Dec:
I EDINBURGH OUEEN'S HALL (668 2019) Paragon Ensemble. 9 Nov; Artur Pizarro, 30 Nov; SCO Brass. 5 Dec. 13 Mar; Scottish Ensemble. 6 Dec. 14 Feb. 25 Apr: Britten Quartet. 15 Feb; Nash Ensemble. 22 Mar.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1 155) Grand Piano Classics. 2 Dec; Carol Concert. 16 Dec; ERCU Messiah, 2Jan; ERCU Elijah, 3 Apr.
I SUBSCRIPTION SEASONS Programme details and tickets for Royal Scottish Orchestra,
discomfiting experience — sense-scmmb|ing "ran"; into a Bob), He is two skins short of a joint, Blast Orchestra 5 Mar; Scottish Chamber 2:21:33: gageastarkt Iangourous heat haze. Tonight, ’11" In Then. lust when Verve were getting Tom Bancroft Orchestra. Orchestra: BBC Scottish minimum ofsta‘gc fuss and The Mind’ is practically the only wave too easy to drowsily dismiss, ‘Gravity 19 Mar; Rebirth Brass affignlifrcmsmv 3"" a maximum ofdry-ice In a sea OI Plac'dny- ‘A Man cane“ sun, Grave takes on’ warmng OI me perils Band‘ 26 Mar' PhiIharmonigfsrchestra darkness. Only when floats by. a washed-out him of 01"“! eaflhbound existence Verve ' mmwm" "3""? are available from Johnny Stephens takes to Indmerem disposttttflt and ("W UaIr- I" soar! IhaI gun" mars bY- reany- Uke "ALL (228 1155) Chm Ticketcentre Glasgow the mike for some tonight’s tally of nine songs, Verve a let plane dtiven by Stand drum Barbe" 17 Dec“ (227 5511); U‘sher Hall, monotone rapping is the wallow and wade, doing slow-motion motors. Shortly afterwards, white Edinburgh (228 1155); anger m'SS'ng- HIS, atmospherics which in isolation might "Disc and White light erupt, meaning Queen’s "3‘" Edinburgh Sigigyrfgzsistzzfi'ont “‘9 be enthralling, but in extension ofier Verve have finished. 0n the brink of a ggngbgggsxi'ggrown (668 2019). Tickets for distracting stream.‘Such wamng pIeasures' yawqmg crev'ce OI muggy 7 NOV' ‘ 3:12:32 gper? {C(Im quibbles aside, MBM Richard’s digging 11, though. sell-Indulgence. Verve haul ass. . solueunoh KING’S (3,29,00,25,; .5358” tonight are brutal. Brutal Hollow-checked and, experts tell us, Flnallv. that Verve Splitt "ares up with THEATRE (228 5955) Theatre E’dinb§,gh (229 hollow-headed, he makes like a mime, a blare. (Craig Mclean) Ronnie Brown, 8 Nov. 1201). '
(deluxe. (Calvin Bush)
BC The List 23 Navember 1992