PREVIEW MUSIC
Intelligence quotient
Fusing the gentlest auras of dub with dissected techno rhythms. Higher Intelligence Agency create enveloping aural environments that concurrently relax and stimulate. As was the case with Banco De Gaia. Higher Intelligence Agency‘s echo-conscious travelogues have been nurtured by the Birmingham club ()scillate. ()scillatc was partly founded by Dave Wheels and Bobby Bird (the HIA duo) eighteen months ago. and has played host to chill-out auteurs like Mixmaster Morris and developed a near-legendary reputation for its mellow vibe, eclectic yet cohesive crowd and veggie cafe. ‘About the time ()scillatc began. Bobby was starting to mess around
with keyboards and samplers.‘ explains
Dave Wheels. ‘The two things grew simultaneously.’
()scillate's creative ethos permeates HIA’s musical output heavily. ‘We try to improvise as much as possible in live sets.‘ Wheels continues. ‘while retaining certain recognisable forms.‘ The malleable melodies of tracks like ‘lanux' typify HIA's search for a continuously morphic sound texture. ‘The distortion factor is important.‘ says Bobby. ‘()bviously. we use samplers but not to reproduce sounds directly: the raw materials are manipulated to derive something totally different. Every sound on the album was created from scratch.‘
Dub has been a pivotal influence on Birmingham‘s techno and now ambient scenes. From the accelerated resonation of Original Rockers to HIA‘s considered reverb the reggae influence is manifest: ‘You can't get away from the dub scene in Birmingham.’ says Dave, ‘it‘s always there subconsciously.‘
As both ambient outfit and club DJs. HIA see themselves as an antidote to mainstream hands-in-the-air DI culture. focusing on crowd interaction and satisfaction rather than massaging their own egos. ‘Our live sets are just as much for people who want to sit down and eat cake as those who want to dance.‘ concludes Dave. ‘Even the grooved-up faster stuff we do (like “Ketamine Entity") is designed to work with the mind as well.‘ Intelligent ambient starts here. (Bethan Cole) Higher Intelligence Agency DJ at Glasgow College of/lrr on Fri I 7 and play live at The 13th Note. Glasgow on Sun I 9.
! mm
Putting their own worries to one side
3 for the moment, the BBC 880 turn their
3 minds away from current orchestral
§ manoeuvres in Scotland to a special
1 Christmas performance in aid of
‘3 children in Bosnia. With an
: unashamedly popular programme of Christmas classics, they hope to draw ; a capacity audience to raise funds
‘ towards building an orphanage at
Q Pokrac. Guest artist Johny Morris
3 narrates ‘The Snowman’, Raymond
Z Briggs’ tale of the little boy James and
the snowman who comes alive, with
'i the orchestra themselves playing
7 appropriately seasonal favourites
such as Lebar’s ‘Cold And Silver
': Waltz’, ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ and the overture to Bossini’s
‘Cinderella’. Conductor for the
i occasion is Martyn Brabbins, the BBC
: 580’s Associate Conductor. Added
interest comes in the ballet music
; from ‘The llutcracker’.
‘We’ve got two members of the Croatian llational Ballet, Almira
ST U D I 0 0 N 6 Hearing (lifts Ill-If) Staflunl Street (1 7| Mnrninfilitle Raul ((‘(H)Lllll)p),
Itilinlrurgli I( live" Sundays).
, Osmanovic and her husband David
Sorin, being flown over specially to
1 dance in the performance,’ says ““‘ 3 Gordon Bigby, timpanist with the BBC /
: 880 and part of the team organising /Z
’ the event. ‘0ur sponsors, Glasgow / “ /“
2 lluffield Hospital, have already been kc
2 involved in the redevelopment of an V cycle,
orphanage at Lipik, so we thought that we’d like to help with a similar proiect.’
There is, of course, usually a BBC $80 concert promoted by the BBC ‘; around this time of year and one can
731-71LEUIAMSQN CITY 8r MOUNTAIN BIKES WITH A
i draw one’s own conclusions as to why FRIENDLY AND that is not happening this year. The PERSONAL ; musicians’ move to put on a big SERVICE
: concert themselves is typical of their determined spirit not to sit back and
j wait for something to happen, a trait
' which will no doubt surface again
A before long in the coming months. (Carol Main) SOS For Children In Bosnia with the BBC $50 is at The Theatre Royal,
Glasgow on Sun 19.
26 Hamilton Place, Stockbridge, Edinburgh EH3 SAU Tel: 031 225 3286
| m
Directory enquiries
Well, it won’t be leaving my desk for 1 the next year, that’s for sure. That’s ‘The MIST Scottish Music Guide ’94’, 300 pages of features and listings produced by the Music In Scotland Trust and containing contacts for an I estimated ‘90 per cent or more’ of
; music-related Scottish businesses — ' over 1000 entries - supplemented by ; an informative feature section which ; includes interviews with everyone
; from London AGB persons to bosses of
; small Scottish record label bosses. ‘MIST has always provided information and advice, sometimes in the form of seminars,’ says the organisation’s John ningwall. ‘The
guide, sponsored by Tennent’s live, is i
i ‘: just another way of getting
g information to people.
1 ‘The directory would act as a useful
tool for people who wanted to interact
with each other, or wanted to get into ', the music business but didn’t know
how. People will be able to use it to
j set up tours, target the media and so
on.’
i It would also, he asserts, bring small Scottish music businesses wider
1 attention nationally. There are other
1 guides, such as ‘The White Book’ and
the ‘Music Week’ directory, but
! Scotland is not strongly highlighted in I them.
i The book took about a year to
1 compile, using around twenty
THE
BAY TREE
the vegetarian cafe
Mon - closed Tue—Fri - 11am-9pm Sat - 10am—9pm Sun - 11am-9pm 10% Student discount Tuesday - Thursday
j journalists and MIST staffers who
; discovered a lot they didn’t know
i about the Scottish music industry.
' ‘People will be surprised by the scale ; and nature of it,’ says Dingwall. ‘For
} instance, there’s such a huge folk and
V traditional base. Also, lust how many A" food is dairy
1 venues exist which are keen to put on
, live music, but haven’t been and egg “60°
j approached or made approaches. So,
1 hopefully, the book will stimulate live 403 Great Western Rd, ! music in Scotland.’ (Alastair Mabbott) Kclvinbridgc, Glasgow
The MIST Scottish Music Guide ’94
3 (£9.99) is published by MIST on Fri 17.
It will be available through John Menzies and by mail order.
Tel: 041 334 5898
\ l
a workers’ co-operative
The List l7 December l993—l3 January l994 43