MUSIC PREVIEW
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THE PIZZAEXPRESS
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J i “w:
Carter, those cheeky chappies from ‘Sarf london are riding that
% unstoppable sex machine around the
l country again, spreading a spot of pre- 1 Christmas cheer and airing new
I material from their forthcoming
i album, out in February. However, their
5 trusty drum machine has taken an
I indefinite sabbatical, to be replaced by Wez, former Carter crew member
} and long time old mucker of .limbob
; and Fruitbat. Having known the
y grinning pop terrorists for a few years,
; Wez is sanguine about the duo’s
i reasons for wanting him in the band:
: ‘In the end, it was more Fruitbat’s
' idea. i think he was just bored playing
i live ’cos it’s just the two of them and
] they’ve done it for about six years. I’m
I just someone else to talk to and
, someone else to blame when
‘ everything goes wrong.’
I Such modesty aside, adding a real skin-beater to the line-up has allowed
more flexibility in the songwriting
process and facilitated the recording
of the new album. ‘We actually get a
The human factor
chance to [am it now,’ says Wez. ‘w can just sit there with a couple of guitars and drums and say: “We’ll put that bit there instead” before we go and put everything down on tape. Being a drummer, I’m not a huge fan of drum machines anyway. I’m always going to say it sounds better than the drum machine ever did. At least now, because we’re writing new stuff, I can say: “Look, I haven’t got four hands. I can’t play that.” ’
At 27, We: is the baby of the band and has the optimism of relative youth, but reckons that reaching their mid-30s hasn’t mellowed the vitriol of Jim and Fruitbat. ‘There’s still stuff that pisses them off, he says. You can still be an angry young man if you’re over 30.’ Philip Schofield, who will also be in town on the date of the Edinburgh gig, might have to watch his back. (Jonathan Trew)
Carter USM and These Animal Men play The Queen’s llall, Edinburgh on Fri 9.
mm Waxmg muse
Clio Gould One of the more interesting concerts this month is being presented by the BT Scottish Ensemble: ‘A little Candlelight Music’. Recently reinvigorated by their 26-year-old artistic director, Clio Gould who has been in charge for just over a year now, the Ensemble is shifting away from the rather static image it had begun to cultivate. Gould has not only revitalised the staple repertoire diet of ‘The Four Seasons’ and . . . ‘The Four Seasons’, but has markedly raised the standard of performance and attracted some of Scotland’s very best young string players, who otherwise might have been lured away by offers from london and abroad.
The December programme, which tours to Aberdeen, Dundee, Galashiels, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Perth, is based around one piece. ‘Schoenberg’s “Verklarte llacht” is one of the most incredible pieces in our repertoire,’ says Gould. ‘When people see Schoenberg, they tend to think of the later works and be a bit daunted, but this is wonderful, atmospheric music. it’s early Schoenberg, “Opus 4”, and really lush and romantic, like Mahler, Brahms or Wagner. People will adore it.’
Adding to the cosy, candlelit glow will be other night music. Mozart’s ‘Eine Kleine llachtrnusik’ could hardly have been excluded, but less familiar is his ‘Serenata lotturna’, which Could describes as ‘a very fun piece with four solo protagonists matched against the rest of the band. The idea is that the candles will get dimmer throughout the concert, so that by the time we reach the Schoenberg, we’ll have created the perfect atmosphere for it’. Looking further ahead, Gould says: “The ultimate aim of the Ensemble is to be a full time orchestra for all of us. The workload is Increasing and it’s a good time. If we can rehearse and perform continuously, like a string quartet, well, the sky’s the limit.’ (Carol Main) The GT Scottish Ensemble play The Queen’s llall, Edinburgh on Thurs 15 and The RSAMD, Glasgow on Fri 16.
lString fever
l Kenny Mathieson reports on an outburst of jazz guitar.
You don’t have to go too far back to recall a time when jazz guitar was something of a rarity on the Scottish scene — even a decade ago, good guitarists were at a premium. Historically. the guitar was a shade tardy in becoming established as a genuine solo instrument in jazz in general. and it was almost into the bebop era before the emergence of Charlie Christian with the Benny Goodman band dragged it up out ofthe rhythm section and into the limelight.
Django Reinhardt notwithstanding. it was the development of the electric guitar which really made it a viable solo instrument in the context ofajazz group, and it is electric guitar (in both hollow and solid body form) which has continued to dominate the jazz guitar world ever since. Despite the emergence ofa strin of great bop players, however, guitar really dug in as a crucial jazz voice with the emergence ofjazz-rock-funk fusion in the late 60s.
That is a natural enough state of
affairs. given that rock had embraced
40 The List 2—15 December 1994