MUSIC LIVE REVIEWS
Jonathan Trew samples some of the new cassettes.
Reviewing demo tapes is often a daunting task that involves wading through hours of poorly written. badly played dross that sounds as though it was recorded on a traffic island in the rush hour. Occasionally. a gem turns tip. A tape so intriguing that your fag burns out unsmoked and your coffee ices over untouched. Tantrum‘s offering is one such sparkler; a seven- track delight that gently bubbles with infectious feel-good harmony and mellow sunshine vibes. Film samples and spacey loops mesh smoothly with dreamy vocals to produce a soundscape as uplifting as it is enigmatic. For easy reference points. think of the spliffed out. giggling offspring of The Cocteau Twins and you’re getting there. Lazy Sunday mornings and hazy. happy late nights on tape.
And now for something completely different. From the opposite end of the music spectrum. step forward The Newtown Grunts fae Fife. Say ‘Punk‘s dead‘ and Buck- Fast Rogers. Rip Van Skinzy and Tico Mozarella ‘The Beast of Boogie' and pals will probably spit in your eye. But not before they've pogoed on your face for three minutes and-broken several guitar strings in the process. Closer to the old school of ‘One. Two. Let's fucking go!‘ school of old-style anthemic. shouty punk than the thrash skate kids of the current American invasion. the Grunts unleash more energy in a two-minute track than most bands burn over two albums. If you want to get blazing and chicken jerk yourself into a frenzy then these are the boys to entertain you.
Greenock boys. Out OI Time are a three-piece posse who put themselves in the ‘indie/pop' bracket. Their first track. ‘Watching Me‘ certainly has the janeg guitars essential for any self- respecting indie outfit but with an almost dusty country inflection. The pace picks up now and then over the next five tracks with a couple of melancholy drifters thrown in for good measure. Out Of'l‘ime aren't bad and technically they are very proficient: this is no half-assed bunch of bedroom-practising wannabes but even at their raunchiest they sound a little flat. Still. there's room for improvement. Cull The List for contact rttmtbers.
um:- RODE/SWELLING MEG
i
1 1 i
La Belle Ange/e, Edinburgh, 19 Oct. Swelling Meg is the new group formed by singer Cora Bisset, who has shaken
3 Meg might be something to behold. ' Rude, by contrast, have got their act 1 together. Fronted by Avril Jamieson, a
‘ off any sense of conformity with indie- ! singer renowned in these parts for the j, rock since the demise of her old band, ‘ Darlingheart. A three-piece comprising ; the five cocksure bastards they are. i Theirs is a confident, aggressive
acoustic guitar, bowed double has (way meaner than a cello) and Bisset’s athletic voicebox, they’re obviously enraptured by a whole range of music,
from the Near East and beyond, and ‘ with the zeal of the newly converted . seem to be trying to tackle more than
they can comfortably handle. At their very best, Swelling Meg songs can be entrancing, usually when Bisset’s expressive voice has struck the right balance. At worst, they’re a rag-bag of art clichés: the found objects, the ierkiness, the wide-eyed ‘l’m mad, me’ stare - all signs that they haven’t yet
' worked out the plot.
For the final number, Gora grabs her cello and simply plays along with the other two. It’s the best, most
purposeful part of the set, and promises that a more focused Swelling
'i better part of a decade, they rock like
, noise, and no one and nothing is
i spared Jamieson’s vitriol-spiked
barbs. Once the band build up a sufficient head of steam, the stage itself seems set to roll forward and
mow down all in its path. It’s a bravura barrage of bile, a splenetic stream of spite, with a swerve into the pervy (‘Love, Lust, Whips And Chains’) for
. good measure — all of it harnessed to
tunes that imprint themselves instantly on the brain. Rude are all shredded jeans and
, fingers drenched in glittery nail
varnish, and their magic lies in the
. pop-shrewd mix of the two. Word will
get out, and when it does Rude will be fighting off record companies with big sticks. (Alastair Mabbott)
THE GOAL PORTE [rue
t. 3 I‘Lvr‘ I ‘ 'HT‘“
King Tut’s , Glasgow, 29 Oct.
' Watching head Goal Porter Sid Griffin in action, you just know he was never
cut out for stardom, but he’s likely to remain one of the good guys. Griffin
has never quite succeeded in reaching
. the high spot represented by The Long Ryders classic State Of Our Union
album in 1985, but he continues to
play the music he loves in scuzzy
venues around the world, and does so
with as much enthusiasm as he would muster for a stadium.
When all is said and done, though, this is the right kind of venue for The
Goal Porters. They are essentially a
superior bar band, and drew most of
1 their material from their new [as i London album, with a couple of older 3 songs thrown in for good measure.
It was all a little relentless much of the time, but songs like The Long Ryders B-side ‘If I Were A Bramble and
1 You Were A Rose’, sung in sweet four-
\Q‘ "'
ETHEARTS
part harmony with simple bass and i keyboard accompaniment, and the
poignant ‘Ain’t No Way I’ll Be Your
5 Cowboy’, served to break up the
driving, guitar-driven boogie feel of the set. The inclusion of a couple of older songs, though, pointed up a
3 certain flatness in the newer tunes.
If country is an undertone which
occasionally breaks the surface in
Griffin’s music, it is what The Radio Sweethearts are all about. Singer and principal song-writer John Miller is the focal point of the band, and if
i there is a better male country singer , around in Scotland right now, I’d like
to hear him. The band can be a little
1 pedestrian at times, although there . was some slick pedal steel work and plenty of drive from the drums. It
’ wasn’t the best set I have heard from
1 them, and the sound mix did them no
favours at all, but they remain a band to watch. (Kenny Mathieson)
soon now I Four
Concerts listed are those at major venues, for which tickets are on public sale at time of going to press.
ROCK
I GLASGOW BARROWLAIID (226 4679) Ozzy Osbourne. 20 Nov; Aztec Camera. 28 Nov; Teenage Fanclub. 1 Dec: Runrig. 8 Dec; Saw Doctors. 15-16 Dec: Shane MacGowan. 21 Dec; Gun. 23 Dec: Gene. 20 Jan; Deep Purple. 2 Mar.
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 551 I) limmylou Harris. 17 Nov; Alison Moyet. 4 Dec; Runrig. 6. 11 Dec: Bootleg Beatles. l8--l9 Dec; Bjorn Again. 23 Dec.
I GLASGOW GARAGE (332 1120) Aimee Mann. 19 Nov.
I GLASGOW PLAZA (556 5555) Candy l)ulfer. 29 Nov.
I GLASGOW SECC (248 9999) Smash Hits Tour. 24 Nov; Experience. 25
Nov; The Beautiful South.
I EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE (529 6000) Boys of the Lough. 26 Nov.
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 551 1) Celtic Swing Tour. 2‘) Nov; Celtic Connections. 5—21 Jan.
LIGHT
l I GLASGOW concern
HALL (227 5511) \Vest Find Gala. 3 Dec: Shirley Bassey. 13 May; Connie l-Tancis. 1‘) Mav.
I GLASGOW PAVILION (332 1846) Brenda
('oclit'anc. 1‘) Nov; Brendan Shine. 2| Nov.
é CLASSICAL
I GLASGOW CONCERT
2 HALLt227551|1
Strathclyde Showcase. 20—21 Nov; Vienna Boys’ Choir. 22 Nov; Children's Classics. 25 Nov; Messiah for All. 28 Nov;
BBCSSO. 7 Dec; Rl’Q.
2‘) Nov; David Bowie. 30
Nov11iast 17. 1 Dec: Status Quo. 2 Dec; Gary Glitter. 10 Dec: Blur.ll Dec; Joe Satriani. 14 Dec: Simply Red. 17-19 Jan. I GLASGOW THEATRE ROYAL (332 9000) Hank Marvin. 10 Dec.
I LIVINGSTON FORUM (557 6969) Black Grape, 22 Dec.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN’S
HALL (668 2019) Hue and '
Cry. 1‘) Nov; Marianne Faithfull. 8 Dec; Belly. 11 Dec.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1155) Runrig.
4—5 Dec; Bootleg Beatles.
16 Dec; Mike and the Mechanics. 14 Mar.
COUNTRY
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Emmylou Harris. 17 Nov; Charlie Landsborough. 23 Nov. Alison Krauss. 24
Jan.
I GLASGOW PAVILION (332 1846) Sydney Devine. 23—25 Nov.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1155) Charlie Landsborough. 18 Nov; Daniel 0‘ Donnell. 9—- l 2 Dec.
JAZZ
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL (227 5511) Labeque Sisters and Gonzalo Rubalcaba. 19 Nov.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN’S HALL (668 2019) Moscow Art Trio. 17 Nov; Mose Allison. 24 Nov; Labeque Sisters and Gonzalo Rubalcaba. 18 Nov: Candy l)ulfer. 1 Dec.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1155) Glenn Miller Orchestra UK. 21 Nov; Chris Barber Band with Ball and Bilk. 18
Dec.
16 Dec: Alfred Brendel. 12 Feb; Warsaw Sinfonia. 14 Apr; Anne-Sophie Mutter. 18 Apr; John Williams. 9 May; Vienna l’hil. 11 May; lfvelyn Glennie. 17 May: Napoleon. 26 May.
I GLASGOW RSAMD (332 5057) Midday Concerts. 17.24 Nov. l. 8. 15.1)ec; llansell Piano Trio. 17 Nov; (iCU. 18 Nov;
Paragon. 1‘) Nov; Wind
Concert. 23 Nov; Jewish
Arts. 26 Nov; Academy
Ct). 30 Nov; Kirshbaum
and Vignoles. 6 Dec:
BTSI‘I. 8 Dec. Glasgow Sinfonia. 9 Dec: Paragon. 10 Dec; Carol Concerts. 12—13 Dec; JAC. 16 Dec; Brahms‘s Songs. 17 Dec; Scottish Voices. 17 Dec; Hebrides linsemble. 25 Feb. 5 May.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN’S
'HALI. (668 2019) Roderick
Long. 22 Nov; Saltire Qt.
22 Nov; ESQ. 25 Nov; ()leg and Le Sage. 27 Nov; RSAMl). 2‘) Nov; St Andrew's Night. 30 Nov; Phoenix Choir. 2 Dec: Prazak Quartet. 4 Dec; BTSFI. 7 Dec; Marianne Faithfull. 8 Dec; SC()(‘1{. 10 Dec; Meadows ('0. 10 Dec; Friedman Tribute. 1 1 Dec: Capella Nova. 16 Dec; Jubilo. 17 Dec; Carol Concerts. l7. 19 Dec; Messiah. 20 Dec; Chamber Group of Scotland. 15 Jan. 29 Jan. 4 Mar. 22 Apr; Juliane Banse. 22 Jan; SCQ Qt. 28 Jan; BTSFZ. 15 Feb; Quator Ysaye. 19 Feb; Hebrides Ensemble. 27 Feb; SCQ Qt. 10 Mar; Grieg Trio. 11 Mar; King's Consort. 16 Mar: litliperor Qrt. 1‘) Mar: Jean-Yves 'l‘hibaudet. 25 Mat'; BTSli. 11 Apr; SCQ \Vind lins. 5 May; Hebrides lins. 6 May; King's Consort. 9 May.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (228 1155) Auld Alliance. 2‘) Nov; Messiah. 2 Jan.
4O LIST R-Ifi Nnv IQQS