PREVIEW MUSIC
t Pullover and
r out Sheffield makes a defiant re-entry on the musical map with the emergence of Moloko. ‘We were looking for things that hadn‘t been done before.‘ they tell Alastair Mabbott.
it was handed to me with the words ‘l lere's the first candidate for next year's Mercury Music Prize shortlist' by their publicist. admittedly. bttt a quick spit) of Moloko‘s I)“ )irtl like My 'li'g/r/ Sn eater.” instantly explains why such cstrayagant claims are starting to gather around the heads of duo Mark
Bry don and Roisin Murphy.
Tobe fair. the sound can he easily pegged as a descendant of the trip-hop axis of Tricky. Massiye Attack and (particularly) l’ortishead but yy hat a descendant? Bright. playful and sexy. Moloko leap around w ith a childlike disregard for genre and conyention. Listen to Sweater frorn start to finish and you'll feel like you'y'e been somewhere. Somewhere you‘ll \y ant to go back to.
‘:\ lot of people are afraid of things that hay'en't been done before.‘ states Roisin. ‘but we were looking for things that hadn‘t been done before to do,‘
Moloko got together in the best showbiz. fashion. Mark lirydon played bass in Sheffield's industrial funksters ('hakk in the early 80s. and upon the band‘s' demise carried on working in l-‘on. the studio they'd built with their ady‘ance. (her the years. he's worked with artists ranging from Boy (ieorge to l’sy'chic TV. was inyoly'ed with early house Cl'tisstH’CI‘ hits such as Krush‘s ‘llouse Arrest' and had been playing in an acid jazz band when he spied Roisin dancing in the middle of the floor at a Sheffield party". l’issed. in a
a a \ ‘ Weisia§$ - . . . t: e.;.s§i\\\~ - * i ‘ ta “ i A vs f
“is
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pttt'plc skinny-ribbed polo-neck jumper. Chanting. with prescient inspiration. ‘l)o you like my tight sweatet“.". they skipped off down to Fort that night to cut it. l’erycrsely. it doesn't appear on the album that bears its title. but. says Roisin. ‘that was the seed of eyerything It‘s almost cycrything you need to know in one phrase. It’s a bite-si/ed protein capsule. a phrase that say s ey cry thing about Moloko. I think.‘ The spontaneity yr. ith which they recorded their first track together and the fact that Roisin. being a complete noy ice. had no habits to unlearn hay e set the tone for c\et'ytlting that catne after. ‘liecause of that. I think. I got Mark to drop his way s of working. and so we both went on a bit of a discoy'ct'y making that record. It‘s about pushing yourself to see yy hat you can do. musically and eyen conceptually. .-\t the titue we were doing “Killa Bunnies“. it w as difficult for its to do. because Mark
'SL'L'llix l0
had been brought it i in this soul iurist dance ground . l l c
and then went to pure ftmk and ia//. stttff. and I think it ‘.‘.tts \t'ty it.tl‘tl i‘t‘l‘ hint to do stililc‘iiiiiig like "Kilitl Bunnies” he had to giye in to doing it. .-\nd something like [instant pop classic] “Day l’or Night". yy hen you start making that track you get to the halfway decision stage of "Should I really be
Moloko: more than just a Sheffield steal of the Bristol fashion
doing this?" You end up pushing yourself to do it. and pushing yourself to accommodate new types of music in the process of writing.‘
Now they 're haying to get used to taking their own personal \ oyagc of discovery on the road. as a bye band that she describes as ‘quitc rocky" and. intriguingly. ‘if the records l’-l:unk. then the live
bands l’arliament‘. Their new 45. ‘l)oniinoid'. is as
different again as anything they'y'e done. and their ' tia/ziest thing yet. with strings arranged by the ubiquitous.:\nne Dudley. The duo have been sweating to get the yideo for it just right. proving. says Roisin. how ‘cantankerous' they can be to work for.
‘There's a subtle message in Moloko that could be really ruined by the smallest thing. This new video. the script has been revised three times. It's so subtle. it‘s a simple message. but it‘s quite tangential. a bit off-centre. And it had to be oftlcentre in the right direction. It‘s really difficult to just hand that oyer to somebody and cross your fingers and hope they get it right'
.llolnkn p/uy La Belle Ange/e. Edinburgh on .811! /7. King 'Iirl's Hit/1 Hit/1 Hill on Sun IX.
mam- On the Bach
As titles go, it’s perhaps a bit obvious, but the BBC Scottish Symphony t Orchestra’s Each and Roll series of
i
three concerts at Edinburgh Festival Theatre promises to yield some extremely enjoyable music In high quality performances. The publicity i title - devised, seemingly, by the i Theatre and not the BBC — refers to i the main strand running through the series, as the second half of each evening will feature one of the three symphonies by Rachmaninov.
‘The guiding theme of the three
something I’ve wanted to
actually that well known.
Brabblns: Lieder of the pack
concerts is the idea of performing the I three symphonies in chronological order,’ says Martyn Brabbins, Associate Conductor of the 880 $80 and conductor of the final concert. ‘We’re balancing them with a standard but complementary repertoire of operatic stuff, lieder and Mozart. It’s not completely “poppy”, but very attractive.’ One might wonder why these particular three symphonies. ‘Why not?’ asks Brabbins.
time with the orchestra. Apart from the Second Symphony, they’re not
two are perhaps not so overtly beautiful and sexy, but for my money the Third Symphony is of the highest
order. I love it to death. It’s a very
‘ powerful piece and although it might be slightly tougher on the listener, it’s so much more rewarding.’
Artists appearing include Scandinavian cellist Truls Monk, who plays the Dvorak Cello Concerto; Cardiff Singer of the World winner, Inger Dam Jensen in Richard Strauss’ liederand popular British soprano lesley Garrett, who appears with Brabbins for Canteloube’s Songs of the Auvergne. ‘They’ll be great perfonnances,’ says Brabbins. ‘There’s no doubt about it - audiences are in for a treat.’ (Carol Main)
The 880 $80 present Bach and Roll on Sun 11, 25 Feb and 17Mar at Edinburgh Festival Theatre.
‘lt’s do for a long
The other
The List 9-22 Feb l‘)‘)6 37