FESTIVAL MUSIC
ROCK PREVIEW Tindersticks '
Stuart Staples: an introvert looking 0
In a world of hyperbole and hubris, Tindersticks make music of passion, loss and ineffable beauty. Everything else is distraction.
’"Ballad Of Tindersticks’ stems from our attitude to the bullshit of the music business,’ says singer Stuart Staples. 'It’s too easy to get caught up in it. We need reminding of who we are sometimes.’
A stand-out track from a stand-out record (their third studio LP Curtains), ’Ballad' is a tale of plastic glamour in LA and having the choice of staying in the hotel room where Belushi died or the suite where Jim Morrison hung out of the window. ’I could do with a bit of window hanging myself tonight,’ deadpans Staples.
Still in the realm of Hollywood otherworldliness, Tindersticks' next single is a duet with Isabella Rossellini. ’She came to see us in New York and agreed to do it,’ he explains matter of faCtly. As if stepping into a studio with the most beautiful woman in the world was like buying a pack of cigarettes.
'We're quite introverted people. Except after eight vodka and tonics. I’ve got too many great records in my collection to make any claims for ours.’ Absurd modesty. (Rodger Evans)
I Tindersticks (Fringe) Jaffa Cake (Venue 7) 226 5 738/477 8222, 20 Aug, 8pm, £70.50.
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CLASSICAL PREVIEW Carver At Greyfriar's Kirk
After a day of festival fever or even just a normal day's work, soothing tranquility will be found in the Taverner Consort’s Carver concerts at Greyfriar's Kirk. Director Andrew Parrott is no stranger to Scotland’s leading Renaissance composer having previously recorded some of his music. In fact, he's a huge enthusiast. 'It’s high-Class, virtuoso stuff and I'm absolutely sold on it,’ he says.
A contemporary of the English composer Thomas Tallis, Carver has only become familiar relatively recently. Although he worked in Scotland, Carver's manuscript is, says Parrott, ‘related to a couple of English sources at Eton and Lambeth, so there may well be Royal connections, probably through Stirling.’
The two concerts feature two mass settings — Missa Cantate Domina and Missa Fera Pessima — on consecutive evenings. ’It's not reading too much into it to say that it is distinctly Scottish,’ says Parrott. ’It's muscular as well as sweet, intricate but wonderfully gritty — and grit in my book is a good thing.’ (Carol Main)
I Carver At Greyfriar's Kirk (International Festival) Taverner Consort, Greyfriar’s Kirk, 473 2000, I9 81 20 Aug, 70.45pm, £71.
JAZZ PREVIEW
Neil Stacey’s Kimbara Brothers
Guitarist Neil Stacey is a familiar figure on the Fringe, and returns again this year in a couple of different settings. His best known guise in this context is the Acoustic Mania duo with Antonio Forcione at Graffiti, but he also leads his Kimbara Brothers band at the same venue.
Stacey first put the band together as a result of his love for the famous Hot Club Quintet recordings of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, and that example remains the basic inspiration behind their music. They have added their own individual voices to the original inspiration, however, as might be expected from such an individual outfit.
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WORLD PREVIEW Mé'éf ‘
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with spicy roman» cum. "on dancers; Cari . ' ,. Emma I L samba. indian theatre. 'fili‘n. . “mama-amend even -a Fashion Sh’ow. '7 ’
Child friendly. and-cheerful. the community this'year— has a strong irish element and a rare visit by the top traditional musicians. Seomra an Chedll, including famed flute player Desi Wilkinson and fiddle player Kevin Glackin. in Melange. a new. large-scale composition for around 100 musicians, the pipes and drums of the Pakistan Army join Drogheda samba band Ceol Batucada. a Northern Irish pipe band and three carnival bands: Edinburgh's Afridonia. Glasgow‘s Repercussion
- but an annual;
and the Lochwinnoch Street Orchestra, Stereo Nation and Bombay Talkie headline the Saturday bhangra.
bash, but
the classiest music comes with Atta Ullah Khan Essa Khailvi arid'his group of. traditional virtuosi. The intensity and passion of his'singing is knownas widely in Pakistan as that of the great Nusret Fateh-Ali Khan..whdseiliiela concert in ‘95 was a sell out. (Norman Chalmers) 1. _. .
I Mela (Fringe) Meadowbank Centre and Stadium (vanue 151) 668.4100. Seomra an Cheoil, 16 Aug, 10.30pm, Free; Melange, 17 Aug, 4.30pm, Free; Bhangra, 16 Aug, 11.30pm, f 7; Atta Ullah Khan, 17 Aug, 10pm, £7.
In addition to Stacey, the band includes guitarist Frank Kilkelly, whose duo with harmonica wizard Brendan Power has enlivened many recent Scottish folk festivals, fiddler Chris Haigh, and bass player Bernard O’Neill. All four are notable performers in their own right, and the combination of their talents is irresistible. (Kenny Mathieson)
I Neil Stacey’s Kimbara Brothers (Fringe) Graffiti (Venue 90) 19-24 Aug, 6pm, Free; 19—24 Aug (not 23) 12.15am, £6/ES (£S/£4).
KRAUTROCK PREVIEW Faust
One recent, welcome trend is the critical and public rehabilitation of those restless, innovative German bands of the early 70s — babies that punk managed to throw out with the prog-rock bathwater. Urged on by people like Julian Cope, as well as by the obvious influence of Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream and Can on contemporary dance and chill-out, the world is getting hip to Neul, Popol Vuh, Amon Duul and Faust. But whether the world is ready for Faust even now is debatable.
It was the 49p album The Faust Tapes in 1974 that began their ascent to Iegendhood in this country, and Faust rarely disappointed. With a grim,
politically-Charged humour, they matched the studio sound collages on their records with loud drones, one- note riffs and Dadaist audience confrontation. Comeback gigs by their current line-up have shown that they've lost none of their taste for weirdness, featuring such delights as a sculptress at work, a naked bassist and that old avant-garde fallback, agricultural machinery. Enjoy.
(Alastair Mabbott)
I Faust (Fringe) Flux, Jaffa Cake (Venue 7) 557 6969, 27 Aug, 8pm, £70.
Faust: pictured with clothes, fortunately
15—21 Aug 1997 rususras