'1' IN THE PARK
UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH
Radio 1 Evening Session/KTWWH. Stage, Sun 12 Jul.
Let’s get rt out of the way, shall we? Yes, srnger Andy Yorke's brother rs Thom Yorke. No, he doesn’t Irke to talk about rt. Yes, therr mUSIC and attrtude rs very serrous. No, they don't sound Irke Radrohead.
If you’re lookrng for reference pornts, try Crowded House wrth angst rn therr pants or REM on a European vacatron. Harlrng from Oxfordshrre, Unbelrevable Truth are a rather po-faced three-prece whose rnterests rnclude Russran literature, envrronmental catastrophe, Hal Hartley movres (they take therr name from one), the evrls of advertrsmg, and crnematrc songwrrtrng. New Serrousness? Thrs bunch make The Verve look Irke wacky funsters on a helium trip.
Three srngles and an album, A/most Here, have confirmed Unbelrevable Truth’s posrtron as pretenders to the eprc vrsron throne Currently berng fought over the chhard Ashcrofts, James Dean Bradfrelds and, whrsper rt, Thom Yorkes of thrs world.
As rs often the case wrth Very Serrous Musrc, Unbelrevable Truth get the krnd of revrews where the prose rs purple and the metaphors mauve. NME praised therr songs as ’preCrous and delrcate, Irke pearls strung together by gossamer sprder's thread, frlled With an eerie, dream-Irke bleakness', whrle Melody Maker swooned over therr ’heartbreakrng melodies, devastatrng vocals, choruses that swell Irke tears'.
18 THE UST 25 Jun—9 Jul I998
All thrs tends to obscure the fact that checkrng out ver Truth at T rn the Park wrll probably be an uplrftrng rather than depressrng experrence. As Nrgel, the stereotype-shatterrng brarny drummer puts rt, ’In everyone’s darly lrfe there’s rnfrnrte Journeys to be made JUSI rnsrde of you, so much energy to be used rf you keep an open mrnd and y0ur eyes open'
And that’s gospel. (Peter Ross)
DARREN EMERSON
Slam MuzikTent, Sat ll Jul.
As he takes to the decks rn the Slam Muzrk tent on Saturday nrght, expect Darren Emerson to be havrng as much fun as everyone else . ’It's always good up there,’ he grrns. 'The Celts always seem to know how to enjoy themselves When I come up I always know rt's gomg to be a hard party.’
Darren Emerson and the Slam crew go way back, from the prrmordral days at the Sub Club rrght through therr parallel rrse to dance derty status. 'They're really good mates of mrne, I’ll go up there qurte a lot even when I'm not workrng and Just hang out wrth them,’ says the 27-year old Essex bloke, best known as one thrrd of Underworld.
Emerson plays T rn the Park Just as he, Karl Hyde and chk Smrth frnrsh off the thrrd Underworld album, wrth the workrng (and no doubt apocryphal) trtle of Tonight Matthew I’m Going To Be Underwor/d due for release later rn the year. The band aren’t playrng any
festrvals untrl the very end of the summer, havrng agreed to cut back on therr prevrous frantrc successron of grgs. Fortunately, Emerson rs allowed out of the studio now and then to go play.
Underworld had been through a few rncarnations before Emerson Jomed. Havrng started wrth the werrd experrmental band Freur, whrch Hyde and Smrth had formed rn the late 80s whrle at art school in Cardrff, they had moved through rock and experrmented wrth funk. But Smrth knew that to get the sound rrght and to take the band to the next level, he'd need the servrces of a breakhead to dance the sound up. Hrs brother-rn-Iaw knew the young Emerson and he was asked to jOrn. Emerson had been DJrng since he was sixteen, Juggling hrs nrghtrme activrtres with a jOb as a crty futures analyst. One career had to grve and after two crrtrcally - acclaimed albums, dubnobasswithmyheadman and second toughest in the infants, plus the half million-selling breakbeat techno anthem ’Born Slrppy', rt seems as though the Crty's loss was mUSrc’s garn.
T rn the Park krcks off Emerson's summer before he does the Balearrc tour as well as monthly dates at Twilo rn New York. He trred to come up to Glasgow for the last nrght of Slam rn April, but couldn’t make rt because of studro commitments. Playing the grg grves hrm a chance to catch up With hrs Scottrsh consprrators. He and Slam's Stuart McMillan went on holrday to Antrgua a c0uple of years ago and he says they’re always on the phone to each other. ’Slam's style rs what I’m
rnto, the way Stuart and Orde play, the music they make, and everything that Soma puts out,’ says Emerson. ’They represent good quality dance musrc really.’ (Rory Weller)
— MONKEY MAFIA
Slam Muzik Tent, Sun 12 Jul.
Astronauts are passe, footballers are naff, and pop stars let you down. What you really want to be when you grow up rs a DJ, a member of that elrte of rnternatronal hipsters, Jettrng from one club caprtal to another wrth only a record box of trrcks to see you through. Unless, Irke Jon Carter, you’ve Irved the lrfe and want somethrng new.
’If I had to chose, playrng lrve would be my preference,’ says the Monkey Mafra man, DJ and remrxer of note. ’If you make musrc, you should do rt Irve. DJrng rs the thrrll of gettrng paid rather than payrng to do rt, but I'd do the band. Defrnrtely.’
Anyone who caught Monkey Mafra's recent show rn Edrnburgh as part of the Mary Anne Hobbs Breezeblock Tour would surely concur. ’It was a shame they had problems wrth the mix on arr,’ says Carter. ‘But we were frrrn’ rn there. Tell 'em that on Radro 1.’
Asked about the band’s debut LP, Shoot The 8055, Carter rs demure despite a deluge of brilliant revrews . 'I Just drd what I wanted to hear and rt seems other peOple were interested . . . rt was a case of throwrng all sorts of thrngs together — the DJ set, reggae, early Brg Beat-y krnd of stuff.‘
The new materral, he says, will be