Creature feature
Death to the Banshees. Long live THE CREATURES. The lastest Siouxsie Sioux incarnation proves that old punks don ’t die.
Siouxsie Sioux and The Banshees caused an almighty racket when they first stepped out of the shadows in 1976 but while they were in the vanguard of the punk revolution they also knew when it was time to move to new pastures.
'We'd always said if it stopped feeling special we shouldn't be doing it. It became very difficult to find the things you need to make it mean something: the venom, the friction, the passion,’ explains Budgie, the drum-basher. ‘Probably the hardest thing to do is to admit to yourself that maybe the passion’s not there anymore.’
’We also saw that the record industry was changing the way they approach bands that have been around as long as we have. Perhaps we were pre-empting something.’
The Banshees put a full stop to their career in 1996, months short of their twentieth anniversary and just prior to the pantomime that was the Sex Pistols' reformation.
Budgie and Siouxsie Sioux returned to The Creatures, a side project that had already produced two LPs. Punk nostalgia, they decided, was definitely not their cup of
spit.
’It was a bit too obvious,’ he says of the Pistols' reunion, (and, curiously enough, Sid Vicious occupied Budgie’s drum stool in the very early days of the Banshees). ’l’d be more inclined to see Wire reform.’
’The DJ and club scene is more like that attitude we were part of when we kicked off. Anyone can do what they want if they set their mind to do it. What happens is that the more you try and move in the realms of the
The Creatures: still scary
bigger picture, you realise you’re not playing the same game as the Mariah Careys and the Michael Jacksons.’ He enthuses about Liz Cocteau’s angelic warbling with
Massive Attack, 3 band who have covered the
Banshees. and Tricky, who has also paid homage.
'He did a version of "Tattoo’, the b-side of "Dear Prudence’, which was pretty neat. It starts off with what sounds like him lighting a big spliff. We like Tricky and a mutual respect somehow seeped into that.’
Anima Animus, The Creatures new album will be out on Sioux Records in January. (Rodger Evans)
2%; For details, see hit list, right.
John Zorn: A rare sighting round these parts
JAZZ PREVIEW
John Zorn's Masada
Flux have pulled off something of a coup in securing John Zorn’s first (and only) UK performance since touring wrth Naked City ten years ago, although it remains to be seen whether the saxophonist’s particular brand of sonic extremism and his lurid, high-speed JlllTlp-CUI sensibility still has audience appeal to match that rarity value. Zorn’s rarnpantly eclectic experimentation ranges from acoustic 1822 to hardcore thrash, and the totality of his work forms an interconnected matrix in which improwsation, composnron and performance become part of a srngle multi-faceted entity.
His mushrooming discography includes his voluminous cinematic
pieces gathered in the huge Filmworks prorect, controversial 'game’ pieces like ’Cobra', the avant-Jazz of Naked City and the News For Lulu trios, the intense but often lovely solo pieces on the Japanese-influenced Classic Guide To Strategy albums (Zorn is something of a cult hero in Japan), the hardcore trio Painkiller, an ongoing fascination wrth extending Jewrsh music into radical new forms, and a great deal more.
The band he Will bring to Edinburgh is one of the most accessible of his 90s ventures. Masada rs a quartet in which avant-Jazz meets Jewish tradition square on, with Zorn’s acerbic alto saxophone alongside Dave Douglas on trumpet (one of the most creative Jazz musrCians on the Current scene, the chance to hear him play in Scotland is recommendation enough in itself) Greg Cohen on bass, and drummer Joey Baron, (Kenny Mathieson)
a For details, see hit list, right.
'. LIST
More aural pleasures. .Mr McFall's Chamber Orchestra A Splinter group from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra who moonlight around Edrrrburgh’s more louche clubs, Mr lvlcFaIl’s blend classical cuts with Hendrix and Zappa. Horizon- expanding stuff. See review. Mr McFa/l’s Chamber Orchestra (Fringe) Observer Assembly (Venue 3) 226 2428, 30 Aug—5 Sep, midnight, [8 ([7). The Creatures See preview, left. The Creatures (Fringe) Flux, Queen’s Hall (Venue 72) 668 2079, 29 Aug, 8pm, [72. 50
John Zorn See prevrew, left. john Zorn (Fringe) Flux, Queen’s Hall (Venue 72) 668 2079, 28 Aug, 8pm, £70. Ensemble Contemporain The Ensemble give the world premiere of Pierre Boulez/s Sur lircis‘es‘. One of the most controverSIal composers of the 20th century and possibly the oldest enfant terrible on record, Boulez Will surprise Ensemble Contemporain (International Fest/tall Usher Hall, 473 2000, Sun 30 Aug, 8pm, [5479.
Terem Quartet All the way from St Pete sburg, this snappily attired, conservatory-trained crew wield, what are to western europearr eyes at least, a battery of exotic instruments as they explore e\.rt.>rytl‘irrrg from clas'Sical musrc to far eastern pap Terem Quartet iFringc.>) Graffiti (Venue 90) 557 8330, 27 Aug, ,7 20pm, 28-37 Aug, 5.45pm, [8 50 ’{7 50)
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra Jukka-Pekka Saraste conducts the FRSO in Brahrns' Requiem Two of the world’s finest voices in the form of soprano Karita Mattila and baritone Bryn Terfel will raise the roof. Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (International Festival) Usher Ha/l, 473 2000, Mon 3 7 Aug, 8pm, {5*f29. James Grant, Karen Matheson and The ST Scottish Ensemble The former Love and Money frontman and the Capeicarllre singer get the backing of one of Scotland's most exciting ensembles. See album revrews, page 94, for the Ensemble. )6, KM and the BT Scottish Ensemble (Fringe) Queen’s Hall (Venue 72) 668 2079, 27 Aug, 8pm, [72/f70.
27 Aug—10 Sep i998 THE usr 55