MUSIC
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Tale of the town
I They once split up on stage in Glasgow, but MERCURY REV are returning to the city with songs from what was perhaps
. the greatest album of 1998.
Woes Peter Ross
The last time \lereury' Rey played (ilas’goyy. the gig : was as discordant and scary as otte ol tlteir early . songs. To speak plainly. tltey gaye each other a good : kieking right there on tlte stage. The time: 1003. ‘l'he plaee: liarroxy‘land. The point: supporting Spirituali/ed. The reality: a list- l'ight het\\een singer l)a\id Baker and the rest ol' the hand. largely based on the e\tent ol his hoo/ing attd a c‘ottlliel o\ er the set-list. 'l‘his \\as the traditional ‘artistie ditlerenees' split taken to a ridieulous degree.
‘teah. tlttttgs cattle to a head ttt (ilasgoyyf \lereury guitarist. (irasshopper laughs tuelttlly. 'l)a\id \yas pretty drtmk and just l'alling into the audience and losing his mierophone. llut it had been going on that \yhole tour and the one helore it. Grasshopper
‘l rememher one time I used hal‘y powder on the hits and l)a\id llaker just got really mad attd started punelting me. He said tltat the hahy ponder causes eaneer.‘
l\ t‘\ s
lo the .tgltasl .ttldlettt‘e. llte (ilttsgoyy gig .lttsl sounded like a mess. but to the hand it \\as a deatlt knell. Returning to their nattye .\'e\\ York. (irasshopper and anotlter ol' the hands songyy'riters. .louatltan Donahue. deeided that things eouldn’t continue as they \\ ere. so Baker \yas sacked. 'l'he ne\t day. tltey xyt‘ote 'liyet‘lastittg :\rm'. a glorious soundelash hetyyeen Beaeh Boy s—style melody and
46THEL|ST
1‘
Mercury Rev: had problems with a different white powder than the one you might think
'It was a vicious cycle. You try to deal with things with drugs, then you feel weird, so more drugs and then it just spirals.’
k.
their own l‘ieree Ulls sehtiek. The new .\lereury Rey sound was horn.
When Mercury Rey play (ilasgoyy this month. it will he the lirst time sinee their ill-starred Bari'oyyland 'l'he dil‘lerenee is that this time they are touring alt Ltlhtlttt. /)('.y'(’i‘l('i"y' Stings. which has had critic‘s mainlining dictionaries in search ol superlatiy es. 'l‘he reeord is a staggerineg anthitious and emotionally stark eolleetion \y‘hieh imprm es \yith eyery listen arid suggests that the gig will he may speeial indeed.
llttl. we're lucky to lt;t\c‘ /)t'\('l'/('l".\' Stings Ltl ttll. l’ost--l)a\id Baker. \lereury Rey ereated a flawed masterpieee in See lim ()n The ()I/lt’)‘ Sit/e. hut immediately entered a long dark night ol the soul. They lost their management. Sony seemed unwilling to push the reeord. l‘riends and l'amily died. and a 10‘)? tottr heeame a nightmare ol' demoralising .s‘lttth and suhstanee ahuse.
'lt \\;Is a yieious eyele.’ says (it'asshoppet'. 'You try to deal with things with drugs. then you t‘eel weird. so more drugs and then it just spii'als.'
(irasshopper. \yho is into the gnostie attd 'l'emplar religions. dealt \\llli things hy entering a Jesuit monastery tor si\ months. elearmg out body and mind. \leauyyhile. the \yhole hand hay e reloeated to the (’atskill Mountains in upstate Nev. York. 'l'hey are reteeting the musie industry's trends and markets in order to dig thetr oyyn hole on their oun terms. \yltieh ean mean anything t'rom using hou ed sayys .Is a lead instrument to eollahorating \\ itlt the ('hemieal Brothers and The Band. .-\s lttek \\(tllltl hay e it. lltc‘ \\ttt‘ld lttyes /)('_\('I'lr'l"\ Songs. hut they made it l‘m‘ themselyes. l-‘or (irasshopper. the e\perienee \yas t‘c‘tlc‘llll‘lhc‘.
‘llewi‘lt'r'y Surrey is ahout loss and longing. desolation and desparation. llut it’s also ahout ltope.‘ he says. ‘:\it old hlues song ean he the saddest song in the world. httt it can also hring you ottt ol' depression. .\lusie is our saying graee.‘
No“ that’s ;. sentiment \yorth lighting in er.
Mercury Rev play Glasgow Garage, Thu 14 Jan.
Happy New Year from the stars!
Bigmouth
'People do get the wrong idea
about us. Everyone knows that if you actually did dig up corpses, the last thing you'd do is to say it in a
' magazine. I could be lying though.
I could have a whole room of
corpses upstairs — can’t you see the blood dripping through the roof?’ The .‘i/nusing/y monikorod Dani Filth of
Cradle Of Filth takes time off from
being a nice lad who loves his mum
and talks about his hobbies. ’I ran away from home once. It
didn't last long. I left home, bought twenty Silk Cut, smoked them all and felt really sick, so then I went
back home again.’
Ht.’l'fl( (7/70 No l ’3 Andy Boll reveals a ltfl’tr’IClLS/i‘,’ UltS‘t/Spmlfi‘d sensible s/do. ’Going back to it was like losing your virginity for the second time, it was like "fucking hell!". It was the first time that my kids had seen me play. My son told me that I’ve got to stop playing the bass like
I'm wrestling a crocodile.’
Pt *fer Hort on playing as New Order
(ran/I:
’A couple of years ago | read a poll of the hundred best artists of all time. The Fall was in there between
Mozart and Puccini. I was very
proud of that. Of course, the next day I can pick up a paper and be
the guy with no teeth who beats everybody up, so I suppose I can't
take these things too seriously.’ {Ea/ed and" infused gets an ear
b isitrr‘r; from {he inimitable Mark E
Sin/L":
’Heterosexual men have a great
deal of jealousy towards the sexual
availability of men for men. Because, my God, straight men
would be in heaven if women thought the same way as men do.’
borne .m. now makes (7 not
“Hub/elm, ,lttat/il.’ [,‘(n/rt'