MUSIC preview
ROCK Terrorvrsron Glasgow: The Garage, lvlon 19 Apr.
As answering machine messages 90, Tony Wright’s is suitably surreal — a bit of furtive fumbling, some Iascivious heavy breathing and a high piercing scream. But when you consider that the singer with Brit rockers Terrorvision is now famous for live dowsing on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, it would’ve been churlish to expect anything else.
Terrorvision straddle the disparate worlds of rock and pop with uncharacteristic humour and a decided lack of pretence. There aren't many bands who could play alongside Metallica and Robbie Williams, but though they have one boot in the Top Of The Pops camp, the other is still planted firmly in much harder territory.
Making it big time at number two with their marracca-shaking, shouty party tune 'Tequila’ earlier in the year, the band were a bit worried that the Cuerva monster might have ruined a perfectly decent reputation as one of Britain’s hardest working rock acts.
"’Tequila" was a complete surprise,’ Wright reveals. 'But there are no bits on our current album, Shaving Peaches where you go, "Right, this is where I go make a cup of tea.". With other albums
there is the single and the rest are just crap. Not with Terrorvision, though. We try to reach a level and stick to
it.’
Yes, the boys from Bradford know their place. Accordingly, they were unimpressed by the Academy Awards schmooze-fest, when they played at the
inaugural Radio 1 post-Oscar party.
’It was alright,’ concedes Wright. ’But it’s all about let's get up and worship ourselves a bit. Yeah, if someone is good at something, give 'em an award, but the pomp and ceremony that goes with it isn’t really for me.’
Right now, they’re itching to get back out on the road
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Slammer time: Terrorvision
with a UK tour and then a July date playing alongside Marilyn Manson and Pitchshifter at Metallica’s Milton
’Being on tour is what it's all about,’ enthuses Wright. ’lt’s exciting and everything you imagine it'd be. Now we have four albums worth of stuff and a few chart
entries to choose a live set from. It's an embarrassment
of riches.’
But as for Hollywood excess, celebrity glamour and living dangerously - it’s just not Wright's stuff: 'I did see Eric Clapton in the Beverly Centre when I was shopping round for beanies.’ (Mandy Lee)
Exposure
Every fortnight we turn the spotlight on a new act who are doing good stuff. This issue: Lowcraft
Who? '..'."‘l‘:!‘/Sollit‘TllilltlS from C)It"1<.~."l. It's all wast—grunge round their ‘.'.i'¢lV, btzt Lox‘it ialt's brand zit aLI rm. f; is Heavily llavotrii-d by such
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British canons as glairi arid New Rariiintrr isii.
What? You mean they wear lumberjack shirts and eye makeup? Hardly It s 'rrnie a i am- of taking the
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Young Americans: Lowcraft
blueprint anti then listening to Bome’s 'Ashes To Ashes' trntrl you feel a hit Steve Strange.
They like a bit of Dame David then? - Singer Nathan Kyber couldn't sound more like Bowre it Brian Eno lived in his throat. He admits it, too. 'I was weaned on BoWie, Ferry and Sylvian. Bowre had su< h an innovative way of singing and somehow, from a really early age, I lifted it I fucking copied everything. But Bowre himself said that what you need, you'll have to borow, so it's fine.’
There can't be many bands in America like Lowcraft? There (losest peers are
probably The Dandy Warhols. Kyhei was at school With the Dandy’s frontman, Courtney In the mid 80s they formed a band called COirnter Culture and dedicated themselves to covering Duran Duran songs. 'There are some great photographs of us Wllll big hair and too much blusher,’ recalls the singer
Okay, so they know Mary Quant from quantum physics, can I buy their records? Their debut single, ‘One Of Us', is out now on Disco Volante You can expect a follow up, 'Fun With Flashlights', on Mon 17 May and an album in July
What does Lowcraft mean anyway? lt’s just the latest name in a whole string of strange monikers They were known as Absinthe at one i‘()!lll, lIlll another band had a prior ..aiii2 Kynei decided that -ovecralt inignt be a good name after reading a book by macabre author, H P Lovecraft Happily, they avoided this hoii‘ibie goth label thanks to a irrisheai'iiig l'l a noisy nai‘ Not to be confused with . . . H P Lovecraft, Low, Hovercraft, Ki'aftwerk. (Peter Ross)
LOW/(Tail play Strait/berry Fields, Glasgow, Wed 27 Apr, The Attir, Edinburgh, Thu 22 Apr
Frankie Gavin and Alec Finn
Edinburgh: The Counting House, Sat i7Apr.
For many people, Irish traditional music starts and ends with Rr'verdance. Most of us could probably pick Michael Flatley out of an identity parade of egotistical hooters, but might be hard pushed to name any of the best Irish musicians. That's a tragedy, because the island is practically sinking under the weight of great players.
One of the finest is Galway's Frankie Gavin He’s recorded a flute album, and plays about on a lot of instruments, but its hrs fiddle playing that shows off his genius. He and Alec Finn are founding members of the CldSSlC traditional Irish folk band De Dannan, who have included the likes of Mary Black, Dolores Keane and Eleanor Shanley as singers. The pair are in Edinburgh to honour a promise to old pal Kevrn MacLeod, the banjo player in Scots band The Occasionals and one-time De Dannan tour manager.
'We're going to play on Kevin's solo album, and he suggested that it might be good to do a little gig while we're over here,’ says Gavm. 'We're really looking forv-rard to it.'
So should everyone who enjoys Irish traditional music played with the greatest expressive fluency and rhythm. Even though the De Dannan line-up has changed regularly over their 25
years, the sound has remained (listin: five thanks to Alec Finn’s unique rolling style of bouzouki
accompaniment to Gavm's superbly tinted fiddle,
Ciavrn is internationally recognised and has played With such greats as Yehudi rplenuhrn and swrng-jazz doyen Stenhane Grappelli, the latter at Glasgow‘s Celtic Connections festival. But, as he reveals, he's also no stranger to the upper echelons of the rock ‘.'.’t)l'l(l
Yes, well I did some recording on the Stones' Voodoo Lounge album,’ he tasiially mentions ‘That eventually led to a trip out Wllll Keith Richards to his l‘-’)'.lst? and studio in Jamaica, Where we ‘iad a iii-eat time making a reggae album ’
That must surely have been a ganja- tra/ed experience. What are his recollections? He laughs: ’I remember playing a lot of accordion' iNoirnan Chalmers) 0n the fiddle: Frankie Gavin
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