ELECTROACOUSTIC SOUNDINGS - A WEEKEND OF SONIC ART oooo
Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 15 & Sun 16 Nov
Electroacoustic music hasn’t had much of an outing in Scotland in recent years, but things are looking up after last weekend, the first in the new series of Soundings concerts. Conceived as a set of three weekend-long explorations of sonic art and organised by the University of Edinburgh, Soundings is set to bring electroacoustic music to all you deprived souls out there. With an even-handed diversity of programming, the weekend’s four gigs showcased a variety of work by members of the Scottish group invisiblEARts, recent offerings from Germany’s ZKM (Centre for Art/Media/Technology), and a set of classics of the acousmatic genre diffused by Edinburgh university students for that extra edge.
invisiblEARts, a group of composers dedicated to promoting Scottish acousmatic music here and abroad, presented some exciting works. Edinburgh-based Pippa Murphy’s Sound Shadows stood out: in a self- confessed homage to the traditions of music concrete, Murphy explores the interplay between meaningful and de-territorialised sound with a masterful subtlety of touch. Simon Atkinson’s brilliant Nocturne spun out threads of silence and cicadas in an almost impressionistic etude.
The joy of this stuff is its accessibility: long dubbed an elitist and techo- junkie art form, electroacoustic music has a visceral edge in performance that propels you straight into the epicentre of a sound world. With its new improvements, the Reid Hall is the perfect electroacoustic concert hall. There’s more: a weekend of music by Jonty Harrison, Trevor Wishart and live improv duo Laut is set for February, and another in March. Check out www.music.ed.ac.uk/soundings for details. (Sara Mohr-Pietsch)
ECLECTIC
Something concrete from Pippa Murphy
V Ticlrets'iai‘e fatraiglable‘ftom: ,
ROCK MY MORNING JACKET King Tut’s, Glasgow, Sun 23 Nov
Apart from. maybe. the honking shimmy of Beyonce's “Gray in Love'. the most exciting bit of music recorded recently is the yee-ha, skidaddling guitar solo at the end of ‘Mahgeeta‘ by My Morning Jacket. a song about waiting for a girlfriend to get ready. On stage. looking like Lynrd Skynrd exhumed and made young. waving around like trees made of hair. these barn-raised Kentucky
Music
romantics play that one first. and run on through a heroic set of immense and tender adventures. The lamplight glow
of their records is kicked over into fire
UNCLE JOHN & WHITELOCK 00 MY ELECTRIC LOVE AFFAIR 0 THE NEW ROSY JEWELS ooo Nice’N’Sleazy’s, Glasgow, Sun 16 Nov
on “Phone Went West‘ and 'Steam Engine'. and it turns out that the reverberating warmth of Jim James' voice is not so much a production effect as a natural wonder.
‘So.' he sings through his mask of fuzz. ‘I do believe. none of this is physical. at least not to me.‘ And you can at least believe that he believes it. (Stephen Phelan)
An unholy trinity of bands making for a searineg electric end to the weekend. tonight starts melodically and ends painfully. The New Rosy Jewels kick off proceedings with a thumping bass. blazing riffs. and sounding like everything from Joy Division to Queens of the Stone Age and pretty much everything in between. With a range of haircuts as wide as their musical influences, this is CBGB‘s-style Noo Yoik rock via the 705. 805 and 903 and beyond.
My Electric Love Affair are up next to crank up the electronica scale for a sprawling prog marathon. The combination of psychedelic guitars. eerie synths and psychosis- inducing bass starts out as atmospheric. but soon turns into an interminable screeching mass of feedback. A love affair gone sour.
Uncle John 8. Whitelock's energetic take on the rock/blues/reggae hybrid is an entertaining. it completely atonal. spectacle. With demented Mark E Smith-style vocals. they also suffer from the Fall’s problem of solid but workman-like backing vying against a ranting. audience baiting frontman.
Any flashes of melody are all too brief. although when the band's mission is ‘workin on a mojo. tryin not to fall fowl of Babylon oppression'. as their website says. you guess that's maybe not a priority. A caustic end to the night. and one Smith himself would no doubt approve of. (Emma Newlands)
' ‘iz'itikets semiarid: "1239ArgyleStree ,, 41 2304-5151,Ticketsfivscotlahndi . I. t h
I Turbonegro Garage. Glasgow. ll Dec.
I The Dillinger Escape Plan Cathouse. Glasgow. 12 Dec.
I Runrig Barrowland. Glasgow. 12 Dec.
I John Cale Liquid Room. Edinburgh. 12 Dec.
I Shed Seven Carling Academy. Glasgow. 13 Dec. I Belle & Sebastian Usher Hall. Edinburgh. 14 Dec.
I Hell is For Heroes Garage. Glasgow. 14 Dec.
I Madness and Aswad SECC. Glasgow. 14 Dec.
* Arab Strap Christmas Party g2. Glasgow. 15 Dec. I Bootleg Beatles. Usher Hall. Edinburgh. [5 Dec.
I Buzzcocks Garage. Glasgow. lb Dec.
I The Proclaimers Barrowland. Glasgow. 18 Dec: Corn Exchange. Edinburgh. 2] Dec.
I Mondo Generator Garage. Glasgow. 17 Dec.
I The Saw Doctors Carling Academy. Glasgow. 19 Dec.
* Plaid People‘s Palace. Glasgow. 19 Dec.
I U340 and The Stranglers Clyde Auditorium. Glasgow. 1‘) Dec.
I Status Ouo Clyde Auditorium. Glasgow. 21 Dec. I Kings of Leon Carling Academy. Glasgow. 22 Dec. SOLD OUT.
* Deacon Blue Carling Academy. Glasgow. 30 Dec.
I Aereogramme Barfly. Glasgow. 3| Dec.
* Erasure and The Coral Princes Street Gardens. Edinburgh. 30 Dec.
* Gene King Tut‘s. Glasgow. 10 Jan.
* Justin Timberlake and Dizzee Rascal SlECC. Glasgow. 14—16 Jan. SOLD OUT
I Drive-Thru Invasion Tour Garage. Glasgow. l5 Jan. I Primal Scream Carling Academy. Glasgow. lb—l7 Jan.
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I Spiritualized Barrowland.
Glasgow. l9 Jan.
I The Magic Band Liquid Room. Edinburgh. 24 Jan.
I Bob Geldof Carling Academy. Glasgow. 24 Jan.
* Arab Strap King Tut's. Glasgow. 25 Jan.
I Him Barrowland. Glasgow. 26 Jan.
I Athlete Carling Academy. Glasgow. 2‘) Jan.
* Entombed King Tut‘s. Glasgow. 3 Feb.
I Sick of it All King Tut‘s. Glasgow. 5 Feb.
5’4: A Perfect Circle SIECC. Glasgow. 6 Feb.
I The Undertones King Tut‘s. Glasgow. 6 Feb.
I Lamb Carling Academy. Glasgow. 6 Feb.
* Lost Prophets QMU. Glasgow. 7 Feb.
I Damien Rice Carling Academy. Glasgow. l l Feb. I Nobokazu Takemura (‘CA. Glasgow. 12 Feb.
I Alfie King Tut's. Glasgow.
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13 Feb.
I The Distillers. Barrowland. Glasgow. [3 Feb. * Air Carling Academy. Glasgow. 14 Feb.
I Liberty X SECC. Glasgow. 1‘) Feb.
* Love feat. Arthur Lee Liquid Room. Edinburgh. l9 Feb; Carling Academy. Glasgow. 21 Feb.
* Shania “Main SECC. Glasgow. 22 Feb. SOLD OUT & 10 Mar.
* Jamie Cullum Royal Concert Hall. Glasgow. 23 Feb. I David Lee Roth Clyde Auditorium. Glasgow. 25 Feb. 7’: Monster Magnet QMU. Glasgow. 25 Feb.
I The Ataris Barrowland. Glasgow. 27 Feb.
I Dropkick Murphys Garage. Glasgow. 2 Mar.
* Ozomatli QMU. Glasgow. 3 Mar.
I Anti Flag Cathouse. Glasgow. 3 Mar.
I Brian Wilson Clyde
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Auditorium. Glasgow. 4 Mar.
“k Yo La Tengo and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci Arches. Glasgow. 9 Mar: Usher Hall. Edinburgh. l() Mar.
* Travis SECC. Glasgow. l 1 Mar.
* Kraftwerk Carling Academy. Glasgow. 16 Mar.
I Busted SECC. Glasgow. 16 & l7 Mar. SOLD OUT
I Zero 7 Carling Academy. Glasgow. 20 Mar.
* Isis King Tut's. Glasgow. 23 Mar.
* Lulu Clyde Auditorium. Glasgow. 26 Mar.
I Sugababes Carling Academy. Glasgow. 28 Mar.
I Pink SECC. Glasgow. 31 Mar.
* Blazin’ Squad SECC. Glasgow. 2 Apr.
I David Cassidy Clyde Auditorium. Glasgow. 24 Apr. I Eric Clapton SECC. Glasgow. 26 Apr.
I Blondie (‘lyde Auitorium. Glasgow. 22 Jun.
08105 50. so so...
27 NOV—11 Dec 2003 THE LIST 55