Kan Mikami gets Installed
INSTAL The Arches, Glasgow. Sat tB—Sun 17 Oct
72 THE LIST
COWBOY JUNKIES Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 9 Oct
Recorded in a single day in the 19805, The Trinity
Sessions was one of those records which made ripples.
Trickling (thanks to the persistence of fringe enthusiasts like John Peel) through the cracks of a musical log jam of electro-pop and anthemic rock, this was alternative country before the marketing men discovered it.
To hear the compelling, mournful voice of Margo Timmins reworking Elvis‘ ‘Blue Moon’ over gently- strummed acoustic guitar in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto was to know that something had changed. Without the resonances of this eerie record, it‘s unlikely that thoughtful, moody bands like the Willard Grant Conspiracy and the Handsome Family would be with us today.
And nearly 20 years into the Cowboy Junkies’ career, songwriter and frontman Michael Timmins has kept faith with that early manifesto. A new album, One Soul Now, steers the band through a musical landscape which includes occasional keyboards and two or three driving up-tempo songs (this, after all, is a highly proficient outfit which can kick up a storm to match most rock groups). But there‘s no mistaking that this is the Cowboy Junkies.
‘Actually, it's why we still stick around,’ says the
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cheerful Timmins. ‘lt’s a mixed blessing, and if you want to take it as a negative, people do. But it‘s very unusual for a band to have a distinctive sound in this day and age, when there‘s zillions of groups chasing a trend and all sounding the same. We‘re not going to come out with a hip hop record or something — this is what we do: a very organic, natural thing with the way the four of us play together. And we see it as a positive.‘
In fact, the crafty drumming of Peter Timmins and bass of Alan Anton — the only non-Timmins sibling in the band - are as crucial to the Cowboy Junkies sound as the predominant voice and guitar. The four have always worked hard, touring extensively and recording jointly and individually on side projects, and Anton is currently recovering from a bout of flu which felled him in a break between the American and European legs of their 2004 toun
‘We‘ve been going since the spring, so it‘s been pretty intense,‘ says Timmins. ‘We like to play live a lot — but after a few months on the road, you‘re thinking, OK, we could take a break now.‘
Discerning Scottish fans will know exactly what to expect when these subtle miserablists roll into town — refreshed — on Saturday.
‘Our music does have a very dark side to it,‘ says Timmins. ‘It does tend to go for darker themes, and Margo’s voice tends to go that way. But there's enough “happy” in the pop culture!‘ (Ninian Dunnett)
‘ HOPE OF THE STATES
Garage, Glasgow, Tue 19 Oct
Amongst the ratt ot hrlght eyed. hushy tailed. skinny. young. white ho, rocker:
currently parading around the charts. there Is one hand that sits slightly apart tr ,m the crowd. l schewrng the durnhed down riffs and vacuous sentiments of their extrayagantly coittured peers. Hope ot the States prefer to create intelligent. ur, and unashamedly anthemic. orchestral rock. and they do so wrth urlrleniahle aharm
'I get really wary of herng painted as some sort of po laced intellectual rout orchestra. Just cos we don't sound like the Ramones and we've read a hoot yum: or twice] says singer Sam llerllhy. ‘Really. we're lust a hunch of rtrunlen idiots‘
Methinks the singer doth protest too much. lhe ()hichester six piece might li'w; a hem“; hut that hasn't dulled their songwriting sensihilities. their stunning dehut alhum The lost Riots herng gloriousevrdence of a hand unafraid to take musical chances and think hig. there is a certain melancholy to the record hut the underlying message is an uplifting one.
'lhe songs are all ahout hope.' says Herlihy. 'And. to us. hope is not an aha'rac. intellectual concept. it's day-today lite.'
Betore The Lost Riots was released. the hands guitarist .Jimmi l ;1.‘J":ll’,‘: found hanged Ill the studio hy his handmates. His suicide Illtj‘Jlléilll,’()‘.":f’)ll(1’l’;.‘J‘fll the alhum's release. and gave the record's theme an extra resonance for them all
“He was our hest triend and we miss him dearly.' says Herlihy. "But we're unhehemh'y proud that we're getting to play this record to everyhody.’ rDOug Johnstonel