www.list.co.uk/music
ev r ew
POWERPOP
THE TING TINGS Liquid Room. Edinburgh. Wed 17 Oct 0...
If record labels really must go gettrng caught up in unseemly ‘brddrng wars'. the least they can do rs make sure they're getting a good band. Colunrbra recently won the squabble for Manchester duo The Trng Trngs. and this Reverend and the Makers Support grg suggests they've Signed a great band. whose name wrll be on numerous parrs of Irps come thrs trme next year.
Comprrsrng Singer and gurtarrst Katie Whrte tblonde. gregarrous dress sense. nrce hat and attitude) and drummer Jules De Martino (effrcrent. ordrnary. never getting to stand in front of White in the press prcs). they merge The White Stripes dynamic wrth CSS' ragged sprrrt and The (30! Teams ear for a great pep hook. Much of the early hype rs based on the electrifyrng pop brilliance of the song ‘That's Not My Name‘ (‘Are you callrng me darlrng’?rAre you callrng me brrd’hThat's not my namel'l. but every moment of thrs modest five-song set SCreamed of great thrngs to come. (Davrd Pollock)
ROCK
PAUL VICKERS & THE LEG Nice'n'Sleazy's, Glasgow,
Tue 6 Nov 000.
Rock'n'roll clrches. eh? Musicians trashing therr instruments. throwurg TVs out of therr hotel room Windows. and erm therr backing hands modelling terrrfyrng panda—meets- voodoo-skeleton outfits, The last one rs yet to catch on as much as rt deserves. and for that we should all feel a lrttle sorry. but rt adds a pleasantly malevolent edge to wnat rs a true firecracker of a set.
Introducrng himself by saying. ‘I was rn a band called Dawn of the Replrcants.‘ the legendary Mr Vrckers provrdes a superbly ramshackle snarl to accompany the flawless noodlrngs of hrs monochrome muSrCrans. Fans of deadpan betweensong banter wrll want for nothrng. and there's a spoken word track. whrch he assures the audrence rs only a couple of minutes long and rs lrke John Cooper Clarke wrth the ferocny turned down. ‘I sing songs about redneck champagne. Irfe struggles and hogwash. I lrke a nrce sweet cup of tea and the nose of a cork being drawn from a bottle.‘ Voodoo? Yes. I certainly do — and hopefully one day everyone else wrll see the light too. (Emma Newlandsr.
am Vieux.‘
UPEiHA
SCOTTISH OPERA: SERAGLIO
Festival Theatre. Edinburgh, Sat 24, Tue 27 & Thu 29 Nov. Seen at Theatre Royal. Glasgow. Sat 27 Oct 0..
The term Turkrsh harem usually brings to rnrnd opulent palaces. sumptuous srlks and sensual. oriental soft furnishings ln Serag/ro. however. it's an over sr/ed sandprt and bleached wooden gate. housed wrthrn a huge. black box for this new production rr collaboration With the Dutch Natronale Rerseopera. Clean. clear lines then which certarnly put the emphasis frrmly on the musrc and the six characters who enact the tale f)l the beautiful. young European woman being rescued from the Pasha's Turkrsh countr, estate.
|t rs hard to prnpornt where the sense of unease and consequent faltering flow comes from. but lack of convrctron rn some of the srngrng rs at times frustratrngly olmoos. Rehecca Bottone's Blonde the rrrard. brrghteni; thrngs up consrderably. and Julia Berchert rmpresses as Konstance, Post-interval rs much rrvelrer Willi more coherent shaping. both ll‘rtlSlCéiH,‘ and in the spoken dralogue. so makrng the most of the bold costunre colours; and provocative design. rCaroi Mam.
VIEUX FARKA TOURE
Arches. Glasgow. Sun 25 Nov
When Vieux Farka Toure played at WOMAD this year. world music fans were intrigued to see how he would fare. When his father. the great Malian music oracle Ali Farka Toure died in 2006. he left behind a musical legacy that fans believed no one could really follow. Even Toure agreed: “My father is a legend. and his technique was unique. So nobody could ever follow in his footsteps. He was Ali and I
However much Vieux attempts to separate his music from his father‘s, Ali‘s distinctive bluesy guitar has seeped into the heart of his debut album Vieux Farka Toure. It‘s an extraordinary new sound: desert blues meets rock and reggae, but Toure can put it more floridly: ‘I like keeping one foot firmly in tradition and the other taking off in another direction. It's like having traditional Malian music as the trunk. and my music as a branch.’
This seems to be the gist of much West African music at the moment — this idea of fusing old and new - but Toure. under the patronage of not only his father. but also Toumani Diabate and Afel Bocoum, has drawn on all these influences and ushered in a new generation of Afrobeat.
Such is the collaborative nature of Malian music. Toure has just been travelling with Tinariwen in the States. and like All in Talking Timbuktu, has just recorded a soundtrack with Ry Cooder for the new Julia Roberts film. Saharan roots and Cuban blues meet again — but with a modern twist. Sounds intriguing. (Florence Thompson)
.fo
THE NECKS
The Lot. Edinburgh, Wed 7 Nov 0...
l.l\.'f,‘, Tilt: r-AIM‘IlMl Iftrt 'r i" rlt'. ’ the Australran trim if :rranrutl 'rrz. Alrralrarrrr;_ fl.’l."lll“r.' lrm'r, H. l ml bassist 'r lo, ifinarrut r 't:» m? 1' or n: rntc at: l!‘..'.’ztf'l lrr"f‘|li r 'rt'.l;r their recent artrtrnr, /r;‘.'." w I'wrr i~1thr_ per'tmtl. rlerrrorntur'w. willlflllfflv tntel'rrimrt lirrrl our twintrrtw ll. <,orir,t.~ntratetl are tire], or‘ ‘frer tr",’ t,(lrr‘.t:trn;lr .rf,rl tollvmrrrr; lr'.’ .mrr' Glaf;t;rr.'. date that a flow-tr. .'..l r:- M and léi?$<,ll'rtillllfll, watlhatrw expenenz e erraoe‘,
Vv’nrkrnt;r.‘./rll:llrt:rrr'r‘.1ir'rrszlm? balettes. Swanson lretirrm .Vrtl yr SUlliiif‘, note. .vhrr/r: At,r.rtur'rr', rwk. up .mtlr a that lrlll'l “,t‘vrr'l Hrl‘, r', repeated. e/t‘:rrieti. t’rr-r r"l)‘:zfll‘.‘: aftarr‘: as Brit/r ’irenr. 'trrrr';*.. tarel. mucking}? ‘ largei, on sanital glitter,
Out of thrs seeps a rrorrr‘nr groom
frl'rrnarr’f
/",‘fll|l«1’|'r’}
‘.’.’lllf.ll patrernl, narrlryr. or; :t'. ’ttrar', along a natural are. the en'. lllr’l W:l)‘:llll’1llfrf}!’).‘."'rf} Ilrf,"::r',;lw’}!, propulswe The yer/inf} we? r', jarr'rtze'. Abraharrrs' [)‘El'V, so-rn’lr' '; somewhere Lets/em: China arr/l London". East End rn a ’,l’,.'.' tmrrrnrr; musical lrillVlr I: taint:
tNeri Coopen
:‘.',. 2. "THE LIST 61