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PREVIEW HIP HOP THE COOL KIDS Ego, Edinburgh, Sun 17 Feb
For the past few years hip hop in the states has been suffering. In 2007 album sales nose-dived and the ‘hip hop tycoon’ icon with clothing labels. butlers and perfumes finally crumbled under street level scrutiny. The music Chuck D famously heralded as the “CNN of the ghetto' had changed channels and no one was watching anymore. Into this environment The Cool Kids. have emerged. They ride bikes not Benzes. drink Kool-Aid not Cristal and are fresher than a fish sucking a Smint.
Mikey Rocks and Chuck lnglish are kids of the 805 and fully decked out in the decade. The fashion. the visuals and the attitude all hark back to the hip hop of yesteryear when having fun was premium and the good times rolled. With the baSIC hip hop groundings sorted. The Cool Kids set upon it with their own blend of future sounds from the underground. Low slung. swaggering basslines. hollow drums. vocoder samples and synth riffs are used sparingly ensuring maximum effect for a minimal sound.
The duo appear determined to set themselves apart form the current hip hop hierarchy. swerving major labels and pitching for the big time on their own terms. They are signed to local Chicago-based Chocolate Industries. a label notorious for picking up on cutting edge new music and the people who brought pint Sized potty mouth Lady Sovereign to our attention. Expect gold chains. bright colours and chunky pumps as retro gets reworked and The Cool Kids take hip hop back to the future. (Richie Meldrum)
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HOT CHIP
Barrowland. Glasgow. Tue 26 Feb
‘I guess we‘ve always been outsiders.‘ says Felix Martin. one fifth of geeky electro-pop outfit Hot Chip. ‘I think that comes across in our music. We seem to be unique. we've never felt closely related to any other bands. even bands we like.‘
Hot Chip‘s outsider status is in serious jeopardy. Their third album. Made in the Dark. is being widely touted as one of the finest records of 2008. and the buzz surrounding the band has recently amplified to an almighty roar.
Formed in London in 2000. and based around Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard. the Chip are now a solid fivesome. having tightened their sound during a relentless eighteen-month tour promoting 2006's The Warning. That album didn‘t create too much fuss on release. but gradually built on word-of-mouth to a crescendo which culminated in Mercury and Ivor Novello nominations. Not that such accolades interest Hot Chip much.
‘I'm glad we didn‘t win the Mercury.‘ says Martin frankly. ‘I think it would've exposed us too much. At the time we didn‘t have a new record made. and the pressure might‘ve got to us.‘
Taking their time with the studio follow—up. the result is an album with a more expansive palette than previous Hot Chip outings. There are the nerdy yet incessantly catchy floor-fillers of before, sure. but there is also a more thoughtful. deeper approach. and a number of subdued ballads litter the record.
In the past. live Hot Chip outings bore little resemblance to their records. Part of this was down to the fact that Goddard and Taylor made the albums themselves. then fleshed things out with other members live. Made in the Dark was a much more collaborative studio project. all five Chippers getting involved. but don’t expect the gigs to be a simple facsimile.
‘We get bored very easily. especially with our own music.‘ laughs Martin. ‘We‘ll probably get frustrated, and change a lot of the songs as we go along. cos you can't keep bashing away at the same thing for two years.‘ (Doug Johnstone)
PhEVlEW JAZZ PORT ICO QUARTET AND BASQUIAT STRINGS Voodoo Lounge. Edinburgh. Tue 19 Feb
The Portico Quartet have been grabbing a lot of attention Ull‘iif.‘ the release of their debut album last year. Part of the bum has riefin=tei. instrument at the heart of their (jlf3tl'lfill‘.‘? sound, iizit as, their Etllllilll knee Deep in the North Sea made cleai. this Londonrbased group have more In offer than just the novelty of an unusual sound.
The band is made up of two musicians playing everyday ja/J Iristriiiiieiitig. .Jack Wyllie on saxophone and Milo Fitzpatrick on rioiibie bass. Dewar: Bul‘aniy and Nick Mulvey complete the line—up on percussion. but their arriiriiii‘, an, features the instrument that has become such a signature of their enseiiiiile mom/1
Both play ‘hang'. a percussion instrument that has been said to resemble a muSical flying saucer. as well as a more scphisticated (1(3‘.’Q|C[)ft‘.(;l‘l of the steel drum (or panl familiar in Caribbean music. It is the creation of a Swiss duo, Felix ROhner and Sabina Scharer. collectively known as Panart. The name ‘nanq' apparently means ‘hand' in Bernese dialect. and indicates the prescribed method of playing it. The instrument is made exclusixeiy b, Panart in Berne. and you can't just buy one - they reouire prospective Customers to write requesting an initiation to the workshop. where they are scnitinised as to their suitability.
The Portico players got the thumbs up. and Will make their Scottish debut here. shared With another highly-rated London band. the Basouiat Strings. They are an unconventional string quintet plus a familiar drummer — the mighty Seb Rochford — one of two Scots in the band iviolinist Vicky Fiiield being he otheri. I’ll be hanged if it shouldn't add up a night of fresh and iconoclastic music. iKenn, Mathiesonj
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7.1—2“, Pet, 2’13“, THE LIST 57