Cat man do
From post-punk seditinnary to Bad Seed to film soundtracker, Barry Adamson has never stood still. Now he's on his first ever tour. Neil Cooper gets the lowdown
arry Adamson is making his pitch. The yyay the composer. crooner. e\-.\laga/ine and Bad Seeds bassist and mm bigtishl band leader tells it regarding his forthcoming eighth album. Hut-It to I/It' ('ur. though. sounds like making movies. But then. the absorbed iconography ol‘ a million first-generation pulp liction llicks has always liltered into Adamson‘s back-
catalogue. 'l‘itles like .lloss Side Story" and 'limrr'rre of
the S/m'n'rl cast arch little clues ol‘ the noir-l'layour'ed narratives yvithin. ()n the eye ol‘ .-\damson's l'irst ey er tour. the action goes like this:
‘There’s panoranm.‘ he says. ‘and big ideas. but it's taking a small point of yieyy. 'l‘here’s the cat as an outsider. living off scraps and his yvitsf
Back to the ('ur is a restless. l‘reshened-up burst ol‘
vintage alter-hours apparel. l5rom \yarped Rat Pack swing and filthy-sounding bump'n'grind. gears shill tor yvicka-yvacka car chase instrumentals. Vegas-era lilyis anthems. sloyv soul heartbreakers and even the odd Beckism. all in livid. living colour.
‘There's more light and shade.' Adamson says of his latest opus. premiered at 2007's London Jan Festival. ‘I feel like I've been learning my craft. and can noyy let things go a bit more. Doing it onstage \vas a challenge. That.‘ he admits. ‘yvas the acid test.'
Crawling out of the shadoyys has been a long time coming. As a yvorking class black kid growing up in 1960s Moss Side. the Manchester ‘hood riy en by riots. drugs and guns. raw material \y as already piling up on Adamson‘s doorstep. Beyond the streets. the \yorld looked a yvhole lot more glamorous in yvidescreen.
‘I don‘t know how much such metaphors are
66 THE LIST 2“ Mar-TC ~\t‘r .‘JCS
‘I FEEL LIKE I'VE BEEN LEARNING MY CRAFT'
biography.‘ he conl'esses. 'but I could look otrt ol' Ill} \yintloyy in .\loss Side. and see the cat scurry ing around in the dark. 'l‘hen you'd yyatch a Bond lilm and end up creating your oyyn Billy l.iar liirittisy. lt \yas about making sense ol‘ the yyor'ld l‘or me. and \y hen I looked at my surroundings. I realised I could walk on one set and go onto another one. With all that grey ness. the smell ol’ \yashing lines. the loudness and the gr‘irnness. | kncyy l \youldn‘t be there long.’
Adamson studied graphic design bel'or'e ioining .\laga/ine. lloyyard l)e\oto‘s post-BLU/cocks shotgun marriage ol' sell-deil‘ying literacy and punk-prog—glam. 'l‘ellingly. an early B—side coy ered .lohn Barry's theme to (iii/illirrg't'r'. .-\darnson added his trademark gtrlping bass to Steve Stranch cyen glossier Visage. then
joined Nick ("Me's llt‘sl incarnation ol- the Bad Seeds.
.-\ yersion ol~ lilmer Bernstein‘s theme to The .l/rlll nil/r Illt' (in/(It'll .-lrnr. a l-lllll yylticlt put Sinatra on smack. ushered in a series ol' imaginary soundtracks. .-\damson eyentually scored l‘or real y ia .-\lison .v\nders’ (iris. l-oorl. Lot/ulna. l)ayid Lynch's l.mr Hie/rimy and contributions to the likes ol 'I’lrr' Burr/I. \oyy. beyond Back In I/Ic' (ill. [llls singular auteur ltltll\\ set It) break coy er \y ith a moy ie ol~ his oyy n.
'The script's all there.‘ .-\damson says or his forthcoming short. '.\'oyy \ye inst need to make it happen. I alyyays think I'll go back to .\lanchester one day and make a killer moyie. but it‘s changed st) much there mm H] haye to rebuild the set trom scratchf
Barry Adamson plays Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Tue 1 Apr; Oran Mor, Glasgow, Wed 2 Apr.
Guitar Shorty, The Aliens and Found lho trrs‘t Ill .1 sorter; :il ownts h: )f3l(?(l t». Hullort Rotation has six string l(}t](‘l‘.tl Guitar Short. rptcturtetlr topping a hrl wrth his riotous ltltPtTil'lr‘
llltlttf§ alongside It Will .‘rarrt krntlr‘orl spirits, in arnplo support /'~./1aggrt2r‘yr‘av:;. (,Er'asgrrra, ihu to Apr. rHocA a Popr
Lau Three of folks: pioneering spirits Aidan O'Rourke, Martin Green and Kris; Drover some inventive interplay. (:ornpollrng tunes and breathtaking llltlSltlllelSltlt). SM: preview. page (.38. ()uoon's / /._'r//, Ear/rhurgh, Hru 2/ Mar; To/hooth, Stir/mg, /9r/ [)8 Mar; CCA. Glasgow. [ho Apr. rfolr,
An evening with Aidan John Moffat A rnrx of nrusrr: poetry and general saucy goodness including highlights from hrs new spoken word album / Carr near Your l-Ieart. See Last Word. page 104, tor more. Arches, G/asgow, fire 1 Apr. rRock 8 Pop)
Barry Adamson See preview, left. Voodoo Rooms. Edinburgh, lire 7 Apr; Oran Mor; Wed 2 Apr. (Rock 8 Pop)
Elbow A hand making mUSlC llllS timeless. infectious. blackly humorous. Charming. hegurlrng and eprr; should really he deser‘rrng of a feature in this fine mag. no? Well. best get yourself down to page 20 for more on their genius. ABC, G/asgow. Friday 4 Apr. (Rock 8. Pop)
Quinn Lowse Ournn's preCOCrOUS electro pop Outfit kick Off a Tune Up? tour Of Scotland wrth therr biggest show to date before heading for a taunt round the ‘erd8 of the northern outposts of Scotland. C/assm: Grand. G/asgow. Wed 9 Apr. (Rock 8 Poor
Future of the Left Weird and vrrry, wrry post-punk diatrrhes from this Welsh power trio. born out of the ashes of sarcastrc rock gods Mclusky. Stereo. Glasgow, Wed 9 Apr.
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