PREVIEW REGGAE‘ GREGORY ISAACS Citrus Club, Edinburgh, Tue 20 May
Born in Kingston Jamaica in 1950. five years after Bob Marley. Gregory lsaacs' musical trajectory offers a fascinating counterpxnnt to the beloved Rastafarian intisician. While lsaacs' early inspirations came from Sam Cooke. Percy Sledge. Delroy \NtlSOli. Alton Ellis and Ken Boothe. he gave up a successful career as a carpenter and electrician to work ‘-.'.Iith producers Winston Sinclair and Rtipie EdWéirtiS and later musician Penro Bramweil in long forgotten combo The Concords. Save a few cherishable 455s i‘l Need Your Loving'. ‘Don't Let Me Sutfer'. these collaborations came to nothing. Isaacs realised it may be time to go solo.
Despite '.'.Iorking With the mighty Prince Buster on his first solo single 'Dancing Flooi”. Isaacs' star did not really start to shine until he establzshed his own African Museum record label in 1973. The rest is history as over a
PREVIEW PSYCl lEDE 1 IC ROCK MGMT The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Fri 9 May
A lot of bands take themselves too seriously, but not MGMT. For evidence. get yourself to YouTube and check out the Video for fantastic recent single ‘Time to Pretend. a song satirising the glamorous rock'n'roll myth. It's the most preposterous and hilarious psychr—zdelic melange this side of Woodstock: our favourite part is where the singer shoots a flaming arrow at the big flying sabre-toothed crab-monster and millions of dolphins fly out. Really.
The Brooklyn based five-piece. based around college pals Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser. have somewhat stumbled into the music business. and are having the time of their lives as a result. Having recorded a few demos together. VanWyngarden and Goldwasser went their separate \.'~./<'i\,’S. only to subsequently come to the attention of Steve Lillynxvhite. t'iber—producer and A&R man. who signed them to a six—figure. four—album deal With Columbia.
Cue much hype from the likes of Rolling Stone and 8pm. the making of a fantastic modern psychedelic country rock opus called Oracu/ar Spectacular Ias silly and brilliant as its title suggests). and a recent appearance on DaVid Letterman's show dressed in matching capes.
And so the nonsensecontinues. In a recent online QM. VanWyngarden described himself as ‘a Roman centurion trapped in a disorientating. all— en\.'e|oping futurescape'. then revealed that he'd like to die by sublimating on the sun's surface. Take that. ine Kooks. So. the retro-future is here to poke fun at rock'n'roll. it's dressed in Mad Max outfits and body paint. and it sounds ama/ing. Enjoy the trip. iDoug Johnstonel
sequence of sticcesstui albums. lsaacs began to corner the market wtth his
relaxed nasal stnging style. love- ballads and subtie pop songs of social protest.
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Though best known I". Europe for his hugely successful 198’ album Night Nurse and its much exploited tt'e track. lsaacs still found himselt beset bx. personal and legal problems around the time of its release and ‘.'.'as even iaiEed in Knigston's General Per‘rtentiary for a while. Since then lsaacs has generally made it his poficy to work with whoever '.'Jli| pay him The upshot of which has been some good and some flawed collaborations over the years ‘.'.’lIii King Jammy. t'iobby Digital. Steeiy & Clc-‘-.rie. Redman. Siy 8. Robbie. Gussie (Elark and King Ttibby.
This oneot't' gig is the first of a slew of classic reggae acts performing it] Scotland in coining 'nonths including future visitations from Ranking Roger Sound System. i uciano and the Jah Messenger Band but this is a pretty sensational start to proceedings as liVing dancehall legends really don't come much bigger than lsaacs.
(Paul Dalei
was. as
PREVIEW i ()l K
RACHEL UNTHANK
AND THE WINTERSET Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Fri 9 May; ABC, Glasgow, Sat 10 May
a song, so his praise is tremendbus.’ ‘
The band’s music is spare, often delicate, occasionally furious; taking traditional songs, sourced from their Northumbrian childhood and mixing them up with recent compositions, like those from the aforementioned Mr Wyatt and Will Oldhatfn, plus a few originals. The effect is breathtaking with intensely beautiful singing, often four off-kilter harmonies interwoven, backed by piano, cello, fiddle and the occasional stamp of a foot. The sister’s voices share a familiar north-eastern brogue, producing something that sounds rooted in English folk traditions but has an atmosphere and awkward, wayward spirit all its own.
Fresh from a St George’s Day concert organised by Billy Bragg — ‘we even met the little bloke from The Enemy, I was taller than him when I put on my heels. Lovely little fella, very charming‘ -— and are limbering up for a summer of festivals across Europe, including Glastonbury. ‘We were taken round all these folk festivals as kids and it was brilliant. We got to catch up with friends and hear all sorts of things and now we do it in our own right.’ (Mark Robertson)
It’s a decidedly domestic vibe at chateau Unthank when Rachel comes to the phone. ‘l’ve just been doing a bit of gardening and I had to go into town to pick up a new cello case,’ she chirrups. It may not be coke-on- the-cornflakes living but Rachel Unthank, who along with her singing younger sibling Becky, Niopha Keegan and newcomer Stef Conner make up the Winterset, have had a rapturous reception to their music that would befit any stadium rock god, especially, for their second album, 2007’s The Bairns.
‘We were totally blown away by the response,’ says Unthank about the feverish press excitement that has enveloped everyone from The Sun to The Telegraph via fRoots and Mojo. ‘The best was from Robert Wyatt though [whose song ‘Sea Song’ Becky sings on The Bairns]. He’s not someone whose music I grew up with but when I heard it I realised just what you can do with
74 THE LIST a ’22» Ma, yous