PltEVlEEW INDIE BODIES OF WATER Captain’s Rest, Glasgow, Fri 3rd Oct
It slipped by largely unnoticed. but iii second offering A Certain Feeling. released in July, Bodies Of Water calmly and quietly came up with one of this year's most beguiling records. Consisting of a husband and wife duo plus various family friends. the LA outfit are inspired by everything from 191105; gospel quartets to punk. folk. prog. tropicalia and — perhaps most bi/arrely — musical theatre. and when we speak to band leader principal songwriter Dawd Metcalf he explains how the whole glorious shebang came about.
'l'd been recording songs in my closet for years and when Meredith and I got married we decided to play them for people. So we recruited a bunch of friends. started out gtiite casually and over the space of a year began to increasingly devote more and more time and energy to it.' Written. arranged and recorded iii the couple's Highland Park home. ‘with equipment and amps all over the living room. bedrooms and the kitchen.‘ this latest effort is an incredibly spiritual listen. driven by scratchy guitars. organs. choral harmonies. horns and strings. It sOLinds a bit like The Arcade Fire. except (whisper it) more interesting.
The album is a stormer from start to finish. but its live that these compelling songs really spring to life; Metcalf describes the experience with a chuckle as 'an emotional connection with the crowd. as long as the venue isn't filled \vitli deadbeats'. Willi a forthcoming Glasgow date marking a rare Scottish visit for Bodies Of Water. the right components should ensure that it makes for something rather special indeed. (Camilla Piai
PREVlEW ELECTRO JAMES PANTS Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Thu 9 Oct
Now if you reckoned Arctic Monkeys was a ridiculous moniker, try James Pants for size. Being named after an undergarment, however, hasn’t stopped critics and bloggers falling over each other to heap shed-loads of praise on this smart multi-instrumentalist/producer/DJ and unabashed fiber-geek. And for once it’s well deserved, as one listen to funky and addictive debut Welcome proves. Mixing synths, guitars and sick beats, the record takes in all manner of influences from 805 soul and hip hop, to electro, new wave, post punk and disco - kind of like Calvin Harris, but good.
Describing his creations as ‘fresh beat’ - that’s dance music with a slow tempo to you and me — Pants (it never gets any easier to digest) claims to have first been discovered by his hero, Peanut Butter Wolf, after going to see him play on his prom night in Texas, 2001. The Spokane, Washington-based chap had been unsuccessfully learning to scratch to Steppenwolf records and playing drums in marching bands before then, and following the aforementioned fateful encounter with the well-respected DJ and hip hop producer, an internship at the highly acclaimed Stones Throw was set up - a label that has been responsible for bringing us pioneers like MF Doom, Madlib and J Dilla over the years - and the rest, as they say, is history.
Fancy dress and dim sum, foliage and white flares; unusual yet killer combos. And you can catch Pants featuring them in typically eccentric style in the amazing videos for ‘Cosmic Rapp’ and ‘We’re Through’, or even better see the super talented oddball perform the tracks up close when he pays Edinburgh a visit, flanked by full band at this forthcoming live date. Don’t miss it. (Camilla ‘Petticoats’ Pia)
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INl)ll ROCK WHITE LIES King Tut’s, Glasgow, Fri 3rd Oct
No money. nights drawuig in. a new Kaiser Chiefs record on the way . . . There's a lot of stuff to sob about these days. and while you're at if you'd better add White Lies to the list. When the brooding Buniiynieii-esgue West London trio (formerly known as Fear of Flyingi put on their first show to family and friends there were tears-a—pleiity. and as frontman Harry McVeigh explains during some rare time off. it's all down to the way they perform.
‘The best moments we've had as a band have been during gigs. We've put iii so much work on our live shows. Before that first gig we spent five or six months rehearsing. which is unusual for a band these days. especially iii London. I guess now we really get into the songs iii a serious way when we play them and it's quite emotional and intense. It's our chance to connect with people iii a real way'
Willi a debut recorded in Brussels on the way iii January. full of dark "ock songs based around the themes of murder. madness. revenge. love. toss and death -- cheery stuff. eh? — McVeigh says he can't wait to hear what people make of il. ‘l guess it's like the calm before the storm for us at the moment but we all feel very positive about how everyonele react to the album. It's aiiia/iiig.' he adds. ‘We never thought a year and a half ago that we would ever be iii this position so we're going to really enioy it.‘ (Camilla Pia)
is} Oct L/‘L’CI-i THE LIST 63