www.list.co.uk/music Punch & the Apostles
Record Reviews Music
would be to miss a trick. A grower. (Mark Edmundson) SCOTTISH AMERICANA FINDLAY NAPIER AND THE BAR ROOM MOUNTAINEERS Out All Night (Kormac/Cadiz) ●●●●●
This debut from the Back of the Moon, Croft No. Five and Celtic Connections stalwarts is a peculiarly natural Scottish Americana that weaves traditional Scots instrumentation with an altogether wider influence, exemplified by the oddly inconspicuous use of funk keys. The local folk flavours win out with classic storytelling seeped in spit, sawdust and whisky, delivered in Napier’s fine Gallic burr, but the blend brings to mind the journey Celtic music took through the frontier into the roots of American country. It makes for unmistakably Scottish folk music but with a sophistication that distances itself from your average pub sing- along and marks the Bar Room Mountaineers out for distinction. (Mark Edmundson) ALTERNATIVE POST- ROCK Y’ALL IS FANTASY ISLAND No Ceremony (Wise Blood Records) ●●●●●
From the deepest darkest depths of Falkirk (and Glasgow), singer- songwriter Adam Stafford and his fine band of musicians unleash their third excellent, self-financed album. Marking a significant
change of direction (actually, it’s more like they’re going in every direction) No Ceremony contrasts Kurt-punk grunge (particularly evident on ‘Consider Yourself Swallowed’), the Fugazi-like ‘With Handclaps’, the more reflective and mournful ‘Jack Montgomery’ and the punkabilly ‘Wreck on
the Highway Boy’. They deliberately, playfully toy with scores of influences, but that’s no bad thing. If heard ‘properly’ by the right people, Y’all Is Fantasy Island could be big by 2010. Until then, go see them live. (Martin C Strong) INDIE BELLE AND SEBASTIAN The BBC Sessions (Jeepster Records) ●●●●●
From Tigermilk to their most recent set, The Life Pursuit (2006), Belle and Sebastian have spent a decade establishing themselves as the purveyors of sublime post-Nick Drake indie tweeness. These delightful, if not overwhelming BBC sessions collected from Mark Radcliffe, Steve Lamacq and John Peel’s shows between 1996- 2001 showcase the essence of the B&S live experience: efficacious, charming and never faultless.
Stand-out tracks
include an effervescent ‘Like Dylan in the Movies’ and an excellent take on ‘Stars of Track and Field’, while trainspotting superfans (and they have many) should note that the versions of ‘The Magic of a Kind Word’ and ‘Nothing in the Silence’ were among the band’s last recordings with Isobel Campbell. The deluxe double-CD
edition also includes a ‘Live In Belfast’ recording from Christmas 2001, featuring eclectic cover versions, live favourites and special guests. (Martin C Strong)
11 Dec 2008–8 Jan 2009 THE LIST 77
INDIE VARIOUS Glasgow School Of Art Goes Pop (Art Goes Pop) ●●●●●
With such recent exports as The Pigeon Detectives and Kaiser Chiefs, it’s no wonder the smart new music-lovers of Leeds are looking elsewhere for the really interesting stuff. In celebration of some of Glasgow’s finest young noiseniks, widely respected label Art Goes Pop have tenderly pieced together this magnificent collection; and from post rock attacks to garagey psych pop, infectious tweecore, electro punk, eccentric electronica and ramshackle folk, every possible taste is catered for. Of course, probably not all of it will be to your liking, but it’s clear from the thrilling selection on display that Scotland’s West Coast scene has never sounded more innovative. Kicking off with the gritty, skew-whiff riffs and
clever lyrics of ‘I.S.O.S.C.E.L.E.S’ by – you guessed it – Isosceles, the opening track provides one of the record’s first real treats, with other highlights coming thick and fast in the form of
Punch & the Apostles’ compelling dark waltz ‘Neuf Janvier’, the glorious ‘Cressida’ by C86-lovers The Low Miffs and a nihilistic scuzz-fest ‘Five For You’ by Clean George.
And the second half is just as good. It all gets
wildly surreal with Yoko, Oh No! and Bruce McClure’s ‘Crystal Crocodile’ – a rather delicious blip bleep pop offering which features some incredibly strange ramblings about granny undergarments and French fancies (but not together), followed by another smattering of standout efforts including Zoey Van Goey’s sublime ‘Two White Ghosts’, ‘Lucas’ by spiky art punk bunch Nacional, Orphans’ frantic racket ‘Learned Orifice’ and the chiming indie of Jack Butler’s ‘Surgery 1984’. Of course there are notable omissions; there’s
no Sexy Kids, Dananananaykroyd, Findo Gask, Frightened Rabbit or Dolby Anol for starters, but Glasgow School Of Art Goes Pop proves there’s so much more to the city than your average pub rock stompalong, fey corduroy-wearers or arch pop- fops. That’s right Franz, Fratellis and Glasvegas – watch your backs. (Camilla Pia)
on accordion, and the ubiquitous Martin O’Neill on bodhran. The 40-minute suite is
made up of five compositions, drawing on local sources in Mull for inspiration. The third track, ‘Tobar Nan Eilein’, is a poem written and read for the project by Gaelic bard Aonghas MacNeacail. O’Rourke’s music – both his writing and playing – is unfailingly strong and imaginative, and his collaborators respond with equally compelling performances from all concerned. (Kenny Mathieson)
more contemporary and exploratory musical sensibility. That is reflected even in the line-up, in which he is joined by jazz saxophonist Phil Bancroft (in commanding form), eclectic harpist Catriona McKay, his even more eclectic band mate from Lau, Martin Green,
BRAZILIAN MATH-FOLK BLUES JAMES ORR COMPLEX Com Favo (Rock Action) ●●●●● Having relocated to São Paulo, Christopher Mack’s follow up to Chori’s Bundle doesn’t immediately suggest any discernable favella- sourced inspiration.
Indeed, there is nothing immediate about what might be mistaken for another Glaswegian finger-plucking, string- bending workshop. Thus Com Favo sets out with more folky-blues guitar, fittingly complex structures and intermittent, contrary and barely-there vocals. Only as the songs progress do the occasional Latin percussion and rabeca sneak forward in the mix to hint at Brazilian folk influence alongside Nascimento-esque wordless vocals. To dismiss the album on sixth listen might be easy and understandable but