www.list.co.uk/music
PREVIEW ALT-ROCK BLACK MOUNTAIN Oran Mor, Glasgow, Tue 14 Sep
From Vancouver they cometh, these kaleidoscopic rockers, wielding influences like King Crimson, Pentagram and ‘the house blowing up in the desert at the end of Zabriskie Point.’ Such variegated touchstones and many more – from jalapeno salsa to New Order – form the bedrock of Black Mountain’s third long-player, Wilderness Heart, out this month on Jagjaguwar (See Also Released, page 69). Helmed by singer and guitarist Stephen McBean –
also known for his alt-pop explorations under the guise of Pink Mountaintops – Black Mountain also comprises Amber Webber (vocals), Matt Camirand (bass), Jeremy Schmidt (keyboards) and Josh Wells (drums).
Their heavy, anthemic alt-rock is equal parts mainstream and underground; for every tour with Coldplay (they opened for Martin et al in 2005) or
Hollywood soundtrack (their song ‘Stay Free’ featured on Spiderman 3), there’s a Destroyer split-single or a timely reminder that the band all still hold down day jobs (several work for Insite, an organisation that supports the local homeless, drug-addicted and mentally ill). The Canadian quintet’s music is similarly underpinned
by contradictions: one minute they’re issuing acoustic lullabies (‘Sadie’), the next they’re unleashing psychedelic wig-outs (the title track). McBean has described Wilderness Heart as the band’s most metal and most folk oriented record so far (the speedball riffage and vocal melodrama of ‘Let Spirits Ride’ and the tambourine-weaving harmonies of ‘Buried by the Blues’ respectively support these claims).
Whether it’ll scale the critical heights of 2008’s Polaris award-shortlisted In The Future remains to be seen: either way, it’s fair to say that Oran Mor is set to rock. (Nicola Meighan)
PREVIEW INDIE REUNION THE VASELINES Bongo Club, Edinburgh, Wed 15 Sep; Oran Mor, Glasgow, Fri 24 Sep
The Vaselines’ three-point plan for cult success: step one, create some excellent, individual, perfectly of-its-time guitar pop music. Next, split up less than three years later, having released just one album and two EPs and created very few ripples outside your home city of Glasgow. Finally, await the public patronage of just about the biggest rock star in the world, reform to support his band in Edinburgh and watch as his label re-release your back catalogue to a global audience.
The Vaselines’ Eugene Kelly is philosophical about the fact they’ve been touted pretty much since their 1989 split as ‘Kurt Cobain’s favourite band’. ‘We can’t avoid that,’ he says. ‘If it wasn’t for him we’d be just another group who disappeared into obscurity.’ Instead, the link kept their reputation bubbling, even as Kelly went on to front Eugenius/Captain America and begin a solo career, and his partner in the band, Frances McKee, formed Suckle. At the time any thought of a reformation wasn’t so easy, given that the pair also went out with each other while they were in The Vaselines. ‘But we’d have to meet up to deal with record company things every so often,’ says Kelly, ‘and we would still get on well.’ Now, at long last, their cheekily-titled second album Sex With an X has appeared on Sub Pop, and it’s a complete success in that it sounds just like The Vaselines. This tour in support of it isn’t just an afterthought – with Belle and Sebastian guitarists Bob Kildea and Stevie Jackson and 1990s drummer Michael McGaughrin in the live band, Kelly points out: ‘We want to at least try and impress.’ And if it goes well? ‘We’re booked up to around the end of the year, and after that . . . well, let’s see how it goes.’ (David Pollock)
Music PREVIEW ALTERNATIVE FOLK CHARLIE PARR AND THE BLACK TWIG PICKERS/ISLAJA Charlie Parr and the Black Twig Pickers, CCA, Glasgow, Wed 15 Sep; Roxy Art House, Edinburgh, Sun 19 Sep. Islaja, Roxy Art House, Edinburgh, Wed 22 Sep
American bluegrass and Finnish free folk may not be the most obvious of bedfellows, but the appearance on two bills of such polar opposites within a week of each other demonstrates just how wide a net the Braw Gigs empire casts over Edinburgh. Where Charlie Parr (pictured) and The Black Twig Pickers will serve up an old-time yee-haw of backwoods fiddle and guitar-picking, Islaja, aka artist Merja Kokkonen, offers a more fractured and reflective keening from the great outdoors.
‘It’s a bit of a tough gap to bridge,’ Braw Gigs’ Master of Ceremonies Nick Herd admits, ‘but within reason, I’ve always felt that traditional and experimental performances can invoke similar emotional responses in open-minded audiences; a primordial reaction, so to speak. Variation is always good and it’s nice having the freedom to book bluegrass, Finnish avant-garde and Skullflower in the same month.’
While Islaja’s last appearance in
Scotland was as part of 2008’s Approximately Infinite Universe mix- and-match tour of the American and Finnish experimental underground, Parr’s grizzled blues were last heard on these shores in shows promoted by Tracer Trails. This show under the Braw Trails banner, which also features a rare solo outing for The Leg’s Dan Mutch, points up the spirit of co-operation inherent in Edinburgh’s DIY endeavours. ‘When we co-promote, it’s a good indicator of what to expect,’ explains Herd, ‘a nice grey area which keeps things intriguing for both the audience and us alike. It’s great not to be bogged down in genres and scenes constantly.’ (Neil Cooper)
9–23 Sep 2010 THE LIST 67