{MUSIC} Previews
WARPAINT Rock depths and pop heights are reached by the LA foursome
Warpaint’s dream-warped modus operandi goes something like this: they lure you into an indie-rock reverie, nag at your heartstrings with gauzy nostalgia, interweave magic with silvery guitars – then haul your ass onto the dancefloor.
Take last year’s single, ‘Undertow’, for example – lifted from their mesmeric debut album, The Fool (Rough Trade). It spends its first two minutes pulling you under its gentle, choral spell – all 4AD washes, woozy riffs and 80s-flick dream sequences – before whipping the gossamer hammock from under you with a post-punk bass-line and brawny drum-beat that’s snappy, smart and made for dancing. And that is how the LA four-piece work their iridescent charms.
Their eponymous new single takes this dramatic tussle between lush rock and tribal rhythms – between blissful and disquieting – further. It’s enhanced by a video that pits our deadbeat day-to-day against the fathomless lure of the underworld, as they are dragged from their humdrum existence and plummeted into the ocean – ballgowns, china tea-sets and all. Warpaint’s long-held mission to be ‘going for an overall underwater mood’ has never been more apparent.
Formed in 2004, and following several personnel changes plus a dalliance with the LA mainstream (RZA went to their shows; one of them dated a Red Hot Chili Pepper; their original drummer, Shannyn Sossamon, is a Hollywood actress), Warpaint have settled on a line-up that is greater than the sum of its (terrific) parts: long-term friends Emily Kokal (vocals/guitar), Theresa Wayman (vocals/guitar) and Jenny Lee Lindberg (bass/vocals) are joined by percussive powerhouse Stella Mozgawa on drums.
If the combination of Siouxsie and The Cocteaus floats your boat on record, (their 2008 EP, Exquisite Corpse, is also notable), then Warpaint’s live show truly conquers: they delve rock depths, and scale pop heights, and produce something akin to euphoria. (Nicola Meighan) ■ Queen’s Hall, 668 2019, 23 Aug, 8pm, £19, part of The Edge.
BERT JANSCH Returning folk hero, pal of Neil Young and Devendra Banhart SEBADOH Alt-rock pioneers
One of the great acoustic guitarists, Bert Jansch comes to Edinburgh fresh from an American tour with Neil Young and a London show with folk-jazz supergroup The Pentangle. Jansch has been doing an annual Festival show since the mid-90s, touching base with his hometown. During the height of the folk revival at the turn of the 60s, Jansch was ‘resident guitar teacher cum janitor and odd job man’ at a bar called The Howff. ‘I used to hang out with Robin Williamson and Clive Palmer of the Incredible String Band,’ Jansch tells The List. L A V I T S E F
When Lou Barlow was kicked out of noisemongers Dinosaur Jr. in the late 80s he was hardly going to sit idly by as they milked the burgeoning alt-rock cash cow without him. No, instead, Barlow, along with friends Eric Gaffney and Jason Loewenstein, set about testing the strengths of his own songwriting and firmly took the reins of his long-time side- project, Sebadoh. Over eight albums, Sebadoh carved their own niche deep into the modern rock landscape, steadily winning over fans throughout the 90s with their own scuzzy mix of rich hooks, witty lyricism and barbed-wire noise.
‘They used to run a club there called the Crumb After 1999’s The Sebadoh, though, things slowed
Bar. There was a lot going on. I saw so many people play, like [Scottish folk singers] Hamish Imlach and Archie Fisher. At the age of 16 I saw all that stuff. It encouraged me.’
Jansch’s 2006 album Black Swan saw him work with the likes of Devendra Banhart and Espers. He’s glad to see younger generations discovering folk and acoustic music. ‘It proves this music has a value, a worth,’ he says. ‘All music is basically folk music when you think about it.’ (Stewart Smith) ■ Queen’s Hall, 668 2019, Sat 20 Aug, 7pm, £19 (£17).
down considerably. Barlow branched out with The Folk Implosion and eventually rejoined Dinosaur Jr in between releasing solo material. However, recent classic album reissues have thankfully brought this most influential trio back in from the cold and this month will see Barlow, Loewenstein and Bob D’amico (Fiery Furnaces) – make a welcome return to Scotland. As so many young bands continue to rip off our 90s pioneers, don’t miss your opportunity to catch the real deal. (Ryan Drever) ■ Cabaret Voltaire, 220 6176, 24 Aug, 7pm, £15, sebadoh.com
60 THE LIST 18–25 Aug 2011
ETHOMETRIC MUSEUM A world of sound, where science meets music
Enter Ray Lee’s Ethometric Museum and be transported to a science fiction world of cosmic tones and esoteric technology. ‘Ethometric instruments represent the pinnacle of the little known – and some would say questionable – science of Ethometric Oscillation,’ explains Lee. ‘They produce what are described in the 1973 catalogue of Ethometric Instruments Ltd as “harmonically resonant sound and electromagnetic waves”. I am fascinated by them because they are wonderfully appealing, mysterious and utterly compelling objects that make extraordinary sounds. How they work is shrouded in mystery.’ Sound artist Lee created the award-winning Siren,
a large-scale installion which toured the world and came to Edinburgh in 2007. Ethometric Museum, however, offers a more intimate experience for the audience: ‘You are up close to the machines and it’s almost as if you are inside the performance as it takes place around you. I hope that visitors will share my sense of wonder at these mysterious machines as they whir, hum, spin and create their ethereal sound world.’ (Stewart Smith) ■ Hill Street Theatre, 226 6522, 19–28 Aug (not 22), 1.30pm, 3pm, 4.30pm, 6pm, £9.00 (£7.50).