MUSIC list.co.uk/music
ABOUT SOUND AND VISION This year’s typically strong music strand in the GFF includes pervy old men, gothic cathedrals and small-hours storytelling. Words: Malcolm Jack
G lasgow Film Fesival 2013 can barely wait to expose its music and film strand delights, with the hotly-anticipated Jane Birkin’s Songs of Serge providing a pre- festival pulse-quickener. A rare and intimate live performance by Serge Gainsbourg’s former muse will see her reinterpret some of the dirty old man of Gallic pop’s finest numbers, following a screening of her film Souvenirs of Serge, a revealing portrait of the ‘Je T’aime . . . Moi Non Plus’ pair’s saucy and stormy 13-year romance.
Come the February main event, another must-see is a film made as part of the award- winning Whatever Gets You Through the Night multimedia art project – a collection of wee-small-hours stories-in-song, curated by director Cora Bisset, playwright David Greig and electro-pop band Swimmer One. The latter will also appear in concert, alongside Rachel Sermanni, Wounded Knee and Big Taj. In the live music-accompanied screening stakes, Sheffield experimental ensemble Animat will put a distinctive spin on cult sci-fi/horror director John Carpenter’s 1974 debut Dark Star, while Ruth Paxton’s contemporary mood-piece Nevada will be
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sonically augmented by Scottish nu-folk trio Lau. Most dramatically, Carl Dreyer’s pioneering 1928 epic The Passion of Joan of Arc will be shown in the gothic surrounds of Glasgow Cathedral, to a haunting soundtrack from Irish composer Irene Buckley. Documentary standouts include In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey, a portrait of the influential American blues guitarist, followed by a set from Scottish freak- folkie Alasdair Roberts, and the Monorail Film Club-selected Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me, which precedes a musical celebration of the esteemed US power-pop band’s influence on Glasgow’s music scene. After Grandma Lo-Fi – the story of prolific Danish/Icelandic freak-pop pensioner Sigrídur Níelsdóttir – Tangles and other local lo-fi luminaries will showcase their homemade sounds. Finally, back by popular demand, it’s Popcorn II: Electric Boogaloo, a gathering of local bands to cover their favourite film themes, from the silly to the sublime, with free popcorn.
See page 12 for a Jeff Mills interview, as part of GMFF’s Sonic Cineplex, and page 96 for a preview on Auricle Ensemble. See glasgowfilm.org for info.
HITLIST THE BEST ROCK, POP, JAZZ & FOLK
✽ Dinosaur Jr. The pummelling rock and guitar-led ear butchery of J Mascis and co. See Five Reasons to Go See . . . page 80. The Arches, Glasgow, Wed 30 Jan. (Rock & Pop)
✽ Dan Deacon Experience the frantic electronic pop of Baltimore’s Dan Deacon. See interview, page 73. Stereo, Glasgow, Mon 11 Feb. (Rock&Pop)
✽ NME Awards Tour With 2012’s MIPs, Django Django plus Miles Kane, Palma Violets (pictured) and Peace! O2 Academy, Glasow, Mon 11 Feb. (Rock & Pop)
✽ Randolph’s Leap Glasgow’s eight- strong indie-folk posse, fronted by Adam
Ross. Support from Snowgoose and Jo Mango. Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 16 Feb. (Rock & Pop)
✽ Sonic Cineplex Techno legend Jeff Mills and krautrocker Dieter Mobius perform
live movie soundtracks, plus AV shows from goth-industrial duo Raime, Glasgow breakcore whizzkid Joe Howe and ambient-pop collective Remember Remember. See Jeff Mills interview, page 12. The Arches, Glasgow, Sat 16 Feb. (Rock & Pop/ Film)
✽ Celtic Connections The festival continues, with American singer/songwriter
Martha Wainwright; Bulgarian choir, Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares; folk singer Becky Unthank – accompanying Lau accordionist Martin Green’s sideshow Crows’ Bone, and more. Various venues, Glasgow, until Thu 3 Feb. (Celtic Connections)
✽ Auricle Ensemble – The City A 1930s American documentary gets the
live soundtrack treatment. See preview, page 96. Summerhall, Edinburgh, Mon 28 Jan; Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Sun 17 Feb. (Classical)