list.co.uk/music Previews | MUSIC
LABEL NEWS FROM THE FENCE LABEL RUNNER/MUSICIAN JOHNNY LYNCH PICTISH TRAIL Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh, Sat 24 Aug, with support from Monoganon POP SPOOF/COMEDY THE RUTLES Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh, Tue 27 Aug
‘I joined Fife’s Fence Records full time in 2003. I’d released my first Pictish Trail recordings on the label the previous year, and suddenly found myself organising all-day gigs in the local pub, and moonlighting on wonky-electric guitar in King Creosote’s live band. KC, who founded Fence in ’97, was being courted by Domino and Warner Brothers then – so I held the fort, as it were. Ten years have gone by, and I’ve managed the label, while doing my own
thang as PT. It’s been an amazing journey. The past 18 months have been our strongest and busiest – innovative album releases, weird EP subscriptions, and brainwarping live events. KC retired from Fence last year, and I ran things from my caravan on Eigg. After much deliberation, I’ve decided it’s best to continue the label under a new name. Fence was a Fife thing, and now I’ve left, it feels right to close that chapter on a high. Start something fresh with the momentum and goodwill we’ve built up. So, allow me introduce Lost Map – the new home for Pictish Trail, Rozi Plain, Randolph’s Leap, eagleowl, Kid Canaveral, Seamus Fogarty, and Monoganon. I’m proud to be part of it, and there are more names to come. Our first release is F A M I L Y, an album of woozy delight by Monoganon; imagine a drunken trip into a forgotten forest. It sounds like that. The idea behind Lost Map is to reawaken a sense of discovery with music; expect secret releases in unexpected formats, and intimate hidden gigs. Each will have longitude / latitude catalogue numbers; some will be easy to find, others need cartographical persistence. The first direction is simple, though. Sign up to our mailing list to get a free seven-track sampler. Hope you find us!’ ■ See lostmap.com for more info.
This the story of four Liverpool lads who shook the world. From humble beginnings in the Cavern Club, the Rutles achieved huge fame, played to screaming hordes at Che Stadium (named after that famous Cuban revolutionary . . . Che Stadium) and turned the world on to the pleasant effects of tea with masterpiece album Sgt Rutter’s Only Darts Club Band. The Prefab Four (Ron Nasty, Dirk McQuickly, Stig O’Hara and Barry Wom) may have disbanded acrimoniously in 1970, but songs such as ‘Hold My Hand’ and ‘Cheese and Onions’ remain beloved classics the world over. Now the band have reformed, pop-pickers can relive the glory days of Rutlemania. The bizarro-world narrative of Neil Innes and Eric Idle’s Beatles spoof, the
Rutles, is a comic masterpiece. The 1978 mockumentary, All You Need Is Cash, is a counter-factual romp, bursting with daft puns and glorious music. The Maharishi Yogi becomes Arthur Sultan, the Surrey Mystic; classic albums include Please Rut Me and Tragical History Tour. Neil ‘Ron Nasty’ Innes’ songs, however, are the film’s greatest achievement; pitch-perfect pastiches – often as good as the real thing. ‘I Must Be In Love’, with sublimely banal lyrics (‘I feel good, I feel bad, I feel happy, I feel sad’), is an utterly joyous homage to 'A Hard Day’s Night', while ‘Let’s Be Natural’ distils the White Album into a dreamy psychedelic ode. An ex-member of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and a Monty Python acolyte, Innes has revived the Rutles several times, without Idle. This time, he says, really is the last time, so ‘Twist and Rut’ your way to the Liquid Rooms to hear Ron and co unleash their hair and their noise. (Stewart Smith)
BOUTIQUE MUSIC FESTIVAL DOUNE THE RABBIT HOLE Duncarron Valley, Stirlingshire, Thu 22–Sun 25 Aug
The 2013 line-up for the festival in the Stirling countryside features pizza from a wood-burning oven, Perthshire wine, stalls, camping – and music from Rick Redbeard, Miaoux Miaoux, Trembling Bells, Lady North, and Highland singer Rachel Sermanni, who is rapidly becoming known for her brand of mesmerising acoustic folk. The List caught up with Rachel (left) on holiday in France . . . Where are you just now?
'Honfleur. The birthplace of Erik Satie. I’ve been burning the backs of my legs, sleeping with sea salt in my hair, waking sous les belles etoiles . . . it’s been a good holiday.’ You’re heading to Stirlingshire for Doune the Rabbit Hole. How are you feeling about it?
'It’s my first time. I’m excited. ‘Doune the Rabbit Hole’ spurs images of a grittier Alice in Wonderland . . . I like that.’ What makes Scottish festivals like Doune, Belladrum, Wick- erman etc, distinct from those of other countries?
'Perhaps the unpredictable weather; a sense of never knowing what to expect. The crowds are always good though.’ We understand you’re also a dab hand at prose, poetry and art. What’s your favourite way to express your creativity?
'I like when people do things and don’t think about whether they can do it or not. It’s childish and healthy. Doing creative stuff allows you to gauge how fearful you might be feeling. It’s also just really satisfying producing something. I don’t have a preferred form of expression. I’ve been doing this thing where I wake, write down my dream, then draw a frame from it. It’s really satisfying. I call them Freams.’
What’s the last dream you had…
'I was wrapping my legs around a coloured, glowing cuboid, diving off a platform with a person attached to my back and we were plunging into a strange night-lit swimming pool.' (Interview by Nina Glencross)
22 Aug–19 Sep 2013 THE LIST 65