HALLOWE’EN
4 Hear some hauntological sounds... Sheffi eld’s Eccentronic Research Council, featuring actress Maxine Peake, combine vintage electronics with spoken word to make a heady brew exploring the 1612 Pendle witch trials. When better to perform it than on Hallowe’en alongside the National Galleries’ Witches & Wicked Bodies exhibition?
I n recent years, the term hauntology has emerged to describe the strand of music and art that recycles its own semi-recent history. Built on shared memories of a particularly British past, and the refusal of the present to resemble the future we were promised, it mines every ounce of eeriness it can from 1970s public information i lms, the BBC radiophonic workshop, abandoned military buildings and old sci-i i lms. If early proponents Coil, Boards of Canada, Broadcast and Burial helped set the blueprint, recent contributors The Outer Church (see interview and mixtape, page 80), Ghost Box Records and Lancastrian duo Demdike Stare use the same approach to explore more literally haunted territory – the occult, witchcraft and paganism. Shefi eld’s Eccentronic Research Council swim in these same fertile waters, and their 1612 Underture album takes the Pendle witch trials as its subject matter. With a palette combining primitive electronic drums with wibbly synth lines, it’s unmistakably the Sound of Shefi eld (The Human League circa 1979), but with a drenching of reverb and i eld recordings to add to the moody atmosphere. Birdsong has never sounded so oppressive. Helmed by Adrian Flanagan and Dean Honer (formerly of The All Seeing I), the third element is the thick Bolton burr of Maxine Peake, whose acting career includes roles in Silk, Dinnerladies, The Village and Shameless. Describing their sound as ‘Post-1612 ghosts on pre-1977 analogue synthesisers’, you’d think it would be a tall order using the latter to create the atmosphere of the former. ‘These synths have become the folk instruments of the electronic age,’ explains one- time Fall mucker Flanagan. ‘We see and hear things through the same naive futuristic eyes and ears of the i rst electronic pioneers of the 50s and 60s. Juxtapose that with the attitude of grumpy 17th century Northern English Outsiders and you’re getting close.’ If the punning name wasn’t enough to state their tongue-in-cheek stance, there’s Kraftwerk homage ‘Autobahn 666’, a hymn to the A666 that runs from Salford into darkest Lancashire. Later still, a track exploring herbalism rhymes ‘carrot’ with ‘16th century Holland and Barratt’. It might be playful, but it’s not frivolous. Strong parallels are drawn between the persecution of the ‘undesirables’ in the Pendle witch families and the modern day demonisation of the working class.
‘This
government
the poor, the sick and are the demonising the disabled, continues unemployed,’ Flanagan. ‘I can see why Scotland wants independence. I think the whole nation wants it right now.’
show, It’s been suggested that this among Hallowe’en the paintings of the current National Galleries’ exhibition Witches & Wicked Bodies, could be one of the project’s i nal live outings, so catch it before it goes the way of all l esh. (Hamish Brown) ■ Hallowe’en: By Night at National Galleries of Scotland, Thu 31 Oct, 7.15pm, £12 (includes entrance to the Witches & Wicked Bodies exhibition).
18 THE LIST 17 Oct–14 Nov 2013
5
Head to one of these ghastly parties... We all know nothing could beat the Hallowe’en Party from Hocus Pocus
(come on, it’s Bette Midler singing ‘I Put A Spell On You’). All we can do is make some feeble attempts to replicate its awesomeness. Take your pick from these i ve Hallowe’en parties which attempt to
do just that.
FRIGHT NIGHT! If your idea of a good Hallowe’en do is donning some creepy get-up and reciting some classic Poe and Dickinson, head over to Edinburgh’s Scottish Poetry Library, where you can expect games, music and spooky movies galore. Scottish Poetry Library, Edinburgh, Thu 31 Oct.
THE PARTY MONSTER HALLOWE’EN BALL
Celebrate Hallowe’en and Glasgay! festival at the same time at this spooktacular party. Taking place at Glasgow’s AXM, the ball comes courtesy of Manchester queer club Bollox and resident drag disco divas Menergy.AXM, Glasgow, Sat 26 Oct.
OPTIMO ESPOOKIO
Back for another year, Glasgow club veterans Optimo are sure to deliver a night of nonstop genre-bashing tunes. There’s also the small matter of the fancy dress contest and coveted Hallowe’en Cup. Think you have what it takes? Sub Club, Glasgow, Fri 1 Nov.
TEVIOT HOUSE OF HORRORS This EUSA-organised event seems to have it all: fancy dress, live music, a DJ set from a previously successful band (in this case, Maximo Park). There’s even a £100 prize for Best Dressed to help one poor student with the weekly shopping after spending their student loan at the Jagermeister bar. Teviot Row
House, Edinburgh, Thu 31 Oct.
PAWS HALLOWE’EN BALL
This special event is organised and headlined by Glasgow surf punk trio PAWS and will also include performances from Halfrican, Sharptooth and Secret Motorbikes. When was the last time you played bobbing for apples at a rock gig? Well, this is your chance. Garnethill Multicultural Centre, Glasgow, Fri 1 Nov.
(Nina Glencross)