MUSIC list.co.uk/music
DEMDIKE STARE The Manchester electronic duo bring dark visuals and tense soundtracks
H ow unfashionable. Mancunian dark- electronic duo Demdike Stare hate feelgood music. In fact, they’d much rather steer their music in a malevolent, unsettling but ultimately mesmerising direction. Their previous releases (a clutch of around ten anxiety-making, drone and beat-driven records on Modern Love records, starting with Symbiosis in 2009, and more recently Test Pressing 1, 2 and 3) and live DJ sets for the likes of Boiler Room or Primavera festival are much more interested in pushing other buttons than the feelgood ones. The same ones that might be pushed by a claustrophic horror film, a dark Chicago house set, or even a pensive Arthur Russell record, for example.
Producers Sean Canty and Miles Whittaker are both fiendish collectors of rare films and vinyl, trawling Giallo horror, Detroit techno, African tribalism, Eastern mysticism, 90s hip hop, American jazz and Turkish psych for inspiration, so expect a dazzlingly doomy symbiosis of sound and vision for their two Scottish dates, where they will perform in front of a giant screen of creepy projections. (Claire Sawers) Demdike Stare & Nate Young play the Mash House, Edinburgh, Fri 13 Jun, and the Art School, Glasgow, Sat 14 Jun. See list.co.uk for an interview with Sean Canty.
68 THE LIST 12 Jun–10 Jul 2014
HITLIST THE BEST ROCK, POP, JAZZ & FOLK
✽ Remember Remember Graeme Ronald and co launch their new album
(see review page 73). Part of East End Social. New Dennistoun Parish Church, Glasgow, Fri 13 Jun.
✽ Demdike Stare See preview, left, and interview on list.co.uk. Mash House,
Edinburgh, Fri 13 Jun; The Art School, Glasgow, Sat 14 Jun.
✽ Television Reports from Primavera said this was a big highlight. The NYC rock act
play their wave-making 1970s debut album, Marquee Moon. ABC, Glasgow, Sat 14 Jun.
✽ Refugee Week Scotland A programme of talks on issues concerning asylum
seekers, plus live music from Young Fathers, Ubuntu South African Women’s Choir and Garnethill Multicultural Centre Women’s Choir. See preview, page 70. Various venues, Glasgow, Mon 16–Sun 22 Jun.
✽ The SAY Award Which Scottish album was the best of 2013? You’ll know the
judges’ choice by Thu 19 Jun, when they single out a winner. See sayaward.com for info.
✽ LeithLate A two-day explosion of mini gigs
and exhibitions around Leith, including music from Adam Stafford, Holy Mountain (pictured) and a Neu! Reekie! showcase. See preview, page 38. Various venues, Sat 21 Jun & Sun 22 Jun.
✽ Kelburn Garden Party Atom Tree, Halfrican, Miracle Strip and Ubre Blanca all play in the countryside, plus a DJ set from Wasabi Disco, and pyrotechnic and dance spectacles. For more Summer Festival picks, see list.co.uk. Kelburn Castle, near Largs, Fri 4–Sun 6 Jul.