list.co.uk/music Records – Singles & Live Reviews | MUSIC
SINGLES & EPS
JACQUES GREENE After Life, After Party EP (LuckyMe) ●●●●● Now a staple of the LuckyMe stable, young Montreal producer Jacques Greene here delivers another EP led by a track with an unmistakably upbeat tone. It rests first upon a swirling, welcoming house riff which reminds of none other than steel pans being bashed out, before hitting an insistent synth sound which is lovely and expansive, although maybe a little lightweight. The sparse, beautifully broken funk of ‘1 4 Me’ suggests a full album of Greene’s work would be useful context.
TUFF LOVE Dross EP (Lost Map) ●●●●● SIMPLE MINDS Let the Day Begin (Sony) ●●●●●
In a year when the Vaselines returned to the fray, it’s interesting to note that Glasgow finally appears to have alighted upon their closest musical descendants in female duo Tuff Love. Following their excellent ‘Junk’ EP earlier in the year, the pair are here with a five-track mini album which features a sublime piece of Californian psych-pop in the already- released ‘Slammer’, the loose punk- pop of ‘That’s Right’ and ‘Cum’s lazy grunge drawl. ■ Tuff Love launch the ‘Dross EP’ at Nice ’n’ Sleazy, Glasgow, Fri 6 Feb. Taken from their recent 16th album Big Music, this cover is a tribute to the late Michael Been, the original composer of the song for his band the Call in 1989. It’s a prime stadium anthem of the kind the Minds used to belt out at the dusk of the 1980s, soaring along on Jim Kerr’s raw tub-thump of a vocal, although those who have recently rediscovered this group’s sublime earliest years won’t find them recreated here. ■ Simple Minds play the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Tue 7 Apr.
HECTOR BIZERK The Bird That Never Flew EP (Self-released) ●●●●● In the year Scottish hip hop came of age, this five-track EP is lyrically razor-sharp and musically interesting, from the tenderness of the title track, the crunching polemic ‘People Make Glasgow’ and a cappella Referendum post-mortem ‘Eton Feast’. Yet it’s Liz Lochhead’s presence on ‘Trouble is Not a Place’ which deserves headlines, the song’s industrial tone dedicated to those who were ‘programmed not to gie fucks'. ■ soundcloud.com/hector-bizerk (David Pollock)
LIVE REVIEWS
Y E N E E W S N A R B
I
ELECTRONICA PIONEERS SILVER APPLES Stereo, Glasgow, Fri 28 Nov ●●●●● POP DEACON BLUE SECC, Glasgow, Mon 1 Dec ●●●●●
I A X E L A
EXPERIMENTAL / FOLK XYLOURIS WHITE King Tut’s, Glasgow, Wed 26 Nov ●●●●● METAL MASTODON O2 Academy, Glasgow, Wed 26 Nov ●●●●●
2014 may well be the year that finally validated those ‘biggest metal band in the world, ever!’ comments that have followed Mastodon for the past few albums, though tonight showed that, even at their most stadium-rocktastic, there’s still plenty of what got them there in the first place. There’s a smooth progression between the band’s numerous phases; a streamlined segue from ‘High Road’s thuggish anthemism into the 20-fathom crush of ‘Aqua Dementia’. Troy Sanders is a splayed-limb
roarer determined to bring a touch of ZZ Top cool to prog, and between the effortless lead breaks of Brent Hinds and Brann Dailor’s octopoidal percussion, they inject even the most radio-friendly hook with an air of angular aggression. Though the sound tonight isn’t at its best, there’s plenty of kick where needed, and it would take a catastrophe to kill the showmanship of these four. It’s big, it’s clever and it’s probably going to get even bigger in years to come. (Dave Bowes)
11 Dec 2014–5 Feb 2015 THE LIST 97
These days, Simeon, the enigmatic founding / sole surviving member of Silver Apples, looks like a craggy character from a Coen Brothers or David Lynch film who has just emerged from decades in his desert bunker lab with the sound of the future – or what was the sound of the future in the late 1960s, when he first formed Silver Apples, and now comes across as a quaint vintage electronica timewarp.
His stage set-up is an analogue
anorak’s dream – a radiophonic tangle of homemade synthesizers from which he carves a charming blend of naive melodies and rhythms, hippyish incantations and the garnishing echo and oscillation which defines the Silver Apples sound.
Where once the duo rocked to a Krautrock groove, the current set dabbles, if sparingly, in some serious sub-bass and at least one meatier techno interlude – as suitable for a big festival crowd as a bijou basement gathering – but it’s the twee beats which get parts of the crowd bopping along. (Fiona Shepherd)
Deacon Blue make this cavernous venue feel intimate during this (adopted) hometown gig. Ross is a compelling frontman; his voice has lost none of its soulful intensity over the 20-odd years since the band’s debut album, Raintown. Nor has Lorraine Macintosh, whose vocal ivies around her husband’s, circling and hiccuping embellishments on ‘Twist and Shout’. Veteran virtuosos Giorgos Xylouris and Jim White (of the Dirty Three) are a commanding and welcome presence, all big hair and smart casual. On a stage capable of holding five times their simple combo of Cretan lute and drums, they transport King Tut’s to the heart of the Mediterranean, via Brooklyn and Melbourne.
Tracks from this year’s A New House After the first touches of White’s
slot in seamlessly. The title track is classic DB; subtle, hi-hat heavy verses open out into skyscraping choruses. Songs from Fellow Hoodlums and Raintown bring the crowd to their feet, particularly ‘Real Gone Kid’ – such an unlikely anthem, with its cumulation of vocal riffs and tics that culminate in the weird chorus line of ‘I’ll do what I should have did’.
drums and Xylouris’ lauto, the crowd are soon lost in a wash of sheer instrumental joy. The traditional melodies of Xylouris’ homeland meld with open-ended improvisation, fusing countless genres and tempos, plus unexpected riffs one would rarely expect from such a delicate instrument. At times they are practically shredding.
Encores include ‘Dignity’ and a It’s a genuine pleasure to watch;
surprisingly post-punky reading of Springsteen’s ‘Working on the Highway’, which wouldn’t have sounded out of place at a Devo concert. (Alex Neilson) ■ See list.co.uk for a longer version. more so as the venue descends into a Cretan circle pit, including wonderful, spontaneous traditional dancing. This is an experience shared in great and unusual company. (Ryan Drever) ■ See list.co.uk for a longer version.