The online home of Beard, brought to you by young shavers Stewart Smith and Neil Jacques. Until 2007 we published a print zine, not to be confused with Bearded magazine. Now we exist online. We have a radio show too!
BEARD #6 still available through paypal from beardmag@yahoo.co.uk or at Monorail and Missing and (Glasgow), Analogue Books and Avalanche(Edinburgh), Rough Trade East (London), Edgeworld, Rounder and Resident (Brighton), One Up (Aberdeen)
Saddened to hear of the death of music press legend Steven Wells. My earnest teenage self was infuriated by his demolitions of whiney indie bands, but I eventually saw the funny side and realised that he was often right. As he says in his final column, why do society's most privileged feel their story is one worth telling? This rant for the Quietus may pick on an easy target (the egregious Los Campesinos) but the wider point about twee's political and cultural conservatism is bang on the money.
While Britpop/Cool Britiannia was in its ghastly back-slapping, self-deluding pomp, he was one of the few NME writers calling bullshit on the whole enterprise. He understood the importance of politics to culture, and his punk rock socialism and impassioned championing of multi-culturalism has had a big impact on me. Only last year, he wrote this funny, but angry, defence of immigration. In the light on BNP election gains, his piece is sadly all the more relevant and necessary.
While it's probably true he ran out of new things to say about music, it was still entertaining when one of his rants would wind up morons on the Guardian blog. I recall an amusing anti-guitar piece he wrote recently that suggested that the world's greatest guitarist was Richey Manic, 'cos his guitar wasn't plugged in. Cue "that doesn't even make sense" comments from humour-bypass idiots.
His accounts of his cancer treatment stand as his finest achievement: brutally honest, funny and touching. RIP Swells. Hope you're enjoying a ginger ale in heaven with Joey Ramone and Joe Strummer.
The final Beard radio of the term should be with you soon. Just waiting on the Subcity IT bods to fix some technical issues. We're going to be doing the odd podcast over the summer, however, so watch this space for further information.
I had a lovely time at Le Weekend. The hottest weekend of the year so far, expeditions up Dumyat, and some damn fine sets from Evangelista, Trembling Bells and the improv trio of John Edwards, Steve Noble and Alex Ward. Full review to follow this week.
This is a good opportunity to share some links. David Keenan doesn't quite declare Noise dead, but his impressions of the No Fun festival in New York are of a scene that is split between power electronic fundamentalists and more inventive artists who are taking Noise off in different directions. This has been going on for some time, with some quarters denouncing the post-Wolf Eyes wave of Noise, or even latter-day Whitehouse (laptops? How could they?). I enjoy a bracing Noise onslaught as much as the next man, but it's probably true that the all out approach of power electronics has had its day. And personally, I find that scene's nihilism and obsession with "transgression" to be tedious at best. In my Plan B review of Glasgow Implodes I barely mentioned any of the power electronics acts, simply 'cos they were pretty shit. A bloke sticks one hand down his pants and gropes the audience with the other, while his mate grimly crouches over some pedals = zzzzz. Vomir's set at least stuck to its anti-music/anti-performance principles - we were given black bin liners to put over our heads while a static scree played out - but other than make us feel a little claustrophobic, what was the point? Some sheep skull wielding doom metallers went down well, but I found them to be generic and uninspired, neither heavy nor seething enough. Doom acts like this are to Sunn 0)) and Asva what Slaughter & The Dogs are to PiL and The Slits. The stuff I did like at GI was the least power electronics oriented. While Atomized's set up was essentially power electronics, their twisted takes of 80s pop hits, where dying synths could be heard crying out amidst the blast furnace roar, made for a funny, but unsettling experience. Glasgow's Vom do heavy, hypnotic space rock better than most, while Skullflower, although very much part of the original noise/industrial scene possess a heady, psychedelic sensuousness that's a million miles from the stunted grunts of your power electronics conservatives. At the risk of raising the "our music always had a dance element" spectre, one of the more interesting developments in noise is the incorporation of electronic music. Louis Pattison's review of No Fun in the current Plan B describes Carlos Giffoni's set as bordering on acid house, while Frances Morgan, in the same issue, wonders if the laptop damaged cut ups of John Wiese have more in common with Venetian Snares than orthodox noise. Meanwhile you have Astral Social Club's psychedelic techno excursions (this year's Octuplex is a monster) and Leslie Keffer tentatively dropping in a thumping house beat to her set at Colour Out Of Space last year. While some noise fans will no doubt turn their noses up at such notions, noise and electronica share an interest in texture, dynamics and repetition, so these mutant strains make perfect sense. Another interesting development is where noise sidesteps aural assault to focus on atmosphere and disorientation: Aaron Dilloway's tape manipulations being an outstanding example. All this is to me is far more exciting than grotty noise tapes with black metal artwork. Bring on the noise/techno/bass music mutations!
Finally, an article I've been meaning to post for a while: Craig Woods on the Glasgow Underground from the excellent Paraphilia Magazine. The Scottish media has a tendency to root for anything Scottish. On one hand this is understandable - it seems mean-spirited and counterproductive to shit on new acts - but on the other it can lead to a frustrating lack of debate. So it's refreshing to read Woods write of:
the lamentable status quo that has paralysed and debased Glasgow‘s underground music scene to the extent that the term ―avant garde is now applied (evidently without irony) to the flaccid fetidity of Frightened Rabbit and the terminal tedium of The Twilight Sad.
Good to see somebody finally putting the boot into Frightened Rabbit and Twilight Sad's dreary "anthemic" indie rock, as well as the glut of maddeningly conservative indie-pop bands that seem inescapable (on that point, how utterly pointless and charmless is Stuart Murdoch's God Help The Girl? Belle & Sebastian's magpie tendencies used to be cute - Dog On Wheels steals from Love's Alone Again Or with Nancy & Lee's Summer Wine to delightful effect - but they've long since descended into immaculate but characterless soft pop pastiche) Just in case you think he's dismissing Glasgow music outright, he cites a number of fine bands from the past few years (Park Attack, The Royal We, Errors et al) but points out they are too disparate to constitute a "scene" or "wave". Until now...
With a combination of experimental originality and a frisky passion for original Punk values, these few acts have worked swiftly and indefatigably to redraw the margins and assault Glasgow with an enthralling trash-art sensibility which has finally given this city the kick up the arse it has long required.
He cites the ferociously good Divorce, and young bands like Ultimate Thrush (spazzed out noise punk) and Plaaydoh (noisy Deerhoof Casio pop) as examples of raw, trashy and playful bands who have been fuckin' shit up. Having also attended the Megafest event at the Flying Duck in February (wish I'd blogged it!) I don't think it's too much of an overstatement to say that this night felt like the start of something, as well as a culmination of the previous few years of underground DIY. As Woods writes, "This is the night that Glasgow‘s revitalised underground unites and coalesces before a suitably awestruck audience". Discussing the article with Craig, we agreed that DIY promoters Nuts & Seeds have played an essential role in cultivating the new scene by bringing weird, noisy and fun underground acts to Glasgow and getting local acts to support, and presenting it all with great artwork and ethical ideals. They've helped create an atmosphere where incredible, uncategorisable bands like Tattie Toes (still my favourite local act) can reach new audiences. There is of course more to Glasgow than guitar bands, and what makes things particularly exciting just now is the vibrancy of its club scene. Numbers and Lucky Me have blurred the boundaries, both musically and socially, between hip-hop, bass music and techno, while Curious Curious continues the eclectic spirit of Optimo, albeit with more of a cosmic disco bias. The more all these different scenes communicate the better.
I'll end on a little music. Wonderful LA psych/drone/dub duo Pocahaunted are on tour this week, playing Glasgow tonight. Here's a jam from their magical Island Diamonds platter.
Featuring a lovely new jingle recorded by my granny!
Lindsay Buckingham & Stevie Nicks - Crying In The Night, Buckingham Nicks (Polydor) The Thing - Hidegen Fujinaka Szelek, Bag It! (Smalltown Superjazz) Betty Harris - Mean Man, Saturday Night Fish Fry (Soul Jazz) Evangelista - The Blue Room (Constellation) John Prine & Iris Dement- In Spite of Ourselves, A Date With John Waters (New Line) Lindstrom & Prins Thomas - Note I love You + 100, II (Eskimo) Link Wray - The Swag, Pink Flamingoes Soundtrack (Vomit) Mount Vernon Arts Lab - Hobgoblins, Seance At Hobbs Lane (Ghost Box) Afrirampo - Track 1, Sutto Breakor (P Vine)
Back next week with our final Subcity show of the term. However, we have plans afoot for some Beard podcasts throughout the summer. Watch this space...
Mika Miko & Black Lips: Classic Grand, Glasgow, Saturday May 23
It's tempting to mythologise Mika Miko, portray them as the super-cool LA girl band from some imaginary '80s teen movie. And certainly, they're perfectly happy to humour such notions, asking us if we've seen Valley Girl, starring a young Nicolas Cage. I haven't, but then it wasn't a big hit over here, despite having a ridiculously awesome soundtrack, including Sparks' 'Eaten By The Monster of Love' and Josie Cotton's 'Johnny Are You Queer'. Truth be told, though, Mika Miko have more in common with California punk and rrriot girl than the poppy New Wave. Having last seen them two years ago in a Glasgow basement bar, I wasn't sure how their energetic punk show would translate to the larger, and altogether more plush, Classic Grand. Not to worry: these chicas shred it. Jennifer Clavin and Jenna Thornhill's vocals strike the perfect balance between dead-eyed punk yow and hyperactive teen yelp, finding a tone that's simultaneously knowing and party righteous. An underrated guitarist, Michelle Suarez spikes her power chords with angular Wipers riffs and mutant rockabilly X licks, while the rhythm section drives it all forward with an infectious groove. The slam-dancing bozos down the front don't quite it, but Mika Miko make punk rock to dance to. Clavin and Thornhill have some good moves: twisting on one foot and flapping their arms like Ari Up doing the funky chicken, and a hybrid hop-skip that's both charming and so utterly right. Towards the end, Thornhill whips out a sax for some Lora Logic skronk action, and me, I couldn't be happier. My only question: what happened to the telephone mic?
After all this Black Lips prove to be rather charmless. Their joyless simulacrum of '60s garage and '90s grunge makes you want to hit them over the head with the Nuggets boxset, or better still, a Billy Childish album. This is how it's done, bozos: catchy riffs, barely contained sexual tension, biting lyrics and infectious beats. Black Lips bludgeon when they should swing, plod when they should stomp. The atmosphere turns slightly unpleasant when bassist Jared Swilley stares out a stage jumper. “One of us is gonna get hurt and it's not gonna be me,” he whines while giving the over-excited punter the evil eye. What humourless, macho nonsense. Get me outta here!
I'm very sad to hear that Plan B magazine is to close. As others have pointed out, it wasn't the web that necessarily did for Plan B: the advertising recession meant it was no longer possible to keep the magazine going without cutting staff, pages and print quality. They did the right thing to quit while they were ahead: nobody would want something as special as Plan B to fall into terminal decline like Melody Maker or other magazines. It's a serious blow for music journalism. Plan B allowed its contributors the kind of freedom that had all but disappeared from the mainstream music press, and its passion, wit and intelligence was a joy to behold, even when you disagreed strongly with a writers' opinion. It looked amazing too, with beautiful photographs and illustrations that captured the personality of the music.
This feels like the end of an era. I first picked up Plan B's predecessor, Careless Talk Costs Lives, when I moved to Glasgow to study journalism in 2002. Increasingly frustrated by the NME and a bit bored of Mojo's dad rockness, I needed something that directed me to the world of possibilities I sensed was surely out there. Meeting my Beard co-conspirator Neil Jacques, and discovering Stephen Pastel's then recently opened Monorail record store were important factors in my awakening, but CTLC played a huge role in my exploration of unknown realms. At first it seemed infuriating. I'd never really been a big Melody Maker reader, so I was perhaps unprepared for Everett True's wildly opinionated and personal writing. This was not how we were being told to write in journalism class! But I soon came to love the magazine's approach, and came to trust its writers' integrity and passion. CTCL tore the retrogressive bullshit of NME's trumpeted New Rock Revolution to pieces, all the while pointing me to the good shit. The magazine also had a strong sense of underground music history, and with Neil's record collection and a shop like Monorail at hand, it wasn't difficult to access the likes of Daniel Johnston or Jad Fair - indeed, both artists performed wonderful shows in Glasgow during the summer of 2003. CTCL was the first place I read about Peter Brotzmann, thanks to a free jazz roundup by the excellent Jon Dale. The striking illustration (apologies, I don't have a copy at hand to credit the artist) of a walrus 'tasched bezerker made me think, 'I wanna check that crazy motherfucker out'. I didn't actually get round to that for another few of years, but a seed was planted.
Plan B continued what CTCL had started, but thanks to the direction of Frances Morgan, developed its own personality. It was broader in scope, perhaps a little less cranky, but still hugely characterful. While indie-rock focused, it had the confidence to cover grime, techno, dubstep, noise, metal, experimental music and pop in a passionate, knowledgeable manner. As a poster on the Plan B forum put it, a magazine that can write about Keiji Haino alongside Britney is right up my street. I'm really proud to have contributed to recent issues, albeit in a minor way, and have my modest efforts placed alongside pieces by such intimidatingly great writers as Frances, Neil Kulkarni, Everett True, Joseph Stannard, Petra Davis, Kicking K, Lauren Strain, Miss AMP, Richard Stacey, George Taylor, Nicola Meighan, Daniel Barrow, Euan Andrews, Louis Pattison, John Doran, Matt Evans, Melissa Bradshaw et al.
The CTCL and Plan B forums have been lively and friendly places over the years, helping me through several crappy temp jobs and various episodes of personal angst. The forums introduced me to all kinds of amazing music, books and films, and, most importantly, to some wonderful people. It began for me when a few of us Glasgow posters realised we were all going to the same gigs. A meet up was surely in order. Good times and great friendships ensued, and various ATP's, Green Man's and other festivals brought posters from further afield together. We even ended up meeting some of the Plan B staff, who turned out to be as generous, friendly and righteous as their writing suggests. This open and good natured spirit continues. It's no great exaggeration to say that CTCL and Plan changed my life.
As the staff have pointed out, this is not the end, but an opportunity for new beginnings. I can't wait to see what its staff and contributors get up to next and wish them all the best for the future.
The festival season is already well underway, and Stag & Dagger looks to be a right bobby dazzler. Beard is particularly psyched about seeing Mika Miko again, following their legendary Nuts & Seeds gig with No Age two years ago. In addition to playing some of the most fun, danceable punk rock you'll ever hear, The LA punks tore up a Mika poster on stage: "That asshole stole our name!" What's not to like? Other acts we're looking forward to are The Mae Shi, Dananananaykroyd, Clark, Dolby Anol, Twitch and David Barabarosso, one of the chaps behind the excellent Curious Curious club night.
GLASGOW SATURDAY - 23 MAY
COLD WAR KIDS, THE MAE SHI, PHANTOM BAND, WHITE DENIM, BLACK LIPS, THE TWILIGHT SAD, THE ALIENS, BMX BANDITS, CLARK (WARP), JD TWITCH (OPTIMO), DANANANANAYKROYD, THE JOY FORMIDABLE, MILES BENJAMIN- ANTHONY ROBINSON, CURSIVE, CHEW LIPS
GRINGO STAR, THE ELVIS SUICIDE, MEURSAULT, BOYCOTTS, OVER THE WALL, ART OF PARTIES DJS, MEN & MACHINES, NME DJS, RECORD PLAYERZ DJS, FRENCH WIVES, HOT CLUB DJS, PAPER PLANES, WOODENBOX WITH A FISTFUL OF FIVERS, KONX-OM-PAX, LEMONADE, FINDO GASK, JACOB YATES AND THE PEARLY GATE LOCK PICKERS, DOLBY ANOL, THE GAY BLADES, DAVID BARBAROSSA, TUBELORD
Glasgow Venues & Acts
Art School (hosted by The Skinny magazine) David Barbarossa, Meursault, Jacob Yates and the Pearly Gate Lock Pickers, White Denim, Phantom Band, KONX-OM-PAX, Tim Exile, Clark
Art School - Vic Bar Lemonade, Joy Formidable, Chew Lips, Record Playerz DJs, Art of Parties DJs, DOLBY ANOL
Nice N Sleazy Boycotts, Findo Gask, Gay Blades, Cursive, Hot Club DJs
Captain’s Rest (hosted by NME Radio) Over the Wall, Paper Planes, Tubelord, Miles Benjamin-Anthony Robinson, French Wives, Dananananaykroyd, The Mae Shi, NME DJs
Stereo Woodenbox with a fistful of Fivers, St Deluxe, BMX Bandits, The Aliens, Men & Machines, JD Twitch (Optimo)
Classic Grand (hosted by Simple) Elvis Suicide, Gringo Star, Mika Miko, Black Lips
ABC1 (hosted by Firetrap) Secret Guest, The Twilight Sad, Cold War Kids
Don't miss Omar Souleyman (above) and Group Doueh on the amazing Sublime Frequencies tour this week!
Joker - Do It, 12" (Kapsize) Slayer - Psychopathy Red (Tour CD) Divorce - Juice of Youth, 10" (Optimo) Josie Cotton - Johnny Are You Queer? (Bomp!) Trembling Bells - Your Head Is The House of Your Tongue, Carbeth (Honest Jons) Wildbirds & Peacedrums - There Is No Light , The Snake (Leaf) Abner Jay - I'm So Depressed, The True Story of... (Mississippi Records) Sunn 0))) - Big Church, Monoliths & Dimensions (Southern Lord) Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Interesting Results, Grandes Exitos (Paw Tracks) Omar Souleyman - Laqtuf Ward Min Khaddak, Dabke 2020 (Sublime Frequencies) Spiritual Singers - Kimia, Ntsamina (Mississippi)
We also have tickets to give away for Le Weekend, Stirling's Out Limits Music Festival, taking place from Friday 29th to Sunday 31st May.
Starring Evangelista, Trembling Bells, John Edwards, Drew Mullholland of Mount Vernon Arts Lab and Portishead's Adrian Utley, Eddie Marcon and an exhibition by Ghost Box's Julian House, it's another cornucopia of leftfield delights.
To win, simply answer the following question...
Evangelista's Carla Bozulich was a member of which '90s alt country band?
Not the last show of the term after all. Hurrah! We're back with some truly beautiful music, as well as a truly stupid new jingle. Cosmic free jazz, Zimbabwean mbira, Turkish psych, splatter beats and a truly remarkable Japanese psych-punk gem from 1983 that's been uncovered by those righteous doods at Holy Mountain records.
Old Time Relijun -Indestructible Life, Catharis In Crisi (K) Erin Koray - Karl Dalar, Elektronik Turkuler (Dogan) Margot Guryan - Love, Take a Picture (Oglio) Thelonious Monk - I Surrender Dear, Solo Monk (Sony) Shimat - Shut Up (Hellfish Remix), 200 (Planet Mu) Mhuri Yekwa Chiboora - Ngoto Yakaipa, Mbira Singles Collection (Dandemutante Music) Onna - Mune O Tsutsunde, 7" (Holy Mountain) Nomeansno - It's Catching Up, Wrong (Alternative Tentacles) Notorious B.I.G. - The What (feat Method Man), Ready To Die (Arista/Puff Daddy Records) Noah Howard - Space Dimension (America Records) Sugar - Come Around, Beaster (Creation)
This week's background music: Moog Party Time!
Pictured: Onna (above), Old Time Relijun's Arrington De Dionyso (below)
Yes, it's another edition of Beard Radio, brought to you following some late night screenings of John Waters' trash classic Pink Flamingos. We open with a couple of glorious tunes from that film's wondrous soundtrack, and later on, drop an impassioned Ike & Tina number beloved of Baltimore's most famous son. We've also got new tunes from Alasdair Roberts, Sir Richard Bishop, Mika Miko, Kode 9, and Yoshimi's latest project, OLAibi, as well as the incredible Egyptian surf psych of Omar Khorshid. We also pay tribute to the Scottish playwright, poet and counter-cultural figure Tom McGrath, who passed away last week. A life-long jazz fan, in 1973 McGrath brought Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and Mahavishnu Orchestra to Glasgow. So we've got some classic '70s Miles in there. I think next week might be our last show of the term. Don't quote me on that though!
Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers - I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent, Pink Flamingos Soundtrack (Saliva Films) The Nighthawks - Chicken Grabber, Pink Flamingoes Soundtrack (Saliva Films) Alasdair Roberts - Hazel Forks, Spoils (Drag City) OLAibi - Eisa, Tingaruda (PECF) Miles Davis - Black Satin, On The Corner (Columbia) Omar Khorshid - Raqsed Al Fada, Rhythms of the Orient (Lebanon/Egypt) Sir Richard Bishop & His Freak of Araby Ensemble - Kaddak el Mayass, Freak of Araby (Drag City) Ike & Tina Turner - All I Can Do Is Cry, A Date With John Waters (New Line Records) The Ex, Getachew Mekuria & Guests - Eywat Setenafegagn, Moa Anbessa (Terp Records) Mika Miko - Turkey Sandwich, We Be Xuxa (PPM) Kode9 - Black Sun, 12" (Hyberdub)
Tattie Toes - Amapola, Split 7" with 7 Hertz (Nuts & Seeds) Aphrodite's Child - The Four Horsemen, 666 (Vertigo) Black Sun - Code Black (At War With False Noise) Remember Remember - Fountain, RememberRemember (Rock Action) Flat Earth Society - Flatology (Crammed) Marion Brown - Once Upon A Time (A Children's Tale), Geechee Reminiscences (Impulse) Guanoman - Son of Son of Ghazilla (Transdimensional Sushi) Desalvo - Brown Flag, Mood Poisoner (Rock Action) Rustie - Aspartame n Spice (Warp) Death - Freakin' Out (Drag City) Capillary Action - Bloody Noss (Discorporate) Parliament - The Silent Boatman, Parliament (Invictus)
Just a quick not to say I'll be playing some records at the Captain's Rest, Great Western Road, Glasgow tonight from 8pm alongside the lovely Simon and Eva. Jazz, funk, Afro-pop, Syrian party bangers, hip-hop, dubstep, grime, and out sound of other varieties.
Apologies for the lack of updates: the last month has been essay madness. But the radio show will be very much BACK on Monday. We'll be previewing the Hinterland festival with our very special guest, that putrid bearded beauty Guanoman!
I'm writing up some of last weekend's Instal festival for Plan B, so I'll keep my powder dry for now. However, I have come across a few Instal related links that are of interest, as well as my preview of the festival for The List. Hey, it's my blog, a bit of shameless self-promotion is par for the course.
Taking part in Phil Minton's Feral Choir was an amazing, liberating experience. Minton begins by chuckling and chortling. You find yourself joining in and then he's got you. All inhibitions are lifted and before long you're wailing, shrieking and slobbering with the best of them. Some splendid person has posted edited highlights of the Feral Choir on youtube. This is the first recording I've heard, so it's interesting to compare how it sounds from the audience as opposed to within the choir. Powerful and dense. Go team! There are a few more video clips from the festival. Steve McCafferty's dazzling sound poetry is especially worth a look. If anyone objects to me posting these up just drop me a line and I'll remove them.
Couple of blog posts on Instal. David Keenan didn't see anything he truly loved this year, but he's absolutely right to praise the organisers for their achievements. He seems agnostic about the Feral Choir, but his analysis of how sound poetry has infected the underground is timely and perceptive. I have to confess that most of the ultra-minimalist stuff didn't do it for me, so it's interesting to see what a fan of this music made of it all. Enter Richard Pinnell at Watchful Ear.
Our last FM show (don't worry, you can still catch us online!) and the second of our Instal previews, featuring highlights from the festival, past and present and an interview with Barry Esson of curators Arika.
The Monks - Love Comes Tumbling Down, Black Monk Time (Light In The Attic) Cobalt - Gin, Gin (Profound Lore) Seymour Wright - In The Wright Place At The Wright Time (www.arika.org.uk) Hermann Nitzch - Die Geburt (www.arika.org.uk) Giant Sand - Center Of The Universe, Center Of The Universe (Restless) Charlemagne Palestine - Duo Strumming For Two Harps, Strumming Music (Robi Droli/New Tone) Jerome Noettinger w/ Metamkine - Kill Your Timid Notion 2004 excerpt (www.arika.org.uk) Arington De Dionyso - Bird Shadow, Breath Of Fire (K Records) Gorilla Biscuits - Degradation, Start Today (Revelation Records) These Are Powers - Parallel Shores, All Aboard The Future (Dead Oceans) Nels Cline, Wally Shoup, Chris Corsano - Lake Of Fire Memories, Immolation/Immersion (Strange Attractors Audio House)
We start off with some cracked Middle-Eastern avant-rock from Sun City Girls, followed by one of the stars of their label Sublime Frequencies' European tour, Omar Souleyman, with an awesome Syrian party banger.
In anticipation of Glasgow's amazing Instal festival (20-22 March) we bring you Steve McCaffery's incredible sound poetry, Phil Minton's 100 strong Feral Choir, and Joan La Barabara singing the birds who live in her head. Vocal experimentation is one of the strands running through the programming, so we pay tribute to that with some other artists who explore the potential of the human voice. There's playful sing-song from Afrirampo, hirsute balladry from Bonnie 'Prince' Billie, and sublime soul from the great James Carr. Finishing it all off, we bring you a tripped out masterwork from Sun Ra, whose title is a tribute to festivals like Instal and anyone opening minds and ears to new sounds.
Sun City Girls - Space Prophet Dogon, Torch of The Mystics (Cargo) Omar Souleyman - Leh Jani, Highway To Hassake: Folk and Pop Sounds of Syria (Sublime Frequencies) Steve McCaffery - Carnival (excerpt) www.arika.org.uk Afrirampo, Want You, Kore Ga Mayaku Da(Tzadik) Phil Minton - Feral Choir (Vicenza) www.arika.org.uk Bonnie 'Prince' Billie - My Life's Work, Beware (Domino) Joan La Barbara - Les Oiseaux Qui Chantent Dans Ma Tete www.arika.org.uk James Carr - Pouring Water On A Drowning Man (Goldwax) Sun Ra - There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of), Lanquidity (Evidence) This week's background music: Meco - Star Wars Theme!
Mr Flagio - Take A Chance (Squish) Astral Social Club - Caustic Roe, Octuplex (VHF) Durrty Goodz - Destruction, Ultrasound, (Awkward Music) LTJ Bukem - Atlantis (Good Looking) Miles Davis Rated X, Get Up With It (Columbia) Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrel - You're All I Need To Get By (Tamla Motown) Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - Important In Your Life (Bezerkley) The Advisory Circle - Frozen Ponds/ Celebrate Michaelmass Now!, Other Channels (Ghost Box) Jesus Lizard - Mouth Breather, Goat (Touch & Go) This week's background music: Hammond Dance Party! by Big Jim "H". A charity shop classic!
The first of four FM broadcasts. It's a bit of a mess! I was pure knackered and made numerous technical errors, including speaking into the wrong mike for the first half. Not quite dead air - you can hear me if you turn it up! Other than that, some bangin' tunes as ever...
Gang Of Four - Natural's Not In It, Entertainment (EMI) Zombi - Spirit Animal, Spirit Animal LP (Relapse) Ornette Coleman - Civilisation Day, Science Fiction (Sony) The Thing - Broken Shadows/Ride The Sky, Action Jazz (Smalltown Superjazz) Bob Lind - Cheryl's Coming Home, Hearing Is Believing: The Jack Nitzche Story (Ace) Wolf Eyes - Stabbed In The Face, Burned Mind (Subpop) Mobb Deep - Shook Ones Pt II, The Infamous (Loud) Belbury Poly - From An Ancient Star, From An Ancient Star LP (Ghost Box)
Abe Vigoda - The Garden, Skeleton (V2) Albert Ayler - Bells, Love Cry (Impulse) Antony & The Johnsons - Her Eyes Are Underneath The Ground, The Crying Light (Rough Trade) Triple School - Biggie On The Thorax, Plaaydoh/Triple School split EP, (Nuts & Seeds) Ex Models - Pink Noise, Zoo Psychology (Frenchkiss) Harry Pussy - I Fought The Police, What Was Music? (Siltbreeze) King Soly - Tamil Dub, Box of Dub 2 (Soul Jazz) Alan Courtis & Aaron Moore - untitled (CDR) The Trembling Bells - Carbeth (Honest Jons) Black Dice - Lazy TV, Repo (Paw Tracks) Edgar Varese/Julliard Percussion Ensemble - Ionisation, Complete Works (Decca)
Make sure you catch Trembling Bells, Alex Neilson's new song based project, playing live this week! Feb 18th Glasgow, Captain's Rest Feb 20th Edinburgh, The Bowery Feb 26th Glasgow, Stereo (supporting Vetiver) And they'll be on tour throughout the UK in April!
As mentioned on the show, you have until the 20th to pick up a £20 early bird ticket for Instal 09. Further details at www.arika.org.uk
If you enjoyed the Courtis/Moore jam, make sure to catch them on tour this week. Their Glasgow date is on Saturday 21st at the Flying Duck. Support comes from fellow Volcano The Bear traveller Daniel Padden and Sarah Ketchington with her incredible mechanical instruments! It's a bargain £4 and the doors are at 7pm. More info at www.nutsandseeds.org
Finally, Subcity Radio will be launching its four week FM broadcast with a special event at Glasgow School of Art on Friday. More details here.
This week's Beard Radio... it's thumpin', it's jumpin', it's top trumpsin'. We've got Lindstrom's INCREDIBLE Boredoms remix, some amazing Algerian jeep beats, gorgeous drone and, in anticipation of Glasgow's Halt Bar Valentine's Hijack, some blisteringly horrible noise and some deranged violin abuse.
Bellemou Benissa - Li Maamdouche L'Auto, 1970's Algerian Proto-Rai (Sublime Frequencies) Missy Elliot - The Rain, Supa Dupa Fly (EastWest) Fennesz - The Colour Of Three, Black Sea (Touch) Harmonia -Dino, Musik Von Harmonia (Revisited) Boredoms - Ant 10 (Lindstrom Remix), Superroots 11 (Vice) Gang Gang Dance - House Jam, Saint Dymphna (Social Registry) Blue Sabbath Black Fiji/Helicoptere Sanglante - Untitled, S/T (Countripsyde) Helhesten - Dithyramb, Chops split LP (Upset The Rhythm)
Tonight's background music: Fuzzy Felt Folk (Trunk Records)
Our favourite psychogeographer (although Stewart Home runs him close), Iain Sinclair, talks to the Guardian's Rachel Cooke about his new book on Hackney, the Olympic development and urban decay. And as a Beard bonus beat, here's Sinclair in action, taking the BBC for a walk around Abbey Park cemetery in Stoke Newington.
For my Masters dissertation, I'm interested in exploring psychogeography in the context of writing - or filmmaking, music, art etc - about Glasgow. Perhaps it's a bit of a stretch to claim Alasdair Gray, Edwin Morgan et al as psychogeographers, but their work does contain elements of that, admittedly rather loose, concept: walking, critiques of urban development, hidden places, magic... I've also dug up some interesting travel writing on Glasgow, including an Alfred Watkins inspired mapping of the area's ley lines by Harry Bell. His book, Glasgow's Secret Geometry, is sadly out of print, but the full text is online here. And although I can't check the catalogues online, I imagine Glasgow's wonderful Mitchell Library has a copy.
Interesting article by Jessica Hopper on what the success of No Age could mean for LA's all-ages punk venue The Smell. The Smell has become a model for DIY scenes, creating a genuine sense of community. The worry is that its success could change all that, as hipsters and suits move in, robbing it of its integrity. Here's hoping The Smell continues to spread its righteous, pungent vibes across the world. This reminds me, I should really get my No Age interview on here. Uni comes first, but I'll get there eventually.
Simon Reynolds, blogging for the Grauniad, applies his recent theorising on middlebrow rock and pop to Animal Collective. Predictably, the idiot trolls who plague Comment Is Free are quick to call Reynolds pretentious, blah blah etc etc. Just as dispiriting is the commentator who wonders where all the good British music is. If only he'd clicked on the awesome Zomby clip Reynolds posts on the blog... Anyway, the idea of music that sits between the mainstream and the underground, the experimental and accessible is nothing new, but it's interesting to see Reynolds reclaim the term middlebrow from dullards like Coldplay and Elbow, in much the same way academia has sought to use the term positively to describe, for example, certain strains of women's writing from the mid-20th century. One commentator suggests that middle brow is the best kind of music and no one needs a Metal Machine Music. I'm sure Reynolds would disagree. Surely the two can't exist without each other? Experimental music exists in its own right, not just as a lab creating raw materials to be filtered and processed for mass consumption. The main problem with middlebrow is its unavoidable class consciousness. While that can be useful in understanding the modes of production and comsumption, it does tend to oversimplify things. Maybe this is me showing my age, but I don't really care about whether music is popular or not. Of course, in the real world, these things can make a difference in terms of cultural currency. Ultimately, Christgau's term, semi-popular music is the best we've got.
