von sudenfed

von sudenfed

We helped ourselves to a dose of quirky german electro/british punk last month with a Von Sudenfed gig at the Arches. Mark E Smith of The Fall notoriety provided vocals and ranting over the top of a powerful reverby electro set fromgerman duo Mouse on Mars. The gig was marred by boring Fall fans being upset by electronic music but apart from that kept us ear bleedingly entertained.

is this music?

is this music?

Sold on the promise of an eleven piece cabaret band squeezing into the teeny tiny basement of the 13th Note in Glasgow’s hispter Trongate area, we braved the onset of what seemed to be winter two months early to accompany Claire to an is this music? gig.

First on the bill was Red Redbeard a local folky singer/songwriter with a wry sense of humour and a great guitar technique.

Having set the mood Claire’s co-worker’s band The State Broadcasters (she works at the beeb geddit) took to the stage and produced an entertaining set with lighthearted lyrics accompanied by a variety of instruments including some lively harp playing. At times it felt like the music was a little too layered for the lyrics but they may have been the mixing in the small space.

If the five members of The State Broadcasters seemed cramped on stage, by the time nine members of How to Swim squeezed on to a space about the size of an average bathroom (not eleven as promised but still a good effort I thought) the basement was packed and sweaty. They produced a powerful boppy sound that had everyone moving and provided the perfect cap to the evening. My favourite review off their myspace as follows:

“The night after How To Swim played I dreamed about an army of the lumbering undead smashing up a city. They threw guitars through windows and generally made a nuisance of themselves. How To Swim are the band Tim Burton would create during one of his more inspired moments. The eleven-piece combine a rambling sharpness of style…with a stomping, manic energy. They are the orchestra of the damned” …. “Go and see them now: they’ll be sold out when they’re playing in hell.”

Brazen Magazine (King Tuts, Glasgow) – November 2006

is thirty half life?

half life 3

In an attempt to avoid turning thirty, last month Chhay headed out of town, dragging a posse of us in her wake. A road trip to keep ahead of time, lay low and pretend that nothing was happening.

Friday 4 pm: Things are looking bright – our rental has been upgraded so we are driving something with a dashboard straight out of star trek that goes like a rocket… but is it fast enough to outrun time??? Pick up the girls and hit the road – seventies (1977 even?) rock setting the tone as we escape past Dumbarton and wind away past Loch Lomond.

Two and half hours later and time may well have stopped, down a windy B road across canals and isolated inlets we find our little cottage – in a town encircling a bay full of boats, and over the hill – sunset over Jura. We settled in for a night of red wine and raconteuring from the friendly neighbours, so far so good – no ones talking birthdays.

half life 2

On the Saturday we traveled back to the neolithic era – searching for clues of eternal life perhaps? Strange ring marks in stones, ancient hill forts with new industrial insertions, and secluded forest glens protected from persistent rain gave us clues, the answer was to be presented later that evening

First though, critical in any Chhay adventure – dinner. Back to our secluded town for a seafood feast, fresh from local waters we sampled Isle of Mull oysters, razor clams, scallops, langustine and a creamy mussel dish that had us ordering second and third helpings of bread so we could absorb the last drop of the delicious broth. Luckily for Chhay her the candles on her birthday desert were out of order so she was only celebrating tythir – another narrow escape.

half life 4

Suitably provisioned we journeyed into Lochgilphead for the performance that was the centrepiece of our journey. The setting was constructed from felled logs, radiating out amongst still standing trees to create a plinth for the action. Uplit trees and a fantastic score evoked the primitive signposts that we had explored earlier in the day. Aspects of the choreography too, with performers scaling trees and walking suspended upside down under the plinth developed powerful imagery. In the end however the performance was at its essence just a play, a prosaic story of marriage gone bad, with time travel as a backdrop. After the build-up it was a little disappointing and far to real – a more abstract performance would have enhanced the mood developed in the installations we explored earlier in the day and the set.

Back at the cottage, with a fire raging, the rain battering down outside and some of the local water of life we celebrated properly. The next morning we explored the local area more thoroughly – tracking down the local peninsula to what felt somewhat like the end of the world. There was no respite for Chhay though she was definitely thirty, so we slowly wandered back to Glasgow to face work on Monday and other traumatic realities like only a year to get a working holiday visa anywhere else or moving up in survey age brackets.

all photos from http://www.nva.org.uk/new-projects/half+life/

proms in the park

After a hectic day celebrating 2 year old birthdays and engagments, we packed a picnic (not wicker unfortunately) full of bread cheese and Pimms and sauntered down to Glasgow Green for a taste of the BBC’s Proms in the Park.

The picnic was the highlight of the evening as we were subjected to a terrible collection of music; folk tunes performed by tenors, sea shanties by a choral ensemble and an ancient Scottish instrument that sounded much like a foghorn. It wasn’t the selection of music that bothered me so much as the attempt to perform it in a classical manner – either perform decent classical music or use performers suited to the music selected!

connect: sunday

MIA stage invasion, originally uploaded by martindude.

We woke late on Sunday and fired up a sumptuous barbeque that drew a crowd of half starved Motherwell boys, intent on regaling us with their knowledge of Neighbours and convincing us unsuccessfully to watch Idlewild that evening!

Escaping them proved difficult, however we made it in to catch Winona a synth pop band put together by composer Craig Armstong (who also happens to be our friend Emma’s boss) Their chilled out tunes – if a little european for my taste (and missing the fireworks of the Cobra Killers who had bailed earlier that day) – were a good way to ease into a Sunday afternoon, especially as the sun made its first appearance of the festival.

I was trying to keep a less hectic schedule than Saturday to avoid traipsing through the mud, so hung around the main stage for a quirky set from Regina Spektor. Chhay & Claire headed over to the second stage to catch Tilly & The Wall where I aparently missed out on some fun music, and yet more beautiful lead singer action.
Regina was followed by a fantastic nutty MIA performance (to a backdrop almost as hyper-chaotic as her web page) that gave the festival a little taste of anarchy, and a challenge to its bourgeoise boutique nature after she sanctioned a stage invasion (above – she is the one in purple legging on the right). There were at least 100 people up on stage, and things looked to be getting just a little out of hand when the organisers literally pulled the plug! Personally I think it added a bit of life to the event alsthough I wish MIA had waited until a bit longer through her set to invite everyone up to let us here more of her material.

Claire & Chhay headed back out to see the Polyphonic Spree with thirty members up on stage – although now dressed in black rather than their previous multicoloured robes, while I waited to get good position for the highlight of the day – Icelands’s favourite princess: Bjork. She had quite a theatrical set up, and her early songs were fantastic with a brass band, choir and crazy electronic instrument highlighted on screens around the stage. Chhay & Claire’s wanderinsg had exhausted them however, and by the time they made it back to our spot Chhay’s mud tolerance levels were at a record low, so we scampered off to beat the rush and drove back to Glasgow to face work on Monday morning!

The final wash up was more positive than negative but I think a few tweaks to the set-up and a more strategic approach to camping by ourselves would be required if we are to return next year.

connect: saturday

DSCF1963, originally uploaded by normalfreak.

Rising late on Saturday we supped on an inspired spread under our canopy, safe from the insipid weather that drifted across the grounds.

We finally made it in to the festival in time for the Hold Steady’s lesson in how to sound like a noughties version of early Bruce Springsteen. Heading over to the second stage in the first in a series of yo-yo’s Mike & I were entranced by the very gorgeous Natasha Khan of Bat for Lashes (& the music wasn’t too bad either), with a string bias, accompanied by an ecclectic range of instruments – including a big wooden stick (above) and a strange horizontal harp like thing, they produced some beautiful tunes. We hid for a while from the worsening weather in the Speakeasy Cafe, listening to local folk acts ply their trade for a free ticket to the festival no doubt. Recharged with caffine we braved the weather for a fantastic powerful set from Rilo Kiley, with yet more cute front woman action.

Returining to the second stage in anticipation of catching the reincarnated psych folkstress Vashti Bunyan we were instead treated to the quasi religious harmonies of the Parsonage Choir. By now the weather had worsened, and spirits were low so we cut and ran back to the campsite to dry off & perk up. A visit by a neighbouring group of locacious 17 year olds kept us entertained for at least five minutes and trapped for about another fourty-five but we eventually escaped back into the fray for the final set of the night. Eschewing the main stage and Primal Scream we instead settled in at the front of Echo & the Bunnyman for a rainswept but evocative set, full of songs that I knew but didn’t know they played.

We attempted to join the sweaty throng in Club Noir – the burlesque tent after Echo but it was packed and there was a crap swing band playing: we decided that the weather had got the better of us so we headed home.

connect: friday

connect line up

With Chhay’s big 3-0 approaching we suited up for our final assault on all things rock festivally (at least the last one we’ll camp at – according to the Guardian once you turn 30 you are too old!) The destination – Inverary with the inaugural Connect Festival set in the picturesque grounds of the local castle. Billed as a ‘boutique’ festival and with a line up seemingly tailored to anyone who grew up in the 90’s, expectations were high, and most of Glasgow (at least the bit’s we know) seemed to be going.

With Chhay & my holiday allocations maxed out we could only head up after work on Friday – thankfully (big thumbs up guys!) Claire & our friend Mike had the day off and not only scored us a prime campsite but also erected our tent so we could swan in later and catch most of the bands we wanted to see. So although we missed CSS and Jarvis Cocker as we trekked in from the car park (strike one to high expectations) we managed to arrive in time for a strong set from the Jesus & Mary Chain, that brought all the old Glasgow rockers out of the campsite.

Another trek across to the second stage (15 min! – strike two) and we were able to bob to a couple of the Go Team!’s tunes (much better than when we caught them at last year’s Big Day Out in Melbourne) before turning and racing back for the start of the headliner for the evening the Beastie Boys!

Production values were high, the crowd was fired up – a transparent amp and mixing desk adding a touch of cheesy chic. They played a great set list included many of the classics classics but with some of their newer funk instrumental tunes thrown in. It was a great way to kick off the festival, and we kicked on afterwards with some great guest DJ set from Mogwai at the Rizla.

edinburgh festivals: take 2

trachtenburg

We saddled up for another day of fringe action over the weekend -heading over with our friend Mike and catching acts on their 25th or so rendition – things were either flying or they were well & truly sick of being there.

We had an early start to catch a fantastic Korean physical theatre company’s interpretation of Woyzeck. The only props consited of fantastic simple wooden chairs which the cast used to great effect to create all manner of scenes and atmosphere – charting a working man’s decent into madness. The whole piece had a very architectural feel – not only with the use of furniture to create everything from a bed to a jail but also a cast dressed entirely in black. While it may have been more about the physicality than the meaning of the play it was still very impressive – especially at the end when the cast produced a series of still vingnettes of the entire show with only about 5 seconds changeover between each.
As the weather was kinder than on our last visit we were able to wander the city a bit more and visit a few elements of the visual art festival – including scoring some bloody marys for breakfast at the opening of Francesca Woodman & Richard Serra‘s show at the very posh Ingleby Gallery.
After a leisurely afternoon we packed in a tight program over the course of the evening. We started with an atrocious play, Killer Joe a traler trash americana drama with hammy acting and gratuitous nudity. Having endured our first truly bad performance of the Fringe we ducked in to a tiny basement to hear the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players (above) – an eccentric New York family band (…well dad can play & the daughter bashes the drums Meg White style) who collect slide sets from the 50’s through to the 80’s and base their songs on the images they find. With great banter between songs they were highly entertaining although their set was cut a little short.

Feeling rejuventated by the performance we scampered to the other end of Edinburgh for a late showing of Johnson & Boswell – Late but Live, based on the contrasting historical accounts of a journey to Scotland it was quite witty although the two performers weren’t able to sustain the pace towards the end.

By now it was midnight and as we lined up for a dose of low brow stand-up at Late and Live, and jammed into a packed and sweaty arena, with the smell of 25 days of 12 audiences a day lingering powerully I think perhaps we realised we had attempted one show too many. There were a couple of decent comedians but the MC was fairly awful, reinforcing my general antipathy towards standup. It highlighted how many of the poets at Luke Wright’s Poetry Party were far better comedians that much of the stand-ups performing at the Fringe.

collapse!

collapsed tenement

Hearing a strange rumble late on Monday night we dismissed it as anything significant – only to wake and find that the entire end wall of the next tenement along from ours had collapsed! Thankfully we are in the middle of a row and I think our building is a little bit more well maintained maintained. bbc the herald

image from the bbc until I dl my own photos 

castle anybody?

fordell castle

Instead of needing to arrange a raiding party to storm my old family castle I could now just step up and buy it!

From The Courier

“A HISTORIC west Fife castle has gone on the market.

Once home to flamboyant Conservative MP Sir Nicholas Fairbairn, Fordell Castle comes with a price tag of over £3.5 million—and its own title.

The fully restored 16th century castle is the ancestral home of the Hendersons of Fordell, who were given the lands of Fordell by King James IV in 1511.

It comes with the title of the Barony of Fordell.

Also included in the sale is the restored 17th century St Theriot’s Chapel and crypt, a garden cottage, and 210 acres of landscaped gardens and wooded grounds.

John Coleman of selling agent Knight Frank said, “Properties of this type, this well restored, and with access to Edinburgh, Edinburgh airport, and the central motorway network, come on to the market very rarely.

“The castle’s owners have also taken an active and sympathetic interest in restoration of the main property and the chapel, and in the upkeep of the grounds and gardens which are all in a superb state.”

The property has an entrance hall and vaulted kitchen on the lower ground floor. There is a great hall with a beamed ceiling, secret staircase and engraving depicting the death of the last witch in Scotland, and dining room on the principal floor.

The first floor includes the Laird’s study and master bedroom with views to the Forth while the second floor houses a Mary Queen of Scots room and French bedroom.

Viewing is by appointment with the selling agents, Knight Frank or Savills.”

Now all I have to do is talk to my bosses to arrange a small raise to cover the mortgage!