Issue 79 / July 2017

ISSUE 79 / JULY 2017
NEW MUSIC + CREATIVE CULTURE
LIVERPOOL
LOVED ONES / JANE WEAVER / DAVID LYNCH
SLACKK / KRAFTWERK 3-D / LIGHTNIGHT

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WHAT’S ON
Liverpool Philharmonic
September – December 2017
Sunday 3 September 8pm
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MAGNETIC FIELDS
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KAZ HAWKINS
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MAD DOG MCREA
Tuesday 14 November 7.30pm
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CONTENTS
New Music + Creative Culture
Liverpool
Issue 79 / July 2017
bidolito.co.uk
Second Floor
The Merchant
40-42 Slater Street
Liverpool L1 4BX
Editor
Christopher Torpey - chris@bidolito.co.uk
Editor-In-Chief / Publisher
Craig G Pennington - info@bidolito.co.uk
Media Partnerships and Projects Manager
Sam Turner - sam@bidolito.co.uk
Assistant Editor
Bethany Garrett - editorial@bidolito.co.uk
Reviews Editor
Jonny Winship - live@bidolito.co.uk
Design
Mark McKellier - mark@andmark.co.uk
Branding
Thom Isom - hello@thomisom.com
Cover Photography
Mike Sheerin - michaelsheerin.photoshelter.com
Words
Christopher Torpey, Stuart Miles O’Hara, Rebecca
Frankland, Del Pike, Michael Kirkham, Bethany Garrett,
Sam Turner, Matthew Hogarth, Glyn Akroyd, Cath
Bore, Michael Sutton, Craig G Pennington, Tom Bell,
Sue Bennett, Jessica Greenall, Jonny Winship, Debra
Williams, Keith Ainsworth, Paul Fitzgerald, Ben
Griffiths, Dave Kitson, Taher Qassim.
Photography, Illustration and Layout
Mark McKellier, Mike Sheerin, Nick Booton, Michael
Kirkham, Keith Ainsworth, Samantha Parkinson, Glyn
Akroyd, Stuart Moulding, Aaron McManus, Paul McCoy,
Nuria Ruis, Tristram Kenton, Stephen Vaughan, John
Johnson.
Distributed by Middle Distance
Print, distribution and events support across
Merseyside and the North West.
middledistance.org.uk
9 / EDITORIAL
Editor Christopher Torpey looks back on a
tumultuous month, reflecting on our need to find
solidarity as part of a larger movement.
10 / NEWS
The latest announcements, releases and nonfake
news from around the region.
12 / LOVED ONES
The warm embrace of Loved Ones’ rich,
wholesome sound is one of the great strengths
of the West Kirby quartet’s latest album. Stuart
Miles O’Hara finds a band at the top of their
game.
14 / SLACKK
Charting the rise of the underground grime
movement with one of its early pioneers and
most respected names.
16 / LIMF
Europe’s largest free music festival is on
our doorstep, inviting us to join them in
remembering the good times.
18 / SOUNDTRACKING…
DAVID LYNCH
The architect of noir cinema is a master of
turning your deepest, weirdest dreams into
gripping art. Del Pike delves inside the murky
world of the cult director and musician.
20 / JANE WEAVER
The genre-melding sonic auteur returns with a
dazzling LP that sees her filter the history of the
universe through her analogue synth setup.
22 / URBAN GOALS
As the football season is in temporary recess,
we look at a photography project that captures
the hopes and aspirations born from our
childhood theatres of dreams.
28 / SPOTLIGHT
We take a closer look at some artists who’ve
been impressing us of late: Hannah’s Little
Sister, Bill Nickson and Indigo Moon.
30 / ALSARAH & THE
NUBATONES
Searching for a place to lay down your roots is
a recurring theme in the work of the Sudaneseborn
singer, songwriter and ethnomusicologist.
31 / PREVIEWS
Looking ahead to a busy July in Merseyside’s
creative and cultural community.
36 / REVIEWS
Kraftwerk 3-D, LightNight, Primavera Sound
and Sound City reviewed by our team of intrepid
reporters.
46 / THE FINAL SAY
Taher Qassim MBE, Chair of Liverpool Arab Arts
Festival, considers how art captures the global,
social and cultural issues that help us recognise
what unites us.
The views expressed in Bido Lito! are those of the
respective contributors and do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the magazine, its staff or the
publishers. All rights reserved.

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EDITORIAL
Photo by John Johnson
Grief. Compassion. Solidarity. Outrage. Hope. In the
four weeks since our previous edition was published,
the public’s collective consciousness has fluctuated
between these various emotions, in response to a
tumultuous set of events that have tested our mettle, both
as a nation and as individuals. Terror attacks in Manchester
and London, and the catastrophic fire at Grenfell Tower, have
highlighted the fractious divisions that still exist within our
society; but they have also shown us the best in people, in the
way communities of relative strangers have come together, and
in the bravery and skill of our emergency and health services.
In the middle of all this, the surge of the Labour Party under
Jeremy Corbyn was a much-needed fillip. Never before in my
lifetime has the political left seemed so energised, sweeping
up the mood of a country jaded by austerity and buoyed by the
optimism of youth. Beginning when Corbyn addressed the crowd
at Prenton Park, and spreading into clubs, pubs and political
gatherings around the country, the “Ohhh, Jeremy Corbyn”
football chant became the embodiment of this blossoming hope.
This positive movement – infectious, giddy, even sexy – propelled
us so close to the change we all craved: yet, the fact remains that
we fell just short. At time of going to press, Theresa May remains
the Prime Minister of Broken Britain (even though it’s looking
increasingly likely that May will not be PM when you read this),
with the chief architects of Brexit presiding over our government.
That should be enough to burst hope’s fragile bubble, but,
miraculously, it’s holding firm. In Corbyn we have seen that the
appetite for change is alive and flourishing, and right now he has
momentum.
In many ways, the recent election was like the UK in
microcosm: hopeful for a more harmonious way of doing things,
yet still deeply divided. You only need to look at the reactions of
the political establishment to see this. While the public praises
Jeremy Corbyn’s reaction to the grief-stricken victims of the fire
at Grenfell Tower, the right retreats behind its wall of contempt
and continues to snipe. Just when we need togetherness,
fearmongering rears its ugly head. Not that we should be very
surprised by these actions of an out-of-touch establishment and
commentariat, hidden away in their hall of mirrors. Our electoral
system actually does very little to strengthen the bonds that are
vital in holding the country together. A two-party political system
encourages tribalism and petty squabbling between increasingly
partisan sides, pushing people further into entrenched positions
and resulting in a kind of détente. This is not what a country
that is made of a spectrum of beliefs needs. A country is not
one person: it isn’t even one political party. It is a wide range of
“In Corbyn we have
seen that the appetite
for change is alive
and flourishing,
and right now he
has momentum”
competing opinions on a number of complicated issues. We
cannot expect to achieve unity by forcing groups of people to
comply with one set of rules of governance, only to throw them
all out five years later when the electorate is deemed to have
changed its mind. In order to work together, I believe we need to
govern together, as difficult as that may sound.
In his fascinating book Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari charts
the evolution of homo sapiens through the great stages of
human development: the Cognitive, Agricultural and Scientific
Revolutions. One of the most fascinating tenets of the research is
that humanity has developed a way of binding together in groups
over hundreds of thousands of years, doing so via complex sociopolitical
structures that require belief in a set of shared ideals.
The modern cynic or atheist may scoff at the inter-subjective
notions of religion and myths, but they have been vital in helping
humanity to develop beyond their small bands of a hundred or
so hunter-gatherers to create cities, vast empires and nations. It
is only in times of real hardship that we see just how important
these imagined beliefs are in uniting us: the average person
can feel empathy for someone they see suffering in the street,
or someone they know – but how does that extend beyond our
immediate experiences to feeling grief for people we’ve never
met? In Harari’s hypothesis, he believes that this compassion
comes from our imagined belief systems that provide a shared
identity – for example, the nation of the United Kingdom, political
systems, football teams – and this is a massively powerful part
of our humanity. If we hadn’t developed such an instinct, our
ancestors would never have emerged from their close-knit tribes
of foragers in the first place.
Our cultural beliefs, the things that we hold dear and believe
are immutable, are but constructs of the human mind, devised
to help us work together in greater numbers. It may seem like
I’m deriding the specifics of religious creeds or cultural customs,
but I’m not: I am, in fact, praising how important they are to each
and every one of us. We should never disrespect the cultures
and beliefs that any other person has, no matter how alien
or abhorrent it may seem to us. Attacking the foundations of
people’s identities is a direct affront to their place in the world,
and it can only bring about anger and enmity.
The terrorist attack at Ariana Grande’s Manchester Arena
concert was a vicious blow striking at the heart of our shared
ideals (in large parts of the world, at least). The response from
the public in the wake of this atrocious act – and after the
London Bridge, Finsbury Park and Grenfell Tower incidents
in London – showed the massively compassionate side of the
human condition, shunning division and opting for solidarity. The
choruses of Don’t Look Back In Anger that rang around Sound
City and the Stade de France illustrated how our empathy and
belief in the goodness of other humans is fundamental to our
being. Alexis Petridis summed it up perfectly in a column he wrote
in the Guardian shortly after the Manchester Arena attack: “Music
aimed at teenage girls is derided but the likes of Ariana Grande
provide the kind of empowering, transcendent experience that
terrorists hate.”
Reactions to events such as these are massively important to us,
as social animals, and it’s why so much scrutiny is placed on the
way we respond. People sending bundles of clothes to survivors
of the Grenfell Tower fire won’t prevent another building from
suffering the same tragic fate, or solve the victims’ immediate
need for housing; but these acts of generosity are vital, in a
broader context, in letting people know that they do not suffer
alone. The reactions of communities in banding together, like
many did recently for the Great Get Together events in memory
of Jo Cox, shouldn’t surprise us: it reminds them, and us, that we
are all part of a wider support network of fellow humans.
I will never apologise for our overuse of the word ‘community’
in these pages when it comes to describing the network that
we’re part of. It’s what unites us, what gives us a shared identity
that makes us feel part of something. And, in times of hardship,
we need these bonds more than ever. We need outpourings
of emotion from our global superstars, to renew our faith in
ourselves and bind over the wounds. We need to be able to sing
along to popular songs with people we’ve never met, even when
it doesn’t immediately make us safer. What we need is each
other, more than ever before. !
Christopher Torpey / @CATorp
Editor
09

NEWS
Bido Lito! Membership Update
IWFM Radiophonic Workshop
This month’s Bido Lito! Membership Special
Event is a novel experience for us all, as we take
members deep into the world of internet radio
with an IWFM Radiophonic Workshop. Rob,
Howard and Laura, the station controllers behind
IWFM Radio, give Bido members a masterclass in
DIY radio production as they take us on a behindthe-scenes
tour. This members-only event takes
place at Invisible Wind Factory on 5th July – to
book your place, RSVP at bidolito.co.uk. Once
you’ve joined, you’ll be able to revel in all the
other member-related activity we have lined up,
including Socials at The Shipping Forecast (20th
July) and 81 Renshaw (17th August). Support
Liverpool’s new music and creative culture – sign
up now.
The Reel Thing
Aspiring Scouse Spielbergs and
Wirralian Wes Andersons rejoice, FACT
have begun a regular programme of
meet-ups for North West filmmakers.
The inaugural event in June featured
talks from filmmakers about successfully
landing funding for your project, a
behind-the-scenes insight into the
festival judges’ selection process and
guidance on finding the right music for
productions. The events, set to continue
throughout the year, will also provide
opportunity for up-and coming-directors
to screen their work in The Box at FACT.
FACT Filmmakers Club
SAE What?
SAE Institute
Venerable school of sonics, SAE INSTITUTE, are calling on anyone who is looking
to sharpen their production skills and enter the world of studio wizardry as they
announce their prospectus for courses starting this September. Their world-class
campus on Pall Mall offers a BA Hons course in Audio Production, as well as short
courses in industry essentials Logic Pro X, Ableton Live and other key subjects for
aspiring studio or live sound techs, engineers and producers. SAE, an international
network of campuses, has produced award-winning alumni who are amongst the
cream of the production crop. To find out more, head along to their Open Days on
29th June and 18th August.
The Handyman Can
Live At Hoylake
After welcoming Smithdown Road Festival goers into their
space and hosting a film festival in May, the Handyman venue
closed their doors to give themselves a full refurb complete with
an event space, permanent bar and brew kit. The Handyman
Brewery opens properly towards the middle of this month in
time to host the official LIMF after parties. Further down the
line Bido Lito! will be hosting a film night with Empty Spaces
Cinema on 2nd August. The event, which will include a screening
of a feature film of our choosing plus a selection of shorts by
local filmmakers is free to Bido Lito! members or £5 for advance
tickets.
MERSEYRAIL SOUND STATION celebrates five years of the
project this year. The new music platform has become central
to the region’s development ladder for emerging talent and
has delivered quality content through their podcast and live
sessions. To mark the occasion, Sound Station will be hosting a
stage at Hoylake as part of Wirral Festival Of Firsts on Saturday
15th July. Confirmed on the line-up are previous winners
BLUE SAINT and KATY ALEX as well as favourites SUB BLUE
and THE SHIPBUILDERS. More acts are set to be announced
at merseyrailsoundstation.com.
Conor Oberst Competition
Conor Oberst
To the delight of North West-based melancholic countryinflected
folk music fans, former Bright Eyes man CONOR
OBERST makes a rare visit to our fair city in August.
The cult singer-songwriter plays the O2 Academy on
21st August. What’s more, to celebrate we’re giving
away a pair of tickets. To be in with a chance of winning
just answer this question: What was the name of the
supergroup Oberst formed with members of M Ward
and My Morning Jacket? a) Some Kind Of Monster b)
Monsters Of Folk c) Monster Mash. Email your answer
to competition@bidolito.co.uk by Friday 14th July. Winners
will be notified by email. Good luck!
10

DANSETTE
Ben Griffiths from ALPHA MALE
TEA PARTY selects some choice
cuts that have influenced the
band’s latest LP, Health.
Everything
Everything
No Reptiles
RCA Victor
Shout About It
Shout About It
The art of live gig photography is often
underappreciated, with only those hardy souls
working away in the photo pits aware of the
skill and toil involved. As part of a programme
to throw some light on this, SHOUT ABOUT
IT are hosting a festival of live music and gig
photography on 19th and 20th August at District.
The photography community, headed up by
Georgia Flynn, will be showcasing an incredible
exhibition of work by photographers from across
the region: if you’d like to be involved – by
exhibiting some work or volunteering –
get in touch with the organisers on
shoutaboutituk@gmail.com.
Coast With The Most
Wirral’s sunshine coast is getting a freaky makeover
on 5th August, as SKELETON COAST FESTIVAL
returns to Hoylake Community Centre. 2016’s outing
was a storming affair, and the brains behind it are
aiming to go one step further for 2017’s offering
with a stonking line-up brought together. CABBAGE
and JANE WEAVER top the bill, with shadowy
Swedes JOSEFIN ÖHRN + THE LIBERATION
bringing their thumping psych slew to proceedings.
Hoylake natives and Skeleton Coast programmers
THE SUNDOWNERS head up a great local cast on
the bill, including LAURIE SHAW, MARVIN POWELL
and PEACH FUZZ.
Such a beautiful tune. I love how instrumentally bare the
tune is to begin with. It grows and soars and gives me
goosebumps the size of Mitre size 5s. I would have to say
that, collectively, this is our favourite band, just behind
Billy Joel. Yes, he is a band, shut up.
Three Trapped
Tigers
Silent Earthling
Century Media
Whenever I listen to this song I get the EXACT emotion I
get when I’m 15 ales into a ‘large’ night and some DJ plays
Freedom by Wham!. Sure, sonically and musically they’re
not exactly bedfellows, but I’m talking about FEELINGS
here. Pure, unadulterated, enormous FEELINGS.
Tears For Fears
Head Over
Heels
Phonogram/
Mercury
We don’t really listen to much in the way of ‘new’ music.
So, from here on in this is pretty much an enormous
80s-based nostalgia ride, so strap your massive shoulder
pads in now. Just a glorious pop song. I adore the bassline
in the verse and the use of strings in the introductory motif.
Be Pier Now
Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation
It Works For Me
Prefab Sprout
King Of Rock
And Roll
Kitchenware
Back for the summer, the Pier Head Village officially
opens its gates on 30th June for a varied programme
of music, entertainment and art. Taking place on the
UNESCO Heritage Site at the Liverpool waterfront,
the attraction will remain open for full days and nights
for tourists and Liverpudlians to enjoy the full gamut
of activity available. New to the village this year is a
partnership with Liverpool Sound City who will provide
a programme of live music. At the opposite end of the
village, the Balearic Sunset Sessions bring big name
DJs to the banks of the Mersey such as Andy Carroll,
Dreamgirl and Paul Bleasdale.
As ever more Liverpool freelancers enjoy the freedom
and leisurely lattés of flexible working and companies are
looking to reduce their overheads, more organisations are
answering the call for co-working spaces. These vibrant
working environments come in various shapes and sizes and
offer a great place for start-ups to flourish and freelancers to
knuckle down amongst like-minded individuals. SIGNATURE
WORKS are the latest company to offer space, with three
centres opening across Liverpool. Free coffee and WiFi is
included in the monthly flat fee and you can also get extra
bonuses with the Signature Works Privilege card. For more
info go to signatureworks.co.uk.
This song holds a special place in my heart – a song
we collectively belted out in the silent disco after our
first appearance at our favourite festival, ArcTanGent. I
remember sinking a couple of litres of ‘interesting’ red wine
and feeling like we had achieved something really great.
Yes, I’ve allowed myself one moment of self-congratulatory
nostalgia. Fight me.
Head to bidolito.co.uk to read (and listen to) more of Alpha
Male Tea Party’s selections. Health is out on now on Big
Scary Monsters.
NEWS 11

LOVED
ONES
The warm embrace of Loved Ones’ rich, wholesome sound is one of
the great strengths of the West Kirby quartet’s latest album, Harness.
Stuart Miles O’Hara envelops himself in its myriad charms, and,
beneath it, finds a band at the top of their game.
LOVED ONES are back – tell your friends. They never
really went away, of course, but they’ve got a sleek new
sound, a new drummer, and a stonking new album on
which to show them all off. That Harness – the band’s
new LP released on even newer imprint Blood Records – is
well worth making a noise about shouldn’t come as much of a
surprise. Loved Ones have been specialists in creating moody
alt. pop since their first incarnation in 2011, then just a stopgap
project of vocalist Nik Glover after Seal Cub Clubbing Club
disbanded.
Since teaming up with electronics/synth whizz Rich Hurst under
the banner of Loved Ones, Glover has been able to steer the band’s
efforts towards the fertile ground where their yearning introspection
meshes deftly with electronic-infused pop. The emotional heft of
the Loved Ones sound comes from the gorgeous melodies of
Ben Shooter, whose classically-trained piano work adds a depth
to the band’s sound that underpins Glover’s probing lyrics.
So far so normal, for fans of the band’s first album The Merry
Monarch anyway. What marks Harness out as a sign of real
progress is the refined mood that permeates it, a suite of tracks
all cut from the same cloth rather than just a collection of really
good songs. The addition of Dan Taylor on drums – the band’s
first full-time drummer – came quite late on in the process, and
is a definite boon to the record’s consistent tone. Lead singles
End Of An Error and Without Face are classic Loved Ones guitar
pop gems, wedded to crisp drum beats and swirling textures.
The instrumental Dagger and gorgeous Monitors really show off
the interplay between Shooter’s piano and Hurst’s creativity (on
strings and synths respectively), referencing some of the recent
soundtrack work the band have indulged in.
On the morning of the new LP’s launch show at Leaf, I
caught up with frontman Nik Glover, briefly interrupting him while
weeding his garden. The work-life balance that comes with being
in a band was surprisingly high on the agenda. “We’re doing
“There’s something
about copying the
sound of a band you
don’t necessarily like,
trying to make a song
in the same way”
12

a short tour in autumn. No festivals this year, too much of a
hassle!” Glover replies when I ask him what the summer holds.
“We’re very much a loose band, we’ll just do things here and
there. [I’ve] Never been a fan of touring at the best of times.”
So, talk us through what’s changed since 2013’s The Merry
Monarch?
We’ve had a couple more kids – six kids between the four
of us now. We’re still working full time, but we’ve spent two
years putting the album [Harness] together. We’re a bit more
experienced, a bit older. We wanted to make something not…
not more ‘accessible’, but the music’s smoothed out. I wanted
to make the darks darker and the lights lighter. I think we’ve
managed that.
Being in a band is time consuming. With a family and work,
why keep going back into band practice?
We never treat it as work. It’s kind of a holiday from all that.
We’ve spent two years practising so much we now feel we can
just meet up and play. The four of us are committed to making
music. In young bands, maybe two out of the four guys just
wanna get pissed as soon as possible but we’re older, take it a bit
more seriously.
Listening to the new album, it’s noticeable the songs are
shorter but seem to go further (The Merry Monarch had only
three songs under four and a half minutes. On Harness, all but
two hover around the fabled three-and-a-half-minute mark).
Did you use the break as an opportunity for reinvention or
does the new record just reflect where you currently are as
musicians?
It’s a reflection of the recording process. The first album came
together over two years in West Kirkby, demoing it at home that
whole time. By the time we finished, we released [recordings]
that sounded so different from how we were playing them live.
There are some major differences in sound, drums and vocals
to the fore.
It all feels much more professional this time. We started recording
over in West Kirkby, then Peter Shilton from Merseyside Arts
Foundation helped get us into Parr Street [Studios]. [Previous
album] Merry Monarch was always meant to be lo-fi, using the
same mics for everything, but we had access to so much more
equipment in Parr Street this time. There’s this unbelievable
baby grand piano, and Ben [Shooter] just got to let loose on it.
Then there were all these different types of microphone. That’s
“We never
treat it as
work. It’s kind
of a holiday
from all that”
probably why the sound is fuller, the vocals are stronger. Much
more stuff to play around with.
What were you listening to when writing/recording Harness?
Nothing specifically. Same as usual really: a lot of off-kilter hip
hop, a lot of beats. Monitors off the new album, that’s my first
time rapping – rapping UK style. Oh! And Saint Etienne. I’ve never
been a fan, but I got fond of the aesthetic. There’s something
about copying the sound of a band you don’t necessarily like,
trying to make a song in the same way. Anything else is all fairly
obvious, what you can hear in the album. A lot of pop albums that
maybe don’t get listened to so much recently, Paul McCartney
solo stuff.
How did you get into soundtracking?
The first soundtracking we did was for Roger Hill’s late-night
show PMS on BBC Radio Merseyside, a long radio play, an
abridged version of a 1930s book called Last And First Men by
Olaf Stapledon. Then the BBC did a WWI film called Our World
War, using innovative filming techniques using drone tech,
showing the Great War in a new way, and we soundtracked
that too. There’s a short sci-fi film we’ve done the soundtrack to,
Pulsar, directed by Aurora Fearnley. It’s coming out in late June.
It has kind of a similar feel [to Harness] but with traditional sci-fi
sounds. Just had the final cut through on that so we’re working on
our part and improving it.
Does working on soundtracks differ much from your day-today
band work?
It’s a really nice way to work, and different to working normally as
a band. Usually it’s me saying ‘Can we try it like this?’, so to have
someone else directing, an external influence, is fun.
Later on, I’m able to catch the band showcasing this
newfound approach. The upper room in Leaf has strings of
lights suspended from the ceiling, in a sequence of Crayola red,
yellow, green, and blue. They help to make the darks darker
and the lights lighter; an apt descriptor for Loved Ones’ music.
It has a kind of wholesome, reassuring feeling like memories of
the regular fixtures of childhood, be it Neil Buchanan saying,
“Go on, give it a go” or hearing the ice cream van coming up
your street. It’s there in the enunciation of set opener Without
Face: “With a pound in my pocket and a pint in my hand/I can
almost appreciate/Almost appreciate your side/With a pain in my
shoulder and a pen in my hand/ I can almost appreciate/Almost
appreciate your side.”
The place the band now inhabit is much more assured: they
sound comfortable in their own skin, devoid of the transatlantic
yearning so often taken for granted in pop music. It’s also why
Glover’s rapping on Monitors lands perfectly. It doesn’t sound
audacious, nor try to be anything it isn’t – these are words that
didn’t need enhancing with melody. Meaning and rhythm will do.
Fresh cuts like Suzanne Vega and One Big Kiss sit
comfortably alongside older material like Paper Crown, which is
delivered almost at double speed. There’s that eclectic influence
again – how often do bands align their tempi like a DJ might? And
it’s all beefed up, and it can’t just be down to the right gear. It
comes with the territory of a confident band who know what they
want from their music.
After the show, I ask the ivory-tickling Shooter the same
question I asked Nik: Why keep up the workload of a band
when there’s a family at home and a job at work? “I could say
something really cheesy in response, but no. I’ll just say: for the
love.” He drags out the last word until it’s cut short by the laugh
of someone relieved, proud to show off two years of work to a
loooving audience.
Once they were very young. Now they are four, all performing
with the inner peace of men in possession of tidy gardens. They
finish where they came in, with older-than-oldie Wild Palms. A
gulf has reappeared in front of the stage, but now people are slow
dancing in it. Looks like Loved Ones have earned their name. !
Words: Stuart Miles O’Hara / @ohasm1
Photography: Mike Sheerin / michaelsheerin.photoshelter.com
soundcloud.com/lovedones
Harness is out now on Blood Records.
FEATURE 13

“I don’t think
there’s a magic
formula as such,
you’ve just got to
keep to your focus”
SLACKK
Charting the rise of the underground grime
movement with one of its early pioneers and
most respected names.
Grime’s rise over the past few years has been
exponential, with the crossover figureheads paving the
way for domination of festival headline slots alongside
chart-topping albums. But, as with most genres, there’s
an underground consistently bubbling with producers and DJs
who are devising and showcasing quality music for the more
earnest of music heads. Liverpool-raised SLACKK (real name
Paul Lynch) is one such underground Titan: the co-founder of
the beloved Boxed club night is considered a leading figure in
instrumental grime, and is behind some of the standout releases
from cult underground labels Local Action, R&S Records and
Unknown To The Unknown.
Lynch’s beginnings in the world of grime music started
with his Grimetapes blog, a well-respected resource for old
radio recordings, something which stemmed from his interest in
the pirate radio scene. He then went onto make his own tunes
when UK funky got big, exploring that avenue of dance before
getting picked up by Glasgow’s Numbers label in 2010, where
he released his debut EP, Theme From Slackk. It was when funky
died off that Lynch turned his hand to grime, following a longstanding
love affair with the genre. “I was always into grime in
the first place,” says Lynch in a thick Scouse accent, as he speaks
to us on the line from the capital. “I’ve always had a focus on
London-based music despite being from Liverpool.”
It was the journeys to London which really whetted Lynch’s
appetite for that flavour of music, but he had his foot in the door
when it came to dance long before, engaging with what his
hometown had to offer in terms of dance music. “I was always
into club music,” Paul tells us, “my dad was a DJ in the acid house
era in the early 90s so I always grew up with that sort of music in
the house. When I was in Liverpool from 16/17 I was taking pills
and going raving in shit clubs, and then eventually it was the likes
of Voodoo or Bugged Out.”
But it was his move to London back in 2008 which exposed
him fully to a whole strain of music which hadn’t quite made it
up north yet. “It was a revelation of all this London-based music
that I wasn’t that aware of I suppose, being up north you get
bits of it but not properly,” he explains, before pinpointing the
moment his talents were recognised, “I’ve always dabbled with
the production thing but I didn’t think that I was any good until
2009/2010.”
With the airwaves now filled with a more accessible flavour
of grime headed up by instantly recognisable vocals, a lot would
consider the genre to be MC-focused, but Slackk’s productions
prove that there’s a lot to be said for instrumental. “I have done
tunes with MCs before but it just seemed a lot easier to start
doing this sort of stuff as a producer because it’s easier to put on
a rave in London – or certainly was at the time – without having
an MC attached because you had the implications on clubs
themselves. They were wary of that sort of sound.” It was this
music policy decision which led to a brand which the name Slackk
is now synonymous with: Boxed.
The instrumental grime-focused night, founded by Lynch,
Mr. Mitch, Logos and Oli Gang, is now considered the scene’s
key stomping ground. “When we first started it, it was more the
viewpoint that it was the instrumental avenue that we wanted to
push,” he recalls, “and it was a lot easier to get into the clubs as a
result, you know, me saying I’ve just got DJs coming down is more
appealing than saying there’s MCs – there would automatically be
implications.”
Boxed is a party well and truly for the music heads; no frills,
no drama, just a core crowd of invested ravers and the DJs who
are equally as passionate about their niche. It’s the commitment to
the initial idea which has led to the party marking its fourth year
this March, quite a feat when clubland is as competitive as it is.
“You’ve just got to be doing what you want to do,” explains Lynch
with sincerity, “we just stuck with our idea for what we wanted
to create and it just naturally grew, but I think you have to be
genuinely dedicated and believe in the stuff you’re pushing. I don’t
think there’s a magic formula as such, you’ve just got to crack on.
I suppose you’ve got to keep to your focus, that’s the only thing
we’ve done, I don’t know if there’s any merit in saying that but
sticking to it for us has worked.”
The first ever Boxed event brought in 150 people, hardly
filling the 600-capacity venue, but the crowd was dedicated
and word soon spread. Now Boxed has taken place at Plan B in
Brixton, Dalston’s Birthdays, and Room 3 of Fabric, with Four Tet
requesting the club night to host the space as part of his curation
of Fabriclive. “Our venues have got bigger and our crowds have
got bigger but we’ve just kept on with the same thing as we’ve
always done,” tells Lynch, “it’s just that the audience has gone with
it. I don’t understand how we’ve done it, it’s just happened I guess.”
These days, it’s not just in London where grime is rearing its
head. This wider appreciation, both in the UK and further afield is
something which Lynch thinks has stemmed from the accessibility
of music on the internet. “I think a lot of it comes from the YouTube
thing. When I was first getting into it all it was more of a radiobased
thing and there were mixtapes, but the core element was
instrumental on radio and then people spitting on there too, and
now everything is available just by searching online.”
But with mainstream grime hitting new levels of popularity,
what effect does this thoughtful and humble Scouser think it
has on the genre as a whole? “When I first started going to
these kinds of clubs it was very much a niche audience and it
was a select group of people who would go to it, like your music
nerds,” says Lynch. “I don’t view the surge in popularity as a
negative thing by any stretch but I suppose if you want to try and
capitalise on the success of it at the moment than you do have to
have a particular sort of outlook on it. I do see it opening up for a
lot of MCs and producers now more than there ever has been, so
you can’t view it as a negative.”
What’s exceedingly obvious when speaking to Lynch is that
he doesn’t overthink his musical efforts, and a laidback approach
to production has resulted in some remarkable pieces of work
over the years. “With the first album I did, Palm Tree Fire, that
was kind of an accident, I probably wrote that in a period of
around two months,” says Lynch. “It was more I didn’t have much
money at the time, we’d just moved into a new flat and I was just
trying to knuckle down because I wasn’t going out much. I sent
it Tom Lee who runs the label [Local Action] and he was like,
‘You’ve got an album here so we should put it out’.”
Now Lynch has recently released his second album as Slackk,
titled A Little Light, on the revered R&S Records. Touching on
influences from his background in UK funky, early-00s house and
downtempo R&B, all the while keeping in line with his dystopian
sound, again pushing forward and taking the genre in a new
direction. But, in regards to his next move, he’s currently taking
time to appreciate the work he’s put in. “I think it’s important after
you’ve released something to just let it sit there and for people to
take it in before you decide to take your next step – and I suppose
I’ve got to take it in too.” !
Words: Rebecca Frankland / @beccafranko
soundcloud.com/slackk
A Little Light is out now on R&S Records
14

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Norman Jay MBE
LIMF: GOO
Europe’s largest free music festival is on our doorstep, inviting us to join
them in remembering the good times – and revelling in them.
Festival fever is in the air in Liverpool this summer. It can
hardly have escaped your notice, what with the sheer
volume of events coming our way, catering to all musical
and cultural tastes. The region is alive with high-class
happenings, many of them free to attend, a sign that we know
how to satisfy the city’s collective musical impulses. Africa Oyé,
LightNight and the Sgt. Pepper At 50 celebrations have already
brought us performances from a wide variety of world-renowned
artists, these public displays of celebration virtually hardwired
into our notions of civic responsibility. Into that bracket we can
add LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL (LIMF,
20th-23rd July), which this year makes a serious move to be
regarded as the city’s flagship musical event.
Centred around the three days of free Summer Jam activities,
the festival embeds itself in the collective consciousness for one
heady weekend. Spread across multiple stages in the glorious
setting of Sefton Park, LIMF showcases artists from across the
musical spectrum in what is thought to be Europe’s largest free
outdoor music festival. Headlining the Central Stage on Saturday
22nd July, GORGON CITY reflect the festival’s intentions. The
production duo have been touring the world incessantly since
their debut album Sirens took off, a record which spawned
the huge chart hit Ready For Your Love. Appearing just before
Gorgon City on the Saturday, DJ and rapper NAUGHTY BOY
brings his dancehall vibes to the party. Having worked with
Beyoncé and been a judge on the 2016 Mercury Prize, Naughty
Boy (real name Shahid Khan) can claim to be one of the most
influential artists in UK urban music. Elsewhere on the Central
Stage, multiple Grammy Award-winner CORINNE BAILEY RAE
stars on Sunday 23rd, showing us why she’s known as the
“bewitching Queen of British soul”. Also on the Sunday, local
Britpop heroes CAST will be whipping the crowd up for a raucous
singalong, in what is becoming a massively popular way for the
festival to sign off.
Since making her musical comeback in 2012, multiinstrumental
pop star KATE NASH has been a massive positive
force across a number of disciplines. Nash has appeared in a
number of feature films, DJed at London and New York Fashion
Week’s most prestigious events, as well as and moonlighting as
Music Editor for breakthrough London-based fashion magazine,
PHOENIX. Nash’s self-released third album Girl Talk realigned
her as an artist with a fierce independent streak with a punchy
message to tell, which she’s built on with the outstanding new
EP Agenda. Empowerment and smashing the patriarchy never
sounded so good.
Going under his stage name FUSE ODG, Nana Richard
Abiona is one the most thrilling urban music talents to emerge
in years. Merging Afrobeat vibes, picked up from his Ghanaian
ancestry, with the huge house sound popular in UK clubs, Fuse
ODG hit the big time with his 2013 single Antenna, which
marked him out as a global superstar. Off the back of his 2014
debut LP T.I.N.A. (standing for This Is New Africa), the rapper
turned down the chance to sing on the Band Aid 30 project in
objection to the negative portrayal of Africa in the song’s lyrics.
Speaking to the Guardian about his problems with charity’s
poverty-obsessed view of Africa, Fuse ODG said “I, like many
others, am sick of the whole concept of Africa – a resourcerich
continent with unbridled potential – always being seen as
diseased, infested and poverty-stricken. In fact, seven out of
10 of the world’s fastest growing economies are in Africa.” The
world needs the positive outlook of artists like Fuse ODG, and
we’ll be at the front to party with him on the Saturday afternoon
of this year’s LIMF.
Away from the Central Stage, there’s a host of other activity
tucked away in corners of Sefton Park. LIMF’s flagship – and
award-winning – development programme, LIMF Academy, hosts
its own stage across all three days of Summer Jam. The three
Most Ready artists, GAZELLE, REMÉE and MARY MILLER, will
be playing live sets alongside the 17 other Merseyside acts aged
between 13 and 25 who have been highlighted as among those
musicians with the most potential in the region. Witness some of
Summer Jam’s future headline stars in one of the most intimate
of settings. The ItsLiverpool Stage also provides a place for some
of the region’s current bright talents to shine, many of whom
have already come through the LIMF Academy programme.
16

Kate Nash
Fuse ODG
D TIMES
XAMVOLO, ELEANOR NELLY and SUEDEBROWN are such
artists, all of whom have enjoyed great success off the back of
the project’s support. Alongside these, the city’s fertile music
scene is represented by HOOTON TENNIS CLUB, ZUZU, LUMEN,
JO MARY and loads more. We’re also delighted to say that lo-fi
guitar pop star PIXEY will perform on the ItsLiverpool Stage as
our own pick from the myriad talents currently making great
music in the city. Make sure you don’t miss her.
Summer Jam’s offer doesn’t end there either, with plenty
more treats to discover as you wander round the park.
Mellowtone are once again programming a seriously chilled and
fascinating bill to perform of the Bandstand: DAVE OWEN’s
performance with ANWAR ALI is a particular highlight, but we’re
sure you’ll find your own among their high-quality list of acts. A
dedicated DJ Stage and Silent Disco will cater for those who want
more of a beat-heavy way of celebrating the weekend, and the
venerable ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
will be making their usual trip to Summer Jam’s Central Stage for
a grand classical flourish.
In recent years, LIMF has excelled in bolstering Summer Jam’s
varied activities with a series of commissioned events, bringing
huge names from across the industry to the festival to look into
certain genres or movements in more depth. This year’s LIMF
Presents programme is no different: working under the theme
of ‘Remember The Times’, five different events will explore and
showcase pivotal music moments throughout the decades, which
were the springboard for genres such as hip hop, house and pop.
Opening up the whole festival on Friday 21st July with a free
concert on Sefton Park’s Central Stage, GARAGE CLASSICAL
is a celebration of UK garage music with a twist. Curated and
presented by DJ SPOONY, a number of performers from the
genre’s golden age – including KELE LE ROC and ELIZABETH
TROY – will be joined by a 40-strong orchestra from the Royal
Northern College Of Music to present some of this groundbreaking
genre in a new light. Watch out for special guests SO SOLID
CREW and ARTFUL DODGER joining the party too.
The remainder of the LIMF Presents events take place in the
sumptuous setting of Sefton Park’s Palm House, each of them
ticketed to account for the limited space on offer. Kicking off
proceedings on Thursday 20th July, legendary DJ NORMAN JAY
hosts GOOD TIMES, looking at the rare groove scene he helped
to develop, which pushed the boundaries of the UK’s emerging
club culture. The following night sees a special event that looks
at the legacy of one of Liverpool’s current musical institutions.
DJ and producer YOUSEF started the clubnight Circus in 2002,
nurturing it to grow into a much-loved record label and club
that is known the world over. Joined by partner in crime LEWIS
BOARDMAN, DJ CLAUDE VON STROKE and special guest JOSH
WINK, CIRCUS: YEAR ONE is a recreation of their classic party
atmosphere, running late into the night.
The following two nights see parties based around more
celebrated scenes from the past few decades. TREVOR NELSON
leads SHOLA AMA and DAMAGE on a barnstorming tour of 90s
RnB with his REMINISCE event, highlighting a lot of the music he
brought to prominence through his Radio 1 show The Rhythm
Nation. DJ STRETCH ARMSTRONG then rounds off the LIMF
Presents series on Sunday night with a delve inside the world of
New York City club life. Based around his book of the same name,
NO SLEEP explores the halcyon days of the hip hop-dominated
club scene in the city that ran between the late-80s and late-90s.
In one breathless weekend, LIMF supplies us all with a great
reason to get outside and indulge in some good times. Whether
you’re looking for family-friendly fun as you recline in the sun, or
more of a hedonistic experience, you can find just what you need.
There’s no excuse not to get involved. !
Words: Christopher Torpey / @CATorp
limfestival.com
LIMF takes place in Sefton Park between 20th and 23rd July. All
LIMF Summer Jam activities are free, but a number of the LIMF
Presents events are ticketed. Check limfestival.com for full details.
Turn to page 20 now for an interview with Jane Weaver, who is
appearing at LIMF Summer Jam on Sunday 23rd July.
FEATURE
17

18

SOUNDTRACKING
DAVID LYNCH
The architect of noir cinema is a master of turning your deepest, weirdest dreams into gripping
art. Del Pike delves inside the murky world of the cult director and musician, looking at how he
brings sound and moving image together with such chilling effect.
The undisputed Godfather of modern surreal cinema,
DAVID LYNCH, has inspired generations of like-minded
misfits since he unleashed his startling film debut, the
beautiful nightmare Eraserhead in 1977. Since that
release, Lynch has become as much an enigma as the films he
produces, to categorise him as simply a filmmaker would be
in some way to miss the point. As his prolific film career has
progressed, he has utilised his vast bank of extra-curricular abilities
to enhance and personalise his work, his more practical skills borne
from the handiwork he was forced to carry out to fund Eraserhead,
during long breaks in filming. From physically hand-building sets,
including the unnerving furniture in 1997’s Lost Highway, to
creating his own soundscapes alongside collaborator Alan Splet,
standing mic in hand in vast factories and industrial workplaces.
Lynch’s appearance is as instantly recognisable as fellow
eccentric surrealists, Magritte and Dali; with his shock of grey
Orwellian hair, constant smouldering cigarette, tidy-suits and
up-to-the-chin, button-down shirts, he is almost a work of art
himself. The area that Lynch seems to have found most success
in alongside his filmmaking has undoubtedly been his music.
Where other great American directors like Martin Scorsese and
Francis Ford Coppola weave found music into their films to set an
era or establish a mood with flourishes of genius – or, in the case
of Tarantino, to exude cool – Lynch takes the very same idea and
runs amok with it. By linking carefully selected tunes and passages
of music with his own compositions or with his musical associate
Angelo Badalamenti, the scores of his films become as integral as
the narratives.
To enter the world of Lynch cannot simply stop at a trip
to the cinema, you are either IN or OUT – no compromise. An
understanding of Lynch’s music is a requirement: within the
enigmatic compositions and choices that Lynch presents exists
humour, meaning, terror, grief and mystery.
Fans are currently experiencing this right now in the return
of Lynch’s seminal TV show, Twin Peaks. Originally planned to air
for just nine episodes, a disruption which saw Lynch walking out
temporarily has led to a longer run of 18, with Lynch directing all
shows (he only helmed selected shows in the original run). This
has meant that the original plan to launch in January 2016 was
severely delayed and the show returned in June this year.
In the time since the original series was aired, TV has played
host to many imitators (M Night Shyamalan’s Wayward Pines
being a contender for closest homage), but the show has never
been bettered. A true example of event TV, Twin Peaks had the
world on alert with speculation over who killed Laura Palmer,
the prom queen washed up on the shore at the start of the first
episode. At the time Lynch suggested that the first episode,
a feature-length pilot, was an exercise in grieving and this is
certainly the case. From the early scenes of Sheriff Andy crying at
the lakeside through the elongated sequences of Laura’s weeping
parents, the grief barely lets up. Badalamenti’s score creates
an all-enveloping stage for the grief to play against. A suite of
yearning arrangements that never quite accelerates beyond a
moaning sway. The repetition of the themes does not irritate at
any time, however, and the audience gradually becomes aware of
each passage in relation to the character on-screen. A rhythmic
pattern develops that enables the viewer to predict which passage
of music will occur by a single establishing shot of a house or bar.
The only respite comes in the school and police station sequences
where a slow jazz swing comes mischievously into play, a tune
which the audience soon realises heralds the much-welcomed
interludes of dreamlike fantasy or twisted comedy.
That the Twin Peaks soundtrack was the centrepiece of a
unique performance by American experimental noise-pop group
Xiu Xiu at Liverpool’s Kazimier in 2015 with subsequent album,
should not come as a surprise. With added electronica, their tribute
is a luxurious experience. This followed up a singular Lynch event
at the Barbican in London earlier that year that saw the likes of
Stealing Sheep, Mick Harvey and Savages vocalist Jehnny Beth
performing songs from Lynch films. The collection of Twin Peaks
tunes reflects a dark-as-hell otherworld that has kept followers
waiting for a quarter of a century to discover even more secrets
within. The White Lodge in the show is a place in the pines
where a dwarf dances and talks backwards, the ghost of Laura
Palmer holds court and the iconic image of red velvet curtains
and monochrome zig-zag flooring becomes the stuff of very
real nightmares, all seen through the night terrors of FBI Agent
Dale Cooper. Badalamenti’s scoring throughout these sequences
creates an unnerving experience that could only come from a
collaboration with Lynch. Largely silent bar a sonic hum or lone
bell, the silence serves to highlight the bizarre reverse dialogue.
When the dwarf begins his hypnotic dance and Badalamenti’s
Dance Of The Dream Man kicks in, a shuffling sax led jazz ramble,
it is welcome relief and a reminder that humour is never too far
away once more.
The Twin Peaks Theme (Falling) is a forlorn piece, bringing
comfort to fans with each journey. Tinged with both sadness
and hope, the piece – a collaboration between Badalamenti and
Lynch muse, Julee Cruise – resulted in a vocal version which was a
semi-successful single, bringing Twin Peaks momentarily into the
mainstream. Lynch enjoys nightclub settings which is where we first
see Cruise singing her signature tune in the Twin Peaks Roadhouse.
The sleazy places where these people meet provide a perfect
backdrop for the sordid activities of the bar owners, local teenagers
gone bad and small-town drug dealers. In the movie spin off, Twin
Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Lynch takes his bar-room music to
extremes placing his own The Pink Room against scenes of drunken
teenage sexual mis-adventure. More violent than Badalamenti’s
contributions, the piece drones on for what feels like an eternity,
drowning out the dialogue completely. DVD optional subtitles reveal
that it is fairly nonsensical dialogue anyway. It is one of the most
startling scenes in the film and a first watch is petrifying.
The Twin Peaks musical project acts as a blueprint for the rest
of his work and is a masterclass in how to bring all emotions to the
fore with a range of startlingly diverse styles.
Eraserhead suggested immediately a life-long marriage of
music as experimental as the images it accompanied. A work by
Lynch, Alan Splet and Peter Iver, Eraserhead’s score is a symphony
in churning machinery and grinding cogs. Leaning heavily on
sampled tracks by Fats Waller, drowned out by the din of the
Philadelphia factories, a world is created that is at once horrific,
but, given time, addictive. The centrepiece of the film is the
mesmeric In Heaven, composed by Iver and sung by the lady in
the radiator, actress Laurel Near. Possibly Lynch’s signature tune
given the weight of cult admiration the track has garnered, the
song accompanies the iconic image of Near, placed centre stage on
the recurring black and white op-art stage-floor (hand stencilled
and painted by Lynch, obviously), velvet curtains à la White
Lodge, performing initially a meek child-like dance, pausing only
to squidge elongated sperm creatures with her heels. The song is
hypnotic and irresistible and, despite her grotesque appearance,
we are all drawn in. That the song has been covered by such
luminaries as Devo, Bauhaus, Modest Mouse, Faith No More and
notable Lynch fanatics, Pixies, is testament to the song’s charm.
“To enter the world of
Lynch cannot simply stop
at a trip to the cinema,
you are either IN or OUT –
there’s no compromise”
Lynch’s recognisable style came into play in his mid-to-late
80s period leading up to and including Twin Peaks. Blue Velvet
(1985) was Lynch’s ode to Middle Class American suburbia and
the flipside to The American Dream. Reflecting, to an extent, his
own upbringing, he modelled the main character Jeffrey Beaumont
(TP’s Kyle MacLaughlin) on a younger self and embraced the
favourite movie genres of teen and noir. The combination of
Badalamenti’s startling lush Hollywood golden age score mixed
with 50s and 60s classics provided the film with a retro feel
despite its contemporary setting. The title track, Blue Velvet finds
Lynch’s future wife Isabella Rossellini crooning the song typically
against velvet curtains in a seedy nightclub, predating Julee Cruise
by five years. The song is given a sinister context as later we see
Dennis Hopper’s evil Frank Booth stuffing pieces of blue velvet into
Rossellini’s mouth during a harrowing sex act. Roy Orbison’s In
Dreams with its disturbing “The candy coloured clown they call the
sandman” lyric, is similarly made grotesque by the lipstick smeared
Dean Stockwell’s delivery, in a hell-hole brothel, once again in front
of tarnished velvet curtains. The inclusion of bubblegum post-war
pop is a recurring motif in Lynch’s films, notably in Mulholland
Drive some years later, but his move into rural Americana in
Blue Velvet’s successor, Wild At Heart (1990) packed a more
disturbing yet humorous punch. Nic Cage’s rocky output has been
at times unforgivable, but look no further than Wild At Heart to
see what could have been. Based on the Sailor and Lula stories
of American pulp writer Barry Gifford, the film sees ex-con Cage
and his teenage girlfriend played by Laura Dern on a road trip
across America’s Midwest. The heightened violence in the film,
played against Powermad’s Slaughterhouse, brought new levels of
disturbia to Lynch’s work, and gave Badalamenti a broader palette
to work from. The soundtrack album mixed old time rock and roll
from Gene Vincent and Them with modern work from Chris Isaak
and Rubber City. Cage’s Sailor is based around the kitsch idea
of an Elvis impersonator and he strikes the poses and curls his
lip accordingly. Lynch makes Cage actually perform the Presley
classics Love Me Tender and Love Me to create a fully formed love
song to a lost age of American film and music culture.
It is not surprising given Lynch’s penchant for surprise that he
stalled in embracing the cool in his music until middle age. 1997’s
Lost Highway formed a catalyst for Lynch to show his acceptable
tastes in modern popular music whilst allowing Badalamenti
to supplement his already rich catalogue of scores with more
beautiful arrangements. The film opens with a fender POV of
a speeding tarmac against one of the director’s most inspired
choices of non-original soundtrack music; Bowie’s I’m Deranged.
The standout track from his Outside album from ’95 is a frantic,
dark and haunting piece which reflects the mood of the film
succinctly. The soundtrack also saw inclusions from Rammstein,
The Smashing Pumpkins, Trent Reznor, Barry Adamson, Marilyn
Manson and Nine Inch Nails and the film included cameo’s from
Manson and Henry Rollins. Perhaps the most powerful piece of
music in the film comes from 4AD’s This Mortal Coil and their
perfect version of Tim Buckley’s Song To The Siren. Played to
a halogen drenched sex scene between Patricia Arquette and
Balthazar Getty as they make out on white desert sands, the song
is unfortunately absent on the soundtrack album.
Lynch’s induction into the world of self-penned and hip music
appears to have encouraged him to experiment further with his
own compositions. Fans had already heard glimpses of what was
to come on the Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me soundtrack, notably
the previously mentioned The Pink Room, the ferocious A Real
Indication and The Black Dog Runs At Night.
In 2001, Lynch collaborated with Dean Hurley on a soundtrack
to an exhibition of Lynch’s art and photography. The Air Is On Fire
is categorised as a soundscape rather than a collection of songs
and is the closest to pure David Lynch music as you are likely to
find. Atmospheric airs with slamming doors and whistling winds
dominate the recording and to close your eyes and drift away
would be to risk an encounter in your own Black Lodge. 2009’s
incredible Dark Night Of The Soul – a music/artwork crossover
album with Sparklehorse and Danger Mouse – served as further
preparation for Lynch’s coming solo debut.
2011 was Lynch’s breakthrough year in terms of gaining
recognition as a valid player in the music world. Another Dean
Hurley collaboration with vocalist Chrysta Bell on the This Train
album spawned the singles Bird Of Flames, Real Love and All
The Things. The sound directly soaks up elements from all of
Lynch’s previous works and clears the decks for his first bonafide
solo LP, Crazy Clown Time. A remarkable album that relies
heavily on Lynch’s own distorted vocal patterns and bass-heavy
thrumming and drumming, it provides a scary as hell insight into
the mind of the musician. The lead single Crazy Clown Time and
its equally deranged video show a man at the very peak of his
creative powers, and the Pinky’s Dream single with vocals from
Karen O opened up his music to a wider audience. The album has
been widely praised and is undoubtedly one of the factors in the
re-appraisal of his music by contemporary artists that we have
witnessed in recent years. His follow up, the equally outstanding
The Big Dream (2013), inspired the stunning Lykke Li collaboration
on the single I’m Waiting Here.
All of this work has shown Lynch to be one of the most multifaceted
artists of our time and this does not even include his work
in advertising, music videos and meditation manuals. All hail the
Dark Knight Of The Soul. !
Words: Del Pike / @del_pike
Illustration: Nick Booton / bruistudio.com
FEATURE
19

“Put what you’re good
at into making the
world a better place to
try and restore some
order in the chaos”
JANE WEAVER
The genre-melding sonic auteur returns with a
dazzling LP that sees her filter the history of the
universe through her analogue synth setup.
There can’t be many more popular figures to have
emerged from the recent psych revival than JANE
WEAVER. Since the release of her 2014 LP The Silver
Globe, Weaver has been hailed for bringing a light,
airy touch to a genre that often gets clogged up by weighty
bass blasts and overblown fuzz. It helps that she has been
able to incorporate her love for analogue synths and obscure
soundtracks within her strain of cosmic pop – but that would still
all fall flat if it weren’t for the quality of her songwriting, which
provides the structure for the spectral sonic patterns to hang on.
On new album Modern Kosmology, Weaver’s omnivorous
musical endeavours have taken her to a higher plane, one which
sees acid-folk sit alongside ambient drones to striking effect.
Ahead of a busy summer for Weaver – which sees her play
Liverpool three times between July and September, as well as
appearing at Bluedot festival – Matthew Hogarth caught up with
her to find out how her modern masterpiece came together.
First and foremost, congratulations on Modern Kosmology’s
reception. How long did it take to write the album, and what
inspired it?
I started writing it back when I was on tour with the last record,
so about 18 months really. I wrote a big pool of songs but I
didn’t decide which ones I wanted until a few weeks before I
went in the studio. I ended up going in and out of the studio
over a period of two weeks. I know a lot of bands do two weeks
and there’s your album, but I find that really hard to do! So, it
took some time but it feels worth it. The inspiration was to do
something a little different from the last record. I wanted to do
something a bit clearer production-wise, keeping it psychedelic
but with a little less space echo.
What does Modern Kosmology actually mean?
At the beginning of the 1900s, people started incorporating
scientific discovery into their artwork and I became fascinated
with this. I started reading into cosmology, the history of the
universe. At the time of writing there was a lot of upsetting
things happening in our universe and I was trying to incorporate
how this all made me feel into my work without being as direct
as, say, Sleaford Mods. I’m more abstract. I thought I should call
the record Modern Kosmology and that it would be the study of
the history of our own universe: trying to put what you’re good
at into making the world a better place to try and restore some
order in the chaos. I suppose this record is my tongue-in-cheek
take on the current climate.
How did you find the analogue recording process, in
particular working with Can’s Malcolm Mooney?
I just go to my local studio, which happens to be mainly an
analogue studio. The owner is a keen collector of synths and
keyboards so there are lots of instruments just scattered around.
It’s a bit like a museum. All of that was a big part of the process,
to be able to experiment and use different bits of machinery.
There are certain keyboards that I used on the last record that
I don’t own, as they’re massively expensive, but they’re in the
studio. I know my limitations and I know what I can do, so there
are certain Korgs and Minimoogs that have crossed over to this
record as well as some new 80s synths. I still use my Casio
MT45 which is on everything I do. I’m not a snob about what I
play: if I like the way it looks and sounds I’ll use it. I appreciate
people who admire their synths, but I feel that the snobbery
needs to stop.
Malcolm got involved towards the end of the record because I
wanted him to do a bit of spoken word for the album. He is a
friend of the family but I was still pretty nervous asking him. Just
because they’re a friend doesn’t mean you can just expect them to
say yes. But, luckily, I asked him pretty tentatively and he agreed.
There’s a fair amount of birdsong on the record. Could you tell
us a little more about that?
Well, there are three interludes done by my husband, Andy
Votel, and it was him who brought the birdsong onto the record.
It was electronic elements combined with nature. Part of that
was inspired by an artist called Hilma Af Klint who could be
seen as one of the first ever abstract painters. She used to paint
with automatic drawing and she would hold séances and paint
during these séances. But she was also a trained landscape
painter. So, I was trying to create scenery really.
How has your process changed between albums?
It’s a mixture really. Sometimes songs will just come to me
like an orchestra but other times it’s just a skeleton. It can be
difficult to put pen [to] paper. I usually demo on my keyboard at
home before going into the studio, either with the full band or
just me and the producer: it really does depend. I don’t normally
do lyrics til the last minute. I went off to Anglesey to write, with
a bag of notebooks and little tatty scraps of paper like a scruff!
Anglesey has a pretty rich history of druids and pagans. I think
it was one of the first places the Romans invaded. I used to go
as a kid so I wanted to visit certain places from my childhood; I
stayed in a hotel by myself in Trearddur Bay and it was nice and
quiet. One place was a haunted house and I wanted to go and
write in there, but, annoyingly, there was a film crew in there
all week. But any island has a certain feel to it and Anglesey
certainly has a cosmic, stone circle feel to it.
Alexis Petridis named you one of the best songwriters of the
psych revival in his recent review of Modern Kosmology. What
is it about the LP, and your last one The Silver Globe, that
seems to have captured people’s hearts?
Having been a musician for so long, I got bored of guitars and
needed to do something different on my own. But, having done
a couple of solo projects without the band, I made an executive
decision to start working with the band again for The Silver
Globe. I wanted to incorporate the heavier electronic elements
with a greater pop sensibility, and I guess that’s why people
enjoy it. My kids like it, so that’s a good thing!
Finally, what can people expect from your live show who
haven’t seen it before?
Well, it will be with the full band and I do act stuff out
sometimes. I never watch any footage of myself live because I
never want to know what I look like – I do lose myself a fair bit!
This time round we’ve also got visuals from Sam Wiehl [The
Coral and Forest Swords collaborator] as well, so it should be
even more of a spectacle. !
Words: Matthew Hogarth
janeweavermusic.com
Jane Weaver plays LIMF Summer Jam on 23rd July, Skeleton
Coast Festival on 5th August, and Liverpool Psych Fest on 22nd
September.
Modern Kosmology is out now on Fire Recordings.
20

URBAN
As the football season is
in temporary recess, we
look at a photography
project that captures
the hopes and
aspirations born
from our childhood
theatres of dreams.
Football is everywhere, you can’t escape it. The Premier
League and all other major competitions are in the close
season, but that hasn’t stemmed the flood of news and
rumours that clog up newspapers and Twitter timelines,
with the grinning faces of Ronaldo and Paul Pogba encouraging
you to consume football in some way. In recent years, there’s
been a backlash against the raging spread of modern football, by
those who attach a sense of romanticism to the beautiful game
that is at odds with the money-obsessed and endlessly hyped
TV coverage. Regular Bido photographer Michael Kirkham is one
of those people who sees something nostalgic in the makeshift
arenas made by children to host their games of high fantasy:
more chalk and brick than jumpers for goalposts. Here, he tells us
about the creation of his URBAN GOALS photography project.
You must have passed these places a lot of times before the
idea jumped to mind for the project. How long did it take
for the idea to come together?
Yeah, one particular goal in Granby actually. I’d pass it a
couple of times a week and it got me thinking about the kids
that use them. Their goals in life, their own urban goals. From
there the idea for the project grew pretty quickly; within a
couple of months I’d shot 70-odd goals in Liverpool and was
searching Google maps of towns and cities all over the UK.
Two years later, I’ve photographed around 800-1000 from
Glasgow to London and everywhere in between.
The image of a goal painted on a blank wall is a universal
one that people from Liverpool to Lisbon will understand.
Have you had much reaction from places outside of
Liverpool on this project?
The reaction has been massive, yes. I get people posting
goals to the Twitter account from all over the world. There
is such a fascination with the English game too, the history
of it all, that transpires through into the project’s appeal, no
doubt. The project’s been published across Europe in various
magazines and papers, and has a strong following in Holland,
Germany, Italy and Spain. I’m hoping to take the project to
these places with time too. I’ve already found goals in Spain,
Ireland, France, Germany and Italy.
You must have grown up playing street football with goals
like this as a child. Do you lament that fact that there aren’t
as many sites around urban areas now?
Most definitely, I think loads of us did, right? The nostalgia
of it all is big pull for the project. More should be invested
in spaces for this when areas are regenerated though.
I’ve noticed a huge correlation between regeneration and
abundance of sites. Leisure and sport seem low on many
councils’ priority lists when planning such things.
Is this a sight that is becoming a dying breed?
I don’t know about dying breed, I come across new goals often
enough. It’s the materials that seem to have changed though, paint
has been swapped for chalk. That makes the goals temporary, I find
they crop up in the school holidays only to be washed away by the
inevitable rain some weeks or months later. I do love the old ones
though, you can feel the history attached to them, paint peeling over
the decades leaving a ghost-like presence on the wall.
Each of the places you’ve shot looks like a blank canvas for
people (mainly children) to project their dreams on to – not just
footballing ones. How important is it to have these places, do you
think?
Every child needs dreams, they help shape our aspirations in life.
Who are you without dreams, goals and aspirations after all? Spaces
like this help form those ambitions, and they are needed all the
more in the kinds of neighbourhoods you find these goals in. One
thing I hope to highlight with the project is the lack of funding for
these places in our communities. It is certainly an issue that needs
addressing and I hope this project can help raise the subject in a
wider context.
Is this your first foray into street photography?
No, I’ve been shooting street photography for a good few years now.
I’ve photographed many protests and demonstrations in Liverpool
since about 2011 and I’m developing a strong body of work around
that. Street photography is a passion and it drew me into the
profession. There are so many great stories told on the streets of
Liverpool too, and the people so full of life that it makes my job easy. !
Words: Dave Kitson
Photography: Michael Kirkham / michaelkirkhamphotography.co.uk
urbangoals.com
Follow @UrbanGoals on Twitter for more updates and exhibitions.
22

GOALS
FEATURE
23

TAKE YOUR
MUSIC PRODUCTION SKILLS
to the next level
Start
September
2017
Short courses

LAAF UNISON
SUNDAY 16 JULY, 12 - 5PM • SEFTON PARK PALM HOUSE • FREE ADMISSION
ALSARAH
AND
THE
NUBATONES
LONDON SYRIAN ENSEMBLE
EGYPTIAN STREET DANCE
REHAM AL-HAKIMI • AL AWADHEL BAND
INTERNATIONAL MUSIC & DANCE ACTS
CULTURAL CUISINE • ARAB SOUK • FAMILY ACTIVITIES
See the full programme at arabartsfestival.com

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Join us now at bidolito.co.uk
Wednesday 5th July
Invisible Wind Factory
Bido Lito! Special Event
IWFM RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP
Enter the world of IWFM
with a radio masterclass from
station controllers Howard, Rob and Laura.
Exclusive members-only special event.
Thursday 20th July
The Shipping Forecast
The Bido Lito! Social Featuring:
THE FERNWEH
+ GINTIS
+ HANNAH’S LITTLE
SISTER
Free admission for members
£4 non-members adv from bidolito.co.uk.
St. Jude the Obscure
Wednesday 2nd August
Handyman Supermarket
Thursday 17th August
81 Renshaw
Bido Lito! Special Event
EMPTY SPACES CINEMA NIGHT
A selection of locally-made short films followed
by a feature film in Smithdown Road’s newest,
coolest venue.
Free admission for members
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The Bido Lito! Social Featuring:
ST. JUDE THE OBSCURE
+ TV ME
+ LUNA
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Wednesday 6th September
Open Eye Gallery
Thursday 21st September
Constellations
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Live performances from acts selected by the team
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MEMBERSHIP 27

SPOTLIGHT
HANNAH’S
LITTLE SISTER
Blossoming from a promising solo project into a quartet,
HANNAH’S LITTLE SISTER are a lo-fi pop sensation in waiting.
“Being a part of this
younger generation,
sometimes you can feel
a bit voiceless - singing
about those things adds
a little safety blanket”
trashy, but it’s reyt enough,” is the
response of Hannah’s Little Sister when asked
to describe their music. It doesn’t do justice to
“Kinda
their gloriously grungey aesthetic but it’s telltale
of an offbeat humour that permeates their outlook and output.
Originally the project of singer, songwriter and guitarist, Meg,
Hannah’s Little Sister has developed into a millennial mashup
group, with Will, a friend from Meg’s hometown of Burnley, and
Ash and Lukas, friends from university, completing the outfit.
Without an original recording to be found online (minus their
contribution to one of our Bido Lito! Membership bundles – you
heard it here first), they’re taking a considered approach to their
work and the group are not in any big hurry to flood your Spotify
recommendations just yet. “Unfortunately, we’re keeping all our
songs under maximum UV protection for the summer. But maybe
autumn will let something loose… you’ll just have to come see
us at a show for now!” Meg enthuses. You’ll only get a couple of
chances to catch them live over the summer months, too – the
July Bido Lito! Social at Shipping Forecast and LIMF’s Summer
Jam – after those, they plan to spend the rest of summer “being
hermits and getting our heads down with writing and recording
for our first release”.
When asked how where they’re from affects their writing,
Meg does not beat around the bush: “I think where we’re from
and how we grew up creates the biggest drive for this project to
be honest. We’re all from small towns up North so have had that
working-class upbringing of being stuck in a small place with not
much to do and having to learn to graft to get an opportunity.”
Drawing on her experiences, she adds “for me personally,
working at a posh hotel throughout school and then coming to
a university kind of allowed me to see this other reality… It’s not
the biggest struggle, and I’m not looking for a pity party by any
means, but it is definitely a difference of living, and one that some
people aren’t really aware of.” A struggle that is felt too deeply by
too many, it’s symptomatic of the ever-widening inequalities in
contemporary Britain. But how do they incorporate this into their
music? “It inspires me to shove my accent down people’s throats
and be a bit rowdy moaning about it, and it makes us wear our
backgrounds on show.”
Driven, angsty power-pop songs delivered in an unapologetic
Burnley accent is Hannah’s Little Sister’s way of finding their
outlet. “I think being a part of this younger generation, sometimes
you can feel a bit voiceless – being pigeon-holed or just being
bogged down in pressures and insecurities you can’t help
surrounding yourself with when being a twenty-something,” Meg
discloses before adding “but for me, songwriting and singing
about those things adds a little safety blanket to what I’m talking
about.” In creating their own little bed of comfort, Hannah’s
Little Sister extend that warmth to the lucky folks who come into
contact with their music.
soundcloud.com/hannahslittlesister
28

BILL NICKSON
Vulnerable DIY guitar pop with some electronic
undercurrents: meet BILL NICKSON, the bedroom
guitarist with a heart of song.
How did you got into music?
Music has pretty much always been a part of my life in some
way but I’d say I began to take it a bit more seriously when I had
exposure to the sheer amount of independent music released
online. I record and produce all of my music myself at home
and will probably continue to do so, mainly because I’ve always
preferred the relaxed, natural methods of recording at home
opposed to the time constraint of a studio.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
I’m currently finishing up another EP: it’s a bit meatier than
my last few though since this one will be about seven tracks.
Alongside that, I’ve also got plans to head up to Scotland in the
near future to play a show or two for GoldMold Records. If you
haven’t heard of them, they are a really cool tape label based in
Glasgow who released my Time EP on cassette last year – much
love for them!
the mindset and approach to music that I’ve had. I’ve always felt
pretty individualistic and isolated when it comes to my approach
to music, and obviously being separated from the city has given
me more of a drive to ‘prove’ myself, if that makes sense. Nothing
against Wirral though… it can be a great, varied place to live, but
also a very isolating place at the same time.
Did you have any particular artists in mind as an influence
when you started out? What about them do you think you’ve
taken into your music?
I’d say my two main influences starting out would be Daniel
Johnston and Brian Wilson. Both artists have such a pure outlook
on the creation of music and conveying honest emotion through
sound, whether it be the way in which they produce the music or
their songwriting. I like to think their approach has rubbed off on
me a bit when it comes to how I produce my work, especially as I
consider both of them geniuses in their own unique ways.
“I’ve always preferred
the relaxed, natural
methods of recording
at home opposed to
the time constraint
of a studio”
How does where you are from affect your writing?
Being born and raised in Wirral has definitely had an effect on
soundcloud.com/billnickson
INDIGO
MOON
The fearsome quintet’s
frontwoman (Ash) and guitarist
(Adam) let us in on the melting pot
of influences that are behind the
group’s storming new EP Anatomy.
“Music is everything
we do! Our lives
revolve around it”
Who are Indigo Moon? Who does what in the band?
We met while at Uni and now we’re adopted Liverpudlians.
Except Adam, who’s the real thing. Ash sings, Hannah plays bass,
Lisa on the drums. Brad and Adam both play guitar and Adam
messes around with a synth too.
If you had to describe your music in a sentence, what would
you say?
Dreamy psych and synths with big vocals and noisy riffs.
What’s the latest release you’ve had out – and what does it say
about you?
We’ve just released our latest EP Anatomy along with a video for
the final track Xin. We’re really excited about it and we love how
the new songs turned out. They were finished off just before we
recorded with the amazing Sam Bloor at his studio in Stoke and
they came together really well. We think the new songs really
show what we can do and the video hints to the energy of our
live shows, which has always been a big part of the music.
Did you have any particular artists in mind as an influence
when you started out? What about them do you think you’ve
taken into your music?
We started out with the intention of trying something with
a psych/shoegaze influence but it became a mix of that with
Black Sabbath, Wolfmother, Warpaint, Pond, Pink Floyd, My
Bloody Valentine, Tame Impala… all sorts! To be honest, we’re all
influenced by a lot of different stuff and that helps to shape our
music. Adam likes quite a raw sound whereas Brad’s obsessed
with pedals and it works well. Hannah combines her crazy
melodic basslines with Lisa’s drums – and Ashley’s voice is
versatile enough to fit into all the madness.
Why is music important to you?
It’s everything we do! Our lives revolve around it. And we love
how it allows us to bounce around on stage and see the crowd
enjoy it as much as we do.
soundcloud.com/indigomoonmusic
SPOTLIGHT 29

PREVIEWS
“How do you go
home if you don’t
feel 100% at home
anywhere?”
FESTIVAL
ALSARAH
& THE
NUBATONES
Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival
@ Sefton Park Palm House – 16/07
Searching for a place to lay down
your roots is a recurring theme
in the work of the Sudaneseborn
singer, songwriter and
ethnomusicologist behind
ALSARAH & THE NUBATONES.
Born in Khartoum to human rights activist parents,
Alsarah was forced to leave her birthplace at eight
years of age, when she relocated to Yemen with her
family. After civil war broke out in her new country,
they moved to the United States where she has resided from
the age of 12. Labelled the new princess of East African retro
pop, Alsarah and her band The Nubatones have released two
albums, Silt in 2014 and last year’s Manara. Both praised for
their harmonies and rich pentatonic sounds and arrangements,
the albums combine Nubian music from 1960s and 1970s with
Eastern instrumentation. Alsarah speaks to Cath Bore about the
sense of home in her music, from her home in New York.
How did moving to America influence your music making, and
did the place itself inspire you in musical terms?
I wasn’t dealing well with regular school. Being an immigrant
kid, being an African kid, there was a lot of harassment being a
foreigner, having an accent and learning English. So, I ended up
cutting classes a lot and ending up in the public library. Honestly,
if it wasn’t for the public library I don’t even think I would speak
English. I would spend all day reading, for free, because I couldn’t
afford to buy books. And they had this huge enormous music
listening section and I just spent my life there. I would browse
through music from every part of the world. From there began
a deep love affair with collecting. That library gave me such a
massive amount of music, right in front of me.
Around the corner from the library was a used record shop so I
would go back and forth between them, looking up countries and
songs and if I couldn’t buy something from the record shop I’d look
for it in the library. I could dive into the idea of different cultures
sounding differently and what that really looks like.
Both of your albums with The Nubatones, Silt and Manara, carry
themes of home, a sense of nostalgia for times and places in your
past. And you’ve stated that returning to the East African sound
is your way of going home, in a way.
The entire birth of The Nubatones was inspired by the concept of
the songs of return. I was coming back to those songs, I’d heard
them growing up in Sudan and going to visit my family in Egypt
and I hadn’t related to them on such an emotional level until living
in the States as another form of immigrant. These songs were all
about feeling like an immigrant in a strange land but you don’t
know why you feel that way. You want to go to a home you can’t go
to anymore and will never go to. I visit home a lot and each time I’m
aware that I can’t live there anymore. And how do you go home if
you don’t feel 100% at home anywhere?
There’s a definite sense of loss in your albums, a sadness, but real
optimism too, and a celebratory feel in many ways.
I think people think of nostalgia only as a sad thing. Nostalgia is a
complex set of emotions. My music doesn’t only live in nostalgia, it
remembers things while looking forward. For example, Silt is about
the mud we came from, and Manara is the road we’re trying to take.
Being an immigrant is not a stand-still thing and I’m still wondering,
is it a permanent or temporary condition? I know being a refugee
is a temporary condition, although some places force people into
situations where being a refugee can be almost become a permanent
situation. It should be temporary so that all that’s left is living, living in
a different way, putting down roots. That used to be a really common
thing: they’d [immigrants] have songs about home, or whatever you
can remember, some things to be sad over but be really excited about
your future. And that’s the whole purpose of music!
You’ve also said that The Nubatones grew out of a shared sense
of being an immigrant.
New York is a small scene for people who want to do music not in
English. There’s this thing about the world music scene I’ve noticed
globally, it’s beginning to shift now but any music that’s not in
English has to spend much of its time proving to people that it’s not
traditional, and it doesn’t want to be traditional. You’re just a singersongwriter
like any other singer-songwriter, because no one who
practices music comes out of a vacuum. You have to come out of a
tradition of some kind.
Rami [El-Aasser, percussionist] and I would have these supper
clubs. I would go to his house and he would come to mine and we’d
cook for each other these elaborate meals and we would play a ton
of music and talk and dissect and talk and dissect. There’s so many
sounds that were invented by immigrants that we think of today as
tradition but that were not traditional, and, in fact, [were] invented
by immigrants in a sense because they just wanted to visit home
through the music. At the same time, it will always be different,
because music is like a bowl of water: it will constantly shift to
reflect what is around it. Even if you’re playing the same song on
the same instrument – you put two different people behind it, and,
even if they are reading the same notes, and it will sound different.
That is the magical thing to me about living in New York. That being
in the diaspora and being an immigrant is normal. Not just normal,
but you can thrive in it. New York is a city of immigrants that have
been there for multiple generations and are proud of that. And the
richness of the city is because of that.
How is your music received in the US, especially your live
shows?
It’s really interesting in America because I believe that the world
music scene only lives on the coasts, the East Coast and the West
Coast. It’s really difficult to do non-western music in the middle
of the US. There was a reason Trump was elected: America is a
conservative place! The coasts have always been incredibly diverse
places because that’s the nature of ports.
The term ‘world music’ is problematic, don’t you think? The way it
lumps together all genres and musical styles, from contemporary
pop to traditional, under one single, non-descript banner.
It’s hugely problematic. It’s important to question it, to say it out
loud so that we start to shift it. At its core, it’s inherently racist. It is
based on exotification. It assumes there is normal music and that
‘the other’ is, world music. And it’s bizarrely inaccurate! Everything
in the world is world music, unless Western musicians aren’t
making world music and they are aliens from outer space and no
one told us.
What can we expect from your show in Liverpool at the Arabic
Arts Festival?
You can expect some storytelling on stage, you can expect to have
a good old time, you can expect to dance, you can expect to learn
a thing or two and not even notice that you’re learning. We’re
making learning fun again! !
Words: Cath Bore / @cathbore
alsarah.com
Alsarah & The Nubatones play Sefton Park Palm House on 16th
July as part of Liverpool Arab Arts Festival. Manara is out now on
Wonderwheel Recordings.
30

Brian Wilson
GIG
Brian Wilson
Exhibition Centre – 28/07
There are few artists who can legitimately be spoken of in
the same breath as giants like Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry and
those lads from South Liverpool who everyone seems to like,
but BRIAN WILSON doubtless has a place in such company.
The Beach Boys founder member and driving force created some of
the most mesmerising harmonies, pop hooks and timeless songs ever
produced.
His legacy will live on long after you and I have departed this mortal
coil. It is with great anticipation, then, that Liverpool welcomes the Godlike
Genius back this month. Wilson stops off at the Exhibition Centre to
perform the seminal album Pet Sounds in full for one of the final times – if
any gig deserves the adjective ‘unmissable’, it’s this one. “Well, yes, it’s
sad. I’m very sentimental about that album. It’s so, so special,” Wilson
told Bido Lito! ahead of his visit, about the prospect of finally drawing the
curtain on this celebratory album tour after two years of emotional shows.
The 75 year-old picked out the luscious God Only Knows as the track
which is “for sure” the one he enjoys playing the most. As well as this,
gig-goers can expect bone fide classics such as Wouldn’t It Be Nice, Sloop
John B and the spine-tingling Good Vibrations, played by “a killer band
[which includes Beach Boys co-founder Al Jardine], beautiful harmonies
and a great show”, according to the ever-modest Wilson.
“It’s one of the top five best albums ever made,” Wilson tells us, and
it’s hard to argue. Pet Sounds has topped Best Albums Of All Time from
the likes of NME, The Times and Mojo. Wilson’s restless studio work
gave birth to many original techniques and cemented his reputation as a
production innovator as well as gifted songwriter.
Much has been made of the legend’s health issues, both mental and
physical, but the leader’s statement that “music expresses my feeling and
it makes people happy” feels true to The Beach Boys’ aesthetic – sounds
which capture eternal youth, hopefulness and fun summer shenanigans.
The show is part of the city’s 50 Summers Of Love programme and is set
to be one that everyone there will cherish forever.
Indika
FESTIVAL
Indika
Capstone Theatre –
21/07-28/07
Liverpool’s burgeoning relationship with Indian music is no mere
fad, as anyone who has been attending Milapfest’s stunning
events for the past decade will attest to. Over the past seven
years, the Indian Arts Development Trust have focused
their efforts on INDIKA, a festival on Indian arts unlike any other.
By bringing together a programme of innovative artists who create
entirely new concepts of collaboration in music and dance, Indika has
established itself as one of the leading festivals of its kind in Europe.
The nine-day long tumultuous celebration, located at the Capstone
Theatre, brings a range of fantastic art to new audiences each summer.
Start your day with one of the Morning Raga sessions, and relax late
into the night as evening showcases bring together delightful concerts
of classic Indian music and dance. You can even immerse yourself in the
culture that underpins it by ducking in at the inspirational lecture series
on diverse subjects. If you want to delve further, Indika are offering two
residential summer schools of music and dance with international tutors.
Kicking off on Friday 21st July with a very special performance by the
stylish British-based ensemble TARANG, the festival will also feature big
names such as Carnatic vocal superstar ABHISHEK RAGHURAM, and
Santoor legend PANDIT TARUN BHATTACHARYA. On 26th July, awardwinning
composer, musician and producer Shri Sriram leads TRIKONA
in one of the evening concerts. A dynamic new musical experience who
combine Indian classical music with jazz, Trikona are a virtuosic new blend
of melody, rhythm and energy inspired by the concepts and patterns that
are familiar to both Indian classical music and jazz, liberally sprinkled with
improvisation by a band of internationally-renowned musicians.
Alongside the exhilarating music line-up, Indika will also present
a series of visually stunning performances from the biggest names
in Indian classical dance. Showcasing the beautiful yet diverse styles
of Bharatanatyam, Kathak and Odissi, established artists RAMA
VAIDYANATHAN and PANDIT RAJENDRA GANGANI will take to
the same stage as the spectacular UK-based dance group ODISSI
COLLECTIVE.
Whether you’re an Indian music or dance aficionado or just eager
to experience new art forms, Indika is a multi-arts festival packed full of
exciting events that promise to light up your summer with some Indian
flair.
PREVIEWS 31

PREVIEWS
GIG
The Gories
The Magnet – 13/07
MC Farhood (Michelle Roberts) The Gories
Primal Detroit punk heroes THE GORIES may have not
have sold many records, but their impact on garage music
is akin to that of The Velvet Underground on alternative
rock, or The Cramps on US punk. Their unhinged, freespirited
ethos has inspired thousands of bands to follow
in their footsteps, and they are held in high esteem by a
large number of Liverpool artists. Jack White, whose Third
Man label they are now signed to, once described them as
“The best garage band in America since the 60s.” West
Derby’s own answer to The Gories, OHMNS, appear on a
perfectly-aligned undercard.
EXHIBITION
Coming Out: Sexuality, Gender And Identity
Walker Art Gallery – from 28/07
Liverpool celebrates 50 years since the partial decriminalisation of male
homosexual acts this month with events planned across the city. The Walker
Art Gallery are contributing to the occasion with an exhibition which aims to
highlight the importance of queer British art in movements throughout art
history. Coming Out will feature some big names such as Steve McQueen
and Anya Gallaccio as well as newer artists who are making waves with
interesting, thought-provoking works. An equally interesting programme events
is also lined up to run alongside the exhibition. For more information head to
liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker.
Coming Out: Sexuality, Gender And Identity
GIG
The Roughneck Riot
Maguire’s Pizza Bar – 07/07
Antipop are teaming up with their Manchester soulmates
Anarchistic Undertones for a wild old night down at
Maguire’s, where a stinging slew of punk will be dripping
out of the speakers. THE ROUGNECK RIOT usually
steamroll anything in their way, so don’t expect much in the
way of restraint from the headliners: the Warrington-based
six-piece combine punk with, confusingly, folk and hardcore
strains, spinning a winning formula out of it. French poppunks
BARE TEETH and homegrown street punks DOWN
AND OUTS also feature, so you just know it’s going to be
a riot.
GIG
House For The Homeless
District – 15/07
2017 marks 50 years since the founding of Crisis, the national
charity dedicated to helping the lives of homeless people.
Electronic music webzine The Waveform Transmitter are doing
their bit to mark the occasion by hosting a 10-hour marathon of
live music as District, as well as releasing a compilation record
featuring a host of prominent artists from the global dance
community. Danny Howells of Dig Deeper, Daniel Steinberg and
Kristin Velvet (both of Arms And Legs Records), and Circus’ own
Yousef have all contributed to the record, the proceeds of which
will be donated to Crisis. A limited number of physical releases
will be on sale at the show.
FESTIVAL
Brazilica
Various Venues – 14/06-16/07
Bixiga 70
There’s nothing quite like the carnival feeling of BRAZILICA’s sensory overload. Liverpool’s international
samba festival is a pulsating celebration of Latin American culture, with colourful parades taking over
the streets around the Pier Head and Williamson Square. The extensive music line-up – part of the
Pier Head Village – boasts 10-piece São Paulo collective BIXIGA 70 and bossa nova saxophonist and
songwriter SAM QURESHI among its performers, while the Brazilian Film Festival returns for the third
time. The undoubted high point, however, is the night-time Carnival Parade, which works its way down
from Abercromby Square, turning the streets into a riot of colour and sound.
CLASSICAL
Noye’s Fludde
Metropolitan Cathedral – 13/07
FESTIVAL
Liverpool Arab Arts Festival
Various Venues – 08/07-16/07
Written in 1959 for a combination of professional, amateur, and young musicians,
NOYE’S FLUDDE (based on the Chester ‘mystery’ play) is a one-act opera set to
music by Benjamin Britten. It tells the story of Noah and the flood with dazzling
music and a lot of drama, and is being staged as part of the Metropolitan
Cathedral’s Golden Jubilee celebrations. A cast of hundreds will take part in
the grand staging of the opera, including the Archbishop of Liverpool, Malcolm
McMahon, as the voice of God. Britten wrote the piece with the specific instruction
that it be performed in churches rather than theatres, reckoning that the religious
juxtaposition was more befitting its needs than that the dramatic. See for yourself.
The diversity of backgrounds represented in the city’s cultural goings on
continues to astound, with LIVERPOOL ARAB ARTS FESTIVAL returning
for its annual series of events that hails the richness of Arab culture. The
packed 10-day programme takes in visual art, dance, literature and some
stunning music, all while sticking to LAAF’s ethos of inclusivity. The festival
harnesses that curious ability art has to allow one person, with one set of
life experiences, to speak directly to the heart of another. Turn to page 46
now to read a fascinating Final Say column from the festival’s chair, Taher
Qassim MBE, that picks out some themes from this year’s festival.
32

FASHION
British Style Collective
Various Venues – 07/07-09/07
British Style Collective
The Clothes Show is coming to Liverpool! The longstanding fashion
showcase lands its new iteration, the BRITISH STYLE COLLECTIVE, in town
for a city-wide collection of events crammed in to three days. Some of the
most sought-after names in UK fashion will be descending on the city for the
event, with catwalks and unrivalled shopping experiences taking place from
Camp and Furnace to the Echo Arena. WAYNE HEMINGWAY’s fringe event –
Fine Tuned – will take over the waterfront, while an invitation-only designer
presentation drops by at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. Liverpool’s own
stylish should get themselves ready, as one lucky amateur will be plucked
from relative obscurity to be signed up to one of the country’s biggest
modelling agencies.
DINING + GIG
The Kazimier Summer Gala
Invisible Wind Factory – 13/07
Ever at the forefront of cultural innovation, the Kazimier bods have dreams of
creating an indoor utopian culture village around their new home at Invisible
Wind Factory. And they need our support. In order to show us their grand
designs, and to raise some funds to make it all happen, the collective are hosting
a special gala evening of banqueting and entertainment, shaped by their vision
for Invisible Wind Factory’s future. Aiming to develop the complex, so that it will
grow into a permanent visitor attraction for the North Docks, there are also plans
to expand it into a platform for creative collaborators and a hub for the artistic
community of Liverpool. The event marks the launch of a month-long crowd
funding campaign, with the night containing an auction, behind-the-scenes
tours and live music.
GIG
Whitechapel Centre Fundraiser
24 Kitchen Street – 07/07
The lush, anthemic strains of poppy rockers COLOUR head
Liverpool Noise’s latest fundraising gig, put together in support
of the Whitechapel Centre. It’s not the first time they’ve
concentrated their efforts on raising funds for Liverpool’s leading
housing and homeless charity at a live show, and they’ve got it
down to a tee. Accompanying Colour at the show are glossy RnB
duo DELIAH and grungey alt. rock thrillers SALT THE SNAIL.
Fresh from appearances at The Great Escape and Dot To Dot,
WEEKEND WARS also appear on the stellar bill. Donations of
clothes and other items will be accepted as entry: a full list of
suitable items can be found at whitechapelcentre.co.uk.
GIG
Gary Numan
Liverpool Convention Centre – 27/07
Gary Numan
The godfather of British synth pop headlines a huge show at the
Convention Centre in continuation of the Pioneers Of British Electronic
Music series that saw The Human League, Art Of Noise and A Certain
Ratio come to Liverpool Sound City in May. GARY NUMAN’s pedigree
in electronic music, as part of Tubeway Army and as a solo artist, is
unrivalled: he helped unleash a new wave of synthesiser-enamoured
musicians on the UK’s music scene in the 1970s, and he’s still tearing up
the rulebook today. Post-punk juggernauts GANG OF FOUR appear on
the undercard of this extremely popular event.
GIG
Howl At The Moon Volume 17
Drop The Dumbulls – 29/07
All good things must come to an end: such is the case for promotions collective Howl At The Moon,
who’s swansong show sees them signing off in style. Deafening guitar noise is going to be thrown at
you by OHMNS, MINCEMEAT and BAD MEDS, as well as anti-folk from JD MEATYARD, leftfield electro
noisescapes from Manchester’s BAD BODY and a one-off performance from grunge pioneers/also-rans LAZY
MARY, playing their first gig in 22 years. Since HATM’s first gig at MelloMello in 2012, they have played host
to Jeffrey Lewis, Gallon Drunk, Thomas Truax and scores more. They will be sadly missed. Fortunately, HATM’s
Hot Sauce will still be available.
Ohmns
GIG
Bido Lito! Social
The Shipping Forecast – 20/07
The Fernweh
There’s nothing us folk at Bido HQ like more than to see the artists we
eulogise about doing what they do best in the live arena. It is with a large
amount of joy that we put together our monthly Bido Lito! Socials, and July’s
event is one we’re particularly proud of. Byrdsian folksters THE FERNWEH
rev themselves up for the release of their gorgeous debut album by
headlining at The Ship, joined by our favourite new act HANNAH’S LITTLE
SISTER, and the lo-fi, Gorky’s-indebted charm of GINTIS. Tickets are £4 in
advance, or free if you’re a Bido Lito! member. Sign up now at bidolito.co.uk,
and make sure you don’t miss another event.
PREVIEWS 33

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Future Bubblers
is digging for the
most
EXCITING
INNOVATIVE
OUTSIDE-
AND
Dr Chris McElroy Conductor
Stuart M O'Hara Noye
Stephanie Guidera Mrs Noye
The Most Rev Malcolm McMahon OP Voice of God
Plus a cast of hundreds of young musicians and singers
from across the North West of England
Tickets: £7.50
Available at the Cathedral gift shop / liverpoolmetrocathedral.org.uk
THE-BOX
music hidden across
the country
Applications Open Monday 3rd July
Close Friday 18th July
Find out how to apply and follow the journey
— futurebubblers.com
Future Bubblers is Gilles Peterson and Brownswood Music’s
big new talent discovery and development idea in partnership
with Arts Council England

REVIEWS
Illumaphonium (Glyn Akroyd / @GlynAkroyd)
Metropolitan Cathedral (Glyn Akroyd / @GlynAkroyd)
LightNight
Various venues - 19/05
Another LIGHTNIGHT, another stout pair of walking shoes, as we
prepare to traverse the city to gorge upon its many cultural treats.
This year the theme is Time, and over the course of the evening
we find ourselves travelling from Ancient Egypt to a 21st Century
Babylon via a Renaissance soundscape.
Fittingly located on the outer reaches of the festival’s orbit in
the University of Liverpool’s Garstang Museum, is the Egyptology
Department’s exhibition THE BOOK OF THE DEAD. Containing
many artefacts that are not on display in the University’s regular
exhibition, the Egyptology Department have taken the opportunity
to give us a fascinating peek into the belief system that underpinned
the death rituals of the Ancient Egyptians. The promo promises
“artefacts and artistic photographs of ancient papyri” and, interesting
as the photographs are, it is the tangible objects that really capture
the imagination; the death masks, coffin boards, statuettes and
hieroglyph-inscribed papyrus. The latter are engagingly decoded
by Senior Lecturer Dr Roland Enmarch; a depiction of the journey
of the Sun God into the Underworld, delineated by the broad arc of
the horizon, illustrates the cycle of death and rebirth and is neatly
linked to the 20th Century Christian hymn Morning Has Broken. A
fascinating start to the evening.
A brisk walk down Oxford Street and into the Metropolitan
Cathedral and I’m just in time for a performance of ANDY
MCKEOWN’s Rotation Eighteen269 – one of this year’s LightNight
commissions (the title refers to the number of days since the
Cathedral’s opening). Featuring a mixture of Renaissance music and
contemporary light projections, McKeown has hung the Cathedral’s
central sanctuary with shard-like strips of fabric, onto and between
which are projected images of stained glass and writing from the
Cathedral archives. The light which shines between the fabric
hangings falls onto the rich scarlet robes of the Cathedral choir, who
are performing Thomas Tallis’ 16th-century work, Lamentations. The
beautiful, mystical, timeless quality of the music contrasts with the
kaleidoscopic swirl of light and floats gently out across the wide-open
expanse of the Met. The evening sun lights the stained glass of the
overhead lantern and the audience bursts into sustained applause on
completion of the piece. There follows an organ recital, MATTHEW
SEARLE playing the music of Messiaen and Part, a lovely chiming
“From families to
regular Friday night
revellers, the event
has captured the
imagination yet again”
introduction in keeping with the evening’s theme, while a constant
flow of people walk around the Cathedral’s perimeter, almost all of
them walking anti-clockwise in a subconscious re-winding of time.
Out in the evening sunshine, the vintage LightNight doubledecker
bus flies across the junction into the academic quarter,
providing a fleetingly Hogwartian moment. Hope Street is jammed,
the crowds are thicker than ever. After a quick stop in the buzzing
watering hole of The Grapes, it’s on to the plateau of the Anglican
Cathedral as dusk falls, and an encounter with the wonderful
‘Illumaphonium’. Illuminated dumbbells are strung in columns from
two ‘A’ frames and people, young and old, are striking them at
random, some leaping in the air to, literally, hit the high notes. The
random notes are cleverly manipulated into chiming melody via the
laptops of the Illumaphonium’s creators.
Finally, we’re into the bedlam of the Anglican Cathedral, which,
despite having embraced a pretty alternative programme over the
last few years has perhaps never witnessed a night like this. The
choir area before the altar is jammed with dancing, whirling figures,
at the centre of which is puppet-master and DJ GREG WILSON,
pulling the strings on the decks with his usual eclectic ear. The
lights fly across the vast space affording brief glimpses of statuary
and paintings, and the dry ice provides a secular incense as it floats
heavenwards. Wilson’s pounding dance set brings a whole new
meaning to the phrase “God is in the house!”
The chatter outside as people make their way home, or off to the
after party at Constellations, is all about LightNight. From families to
regular Friday night revellers, the event has captured the imagination
yet again. And, still, the activities are far from over: we’ll see your after
party, and raise you a sleepover in a secluded corner of the Anglican
Cathedral, as the aftermath of Greg Wilson’s set dies down.
Part of THE HANDLESS PROJECT – named after the Handless
Maiden fairytale, to which the project’s lead artist Aleasha Chaunté
has responded – this journey invites we of this way cooler option to
immerse ourselves in the mystery of the space, investing our sleep
and impending walk with, as suggested, whatever it means to us.
Stowed away in this grand old place, we’re issued with floor berths,
blankets and a sense of gravitas; it’s lights out around 11. Tossing
and turning as If You Leave Me Now by rocktrocities Chicago plays
on loop reminded me of music played to detainees… wait: a tripletake
at the clock reveals it’s 4am and that really is Chicago, and we’re
now so psyched for a bracing walk.
Accordingly, around the time LightNight after party-goers must
be brawling over taxis, we’re arcing around our leaders as they
sing up the sun, then marching by candlelight through a graveyard.
You’ll never know it, after party-goers, but we win. We’re musical
statues to further chanting; we’re down with the larks; we sup from
a well. Our passage is voluntary yet predetermined, in full view yet
in code – as per a wedding or funeral, such that you want to submit,
stay within its structures and listen keenly. On we go in procession,
copping a volley of abuse from one household (not Scouse, let
the record state), and this, too, defines (particularly for Bido Lito!’s
intrepid atheists) what ritual looks like and what respect for it does
and doesn’t feel like.
Just after 6am, we’re in for breakfast at the soon-to-open Toxteth
Food Central, and the pattern for this 36-hour piece is established:
a day of walks, to Calderstones Park, Everton Brow and Love Lane,
honouring personal landmarks pinned and sewn onto a cloth map
of Liverpool at community workshops beforehand, at which people
told and located their stories. And it’s now glaringly light, and we see
clearly enough that we are safe in the benign grip of ceremony. Our
walking companions will come and they will go – ‘from’ and ‘to’ pins
on mindmaps of private worlds and strange, structured days.
There’s no question that LightNight reaches out to a broad
and varied audience, with thousands pounding the streets to take
in all that it has to offer. It’s hard to think of May without it now, so
accustomed are we to experiencing the city’s multitude stunning
buildings in new and illuminating ways. Long live the night. !
Glyn Akroyd / @GlynAkroyd
Tom Bell / @writerTomBell
36

“For Sound City
to reignite its
flame... it must be
embedded back
within the bosom
of the city itself”
Sound City
Clarence Dock 25/05-28/05
The excitable atmosphere from JOHN CALE’s historic
performance on the previous evening still lingers in the dusty
air around Clarence Dock, as we prepare for the tenth edition of
SOUND CITY. One of Saturday’s first points of call is John Cale
in Conversation, where he discusses the history of The Velvet
Underground, and sheds light on why he decided to retread
those iconic songs.
After solidifying a prime spot at The Baltic Stage for
PEACHES, we observe the Canadian artist waste no time in
getting involved with the crowd, climbing on the barrier, scowling
and shoving her boot into people’s faces. She makes her way
back into the crowd during her performance of Dick In The Air,
this time via the vessel of a giant inflatable condom. It’s clear
that she’s done this before as she effortlessly crawls to the tip of
the prophylactic, sending the crowd into a frenzy, as everyone
bustles to get a touch of her through the plastic. Suddenly it’s
all over in a dizzying haze of flesh, and everybody heads out to
catch what remains of the evening.
“I didn’t know Liverpool had a desert,” quips METRONOMY’s
Joe Mount over on the Atlantic Stage. The wind has whipped up
swirls of dust so robustly during Metronomy’s set that it looks
vaguely apocalyptic, almost like it was planned as part of the
visual theatre. Metronomy’s power is their extreme feel goodness
and danceability; electronic music deftly avoiding the chill,
it has a real warmth to it. Olugbenga Adelekan’s pounding bass
and Mount’s cheesy asides bordering on Eurotrash banter keep
the party going, despite an audience criminally smaller than they
deserved.
Where the bleak, post-industrial expanse of Clarence Dock
suits the likes of SLAVES, LOCAL NATIVES feel somehow out
of place on The Atlantic Stage, as if they should be playing on
a beach, with their shimmery guitars and soulful melodies. But
they soon get into their stride, providing the crowd with a surge
of excitement during the performance of Villainy off their 2016
album Sunlit Youth, as Taylor Rice (Vocals, Guitar) dives into the
crowd to finish off the song.
It’s standing room only for THE CRIBS, with almost as
many viewing from outside The Baltic Stage tent as inside.
Their audience are a lusty crowd, ready to burst into song at
any moment, but the minute’s silence for the victims of the
Manchester Arena bombing is observed impeccably – as it across
the festival all weekend – with all inside joining in a rendition of
Don’t Look Back In Anger. It’s not long before the crowd are off
again: The Cribs are in fine, sweaty form tonight, proper rock ‘n’
roll boys up to no good, Men’s Needs doing the business, with
vocalist Ryan Jarman strutting about. He’s a lively one, alright.
THE KOOKS are a surprisingly jolly and fitting end to
proceedings. Bad Habit is made for events like this, as is
the chorus of She Moves In Her Own Way, prompting mass
reminiscence from those assembled. Both The Cribs and The
Kooks are bands who many of those present went to see
when they first started going to gigs, and, although it’s a bit
disappointing to see nostalgia coming from the mouths of a
crowd in their mid-20s, The Kooks play their role well. They look
like pop stars, deliver the songs, but do nothing whatsoever to
frighten the horses. Ultimately, The Kooks are a very apt way to
close the festival.
Cath Bore / @cathbore
Michael Sutton / @michaelonmusic
Bido Lito! Comment
Over the years, Bido Lito! and Sound City have shared
a deep commitment to supporting new music in our
city. Sound City’s growth and development over the
past decade has coincided with the seven years of Bido
Lito!’s presence in the city. We’ve often referred to each
other as brothers and sisters in arms, working closely
on a variety of projects in partnership. The Sound City
weekend in May each year has always been a firm
focus and peak of activity in the Bido Lito! calendar. As
partners and advocates of Sound City, this year’s festival
left us with an overriding sense of sadness, lamenting
what the event has become.
After three years out of the city centre – two of
those at Bramley Moore Dock before this year’s shift to
Clarence Dock – it is clear that, from a creative, musical,
curatorial and experiential perspective, the move has not
been a success. There was a kinetic, feverish energy to
the festival when it was based in the city; a rapid-paced
three days of traversing the back rooms, nooks and
armpits of Liverpool in search of the most fabulous new
music that anyone vaguely interested in music in the city
just had to be a part of. That energy has gone.
It is true that festivals, like cities, develop and shift.
The issues around capacity in Wolstenholme Square
that tarnished 2014’s event – leaving long queues of
fans unable to get in – are problems we don’t want to
see a return to. But, for a festival to be about a city – and
Sound City has always placed the allure and magic of
Liverpool at the centre of its narrative – it must be held
within the city. True, Liverpool’s history is wedded to
the sea; but, presenting a grim, overly-commercialised,
abandoned dust bowl dockside site as being ‘of
Liverpool’ is stretching things too far, touching on the
disingenuous.
As the city changes and shifts, so the spaces and
arenas avaiable to utilise shift also. This presents huge
challenges around licensing, logistics and practical
delivery which we know the team at Sound City are only
too aware of. We appreciate it was these challenges
that helped lead to the decision to move site in the first
place. But, it is the creative solutions to these challenges
that ultimately shape what the essence of the festival is.
The shifting collection of car parks, building sites, empty
units and disused warehouses, alongside the city’s best
venues, make for a completely unique site, one in tune
with the dialogue of the city. It is as important as the
bands embedded within them.
For Sound City to reignite its flame – and, let’s
remember, there was a point when the festival genuinely
represented the annual focal point for music in the city –
it must be embedded back within the bosom of the city
itself. When we look at leading city-based new music
festivals such as SXSW (Austin), Reeperbahn (Hamburg)
and Le Guess Who? (Utrecht), their cities are their
canvas. With Liverpool at the heart of its vision, Sound
City can reestablish itself at the same level.
Sound City has always aspired to be a world-class
celebration of new music discovery. In order to achieve
this, it needs to re-engrain itself back within the heart of
Liverpool.
The Kooks (Stuart Moulding / @oohshootstu)
REVIEWS 37

Kraftwerk 3-D (Keith Ainsworth / arkimages.co.uk)
Kraftwerk 3-D
Philharmonic Hall – 11/06
Expectations are high for the first visit of electronic godfathers
KRAFTWERK to Liverpool since 1991. The foundations this
band created in the 70s formed the basis for 80s synthpop, the
loops for early hip hop and inspired much of 90s dance. The
Philharmonic Hall is sold out and people are milling about in a
state of giddy excitement, sporting the 3-D glasses we’ve all
been issued with. What have the robotic innovators got in store
for us this evening?
Taking to the stage to the track Numbers, the four members
arrange themselves in a row behind lectern-like keyboard stands.
Each is wearing a funky luminous body suit that makes them look
like they’ve stepped out of the movie Tron. The graphics on the
screen behind them are the numbers one to nine. When these
numbers in turn jump out of the screen in the first full use of the
3-D effect, those around me let out an audible gasp.
Spacelab starts with the band piloting their ‘kraft’ through
space. The best 3-D flourish of the night sees the spaceship flying
out of the screen with the antenna almost tickling our noses. Soon
we are above the UK with a big Google marker above Liverpool
(which gets a cheer). Next, we see their spaceship hovering
over the Liverpool waterfront and, finally, it lands in Hope Street
outside the Phil’s front door.
The classic tracks keep coming, with The Model followed
by Neon Lights. But it’s the beginning of Autobahn that really
makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It’s such a
Positive Vibration
Baltic Triangle – 09/06-10/06
Returning to Liverpool with a jam-packed line-up and familyfriendly
workshops, POSITIVE VIBRATION transforms a corner of
Baltic Triangle into the city’s very own little piece of Jamaica. Taking
over Constellations, Hangar 34 and District, Greenland Street and
its surroundings are alive with the music and art of Jamaica’s rich
heritage.
It’s a full-on riot as soon as you enter the festival: the Jamdown
Market offers food, festival merch, records, trinkets, and henna
tattoos for those festival goers who aren’t sufficiently kitted out
and ready for a celebration of all things Jamaica (and there aren’t
many of those). A colourful wooden structure of signposts sits
at the festival’s centre, pointing us to each location: go left for
Hangar 34, or carry on for 3,848 miles and you’ll hit Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia’s capital.
To the right, Constellations houses The Art of Reggae
Exhibition that presents 100 reggae-inspired posters, designed
by illustrators and artists from all over the world. Each poster is a
unique response to the genre’s heritage and there are a variety of
styles and approaches, but all point to the power and hope that
reggae inspires.
Outside in the Garden, with colourful flags overhead and
giant flower lights, NO FAKIN’ and DJ ANDY SMITH fire up the
adult-only Friday. Keeping it soulful, No Fakin’ deliver smooth
tracks perfect for the summer evening, before Andy Smith follows
with an impressive collection of classic reggae and calypso tracks.
beautiful song; not a note is wasted, every melody in the sparse
arrangement is perfect in its role. The music takes us across the
countryside first in a Volkswagen then a vintage Mercedes, as the
visual spectacular follows suit on the screens and in the twinkling
LED sparkles on the band members’ suits. The set moves on with
selections from the Tour De France Soundtracks LP and concludes
this section with Trans Europe Express, Metal On Metal and
Abzug. Founder member Ralf Hütter (on the far left) delivers his
elegiac love letter to train travel: ‘From station to station / Back to
Dusseldorf City / Meet Iggy Pop and David Bowie’.
There is a small timing hiccup in the music during Radioactivity.
But this goes to show the music and images are being generated
live rather than coming from tapes. Hütter gets a laugh at the end by
quipping, “This was a failure of electricity”.
The first encore begins with the song The Robots. The curtains
part to reveal four red shirted robots on stage. Let me be clear here:
these are animatronic robots on stage, not Kraftwerk themselves. The
robots move in unison and the huge 3-D arm of an on-screen robot
sweeps over the stalls. The song ends and the robots get one of the
biggest rounds of applause of the night.
The curtain closes again and the human forms of Kraftwerk
return. They perform a couple of less familiar numbers, but then
close in fine form with a trio of tracks from the album Electric Cafe.
Boing Boom Tschak is spelt out in sync on the screen. Musical
notes then tumble across it in 3-D followed by huge, wire-framed
robot heads. One by one the band members leave the stage with
only Hütter remaining to take a final bow to huge applause, with
none of us any the wiser about where the boundary between man
and machine truly ends.
Keith Ainsworth / @MusicPhotoKeith
Taking us right through to midnight, he keeps his crowd on their
feet with a typically thumping set.
Inside Constellations, Leicester-based reggae collective
VIBRONICS draw in passers-by with their uplifting dub set.
Singing live lyrics, dancing to their mixes, and with a drummer
onstage who perfectly offsets the beats, their energy and rhythm
is infectious. Across the way, Hangar 34 is decorated in a variety
of flags and is filled with the emotive vocals of ABA SHANTI-I.
His roots reggae set offers slow tempos and a thick, heavy bass.
Finishing off the night with JAH SHAKA in District leaves me eager
for more. He plays us a collection of tracks that encapsulates the
roots of reggae in its finest form.
After a day of arts, crafts and workshops, the grey clouds shift
for the sun to join us at the festival’s close. An incredible and even
bigger selection of musical talent comes together for a second
helping of Positive Vibration. Every way I turn, I’m met with rich
and lively appreciations of reggae in varying styles and creative
portrayals. Highlights include SCIENTIST’s intricate and electronic
dub, a passionate performance from BACKBEAT SOUNDSYSTEM,
and DON LETTS’ rocksteady rhythms. THE SELECTER have the
audience swaying to their pounding beats, with Pauline Black
sending the crowd in Hangar 34 into an ecstatic groove with On
My Radio, Too Much Pressure, and 3 Minute Hero.
What with cocktail bars, exotic food trucks, Jamaican art,
and an array of international musical talent, the festival is a truly
transporting experience that welcomes diversity. In celebrating
such an inclusive and elevating culture, Positive Vibration proves
that, no matter what the political climate, these carefree and
uplifting creative spaces will continue to thrive.
Jessica Greenall
Within You, Without You:
Beatles Ragafest
Milapfest and Sgt. Pepper At 50
@ St. George’s Hall - 11/06
Today’s activities, spread across St. George’s Hall’s main room and
smaller Concert Room, aim to rekindle and showcase the amazing
creative and spiritual connection between The Beatles and India. That
particular local connection can be broadened out into a more general
exploration of the centuries-old cultural trade winds that blow between
East and West. The main hall hosts food and craft stalls and dance
performances while the Concert Room is the opulent setting for four
ragas; morning, afternoon, evening and night. As usual with Milapfest
productions, the quality of the artists on offer is unquestionable;
PANDIT SENGUPTA, JYOTSNA SRIKANTH, V.M. BHATT and ANIL
SRINIVASAN headline, but are supported by a wealth of superb
musicians from across the globe.
We pick up proceedings at the afternoon raga, violinist and
composer Jyotsna Srikanth being joined on stage initially by drummer
Manjunath NS, and pianist Shadrach Solomon. The concert begins with
Srikanth flying through an improvised Carnatic raga accompanied by
percussion and morsing (similar to the Jew’s harp), a gypsy fire to her
playing. Slowing things down, the percussion is as gentle as raindrops
pattering on a lotus leaf, the morsing adding twangy, vibrant flourishes.
Manjunath takes to the drums and adds a western jazzy-funk to
proceedings, including a storming drum solo that Ginger Baker would
be proud of.
After the interval, Srikanth is joined by Sweden’s Kristallkvartetten
string quartet for a performance of Srikanth’s Seasons, an evocation
of the six Indian seasons, the familiar Western ones being augmented
by Monsoon and Snow. More raindrops, this time a beautiful viola
pizzicato, begin the Monsoon movement and Snow seems to be
a season of joy, of playfulness (perhaps a release from the heat of
Summer), little piano flurries enlivening an already delightful piece
before a dashing finale. The familiar refrain of “Within you, without you”
introduces titular tribute to the 60s East/West voyage and to George
Harrison in particular, exquisitely played and rapturously received.
A packed Concert Room awaits the arrival of V.M. Bhatt, best
known in Western circles for his Meeting By The River collaboration
with Ry Cooder, and here joined by his son, Salil Bhatt, and tabla player
Ramkumar Mishra. Bhatt introduces a special guest, and Olivia Harrison
steps forward to light a celebratory candle to bless the concert. Bhatt’s
guitar is lighter in tone than his son’s and they combine initially to
produce rich, sparse tones that play off each other, the slide effect to
the fore, before progressing to ever more complex, tempestuous flights,
the finger work lightning quick. The technique is astounding, the pieces
long and discursive, and I must confess to finding it difficult to locate
a reference point upon which to build much understanding. After an
interval, the pieces are much shorter and I begin to hear some bluesy
inflections and stronger melody lines. The guitars have the clean, sharp
sound of a National steel and I even fancy that I can make out a little
Appalachian picking in the mix, which is driven along Mishna’s subtle
and rhythmic percussion. If the first half was prog-era exploration, the
second harked back to the snappier psych-pop of the 60s.
The day is brought to a close with the sublime piano playing of
Anil Srinivasan, academic, educator, journalist and accomplished pianist
in both the Western classical and Carnatic traditions, and this is the
perfect ending to a celebration of the shared bonds between East and
West. Once again Milapfest provide a diverse and original showcase,
embracing The Beatles connection in a positive and vibrant manner.
Glyn Akroyd / @GlynAkroyd
38

The Comet is Coming
Bam!Bam!Bam! @ 24 Kitchen Street –
19/05
One month before the solstice, and on the same summer evening
that bottle green vintage double-decker buses are orbiting the
city, THE COMET IS COMING descend like a fireball into 24
Kitchen Street, dragging with them their tail of sparks and a
vision for the future. Their descent reverberates off the white
brick walls and the physicality of the human beings beating
inside of this packed house manifests itself in an explosion of
jazz, electronica, funk and psychedelic rock. The futurist trio are
London-based, but grounding them in the limited geographical
locale of our capital city is beside the point; the songs found on
their album Channel The Spirits heavily reference their stargazing
intent, with titles such as Journey Through the Asteroid Belt,
Light Years and Cosmic Dust.
The band appear on the low set stage as if from three
different musical dimensions: the longhaired space cowboy
Betamax Killer, on drums, straddles the genres and holds the
sonic universe together; Danalogue The Conqueror, the most
vocal of the band, relentlessly rocks back and forth at his
Roland synthesiser pulpit in a black waterproof hoodie, the
urban wizard of electronica; the final star in this configuration,
saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, stands tall and soulful in baggy
harem pants and a smile that’s broad enough to illuminate this
coordinate of the Baltic region all by itself. It’s hard to keep your
eyes off Hutchings in particular, and impossible to keep still. The
atmosphere undulates to the waves of sultry tones emanating
from his sax in long solos, before he allows his sound to mutate
with the repetitive house rhythm of his crew.
The band have come together spontaneously from different
projects and are often referred to as the rightful heirs to Sun Ra’s
throne. There’s an unrelenting energy to their power that sees
them live up to this claim. The crowd demands two encores, and
it feels like they belong to something powerful yet uncaptured
by any of the controlling forces inhabiting this space-time
continuum; they are a free, pounding, dub-throbbing, boisterous
rabble of sound; and sometimes, when you’ve been pounded
enough, they smooth you down in raptures of a solo saxophone
before energising you with a slew of jazz, Afrobeat and
electronica. It is both freeform and unifying, and the air-punching
crowd can’t get enough. As close to the spirit of a Space Carnival
as you could imagine.
The Comet Is Coming seem to capture something of that 80s
sci-fi horror mood: it would be no surprise to see Sarah Connor
The Comet Is Coming (Aaron McManus / ampix.co.uk)
wandering through the crowd here at Kitchen Street, such is
their fierce adherence to the myth they’ve created. But this is
a time when we need new icons. The Comet Is Coming come
with a manifesto heralding their call to reorder the cosmos that
states: “Death to the world as we know it. Death to preconceived
notions of truth. Death to the crumbling ruins of an empire
surviving from outdated concepts of hierarchy.”
True believers are advised to catch them on their next visit to
planet earth. Start running.
Sue Bennett
THE
SOCIAL
THE FERNWEH
+ GINTIS
+ HANNAH’S
LITTLE SISTER
20/7 - 7.30pm
THE SHIPPING FORECAST
Free to Bido Lito! Members
Sign up in advance
at bidolito.co.uk
£4 non-members
REVIEWS 39

Turandot
Opera North @ Philharmonic Hall – 18/05
Despite being a staple of a genre which epitomises 19th-century
excess, Giacomo Puccini actually wrote his opera Turandot in
the 1920s, but died before its completion. This production by
the award-winning Opera North uses Franco Alfano’s ending,
reconstructed from Puccini’s sketches. It’s an adaptation of an
ancient Persian tale (from the lesser-known Thousand And One
Days) about an ancient Chinese princess, Turandot (magnificently
sung by Orla Boylan), who demands that any suitor for her love
must answer three riddles or die. As an unsuccessful prince faces
the axe, the visiting prince Calaf is in the crowd. Calaf falls in love
at the sight of Turandot’s beauty, despite her deadly conviction
that she lives to avenge the rape and murder of an ancient
empress who lives again in her. Calaf successfully answers the
riddles, only to challenge the princess to guess his name by
dawn. Until it is discovered, the proclamation goes out across
Peking, none shall sleep – nessun dorma.
Successfully scaled down from the theatrical production,
with a teetering two-storey structure rising out of the orchestra
– Turandot’s boudoir – most of the action takes place along
the front of the stage. This has the added effect of giving
the orchestra a dramatic role (in most opera houses, they’re
practically out of sight). They are part of that sombre crowd
desensitised by executions, or simply mimes behind the music
– the synchronised thrusting of violin bows as slave-girl Liu
(Sunyoung Seo) kills herself with a soldier’s dagger is one of
tonight’s most beautiful moments. The singers are in costume,
and for the most part physical acting is restricted to critical
moments, with voices and Puccini’s music carrying the drama.
Such a two-dimensional staging works, appropriately enough, as
a kind of puppet show.
Rafael Rojas, playing the role of hero Prince Calaf, may be
having an off night. It’s unusual for singers to walk onstage in
their best voice, but he never quite settles into his part, never
quite projecting his voice over the orchestra. That said, it’s still
an impressive feat – it takes a great deal of skill and technique
to sing this music, and he’s not lacking in either. And he brings
the goods when needed – yes, that aria. It’s refreshing to hear
the high B of Nessun Dorma not dragged out into a petulant cry
for approval, but the (relatively) fleeting note Puccini wrote. It’s
much more thrilling that way, and it stays with you longer, like
a glance exchanged with a beautiful face in a crowd and the
conviction that, in another life… Credit is due to conductor Richard
Armstrong for putting the score first, to Rojas for surrendering
his opportunity to showboat for something much more artistic,
and to the audience for not interrupting the flow with continuous
applause, making the final standing ovations worth so much more.
Stuart Miles O’Hara / @ohasm1
ROUND UP
A selection of the best of the
rest from another busy month of
live action on Merseyside.
The Sum (Stephen Vaughan)
Primavera Sound
Parc Del Fòrum, Barcelona - 30/05-03/06
On approach to Parc Del Fòrum, the large open-air arena that
currently houses PRIMAVERA SOUND, the first thing you’ll
notice is the contagious, carefree calm that blankets the area.
Small hives of jovial revellers sit cross-legged, enjoying the last
opportunity to slurp rum from red cups, just a few yards from the
festival’s front gates. Unlike the strange angst and intimidation
felt upon arrival at many UK festivals, the admittance and security
checks at Primavera are serene. Here, the young groups are only
mildly perturbed by the occasional street vendor selling cans of
beer. There is the sense that this is a real music-lover’s festival
as soon as you walk through the gates, as you’re greeted by
the merchandise stands, pop-up record stores and gig poster
stall (Screenadelica gets everywhere). Making your way through
waves of band T-shirts throughout the site, you then get a sense
of the scale of the festival, the space and functionality of the park
with the impressive architectural structures that bend and tower
around the stages.
As the sun starts to set, projecting a burnt, hazy, blue filter
across the festival site, the bouncing beats of young Chicago
rapper JOEY PURP can be heard around the Pitchfork stage. An
exciting member of the SaveMoney crew that includes fellow
Chicago rappers Chance The Rapper and Vic Mensa, Joey has
stirred a lot of excitement over the past year following his first
official release iiiDrops. The mixtape features heavily here, staked
with versatile rap styles, fun and introspective lyrics with soulful
and charismatic vocals, he whips the small crowd into a carnival
mood. Girls, feat. Chance The Rapper, is a springy pop-rap tune
reminiscent of that funky Neptune’s sound, which provides the
Turandot (Tristram Kenton)
Primavera: Skepta (Nuria Ruis)
perfect soundtrack as the mood starts to lift before the night’s
headliners.
With increasing domestic and international political division,
the looming threat of terror, and just the mere existence of that
orange fella over the Pond, RUN THE JEWELS provide some
much-needed political catharsis. These two socially conscious
uncles of rap preach equality, political responsibility and
progressive relationships with an anarchistic grit, that proves
to be one of the most polished, enthralling and provocative
sets of the weekend. The atmosphere is lit with the euphoria,
energy and feeling of general togetherness, providing the perfect
representation of what a festival should be; mutual respect and
harmony.
SKEPTA ends the weekend with a magnificently gritty, yet
eloquent, slap to the face. Dwarfed by the Heineken stage in
physicality, he strides before the crowd like a giant towering
over them, riding the coursing tide of energy and aggression that
he’s brought to the arena. Although the crowd are treated to a
set comprising mostly of tracks from his Mercury Prize-winning
album Konnichiwa, he pays homage to his Energy crew with his
early releases, prompting chants of “BBK” in response. The set
gathers momentum and nears tipping point in the crowd as It
Ain’t Safe causes the already huge moshpit to double in size. A
whirlwind of three-day old dust begins to billow up from the front
of the stage, as the moshpit’s centrifuge weaves across the front
of the arena.
Even when your experience of Primavera is as good as this,
it still feels like you’ve only scratched the surface of what’s on
offer. Whatever measurement you want to judge it by – line-up,
setting, atmosphere, crowd – Primavera invariably comes out
above most other festival in the world. It rightly deserves its place
at the top of the tree.
Jonny Winship
The Everyman’s transition into a theatre in the round works
extremely well for intimate, multi-setting plays, notes Debra
Williams, as she witnesses something resembling the return
of the rep. After 25 years, the Everyman have returned to the
practice of hiring a group of actors to perform a series of plays
over a number of weeks – harking back to the days of Pete
Postlethwaite and Julie Walters et al. That link with the past
is also apparent in the themes of one of the pieces in this run,
Lizzie Nunnery’s THE SUM (directed by Gemma Bodinetz).
This ‘play with songs’ echoes the realism (although magical
rather than gritty, according to Nunnery) of Alan Bleasdale’s
The Boys From The Blackstuff, referencing the Kirkby Rent
Strikes and Margaret Thatcher. Firmly anchored in the present
(set, as it is, before and after the 2016 EU Referendum), The
Sum finds Nunnery’s own voice coming through in the rousing
final scene, the playwright as polemicist. Isn’t it time we
were all as angry as Eve (The Sum’s central character), and
galvanised into action?
To the eye of the uninitiated, THE BESNARD LAKES
look like a bunch of misfits, wreathed in blue smoke on The
Magnet’s stage. You couldn’t engineer a more balanced team,
however, argues Stuart Miles O’Hara. Together they have a
sound that binds tunes from debut Volume 1 to this year’s
EP …Are The Divine Wind, with barely a wrinkle in 14 years.
The title track of the latter is a well-judged slab of psych, but
it’s the flip side to that EP, Laura Lee, that ought to be heard.
The rugged strings and orchestras of their studio releases are
reduced here to a heady mix of guitars and synths, becoming
much more urban and (dare we say it) sexy in the process.
To celebrate their fourth birthday, promotions collective
303 have turned to the esteemed ANDREW WEATHERALL
to deliver a six-hour set. Michael Sutton is on hand at the
Williamson Tunnels, one of the most visually and sonically
interesting venues in Liverpool, as Weatherall shows what
more than 20 years of experience at the forefront of electronic
music can achieve. There’s something special about one DJ
controlling the mood for the entire night, and it can sometimes
lead to a beautiful cohesion. Tonight, there are long stretches
of thudding, minimalistic beats, in which the DJ feels like a
hypnotist swinging his medallion to and fro before your eyes.
Elsewhere, Paul Fitzgerald experiences a church service
like no other at the Metropolitan Cathedral, in the presence of
PIERRE HENRY’s moving 50-year-old electronic masterpiece,
and Glyn Akroyd drops in at a Trevor Hughes’ POP ART
EXHIBITION at The Bluecoat.
Full reviews of all these shows can be found now at
bidolito.co.uk.
Andrew Weatherall (Paul McCoy / photomccoy.tumblr.com)
40

Miles & Erica
(Of The Wonder Stuff)
The Deaf Institute, Manchester
Monday 11th September
Luke Haines
Night & Day Cafe, Manchester
Sunday 15th October
The Frank & Walters
The Ruby Lounge, Manchester
Sunday 22nd October
The Magic Band
(Final ever tour)
The Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
Friday 10th November
ROB HERON &
THE TEA PAD ORCHESTRA
THE MAGNET, LIVERPOOL
WEDNESDAY 22ND NOVEMBER
Peggy Seeger
The Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
Tuesday 28th November
LAU
PHILHARMONIC HALL, LIVERPOOL
TUESDAY 5TH DECEMBER
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TUESDAY 20 JUNE 2017 • £22.50 • 7pm
IAN HUNTER & THE RANT BAND
FRIDAY 6 OCTOBER 2017 • £18.50 • 7pm
LIVING COLOUR
SUNDAY 8 OCTOBER 2017 • £14.00 • 7pm
AMBER RUN
SATURDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2017 • 7pm
HEAVEN 17 & BLANCMANGE
SATURDAY 2 DECEMBER 2017 • £12.50 • 7pm
GUNS 2 ROSES
FRIDAY 22 DECEMBER 2017 • £23.50 • 7pm
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SAY
THE FINAL
Ahead of what organisers
describe as “arguably the most
vital edition to date”, Taher
Qassim, Chair of Liverpool Arab
Arts Festival (LAAF) considers
how art captures the global,
social and cultural issues that
help us to recognise what
unites us.
“In Liverpool, a city built
on migration, we are
lucky to have so many
opportunities to use
our cultural heritage to
explore and forge new
artistic meanings”
“We were talking about the space in between us all/And the
people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion.”
The Beatles, Within You, Without You (1967)
Liverpool’s city-wide 50 Summers Of Love programme
has inspired an exciting range of artistic responses
marking the golden anniversary of both the 1967
Summer Of Love and the release of The Beatles’ classic
album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Liverpool Arab Arts Festival’s 2017 programme has
responded directly to the opening lyrics of George Harrison’s
Sgt. Pepper track, Within You Without You. As Harrison’s second
recording in an Indian classical style, and the only non Lennon-
McCartney song on the album, the track presented Indian
classical music to a new Western audience while encapsulating
the spiritual themes of the Summer Of Love.
Within You, Without You tells of overcoming the forces that
prevents us from recognising what unites the world. 50 years
later, this remains highly pertinent. We are living in an era of
dramatic change, flux and contradiction. In some respects, we
live in a more open, connected and accepting world than ever
before, while at home and across the globe people live in fear,
and endure conflict and oppression.
Since 1998, LAAF has provided a space for all types of
people, regardless of their background, to experience the work
of artists from the Arab diaspora; artists who push us to think
radically and deal with a sometimes uncomfortable reality, who
see the world as it is, and imagine how it could be. This year –
arguably the festival’s most vital edition to date – we explore the
constructs, boundaries and spaces that exist between us through
music, dance, visual art and food-led celebrations.
Iraqi-born visual artist Wafaa Bilal brings together people
in Liverpool and Baghdad through a powerful examination of
the dual processes of destruction and exchange. In 2003 looters
raided the library of the College of Fine Arts at the University
of Baghdad and destroyed the entire collection. 15 years later,
the college still hasn’t recovered from this monumental loss.
Bilal’s acclaimed installation 168:01, which will be restaged
at FACT during the festival, presents a sizeable, austere white
bookshelf stacked with blank tomes. Liverpool visitors are invited
to participate in an exchange; by becoming donors they will
receive one of the blank books, with their contribution funding a
new replacement textbook for the Baghdad library. Bilal’s work
is an affront against cultural destruction, a globalised monument
invested in hope and the future.
In Liverpool, a city built on migration, we are lucky to have
so many opportunities to use our cultural heritage to explore and
forge new artistic meanings. The World Museum houses over
16,000 objects from or relating to Ancient Egypt and is one of
the largest such collections in the UK. In her performance Ancient
Modernity, Choreographer Zosia Jo asks how can a museum
charting 5,000 years of history reflect modern Egypt? We are
keen to see what happens when ancient and contemporary
worlds collide through site-specific dance; can the complexities
of modern day Egypt be reflected within a Western museological
environment?
I believe that theatre can provide a unique space to explore
powerful, personal narratives that forge a connection between
performers and audiences. And Here I Am at Unity Theatre
does just this. It chronicles one Palestinian’s extraordinary truelife
story from armed resistance fighter to artist and refugee.
Performer Ahmed Tobasi crafts a solo work inspired by his
own life experiences but anchored within the wider context of
Palestinian and Arab refugee communities in Europe.
By collapsing the time between modern day Woolwich and
colonial Somalia in the early 1900s, the critically acclaimed onewoman
show The Crows Plucked Your Sinews, explores modes
of resistance rooted in the lyrical tradition of Somalia and the
legacy of Britain’s imperial past. The title is a reference to the man
who led the Somali resistance against British occupation.
In the US, Donald Trump’s divisive executive order, otherwise
known as the ‘Muslim Ban’, led to outpourings of resistance
in both the US and UK. We’re delighted that Independent
Manchester publisher Comma Press will launch Banthology:
Seven Stories From Seven Countries; an anthology of translated
texts from emerging writers impacted by the ban, at the festival.
This urgent and timely collection celebrates a people determined
to reclaim their dignity, freedom and self-expression.
Our two biggest events provide platforms to realise this. Eid
On The Square on Saturday 8th July will be a colourful, joyous
programme of family-friendly cultural celebration of Eid al-Fitr
marking the end of Ramadan. Taking place at Tiber Square,
this event celebrates the diversity of Lodge Lane and the local
businesses and partners who are the lifeblood of the area. Our
annual Family Day festival finale on July 16 will bring thousands
of people together at Sefton Park Palm House with international
music, Arabian souk, cultural cuisine and family activities.
Ultimately LAAF is, and always has been, about bringing
people together. All our events, artists, supporters and partners
share this ethos. We should aspire to tear down the ‘wall of
illusion’ that Harrison referred to: the transformative power of
artistic expression can play a huge part in achieving this. !
Liverpool Arab Arts Festival – ‘The Space Between Us’ takes
place between 8th and 16th July in various venues across
Liverpool. Find out more at arabartsfestival.com
46