Issue 105 / November 2019

New Music + Creative Culture
Liverpool
Issue 105 / November 2019
bidolito.co.uk
Second Floor
The Merchant
40-42 Slater Street
Liverpool L1 4BX
Founding Editor
Craig G Pennington - info@bidolito.co.uk
Publisher
Christopher Torpey - chris@bidolito.co.uk
Editor
Elliot Ryder - elliot@bidolito.co.uk
Digital Media Manager
Brit Williams – brit@bidolito.co.uk
Design
Mark McKellier - mark@andmark.co.uk
Branding
Thom Isom - hello@thomisom.com
Proofreader
Nathaniel Cramp
Cover Photography
John Johnson
Words
Elliot Ryder, Sophie Shields, Jordan Ryder, Scott
Charlesworth, Christopher Torpey, David Weir, Brit
Williams, Ambre Levy, Jennie Macaulay, Craig G
Pennington, Sam Turner, Rhys Buchannan, Scott
Burgess, Nina Franklin, Lewis Dohren, Jack Turner,
Dr Ariel Edesess, Daniel Blunt.
Photography, Illustration and Layout
Mark McKellier, John Johnson, Michael Kirkham, Keith
Ainsworth, Scott Charlesworth, Carin Verbruggen,
Shea McChrystal, Sally Pilkington, Yana Yatsuk, Fin
Reed, Glyn Akroyd, Stu Moulding, Robin Clewley,
Lewis Dohren.
EDITORIAL
The longer nights were always going to be the home
for this new nadir of uncertainty. Turn the clocks back
three years, not just the customary hour, and you’d be
forgiven for thinking the minute and hour hands have
frozen and reality ceased.
Everyday absurdities rendered
meaningless. Career-ending soundbites
now campaigning rhetoric. Every day,
the same excruciating arguments evenly
squared off by the BBC, Question Time
now being an exercise in self-harm. The
vernacular of logic has been crowded out
in favour of blind-hope terrace chants.
Consequence has been removed from
the vocabulary of those at the wheel of
political madness.
With Bido Lito! being a collection
of voices, stories and song, it’s perhaps
most disheartening to witness this
growing desecration of language. What
should remain a medium free from
fearmongering, division and deceit has
been weaponised in the most odious
manner – all in an attempt to win the
stalemate with little regard for the irreparable chasm it carves
between us all. It wasn’t so long ago that discourse rewarded
those who had a way with words. Now, discourse is a battlefield
for those who want their own way with the help of words.
This being my first editorial as Editor, it feels somewhat
hollowing to know it’s delivered with a tone of anxiety. But it’s
important to acknowledge that the arts and music can’t reside
offshore from these bizarre goings on. This is not to say all art
FEATURES
“There remains a
strong appetite for
visual language
that takes on the
biggest issues
in society with
positivity and hope”
should aim to reflect, respond and protest these times ahead;
to do so would be limiting and unfair. In return, artists must
be granted space. However, it’s clear that those at the levers
of power are drawing an ever-tightening perimeter around
free spaces of thought and ideas,
movements and cultures. Art should
allow for the momentary escape free
from ideological borders, many of which
are currently under threat from a barrage
of isolationist rhetoric.
Looking to our cover feature, The
Mysterines break with the haze of
shadow-encrusted language and tell
us how it is. They let their music do
the talking and, surprisingly, leave little
else to mystery. We also come to see
the effervescent hip hop trio Nutribe
as an antidote all should endeavour
to experience. As they put it across
themselves: “Everyone likes to hear
positivity. Why wouldn’t they? People
like to see three MCs having a good
time, chatting goodness.” This direct,
positive language is not solely reserved
for lyricism in this issue. As we see in Jordan Ryder’s assessment
of Keith Haring’s work, there remains a strong appetite for
visual language that takes on the biggest issues in society with
positivity and hope. It is perhaps the visual artist’s energy and
belief we should look to when the longest nights roll in.
Elliot Ryder / @elliot_ryder
Editor
Photo by Robin Clewley
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14 / THE MYSTERINES
Take a deep breath and hang on tight as the ascendant trio wind
up to release the full force of their hair-raising repertoire.
18 / NUTRIBE
Fresh from renowned Future Bubblers programme, the
effervescent hip hop trio bring us up to speed on the
interplanetary aura that unifies their artistry and being.
20 / COMING OUT THROUGH THE
GIFT SHOP
As the hugely successful Keith Haring exhibition moves into
its final month, Jordan Ryder ponders whether there is a battle
to sustain the artist’s campaigning sentiment in the face of its
aesthetic appeal.
22 / TRUDY AND THE ROMANCE
Oliver Taylor walks us through Trudy’s pillow-headed paradise
and towards a new musical world yet to be shaped.
24 / THE DIRT I’M MADE OF
Writer and photographer Scott Charlesworth locates the
homebound escapism of the River Mersey.
29 / RICHARD DAWSON
“The power of a word or a melody can be quite profound: it can
change the way in which people perceive things”
31 / BLACK LIPS
“I grew up in a church that was way more wild than any rock ’n’
roll show”
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.
REGULARS
12 / NEWS
26 / SPOTLIGHT
32 / PREVIEWS
34 / REVIEWS
44 / ARTISTIC LICENCE
46 / THE FINAL SAY