Album review: Times and Places by Andy Cato

Published by Press Association

RELEASED 29 APRIL

VIDEO: Andy Cato — Times and Places mix



If you need reminding of the merits of physical releases over digital ones, listen up. The new solo offering by Andy Cato – one half of chillout pioneers Groove Armada – is bound like a hardback book, containing extensive sleevenotes and artwork.

The real reward, though, is in the listening – 60 minutes of balearic downtempo bliss, with elements of disco and house, drawn from Ibiza’s calmer shores.

If the record sounds fragmented, then that’s because it inherently is. Its 18 tracks are the fruits of two decades’ labour, beginning their journeys to Times and Places from dusty cassettes, eight-track tapes and floppy disks.

This album warrants its place in music history, and on the shelf of any true fan of the dance genre.

9/10

BEST PLAYED at the end of a party

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Festival preview: Outskirts @ Platform, Glasgow

Published by Metro

20 April 2013, 3.30pm - 10pm,
£7.50-£10 (w/ transport links),
£12.50-£15 (w/ transport links and food),
Tel: 0141 276 9696 www.platform-online.co.uk

If you thought the closest you’d ever get to the east of Glasgow was the Barras market, where you bought that cheap bike five years ago, then I’m afraid you’re mistaken.

Taking place at arts centre Platform in the city’s Easterhouse suburb is a mini-festival that is Outskirts in name, place and theme. The event, now in its second year, celebrates works that lie in-between the conventional artistic pigeon-holes of music, literature, theatre and visuals.

Among the highlights on the bill is Xana Marwick’s interactive piece You Suffer, But Why?, which – inspired by a 1.3-second song by death-metal group Napalm Death – offers audience members the chance to direct a 1.3-second film starring the artist herself.

“It’s all very playful and light-hearted, but I find it interesting how people engage with the set and props they're provided with on different levels,” said Marwick.

Then there’s Greg Sinclair’s Sonata for a Man and a Boy – the story of a cello lesson that becomes an adventure involving music, conversation and movement.

“My show fuses sound and physical theatre to create a hybrid art form, making it a perfect fit for Outskirts,” he said. “And I’m very proud to be staging it at Platform for the first time.”

Helping to make up an international presence at the festival is avant-garde composer and performer Jaap Blonk, whose appearance as fictional professor Dr Voxoid merges voice and live electronics.

The list goes on. Easterhouse will be radiating talent from home and abroad this Saturday, so you might not need to bring your hat and scarf with you – just an open mind.

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Album review: Rituals by Team Ghost

Published by Press Association

RELEASED 18 MARCH

VIDEO: Team Ghost — Curtains (official video)



Co-founded by Nicolas Fromageau (formerly of shoegaze outfit M83) in 2009, French five-piece Team Ghost straddle the realms of electronic, ambient and guitar music in the manner of an inexperienced fisherman casting his net wide.

But it works. The thrashy rawness of their debut album Rituals evokes My Bloody Valentine’s glorious mess, tempered by – and sometimes embellished with – dark shades of synth and distortion a la Mogwai.

This opulent, multi-layered sound redeems the band’s lyrical shortcomings, which prevent Rituals being the complete package it would otherwise be.

France may not be a bastion of alternative rock, but a few notable practitioners of the genre exist among our Gallic neighbours – and this lot are worth a punt.

8/10

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Theatre preview: Museum of Postmodern Art - Oblivia

Published by Metro

Wednesday 10 April, 7.45pm, £8-£10,
Tramway, Glasgow. Tel: 0845 330 3501.
www.tramway.org

VIDEO: A discussion about Museum of Postmodern Art




There’s a bit of a buzz over at Tramway. Apparently Postmodernism has had its day, and the next big thing will be unveiled at the Glasgow venue this evening.

For one night only, Finnish performance group Oblivia presents an intelligent, funny, and bold new production about, well, kind of everything.

The specific details are anyone’s guess. There may be audience participation, there may be dancing. Heck, there may be strobe lighting, multimedia displays, and bubbles. Free wine is unlikely.

What we do know is that Museum of Postmodern Art is precisely that – a fictitious exhibition, which serves as a vehicle for communicating profound observations on popular culture, asking a series of existential questions about humanity, and exploring the complex issues of past, present and future.

In spite of the question marks regarding the show’s content, we should probably trust Tramway’s judgement here. After all, the South Side venue is nationally renowned for staging challenging and purposeful works that will always be worth the subway ride (and a bit of a walk) from Glasgow’s city centre – or even Edinburgh's for that matter – to enjoy.

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Festival preview: Behaviour 2013 @ various venues, Glasgow

Published by Metro

3 Apr - 11 May 2013, various dates and times, Festival pass: £45/£35, Day pass: £18/£12,
Tel: 0141 565 1000 www.thearches.co.uk

Today is a great day. Not only is it World Party Day – positioned rather awkwardly in the middle of the working week – it’s the start of The Arches’ Behaviour festival.

Until 11th May, Behaviour’s programme of original live performance will see a rich variety of Scottish and international talent take the stage at The Arches, Tramway, and some unusual spaces around Glasgow – including, for Nic Green’s waste-themed piece Shadowlands, an operational landfill site.

Other highlights are #Torycore – an absolute must-see for anyone who’s ever wondered what George Osborne’s budget speech sounds like performed by a death metal band – and Kieran Hurley’s part-gathering, part-gig, part-play, Rantin.

At the heart of this year’s event is the Auteurs Project, in which five works-in-progress by the country’s most exciting artists are showcased as part of a new partnership with National Theatre of Scotland.

With festival passes from £35 and a few individual shows free of charge, this is the most affordable opportunity to feast your eyes on some of the world’s most innovative theatrical creations this side of the Fringe.

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