Issue 45

24
Bido Lito!
June 2014
Reviews
Courtney Barnett (Mike Sheerin / michaelsheerin.photoshelter.com)
Unless you were hidden beneath a rather
large, soundproof boulder, you’ll no doubt be
aware that LIVERPOOL SOUND CITY rumbled
and rambled into town at the start of May. With
its trademark mix of embryonic new sounds,
international icons and local upstarts, hopes
were high that the festival would, once again,
provide Liverpool music’s annual glissando. Bido
Lito! was on hand to soak up the action...
Our first stop of Sound City 2014 is a venue
which has provided one of the biggest talking
points of the weekend: the Black-E, unfamiliar to
many, plays host to Screenadelica’s exhibition of
the finest screen-printed posters around, along
with some pretty exciting bands. The remaining
members of THE AMAZING SNAKEHEADS appear
on stage after a textbook 10-minute solo display
of sheer charisma by frontman Dale Barclay, and
so begins a sublimely hellish, cacophonous
carnival of screams, struts and prowls that finds
the sweet spot between insanity and knowhow,
before punching it in the face. Where Is
My Knife? is a highlight that sees Barclay skulk
amongst the crowd as he lets loose a disjointed,
Birthday Party-esque guitar solo. With many an
old punk bemoaning the lack of true attitude
in modern rock, The Snakeheads are a whiskysoaked
breath of not-so-fresh air.
Over at The Zanzibar it is clear from the start
that COURTNEY BARNETT’s casual, rambling
style is a whole different beast in a live setting.
Avant Gardener is a blistering fuzz that pulsates
throughout, as such a far cry from the wistful
melody it is on record. Barnett embodies each
rhythm, jerking her guitar with a frenzied passion
that never threatens to override her focus
to deliver each track. Before closing the set,
Barnett grins at the audience’s enthusiasm for
more, promising “ten songs crammed into five
minutes.” Instead, we are treated to an intense
History Eraser. A set of five songs is too short,
but it seems nothing can dissuade Barnett; she
is far too content doing her own thing. Herein
lies the charm.
A night with GRUFF RHYS is a reminder of how
much fun it must be to live in his world. Ambling
onstage with a wolf's head for a hat and
audience participation placards under his arm,
the opening chords of Honey All Over persuade
the elbow-to-elbow crowd in East Village Arts
Club to release what breath they have left with
a bellowing cheer. The bulk of the show hangs
on American Interior – the album, film, app and
book based on 18th Century compatriot John
Evans’ search for a lost tribe of Welsh-speaking
Native Americans. Complete with slideshow,
Rhys is the best presenter Blue Peter never
had, and as the story goes into intermission,
“it's time for some trumpet” courtesy of cousin
Bob. Hotel Shampoo favourite Take A Sentence
crackles with understated emotion before we're
led on a hearty singalong through Sensations In
The Dark. Wholesome.
Being neither overweight nor related, FAT
WHITE FAMILY will have to settle for one out of
three. To be honest, they don’t much seem like
a group concerned with achieving top grades
and it doesn’t seem to matter to this sizeable
audience either. It could be the liveliest set of
the evening at Screenadelica and, by the middle,
lead singer Lias Saoudi, sans shirt, has the crowd
tearing at each other. There’s no doubting the
Family’s English-via-American-via-English garage
stylings confuse as well as amaze, but more
than anything they’re fun. And that’s enough
this evening.
Resplendent in feathers and headdress,
NOZINJA is accompanied by a pair of dancers,
one masked and wearing a bright orange
jump suit. On another day, this might be the
costume department for a particularly warped
horror film. Tonight, however, it’s all about fun.
In spite of the 1.30am slot the Kazimier crowd
seems particularly enthused, but it’s easy to
grasp why: anyone familiar with Nozinja or his
former Shangaan Electro group can tell you that
it’s a spectacle without comparison. Indeed,
Shangaan is a genre that defies comparisons
or perhaps even explanation. Sounding like
someone has pushed the tempo slider on a
Casio keyboard all the way to the top, it’s music
built for dancing. But not just any old dancing
– it’s high-paced and frenetic. You’d need the
strongest of hearts, the quickest of feet and
the deepest reserves of energy to keep up.
Fortunately, tonight the crowd are well prepared,
and the first day is danced away.
Matthew Siskin AKA GAMBLES pirouettes
around Leaf’s wooden floor and succeeds where
many have failed: to silence the chattering
crowd. There’s nothing new here – humble
chords, classic Dylanesque leather jacket and
bushy hairstyle combo – but there’s an honesty
illuminated by Siskin’s charisma that turns a
potentially pretentious performance (down from
the stage in the middle of the crowd, completely
unplugged), into a special one. Everyone present
gets a personal performance as he weaves
in and out of the encircled crowd, locking eye
contact with anyone who is engaged. His poetic
musings are accompanied by sparse guitar and
the simple set-up adds to the raw emotion of an
engrossing performance.
ORVAL CARLOS SIBELIUS starts up his mini
orchestra in the bowels of Korova, leading into a
stellar set that encompasses tracks that in some
ways typify the Frenchedelia genre, but in others
bidolito.co.uk