Issue 86 / March 2018

DANSETTE
LAURIE SHAW reveals some of
the inspirational records that
were key touchstones for him
during the making of his new LP,
Weird Weekends.
Binhan
Jake Thackray
Worried Brown
Eyes
EMI
Oyé Additions
Following their bumper 25-year anniversary
celebrations last year, AFRICA OYÉ is showing
few signs of resting on its laurels with three
impressive names announced for their 2018
event. The first trio of names confirmed for the
Sefton Park weekender represent artists who
have transcended the music scenes of their
native countries to perform to huge crowds
around the world. Guinea Bissau’s BINHAN,
GUY ONE from Ghana and Gambian artist
SONA JOBARTEH will all arrive in Liverpool for
the weekend of 16th-17th June. More acts are
set to be announced including the coveted Oyé
Introduces slot which is given to a local artist
from the North West’s African diaspora.
Where’s My Revolutionary Spirit?
Liverpool’s musical past has a fierce independent streak
running through it, and a new five-CD boxset from Cherry Red
Records aims to add some detail to that particular narrative.
REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT: THE SOUND OF LIVERPOOL 1976-
1988 is an extensive collection of gems and rarities from one of
the region’s most fertile and productive eras. Artists from the
‘second wave’ of Merseyside music are featured, ranging from the
cult (YACHTS) to the obvious (ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN) to the
obscure (NIGHTMARES IN WAX). Put together by key observers in
the scene at the time – Bernie Connor, Mike Badger, Yorkie and Joe
McKechnie – the boxset also comes with a 56-page book that goes
into more depth, full of views and insight from the compilers.
Jake Thackray is an underrated British folk singer and
one of the leading lights for me in terms of great northern
storytelling. This song is about a girl writing to an Agony
Aunt column. I think Thackray had a great knack of
immortalising the everyday and he’s one of the finest
singers the country has ever produced.
Suede
Stay Together
Nude
One thing I got fascinated with during the recording of
Weird Weekends was the Britpop scene in the 90s. It
seems like it was a rollercoaster of hedonism that came to a
crashing end, but nevertheless it produced some gems, and
one song I heard for the first time when I started the album
was this song.
Gibberish Brewpub
Gloria Gaynor
I Will Survive
Polydor
On The March With EBGBS
Seel Street’s basement bolthole has a busy run of gigs
programmed in for March, building on a succession of
intense, sweaty shows over recent months. THE SHEAFS
bring their high-octane indie swagger on 9th March, while
dub degenerates THE WHOLLS swing by on 22nd March
as part of a UK tour in support of their debut, self-titled LP.
Elsewhere, Metal 2 The Masses Merseyside take over the
basement on 23rd March with the first of their regional heats.
You want more? How about RIVAL BONES (3rd), SPARK
(16th), PIST (30th), plus Liquidation every Saturday night?
Sorted.
A Load Of Gibberish
The Baltic Triangle’s newest addition Gibberish Brewpub
are hosting a knees-up over the first weekend of the month
with food, booze and music. The Caryl Street venue, set up
by Mad Hatter co-founder Gaz Matthews, is inviting jazzers
BLIND MONK TRIO, bluegrass ensemble DONKEY HOKEY
and other artists to provide the soundtrack as they unveil
their latest batch of brews. There will also be street food from
vegan purveyors Wings And Clay as well as meaty fare from
smokehouse specialists Cowfish. Taking place over the 1st-
3rd March, this is the place to be to sate your gastronomic and
aural appetites.
Partially inspired by the disco-y bits of Separations-era
Pulp, I thought it would be fun to do a more disco-infused
song, which became the seven-minute track Sophistication.
On that song there’s definitely a bit in the vocals where I
do a bit of a Gloria Gaynor thing. I like the combination of
telling a pretty grim story over the top of a funky beat.
Blur
Young And Lovely
Food
Damo Suzuki
Competition: Wrong Festival
Invisible Wind Factory, North Shore Troubadour and Drop The
Dumbulls welcome the return of WRONG FESTIVAL on 28th
April, with a line-up that is positively brimming with special
acts from the psych and stoner rock scene. Alt. grunge band
FUTURE OF THE LEFT head up this year’s Wrong line-up, with
scene don DAMO SUZUKI joining MUGSTAR, and GNOD, HEY
COLOSSUS and KAGOULE packing out the undercard. We’ve
got a pair of tickets to the event to give away to one lucky winner
– all you need to do is answer this question: In which band did
Damo Suzuki replace Malcolm Mooney as lead singer? Email
your answers to competition@bidolito.co.uk – the winner will be
notified by email. Good luck!
I feel like this song wears the same kind of trainers as some
of the songs on Weird Weekends. The title track of the
album came about after a few days of hearing this song
quite a lot. Those slightly melancholic chords that Blur
sometimes do definitely crop up, and then the solo is pure
Oasis circa 1995. So in a way I’ve bridged a gap between
the North and South. Kind of like the M1.
Head to bidolito.co.uk o read (and listen to) more of Laurie
Shaw’s selections. Weird Weekends is out now via Black
Leather Soul Music.
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