Issue 98 / April 2019

CLUB
Actress
24 Kitchen Street – 11/04
Actress
SEVENSTORE and 24 Kitchen Street present a brand-new, one night
experience this April. ACTRESS will perform an exclusive DJ set alongside
a bespoke, live audio visual test bed produced on the night by visual artist
SAM WIEHL (whose previous work includes visual commissions for Forest
Swords and Liverpool Psych Fest). Support will be provided by Liverpool
producer and DJ ASOK. Actress is an artist capable of music and mind
duality, sharing his cerebral existence between an arresting electronic
output that congeals influences from IDM, techno, hip hop and industrial.
The Wolverhampton-born producer meticulously entrenches himself into
the world of his productions to generate a product both haunted and
breathing, subtly melancholic and spectrally mechanic.
GIG
YAK
Arts Club – 08/04
It’s been a rollercoaster two years for London outfit YAK, since they signed
off their debut album (Alas Salvation) with a raucous sold-out show at
The Scala. Since then, the band have lost a member, endured a failed
recording stint at Kevin Parker from Tame Impala’s studio in Perth, struck
up a friendship with Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce and signed a new deal with
Virgin EMI – all of which left frontman and songwriter Oli Burslem broke
and in increasing desperation. The resulting album, Pursuit Of Momentary
Happiness – which features Pierce on the cinematic closer This House Has
No Living Room – retains the scuzz and restless energy that marked the trio
out from pack first time round, and adds a layer of eccentric bombast that
matches their new ambition.
YAK
THEATRE
Sweeney Todd
Everyman Theatre – 12/04-18/05
The classic Sondheim and Wheeler play SWEENEY TODD gets the
Everyman treatment this year. Through a lens of the social conditions
of the time period, director Nick Bagnall’s reimagining of the production
looks to uncover the rotten core of 19th Century Britain with all its
wealth disparity and degradation. Embodying the discontent is the
ghastly eponymous barber who plots his dastardly vengeance from
his London salon. Alongside an innovative live soundtrack and with a
smattering of the blackest humour, the tale of Sweeney Todd seems
like a timely show for our desperate times.
OPERA
Andrew Poppy – Hoarse Songs
Capstone Theatre – 12/04
Post minimalist composer ANDREW POPPY is bringing his new album,
Hoarse Songs, to the Capstone Theatre with its piano, electronica,
orchestral textures in full multimedia glory. Fusing elements of
recording, live concert and AV, the show promises to be a vibrant
representation of Poppy, an artist who thrives on exploring unusual
themes via innovative means. This work sees the London-based
creative look at contemporary topics of the veiled intimacy of couples,
introspection of place and the fluidity of gender. Tickets for this are
available through TicketQuarter.
PERFORMANCE
Art 360
After Dark @ Tate Liverpool – 12/04
Art 360
Tate opens its doors later for a one-off chance to see its Op Art In Focus exhibition in an immersive setting.
The sensory experience will begin at the door, as visitors will be given headphones which will enable them
to tune in to three separate audio channels. Live music will be performed in the gallery by BREAKWAVE
and ANNEXE THE MOON – and ATM’s studio member PHIL CHANNELL will be working with NANNA
KOEKOEK on a bespoke soundscape with accompany 360-degree visuals. Visitors will be able to use sound
to tailor their trip around the gallery, thus transforming the viewing experience. A range of Mexican street
food, beer from Love Lane Brewery and 3D projection complete the night of ‘total art’.
GIG
The Good, The Bad And The Queen
O2 Academy – 18/04
Rarely have discussions around Britishness been so pertinent and charged with
the nation grappling with its place in the world. It was in to this maelstrom that
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE QUEEN returned late in 2018, 11 years after
their only other album, with Merrie Land. The quartet of Damon Albarn, Paul
Simonon, Tony Allen and Simon Tong filter their own experiences of Britishness
through a quirky, end-of-the-pier whimsy that reads like a farewell to nostalgia.
It packs a lot in – from Afrobeat to dub, via music hall – pulling from each of the
four members’ own experiences. If you don’t get to see the legendary quartet at
the BBC Radio 6 Music festival in March, this is your second chance – and not
one that should be sniffed at.
The Good, The Bad And The Queen
PREVIEWS 35