Ten Years of All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival – Butlins, Minehead – 12/12/09 [PART 2]
5/5
By: Tim Dellow, Thomas Hannan
Awaking from a heady slumber on a floor, hallucinating about being attacked by cats in the chalet, I head for something altogether more serene. David Pajo performing his classic solo debut (following on from the split of Slint) Live From A Shark’s Cage flanked by an additional guitarist and bassist, augmenting the looping guitar that he first toured on its release. Opening (and closing) with ‘Arundel’; one of the most beautiful melodies ever plucked from his soul, the performance is an auspicious and ear cradling event. [TIM DELLOW]
Afrirampo continue day two, and draw a healthy early crowd thanks to an endorsement from festival organiser Barry Hogan, saying in the programme saying that they were in his top two ATP bands - the other being Lightning Bolt. Afrirampo aren’t as good as Lightning Bolt, but they shouldn’t let that dishearten them – 99% of bands are share in that predicament. Afrirampo are probably better than 98% of bands, and certainly have better costumes. If ATP has achieved anything in the last ten years, it’s created a haven for Japanese women in strange costumes to shout over noisy guitars in small, run down seaside towns in the south of England. And that’s quite a legacy. [THOMAS HANNAN]
Only the men are watching Om, the women have been sent elsewhere. Actually, if there was a woman watching Om, one of the guys head-banging to their extremely impressive and impressively extreme brand of psychedelic drone with vests would probably happily marry the lady. If only he had the courage to talk to ladies. Ever. In his entire lonely, metal-filled life. [THOMAS HANNAN]
Listen, I love the Dirty Three. Love ‘em. But they clash with Shellac, who made the best record of the last ten years. And yes, I know Shellac play again tomorrow. But the last time I saw ‘em twice in two days (yes, it was an ATP) was not an experience I regretted. So I’m sorry to the Dirty Three (hey, they won’t exactly miss me, and by all accounts their performance was brilliant), but I’m going for Shellac Part One of Two. And it’s a Shellac show that’s so good I don’t feel bad about it at all. Giving airings to songs like ‘Paco’ and ‘Steady As She Goes’ from the unfairly maligned Excellent Italian Greyhound has the entire crowd vying to give that most recent record of theirs another go, and those new songs sound so brilliant that it’s a crying shame they probably won’t get round to recording them for at least another five years or so. Pull your finger out, Albini. [THOMAS HANNAN]
Battles have a reputation as a dramatically brilliant live act: focused primarily on their drummer John Stainer’s super-high crash cymbal and Tyondai Braxton’s implacable energy. This remains throughout the set with tracks from the early EPs and Mirrored creating the makings of a classic gig. However Battles are in the precarious position of crossing over in a similar fashion to Animal Collective, with years of indie kudos behind them (Don Caballero and Helmet indeed) and are clearly pushing themselves to make this gateway leap. However, their considered shift to lyrical songs feels a little disappointing – not the principal mind you – just the quality of this newer material fails to live up to the exhilaration of their more rhythmic math-based work. [TIM DELLOW]
Tim’s being kind – Battles were a bit rubbish. Shame, as the first time I saw them play at an ATP was one of the most amazing gigs I’d ever seen. Luckily, another one of the most amazing gigs I’ll ever see starts at exactly the same moment we deem Tyondai Braxton, John Stainer et al to be not worth our time – the Melvins are brutalising a crowd upstairs. Though a consistently brilliant band with a career stretching over three decades now, anyone who’s witnessed one of their ATP performances of late will attest that this is a band currently enjoying itself perhaps more than ever before, the addition of an entire band as a rhythm section (drums and bass duo Big Business have for the last two albums been subsumed in to Dale Crover and King Buzzo’s Melvins line up) really giving them a kick up the arse. This is a set that with recent, more riff based material like ‘The Kicking Machine’ is able to convert to the cause the indie kids who previously thought the band ‘too metal’ for them, whilst also dropping in moments of nigh on offensive heaviness like ‘The Bit’ to keep the faithful utterly devoted. They play most of the gig with two drummers. By the end, there are four. It’s astonishing. [THOMAS HANNAN]
Despite struggling with an intense sore throat Isaac Brock commendably leads his troubadours through the canyons of a deeply brilliant catalogue. Modest Mouse eschew much of their newer material that has seen them, along with The Shins, approach a serious level of homeland success, in favour of some of the gems from earlier albums such as The Lonesome Crowded West, and This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About, an exercise which re-iterates their persistent lyrical genius which at times hints at an alternative narrative that could have been explored by REM, whilst musically condensing kraut with cowboy into a Wilco fan’s wet dream. A special band with a deeply rewarding catalogue open for exploration to anyone with a serious interest in modern music. [TIM DELLOW]
The For Carnation’s self titled album is a personal favourite, up there with Brian McMahon’s work with the ever influential Slint, and the opportunity to see them perform tracks from it had me in pieces before they’d even stepped on stage. I wasn’t disappointed with their faithful, arguably even stoic performances of ‘Emp. Man’s Blues’, not dissimilar in mood to the Slint reformation approach. The new material was Cohen-esque and saw the band free up a little before a heart wrenching rendition of ‘Moonbeams’ transported all from the ballroom to eternity. [TIM DELLOW]
Sunn O)))’s first performance of the weekend is the entire counter to their newest record: a rendition of their first “demo”; the album they first released into the world influenced by those mighty doom meisters Earth. For many, The Grimmrobe Demos is drone in its purest form, a culmination of the vibrations of the universe channelled and distorted by humans, guitars and a Marshall stack. The apocalyptic vision swells into a rib-cage shaking reminder of what it is to be human, what it is to feel and fear and how we might transcend these fragile forms, even through annihilation into a pile of dust jogged into the circular patterns of echoes, forever through time and space, eternal and endless)))))))))))))))))))))∞ [TIM DELLOW]
THIS IS PART TWO OF THREE
Artists in this article: Sunn O))), The For Carnation, Modest Mouse, The Melvins, Battles, Shellac, Om, Afrirampo, David Pajo
Your Feedback
Login to post your comment