O2 Love Music Column – September 2014
Super Furry Animals frontman and Neon Neon instigator Gruff Rhys will be performing much of American Interior at the O2 Academy on Friday 5 Sep, the album component of a conceptual multimedia experience inspired by the tribulations of an ancestor, hapless 18th century Welsh explorer John Evans. Yeah, we know. Classic Gruff.
On the same night, you could instead opt for Fatlip and SlimKid3 performing their seminal debut Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde (O2 ABC2, Fri 5 Sep) in its entirety. It’s a classic of early 90s alternative hip-hop, masterfully composed of timeless jazz samples and rhymes so dope you could toke 'em, and a guaranteed neck-breaker of a live show.
Either act serves as a warm-up to the weekend’s main event, the launch of the annual Culture Fest, headlined by Mr. Dutty Man himself Tony Matterhorn (O2 ABC, Sat 6 Sep) and his infectious dancehall hits. A collab between Glasgow’s own JAM JAM Events and the Academy, Culture Fest is set to be a fixture for anyone in need of quality alternative acts (check out madcap Scottish tribe Clanadonia Band).
Hot off a string of European tour dates, Nashville country three-piece Natural Child (O2 ABC2, Wed 17 Sep) stop by the month-long Americana festival that is No Mean City for a night of bluesy, folksy funk. They’ll be serving up cuts from new record Dancin’ With Wolves (released on the eccentric Burger records, home of the Black Lips with whom they’d recently toured) alongside earlier material.
1970 game-changer The Man Who Sold The World might be a gem in the Thin White Duke’s illustrious crown, but it’s the bandmates who were (some say) the real architects of its greatness. Original producer and bassist Tony Visconti & Woody Woodmansey on drums reunite at the O2 ABC on Saturday 20 September to play David Bowie’s career-defining record in full. Forget Space Oddity; plug into All The Madmen et al and rock out.
No Mean City trots on with two ace midweek nights: Christian Bland and The Revelators (O2 ABC2, Tue 23 Sep), the Texan psych-rock troupe formed by the titular guitarist (he of The Black Angels fame), and banjo-touting soul singer extraordinaire Chastity Brown (O2 ABC2, Thu 25 Sep), her enviable 'fro in tow.
Detroit threesome Slum Village (O2 , Sun 28 Sep) round off proceedings, sole surviving founding member T3 joined by Illa J (younger brother of the late J Dilla) and Young RJ. Slum started, like many significant hip-hop acts, in the early 1990s (originally called Ssenepod, aka ‘dopeness’ backwards y'see), and while their changing roster may have suffered a tragedy or two over the years, the classic sound lives on: phat hooks and hard beats. [George Sully]