Originally written by Mike Diver · 26 April 2007
DiS is excited, so forgive us a little yelp of pleasure. Yelp. Thanks.
This weekend, Butlins in Minehead will be overrun by indie-rock sorts, all wearing bizarre band tees and badges and beards and fidgeting with digital cameras and LPs and wondering what Joanna Newsom sees in Bill Callahan and whether or not Nick Cave is some sort of god or something and what Warren Ellis hides in all that facial hair and deciding if three bottles of blow-your-head-off red for a tenner is a good deal or if the morning will be awful because of it and quite why the sun has decided to hide for three straight days... Some bands will play, too.
It’s All Tomorrow’s Parties, as curated by The Dirty Three. Yelp.
DiS will be there, in both a reviewing and DJing capacity (come see us, yeah, and dance?), but before we catch the train to Taunton from just over t’road, here’s our pick of the acts performing this weekend, plus the latest on who is playing where and sort of almost nearly when… ish.
Fresher than a deep-frozen fish finger.
Devastations Playing Centre Stage, Friday April 27 This Australian outfit, presently based in Berlin, was seen in the flesh by DiS at the weekend, and their mixture of Nick Cave’s inspired gloominess and Black Heart Procession’s quasi-gothic indie-pop was a most pleasurable distraction from the usual Sunday evening dreariness. Gravel-toned vocalist and bassist Conrad Standish is a truly captivating frontman; his hip-wiggling, jerked-up-straight holding of himself is awkwardly impossible to avert your eyes from; he’s attractive in a way most men shouldn’t be to perfectly straight show attendees. On the Beggars Banquet roster, the band released their Coals LP late last year – it received the DiS seal of approval here. MySpace
Shannon Wright Playing Pavilion Stage, Saturday April 28 This Atlanta-based singer, originally from Florida, has worked with Steve Albini in the studio, and her raw, stripped-back and incredibly intimate songs are some of the finest the Touch And Go/Quarterstick stable has to offer. Her new LP, Let In The Light, is the follow-up to the much-acclaimed, and superbly arresting, Over The Sun album of 2004. Self-taught at the piano, Wright’s songs are powerful in their subtleties and crushing in their emotional weight. MySpace
The Drones Playing Centre Stage, Saturday April 28 Winners of the Australian Music Prize for their Wait Long By The River And The Bodies Of Your Enemies Will Float By album of 2005 – their second long-player – this four-piece from Western Australia perfectly capture the feeling of isolation – their hometown of Perth is probably the most lonely major city in the world in terms of nearby metropolitan areas; they’ve since relocated to Melbourne – and set it to epic storytelling. As likely to appeal to fans of Tom Waits as they are followers of The Birthday Party, the quartet’s latest album Gala Mill is a slow-burner, a record that takes time to infect the listener (review). Raw and unfocussed, yet capable of turning on a sixpence and narrowing their scope to tunnel vision, the band are quite unlike anything their constituent influences – Bad Brains, Bod Dylan, Nina Simone – should be capable of producing. The Drones are becoming a truly unique offering. MySpace
Grinderman Playing Pavilion Stage, Saturday April 28 and Sunday April 29 Really, do not miss this: Cave, Ellis, Casey and Sclavunos tearing rock and roll as we know it roughly a dozen more a-holes with abrasive catharsis unlike anything the scamps of today’s charts could ever dream of conjuring. It’s rough, ragged, dangerous; it’s sexy, sleazy, sensual. Grinderman’s self-titled debut is a firm favourite on the DiS stereo (review), and has stolen the clenched fists of fuck yes from an epic slew of Cave fans old and new. It’s punk of blood and blue of heart, bruised of skin and fast of breath. ATP sees the band performing live for the first time, ever. Twice. They wrestle rattlesnakes with their guitars. Believe. If you’re not at these shows and you’re at ATP, you’re a fucking idiot. MySpace
Josh T Pearson Playing Centre Stage, Friday April 27 The former Lift To Experience singer is always a special solo performer, mixing huge outbursts of howling emotion with the jaggedness of a drunken busker ignored by passing trade in a shit-hole station at gone midnight. Intense yet peculiarly tender at the same time, when Josh lifts his head and cracks his beard to unleash another piercing scream from the very bottom of his soul, expect yours to lurch in time with the strums of his guitar and stomp of his boot. Few come away from the experience with an opinion of indifference; most are marked for their remaining days. MySpace
Mary Margaret O’Hara Playing Centre Stage, Sunday April 29 The sister of a comic and notorious for her limited recorded output despite a long career, the appearance of Mary Margaret O’Hara at ATP is sure to attract both the curious and acolytes alike. Since releasing her first album, through Virgin, in 1988, the Canadian singer-songwriter has been in and out of the public eye, but never fully comfortable in its full glare. Michael Stipe of REM once referred to her as a national treasure, and while her entirely unique singing voice is sure to splinter some senses, she’s a powerful performer whose rare outings are often acclaimed in the music press. That debut, Miss America, has been voted the third best LP of the last 20 years by NOW magazine (Toronto), and Mojo named it one of the top 100 albums of the last century.
DrownedinSound.com DJs Like we weren’t going to mention ourselves. Again. Come see drunk men play records badly on Friday night – in Jaks from 10pm, after The Dirty Three – and in Reds on Sunday night/Monday morning at 1.15am.
The running order for this weekend’s ATP is as follows, and it subject to change! Bands at the bottom play last/headline; those listed first are on first.
Friday April 27… DiS is excited
Pavilion Stage The Only Ones The Dirty Three
Centre Stage Ian Wadley Conway Savage Magnolia Electric Co. Psarandonis Devastations Josh T Pearson
Reds Stage Art of Fighting Brokeback
Saturday April 28… DiS is wobbly
Pavilion Stage Magnolia Electric Co. Shannon Wright Low Spiritualized Acoustic Mainline Nick Cave / Grinderman
Centre Stage Felix Lajko Sally Timms Alan Vega Mick Harvey Yann Tiersen The Scientists The Drones Nina Nastasia Einstürzende Neubauten
Reds Stage Joel Shilbersher & The Spot of Bother Digital Primatives Matana Roberts Faun Fables Youpi Youpi Yeah We Ragazzi
Sunday April 29… DiS is wondering where the last two days went
Pavilion Stage The Dirty Three Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues Nick Cave / Grinderman
Centre Stage Papa M Ed Kuepper with Jeffrey Wegener Mary Margaret O’Hara Joanna Newsom White Magic Bill Callahan Joanna Newsom (yes, twice on the same day) Tara Jane O’Neil Tren Brothers
Reds Stage Roscoe Mitchell Mum Smokes Small Knives Secretary DrownedinSound.com DJs
For more information, please click to the official ATP website, here.