“Hey Jane” recorded at the Royal Albert Hall, October 11th 2011
A couple of weeks ago Spiritualized visited the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh, ready to promote a new album already delayed until next spring. Most of the scheduled tour dates have been postponed until March, but us Scots were lucky to avoid such a fate. I bought my pint to the strains of Malcolm Mooney-era Can on the PA and got comfy in the Upper Circle. Eventually Spiritualized filed onstage – Jason Spaceman stage right, sitting on an office chair facing the band; Doggen and John Coxon on guitar; two anonymous figures on bass and keyboards (sorry for not knowing your names, skilled musicians!), Kevlar Bales on drums and two gospel singers as backup. My palms were sweating with anticipation. Yes, I’m a confirmed Spiritualized acolyte, and I was ready to accept anything the Spaceman threw my way.
Confession time: I don’t own any other Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks albums. Okay, fine, I admit it. I’ve never heard a Pavement album in my life. Skye has already lambasted me for this unforgivable lapse in my musical knowledge, and yes, I feel suitably chastened. So if you’re eager to find out how “Mirror Traffic” stands up to Stephen Malkmus’ previous work, I can’t help you. Go read something else. Nothing to see here.
Anyway, is this record any good? I say yes. It kicks off with the chirpy guitars and summery vocals of “Tigers”. “I caught you streaking in your Birkenstocks / A scary thought” is one of the more memorable opening couplets I’ve heard. Good choice of single, Mr. Malkmus.
The Edinburgh indie faithful descended on the colourful environs of Electric Circus last Sunday evening, lured by the prospect of a rare acoustic set by The Twilight Sad. Adam Stafford opened the evening with a set of experimental songs constructed from guitar and vocal loops. R.M. Hubbert’s flamenco-tinged acoustic guitar came next, his instrumental pieces redolent of melancholy summer nights and loss.
At ten past nine The Twilight Sad sauntered onstage to a sold-out crowd and opened with “That Summer, At Home I Had Become the Invisible Boy”. Andy MacFarlane’s spare fingerpicked acoustic guitar and Mark Devine’s wheezy accordion proved that the band’s songs retain their peculiar beauty even when shorn of their trademark effects and distortion.
