Xylouris White - Black Peak Album / World Tour

Two years following their 2014 debut album, Goat, Xylouris White have recently completed a second set of songs under that title Black Peak, and are currently embarked upon an extensive international tour exploring these pieces. The UK leg of this tour starts with the duo landing in Brighton at the end of October.

This partnership is a wonderful permutation in the narrative of these special musicians. Both players arrived into this rich relationship as Xylouris White [a compound of their surnames] from acclaimed backgrounds: Jim White most notably for his work in the element evoking music of Dirty Three (that connection intertwining him with Warren Ellis of The Bad Seeds) and Giogos Xylouris, being born of the iconic Lyra player Psarantonis, and that proud Cretan heritage. Xylouris and White first came together in Melbourne, Australia. Xylouris remembers the initial times he joined White on some Dirty Three jams. 

“I remember the first time we played together, it was in a very small bar in Fitzroy, Australia. It was the beginning time of Dirty Three. Later on, I played more and what I remember is during the show, the songs I played with them, two or three, it was the improvisations with Jim - drums and lute - and I really loved it and I could see that the way Jim was playing.” Xylouris is humble at the generosity he felt from the interaction with White at this time. “It was like he released my hands and feelings.”    

Both musicians share an organic and in-the-present response to their music, reacting with changes to conditions and sounds in the moment. Xylouris recalled how primitive experiences with his father going through his “new metamorphosis way to express himself” helped shape his relationship with music as a live and vital expression. “It happened that I was next to him as a kid but on stage, on stage with my Dad and the other lute player Costas Lappas, so I had that experience to see somebody coming from inside out, like the snake shedding his skin, and how the people - and how the audience coped with that. I remember people leaving the room, and other people loving it and coming constantly to see my Dad. [He] was more and more himself every time we played. More and more improvisation on stage and doing new things. I could see my Dad continually doing what he was doing, and every day, over time, you could see more people drawn to it.”

The importance of audience interaction has also informed Xylouris White’s compositions more directly on the first set of songs, with some referencing traditional Greek dance forms (Sousta, Syrtos) in the titles. Xylouris has comprehensively observed this relationship between movement, and the active participation of people with this music. “I play the music that goes with the dance and singing together, and, of course, I take things back - and that gives me the movements, the characters of the dancers and inspires me the way I play.” The thoughts that conjure the present performances draw upon an ever expanding history, respected in the bones of this lutist. “I can see my grandpas and grandmas, and back… centuries dancing. [I] imagine how many people have danced the same dance, how many faces and women and man and kids in any kind of celebration, and back yard and front yard and square, and little venues here and there, around Crete, and around the world.”

Another attitude that has also been consistently present in their work, both prior to and through Xylouris White, is the ambition to explore the limits of their bespoke instruments. What is the full lexis possible that can be used in the musical dialogue? Where are the sonic boundaries of the rooms that they play within? Listening to their lute and drums interact, exploring in this way, you cannot help imagine a physical space; like seeing the shape of an invisible object appear for having its capacity filled with an observable, tangible substance. Xylouris explains this behaviour has an intrinsic mechanism which works to this outward behaviour.“All this is connected together. Further - the notes and the harmonics of the drum and the lute makes a vision - the vision is each sound following the other sounds and all together makes a universe of stars fly away like the fireflies.”

The exemplary track, Forging, from the latest album, shows an increased agitation and a more ferocious energy than Goat may have accustomed a listener to. It seems that Xylouris White’s touring schedule may have informed this compositional progression. “Often shows with Jim are very short, maybe only 45 min, when opening for other bands to a big crowd. It made our shows a little more intense” It would seem that routine has promoted a more bounding spirit within their new music. As for the capture of these songs, the album once more represents a moment whilst the creations are “still fresh.”

I implore you all to remember, remember the 5th November, for that is when Xylouris White will spread a truly reformative fire through The Cluny, Newcastle. Support will be provided by the natural choice - hometown hero Richard Dawson, whose acoustic guitar, with coins in its belly, has twangs, rattles, and a spirit that will move perfectly alongside the music made by the travelling guests. The differences and shared qualities between these two acts both speak to extremity, and will undoubtedly test hearts. 

[2016.10.17] for NARC Magazine.

Saul Williams - MartyrLoserKing Tour

Saul Williams is an artist who cannot be truly known to world from an isolated timbre or notion. His expressions are masterful in the way they blend and mix inspirations and references, and it is in his capacity to melt or fix ideas with one another that his spirit can be seen. It is his resolve to continue to put energy into this alchemy that keeps his music and art as vivid today in his latest release, MartyrLoserKing, as from when his first album album landed just after the millennium. Across the twelve new tracks our ears are dipped in an international state-of-mind: from European classical piano motifs, to spoken word, from the beat-tradition, to Middle-Eastern chanting and singing. His aim is far, and his palette broad. Arriving five years on from his previous record, MLK truly feels like the warrior in training, unleashed; fierce but controlled. 

In-between these two albums, Williams has been performing on Broadway, in the lead role of Holler If Ya Hear Me - the musical created around the music of Tupac Shakur. It was inspired casting to pair Williams with the late icons work, both invested in activism and social consciousness. Unfortunately, the musical’s run finished earlier than expected. Considering that recent endeavour, Williams remained optimistic about the potential of the medium. “I grew up in the theatre, where political ideologies have often, if not always, been explored & questioned. The plays that came out of the Black Arts movement in the United States & the apartheid regime in South Africa had there place in New York & global theatre, just as the work of Brecht, Wilde, Sarah Kane, all the way back to Shakespeare, not to mention the theatre movements in Brazil, Argentina & across the world.”

The manipulation and re-appropriation of language has always played a crucial part in Williams’ work, originally gaining popularity for his poetry via coverage in films such as SlamNation. As with his deliciously titled 2007 album, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust! this recent album evokes a popular figure, and immediately challenges our preconceptions of that person, simultaneously providing a seat for our imagination to ponder what the album might offer, but also rocking at the legs of that chair. “I feel very free in my relationship to language, English in particular, and how it exacts culture. The moulding & remoulding of words in relation to ideas is one of the simplest forms of hacking and declassifying meaning and possibilities of meaning hidden within or behind an idea. In fact, the goal is to get in front of the idea."

MartyrLoserKing is packed with such technique, with several songs using phrase repetition to realign meaning to the words. In The Bear/Coltan As Cotton with ‘Hack into…’ crashing the listener through wall-upon-wall of new ideas/images, and in Roach Eggs he continues with the idea of hacking by evoking that form of action in social media, and in an economy. Many colours on the record (the droning sounds, the repeated rhythms and phrases, the political and technological focus) seemed reminiscent of M.I.A.’s work, and in particular, her third record Maya. Williams recognises the universality of his political and musical pilgrimages and is optimistic for the future. “We will continue to enlist more and more as people/artists are awakened to the times and the major questions at hand.”

On MLK, Williams focusses on the effect of the internet and our relationship with it in his songs. When asked about his own developing relationship with this technology, he acknowledged the benefits it has had on his creative process. “On one hand we have the internet and our capacity to share information, and on the other there is the technology surrounding the writing process: the type writer, the word processor, the personal computer, the hand-held device, the smart-pen... So now I can use my moleskin smart-pen & transfer my handwriting direct into my device, like scanning the pages of a notebook... It's an interesting option for a tumblr-head.” Having always lived with activism in his belly, Williams has been inspired by various applications and their ability to unite voices. “Our relationship to these tools are useful, particularly in regards to our ability to follow what's going on in another space/place which holds even greater potential if we can connect what's happening "there" with what's happening in our world (connecting the dots.) In a sense we have the same capabilities as global intelligence to track happenings, communicate and make sense of them and broaden our network with the possibility of aligning a global network for social action and resistance. The difference is the global powers are organised, so the power of our resistance often lies in our ability to disrupt or cog the system - but we also have to work against media while working through it. We have all surrendered to the machine, yet we also power it.”

Saul Williams is shortly embarking on a UK tour, and is keen to be playing small venues, such as his Newcastle date at Think Tank? on Saturday 2nd July 2016. Joining him on this leg of the tour will be Thavius Beck. Williams also notes that “the virtual presence of Miseal Leon is also extremely helpful. I like intimate occasions to share and make meaningful impressions. A healthy balance between venues and audience sizes keeps me on my toes.”

[2016.06.18] for NARC Magazine.

Chris Watson - The Town Moor / A Portrait In Sound

Chris Watson generously agreed to talk with me in the daytime following a 3am morning walk and recording event in Exhibition Park, as part of, and in preparation for, his up-and-coming sound performance. Though his face was softly weathered from the early rise, the appreciation on his tongue from having just witnessed The Dawn Chorus was palpable.

“[It] starts with The Dawn Solo. We listened to this Blackbird really close; we got a really great perspective on the sound of this bird singing. Then we moved-off around the lake and heard The Dawn Chorus develop. One of the great things about the Town Moor is it’s got this great mosaic of habitats. The next thing we’d do is go right to the edge of the grassland part of the Town Moor. There, we heard some Skylarks singing.”

Watson has developed his life intertwined with recording sound, a passion inspired in his teenage years by the pioneering practices of Pierre Schaeffer. From work with Cabaret Voltaire, throughout numerous ambitious projects with the likes of the BBC, capturing sound has been at the essence of his practice. Recently he has been inspired by a trend in ‘dark’ cinema.

“Like lots of good inventions, it’s happened in cities, certainly around Europe, almost simultaneously. I was in Copenhagen a couple of years ago, and they were doing it there. It’s like experiencing a film, but without any images. There’s a cliche in the BBC about sound - that radio is better than television because the pictures are better.”

Marrying with the enthusiasm of Murphy Cobbing (BBC Newcastle) to create an aural tribute to the history of The Town Moor, Watson recently presented and contributed to a resulting four-part radio series, which featured anecdotal description, as well as recorded environments. Having captured his contributions for this programme in ambisonic sound, Watson and Cobbing were keen to present his commission in an environment which could relay the material in its fullest capacity - a truly surround-sound experience.

“I met Elisabetta [Chloe Barker] at The Tyneside and we looked in The Gallery, and it seemed a very appropriate space for an ambisonic system.”

Utilising 16-channels, Watson’s journey of a year in the life of the Town Moor will immerse the audience, placing them where the Sound Field microphone caught the audio pictures. The terrain will be intricately remapped in sounds that come from above and below, side-to-side.
    

“Everybody will have different images upon hearing the sounds. The Town Moor lends itself… it’s like a real piece of theatre - everything that happens there.”

The piece starts in June, where The Hoppings descend upon the lawn, and ends the following May, with his freshly captured Dawn Chorus.

“I think listening, actively engaging with your environment, is quite a creative function - and we enjoy it! In most urban environments we’re excluded from it by noise. That’s one of the things I am looking forward to - take away visual distractions in The Gallery and just be surrounded by this environment… To just sit back, and tune into it. Take your imagination up to the Town Moor, throughout the seasons.” 

Chris Watson’s ‘The Town Moor - A Portrait In Sound’ will be showing, for free, in The Gallery of the Tyneside Cinema from 20th June - 24th July 2016.

[2016.05.02] for NARC Magazine.