Friday, April 14, 2006

The Bill Wells Alternative Japanese Wall-Of-Sound package tour held court at The Tolbooth in Stirling tonight. If you’re in the vicinity of Tobermory, Aberdeen, Stornoway, Wick and Evie in Orkney between here and the 22nd then I strongly suggest that you take in the show when it hits your neck of the woods.

It’s a privilege for music this challenging, entertaining and downright cinematic to be able to be experienced live. Some of it defies designation. Like Morricone hotwired to the BBC Radiophonic workshop. Then The Velvet Underground with Tijuana brass overtones. And the there’s Kazumi Nikaidoh who simply can’t keep still. Her ability to play duelling trumpet as a mimic is both captivating and disturbing in equal measure. Her Audrey Horne-esque dances add a bizarre David Lynch type shape to soundscapes that belong alongside his movies.

I honestly have NEVER seen anything like it. This show is not 50 minutes of the same old routine toured for 18 months to promote “an album”. It’s a showcase of real, odd but utterly compelling music that has a childlike heart and soul. A bravado untainted by the trappings of what passes for the mainstream. Major props to Mr Wells for his vision and furthermore for sharing it.

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