review: hinterland 2010

last saturday's hinterland fest was a bit of alright. i said as much in my write-up for the skinny, handily reproduced below:

Squeezed from two days into one and scaled back from fifteen venues spread city-wide to a half-dozen proximate haunts, Hinterland have reformatted 2009’s debut into something less ambitious, but more sustainable. And enjoyable too: freed from the mental shackles of route-planning – and the related fear of crowded-out disappointment if yr hot-footing across town can’t quite get you there quick enough – Hinterland 2.0 is a relaxed affair.

From geeky, lo-fi figureheads to Funky Djs; manic indie trios to panda-eyed singer-songwriters, if the line-up doesn’t quite boast something for everyone that’s only because there are some right picky so-and-sos out there. The result is part Scottish talent showcase, part South-By-Southwest-style melting pot - or as Johnny Foreigner put it: “This is great - like Camden Crawl without the Sugababes. Or London.” It’s a busy mix of marquee names and local whippersnappers that offers plenty of bang for your buck…

Shiny electro duo Midnight Lion’s (**) passion-pop sound reflects du jour eighties influences and has a likable dramatic air, but personally Stewart Brock’s vocals are a deal breaker. Though blessed with a strong voice, each line is delivered with the earnest slickness of a boy-band balladeer (a resemblance not helped by a tendency to grab at his chest like an eager Enrique Iglesias). But echoes of X-Factor aside, there’s flickering potential in the ex-Drive By Argument pair; a talent for penning glossy pop hooks that are appealing if not quite riveting.

“Wow, I’m rocking so hard I’ve detached my section of the stage” observes Johnny Foreigner’s (****) Alexei Berrow when his over-enthusiastic moves cause his raised island to shift away from the mainland. His alarm is understandable – last time they played Glasgow, they reveal, the ensuing fiasco almost caused a split. But the ground stays firm and the show goes on, the trio barrelling through their set “so we can all see Hot Club De Paris after”. A guesting Duncan Danananaykroyd adds extra noisiness to Salt Peppa And Spinderella’s gear-shift, while new material sees them successfully take their kinetic energy down a notch.

Broken leads delay Jeffrey Lewis (****), but since his shtick tends towards masking-tape-and-shoe-string roughness anyway, the poltergeists don’t keep him down for long. He’s a value-for-money booking, cramming laugh-out-loud ditties, illustrated slideshows, a gangster rap boasting of multiple counts of mosquito homicide and a history lesson recounting the life and times of Chief Sitting Bull into his truncated set. It’s more vaudeville than gig - a little bit of this and a little of that, all spun together with a sharp vocabulary and a friendly demeanour (though calling your crowd English isn’t the quickest way to endear yourself to Glaswegians).

As the guitars go back into their cases, the Arches opens back out to its full size. Remaining Hinterlanders are slow to get their groove on, milling about between rooms looking for a beat that sticks. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs brings energy levels up before long, though with a set that jumps through genres like a hypeactive child (Indian fancy dress supports the comparison). Éclair Fifi proffers old-school beats and b-boy visuals (courtesy of the LuckyMe collective) before making way for Marcus Nasty and Cooly G, whose sets are largely missed by this sleepy reviewer while back in the North room Friendly Fires spin Madonna remixes and the like. New faces file in as we exit: it seems for some, Hinterland has only just begun.

(go here for the full piece, which also features Rachel Bowles' thoughts on the kays lavelle, panda su and mystery jets)