reviews: charles douglas, the flowers of hell, the glad cafe

Charles Douglas - The Lives of Charles Douglas (****)

When Charles Douglas first sang the lyric “Made a record without even trying/ No one could find it so they thought we were lying,” it’s unlikely he fully appreciated its prophetic value. When the record subsequently disappeared following a cheap and limited US run in 1999, the irony was probably appreciated less still. Now, eleven years after it was committed to tape, the Moe Tucker-produced The Lives of Charles Douglas gets its belated dues, yet its convoluted journey hasn’t rendered it lost or out of time.

Douglas’ brand of fuzzy guitar rock marks him as a temporarily waylaid contemporary of Ted Leo, freely mining the classics for inspiration (Lou Reed is a recurring presence, while Baby Come On practically plagiarises The Angels). But despite the lost decade, it never feels like a time capsule – turns out one of the most refreshing alt-rock records of 2010 was made in the nineties.

Out Now

The Flowers of Hell - O (***)

The Flowers of Hell aren’t a band in the typical sense, their assemblage more akin to that of an orchestra. Greg Jarvis assembles a revolving line-up of talent around him, a congregation to which members of Broken Social Scene, Guided By Voices and Spiritualised have all previously belonged. Past releases have advanced an impressive synthesis of post-rock and neo-classical sounds, embellished with traces of shoegaze and an unorthodox compositional style.

O is something less conventional still: a single forty-five minute improvisation in which repetition of any sort is avoided. Its tongue-in-cheek working title was apparently Business Suicide, and it undoubtedly has a snow-drops chance in Hades of shaking free from its niche, so loosely arranged that it threatens to collapse for lack of structure. An accompanying DVD showcases Jarvis and co to better effect, with footage shot in less avant-garde days, before highfalutin artistic ideals endangered their enjoyableness.

Out 15th November

Various Artists - The Glad Cafe (****)

While Glasgow’s hardly starved for venues, those living south of the Clyde are generally underserved. Opening in early 2011, the Glad Cafe aims to rectify the situation. Raising both funds and buzz for the forthcoming arts venue and Southside “creative hub” is local DIY label 45 A-Side Records, who’ve compiled a diverse selection of central-belt talent.

Some listeners will gravitate towards the earnest indie of Barn Owl or Admiral Fallow’s low-key ballad Concrete Oaths, while Fox Gut Daata and Dam Mantle cater to the other end of the spectrum, the former serving up laidback glitch-ridden electronics and the latter an ominous collage of sampled shouts and squelchy beats. From the slow-build, delicate melodies proffered by The Japanese War Effort to Yahweh’s bubbling lullaby, fingers crossed The Glad Cafe will echo this dynamic curatorial approach in its bookings; with these thirteen-tracks as heralds, it’s off to a splendid start.

Out Now