Last Friday night I was lucky enough to find myself on the guest list for an event that was part of the 2013 Spree Festival in Paisley, some ten miles south-west of Glasgow. It was a night put together by Chemikal Underground Records and featured a line-up of Emma Pollock, Miaoux Miaoux and RM Hubbert with all three acts being backed by the talented Cairn String Quartet. It was an exceptional night in front of a hugely appreciative and attentive audience inside a Spiegeltent (nobody talked while the acts performed – a real rarity) and I’d be hard pushed to say which of the three I most enjoyed – if a gun was held to my head then I’d probably go for the incredibly danceable Miaoux Miaoux whose performance was the most surprising.
But it was great to see Emma Pollock back on a stage again and to hear some new material which hopefully means she will soon be coaxed back into a studio in the not too distant future. For those of you not in the know, Emma was one-quarter of The Delgados and post break-up has released two excellent LPs full of pop, indie and folk influences as well as involving herself in a number of side-projects with all sorts of talented Scottish musicians. In addition to her own short set last Friday we were treated to a duet with RM Hubbert, or Hubby as he is being increasingly better known in the music world.
Here’s some examples of Emma’s marvellous songs:-
mp3 : The Delgados – Pull The Wires From The Walls (Peel Session)
mp3 : Emma Pollock – Adrenaline
And while I’m here, there’s a song on which she collaborated with David Gedge:-
mp3 : Cinerama – Ears
But prepare to be blown away by the duet with Hubby which brought down the roof on the Spiegeltent:-
mp3 : RM Hubbert & Emma Pollock – Half Light (live at the Aberfeldy Distillery)
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 