Back to the Rose of England in Nottingham for Magik Markers plus two others – Human Bell and the Gnomes of Zurich.
The upstairs room at the Rose is a splendidly beat-up place - I noticed the 'for sale' sign outside and wondered if new owners would keep it intact - a shrine to those much-loved pub function rooms where the bohemian dance goes on forever. The main bonus of, whimsy aside, is the large stage, which tonight also made the changeovers more easy, I would assume...
First up, a duo, guitar and drums, Gnomes of Zurich. Two young guys who made a freeflowing racket, the amplified acoustic guitar giving an interesting timbral edge. Good support to set the tone of the night – that sprawling area where folk, rock and free jazz collide. A punky edge to the Gnomes, over galloping backbeats. The duo format can be a bit exposed (especially sans bass) and they expand it well with some use of looping guitar fragments towards the end...
Human Bell are a trio, two guitars (one doubling on trumpet – I kid you not) and drums. Eschewing bass again, the long, haunting modal/minor guitar figures buttress each other into a fluid textural mix that makes up for that lack. A strong folk move here... and interesting use of repetition as they roll out the melodies over and over with subtle colourings that change the angles ever so slightly. Not to everyone's taste – a few left for the bar during their set. Fascinating to delineate these evocations of the high lonesome – the banjo-like frailing transferred to the double headed electric guitar, for example. Murkier sonorities rose as their set progressed, evoking the ghost of Link Wray in Rumble-reverbing. And then a swerve totally sideways – a trumpet being produced and a dash essayed into Bill Dixon territory, sad looping figures. They needed longer, I think, to progress this stuff through into the space it demands... But: intriguing and thoughtful stuff, none the less...
Magik Markers are now a two-piece after Leah Quimby headed for the tall timber some time back, guitar and drums, in a mirror of the start band, to give the evening a symmetrical arc. Face buried in her fringe, Elisa Ambrogio whacks out splintering guitar over Pete Nolan's whirlwind rhythms, folk blues occasionally channelled by her use of bottleneck – although here seen as a root that has grown and encountered different theologies of noise production rather than retro blues moves. Which could be a metaphor for the evening, thinking about it, especially for the two American bands, who jack into cultural mainlines that still exist, which gives them their vitality, older forms hurled into the maelstroms of contemporary electronics to produce new deliriums of noise/pleasure. One problem: couldn't hear the vocals, they were just a blur of vocal timbre. Which in this music doesn't matter so much, perhaps, in embracing the over-reaching gestalt – but when you go to the albums, you realise you are missing out – especially on the latest material which plays around intriguingly with a sharp twist into song forms dipped in the acids of earlier noiseworks and fuelled by the ongoing energies of an improvisational ethic that embraces the freedoms therein... And: the set was too short again – a problem you had to live with I guess to get three bands on... Hi ho – all in a night's gig – the Markers are a blast whatever the minor carpings... especially the ongoing-developments and consolidations.
Murray and I enjoyed ourselves but thought that maybe things were a little scrappy, not enough time for sets to develop - but at 6 quid a pop for three bands in a good-natured venue – DamnYou as ever come up with the goods...
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