Revolution No. 9
Our friend in the North gets an unexpected treat while waiting for the number 10 bus.
Colin Carberry, 14 Sep 2011
Judging by the posters pasted up around various coffee shops and newsagents, there’s an interesting double header too at No Alibis bookstore, where instrumentalist Ruby Colley (who has practically taken up residence in the place) will be taking to the stage, supported by Cat Malojian’s Stevie Scullion. Stevie’s not usually one for the solo slots, but he’s taken the night off from sessions for the band’s long-awaited third album to pop by. It’s an interesting, but not unexpected, pairing. These are musicians whose recorded output (neo-classical violinist; country-folk balladeer) might hang out on different sides of the equator, but there is an appetite for experimentation and stylistic handbrake turns that the pair share in common. They’re sharing a bill at the moment – it wouldn’t be a bad idea to find them sharing studio space in the future.
And then who do we bump into but Charley Mooney, the biblically bearded frontman from Desert Hearts. Regular long-term visitors to this patch will know there are few bands Hit The North has cheered on louder over the years. Reassuringly, a recent re-introduction to their two albums, Let’s Get Worse and Hotsy Totsy Nagasaki, finds them every bit as brittle, mysterious and magnificent as ever. But, aside from the odd random live appearance, subsequent progress has been intermittent and halting, and (inevitably) fans couldn’t help but fear the worst. Charley, though, is in chipper form. And news is good. The band have regrouped, refocused and, under the supervision of Ben McAuley, are currently working on a host of new material.
We all know that real music hibernates in the summer. Autumn is coming, though, and perhaps an interesting re-birth is about to take place.
Colin Carberry
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