MAYER WAKEFIELD has reservations about the direction of a play centered on a DVLA re-training session for three British-Pakistani motorists
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‘Songs always boss you around’
Indie hero KRISTIN HERSH talks to Susan Darlington about her new album's musical demands
KRISTIN HERSH
New releases from Steve Knightley, Jupiter & Okwess, Jason Palmer, Lisa Knapp and Gerry Driver, Kin'Gongolo Kiniata, Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey, Dan Sealey, Simin Tande, PAZ
JOHN GREEN relishes photography that unfolds a longstanding and poetic relationship with Leeds
A uncomfortably misogynistic authorial voice that sometimes seems to lack insight troubles FIONA O’CONNOR
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a production that panders – if inadvertently – to Western prejudice against China
JOHN GREEN is fascinated by a history that excavates the enormous role played by agricultural workers in recent times
ALEX HALL recommends a book that places empirical evidence at the heart of understanding racism
IT'S not the most propitious start to her short British tour, but Kristin Hersh appears sanguine. “These things happen,” she responds, when asked about the airline losing the Gretsch guitar of former Throwing Muses bassist and current support act Fred Abong. “Often!”
The US alt-rock and folk musician, who also performs in power trio 50FootWave, is in the country to perform at Robert Smith's Meltdown Festival. “A lovely man,” she enthuses. “All love, no stress. What a great way to be a person!”
She’s no stranger to the musician-curated festival, having played at Patti Smith’s in 2005. Despite the show’s prestige, to her it’s just like playing any other. “I do the same thing every time I play, whether it’s in a garage, a rock club, a hotel bathroom, a theatre or a festival. Music is focus. If anyone listens, it’s communication, but that can’t happen without focus.”
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