Fringe Music

Aceh Meukondroe

C Chambers Street

FIVE STARS

Violin Variations

theSpace @ Symposium Hall

FOUR STARS

Phil Nichol’s Cray Cray Cabaret

Assembly Rooms

TWO STARS

Rob Adams

When you’ve survived an event like the tsunami that brought such devastation to Indonesia and whole swathes of South Asia in December 2004, you have every right to sing about the importance of having a strong spirit. The eight members of Aceh Meukondroe toured the refugee camps in the wake of that terrible incident and I don’t doubt that their music provided spiritual therapy, as their promotional literature claims.

Their concert in C Chambers Street is an uplifting celebration of life in the face of tragedy and political turmoil, the reputations of warrior queens with vast fleets and the joy to be found in everyday things such fishermen finding a particularly good catch. The fishermen’s song is an especial treat as their frontman, a real character, leads the quartet of singer-percussionists seated in front of him in a joyous call and response while their superbly fluent guitarist and brilliantly articulate, fabulously mobile bass guitarist fire off intricate lines in a rhythm that’s as reminiscent of Brazil as it is suggestive of Asia.

Their exuberance is infectious, with the percussionists’ beating of the rapa’i – a frame drum cousin of the bodhran and tambourine – providing an insistent groove and occasional solos on the serunai kali (an oboe-like reed instrument) played in cahoots with marvellously propelled bass lines adding to the sense of elation. A translator offers brief explanations of the songs and context but the music, some of which is centuries old, speaks strongly for itself, sung from the heart and shared with natural generosity.

Runs until August 31.

Ian Peaston is the genial host of Violin Variations, in which, through various electronic processes and loops, the violin becomes everything from a drum kit to a light sabre. With Peaston’s stocking-soled feet deftly working a set of pedals, Bjork’s Army of Me first morphs into then becomes a distant, rumbling backing track for Bach’s Allegro assai and Arvo Part’s solemn but lovely Fratres fades into Massive Attack’s Teardrop. Every note you hear is created in situ and while it could easily descend into boffin-like gimmickiness, Peaston maintains a strong human element with soulful conventional violin playing, albeit on a state of the art electric model, and amusing interaction with the audience, one of whom gets to help shape the sound created by means of a device known as an audio cube. If, at times, the mash-ups of unlikely musical bedfellows can afford to be a little bit more dangerous in their execution now that looping’s been around for quite a while, Peaston does take his cue to break out by swinging into a fine Hot Club de France-style take on John Williams’ Cantina Band over Dave Brubeck’s Unsquare Dance in a finale entitled Star Wars Jazz – and much fun it is too.

Runs until August 29.

Phil Nichol’s Cray Cray Cabaret is the classic case of a Fringe show that should play to its strengths, and in this case the strengths are all provided by the house band, Good Company, who are far too good to have come from Nashville to be almost incidental foils-cum support to a procession of comedians who are not as funny as they think they are. Their drummer’s soul ballad and the guitarist’s blues feature would be worth taking some trouble to hear but you have to kiss a lot of frogs to get to these princes.

Runs until August 29.