PREVIEWS
MUSIC
ANDY BELL SPACE STATION @ POP RECS LTD.
Words: Michael O’Neill Where do you start with a musician with as unique a track record as Andy Bell’s? Here’s a brief overview: in the early 90s he co-helmed Ride, one of the almighty titans of shoegaze, whose essential LPs Nowhere and Going Blank
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Again perfectly melded sugar-coated melodies and jaw-droppingly innovative sonics, and (much like contemporaries My Bloody Valentine and Lush) pushed the boundaries of possibility for guitar music. When Ride grounded to a halt, he then jumped ship to play bass in a Mancunian outfit you may be familiar with (clue: the one with the brothers). With all this stadium-ready cacophony in mind, it’s safe to say that Andy Bell Space Station is an altogether different proposition. Inspired by a lockdown residency performing lo-fi solo sets (fittingly, at a coffee shop with the same name), Space Station finds Andy taking the backing tracks from his various musical worlds,
deconstructing them and using the power of improvisation to take them to bold new frontiers. He likens the experience to being somewhat like a “DJ set with live guitar”, and in the phenomenal new iteration of Sunderland’s almighty Pop Recs Ltd., his gig on Thursday 3rd March going to be one hell of a unique experience. Support on the night comes from fast-rising young indie rock artist Tom A Smith. Andy Bell Space Station and Tom A Smith play Pop Recs Ltd., Sunderland on Thursday 3rd March. www.andybell.bandcamp.com
