An evening with Chemikal Underground Records

Chemikal Underground, the venerable Glasgow label which brought us Mogwai, Arab Strap, The Delgados and many others, will celebrate its 15th birthday in January with a show in Glasgow as part of the Celtic Connections festival. That seems like ages off though (not even this decade!) so thankfully Aberdeen's Interesting Music Promotions took the opportunity to stage An Evening With Chemikal Underground starring several of the label's luminaries as well as young(ish) upstarts The Phantom Band.

Having arrived in time to only catch the last three songs of ex-De Rosa man Martin John Henry's set it would churlish to make much of a judgment on how he is faring as a solo artist. All that I can say is that the three songs this writer saw had a cathartic edge to them, with his guitar nicely complimented by some programmed beats.

Originally scheduled to be backed by his rotating cast of a band The Best Ofs, Aidan Moffat was armed with an array of instruments (which he claimed he was playing for the first time in front of anyone other than his wife and child) and a sense of humour that at times bordered on stand-up comedian.

His playing of (what I think was) an auto-harp on his ode-to-ogling 'Oh Men!' was spare compared to the clattering strum-along of the recorded version, but this only served to put his excellent lyrics in the spotlight. Moffat displayed a deft way with a comedic pause after lines like the oh so true "Face it boys we're just not fussy", which was met laughter all round. Two new songs in also elicited laughter aplenty from the audience: one about This Morning began with the line "I don't consider myself to be good looking" only for Moffat to implore the audience to interrupt to contradict him, while another newie referencing psychics like Derek Acorah and Uri Geller had the rapturously received line "I wish death to all you cunts!"

Perhaps due to his inability to actually play songs from it, the only other songs from How To Get To Heaven From Scotland were 'That's Just Love', played on a three stringed beginner's banjo, and the tenderly atmospheric 'Lullaby For Unborn Child' performed with some kind of bellows instrument. There were two tracks from his spoken word poetry album I Can Hear Your Heart: 'Double Justice' was rendered more hilarious by Moffat suggesting that the other male in the Ménage à trois was Arab Strap bandmate Malcolm Middleton, although the 'The Boy That You Love' paled in comparison to the lushness of the recorded version. There was even an ambitious vocal-sample based 'cover version' of Arab Strap's 'Blood' and an oddly moving cover of Cyndi Lauper's 'Money Changes Everything'. Regardless of the fact Moffat may have been stretching himself in terms of material, he was never anything less than a captivating entertainer, and showed how far a little personality can go in the absence of musical ability. Unfortunately his set-closing recital of his F.Scott-Fitzgerald-meets-British-secondary-school poem entitled 'The Lavender Blue Dress' was ruined by some inconsiderately chatty members of the audience.

Unfortunately, this happened again during the acoustic section of Emma Pollock's set, which featured a guitar and piano rendition of 'Limbs' and sublime solo performance of new song 'The Child In Me': a rather lovely song rather ruined by a minority of idiots. Thankfully most of the set was performed with a full band setup; there was no chance of anyone being heard over the aggressive melodic restlessness of new song 'I Would Be a Saint', or 'Adrenaline' from debut album Watch the Fireworks. 'Paper and Glue' stood out as the most immediate and straightforward song in the entire set, with its breezily bitter-sweet melody strangely reminiscent of Natalie Imbruglia's 'Shiver', but since Pollock was in the Delgados we don't need to feel guilty about liking it. At her best Pollock was pleasantly melodic with a slightly sinister undercurrent, which was most apparent on the staccato thump of 'If Silence Means That Much To You' and set closer 'The Optimist'. Another highlight was new track 'Hug the Harbour', which bodes well for her new album due out early in the new year.

Having released their debut album way back in January, seeing The Phantom Band live is a welcome reminder that Checkmate Savage is in fact one of the finest British debuts of 2009, and one which they translate convincingly to the live environment. Opener 'Throwing Bones' was astounding in the way its motorik kraut-rock beat, and dense layers of folk-rock guitar and swirling synth broke down mid-song only to be rebuilt by way of barbershop quartet vocals. This one song alone was indicative of the rich eclectic seam the Glasgow six-piece mine to startling effect. The clattering drums and Tom Waits-style wooden percussion of 'Burial Sounds' were faithfully recreated live, while thw chorus of sonorous "woahs' took on an almost intimidating ritualistic feel with four members of the group cloaked in golden hooded gowns.

'Folk Song Oblivion' was particularly raw live, yet alternated seamlessly between its passages of brooding vocal incantations and ragged folk-rock guitars (no chance of any lingering chatters being heard this time), and the mellifluous descending guitar figure of the chorus. It's very much to The Phantom Band's credit that they manage to sound so visceral without sacrificing the numerous idiosyncrasies that make Checkmate Savage such a satisfying listen.

The main highlight perhaps was 'Island', it's gorgeous hymn-like quality resembling a cross between Fleet Foxes and (The Phantom Band's soon-to-be tourmates) Frightened Rabbit. Mercifully a drop in volume for it's relatively stripped-down sound didn't suffer from too much chatter. While it may be The Phantom Band's most straightforward song, it is also provided their most effecting moment. It was, in a word, transcendental.

Following on from this the throbbing bass and spectral atmospherics of 'The Howling' and 'Left Hand Wave' (earlier requests for which were cheekily met with a literal left hand wave) saw the band regain their momentum; the ragged guitars and brilliantly lupine backing vocals of the former song in particular sounded positively feral. So it was quite appropriate that the Phantom Band finished with an encore of 'Halfhound', a song that evidences many of their superior traits in it's folk/kraut-rock mix, choral backing vocals, indelible hooks, while its title alone sums up the thrilling balance they strike between the visceral and cerebral, both on record and, as they proved tonight, on the stage.

While Chemikal Underground veterans Aidan Moffat and Emma Pollock were on excellent form tonight, it was The Phantom Band who pointed to the label's bright future.