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Previews: Beth Nielsen Chapman, Supergrass, Urban Oasis
by Sarah Warden and Conrad Astley4/ 8/2005
MOST new musical stars nowadays are so hyped before they even
release a song that we know more about them than about their
music.
Not so Beth Neilsen Chapman.
A straw poll reveals few people recognise the name, but it's
impossible to have been an earth-dweller for the last few years and
not to have heard some of her musical creations.
As well as having written songs and melodies for artists such as
Neil Diamond, Willie Nelson and Bette Midler, her compositions have
featured in ER, Dawson's Creek and films such as Calendar
Girls.
This songwriting success has clearly relieved the pressure to seek
commercial acclaim as a performer, and Chapman clearly makes
whatever music she wants to - the latest offering being a
collection of Latin Hymns.
Since her first in 1980, Chapman has released several albums of her
own work but she didn't really become famous, even in her native
America, until 1997 when Elton John performed her track Sand and
Water to express his grief about the death of Princess Diana.
Brought up as an all-American air force brat, Chapman is a widow,
whose husband Ernest died of lymphoma in 1994, and much of her work
deals with grief and loss.
Some of it's a bit miserable, but her show has had great responses
elsewhere. And it's a great departure in the image-obsessed music
world to think that it's still possible for somebody to be really
famous without anyone knowing what they look like, so she's
probably worth seeing.
Academy,
Wednesday.
AN ORIGINAL way of getting around the city centre ban on street
drinking is available in the Northern Quarter.
The area is hosting an art installation which claims to bring the
tranquility of nature into the city - and fortunately also involves
drinking beer.
Fresh from being displayed in London, the Hoegaarden Urban Oasis
has now been put in place in Dale Street.
The installation is designed to look like a pub growing out of a
turf carpet. The bar will be completely covered in grass, while
tables and chairs will appear to be at various different stages of
growth.
Keep of the grass signs will be placed around the installation, and
a jukebox will be belting out the soothing sounds of nature instead
of Britney Spears.
The idea is the brain-child of The Office of Subversive
Architecture, whose previous projects have included making a
redundant signal box look like a suburban home, and who say their
installation "challenges the relationship between urban and natural
environments and looks at the effect this manipulation of space has
on city dweller.
They go on to say it is "a physical and mental oasis for urbanites
to step into, interact with and unwind from city life."
The good news is, as it has all been sponsored by the makers of
Hoegaarden, large quantities of the Belgian wheat beer will be on
hand to accompany the obligatory chin-stroking.
until
Wednesday.
MANCHESTER'S arch muso headquarters seems an unlikely place for
the former britpop kings to premier their new work.
However, Supergrass have moved on a long way from singing about
having fags and putting them out.
The trio are embarking on a tour of smaller, more intimate venues
to introduce the world to their fifth album The Road to Rouen.
Singer Gaz Coombes admits the plan, to play acoustic versions of
the songs and show a more musical side, is something they have
never tried before.
The band are better known for electric live performances, leaping
manically about festival stages as they belt out a series of
ludicrously catchy three-chord wonders.
But although the band have said the new album will have a "funkier"
sound than previous releases, the sneak preview we've already
heard, piano ballad St Petersburg, does suggest a - gulp - more
mature direction. This may not be a bad thing. While Oasis continue
to plough a familiar-sounding furrow, Blur and Pulp have ensured
their survival by morphing into something completely unrecognisable
from their chirpy mid-90s selves. With songs like Moving,
Supergrass have already proved they have more about them than many
first assumed. And you don't really want a bunch of 30-somethings
singing about teenage drug busts and keeping their teeth nice and
clean.
RNCM Monday.
A CHANCE to see new work by emerging artists is on offer at the
Royal Exchange.
The third annual Blue includes extracts from emerging artists'
latest projects, including new writing, puppetry and poetry.
Friday's performance includes a dark adult version of Three Little
Pigs and puppetry work from HooHah Productions. Saturday will see
two rehearsed readings of new work in progress from Sandra Yaw and
Pam Leeson, and Latin compositions from Cucumba Rumba.
For more information visit
www.royalexchange.co.uk
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