Sunday 3 October 2021, 7.30pm
Pleased to welcome Dan Haywood and his band to Oto for a performance of 'Country Dustbin', his singular new album, out soon on our Takuroku digital label.
Dan Haywood's practice exists in the liminal space between folk, pop and outer-musics. Indebted to troubadour cultures as much as natural history, psychogeography and centuries of British poetry and prose, his work takes singer-songwriter culture to the edge of the cliff, tip-toeing off the precipice, occasionally flying freely over uncharted territory.
For this new one-track album Dan uses the aesthetic language of American music (the cyclical dirge of blues and rock'n'roll, the organ funk of r'n'b, the rhythmic syntax of hip-hop) and folds them into a subjective template for his 'Country Dustbin': a song that attempts to come to terms with the clutter of a life in the 20th & 21st century. He utilises the Country Dustbin, in his own words, as “a bottomless pit when you need to dispose of a traumatic episode, a confession booth, a time capsule… an alembic to distil experience, a torch to illuminate a mystery, an arena for a reckoning.”
From Los Angeles to Peckham, from Armenia to Perry Barr, switching between autobiographical scenes and stolen observations of the lives of British people, Haywood conjures poetry that walks a tightrope across the joyful, the sad, the wondrous, the banal. Unburdened by dogmatism or linearity, there are glints of Ted Hughes, J.H. Prynne, Robert Burton and Bob Dylan, whipping his observations to allegorical and metaphysical heights. Each syllable is wedded to the band’s hypnotic beat as organic sounds unfurl throughout the 53-minute duration of the piece.
Following a slew of ambitious projects, beginning in public with his star-gazing New Hawks triple LP in 2010, and more recently a series from his high gain outfit Pill Fangs, 'Country Dustbin' finds an uncompromising artist playfully pushing songcraft to new places.
“Defies categorisation… surreal, menacing… precious” Wire
“Very far out” David Berman
With his cliché-busting compositions covered by his peers and admired by the late great David Berman, Dan Haywood is a true songwriter’s songwriter. His freewheeling guitar and vocal sets can draw on 25 years of engrossing craft and wild inspiration, with selections from his breakthrough cosmic-folk triple album ‘Dan Haywood’s New Hawks’, to his most recent Wire-endorsed ‘Country Dustbin’ on Café Oto’s Otoroku-- and anything in between, including his punky parallel career leading Pill Fangs.
Described by Record Collector magazine as ‘the greatest songwriter you’ve probably never heard of’, this is a great chance to catch the sometimes-reclusive singer at the top of his game.
A global jazz experience - from Cuban Descargas to Afro Asian explorations, this trio play a mixture of global traditions that inspire them to create new musical connections, giving London its new accent.
Kishon Khan is a pianist, composer, arranger and producer, born in Bangladesh, but brought up in London. He was classically trained from the age of 4, and turned to jazz in his teens. Since then, he has established himself as a formidable bandleader, as well as one of London’s in-demand session pianists. He is part of a community of critically acclaimed musicians, focused on playing different traditional styles authentically, but also making a name for himself as an innovative composer and arranger. His versatility is reflected in the vast array of artists he has collaborated with, from across the genres, including legends from across the globe.
Championed by John Renbourn and Odetta at the beginning of her career and subsequently supported by both Jane Weaver and Andy Votel who released her first two records (Minor White and Relic) critically acclaimed songwriter/guitarist Emma Tricca's unique style has often been compared to a cross between the 60's Greenwich Village artists, Nico and Patti Smith.
In her latest work, Aspirin Sun - her first for the label Bella Union, Emma teamed up once again with Jason Victor (The Dream Syndicate) and Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) forming a band that echoes 70’s folk-rock with a certain psychedelic allure yet again with a completely distinctive sound.
She toured extensively with the likes of Jane Weaver, Nick Mason (Saucerful of Secrets band), and Robyn Hitchcock, to mention a few.
