JAMIE STEWART has spent 2017 showing how skilled he is at multi-tasking, having toured the most recent Xiu Xiu album ‘Forever’, piled on the sonic pressure with Lawrence English as HEXA and having paid final homage to The Music Of Twin Peaks. 2018 sees that all change with Jamie committing to some rare solo performances. The format is simple: Jamie, electric guitar and voice, reducing the Xiu Xiu songs you know and love down to their most fragile husk state. As the principle songwriter, musician and vocalist behind avant-pop legends Xiu Xiu, Jamie Stewart is very much one of UTR’s favourite artists. Jamie draws heavily from wildly disparate sources – cacophonous noise, gamelan, folk and the lush hooks of 80s UK post-punk, to name a few – while his tortured lyrics and anguished delivery consistently deal with the morose, suspected and the taboo. Expect new material, unusual covers and favourite tracks from the Xiu Xiu back catalogue, making for a truly memorable experience.

www.xiuxiu.org

ERIC CHENAUX is an adventurous guitarist, singer and composer based in Paris. Having been an active player in Toronto experimental music circles with a host of group and collaborative works, Chenaux has more recently amassed a body of solo work across five albums on the Constellation label, centering around his dextrous, fried guitar playing as juxtaposed with a gorgeously lyrical vocal style. An ingenious recombinant use of traditional folk, psychedelic pop and consort music in earlier albums has over time evolved into a wholly uncategorisable form of balladry, shot through with a singular vernacular of guitar improvisation.

http://cstrecords.com/eric-chenaux/

8.30pm Eric Chenaux
9.45pm Jamie Stewart