Shiggajon @ 13th Note

Ben put on another gig last night. Saw a band called Shiggajon, from Denmark, who were incredible! They "combine lucid string drones with ritualistic atmospheres and a wild free jazz stance" according to Volcanic Tongue (record shop in Glasgow), and that's pretty much right.

They added Ben and Hannah and Greg (Helhesten) to their number and began with a raucous cacophony of the aforementioned free jazz, crazy-loud and wild, wailing, banging of gongs, a tenor sax, everything. Everyone was pummelling the nearest instrument, dancing about, hair flowing all over the place, with the sax player, staring straight ahead, perfectly still in the middle of it all. The fact that these guys, with their hollow cheeks, wild stares and mops of blonde hair look like a religious cult just adds to the atmosphere.

It slowly simmered down to a drone, brilliantly sustained, a real solid, full sound, encompassing the whole room in its atmosphere, as if it were reaching out and pulling you in physically, grabbing you and ushering you towards it. Every now and again it was supplemented with tinkling bells and little fills of clarinet, that wafted up like smoke from the centre of a ritual in the middle of the night in an Arctic forest. It went on for ages, like they were calling something up or trying to time travel or disappear or something! with a few yelps from Ben.

It slowly, slowly petered dDwn to nothing. Literally nothing, all the instruments stopped. We all clapped, thinking it was the end. Then slowly it started back up, through the tinkly bells and an Arab-horn type thing that sounded like a call to prayer, to an amazing, timpani-drum-style-led crescendo, which was Arab-sounding and mysterious, propulsive and crazed, then a thundering beat when everyone went crazy again.