Edinburgh Psych Fest review: 'an enthralling day out'
There were so many potential highlights spread over various different venues at this year’s Edinburgh Psych Fest, it was almost impossible to navigate all the clashes, writes David Pollock
Edinburgh Psych Fest, various venues, Edinburgh ★★★★
Like a black hole at the heart of the latest edition of Edinburgh Psych Fest sat Angine de Poitrine, the unlikely extraterrestrial-by-way-of-Quebec math rock duo whose weird, big-nosed, two-tone costumes and odd synthesised “speaking” voices have caught the public imagination in a huge way. Their superstar presence was likely what caused the 2,200-capacity Usher Hall to be used by Psych Fest for the first time, because it was rammed full for their set late on Sunday afternoon.
Dressed in black and white polkadots, the anonymous pair (they appear as guitarist Khe and drummer Klek de Poitrine) brought the power-duo sound popularised back in the White Stripes’ day, with loop pedals to multiply the guitar sounds on, for example, the frantic signature riff of Mata Zyklek. As the crowd heaved and moshed enthusiastically to the martial electro-funk of Fabienk and the tense rocker Sherpa, their silliness made a whole lot of sense.
With most of Psych Fest (an annual companion to the weekend’s other such events in Brighton and Manchester) clustered around Summerhall and the Queen’s Hall as usual, with a couple of Cowgate outposts, those who chose to see the biggest artists at the Usher Hall had some near-impossible artist clashes to navigate to catch other potential highlights like Shame, Billy Nomates or Mandy, Indiana.
Yet still, the Usher Hall’s quartet of artists were worth the price alone. The day there began with ex-Pipette turned formidable solo artist Gwenno, and continued with the more conventional Californian singer and guitarist Ty Segall, whose quintet tore through their own wind tunnel rockers like Let Go and Chrome, the almost wistful Play Cowboys and a bluesy, cacophonous finale of Wave Goodbye.
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The headliners, meanwhile – in billing, if not in audience share – were Stereolab, whose blend of French pop and playful psychedelia perfectly fitted the occasion. Their set included the light-hearted Peng! 33, the waltz-timed The Flower Called Nowhere, the trombone-aided anti-fascist epic Melodie is a Wound, and the song of freedom (“not bad freedom; the other sort, the kind that's much harder to get,” according to singer Laetitia Sadier) Immortal Hands, the perfect finale to an exciting, enthralling day out.
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