Xylouris White bring together two masters of contemporary music: Jim White, a founder of the internationally acclaimed trio Dirty Three’, and Giorgos Xylouris (Psaragiorgis) a master of the lute in his homeland of Crete.
With a distant and shallow perspective, this collaborative effort between Xylouris and White should sound like a cultural fender-bender, but alas, they perform on the outer crests of their individual comfort zones, surpassing geographical boundaries to create a wonderful pastiche of rhythmic splendor.
White’s post-punk influences shine through, pitting against the boundary pushing Xylouris, who, using the lute as a lead instrument creates a raw and esoteric style that challenges the bog-standard musical expectations, never being afraid to break the rules.
White’s multi-faceted style, haphazardly switching from drumsticks to mallets throughout the set, makes for the perfect mix of savagery and finesse.
Very little is said between songs as they are segued into a long magnanimous live jam, this is further evidenced by the subtle eye contact between White and Xylouris, almost as if there is an element of telepathy switching between them.
‘Suburb’ is a virtuoso performance, with the lute switching between percussive strumming patterns and harmonic arpeggios, simultaneously meshing with traditional percussion accents, which are further fuelled by White’s dynamics.
On ‘Pulling the Bricks’ each musical embellishment is a stratagem to trick the crowd, Xylouris bending over his lute, creating emotive bouts of fast tremolo picking, this is complemented by White’s minimalistic cymbal patterns, which build and falter, creating a mixture of suspense and ethereal calmness.
This happens periodically throughout the set, building tension with the use of crescendos, only to detonate a monstrous roar with White owning the kit, executing multiple fills and sporadic drum solos.
They have reinvented the cultural wheel and due to their great musicianship, it just works, it is a rewarding spectacle.
Words: Derek Robertson
Photos: Bill Gray
