Preview: Lau @ The Kazimier, Liverpool

Lau are the best band in the world. Well, they are according to Channel 4, and who am I to disagree with them?

The band consists of Kris Drever (guitar/vocals), Aidan O'Rourke (fiddle) and Martin Green (accordion); all accomplished and respected musicians in their own right, much in demand by the leading lights of the British folk scene. However, there is an alchemy at play when they join forces which has seen them crowned 'best band' at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards for the last three years.

Their sound certainly does have the veneer of folkiness that you would expect from the guitar/fiddle/accordion troika, but the mostly instrumental sound they muster goes far beyond their sum parts – listen to 'Temple of Fiddles' from their Arc Light album and you'll hear a dissonance and drone more akin to the apocalyptic rumpus of Godspeed you Black Emperor than a hazy knees-up in a Caledonian hostelry. The pedal steel on 'Horizontigo' from the same album lends the track more of a Nashville than Forfar feel.

One of folk's most idiosyncratic acts returns to Liverpool on March 11th this year to play at one of the city's most idiosyncratic venues, namely The Kazimier. Nestling comfortably, but virtually anonymously in the middle of the city in Wolstenholme Square, The Kazimier is a marvellous venue, with plenty of nooks and crannies to occupy over two levels. Support for the show comes from local folk luminary Dave Owen.

Words: John Bond

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