I Am Kloot’s tour and a Mercury many years too late

It’s always refreshing to see, in between the polished shapes of the puzzle that is the music industry, some pieces that quite don’t fit. I Am Kloot is one of those weird-shaped pieces. Too old for teen rebellion, too rebellious for settled life, too settled to be hype, and yet nominated Band of The Year in the Mercury Prize. The crowd of old timers hardcore followers, and they are not a few, received the news with cynicism. For them, after 10 years and 5 albums, I Am Kloot is well above the Mercury.
They might not be “big”, but I Am Kloot have forged a successful and sustainable career at a cult level. Singer/guitarist John Bramwell has been compared to Morrissey and for many critics, fans and musicians, notably Peter Doherty and Elbow’s Guy Garvey between them, he is one of the country’s greatest songwriters. But the band remains relatively unknown thanks to Kloot’s succession of disasters that saw they go though seven managers and five record labels in one decade, leaving a trail of unreleased singles and undersold albums.
The Mercury Prize nomination, together with the fact that Sky at Night, their fifth album, is their most accessible to date, will take the band to a new larger audience. There is no compromising, however. I Am Kloot’s rich musical palette is still pretty much there and their personalities remain with the same explosive components. If Bramwell and co ever get to the mainstream, it will be in their own terms.
I Am Kloot’s UK tour dates: Portsmouth, (Sep 26), Brighton (27 Sep), Bristol (28 Sep), London (29 Sep), Newcastle (Oct 01), Glasgow (Oct 02), Liverpool (Oct 03), Nottingham (Oct 05), Sheffield (Oct 06). The winner of the 2010 Barclaycard Mercury Prize will be announced on September 07.

What was regarded as an unlikely partnership, back in 2006, has now proven to be a heavenly marriage. Scot Isobel Campbell, the ex Belle & Sebastian chamber pop muse, and Mark Lanegan, former lead singer of the grunge band Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age collaborator, are releasing this summer their third and most anticipated work to date, Hawk, also featuring the young singer-songwriter Willy Mason and Smashing Pumpkins’ guitarist James Iha.

