Ensemble Economique and Purple Pilgrims to play at the CCA

Experimental pop set to perform in Glasgow on Friday 3rd August

Following their 100% Silk label showcase in June, promoters’ Cry Parrot are now bringing Brian Pyle, aka Ensemble Economique from sister label Not Not Fun (also based in LA), to Glasgow to perform an intimate CCA gig alongside female duo Purple Pilgrims.

Both acts’ back catalogues reveal a shared leaning towards sounds both eerie and unsettling; US-based experimental artist Pyle’s dark, atmospheric output draws acknowledged inspiration from such legendary soundtrack pioneers as John Carpenter, Ennio Morricone and Claudio Simonetti, while sisters Clementine and Valentine Nixon’s productions blend distorted guitar ambience with ethereal vocals to edgy, anxious effect.

Originally a member of uncompromising improv act Starving Weirdos, Pyle has long been a musician keen to open up new doors and exciting possibilities by collaborating with various artists on the contemporary music scene. While his early work as Ensemble Economique largely concentrated on deep, meditative stretches, more recent recordings under this solo moniker have dug deeper into nuanced, cinematic and ritualistic passages of sound. Songs play out like scenes from a film blending into one another; his use of muted drum machines, synthesizers and effect pedals adds a throwback feel that makes his material seem both ambiguous but strangely familiar.

The formerly New Zealand, now Hong Kong-based Purple Pilgrims released their debut album on the antipodean psych label Pseudo Arcana last year. Described as ‘super-fuzzy psychedelic outsider dream pop’, their vocals are only tantalisingly apparent on effect-laden songs filled with his, feedback and rumble; performed through a single, tiny amp their sound feels mysterious and distant.

CCA, Glasgow, Fri 3 Aug.