Beth's Trailer Park Triumph

4:27 PM GMT 31/03/2009

1996. Oasis at Knebworth. Danny Boyle's Trainspotting versus Braveheart's unlikely fistful of Oscars. And Underworld's Born Slippy all over the dancefloor. Into this post-Britpop, post-dance landscape Beth Orton released Trailer Park, an album that stood decidedly apart from prevailing trends.

Initially an album that sold by word of mouth as much as through critical acclaim, Trailer Park propelled Orton to two Brit award nominations within 12 months, earning her a platinum disc along the way, and providing her with a platform upon which she has continued to build.

Thirteen years on and Trailer Park has just been reissued in an expanded, two-disc Legacy edition, and to celebrate Orton played an exclusive MOJO Club show on Sunday (March 29) at the Slaughtered Lamb in Clerkenwell. It was a deliberate reminder of the intimate residency she played at the Crown And Two Chairmen pub in Soho in the run-up to Trailer Park's original release.

The gig itself sold out almost instantly after being announced exclusively on this website and provided a lucky 90 ticket holders with the opportunity to see Beth perform a set that was culled exclusively from her '96 landmark.

"It seemed like a good idea when we were talking about this, but now I'm here I'm bricking it!" Beth told MOJO before taking to the stage with longstanding guitarist and songwriting partner Ted Barnes for a good-humoured set.

Opening up for Beth was Nashville songstress Cortney Tidwell, herself a huge Orton fan, who watched her heroine perform with misty-eyed wonderment.

The evening confirmed Orton as one of the most singular voices to emerge in British music over the last two decades, the likes of Sugar Boy, Galaxy Of Emptiness and Ronettes cover I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine having lost none of their poignancy. Much of Trailer Park was written in response to Orton's loss, at age 19, of her mother, and it's the reverberations from that traumatic event that keep these songs alive, 13 years on.

A full report of this show will appear in the next issue of MOJO magazine, and look out for an exclusive interview with Beth here on MOJO4music.com. In the meantime visit www.bethorton.co.uk for more on the Trailer Park Deluxe Edition and watch She Cries Your Name here.

Clive Prior

Photos courtesy of Simon Fernandez

Posted by Ross_Bennett at 4:27 PM GMT 31/03/2009

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