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The lp that will be released by Chemikal Underground Records on September 23rd 2002. The character clown is unmistakable. He usually dresses like a tramp, has a greyish-black, uneven beard painted over a reddish face, a white mouth, red nose and pathetic, soulful eyes. His clothes are too large and frequently tattered and torn, often with strips held together by safety pins. There is an air of hopelessness about him... nothing in his act ever seems to turn out right as he strolls in bewilderment around the sawdust arena.The least famous of all tramp clowns is Malcolm Middleton, who in 2001 conceived and first began to perform the role of Crappo The Clown. As a character, Crappo is an extraordinary clown, a dull and shite comic, highly insensitive to the social and political climate, whose H+M clothing and Duff shoes gained him great popularity as he delighted the kiddies around Glasgow at The Old Fruit Market, 13th Note, Nice 'n' Sleazy's and The Woodside Social Club.
"A forlorn and melancholy little hobo who always got the short end of the stick and never had any good luck at all; but he never lost hope and just kept on trying."
Emmet Kelly Snr
Emmet Kelly Snr
"He has a recognition of right and wrong far above normal capacity, he has good control over reality. However, there is obviously something organically amiss."
Psychologist Abigail Dickson
Psychologist Abigail Dickson
"I am only of sentimental value now"
Emmet Kelly III
Emmet Kelly III
"And if there's anything I can do, I'll do it wrong well."
Crappo The Clown
Crappo The Clown
Malcolm Middleton comprises one half of Scottish misery legends Arab Strap.
During Autumn/Winter 2001 he felt a wee bit down and had to write some songs. He then recorded a 10 track acoustic album which Chemikal Underground later asked him to transform into something more. The result was his debut solo album "5:14 fluoxytine seagull alcohol john nicotine".
With a little help from friends Aidan Moffat (Arab Strap), Jenny Reeve (Eva) and Barry Burns (Mogwai) he has made a record that can easily be described as "good".
To date, Malcolm has made a handful of appearances - all north of the border. Most notable was a recent appearance at the Woodside Social Club, a traditional working men's club, where the audience was gob-smacked by the pithy songs. Furthermore, Malcolm has just completed shows with James Yorkston.
Malcolm will play three shows in August as part of the "One man's home is another man's hell..." tour; the tour takes in just three cities and the bill features Sophia (Robin Proper-Sheppard/Will Foster), Malcolm Middleton and Kristofer Astrom. The dates are:
August
6: London - Water Rats Theatre
7: Glasgow - Barfly
8: Stockholm - Kagelbanan
Malcolm will be touring further towards the end of the year before returning to the studio with Aidan to finish the 5th Arab Strap studio album.
