Glasgow PodcART

On a rainy Sunday night in the west, a respectable crowd of open-minded Glaswegians have turned out for Glasgow PodcART’s showcase of musicians hailing from – gasp! – the exotic east. Of Scotland, that is.

Panda Su is a Fife lass who creates an aura of mystery by painting her face to resemble our bamboo-munching chums. Sounding at times like a folkier Suzanne Vega, she plays a succession of endearing and original wee numbers, the highlight of which is ‘Eric Is Dead’, a deliciously slow-building chunk of dark pop.

Panda Su’s improvised instrumentation carries over into the next offering, one-man-band Esperi, whose homemade schtick wears rather thin as a disguise for ropey songs. Using a looper pedal (yup, another one of those) he builds lush, layered and rather twee soundscapes that sound pretty but lack substance and purpose.

Headliners Yahweh come across like a scuzzier, edgier Broken Records, combining strings, electronics and a roaring, vitriolic guitar that occasionally threatens to drown the vocals. The highlight, promisingly, is a new song, full of angsty lyrics and finishing with a beautiful coda on violin and cello.