5 Reasons To Go See

5 Reasons to go see... Eastern Promise

16 Sep 2010

Let’s start off with a name everyone knows from the bill of this inaugural music festival at Easterhouse arts centre Platform. Ex-Arab Strap guitarist Middleton will be appearing alongside follow local hero RM Hubbert, Edinburgh’s Wounded Knee and…

5 reasons to see - Paul McCartney

3 Jun 2010

He hasn’t played Scotland in twenty years. Not since a show at the SECC almost to the day in 1990. Can you believe that? No, nor can we. ‘Scotland holds such a special place for me,’ Sir Macca has stated, ‘I have loads of Scottish mates and so many…

5 Reasons to go and see... Omar Souleyman

29 Apr 2010

1.) He’s Syria’s biggest star In the cassette stalls of Damascus, Omar Souleyman is king, with over 500 releases to his name. He plays around 20 weddings and parties a month and is also popular in parts of Turkey and the Gulf. His biggest hit, the…

5 reasons to go and see - Pontiak

23 Jul 2009

1 They’re a band of brothers The molten rock of Pontiak is forged by a hairy Virginia fraternity: Van (guitar/vocals), Lain (drums) and Jennings (bass) Carney. Their agrarian wig-outs are hence imbued with a profound musical intuition that edifies their…

5 Reasons To Go See - Emiliana Torrini

11 Jun 2009

1 She’s hot and cold Thirty-two-year-old chanteuse Emiliana Torrini is half-Italian, half-Icelandic (her full name is Emiliana Torrini Davidsdottir), so you get the fiery passion of the Mediterranean and the icy cool of the Arctic rolled into one. 2…

5 Reasons To Go See - 1990s

30 Apr 2009

They love numbers more than Carol Vorderman does. They can turn a bus journey into a sociological study. They get their inspiration from unusual sources. They’re fearless rhymers. They’re cosmically minded.

5 Reasons to Go See - Beardyman

2 Apr 2009

1. He’s got a world of music in his mouth Yes, it’s the wonderful world of beatboxing and Beardyman, aka Londoner Darren Foreman, is up there with the very best. It’s not just extraordinary beats the man can reproduce, but also copycat singing voices…

5 Reasons To Go See - Fife Jazz Festival

5 Feb 2009

1 It just got bigger This is the second jazz festival over in the Kingdom, and it has expanded a good deal, with more venues, more musicians and more diverse programming, not to mention the debut of the new Fife Jazz Orchestra (not to be confused with…

Staind & Seether - 5 Reasons to go see

8 Jan 2009

1 It’s a killer double bill It’s great when the support act is as good as the headliner and Staind and Seether are the perfect alternative metal partnership. 2 Metal with heart Staind have their detractors with words like ‘morose’ and ‘depressing…

5 Reasons To Go See - Dean Owens

27 Nov 2008

1 He’s got both kinds of music – country and western An old gag, but not entirely appropriate for Owens, an Edinburgh-based purveyor of finely crafted Americana, who also manages to channel folk, traditional, pop, soul and punk into the mix. 2 The…

Five reasons to go and see: Death Cab For Cutie

13 Nov 2008

1 They toured with Neil Young Which gives Ben Gibbard and his fellow Washington makers of schmoopy, winsome guitar pop a more legit reason than any of the other army of young copyists to continue in his vein. 2 They’ve become a fixture on US TV…

5 Reasons To Go See - Bobo Stenson Trio

16 Oct 2008

1 Bobo is a European jazz great The Swedish pianist stands squarely alongside any of the major names in world jazz that he has worked with over the years, including the likes of Jan Garbarek, Tomasz Stanko and Charles Lloyd. 2 Live performance…

5 Reasons To Go See - Dave Arcari

2 Oct 2008

1 He’s a rockabilly punk trash country delta blues maniac. From Scotland Arcari is a one-man musical whirlwind, thrashing his metal-bodied National acoustic guitar and producing some seriously fucked up gravelly bottleneck blues mojo with gargantuan…

5 Reasons To Go See - Half Man Half Biscuit

18 Sep 2008

1 Gigs by the band are a rarity. Their peccadilloes famously led to them turning down 80s TV show The Tube (and a helicopter ride there) because it clashed with a Tranmere Rovers match. Other means of transport are no more popular – the Renfrew Ferry…

5 Reasons To Go See - Alanis Morissette

14 Aug 2008

She’s massively popular Before we get to any of the juicier reasons for re-igniting your mid-90s fervour for Ms Morissette, let’s lay out the bare statistics of her success. The angry songstress has sold over 55 million albums worldwide, and has scooped…

5 Reasons To Go See - Orkestra del Sol present The Moveable Feast

7 Aug 2008

Their music is famously euphoric. Their riotous live shows are packed with hot brass-driven melodies, 100-mile-an-hour polkas, seductive waltzes, driving percussion and roguish charm. They’ll make you grin from ear to ear on the night, and they’ll put…

5 Reasons to Go See - Jay-Z

17 Jul 2008

He stuck it right up Noel Gallagherafter Noel made some rash remarks about Jay-Z being chosen to headline Glastonbury this year. In retaliation, Jay-Z ran an intro tape mocking Gallagher, then proceeded to lead the huge crowd through a sarcastic version…

5 Reasons To Go See - Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip

3 Jul 2008

They’re unclassifiable - to some they’re outsider pop, to others they’re hip hop played through a punk filter. Then again their recent debut album Angles could easily be called lo-fi electronica mixed with spoken word poetry. Whatever, the end result is…

5 Reasons To Go See - Reggae

19 Jun 2008

It’s hot - Nothing says summer like sweet reggae music. That enviable Caribbean climate seems to emanate from the speakers, giving all a feel-good, lazy day, sunshine quality. It’s just the weather, right? It’s heady - While great for kicking back and…

5 Reasons To Go See - Theo Travis's Double Talk

5 Jun 2008

1 He’s got a sound in his head Double Talk was put together specifically to explore a sound that Theo had in his head, featuring his saxes and flute alongside the brilliant Mike Outram on guitar, Hammond organ wiz Paul Whittaker and ex-Fairground…

5 Reasons To Go See - Bob Mould

22 May 2008

Hüsker Dü - Mould was singer and guitarist with seminal American hardcore outfit Hüsker Dü. Throughout the 80s they released a string of hugely influential records including Zen Arcade and New Day Rising. Their unique blend of thrashy punk, melody and…

5 Reasons To Go See - King Creosote

8 May 2008

1 He’s royalty Kenny Anderson (aka King Creosote) is a local legend responsible, along with his label Fence Records, for a renaissance of Scottish folk, lo-fi, electronica and rock. All done from a bolthole in the East Neuk of Fife. Clever, eh? 2…

5 Reasons To Go See - Willy Vlautin

24 Apr 2008

He’s an amazing singer, songwriter and frontman For the last 14 years, Vlautin has fronted Richmond Fontaine, the alt.country outfit based in Portland, Oregon. Eight finely crafted albums have seen him evoke the ghost of Gram Parsons in telling intimate…

5 Reasons To Go See - Edwyn Collins

10 Apr 2008

The Scottish troubadour’s career has spanned 30 years, during which time he’s been a relentlessly original and innovative artist, redefining pop music first with his band Orange Juice and then as a solo artist of great renown. Three years ago Collins…

5 Reasons To Go See - Billy Joe Shaver

27 Mar 2008

1 He’s the real McCoy (and then some) The son of Texan cotton-pickers and moonshine-runners, BJS arrived in Nashville on the back of a cantaloupe truck after spells as a farmhand, sailor, rodeo bum, and lumber mill worker (he lost two fingers to the…

5 Reasons To Go See - Jean Michel Jarre

13 Mar 2008

He’s an Oxygenius - Sorry, terrible pun to start with. Jarre’s revolutionary album Oxygene changed the face of popular music (trust us, you’d know if you heard it) on its release three whole decades ago. To celebrate the 30-year anniversary, he’s gonna…

5 Reasons To Go See - The Cult

28 Feb 2008

The Cult might have a rather dubious legacy after more than a quarter of a century in the business, but they can lay claim to one of the finest rock’n’roll albums of the last 30 years, namely Electric, every inch of which is riff-drenched, wailing…

6 Reasons To Go See - Instal

14 Feb 2008

This three-day festival of left-field sound has consistently revisited ideas explored by the avant-garde half a century ago. This year Instal focuses particularly on attempted subversions of bog-standard us’n’them gig protocol in a multitude of…

5 Reasons To Go See - British Sea Power

17 Jan 2008

1 Do You Like Rock Music? British Sea Power do, so much so that the Brighton foursome have called their rambunctious third album Do You Like Rock Music? In the case of the album, the answer is undoubtedly ‘yes’. 2 You can wave a flag The band’s new…

5 Reasons To Go See - Nobody

4 Jan 2008

1 Indulge your musical whims indoors instead It’s January, you’re skint, it’s cold outside and there are hardly any decent bands playing at this time of year anyway (the ones worth seeing we’ve told you about elsewhere in the mag). You got some gift…

Big Country - 5 reasons to go see

13 Dec 2007

1 It’s been a long time since they rock’n’rolled In actual fact, it’s been seven years since the band hit a stage, and a full 25 years since the Dunfermline outfit formed from the ashes of The Skids. Based around singer and guitarist Stuart Adamson, the…

5 Reasons To Go See - Ryan Adams

29 Nov 2007

1 He’s Ryan Adams not Bryan Adams One specialises in alt.country/americana of the highest order, switching between heart-wrenching ballads and some of the catchiest rock tunes you’ll ever hear. The latter does not. 2 He’s focussed, man! Ol’ Ryan’s…

5 Reasons To Go See - The Hives

15 Nov 2007

1 ‘Cos every girl crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man’ Sorry for starting with a ZZ Top quote, but it couldn’t be more apt for this impeccably attired Swedish five-piece garage rock behemoth. Every new record comes accompanied by a razor-sharp new look, and…

Hot Chip

23 Aug 2007

Hot Chip will break your legs, snap off your head. At least, that’s what they claim on The Warning, the title track of their magnificent second album. Apparently the London-based electro-pop duo of Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard met at school, where they…

The Barfly’s Fifth Birthday

5 Reasons to go see

23 Apr 2007

1 Sergeant It’s a five-night celebration to celebrate five years of Glasgow’s favourite nationally-franchised rock and indie venue, featuring gigs from Wednesday to Sunday and club nights on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Fife indie-rockers Sergeant kick…

5 Reasons - Yann Tiersen

5 Reasons To Go See

9 Apr 2007

1 He plays the typewriter Chuffing on Gauloises and quaffing glass after glass of fine French wine, the 37-year-old’s live shows involve him hopping around variety of instruments, stopping off occasionally to bash away rhythmically at a typewriter like…

5 Reasons To Go See - The Sugarhill Gang

5 Reasons To Go See

27 Mar 2007

1 ‘I said a hip hop...’ Yep, that’s right. In 1979 the gang recorded ‘Rapper’s Delight’, the first (okay, second; but the first to hit the mainstream charts in America) rap single, and still one of the very best ever.

Willie Nelson

15 Jan 2007

5 REASONS TO GO SEE 1 He’s a country music legend Dozens of albums, a string of hit singles (he wrote ‘Crazy’, the Patsy Clyne one though not the Gnarls Barkley one, sadly), countless awards, half a century of outsider genius. The 73-year-old hippy…

Lenny Henry

15 Jan 2007

5 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT... 1 After winning the New Faces TV show in 1975, 16-year-old Henry went on tour for eight weeks as part of the Black and White Minstrel Show. 2 He was the voice of the speaking clock for two weeks in 2003 in…

Killswitch Engage

3 Jan 2007

5 REASONS TO SEE 1 They’re the illegitimate sons of Slayer They are leaders of the metalcore movement that take the blueprint of thrash as laid down by Slayer, but ramp it up with elements of their hardcore roots. In fact, their rock forefathers…

Aaron Barshak

19 Dec 2006

5 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT... 1 Most famous for donning a peach dress and a Bin Laden beard to gatecrash Prince William’s 21st birthday party and plant a smacker on the future King’s horsey lips, the self-styled Comedy Terrorist has also…

Iron Maiden

6 Dec 2006

5 REASONS TO GO SEE 1. Over 70 million sales Humungous sales are often wrong - just look at Celine Dion - but not in this case. The legendary heavy metal outfit have shifted gargantuan numbers of albums, and are rightly considered the biggest metal…

5 Reasons To Go See - The Horrors

21 Nov 2006

1 They’re horrible The zombie garage goth rock dafties (Faris ‘Rotter’ Badwan, Tomethy Furse, Joshua von Grimm, Coffin Joe and Spider Webb, apparently) hail from Southend, but look and sound as if they’ve just climbed out of some primordial rock’n’roll…

Italian Film Festival

The Italian Film Festival

13 Nov 2006

5 REASONS TO VISIT 1. The return of Nanni Moretti Five years after the Palme d’Or-winning The Son’s Room, Italian actor-writer-director Nanni Moretti returns with the multilayered The Caiman (pictured). Set in contemporary Rome, it’s the study…

Espers

11 Nov 2006

5 REASONS TO SEE 1 It’s folk rock, but not as you know it Actually, it’s folk rock exactly as you know it, if you remember the 70s, that is. Echoes of Fairport Convention, Pentangle and the Incredible String Band can be heard in the noodling…

Five things you might not know about Little Britain

26 Oct 2006

1 After the first transmission of Vic Reeves’ Big Night Out in 1990, Matt Lucas was one of 17 callers to bombard the Channel 4 switchboard to complain about the show. A couple of editions later and he was hooked. All was clearly forgiven when Lucas was…

Art Brut

26 Oct 2006

5 REASONS TO GO SEE 1 They formed a band Formed a band! They formed a band! Look at them! They formed a band! Well, of course they did, but the point is that English art-terrorist punk-popsters also wrote a song about it, called ‘Formed a Band’, in…

Scottish International Storytelling Festival

5 REASONS TO GO TO...

11 Oct 2006

1 It’s not just for the ankle-biters Kids love opening up their imaginations to a well-told story, and adults should indulge that same impulse. The festival’s evening events are suited to majors rather than minors, with a storytelling club each Friday…

Gogol Bordello

10 Oct 2006

5 REASONS TO GO SEE 1 Everyone needs some gypsy punk in their lives and that’s exactly what Gogol Bordello are. Formed in NYC’s Lower East Side at the arse-end of the last millennium, the eight-piece loonfest is made up primarily of Eastern…

Raconteurs, The

The Raconteurs

28 Sep 2006

You get one famous dude That’s right, because the American supergroup features none other than the famous daft clowning buffoon and outrageous singer and guitarist Jack Black... oh, hang on a minute... sorry, what?... oh yeah, our mistake. It’s Jack…