Ballboy

Retreat IV - Pilrig St Paul’s Church, Edinburgh, Sat 27 & Sun 28 Aug 2011

Glorious fourth appearance from the indie DIY pop fest

1 Sep 2011

All Sunday afternoons should be like the one at this year’s Retreat DIY pop festival: tea in our hands, bacon rolls in our bellies, and eagleowl gently blowing our minds. That was before a toddler joined them onstage and stole our hearts; before the…

Edinburgh's Retreat festival 2011

A fine August ending to Edinburgh’s annual festival hoopla

27 May 2011

It’ll be the fourth year running for the pocket-sized festival, which the organisers describe as ‘an independent micro music festival celebrating Edinburgh’s contribution to the international pop underground.’ And by ‘pop underground’, last year that…

The best Christmas gigs in Edinburgh and Glasgow

Burns, Zombie Nation, Ballboy and Broken Records among Christmas party gig highlights

10 Dec 2010

Stars In Their Eyes special/ Song, By Toad’s Christmas party/ Kid Canaveral’s Christmas Baubles/ Death Disco’s XXXmas Party/ Radio Magnetic’s Winter Rave/ Mungo’s Hi-Fi/ Bill Wells’ Black Christmas In a bygone olden, golden era – circa 1995 BC…

Hidden Door Festival vs Edinburgh Popfest

Two DIY Edinburgh music festivals in one weekend

22 Oct 2010

Two DIY capital music festivals on the same weekend – sod’s law, eh? While Edinburgh Popfest shuffles to the literate, wistful sounds of an international indie-pop line-up at the Wee Red Bar, The GRV and The Lot in its debut year, the Hidden Door…

King Creosote and Ballboy set for Charity Baw II

7 Jul 2010

After welcoming acts like Vashti Bunyan, Aberfeldy and Meursault last year, (meanwhile raising thousands of pounds for charity) the ‘Baw’ is back with an even bigger line-up. Acoustic folkster King Creosote will be headlining the ‘main stage’, giving…

Labels of Love: SL Records

3 Feb 2010

A treasured Edinburgh DIY imprint, SL Records has propagated local and global anti-folk, alt-rock and indie-pop since 1997. With ballboy, Misty’s Big Adventure and Saint Jude’s Infirmary among its dexterous alumni, SL’s current roster spans Withered…

Paul Vickers & The Leg - Itchy Grumble

1 Feb 2010

(SL Records) A sophomore album project for ex-Dawn of the Replicants frontman Paul Vickers and former Khaya/Desc buddies Dan Mutch, Pete Harvey and Alun Thomas; the latter part of the Leg alumni also a former ballboy and St Jude’s Infirmary…

Various Artists - Alternative Christmas

6 Jan 2010

(Avalanche Records) Anticipating the annual landslide of pap music that descends round about Jesus’ birthday, and inspired by the Saddle Creek Christmas album, Avalanche Records commissioned a non-rubbish collection of Christmas songs, with no child…

ballboy

17 Dec 2009

Back as a full band for their latest album, I Worked on the Ships (ballboy’s 2003 melancholy masterpiece The Sash My Father Wore was virtually a solo album from frontman Gordon McIntyre) expect insightful, sharp yet beautiful and fragile indie at this…

Money Can't Buy Music - The Universe For Beginners

Sweet and poignant

21 Aug 2009

(Pony Proof) Annoyingly precious band name aside, this is a sweet and poignant little side project from Gordon McIntyre of Ballboy, this time collaborating with Swedish singer and multi-instrumentalist Maja Mangard. There’s no great departure from…

Scotland The Great - Alternative Anthems

22 Jan 2009

For a country with such a fine musical heritage and tons of songwriting talent, Scotland has piss-poor candidates for a national anthem. ‘Flower of Scotland’, ‘Scotland the Brave’ and ‘Highland Cathedral’? Really? Even worse, a poll to find an…