BMX Bandits

Polar Bear, The Vaselines and Alasdair Roberts set for Doune the Rabbit Hole

Music festival in leafy grounds of a Perthshire country house

30 May 2011

Situated in the leafy grounds of a Perthshire country house, Doune The Rabbit Hole is a magical, family-friendly affair, inspired by Lewis Carroll and the early free festivals. Ursine jazzers Polar Bear headline on Friday, with The Vaselines and the…

Brian Reynolds' Glasgow Music and Film Festival highlights

Music programmer for The Arches picks out the music events highlights

16 Feb 2011

‘As someone with indie Glasgow sensibilities, Mondo Morricone ’s the event I’m most excited about. I first saw it ten years ago at Stirling’s Cowane Centre as a penniless student. Eugene Kelly and Isobel Campbell played with Duglas [T Stewart, of BMX…

A Splash One Happening resurrects influential Glasgow indie club

How cult Glasgow indie club Splash One hosted Sonic Youth, Primal Scream and Wire

6 Oct 2010

Track back over the last decade or so, and the Scottish clubs which have truly captured their times are still familiar names to most: Optimo, Manga, Pure, etc. Yet head back two and a half decades, and the scene is like a foreign country. Still, anyone…

Motherwell Music Festival

6 Aug 2009

The streets of Motherwell (well Motherwell Concert Hall) ring with the sound of music with a series of live gigs through August. Taking in a variety of styles from folk and jazz to rock and indie including Donnie Munro, Martin Taylor, BMX Bandits…

Stag & Dagger

14 May 2009

Even as some of Scotland’s smaller festivals-in-a-field take a sabbatical or call it a day in the current financial climate, new city events like Hinterland and now Stag & Dagger are enjoying their debuts this year. Could the way of the future for fans…

Shoeshine Showcase

8 Jan 2009

CELTIC CONNECTIONS The Shoeshine imprint isn’t so much a label (although it’s that too) as it is a catch-all umbrella term for any venture which Francis Macdonald has a hand in. The Glasgow-based musician, producer, manager and musical entrepreneur’s…

Sounds of the Suburbs

1 Dec 2008

Arab Strap Known for the dry wit of lustrously bearded singer (or mumbler) Aidan Moffat and the incessantly depressing tone of their music, they are from a small town called Falkirk, midway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. It’s famous for the Falkirk…

Music Like A Vitamin: Vitamin A

23 Oct 2008

Praise should be heaped on Idlewild’s Rod Jones, the man behind Music Like a Vitamin, for organising the double-header of concerts on behalf of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. Thursday’s show, Vitamin A, compered by the…

BMX Bandits

15 Nov 2007

INDIE Bee Stings (Poppydisc) Fifteen albums on, these indie legends show no sign of resting on their laurels, and Bee Stings is proof that all this frolicking in pastures new has paid off. From catchy opener ‘Take Me to Heaven’ to the captivating…