Indie

The View - O2 ABC, Glasgow, Mon 19 Dec

Raucous, lager-soaked rock'n'roll show

6 Jan 2012

Being partial to the occasional shandy, it pained The List to witness the mass lager sacrifice that occurred at the ABC this night – nary a punter was spared a shower of the gods’ amber nectar as high-spirited young souls sent pint after pint looping…

Ever been to a silent disco with a Chinese dragon?

25 Oct 2011

Ever explored a museum at night? Ever had a cocktail surrounded by thousands of years of history? Ever been to a silent disco with a Chinese dragon? Thanks to the support of RBS and The List, the National Museum of Scotland is bringing you an exclusive…

Bon Iver set for 2011 UK tour

The collaboration-friendly indie-folk icon is still strongest on his own two feet

21 Oct 2011

‘Profit, profit, nigga I got it, everybody know I’m a motherfucking monster.’ Of all that Justin ‘Bon Iver’ Vernon might have done next following the huge critical acclaim and popular devotion for his exquisite 2008 debut album For Emma, Forever Ago…

The Stone Roses reform to play dates at Manchester's Heaton Park in summer 2012

19 Oct 2011

As you’ve no doubt heard, yet another cornerstone of the British music establishment has chosen to dust off its bucket hat and have it large with a reunion tour. This is no ordinary by-the-numbers reformation, though. This is The Stone Roses. Capable…

Cabaret Voltaire venue launches Cab Vol Stars clubnight

New club helmed by Cab Vol employees from bar staff to cleaners

29 Jun 2011

Residents A rolling selection of Cabaret Voltaire employees from bar staff to cleaners Guests It will be a different line-up every month but as an example Prof, Dimi and Cunnie host this July date Music policy It really is a mixed bag, from…

Twin Atlantic - Free

Glasgow's indie-punk-rock upstarts continue their ascent with accomplished second album

25 Apr 2011

(Red Bull) With Biffy Clyro now zapped up into mainstream consciousness in a sort of twisted alien abduction, there’s a vacuous hole now open for Scotland’s next alt-rock band to stake their claim in. Twin Atlantic however have been ploughing their…

Wild Beasts - Smother

Hayden Thorpe and co deliver sleazily brilliant third album

20 Apr 2011

(Domino) Having covered back alley frottaging and the pleasures of ‘girls from Whitby’ on their 2009 release Two Dancers, the four-piece from Kendal have peeled back the net curtains even further for Smother, casting a pale light on the kinks of…

Exposure: Glasgow indie trio PAWS

14 Apr 2011

Over the past 12 months, Glasgow trio PAWS have gone from ambitious bedroom jams to supporting damn near every cult US indie export to grace our fair shores (Dum Dum Girls, Wavves, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti etc). Combining Dinosaur Jr-esque melodic…

Laidback Luke, Derrick Carter, Andrew Weatherall, Beardyman, Nero and many more join 2011’s RockNess line-up

7 Apr 2011

Tons and tons of new names have been announced for this year’s RockNess. Laidback Luke, The Japanese Popstars, The Boxer Rebellion, Morning Parade, Twilight Sad, Nero, Skrillex, Beardyman, Sub Focus (live), Sons & Daughters, Broken Records, Chapel Club…

Glasvegas: EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\

Below par return from the Glasgow miserabilists

24 Mar 2011

(Columbia) Funny that Glasvegas used ‘Euphoric’ in the title of their sophomore album. This is euphoria’s most definite of antonyms, but did anyone expect otherwise? Euphoric///Heartbreak\\\ is a Glaswegian dirge, muddled in lucid synth and languid…

Eux Autres - The Flying Duck, Glasgow, Sat 5 Mar

Indie-poppers with cult connections deliver pleasingly unpolished set

21 Mar 2011

Janglesome San Franciscans Eux Autres (pronounced ‘ooz-oh-tra’, so explains their website) boast considerable pedigree by association: frontwoman and keys player Heather Larimer – one half of the band’s founding sibling duo together with her brother…

Eat, sleep, breathe: Iron and Wine

The eating habits of Sam Beam, better known as Iron and Wine

3 Mar 2011

What time is breakfast? Depends on the day and if I’m at home or on tour. Tea or coffee? Espresso Smoking or non-smoking? No smoking, these days. Sweet or savoury snacks? Depends on the time of day, but chocolate is always a nice…

Glasgow club institution Divine reaches 20th birthday

The Retro perspective from Glasgow’s longest running club night

17 Feb 2011

‘Twenty years ago I was a student at the Art School,’ recalls Andrew ‘Divine’ Symington. ‘One day a newsletter went round all the departments saying that the students’ union was looking for a DJ. I’d run a few clubs and I could design posters, so I…

Luxury Car - When I Was Good

Unique and inventive brilliance of second album is striking from the off

11 Feb 2011

Biphonic Records is known predominantly for introducing us to some of the most inventive Scottish pop around – namely works by Swimmer One and Seafieldroad over the years. Makes sense then that John Robertson, aka Luxury Car, should join forces with the…

The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh

Quartet's latest album full of poignant intimacy and warm, earthy tone throughout

11 Feb 2011

Following 2008’s Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, reviewers in their droves compared The Low Anthem to Tom Waits and labelmates Fleet Foxes. Yet, writing the quartet off as a cheap copy would be to do them a disservice. Mixed by Saddle Creek warlock Mike…

Glasgow psych-rock night Eyes Wide Open set for successful 2011

Sixth year strong for freakbeat night at Blackfriars

11 Jan 2011

‘This night will be our New Year celebration take two,’ says Holly Calder, promoter of Glasgow psych-rock-freakbeat night Eyes Wide Open. ‘Our friends are going to be scattered around all over at Hogmanay, so this will be a nice way to bring everyone…

Vintage Violence - new Edinburgh club from the makers of FAST

Glam Rock with a twist

30 Nov 2010

‘It’s pretty rock’n’roll,’ says promoter Chris FAST, discussing the spirit of his semi-regular club night at Edinburgh College of Art’s Wee Red Bar. That should come as no surprise – Chris’ old club FAST was among the very best nights in Edinburgh for a…

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…

Belle and Sebastian - Write About Love

29 Sep 2010

(Rough Trade) Belle and Sebastian return, following a four-and-a-half year break. And having re-grouped in February this year, they recorded this eighth studio offering with Tony Hoffer in LA – which perhaps explains the collaborations with Hollywood…

Five reasons to see: Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan

19 Aug 2010

1. Three albums in and they’ve still got that spark. Hawk is arguably the duo’s best yet – a gritty, raw, rocker of a record. Campbell drafted in folk troubadour Willy Mason and James Iha from Smashing Pumpkins to mix things up musically, but it all…

Everything Everything - Man Alive

19 Aug 2010

(Geffen) Manchester pop boffins Everything Everything are the most aptly-named rock troupe since The Band. They cram pretty much every hipster device into their ebullient, chock-a-block debut, and then fire in the tenets of electro and classical.

The return of The Zephyrs

Edinburgh band back after five years away

15 Aug 2010

Starting a family tends to get in the way of a rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. For Edinburgh five-piece, The Zephyrs, whose last album Bright Yellow Flowers on a Dark Double Bed was released in 2005, it was a couple of kids and a desire to take a break from…

Aberfeldy - Somewhere To Jump From

15 Aug 2010

(Tenement Records) At last, at long last, the ’Feldy are back. Edinburgh’s favourite MOR-pop sons (and daughters, although the band’s female membership has been changeable of late) have returned with their third album since 2006’s Do Whatever Turns…

Arcade Fire releases their all-important third album

The Suburbs is a rewarding and solid LP.

30 Jul 2010

History dictates that many rock greats affirm their credentials upon their third album: Radiohead’s OK Computer, U2’s War and Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run all follow this pattern, and Montreal’s six-strong Arcade Fire aren’t so far from these ranks…

T in the Park 2010: Ten reasons to watch Muse

24 Jun 2010

How did this space age, prog rock three-piece become one of the most in-demand festival headliners in the UK? Henry Northmore explains all, with the top ten reasons why Muse are not to be missed at T in the Park

T in the Park 2010: Delphic interview

24 Jun 2010

‘A dance aesthetic with proper songs’ is how Delphic’s Matt Cocksedge describes his band’s musical outlook. Given that the Stockport-formed quartet Delphic (founders Cocksedge, Richard Boardman and James Cook, plus recently recruited drummer Dan Hadley…

The Phantom Band, 1990s and Astral Planes set for Commercial Alternative festival

24 Jun 2010

This debut festival outing takes place at the lovely Mono Café Bar, and has a cracking line-up for £20. This gets you a full day of performances, including a great Scottish contingent of The Phantom Band, 1990s, Astral Planes, Remember Remember, Golden…

Super Furry Animals' Bunf set for Modern Lovers

24 Jun 2010

If it ain’t broke, why fix it? Such is the philosophy of Modern Lovers, which continues to offer funk, northern soul and 60s beat at the GRV in Edinburgh and the Flying Duck in Glasgow with unabashed enthusiasm for the music of the good ol’ days. Every…

American Men set for Cry Parrot night

23 Jun 2010

Claude Speeed, guitarist and synth player in Scots ‘Miami-laser-rockers’ American Men is back where it all started for his band: on the beach in Barcelona, trying to decide if he’s fit for the Numbers party at Sonar that evening. ‘It’s lovely here,’ he…

Kid Canaveral - Shouting at Wildlife

16 Jun 2010

Indie guitar pop is out of favour with music industry fashionistas at the moment, but Scottish boy-girl quartet Kid Canaveral could be the band to bring it back with a bang. This debut is packed with singalong melodies, frisky jangles and a real sense…

Wolf Parade - Expo 86

16 Jun 2010

Montreal’s indie rock’n’roll deviants Wolf Parade have likened the making of this, their third album, to puking songs straight out of their heads and into their instruments. It comes as a considerable relief to report that the outcome is a whole lot…

Schnapps, Jakil and Little Eskimos among highlights Leith Festival's Batter of the Bands

10 Jun 2010

David Pollock takes a look at some Leith Festival highlights, including Leith Records’ chip shop-based music competition, Batter of the Bands

Teenage Fanclub mark 20 years since first release with new album Shadows

20 May 2010

It’s been twenty years since Teenage Fanclub released their first album. Mogwai guitarist Stuart Braithwaite looks back on the Scottish indie pop group that Kurt Cobain called ‘the best band in the world’ ‘I was only about 14 when A Catholic…

Teenage Fanclub - Shadows

19 May 2010

(PeMa) The Fannies’ 20-year career has been a gradual progression from joyously stomping Doc boots to comfy, worn-in slippers, and this eighth studio album is a further refinement of their jangly, harmony-laden craft. The fire in their bellies is…

Make Sparks and Three Blind Wolves among highlights of T in the Park’s T Break stage 2010

19 May 2010

The acts for this year’s T Break stage have been announced, and there’s quite a few names to get excited about. Glasgow guitar-pop purveyors Make Sparks have been garnering a lot of attention recently, not least from the authority on such subjects, the…

Killer Kitch Street Party

18 May 2010

Although not exactly over-endowed with good quality, alternative midweek club nights, Glasgow has at least one star operating on Tuesdays, the Buff Club’s Killer Kitsch. ‘When we started,’ says co-founder, promoter and resident DJ Euan Neilson, ‘the…

Pavement set for 2010 UK reunion tour

29 Apr 2010

The demise of the much-loved American lo-fi band Pavement in the 90s was well documented, so ten years after their drawn-out spilt, the announcement of a reform was a welcome surprise for fans worldwide. Yet the band have made it clear that this is just…

Bamboo Season of Sound

28 Apr 2010

They’ve had indie stars and DJs aplenty, and now Bamboo’s Season of Sound welcomes Nick Grimshaw’s first Glasgow DJ appearance. Radio 1 host, T4 presenter and Annie Mac cohort on The Switch, expect future pop, indie rock and electro nuggets. Bamboo…

Born To Be Wide - Wide Days

1 Apr 2010

It's business time! Scottish music scene-nurturing organisation Born To Be Wide has another fantastic event planned, with a line up of acts equally as impressive as the industry figures sharing their music industry knowhow. Seminars and showcases have…

Quarantine The Past: The Best Of Pavement

25 Feb 2010

During the 90s Pavement were cult kingpins of the burgeoning US indie-rock scene, and leader Stephen Malkmus was an idol for the brainy post-Cobain brigade. Several excellent albums garnished the era (from Slanted and Enchanted to Terror Twilight), and…

Frightened Rabbit

17 Dec 2009

It’s a very smug and pleased-with-himself Rabbit that should be performing at this ABC date; the Borders’ indie-folkers’ largest venue to date. After their biggest year so far, where they built on the success of album The Midnight Organ Fight, this gig…

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…

Sons & Daughters

17 Dec 2009

Sons & Daughters What better way to see in the bells this New Year than in the company of Sons & Daughters for a shimmering slice of indie pop. Joined by Sparkling Shadazz and Errors (with a DJ set) for a proper Hogmanay hoolie. Mono, Glasgow, Thu…

Fit The Paradigm - Jack Butler

9 Dec 2009

(Whimsical) Starting with 20th Century Fox-esque snare drums, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re about to be hit by something dramatic and cinematic, grandiose even. Instead, you’re nodding your head before you realise it, thinking how unlikely it…

High Tease & Vegas!

4 Dec 2009

Another classy team-up from two of Scotland’s most glamorous events, which offers something for boys, girls and all of Glasgow’s most stylish performers. First, High Tease presents a host of burlesque performers, including Des O’Connor, Jonny Woo, Gypsy…

All Tomorrow's Parties: The Film

An onscreen celebration of the alternative music institution

15 Oct 2009

A young man, at the head of a throng of people, kneels in front of a performing drummer, his hands either side of the drummer’s floor tom. The man is shouting, nay pleading with the drummer through a variety of emphatic hand gestures. Growing more…

Hitlist: Clubs

The best nights out this fortnight

15 Oct 2009

Definition, Soul Weekender, Men & Machines, Fortified, Pinup Nights, Come and Playdate, Kreep vs Bleep, Spectrum, Vegas

Grizzly Bear

Modern American indie heroes show off their brilliant new record, Veckatimest

15 Oct 2009

If the latest album from Grizzly Bear was a photo album, it would be full of those bleached-out, soft focus pictures of sunny beach holidays in the 70s, with good-looking hippies lounging around, grinning into the camera. Named after an uninhabited…

Invasion and Jackie Treehorn - Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Tue 13 Oct

15 Oct 2009

The power of the press is something that can be overstated. Evidence of this is the glowing notices given to Invasion by both NME and Kerrang! of late which state them to be the finest new rock ensemble anywhere. Such fawning hasn’t made it out here in…

Modern Lovers

Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite performs the DJing honours at this psych-rock night

15 Oct 2009

If you are looking for a mix of psych-rock, garage funk, sonic rock’n’roll and Motown classics that has a retro soundtrack but isn’t stuck in the past Modern Lovers is the perfect prescription. This fortnight expect an even heavier, darker version of…