Issue 578

Gifted

18 Jun 2007

COMING OF AGE DRAMA The phenomenon of mathematical child prodigies is fascinating. First-time novelist Nikita Lalwani makes just such a character the centrepiece of her assured debut, as we grow up with Rumi, brought up in Cardiff by Indian parents.

Aly Bain & Ale Möller

Album

18 Jun 2007

FOLK Mention the words Aly Bain and duo in the same sentence, and the inevitable association that springs to mind is with Phil Cunningham. The fiddle maestro’s duo with Swedish mandola player Ale Möller is of more recent vintage, and is not yet as…

Also Published

18 Jun 2007

Anonymous - Touch Wood Subtitled ‘Confessions of an Accidental Porn Director’, our secret hero goes from being the son of a vicar to a pioneer of the flesh industry. Sphere. Wendy Salisbury - The Toyboy Diaries The introduction says it all: ‘This…

Tony Scott

Album

18 Jun 2007

JAZZ When clarinettist Tony Scott spent some time in Edinburgh one summer in the late 80s, his role as an important contributor to the emergence of both bebop and an early proto-version of free jazz in New York had all but been forgotten. His…

Paul Towndrow Sextet

Album

18 Jun 2007

JAZZ Alto saxophonist Paul Towndrow and his new Sextet recorded this album in adverse circumstances, but there is nothing here that would give away the fact that it was made under unusual time constraints. Towndrow’s brand of inventive contemporary…

Hitlist - The best events

18 Jun 2007

We Won’t Die-as-poor-ya: The Politics of Sound in Black Britain To kick off the Glasgow Jazz Festival, Channel 4 documentary maker Dr Robert Bedford gives a talk on political resistance in black music, from spirituals to turntable mixing. With live…

Editors

Album

18 Jun 2007

ROCK Editors have grown up since debut, The Back Room. There’s new confidence to Smith’s vocals, and anthemic ‘Weight of the World’ has a gravity that ‘Open Your Arms’ never quite attains. The sound has the urgency of shouts in the dark, and Smith’s…

Records - The Just Joans

18 Jun 2007

INDIE POP Problem page pop from a bunch of self-confessed puny losers from Motherwell? It shouldn’t work - hearing them sniff and sigh through bleak, downbeat stories about getting chucked in Strathclyde Park, or feeling they’ve missed their prime…

Simian Mobile Disco

Album

18 Jun 2007

ELECTRO Have you forgotten how exciting electronic music can be? Well you’re about to be reminded as two albums released this year are set to totally revitalise the genre. One comes in the form of † by Justice, the other is this impressive offering…

Paul Haig

Album

18 Jun 2007

ELECTRONIC Music has previously always struggled to keep pace with Paul Haig. His 80s angular Edinburgh post-punk outfit Josef K were way ahead of their time, influencing numerous contemporary bands (most notably Franz Ferdinand). His last few solo…

Ulrich Schnauss

Album

18 Jun 2007

ELECTRONICA When a creative force is raised in a boring little armpit such as Kiel, it’s perhaps inevitable that the only reaction is to try and make something gorgeous from the tedium. With his third album, both the banal and the beautiful are…

Strike The Colours

Album

18 Jun 2007

INDIE FOLK As a collaborator with everyone from Arab Strap to Idlewild and Malcolm Middleton, Jenny Reeve’s myriad musical talents have graced many a record to fine effect over the last few years. Now at last stepping into the limelight herself with…

Siobhan Donaghy

Album

18 Jun 2007

AIRY POP Some may remember Donaghy as the one who quit the Sugababes, burnt her bridges, then suffered a flop album. Fear not, she’s back with So You Say, which has taken radio friendly pop and added a pinch of sophistication. Her vocals are…

Paul Hartnoll

Album

18 Jun 2007

ELECTRONICA For those wondering what Paul Hartnoll has been up to since Orbital split in 2004, he has been hard at it in his Brighton studio, figuring out how to produce something far removed from his past output: ‘It just took time to discover what…