Muscles of Joy

Scottish Album of the Year Award 2012 long list announced

Includes Remember Remember, Rustie and Conquering Animal Sound

12 Apr 2012

The long list of nominations for the inaugaral The Scottish Album of the Year Awards has been announced, after 12 months of organisation and deliberation. The 20 albums chosen cover a wide range of genres and include many well-known bands - from…

Music-themed Christmas parties round-up

Festive shindigs on offer from Song, By Toad, Phantom Band, James Yorkston, Fence and more

13 Dec 2011

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas in Scotland’s indie village without a bunch of our favourite bands getting together to chip in for mince pies and mulled wine and treat us to / inflict upon us some of their most diligently practiced seasonal covers. Yes…

Seven-strong art-rock group Muscles of Joy - interview

Band member Katy Dove discusses the group's history and future

19 Oct 2011

The phrase ‘art-rock’ is a much-abused one, but in this case it seems appropriate. Each of the seven members of all-female Glasgow group Muscles of Joy is a practising visual artist in their day jobs, most having previously attended Glasgow School of…

Muscles of Joy - Muscles of Joy

Remarkable debut fuses styles with melodic instinct, sensitivity, and coherence

14 Sep 2011

(Watts of Goodwill) For the past three years, Glasgow’s Muscles of Joy have honed a singular body of work that spans myriad divergent forms – from post-punk to Bulgarian a cappella; from Gaelic psalm singing to New Pop. The vocal-led, all-female…

Music Is The Music Language

Festival of the experimental and esoteric

25 Aug 2011

Music Is The Music Language, a two day festival organised by DIY promoters Cry Parrot and Tracer Trails, is testament to the vibrancy of Scotland’s underground music scene. ‘Underground music is strongest and most exciting where and when the values…

Calvin Johnson and Muscles of Joy

One of Seattle's more prolific underground artist performs in both Glasgow and Edinburgh

23 Jul 2010

An inspiration to unpaid music interns everywhere, Calvin Johnson began his musical career by volunteering at a local radio station in his hometown of Olympia, Washington when he was fifteen. KAOS-FM’s policy of playing underground artists, as opposed…

Muscles of Joy

Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Wed 14 Apr 2010

21 Apr 2010

This is, let’s be perfectly clear, no ordinary girl band. An all-female collaboration from Glasgow-based artists Anne-Marie Copestake, Ariki Porteous, Charlotte Prodger, Jenny O’Boyle, Katy Dove, Leigh Ferguson, Sophie Macpherson and Victoria Morton…

Victoria Morton

23 Mar 2010

In the basement of Inverleith House there’s a screening of Anne-Marie Copestake’s 1999 film on Victoria Morton to accompany this large exhibition of work by the artist. At one point in the film Morton asks all-female art/punk troupe Chicks on Speed…