Music and Folk

The Stark Palace - The Stark Palace

9 Dec 2009

(Shark Batter) It’s been a long time since we heard from Scottish Borders outfit, Dawn Of the Replicants. Former psychiatric nurse turned zine-scriber, Roger Simian (and co), seemed to have just fallen off the musical map. But here with gravedigger…

Homecoming Live

4 Dec 2009

The cynic might have viewed this musical finale to the Scottish Government’s grand attempt to reel back a few ex-pat Kiwis and Canucks in terms of all the iconic and available Scots bands who weren’t playing. Where were Franz Ferdinand, Glasvegas…

Amy Millan - Masters Of The Burial

4 Dec 2009

(Arts and Crafts) As a break from her work with Stars and Broken Social Scene, Amy Millan has created a beautiful collection of warm, folksy tunes overflowing with well-polished brass and pedal steel guitar. The standout songs, though, are the ones…

eagleowl

4 Dec 2009

Don’t be fooled. Edinburgh’s masters of lo-fi slowcore are, as one reviewer once pointed out, ‘No bed wetting lightweights’. No sir. Instead Bart (who’s also the brains behind tons of Scottish grassroots music events like Retreat! and The Gentle…

The Wynntown Marshals - Westerner

4 Dec 2009

(Charger) Impressively boasting two Keiths and two Iains amongst their ranks, The Wynntown Marshalls say they write songs about ‘love, loss, wars, natural disasters and the otherwise broken ride we like to call life’. More specifically, the songs on…

The Twilight Sad

4 Dec 2009

In our four-star review of their debut album Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters, the List proclaimed that the Twilight Sad are ‘a band who make sad music – yet it’s that particular Scottish sadness which finds itself couched in a kind of…

Benni Hemm Hemm & Alasdair Roberts

4 Dec 2009

With the potential makings of a stunningly good Scotland-meets-Iceland collaboration straight out of the leftfield, this gig, brought to you by those thoughtful folks at Tracer Trails, will be the first airing of the pair’s collaborative work. Benedikt…

Sparrow And The Workshop - Into The World

4 Dec 2009

(Distiller) If only these guys were around in the 70s, their soulful country vocals and acoustic guitars married to noisy drums and bass could have landed them on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack – they’re that good. Thankfully, they’re here for us to…

VA – Fabriclive 49: - Buraka Son Sistema

4 Dec 2009

(Fabric) This is impressive: out of the 28 tracks on offer here, only six last longer than three minutes – something worth praising in an inherently repetitive genre. Buraka Son Sistema oversee the melding of various dance styles with lively African…

Josephine Foster - Graphic As A Star

24 Nov 2009

(Fire) Colorado-born folkie Jo Foster, delivers her fifth solo set, inspired and based on the works of 19th century poet Emily Dickenson. Comprising 26 short fireside-folk dirges (think Shirley Collins or Tiny Tim), it falls short of the oblique…

Exposure: Dawn Landes

16 Nov 2009

American singer and songwriter, Dawn Landes is so much more than a pretty face. Sure, she may have a striking, natural beauty, but more importantly, she has quite the knack for crafting quirky pop-folk songs. Her music bears a resemblance to American…

Laura Gibson - Beasts of Seasons

13 Nov 2009

(Hush Records) Music-box harp-strings and gentle French horns give Gibson’s debut a lullaby feel, like wrapping yourself in a sonic blanket and slowly dozing off. Which is no bad thing. Her occasionally Bjork-like vocals lie just the right side of…

Sharon King - Reckless Angels

4 Nov 2009

(Birnam) The third album from King – whose intimate, affecting songs are set somewhere between the mountains of the highlands and the plains of the American mid-west – charges various members of the Scottish folk scene to provide instrumental…

Natalie Merchant, The Chieftains and Ry Cooder set for Celtic Connection 2010

30 Oct 2009

Celtic Connections launched with a suitable level of expectation this fortnight – and it doesn’t look set to disappoint. Comprising 1500 artists, 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, workshops, free events and late-night sessions, the programme of events will…

Johnny Flynn

Nice'n'Sleazy, Glasgow, Thu 22 Oct 2009

23 Oct 2009

Supporting London troubadour Johnny Flynn, Anna Calvi is an exciting prospect as she takes the stage - all red lipstick, silk blouse and stiletto heels, picking out an echoing guitar solo that gets faster and more intricate as it goes on. It's an…

Various - Kats Karavan: The History of John Peel on the Radio

16 Oct 2009

There has already been plenty released to celebrate John Peel’s legacy, and now this expansive four-disc set tries to replicate the magic of a quintessential John Peel show. By that we mean throwing the tough techno of Dave Clarke up against the…

Interview: Julie Fowlis

The Scots singer on a hectic couple of years

15 Oct 2009

Julie Fowlis is right to describe the past couple of years as being a ‘bit of a whirlwind’. In recent months the crystalline-voiced musician has earned worldwide acclaim for her second album Cuilidh (pronounced ‘cool-ee’), was named BBC Radio 2 Folk…

Hitlist: Music

Another fortnight of fantastic gigs

15 Oct 2009

Camera Obscura, Oxjam 2009, Phoenix, Biffy Clyro, Julie Fowlis, Grizzly Bear, St. Vincent, Cluthc, Kylsea, Kamchatka

TMSA - Young Trad Tour 2009

15 Oct 2009

The bands assembled annually by the Traditional Music and Song Association for the Young Trad Tour draw their personnel from the finalists in the BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year award, fought out each January at Celtic Connections in Glasgow.

Music In The Digital Age

Technology's impact on the artform

2 Oct 2009

To paraphrase the Creme Egg adverts, when it comes to music, how do you hear yours? Streaming over the internet? Nicking stuff from torrents on the web? A bag full of goodies from Fopp? Crates of obscure vinyl from your local specialist…

Blueflint - Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Wed 30 Sep

The local folk duo dazzle

2 Oct 2009

Stories of heartbreak, revenge and plenty more drama besides pepper the lyrics of ace Edinburgh bluegrass banjo duo of Deborah Arnott and Clare-Louise Neilson who play the fingerpickin’ and clawhammer banjo respectively. Their sublime delicate vocal…

Fanfarlo - King Tut’s, Glasgow, Wed 30 Sep

Fantasticfarlo more like

2 Oct 2009

Bowie loves them. And so should you. Or you would if you ever caught Fanfarlo’s awesome folk punch live. Relocated to King Tut’s from the ABC, the smaller stage is ideal for a band so positive about the communal experience, especially when the crowd…

Mhairi Hall Trio - Cairngorm

2 Oct 2009

Aviemore-born pianist Mhairi Hall dragged a piano to the top of Cairngorm (well, with a bit of help) to launch this album, an appropriate enough gesture for a record very much steeped in the landscape and ethos of her native Strathspey. Not…

Efterklang - Performing Parades

2 Oct 2009

Parades is a great album. Originally released in 2007, it transformed marginal Danish avant rock outfit Efterklang – a more off-kilter Arcade Fire who combine massed voices with modern classical instrumentation – into a marginal Danish avant rock outfit…

Kings of Convenience - Declaration of Dependence

2 Oct 2009

A band’s submission in the ‘Sounds Like’ column of their myspace page is often telling, and in the case of Kings of Convenience their self-effacing ‘music your parents like too’ hints at the quiet Norwegian duo’s fond acceptance of where two albums of…