Music, hip-hop

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - The Logic of Chance

(Sunday Best) Like listening to Russell Brand or Simon Amstell rapping about Britain’s flaws, and preaching about safe sex over uninspiring drum & bass beats. Painful polemics. Light years away from ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’s glory.

Bonobo set for Edinburgh show at Departure Lounge

Name Bonobo Occupation Soul, jazz, hip hop and electronica producer of note What kind of monkey business is this? OK, very clever. Bonobos are indeed a species of small Chimpanzees (which are apes not monkeys for the record) but the Bonobo…

Ojos de Brujo

Preview

Walking out the lift of an Edinburgh Hotel, Marina Abad is pushing her baby son in a buggy. Pivotal singer, composer and the only woman in Europe’s most popular world music band – the Barcelona collective Ojos de Brujo. Renowned for their…

Mr Hudson - Straight No Chaser

(Mercury) Enthusiastic endorsement from Kanye West and Jay-Z can’t stop this album of electropop slickness from feeling like the slightly underwhelming little brother to West’s 808s and Heartbreak.

Labels of love: Numbers

Based in: Glasgow Roster: The first three releases will be by Lazer Sword, Redinho and Taz Buckfaster, with more artists to follow. Bosses: Jack ‘Jackmaster’ Revill, Calum and Neil Morton, Richard Chater and Adam Rodgers. Sounds…

Music In The Digital Age

Technology's impact on the artform

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…

Chipmunk - I Am Chipmunk

The British grime scene is defined by its fury and bravado and Chipmunk rolls out a debut album that suggests there’s scope for having some heart too. After demolishing the charts with the simpering proto-Kanye ‘Diamond Rings’ (which features Glasgow…

Who Are LuckyMe?

The people behind the music

Who's involved? Who are you? Claude Speeed of American Men (along with Paul Carlin and Ali Lloyd). Where do you come from? We live in Edinburgh, Manchester and Glasgow, but Paul spends most of his life in various hotels and tour buses…

Hudson Mohawke interview

The LuckyMe man talks to David Pollock

Where once Glasgow was known for bands comprised of skinny indie boys playing guitars, music and design collective LuckyMe is changing the face of the city’s music scene. The group of artists and friends (male and female) has been redefining Glasgow’s…

DJ Moneyshot

The Cardiff DJ comes to Glasgow

Mixed Bizness features Boom Monk Ben upstairs in the Art School every Thursday, mixing all manner of electronic music with heavy bass. This month he has Cardiff’s DJ Moneyshot for company. An official DJ for Solid Steel Radio, Moneyshot has previously…

Simba and Kobi Onyame

Hip hop double bill featuring Zimbabwe’s Simba and Ghanaian producer/artist Kobi Onyame. Now both based in the UK mixing R&B beats with rap lyrics, yet another reason why British hip hop is so exciting right now. Electric Circus, Edinburgh, Sat 26…

Why Mercury win for Speech Debelle marks return to award's roots

Unlike other big-budget nominees, 2009's £20,000 may actually mean something

The sales of Elbow's fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid, quadrupled after their Mercury Award in 2008. It's a safe bet that the winner of this year's accolade, Speech Debelle, will match at least that part of the Manchester's band's huge success: the…

Hip Hop Round Up

Given the lightweight folly of his ‘comeback’ album, 2007’s Kingdom Come, the idea of Jay-Z adding a third chapter onto his already substantial Blueprint series promised much, but in reality, The Blueprint 3 (Universal) ●●● doesn’t deliver like the…

Hitlist: Music

Speech Debelle, Music Like A Vitamin, NME Radar Tour, Pixies

Exposure: Northern Xposure

Feted by The Culture Show, name-checked by the urban music press, respected by an army of sometime tour-mates and artists they’ve played alongside (including Dizzee Rascal, Naughty By Nature, Estelle, The Roots and Amy Winehouse) and still based in the…

Exposure: Stanley Odd

Still an odd paradox for some, Scottish hip-hop is only getting stronger. Acts like Young Fathers and Northern Xposure are bringing the spirit of South Central to the Central Belt, offering an alternative to the bountiful angular indie that's heard from…

Young Fathers – Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, 15 Aug 2009

Revelling in his simple but effective dance pop that narrows the gap between LCD Soundsytem and old school Nintendo theme tunes, local boy Unicorn Kid's support slot is very much a home-crowd affair – with his joy as genuine and bountiful as the sweat…

Mos Def - The Ecstatic

(Downtown) His seeming impatience has always been Mos Def’s undoing. His debut 1999’s Black on Both Sides, remains a modern classic, but beyond that and his 1998 collaboration with Talib Kweli Black Star, his frankly patchy musical career has been…

Tom Tom Crew

Hip hop acrobatics and human beatboxing

Australia’s Tom Tom Crew make a welcome return to the Edinburgh Fringe with their high-energy hip hop inspired show. Having been described as a 21st century circus, this show is in an incredible spectacle of young talent and infectious enthusiasm. Break…

Music Hitlist

What to go see this week

GRV three-day music festival, The Juan McLean, Young Fathers and Unicorn Kid, Scotland at Night, St Kilda, Broken Records

Northern Exposure - The Last Piece of the Puzzle

While some in Scotland’s hip hop community strive to take production into the realm of abstract art form, there’s as many willing to get their heads down, keep it real and keep the message in the music. Edinburgh veterans Northern Xposure do the latter…

Unicorn Kid and Young Fathers

The man with the horn

He may wear a lion hat and be named after a fantasy creature, but with the Pet Shop Boys, Calvin Harris and a belting set at T on his side, Unicorn Kid is set to make myth a reality. The Lion and the Unicorn have long been heralded as hostile beasts.

Busta Rhymes - Back on My BS

In a sea of pouting, posturing wannabe players, Busta Rhymes has always stood out as a true rap individual. Never afraid to play for laughs, he broke through in the early 90s as an affiliate of De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. Solo, he’s been one of…

Indie Music Video Festival

At the forefront of innovative music videos

A whole new type of manufactured pop will find its way to Edinburgh this August. For like Gorillaz and The Archies before him, POL Arida does not exist as flesh and bone, but only on screen as a variety of pixels, animation and imagination.

2009 Mercury Music Prize shortlist on show

Regardless of who triumphs, contenders' nomination is gain enough

This past year has seen Elbow prove to all just what a Mercury win can do to a band's career. Though toiling for near 15 years in relative indie obscurity, seemingly destined to never play the arenas their songs merited, their 2008 victory for fourth…