Music and Issue 559

Autumn music special - your new favourite bands

18 Sep 2006

Dot to Dot sound like the bastard sons of Orange Juice and Lloyd Cole and their aim seems to be to get you dancing. They like their jangle, and they sometimes shamble, but their shows are always worth catching, and with their debut single, ‘Dusty…

Autumn music special - live highlights

18 Sep 2006

Jurassic 5 More of that proverbial classic rap, in spades. Carling Academy, Glasgow, 6 Oct.

Autumn music special - live highlights

18 Sep 2006

Jurassic 5 More of that proverbial classic rap, in spades. Carling Academy, Glasgow, 6 Oct.

Autumn music special - The Fratellis

Rock follies

18 Sep 2006

In the wake of Franz Ferdinand and the Arctic Monkeys it seems that record companies have adjusted their tactics. Every year now sees a selection of hatchling bands being signed, tooled up and sent over the parapet to face the artillery of the Top 40.

Autumn music special - The Fratellis

Rock follies

18 Sep 2006

In the wake of Franz Ferdinand and the Arctic Monkeys it seems that record companies have adjusted their tactics. Every year now sees a selection of hatchling bands being signed, tooled up and sent over the parapet to face the artillery of the Top 40.

Autumn music special - Jay-Z

President Carter

18 Sep 2006

1. With more pseudonyms than Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Sawn Carter’s Jay-Z alias is an abbreviation of his neighbourhood nickname Jazzy, appropriated for his smart dress sense. His Reebok S Carter was the first line of non-athlete training shoe and remains…

The horror! The horror!

Marilyn Manson and Dave Grohl love ‘em but they remain an enigma to many. Andrew Borthwick unearths the lurid legacy of original shock punks The Misfits.

18 Sep 2006

Although Glenn Danzig couldn’t have imagined it when he formed the band 19 years ago, The Misfits have become the monster to his Dr Frankenstein: an awkward, lumbering being intent on survival, lurching slowly forward, irrespective of the fact its…

Autumn music special - Sparklehorse

Why the long face?

18 Sep 2006

It’s been five years since alt.country troubadour Sparklehorse last released a record, the atmospheric genius of It’s a Wonderful Life. Instead of bearing a grudge for the delay, we should be grateful Mark Linkous (for Sparklehorse is he) ever got round…

Singles & Downloads

18 Sep 2006

Hopes that Lil’ Chris’ ‘Checkin’ It Out’ (Sony/BMG) (*) was the new Chris Rock CD couldn’t have been further from the truth. Turns out this Chris is some pre-teen scrote from a Gene Simmons TV show and I only know that much from seeing the little runt…

End of the road for Arab Strap

The party's over

18 Sep 2006

‘Then on Friday night we went through to the Arches... There was only one car going, so some of us had to get the train. We got through quite late. Then we went to a pub to take the gear. There were no problems getting in - we saw some others waiting…

Davey Graham

Oran Mor, Glasgow, Sun 24 Sep

18 Sep 2006

FOLK Lauded by Bert Jansch and Eric Clapton, Davey Graham is the guitar hero’s guitar hero. But despite his revolutionary impact on acoustic guitar playing and British folk music in the early 1960s, Graham has remained a relatively obscure figure. So…

The Dispach - Vic Galloway

The Dispatch

18 Sep 2006

I do end up in some strange places with work these days. None stranger than the Balearic party isle of Ibiza. Long seen as a haven for bangin’ choons, the clubbing capital of the world is in transition right now as pop-culture swings once more towards…

Klaxons

Arches, Glasgow, Thu 5 Oct

18 Sep 2006

INDIE RAVE It used to be a genre almost exclusively beloved by chavs, shitkickers and the odd ironic student, but the NME are leading the rave revival charge with a prefab movement succinctly titled New Rave. This debut Club NME tour sees a few of…

Micah P Hinson

ABC, Glasgow, Tue 3 Oct

18 Sep 2006

ALT.COUNTRY At 25 years old, Micah P Hinson seems a little young for the world-weary sorrow etched into his melancholic tones, but the Texan singer songwriter has experienced more than his fair share of heartbreak and misery. Hinson was a young…

Peter, Bjorn and John

Exposure

18 Sep 2006

Although Peter (Moren), Bjorn (Yttling) and John (Eriksson) are recognised in their native Sweden and have been labouring away in comfortable obscurity everywhere else for some years now, it’s taken a collaboration with a more internationally noted…

Hitlist

The best pop, rock, jazz and folk

18 Sep 2006

Jay Z Ignoring his own self-imposed retirement completely by appearing on everyone’s else’s records, the self-professed CEO of hip hop arrives for his first ever Scottish live date. See feature, page 20. SECC, Glasgow, Fri 22 Sep. (Rock & Pop) The…

Zurich Ballet

Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Wed 4-Sat 7 Oct

18 Sep 2006

MODERN BALLET Chocolate and watches may be their trademark, but it turns out the Swiss are pretty hot at dance too. Playing in Scotland for the first time in its history, Zurich Ballet is an undiscovered gem well worth checking out. A decade ago…

Devendra Banhart

ABC, Glasgow, Sat 2 Sep

18 Sep 2006

FOLK The reasons you loved a live show don’t always match the reasons you went along in the first place. Those who dropped by to sample the artful folk of this Texan troubadour and his band (considering their bank of guitars and that woodland of…

Violets, The

The Violets

18 Sep 2006

GOTH PUNK Go on The Violets’ Myspace site and you’ll find they describe themselves (possibly paraphrasing some grumpy reviewer or other) as a ‘cut-price Siouxsie and the Banshees covers band’. Well, if it’s good enough for the band it’s good enough…

Badly Drawn Boy

King Tut’s, Glasgow, Sat 9 Sep

18 Sep 2006

ROCK ‘Glasgow, you are the best audience we have had in years!’ So shouts Damon Gough, his bass player nodding in acquiescence. All in all, it’s been a successful gig for Badly Drawn Boy. Such is the popularity of the band that King Tut’s could have…

Colin Towns & NDR Big Band - album review

Colin Towns & NDR Big Band

18 Sep 2006

JAZZ Recorded live at the Moers Jazz Festival and released simultaneously with Lend Me Your Ears, a fine studio album of Towns’ own compositions also featuring the NDR Big Band, this exuberant disc celebrates Zappa’s idiosyncratic music while…

James Yorkston - album review

James Yorkston

18 Sep 2006

FOLKISH-COUNTRYISH-SINGER-SONGWRITER THING For this third long player, undefinable Fife troubadour Yorkston has created an eclectic collection of moody gems which exceeds his own already extremely high standards. There is huge variety here, from the…

Pete Clark - album review

Pete Clark

18 Sep 2006

FOLK The Birnam-based fiddler has explored both the historical and contemporary music of Perthshire on a string of fine albums, and this is another worthy addition to that list. His own compositions are augmented by a selection of tunes by three…

The Bronx - album review

The Bronx

18 Sep 2006

ROCK Sick of a rock scene fronted by snivelling emo types? Then you need The Bronx in your life more now than ever. After roaring into existence in 2003, the Californian foursome show no signs of letting up with this second, brilliantly brutal…

Black Keys, The - album review

The Black Keys

18 Sep 2006

ROCK’N’ROLL When The White Stripes’ take on garage minimalism went global it fucked over a whole bunch of duos pushing their own bottled blues moonshine. With four long players under their snake belts now the Jack’n’Meg comparisons are like water off…