Music, Issue 568

Klaxons interview

Big noise

30 Jan 2007

For the first time the NME tour is splitting into two camps. The Indie Rock strand is headed by The Automatic who share the bill with Dundee’s indie saviours The View, rockabilly goth punks The Horrors and Mumm-Ra. But perhaps it’s the second leg, the…

The Horrors interview

Smoke & mirrors

30 Jan 2007

The Horrors are in need of a fag. Having had their ch ance for a nicotine fix disrupted by fans who are loitering outside The Caves in Edinburgh hoping for a glimpse of the band, they now find themselves upstairs experiencing first hand the realities of…

* Hitlist

Hitlist

29 Jan 2007

NME Indie Rock The View, The Automatic (pictured), Mumm-Ra and The Horrors are this year’s would-be contenders for global rock stardom. Or a toddle back to indie obscurity. The choice is yours. Carling Academy, Glasgow, Thu 1 & Fri 2 Feb. (Rock & Pop…

Ads, The

The Ads

29 Jan 2007

INDIE If Glasgow’s Ads want to make it they’ll have to strike while the iron is both hot, and unsplattered by the remains of every unwelcome Fratellis and View clone that will inevitably crawl from the woodwork during the next year. They’re both good…

Aereogramme

The Classic Grand, Glasgow, Mon 12 Feb

29 Jan 2007

EPIC ROCK If you’ve ever sniffed around the Scottish post-rock underground, you might be familiar with the work of Aereogramme, but, trust me, you won’t be familiar with this Aereogramme. Because, after two years out of the limelight, the band are…

Birchville Cat Motel

Tremors@Stills Gallery, Edinburgh, Wed 10 Jan

29 Jan 2007

EXPERIMENTAL Last time Stills Gallery white-not-quite-cubed space played host to live music was in 1998, when Quebeçois baroque apocalypsists Godspeed You! Black Emperor marked their low-key live UK debut before a phone box capacity audience (ignore…

Bloc Party - album review

Bloc Party

29 Jan 2007

INDIE It would seem that all is not well in the Bloc Party camp. On this rather disappointing second effort their lyrics are infinitely bleaker, melodies more melancholy and the riffs leaner and meaner than ever before. ‘Song For Clay (Disappear…

Cold War Kids

Robbers & Cowards (V2)

29 Jan 2007

INDIE Cold War Kids Since we all live in a deathly dull, post-post modern society where we’ve heard it all before and nothing is new, it is nice to hear something that can fill your belly with a warm glow anyway. Lead single ‘We Used To Vacation…

Desert Hearts - album review

Desert Hearts

29 Jan 2007

INDIE ROCK Once upon a time indie-bands had ideas and balls. But the current trend for nadger-crushingly tight jeans seems to have put a stop to that. Giving a slap to stage school rockers and banning the keyboards from the rehearsal rooms are…

Dreamgirls

(12A) 130min

29 Jan 2007

DRAMA/MUSICAL Dreamgirls has made Oscar history and the ceremony hasn’t even taken place yet. It is, allegedly, the first picture to have the most Academy Award nominations in a given year and still not be nominated for Best Picture. And, for once…

Eddi Reader - album review

Eddi Reader

29 Jan 2007

FOLK After her triumphant homecoming with the best-selling Sings the Songs of Robert Burns, this new collection finds one of Scotland’s best voices continuing to mine the traditional vein in the company of folk heroes like John McCusker, Phil…

Future Pilot AKA - album review

Future Pilot AKA

29 Jan 2007

INDIE It’s a mystery why Sushil K Dade doesn’t enjoy more than the modicum of Glasgow-centred respect he currently holds. This is possibly because the amount of A-list names he attracts to contribute to his records might overshadow his own…

Hedrons, The - album review

The Hedrons

29 Jan 2007

ROCK Impressive influences do not a great band make . . . Towers of London alone are proof of that. This lot could teach them a thing or two, however, as, although they clearly worship at the alters of Hole, Blondie, Joan Jett and Ramones, the…

Hold Steady, The

How swoon is now

29 Jan 2007

As timely dates go, The Hold Steady stomping their way through their set on Valentine’s Day is about as apposite as you can get.

Jamie T - album review

Jamie T

29 Jan 2007

INDIE Instantly labelled as a ‘troubadour’, seemingly this year’s music journalism cliché de rigeur, Jamie T and his bass guitar pop has enjoyed a year of steadily conscripting devotees to his cause. Striking a lyrical balance between mockney…

Jazz from Sweden

Various venues, Scotland-wide, Thu 8 Feb-Mon 19 Ma

29 Jan 2007

JAZZ The Swedes are finally coming, and if this five-week extravaganza of Swedish jazz is a little later than originally envisaged, it promises to be a memorable one. Assembly Direct and the Stockholm-based Rikskonserter first started to plot an…

Joe Zawinul - album review

Joe Zawinul

29 Jan 2007

JAZZ A feast for Weather Report devotees, and a treat for anyone who just likes top quality big band playing. Joe Zawinul celebrated the 25th anniversary of the break-up of Weather Report in glorious style in this concert with the excellent WDR Big…

Lady Sovereign - album review

Lady Sovereign

29 Jan 2007

GRIME POP When people first began getting their pantaloons in a twist about London’s Grime scene, much of the media rumpus was concentrated around mini MC Lady Sovereign. After a year of set backs and a chance meeting with Jay Z (he signed her to his…

Little Barrie - album review

Little Barrie

29 Jan 2007

GARAGE BLUES Little Barrie’s Edwyn Collins-produced debut We Are Little Barrie proved a low-key, cult album, better received outside the scene fetish of the British Isles. Here, the three-piece returns with a change in line-up, a noticeably higher…

Make Your Own Kind of Music

29 Jan 2007

Last year, the Your Sound networking event (aimed at local unsigned bands who want to get in touch with the media and music industry) produced we are the PHYSICS (pictured) and The Dykeenies. It’s quickly become an essential date in the industry…

Malcolm Ross

Ego, Edinburgh, Wed 13 Dec

29 Jan 2007

INDIE The sad but true fact of Edinburgh’s current music scene is that, unless you have local knowledge of the great bands bubbling under the radar, there is no major scene which might burst forth and capture the imagination of the nation. It wasn’t…

Marissa Nadler - album review

Marissa Nadler

29 Jan 2007

AMERICAN GOTHIC To the uninitiated Nadler’s faraway, gothic sensibilities and haunted, sirenic voice can be off-putting to say the least. As in previous outings morose balladry, velvety vocals and intricate guitar work are the order of the day here…

Mika - album review

Mika

29 Jan 2007

POP Let’s play Spot the Influence. Queen! The Communards! Frankie Goes To Hollywood! Just when you’ve got Mika pinned as a retro-glam Hi NRG soundalike, he whaps the horns out for a Blur-ry knockabout caper on ‘Billy Brown’. Which sounds a bit like…

National Review of Live Art

Inner visions

29 Jan 2007

Now in its 27th year, the NRLA is taking over Glasgow’s Tramway for four days of live art, performance and installation from an international cast of established and emerging artists.

National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland - album review

National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland

29 Jan 2007

JAZZ The National Youth Orchestra of Scotland’s associated Jazz Orchestra has been around now for a decade, and issued a CD featuring the music of pianist Nikki Yeoh seven years ago. This second disc features two suites by Scottish composers at…