Music and Issue 571

P Diddy Glasgow gig to go ahead

26 Mar 2007

Snoop Dogg has had his UK visa application rejected so is unlikely to go ahead with his Glasgow gig this Friday.

Malcolm Middleton

The future’s bright

13 Mar 2007

It was a truly miserable day when the mighty Arab Strap called it quits last year but this grey cloud did, in fact, have a silver lining of sorts: it shifted the spotlight onto the solo work of Malcolm Middleton. Never the most talkative of characters…

Records - Singles & Downloads

Singles & Downloads

13 Mar 2007

There’s good and bad to be found in every country, and so as not to waste too much of your precious time let’s just concentrate on the music for the time being... So for every Super Furry Animals in Wales there is a Kelly Jones, in Ireland an Ash and a…

Tim Berne's Paraphrase

The Lot, Edinburgh, Thu 29 Mar

13 Mar 2007

JAZZ Tim Berne is a leading light on New York’s so-called Downtown jazz scene. This very rare opportunity to catch him live in Scotland sees him in the familiar setting of Paraphrase, a trio with two of his most compatible collaborators, bassist Drew…

Exposure - The Sounds

Exposure

13 Mar 2007

Like Debbie Harry in a dance-off with Roxette, this sexy Swedish pop-punk band set tongues wagging with last year’s synth-heavy hit, ‘Tony the Beat’. Their debut, Living in America, established them in the States, and Pharrell Williams and Quentin…

!!!

ABC, Glasgow, Mon 19 Mar

13 Mar 2007

AVANT PUNK !!! don’t like to make things easy for themselves. Choosing a name that’s not just unpronounceable (‘Chk Chk Chk’ is the most popular method) but also un-Googleable (try it), was always likely to cause complications for one thing. Then…

5 Reasons To Go See

Jackie Leven

13 Mar 2007

1 He’s an underground legend The 56-year-old singer songwriter from Fife has spent a lifetime on the periphery of various music scenes and genres, but has influenced generations. His 1971 debut, Control, is considered a psychedelic folk classic and his…

Ceilidh Culture

Various venues, Edinburgh, Sat 24 Mar-Sun 15 Apr

13 Mar 2007

ROOTS FESTIVAL Edinburgh’s Ceilidh Culture, the council-led celebration that runs for three weeks around Easter, brings together the city’s traditional arts under one umbrella. Eclectic sounds range from the percussion-driven dance grooves of the…

*Hitlist

Hitlist

13 Mar 2007

Thea Gilmore A country rock troubadour in the best sense, Gilmore’s a poet and album Harpo’s Ghost is dark, expressive beast. Now we know what KT Tunstall’s imaginary older, smarter, slightly twisted sister might sound like. King Tut’s, Glasgow, Mon 26…

Reviews - Peepshow Launch

Peepshow Launch

13 Mar 2007

INDIE Already inundated most nights of the week, cynics might say that Glasgow needs a new band night like it does another rainy day. Peepshow, refreshingly, is a showcase with a difference, however. On the last Wednesday of every month at The…

Reviews - The Twang

The Twang

13 Mar 2007

INDIE Never underestimate beery lads in big jackets. While it’s easy to believe that they’re all still swaggering to the sound of the Happy Mondays, Stone Roses et al, many are (if this sell out crowd was anything to go by at least) entirely…

Records - Various - Ballads of the Book

Various

13 Mar 2007

POETRY POP Of course, just because dozens of the county’s finest bands and authors have collaborated on this album, doesn’t guarantee it’s going to be any good. But thankfully it is, it’s really very good indeed. The end product is unsurprisingly…

Reviews - The Greenman Bluegrass Boys

The Greenman Bluegrass Boys

13 Mar 2007

BLUEGRASS Out of the ashes to scratch Edinburgh’s leftfield itch, Octopus Diamond has inherited much of the feel (as well as the previously flouted constrictive license) of its predecessor The Left Bank. It is early days and for now the decorative…

The Scottish Enlightenment, The Debuts and Callel

Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Sat 3 Mar

13 Mar 2007

The crowd are still filtering in when the openers take the stage, but are slowly drawn towards The Scottish Enlightenment (●●●●●) - a Dunfermline four-piece with the menace of Joy Division and the slacker indie cool of Pavement. Whether it’s their…

Records - Also Released

Also Released

13 Mar 2007

Brett Anderson Brett Anderson (Drowned in Sound) Debut solo venture from the former Suede daddy has glints of his former glories but is, well, like Suede without the fun, glam bits, so fairly hard work for the most part.

Records - The Aliens

The Aliens

13 Mar 2007

ROCK POP After two songs of the Aliens’ debut long player (an outdated description, but at 72 minutes, a justified one), you might be praying for invasion by some little green ones to take you away from it all. The hackneyed and tuneless 60s funk…

Records - Take a Worm For a Walk Week

Take a Worm For a Walk Week

13 Mar 2007

SCARY NASTINESS Far from sitting on the fence TAWFAWW choose to unceremoniously hack down the fence, stamp it into little pieces, collect it up and feed it to a pack of hungry dogs. Well, that’s what it sounds like. To be honest this sounds like…

Records - Pomegranate

Pomegranate

13 Mar 2007

ELECTRO POP With a background in futuristic theatre productions and distant cinematic electronica, Pomegranate (duo Stef McGlinchey and Vanessa Rigg) certainly know how to put a layered, nocturnal soundscape or two together (not for nowt is the…

Records - The Primary 5

The Primary 5

13 Mar 2007

COUNTRY POP Given that The Primary 5 are the band of ex-Teenage Fanclub drummer Paul Quinn, it’s not surprising to find they’re in a decent amount of hock to The Byrds. Go! or Pure Pop For Now People to give the record it’s full, swingin’ title is a…

Records - Unkle Bob

Unkle Bob

13 Mar 2007

INDIE Like the newest member of an inbred family, Unkle Bob’s debut album has numerous musical baby daddies. Like Snow Patrol they formed in Scotland; like Keane they are prone to stirring emotional anthems and singer Rick Webster’s voice performs…

Records - Unkle Bob

Unkle Bob

13 Mar 2007

INDIE Like the newest member of an inbred family, Unkle Bob’s debut album has numerous musical baby daddies. Like Snow Patrol they formed in Scotland; like Keane they are prone to stirring emotional anthems and singer Rick Webster’s voice performs…

Records - The Cinematics

The Cinematics

13 Mar 2007

INDIE Well, here’s a band with an identity crisis. On the one hand, Glasgow quartet The Cinematics clearly have a knack for crafting catchy wee pop gems, the unashamed Britpop forays that are ‘Sunday Sun’ and ‘Chase’ being stacked to the gills with…

Records - Odeon Beat Club

Odeon Beat Club

13 Mar 2007

INDIE This has been a long time coming. The List has sat quietly, collecting up demos and singles in a tidy pile until this unassuming quartet finally got a long player out. Thankfully this is worth the wait: a dozen brittle tunes that alternately…

Records - Rubens

Rubens

13 Mar 2007

AMBIENT ELECTRONICA It really is a terrible shame to always be likening fresh Scottish electronica to the all-conquering Soma stable, but Rubens possess that same jittery, emotive quality in spades. Christ knows how the title relates to the contents…

Records - The Midden

The Midden

13 Mar 2007

FOLK Considering the recent leaps forward in folk music made by the likes of Karine Polwart and Seth Lakeman, it simply isn’t enough these days to be a proficient traditional band with a few decent tunes. Scottish fivesome The Midden suffer by such…

Records - 102 Miles

102 Miles

13 Mar 2007

PUB ROCK Despite having a guitar-playing singer called Bob Mould, this Shotts-based five-piece are sadly not imbued with the spirits of American hardcore more’s the pity. What they are instead is a tediously ordinary pub rock outfit with precious few…

Feature - Polish culture

The Pole position

12 Mar 2007

Pictures: Jannica Honey ‘If they wanted to, a Pole could live a whole year here without ever speaking English,’ says Iwana Zurawska, who moved to Edinburgh from Malbork, North Poland in 2003, a year before the country entered the European Union. ‘The…

Feature - Dolly Parton

Hello Dolly

12 Mar 2007

‘It takes a lot of money to look this cheap.’ This oft-repeated line from Dolly Parton’s onstage repertoire has been heard from Nashville to Newcastle. But just because Parton can laugh at herself doesn’t mean she shouldn’t be taken seriously. She is in…

News - Extra

One hell of a Ness

12 Mar 2007

Following a fantastic inaugural beano starring Fatboy Slim last year, Rockness returns to the bonny banks of Scotland’s most celebrated loch with some of the world’s biggest names in the world of electronic, dance and rock music in tow. The Chemical…

News - Gaelic culture

Opera for the masses

12 Mar 2007

Words: Allan Radcliffe One of Scotland’s most spectacular locations is to be celebrated in a unique European theatre production. Five simultaneous performances of St Kilda - A European Opera (Mac-Talla Nan Eun) will take place in France, Belgium…