Music, Issue 580

Happy Mondays and James

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

19 Jul 2007

Step on, sit down Happy Mondays and James hailed from very different sides of the Manchester musical fence. As the two bands get set for T on the Fringe, Paul Morley says hallelujah to the returning heroes and considers their legacy

Alyn Cosker Trio

19 Jul 2007

Alyn Cosker has emerged as the top young drummer on the Scottish jazz scene, handsomely fulfilling the promise he showed as a teenager in the Strathclyde Youth Jazz Orchestra. He has gone on to work in a variety of other contexts, from the Tommy Smith…

Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert

Edinburgh International Festival

19 Jul 2007

Edinburgh International Festival Blazing squad A pair of unassuming middle-aged men are behind the explosive spectacle of the annual fireworks concert. Karin Goodwin meets the acceptable face of pyromania

Benny Golson Quartet, Al Foster Quintent, Jeff 'Tain' Watts Quartet

19 Jul 2007

Edinburgh International Jazz and Blues Festival Roll with it Jazz goes back to its roots in the Festival’s ‘American Icons’ strand, as Kenny Mathieson discovers

Capriccio

19 Jul 2007

Richard Strauss’ final opera Capriccio, which received its premiere in 1942, is described by the composer as ‘a conversation piece for music’. A young countess cannot choose between two lovers, one a musician, the other a poet.

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

19 Jul 2007

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Odd Couple Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan talk to Doug Johnstone about the unlikely collaboration that produced their Mercury-nominated Ballad of the Broken Seas

Jacqui Dankworth

19 Jul 2007

Fans of Jacqui Dankworth’s solo work should expect a totally different experience when the jazz crossover singer performs with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland. ‘With a big band behind you, it’s like a steam train pushing you along,’ she…

Komma, Ex Drummer

19 Jul 2007

A pair of Belgian movies at the EIFF will showcase the talents of Flemish superstar composer and actor Arno Hintjens. The 59-year-old’s surprisingly mature acting (for a pop star) can be sampled in Martine Doyen’s engrossing personality theft drama…

La Didone

19 Jul 2007

For over 30 years, the most unlikely elements have been combined in the Wooster Group’s work. Everything from creaky old B-movies to cutting edge technology have been spliced together to create arresting pieces of theatre.

Orpheus X

19 Jul 2007

It is a brave man who takes on the darkest echelons of the underworld, electric guitar in hand. For performer and composer Rinde Eckert it was like poetry in motion.

Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela

Edinburgh International Festival

19 Jul 2007

Edinburgh International Festival Bittersweet symphonies Carol Main meets Gustavo Dudamel, the young maestro behind the world renowned Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, which has transformed the lives of many underprivileged young people in its native…

The Bad Plus

19 Jul 2007

He’s already familiar to Edinburgh audiences as the drummer in the Bad Plus, alongside pianist Ethan Iverson and bassist Reid Anderson. But Dave King is also featured in another equally unconventional jazz-rooted trio, Happy Apple, featuring saxophonist…

The Turing Test

19 Jul 2007

Quite what Monteverdi would have thought about a singing computer featuring in an opera is anyone’s guess. Inspired by the famous test set by Alan Turing, founder of modern computer science, composer Julian Wagstaff has written a chamber opera to be…

Tom Tom Club

19 Jul 2007

Director Scott Maidment has reason to be cheerful. His latest show from Australia, Tom Tom Club, is currently re-defining the circus genre. ‘It seems to appeal to everyone, from 14-year-old girls on MySpace to highbrow physical theatre lovers,’ he says.

Tommy Smith and Courtney Pine

19 Jul 2007

Kenny Mathieson finds two British sax greats paying tribute to Coltrane

Don’t stop the music

News Extra

17 Jul 2007

NEWS EXTRA Don’t stop the music Mark Edmundson argues that the demise of independent Scottish music retailer Fopp won’t have a detrimental impact on the wider industry Scottish music store group Fopp closed its doors - for what is likely…

Performers at Fringe Collaborate on Website

News

17 Jul 2007

• Performers at this year’s Fringe are collaborating on a website called showcasefringe.tv, which will feature eight-to-ten minute segments as well as news, sketches and a behind-the-scenes insight into the festival. The site also aims to highlight the…

I Saw You at T in the Park

17 Jul 2007

I Saw You at T in the Park T in the Park 2007 will go down as the best festival atmosphere in the event’s history! The legendary T crowd triumphed in the face of adversity after the heavy rainfall on Friday, and absolutely revelled in the glorious…

Trocabrahma

17 Jul 2007

TROCABRAHMA Latin sensation What do you get if you throw a bunch of top Brazilian and British musicians together? David Pollock finds out (Image: Os Mutantes) Thanks in no small part to the popularity of endearingly loud-mouthed São Paulo…

Hitlist - The best rock, pop, jazz & folk

17 Jul 2007

• A Band Called Quinn, Maxi Geil! and Playcolt Glasgow’s very own up and coming indie kids Quinn are joined by Brooklyn’s finest arch-camp art-rockers Maxi Geil and Playcolt, who are playing in Scotland for the first time. Classic Grand, Glasgow, Tue 24…

Singles & Downloads

Records

16 Jul 2007

SINGLES & DOWNLOADS (Image: The Heavy) I declare it the Summer of Dross! Kicking off the half-arsed festival-promoting releases is Mika ’s ‘Big Girl’ (Casablanca, 1 STAR), which flaps along like Scissor Sisters devoid of the camp charm and…

Dean Owens

Album

16 Jul 2007

ROCK DEAN OWENS Whisky Hearts (Vermillion Road Records) Dean Owens is a genuine one-off. His exploration of songwriting has taken him through the heart of Americana, where he has found many opportunities to show his skills as a songwriter…

Also Released

Records

16 Jul 2007

ALSO RELEASED Sam Baker - Pretty World (An Independent Release) Baker’s dense lyrics reflect life and near loss, and the artist is clearly determined to make sure every single moment counts. Vocals are country-nasal and a little limited, yet the…

Miracle Fortress

Album

16 Jul 2007

EUPHORIC INDIE MIRACLE FORTRESS Five Roses (Rough Trade) Miracle Fortress is really just one man, the sickeningly talented 23-year-old Graham Van Pelt. Actually, ‘miracle fortress’ is a good way of describing what debut album Five Roses…

The Thrills

Album

16 Jul 2007

RETRO POP THE THRILLS Teenager (Virgin) It must be lovely being The Thrills. They seem to exist in an alternate universe to the rest of us, a hazy, sun-dappled version of the past that never happened, as though in perpetual audition for…