Music, Issue 580

Tom Tom Club

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.

Trocabrahma

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…

Happy Mondays and James

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

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

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

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

Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela

Edinburgh International Festival

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…

Tommy Smith and Courtney Pine

Kenny Mathieson finds two British sax greats paying tribute to Coltrane

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

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

Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert

Edinburgh International Festival

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

The Turing Test

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…

La Didone

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.

Jacqui Dankworth

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…

The Bad Plus

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…

Orpheus X

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.

Capriccio

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.

Alyn Cosker Trio

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…

I Saw You at T in the Park

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…

Don’t stop the music

News Extra

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…

Hitlist - The best rock, pop, jazz & folk

• 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…

Performers at Fringe Collaborate on Website

News

• 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…

The Beats

Beats international Miles Johnson raps about hip hop with Example and Professor Green, two of the acts on The Beats, the label set up by Streets frontman Mike Skinner With the emergence of Mike Skinner and Dizzee Rascal, British hip hop is…

Ukulele Ceilidh

She’s performed in clubs, in taxis, for crowds of hundreds, and in front of her cat. Kirstin Innes meets the woman behind Eilidh's Daily Ukulele Ceilidh.

Singles & Downloads

Records

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

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…

Playlist

PLAYLIST This month’s PlayList is dedicated to Mystery Science Theatre 3000, a Minneapolis television show which broadcasted commentaries on 198 obscure films between 1988 and 1999. Now uploaded onto the internet by the show’s dedicated fans…