Music, Issue 590

New Scottish bands

Over the last couple of years, it has sometimes seemed like the end of an era for Scottish indie music. Starting with the amicable split of the seminal Delgados, and, more recently, the demise of Falkirk’s Arab Strap and underrated noiseniks…

Example - Word smart

Even for seasoned trend-spotters and taste makers like those here at The List it isn’t easy to predict which artists will strike a chord with the masses, who will stall before take-off and who will crash and burn. Having conquered press and public…

Stereophonics

ROCK SECC, Glasgow, Sun 25 Nov It’s a rock truism. Some bands burn out, some fade away while a few just keep rolling on for an age, undaunted by critical opinion and undimmed in their fans’ affections. Stereophonics are an archetypal example of…

SNJO plays Woody Herman

JAZZ Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 24 Nov; Byre Theatre, St Andrews, Fri 30 Nov; RSAMD, Glasgow, Sat 1 Dec The SNJO have already featured the music of Ellington, Basie and Goodman, so it seems only natural that Tommy Smith and his troops should now…

Fiddle 2007

FOLK Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, Fri 16–Sun 18 Nov Asked to name a famous fiddler, most people think of the mysterious character in Fiddler on the Roof, the archetypal lone folk musician, or failing that the lass from The Corrs. Musically, it’s a…

Vieux Farka Toure

WORLD Arches, Glasgow, Sun 25 Nov When Vieux Farka Toure played at WOMAD this year, world music fans were intrigued to see how he would fare. When his father, the great Malian music oracle Ali Farka Toure died in 2006, he left behind a musical…

The Necks

JAZZ The Lot, Edinburgh, Wed 7 Nov Live, the extended improvisations of the Australian trio of pianist Chris Abrahams, drummer Tony Buck and bassist Lloyd Swanson should curl up into an inward-looking heap. Yet, as their recent album, Townsville…

Music DVD Round-Up

Oasis show their capacity to entertain remains undiminished on Lord Don’t Slow Me Down (Sony) ••• which follows Noel and Co round the world on the tour to support Don’t Believe the Truth. More accurately it shows the relentlessness and tedium of touring…

Singles & Downloads

There’s a definite sense of gloom hanging over this fortnight’s bunch, particularly from the Glaswegians. Make Model prove that misery needn’t be without a sense of humour in ‘The Was’ (EMI) ••••, whose grungy cries of ‘Comatose stoned/Softening the…

Dunedin Consort – Buxtehude Anniversary Concert

ANNIVERSARY Queens Hall, Edinburgh, Sun 18 Nov Composers’ anniversaries can be neat pegs upon which to hang concert programmes, with the added bonus that audiences hear music that otherwise might not get much of an airing. In the case of Dietrich…

5 Reasons To Go See - The Hives

1 ‘Cos every girl crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man’ Sorry for starting with a ZZ Top quote, but it couldn’t be more apt for this impeccably attired Swedish five-piece garage rock behemoth. Every new record comes accompanied by a razor-sharp new look, and…

Britney Spears

POP Blackout (Jive) Producer So, she’ll be here in a few minutes, yeah? Record company executive Yeah, so we’ll have a window of 30 minutes to lay down some vocals. P But she hasn’t even heard the tunes yet... RCE Erm, yeah, just, um...

Paul Vickers & The Leg

ROCK Nice’n’Sleazy’s, Glasgow, Tue 6 Nov Rock’n’roll clichés, eh? Musicians trashing their instruments, throwing TVs out of their hotel room windows, and erm... their backing bands modelling terrifying panda-meets-voodoo-skeleton outfits. The…

The Ting Tings

POWERPOP Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Wed 17 Oct If record labels really must go getting caught up in unseemly ‘bidding wars’, the least they can do is make sure they’re getting a good band. Columbia recently won the squabble for Manchester duo The Ting…

Portico Quartet

JAZZ Knee-Deep in the North Sea (Babel Vortex) The first release on the new label jointly run by Oliver Weindling’s The Babel Label and the London jazz club The Vortex features the debut album from a young group attracting a lot of attention at the…

Scottish Opera: Seraglio

OPERA Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Sat 24, Tue 27 & Thu 29 Nov. Seen at Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Sat 27 Oct The term Turkish harem usually brings to mind opulent palaces, sumptuous silks and sensual, oriental soft-furnishings. In Seraglio, however…

Chihiro Yamanaka

JAZZ Lach Doch Mal (Emarcy) This young Japanese pianist makes her Scottish debut this issue at The Lot, and follows in the wake of Hiromi in being snapped up by a major label. Like many of our own young jazz musicians, she has studied both in London…

Burial

DUBSTEP Untrue (Hyperdub) This is as far from the blissed-out Ibiza late-night comedown as you could ever wish. Burial’s intention was to create a soundtrack for a moment in the middle of the night; a moment of dark contemplation and he has does so…

Dillinger Escape Plan

METAL Ire Works (Relapse) Having written the definitive math-metal album with 1999’s Calculating Infinity debut, DEP have faced incessant criticism from a select few for daring to expand the sonic palette. Ire Works looks set to provoke further…

Fraser Anderson

FOLK Coming Up for Air (Monochrome) Born in Edinburgh and now based in Paris, Fraser Anderson is a hidden talent. Certainly in an era when you can’t turn round for a new, major label-signed singer-songwriter busking on every street corner, his…

DJ Vadim

HIP HOP The Sound Catcher Extras (BBE) When The Sound Catcher came out last year, some reviewers believed that DJ Vadim, the original White Russian, was not interested in inventing sub-genres, but simply putting his stamp on the music he was in…

Duran Duran

NEW ROMANTIC LEGENDS Red Carpet Massacre (RCA) In the 20-odd years since the original fab five went their separate ways, Duran Duran have plastered the cracks in their line-up with contributions from session musicians and legendary producers such as…

Nine Black Alps

ALT.ROCK Love/Hate (Island) When this Manchester foursome released their debut album two years ago, they sounded a great deal like Nirvana. Now they’re back it’s disappointing to hear just how little they have actually progressed. On the plus side…