Music and Issue 611

Hydro Connect Festival - Glasvegas

City limits

21 Aug 2008

It’s hard to think of a band that sums up the Glasgow experience as succinctly as Glasvegas. Primal Scream and The Fratellis may have captured the hedonism, Biffy Clyro the anger and Franz Ferdinand the art, but Glasvegas are the streets of Glasgow writ…

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip

Electrifying collaboration brought together by MySpace

21 Aug 2008

Opposites attract, right? That certainly seems true for Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, the former being a short, stocky, shy beatmaster while the latter is a tall, skinny hyperactive wordsmith. ‘We both bring the best out of each other,’ says Pip, aka…

Miniprofile: Jay Brannan

Sound sugar-coated acoustica with crystal clear swooping vocals and an edge of stark sexuality.

21 Aug 2008

Was it terrifying releasing your first album Goddamned yourself? It seems like the natural order of things to me because I’m such a weird person with very specific ideas and opinions and beliefs. It’s a lot of work, for sure. I’m like, ‘do I get to…

Regal king size

21 Aug 2008

Karol Szymanowski considered himself an outsider which is why he identified with Sicily’s King Roger II and why his opera has become a gay favourite, finds Carol Main The Edinburgh International Festival’s staged opera programme is swinging from one…

Hydro Connect Festival - Spiritualized

Alivestock

21 Aug 2008

Technically dying twice is, needless to say, not an experience you want to relive too often. But because of its intrinsic link to Spiritualized’s sixth studio album Songs in A&E, Jason Pierce’s two times trip to the Pearly Gates and back (one for each…

Superhero

God on their side

21 Aug 2008

Religion and rock music don’t usually mix, but they’ve always been on speaking terms. Elvis himself grew up a good, god-fearing boy, while Bob Dylan, possibly the most famous one-time born-again Christian in music, released two albums of Christian songs…

Hydro Connect Festival - Eco-friendly

How green is my valley?

21 Aug 2008

Carbon neutral is a precise cocktail. It is a recipe that Geoff Ellis, director of T in the Park and creator of the Hydro Connect Festival, has learned by heart. He committed to making T in the Park carbon neutral in 2006, transforming it into the first…

Fettes Jazz Festival

Swingin’ in the Marquee

21 Aug 2008

The fourth Fettes Jazz Festival offers another attractive weekend festival housed in a marquee in the grounds of Fettes College, with a programme that combines top local talent with some exciting guests. The familiar format features an opening session…

Hydro Connect Festival - Acts you might not know

Fresh Connections

21 Aug 2008

Friendly Fires Their biggest influences are the Kompakt label, Carl Craig and Prince, and they’re named after a track by Blackpool post-punk confederacy Section 25. St Albans trio Friendly Fires (Ed MacFarlane, Jack Savidge and Edd Gibson) are one of…

Hitlist - Music

The best gigs this fortnight

21 Aug 2008

N*E*R*D Justin Timberlake guested at their Scottish debut in 2003 after the MTV Music Awards and while this night might not have the trouser-snake in tow, Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams most certainly have what it takes to throw down a platinum hip hop…

James Yorkston - When the Haar Rolls In

21 Aug 2008

In this age of quick fixes and cheap thrills, there’s something deeply comforting about James Yorkston. This fourth studio album is the antithesis of the nasty fast food rush of most mainstream indie fare, more like a luxurious banquet in the company of…

Five reasons to go and see: Tam White & The Dexters

21 Aug 2008

They’re an Edinburgh Institution - the mere mention of the name brings a warm glow to the hearts of Edinburgh music fans of a certain vintage. The band’s legendary residencies at the Preservation Hall and Platform 1 (both now gone as music venues) back…

Two Drummers Drumming

Where’s the six geese a laying and the five gold rings?

21 Aug 2008

Have you heard the one about the drummer? Maurice Bacon and Mathew Priest have, and they’re sick of it. Stick-bashing veterans of two notable bands of the 60s and 90s, they’ve brought their ‘Two Drummers Drumming’ show to this year’s Fringe to dispel…

Inside Yerma

Singing, dancing and despair

21 Aug 2008

Lorca’s play, widely regarded as a metaphor for the Spanish civil war, deals with grand themes of honour, passion, desperation and love. In the Spanish campo, Yerma is unable to conceive with a husband she does not love and feels entombed in her house…

Budapest Festival Orchestra

Folk and gypsy influence evident in programme of two concerts

21 Aug 2008

Starting off with a programme inspired by gypsy music and Hungarian folk melodies, the Budapest Festival Orchestra give two full orchestral concerts in the last week of the Festival plus two presented by some of their soloists. Featuring some rather…

Women in Harmony: Annie Grace, Corrina Hewat and Karine Polwart

Good things come in threes

21 Aug 2008

Three haunting voices, harp, guitar, whistle and pipes, beautifully blended. Annie Grace (pipes/vocals), Corrina Hewat (vocals/harp) and Karine Polwart (guitar/vocals), are three seriously talented musicians in their own right – each with their own solo…

John Baker - The John Baker Tapes Volumes 1 and 2

21 Aug 2008

John Baker was one of three lynchpin members of the much mythologised BBC Radiophonic Workshop during the 60s and 70s whose work, until this reissue on the ever oddball and reliable Trunk Records, has been overshadowed by that of his colleague Delia…

Joe Acheson Quartet

A soundclash of electronics meets jazz can’t be beat

21 Aug 2008

Edinburgh’s favourite sound bending quartet has collaborated with visual artist and filmmaker, Ivan Torres Hdez, creating visuals that he manipulates live on stage for each individual track. Their cinematic effect is enhanced by two drum kits conversing…

Mr McFall's Chamber - Aye: An Affirmation of Martyn Bennett

Fitting tribute to a Scots music pioneer

21 Aug 2008

The eclectic and innovative Mr McFall’s Chamber will be gracing the Spiegel Tent with their own particular interpretation of the music of the late Martyn Bennett who died tragically in 2005 leaving an inspirational musical legacy. Consisting of a core…

Camerata Ritmata

Guitar virtuoso-fronted ensemble experiment in jazz, classical and world

21 Aug 2008

A short bus ride heading eastwards and in no time at all the crowds ease as the coastal community of Musselburgh comes in sight with its handy bus stop just outside the honest toun’s Brunton Hall. Appearing here with special guest singer, Daisy Chute of…

Air Alba

A celebration of Scotland’s contribution to world cuisine through song, story and music

21 Aug 2008

As the small audience shuffled in out of the early evening drizzle, raconteur Nancy Nicholson and guitarist Tony Mitchell happily greeted the audience, spinning yarns before most had even taken their seats. This friendly welcome set the tone for an hour…

Jerusalem Quartet

Globally renowned Israeli foursome make their EIF debut

21 Aug 2008

Making its Edinburgh International Festival debut, the Jerusalem Quartet is the final string quartet to appear at this year’s impressive Queen’s Hall series. Performing in the wake of the Ysaÿe, Belcea and Pavel Haas quartets, the quartet is, says EIF…

Jeana Leslie & Siobhan Miller - In a Bleeze

21 Aug 2008

Singer Siobhan Miller from Penicuik and fiddler and singer Jeana Leslie from Orkney met while students at the RSAMD, and gave notice that we should expect something special when they won the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award for 2008. They excel in the vocal…

Ryan Quigley - Laphroaig-ian Slip

21 Aug 2008

Ryan Quigley is a familiar figure on the Scottish jazz scene, not least through his long tenure in the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. The trumpeter’s love of the classic hard bop and post-bop styles of the 50s and 60s is always apparent in this…

Root Manuva - Slime and Reason

21 Aug 2008

Almost a decade after his debut album Brand New Second Hand appeared, Rodney Smith’s no longer at the head of a field of one. The popularisation of UK hip hop which he ushered in has since given way to garage and then grime, and while he’s stepped back…

Midnight Juggernauts

Aussie trio hit the disco highway

21 Aug 2008

In the past few months, the globetrotting Midnight Juggernauts have toured with Bloc Party, been featured in stroppy lifestyle bible Vice and even cooked for Justice – friends in high places to be sure. While not the latest act to attempt to infuse rock…

Minotaur Shock - Amateur Dramatics

21 Aug 2008

There’s a pleasing, almost literary, conceit to this album. Bristol-based electronica artist Minotaur Shock – otherwise known as David Edwards – has given each downloadable track a pricing guideline corresponding to various criteria of his own choosing.

Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires

21 Aug 2008

This has been a while coming. With the recent flutter of cerebral pop acts with one eye firmly on the dancefloor, it was only a matter of time before the once-ubiquitous cowbell worked its way back into the mix – DFA would approve. This record bursts at…

Jubilee

21 Aug 2008

You can’t dispute the talent involved in Jubilee, featuring Aaron North (Nine Inch Nails/The Icarus Line) on vocals and guitar; Michael Shuman (Queens of the Stone Age/Wires on Fire) on bass and vocals and Jeff Lynn (Wires on Fire) guitar. However they…

The Raconteurs

21 Aug 2008

The seemingly spontaneous nature of the release of their frankly tremendous second album, Consolers of the Lonely, might suggest this quartet, the brainchild of Jack White and his long-time best bud Brendan Benson, were trading in off-the-cuff…

Five questions: Marco Bernardi

21 Aug 2008

Marco Bernardi is the mild-mannered janitor behind Octogen, the jewel in Soma Records’ electronic crown. He comes to Edinburgh as part of the Edge Festival’s Soma Records Night and submits to our probing with peculiar results 5 words to describe your…

Festival of British Youth Orchestras

21 Aug 2008

The last week and a bit of the Festival of British Youth Orchestras at the RSAMD involves mainly Scottish young musicians from both east and west. A huge range of music from film scores to some serious symphonies can be heard, as well as pieces…

Black Sun

21 Aug 2008

Dark doom from Glasgow deviants Black Sun. This is sludgy, rumbling metal that reverberates through your synapses like an earthquake. A crushing assault on the senses with a dose of post-hardcore and ambient of the blackest variety. Check out new album…

The Dodos

21 Aug 2008

San Francisco psych folkers The Dodos’ epic creations are even more impressive when you consider it’s just a duo (Meric Long and Logan Kroeber) producing these complex, free spirited and warming tumbledown tracks. Plus like-minded support from Gorky’s…