Music, Issue 626

Dananananaykroyd

You’ll probably have been aware of the name Dananananykroyd being shouted from the rooftops of the Scottish music scene for a few years – it’s so joyfully unwieldy you could hardly have missed it. Yet, only now are the self-styled ‘fight-pop’ Glasgow…

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz!

Show Your Bones almost broke them, but if any band could survive their self-professed darkest period and come back all cylinders firing it’s the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Snooty types have always been quick to pooh-pooh the art rock trio’s muso credibility…

Big Ned

POST-BLUES To say that Glasgow’s Big Ned are the first signing to the newly-inaugurated Optimo Music label (formerly Oscarr) might give some idea as to where they’re coming from. An exciting and challenging place, sure, but possibly one which has…

The Noisettes

POP Originally signed to Side Salad Records, this London trio started off life as a post-punk revival band but if tonight’s showcase of their soon-to-be-released album Wild Young Hearts is anything to go by, have changed their directon rather…

Paper Planes

INDIE/PUNK One part American, three parts Scottish and all parts pretty exceptional, Glasgow’s Paper Planes have struck on a great formula. New Jersey-born front woman Jennifer Paley is as photogenic as a young Chrissie Hynde and caterwauls as…

Alyth - People Like Me

FOLK Derby-based Navigator Records has established a significant presence on the Scottish folk scene in the past year or so, and now adds Alyth to a roster that also includes Lau, Kris Drever, John McCusker, Martin Green and rootsy singer-songwriter…

Enrico Rava - New York Days

JAZZ Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava presents a new line-up on this quintet outing, in which his protégé and regular collaborator, pianist Stefano Bollani, is joined by an American trio of saxophonist Mark Turner, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer…

Paul Clarvis & Liam Noble - Starry Starry Night

JAZZ A delightful duet release from percussionist Paul Clarvis and pianist Liam Noble. The premise is simple – take a set of songs, ranging from established jazz standards to contemporary material like Don MacLean’s ‘Vincent’ (the Van Gogh link is…

Le Reno Amps - Tear It Open

GUITAR POP This third offering from the Scottish popsters doesn’t fit in with any current trends, which is all the more reason to take them to your heart. From Aberdeen by way of Glasgow, the Amps here deliver an unashamedly upbeat and melody-strewn…

Crystal Antlers - Tentacles

PSYCH ROCK This debut long-player from Californian psych-rock hairballs Crystal Antlers is ablaze with acid-fried garage, solar free-jazz, lo-fi blare and scorchio freak-pop. Yet its escapist clamour is offset by an apocalyptic lyrical…

Secret Wars

The first rule of Art Club is: you don’t talk about Art Club. Unless you’re writing a piece in a magazine. We’re not really sure what an event describing itself as ‘like Fight Club, with artists’ entails, but this live art battle has been running at…

A Made Up Sound (2562) - Shortcuts

DUBSTEP Known for his finely polished productions on Tectonic and Subsolo, Dave Huisman’s has cleverly crafted a name for himself, wedging himself nicely between the worlds of Techno Soul and Dubstep. This latest MP3 only offering was put together…

First Word - Carl Cox

What’s the first record you ever bought? It was in 1975. It was Tamla Motown, it cost 75p from HMV in Sutton and was Diana Ross, ‘Love Hangover’. When was the last time you were chatted up? Last weekend actually, very nice. I don’t really go out…

Fangs

PREVIEW For a band who seem like they just sprang forth as a leather and lycra-wearing, Kohl-retouched embodiment of the NY punk scene circa ‘77 (with added electronics), Fangs have done a bit of evolving. Anyone who’s been around the Scottish scene…

Labels of Love - Avalanche Records Album Club

Based in Edinburgh Roster Not a roster as such, but they dip into the finest indie music from around the globe, with a Scottish accent on things. The gaffer Kevin Buckle, owner of Avalanche Records for an impressive 25 years, ubiquitous…

Cabaret Baby

CABARET It’s a brave man who throws off the shackles of his classical traditions and embraces a bit of Dolly Parton. But Stephen Deazley is just the man for the job. Inspired by a suitably colourful youth basking in the joys of late 70s, early 80s…

The Big Pink

PREVIEW Milo Cordell and Robbie Furze have come a long way since their days of running club nights in a disused horse hospital in Islington. ‘We were both really into industrial noise,’ says Cordell. ‘Just noise. Like kkkssshhh. Kkkrrr. Distorted…

Exposure: Unicorn Kid

At just 17, Leith-dwelling wonder-boy Oli Sabin, aka Unicorn Kid, has already had more than a million MySpace users tuning in to his manic brand of pop-eyed toy box techno. He played the London and Glasgow launch parties of teen TV drama Skins, and has…

Colin Steele & Dave Milligan

PREVIEW This is the final element in Assembly Direct’s current series featuring trumpeter Colin Steele, and should be a memorable occasion. Steele’s plangent, lyrical trumpet work and Milligan’s harmonically sophisticated pianism is already a…

5 Reasons to Go See - Beardyman

1. He’s got a world of music in his mouth Yes, it’s the wonderful world of beatboxing and Beardyman, aka Londoner Darren Foreman, is up there with the very best. It’s not just extraordinary beats the man can reproduce, but also copycat singing voices…

The Johnny 7

CHARITY GIG Many crimes against humour are regrettably pardoned when Comic Relief night comes around, and in the grand scheme of things a few guys playing lounge covers of classic pop hits while wearing black polo necks and joke shop moustaches is…

Also Released - Records

The Black Dog - Further Vexations (Soma Records) Techno-legends The Black Dog deliver an album of perfectly crafted soundscapes of glistening highs and the deepest bass. Further Vexations is a self-proclaimed ‘21st century response to the rat on your…

DOOM - Born Like This

HIP HOP So the MF is gone and underground hip hop’s most malcontent son insists on uppercase only for his moniker, but other than that it’s business as usual for DOOM who follows his 2005 Dangerdoom collaboration with Gorillaz and Gnarls Barkely…

Mastodon - Crack the Skye

METAL Resisting any temptation to compromise their sound in pursuit of any continued commercial growth, Atlanta’s Mastodon run headlong down a dark path where giant nocturnal beasts ravage the land with the making of exploratory progressive metal as…