Music, Issue 630

What goes around - Orbital

Orbital were pioneers in the world of dance music, with brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll epitomising up the sound of the illegal rave scene with their marrying of ambient and techno, but perhaps more significantly they managed to turn this music – until…

Life as a cabaret

Calum Ritchie investigates the low-budget, cross-genre revolution happening on Glasgow and Edinburgh’s cultural scenes That’s not to suggest these nights are homogenous, because each…

Everything's Gone Green - Coloursfest'09

These straitened times seem to be treacherous ones for festivals, but the last thing we need to get us in the mood for summer fun is a story about another call-off. How about a bit of feelgood news instead? ‘We’re already up 700 ticket sales on where we…

Led Bib

Led Bib hit Scotland for a couple of small venue gigs this month on the back of their latest studio CD, Sensible Shoes, newly released on a new (American) label, Steven Feigenbaum’s Cuneiform Records. The London-based quartet has been attracting a lot…

Fete accomplis - The West End Festival

The West End Festival, which has been going since 1996, is a community festival in the proper sense of the word, running free workshops and concerts, hosting events that involve local businesses and generally inviting residents to celebrate the various…

Dock Life - The Leith Festival

So what’s The Leith Festival, then? It’s an annual community celebration that takes in comedy, dance, film, literature, music, storytelling theatre, visual art and children’s events – in other words everything. A small affair, is it? Hardly. Its…

Aeroplane

Location: Brussels, Belgium. Occupation: Cosmic orbiters of Planet Disco. Should I be excited? We think so. Having planted the magic beans in Glasgow with an infamous performance at H&P last September, Aeroplane return to spray their flourishing…

Capital - Edinburgh Festivals

Not for nothing has Edinburgh garnered a reputation for producing some of the finest festivals in the world. Although Manchester and Melbourne are coming hot on its heels, the Fringe continues to dominate the festival calendar as the self-styled…

Small Wonder - The Wee Chill

So, what’s The Wee Chill then? The Wee Chill is a small, relaxed festival that takes place in the atmospheric environs of the Glasshouse in Glasgow’s Queens Park. This one-day party is an official precursor to The Big Chill, which is, as the name…

Le Weekend

A dubstep artist headlining at a left field music festival may have come about by accident, but the appearance of Jazzstepper and the Moody Boyz as the closing act of this year’s Le Weekend festival is as much of a coup as it is an eye-opener. Throw in…

Cobra Starship - Garage, Glasgow, Thu 22 May

This has been a long time coming for New York City-bred tykes Cobra Starship. Their last two dates in Glasgow were postponed, so third time lucky – it seems. It appears they may have booked the wrong venue however, with the crowd akin more to a youth…

Lord Cut Glass - Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline, Sat 16 May

The least we could expect from a solo project of the man who sang with The Delgados is a bit of arch miserablism dressed up behind deceptively pretty pop songs. On both counts, Alun Woodward – the good Lord himself – delivered, but few might have…

Sonic Youth: The Eternal

The whole ‘youth’ thing may raise a smile, but Hoboken’s finest have settled into a fairly consistent groove, much like their spiritual godfather Neil Young, determined to grow old disgracefully. The Eternal has the band beefed up to a fivesome (with…

Broken Records: Until the Earth Begins to Part

Positively brimming with ambition, confidence and diverse songsmithery, this debut album from the Edinburgh seven-piece folk rock outfit sees them leaving behind early comparisons to Arcade Fire and growing into their own skins beautifully. Opener…

Field of Dreams - Festival History

Jay-Z, Glastonbury 2007 The announcement that Jay-Z was to headline Glastonbury was seen by some – mainly the weekend-hippie middle classes who have adopted their annual pilgrimage as self-serving statement of their true nature whilst working for…

Broken Records

Glasgow has long been the focus in Scotland for all things indie, with Edinburgh a very poor second when it comes to generating quality bands, but there are signs that’s changing. You wouldn’t quite say the capital has caught up yet, but with more…

First Word - Terry Callier

First record you ever bought The first record I ever bought was ‘Crying In the Chapel’ by Sonny Til and the Orioles. Last time you were chatted up The last time I was seriously chatted up was after a concert last year at Wayne State University…

De La Soul

De La Soul got stung. For much of the two decades since the release of seminal hip hopera 3 Feet High And Rising, Plugs One, Two and Three have been at pains to put a significant margin between themselves and the care-free, cartoon mishmash of crunchy…

Baby Loves Disco

Given that most small children have a compulsion to dance, it took a long time for someone to come up with the smart idea of a hang-out for dancefloor-addicted tinys. But in a few short years, Baby Loves Disco has grown dramatically to become an…

5 Reasons to go see: We Were Promised Jetpacks

1. Great band name Often overlooked as an essential requirement for a great band is the need for a cracking band name. We Were Promised Jetpacks has just the right amount of off-kilter comedy and poignancy to get across their bittersweet, scintillating…

Exposure: Serpico

It seems to be quite a quick rise to fame. How did it all get started? Not that quick! We formed the band in mid-2005 and released our EP at the start of 2007. It got some nice reviews and we’ve basically been on the road as much as possible since…