Music and Issue 650

Why Fife is celebrating illustrious son Richard Jobson

18 Feb 2010

Here in Scotland, we love a tale of the local boy doing good, and musician-turned-writer and film-maker Richard Jobson has done just that. A former member of punk band, The Skids, Jobson often sets his scene – whether it be his music, photography, film…

Backbeat

18 Feb 2010

Iain Softley’s 1994 film Backbeat charted the pre-stardom career of The Beatles, focusing on the relationship between John Lennon, his best friend and fellow art student Stuart Sutcliffe, who succumbed to a brain tumour aged 22, and Sutcliffe’s lover…

Hot Chip

18 Feb 2010

You get the feeling that everyone who’s anyone in Edinburgh was out for this show. It wasn’t just a big gig, it was one by a band whose new album One Life Stand has set the benchmark for crossover electronic pop style in ‘10. Did it live up to its own…

Jeans Team

18 Feb 2010

Berlin duo Jeans Team have been doing the thing they do better than most and for longer too, both predating and outliving the electroclash scene during which they came to prominence, after originally emerging from Berlin’s art and music scene a decade…

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

18 Feb 2010

Young violinist Nicola Benedetti performs an emotionally-loaded concerto from the Finnish composer, Sibelius, followed by Shostakovich’s epic Tenth Symphony. Shostakovich’s Tenth was the first the Russian composer had composed since he was denounced by…

Efterklang - Magic Chairs

17 Feb 2010

(4AD) If Alphabeat’s brand new sped-up hyper-pop effort The Spell makes you wonder what you ever saw in Denmark in the first place, fellow Danes, Efterklang deliver subtle, tinkling orchestral pop by way of national apology.

Pere Ubu, Mogwai, Thomas Truax and Zombie Zombie set for The Glasgow Music and Film Festival

17 Feb 2010

The Music and Film Festival is a strange beast, full of contradictions and tangents that threaten to pull apart its coherence, but ultimately make it the most exciting strand of this year’s Glasgow Film Festival. Co-curated by the Arches, and featuring…

The Knife (with Mt Sims and Planningtorock) - Tomorrow, in a Year

17 Feb 2010

(Brille) Darwin’s discoveries get the ‘electro meets classical’ treatment in this experimental tribute opera. Fever Ray, or Silent Shout fans will find it requires lots more ‘uphill’ from the listener, but if you’re in a mood to indulge the…

Holly Miranda - The Magician’s Private Library

17 Feb 2010

(XL Recordings) Produced by Dave ‘TV On the Radio’ Sitek (hands up who’s still not been produced by Dave, please), this impressive, otherworldly debut is floaty, Cat-Power-esque and sprinkled with Au Revoir Simone Casiotone beats.

Kill Your Timid Notion 2010 seeks to rewrite the rules of engagement

17 Feb 2010

This experimental sound and image festival has been disrupting the peace in Dundee for seven riotous, challenging and boundary-pushing years. For 2010, however, the artists are seeking something straightforward from their audiences – participation.

Cabaret Voltaire celebrates fifth birthday

Guests include DC Breaks, Slam, Fenech-Soler, Zane Lowe and Tom Middleton

17 Feb 2010

‘Cabaret Voltaire is one of the most atmospheric spaces you could ever find an underground club. It’s a very rare music-orientated team that work here. We’re a little family that are incredibly passionate about what we do, and I feel that really comes…

Why Lady Gaga is the future of pop

17 Feb 2010

We tried to resist, honestly we did, but Lady Gaga got to The List in the end. It wasn’t the relentless, vom-inducing marketing campaign that did it either. No, no, we survived all that initial fluff; we battled triumphantly against the moneyed barrage…

Crazy Heart, Tender Mercies and country music on film

17 Feb 2010

Crazy Heart is a tale of alcoholism, love, redemption and country music. It has a healthy lineage writes Paul Dale

Singles and downloads - February 2010

17 Feb 2010

Let’s start this time with the newie from Sugababes version (counts on fingers) 4.0, because a new Sugababes single, ace or execrable, will always be worthy of discussion. And ‘Wear My Kiss’ (Island) ●●● is certainly blessed with a memorable chorus…

Edinburgh Quartet - 50th anniversary gala concert

17 Feb 2010

As the highlight of their golden anniversary season, the Edinburgh Quartet celebrate in style with a special gala concert and new commission from composer Howard Blake, he of Snowman and ‘Walking in the Air’ fame. Blake also appeared as pianist in the…

Bonobo set for Edinburgh show at Departure Lounge

17 Feb 2010

Name Bonobo Occupation Soul, jazz, hip hop and electronica producer of note What kind of monkey business is this? OK, very clever. Bonobos are indeed a species of small Chimpanzees (which are apes not monkeys for the record) but the Bonobo…

Padded Cell set for date at Glasgow's Kitty Kat Klub

17 Feb 2010

Richard Sen is being a bit modest when he describes the music he makes alongside partner Neil Higgins in Padded Cell as ‘just dance music, really.’ Asked to elaborate a little further, he’ll concede that the duo are often lumped in with the nu-disco…

Errors set for date at Grand Ole Opry, Glasgow

17 Feb 2010

‘God, I hope it doesn’t get to the point where we all try to outdo each other and turn into Rush,’ shudders Errors’ drum leviathan James Hamilton, talking about the Glasgow quartet’s rousing group dynamic. ‘But the thing about playing in an instrumental…

Exposure: So So Modern

17 Feb 2010

They’re hard men to pin down, are So So Modern. In the midst of a 28-date European tour over 31 days when The List tries and fails to collar them for a chat (somewhere over France, in fact), the quartet from Wellington, New Zealand are clearly adherents…

French Horn Rebellion, Maple Leaves and Conquering Animal Sound play Pinup Ladies' Night

17 Feb 2010

‘The main thing I noticed about our last Ladies’ Night is that it was packed out,’ says John D, one of the team of promoters who run Glasgow indie club Pinup Nights. ‘The sexes were pretty balanced, though, because I think lots of guys made a point of…

Girls set for Glasgow live date

17 Feb 2010

Bleary-eyed San Fran duo, Girls, follow up last October’s Scottish dates with another gig, as part of a frankly stomach-churning US/European tour. The pair, comprising of Chet ‘JR’ White and Christopher Owens, released their debut – simply titled, Album…

Frightened Rabbit - The Winter Of Mixed Drinks

17 Feb 2010

(Fat Cat) Along with The Twilight Sad and The Phantom Band, Frightened Rabbit are at the vanguard of Scottish indie, building a fine reputation for powerful, plaintive rock shapes and brutally honest lyricism. Their two albums to date have shown…

Sir Richard Bishop

17 Feb 2010

For the past three decades, avant-garde guitar wizard, Sir Richard Bishop has dazzled, confounded and disturbed, both as a member of Arizona freaks Sun City Girls, and as a wildly inventive solo artist. While less deranged than Sun City Girls’ sprawling…

Crazy Heart

17 Feb 2010

(15) 111min It’s another day in another shit hick town for country and western singer-songwriter Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges). The music business isn’t what it used to be; his schedule now consists of bowling hall and the back rooms of bars. Between the…

Hidden Door

17 Feb 2010

An all-you-can-eat weekend-long festival of multi-disciplinary art designed to get Edinburgh’s cells of creative activity talking to each other. It was an admirable ethos, and certainly experiencing the unmistakeable I-am-at-a-festival sensation in…

These New Puritans - Captain’s Rest, Glasgow, Thu 4 Feb 2010

17 Feb 2010

Puritanical? Maybe. This Southend-On-Sea quartet certainly give the impression they aren’t here to compromise, play the game or do what they’re told in order to eke out a little more media coverage, and we can only appreciate them for it. Jack Barnett…

Brassjaw - Deal With It!

17 Feb 2010

(Keywork Records) Although the Glasgow-based quartet launched this album with a gig in Glasgow back in November, it has only recently been officially released on saxophonist Paul Towndrow’s label. The group began life as a conventional saxophone…

Julien Lourau - Quartet Saigon

17 Feb 2010

(Naive) French saxophonist Julian Lourau’s band, and this album, both take their name from the fact that the first gig with this particular line-up took place in Saigon in 2007, rather than from any more intrinsic Vietnamese connection. The…

RM Hubbert - First & Last

17 Feb 2010

(Ubisano) Once a member of the now defunct Glasgow instrumentalists El Hombre Trajeado, guitarist RM Hubbert delivers his debut solo release and proves that there’s much to be said for working hard on your craft. Here, he flexes his post-rock…

The Courteeners - Falcon

17 Feb 2010

(A&M Records) The second album from The Courteeners proves that this Manchester band aren’t afraid to wear their influences on their sleeves. Openly describing themselves as a mix of Morrissey, Elbow and The Verve, these musical patrons clearly hold…

Ali and Toumani - Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté

17 Feb 2010

(World Circuit) Malian bluesman Ali Farka Touré was a towering musical figure who has left a legacy of groundbreaking albums. In 2005 he and kora (harp-lute) player Toumani Diabaté won a Grammy for their collaboration In The Heart of the Moon. The…

A Broken Consort - Crow Autumn

17 Feb 2010

(Tompkins Square) Aural cartographer Richard Skelton has long transcribed and excavated his much-loved Lancashire landscape by way of contemporary classical music. His heady, elemental hymns are attributed to various guises – Carousell, Clouwbeck and…

LoneLady - Nerve Up

17 Feb 2010

(Warp) LoneLady might be coming on all Manchester warehouse post-punk or whatever, but she’s best when spitting soul asides and rewiring Gwen Guthrie’s ‘Ain’t Nothin’ Goin’ on But the Rent’ – as she somehow does, and boy, it works, on her debut…

Marina and the Diamonds - The Family Jewels

17 Feb 2010

679 The latest in a long line of new Kate Bushes, Greek/Welsh loony tune Marina Diamandis arrives in a fair blitz of hype, but this debut album is a charmless affair which mistakes self-aggrandising for personality and synth-pop rip-offs for musical…

Rob Zombie - Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool

17 Feb 2010

(Roadrunner) Rob Zombie is certainly one of the most enigmatic figures in modern metal. He’s evolved from rock star to a full-blown, gore-loving stage persona (a feat last pulled off by Marilyn Manson to increasingly lacklustre results). Taking a…

Toro Y Moi - Causers of This

17 Feb 2010

(Car Park) Toro Y Moi is Martian-talk for ‘pissed-up, blissed-out pop’. Or so South Carolinian electro-bard Chaz Bundick would have us believe on Causers of This – his computer-engendered, patchouli-infused and entirely affable debut album. Tipping…

Cobra Starship - Hot Mess

17 Feb 2010

(Atlantic) This latest offering from New York electro boppers Cobra Starship features some pretty disposable tracks, like the lacklustre ‘Fold Your Hands Child’ (a nod to the album of the same name by Scots twee-heroes, Belle & Sebastian) but when…

Razia - Zebu Nation

17 Feb 2010

(Cumbancha) As far away as Madagascar is, the irresistible rhythms of the music of newcomer Razia make it feel a lot closer. Razia is a beautiful person in looks, heart and mind and uses her strikingly fresh voice for well crafted dance songs with a…

Field Music set for Glasgow date

17 Feb 2010

Sunderland indie types Field Music have included members of The Futureheads and Maxïmo Park amongst their ranks at various times and while they share a certain quirkiness with said bands they are a more thoughtful proposition as showcased on their new…

Xiu Xiu set for Edinburgh and Glasgow dates

17 Feb 2010

Jamie Stewart (the only constant member of Xiu Xiu) makes pop music. But it’s the weirdest pop music you’ll ever hear, but still encompasses the chirpy tunefulness, lyrical hooks and bouncy playfulness of the form, but imbues it with enough electronic…

Mastodon to showcase Crack the Skye at Barrowlands

17 Feb 2010

Huge, multifaceted progressive metal as the mighty Mastodon return. Rumour has it they are still playing their latest album, Crack the Skye (a complex masterpiece detailing the astral journeys of a paraplegic), in its entirety for the first half of…

Mick Taylor, Jennifer Batten and Henry McCullough guest at Fifestock

17 Feb 2010

With a capacity of just 50, Fifestock is a truly intimate month of gigs. Focusing on the world of blues, roots and folk and featuring the likes of Mick Taylor, Jennifer Batten, Henry McCullough, Graham Gouldman and more for the ‘ultimate living-room…

Graeme Stephen Sextet with Ben Davis

17 Feb 2010

The sextet expands to a septet as cellist Ben Davis of Mercury Music Prize nominees Basquiat Strings joins inventive guitarist Stephen for a night of free improvisation, Celtic and world music influences. Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Fri 26 Feb…

Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History

17 Feb 2010

(Kitsune) Perky, itchy indie-pop from Northern Ireland, on the dancey Parisian label, Kitsune. Sounds like Franz Ferdinand, crossed with The Feeling on ‘Do You Want It All’ and ‘This Is The Life’, while there are sub-Postal Service echoes (in a bad…

Sharleen Spiteri - The Movie Songbook

17 Feb 2010

(Mercury) The Texas frontwoman has gone all camp and a bit ‘Liza Streisand’ on this platform-heeled tribute to her favourite soundtracks. Her retakes on ‘Xanadu’, ‘Take My Breath Away’ and ‘If I Can’t Have You’ just left us craving the originals…

Iain Shaw - May You Live All The Days of Your Life

17 Feb 2010

(Vow of Noise) Recorded and mixed over four hours, in Glasgow, Iain Shaw’s covers album includes gentle, intriguing, but over-tweedy and earnest folk versions of Motorhead (‘Motorhead’) and The Ramones (‘Blitzkreig Bop’).

New Territories 2010

10 Feb 2010

The cutting edge dance and performance festival returns to Glasgow for its tenth outing. This year’s programme of specially commissioned work by international artists includes premieres of work by Australian performance installation artist Fleur Elise…