Music and Issue 662

The Rizla Riverboat Shuffle on the Waverley Steamer

Optimo and Melting Pot DJs play second set on board landmark Glasgow landmark boat

30 Jul 2010

David Pollock climbs aboard the Waverley Steamer as Melting Pot and Optimo set sail on another Rizla Riverboat Shuffle It wasn’t meant to be more than a one-off party in a unique location, but the DJs from Glasgow’s Optimo and Melting Pot nights had…

Singles and downloads - July 2010

This month's batch of songs to look out for

30 Jul 2010

Mercury Prize nominee Corinne Bailey Rae takes a sassy new direction in ‘Closer’ (Parlophone) ●●●● – from her new album The Sea – a smoother, more soulful, more kick-ass effort than the sugary rom-com soundtrack stuff she seems to have, mercifully, left…

Futuristic Retro Champions play in Glasgow's Mono

And here are five reasons for you to go and see them...

30 Jul 2010

1. Futuristic Retro Champions Yep, like we said above. After all, this is the Glasgow-based (aside from the one who lives in Edinburgh), all-girl (aside from the one who’s a boy) electro-pop quartet’s launch party for their single ‘May the Forth’, and…

Festival Briefing 2010

Some things we think might help you at this year's festivals

30 Jul 2010

Here's a short briefing about some things to look forward to during the Book Festival, the Fringe, in Music events, and Shopping opportunities in Edinburgh

Lady Carol - Malady

We asked the singing, ukelele playing, dark-humorist five questions

30 Jul 2010

This ukelele lady has an inky-black sense of humour, and can turn the sweetest of love songs into a creepy stalker anthem. Just, please, keep her away from bright light and cakes. Five words you’d use to describe your show Sad songs, silly…

Mitchell Museum at the Edge Festival

Jangly, indie-pop by Weegie flatmates

30 Jul 2010

Mitchell Museum, so legend has it, live, write and record together in a flat in the centre of Glasgow, Monkees-style. ‘It’s true,’ reveals their singer, Cammy MacFarlane. ‘It’s on Sauchiehall Street, just above Nice ‘n’ Sleazy. Well, above and to the…

Lach’s Antihoot - anti-folk night imported from NYC

Birthplace of Beck, Regina Spekto and Jeffrey Lewis comes to Fringe

30 Jul 2010

‘The Antihoot is the heartbeat of the anti-folk revolution,’ explains its infamous founder, Lach. ‘It produced US acts like Regina Spektor, Beck and Jeffrey Lewis, and inspired UK practitioners like Kate Nash and Laura Marling.’ It also prompted…

Villagers at the Edge Festival

Tender, poetic pop, now with added Mercury nomination

30 Jul 2010

‘I usually have a picture or a colour in my head as I’m making a song,’ says Dublin’s Conor O’Brien – the dulcet bard and multi-instrumentalist behind Villagers’ picturesque rock. And so it was with Becoming a Jackal (Domino), the dramatic…

NeWt play Led Zeppelin at the Jazz Bar

Hyper-imaginative and unconvential jazz trio

30 Jul 2010

What Is It? A hyper-imaginative and unconventional jazz trio formed by Australian trombonist Chris Greive, Aberdonian guitarist Graeme Stephens and American drummer Chris Wallace, all Edinburgh residents. Who are these guys? Three of the best…

Edinburgh Mela 2010

An international and ceremonial start to the Festivals

30 Jul 2010

These days the Mela is just as much of a ceremonial start to Edinburgh’s Festivals as the (often far less exciting) Fringe Cavalcade. This year, alongside Bollywood dance shows, multi-artform companies from China, traditional Sufi music from Rizwan…

Sleigh Bells' Treats

30 Jul 2010

From the moment ‘Tell ‘Em’s machine-gun beats and bombastic guitars pummel your ears into stunned submission, Treats struts up and down before you like some aggressively flirtatious hipster girl, just daring you not to fall for its fuck-you…

Arcade Fire releases their all-important third album

The Suburbs is a rewarding and solid LP.

30 Jul 2010

History dictates that many rock greats affirm their credentials upon their third album: Radiohead’s OK Computer, U2’s War and Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run all follow this pattern, and Montreal’s six-strong Arcade Fire aren’t so far from these ranks…

FOUND play at Electric Circus

30 Jul 2010

This experimental pop outfit have been putting out records since 2006, after Tommy, Kev and Ziggy (pictured) met at Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen. They won a BAFTA round about this time last year for their slightly fame-obsessed…

Piping Live! Glasgow's International Piping Festival

8000 pipers and 30,000 visitors descend on Glasgow

30 Jul 2010

This is always a huge deal in the world of traditional music – when 30,000 visitors, and 8000 pipers from around the globe descend on Glasgow for the annual International Piping Festival. This year’s highlights include evening concerts by…

Norrington to step in for EIF concert

Conductor to replace Sir Charles Mackeras for Idommeneo performance

30 Jul 2010

Following the sad news last month that Sir Charles Mackerras had passed away, the Edinburgh International Festival has announced that Sir Roger Norrington will now conduct the performance of Idomeneo with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on Fri 20 Aug.

Piping Live! Family Fun Day

Try your hand at piping, or other musical instruments

30 Jul 2010

If you’ve ever fancied a shot at Tenor Drumming or a wee blow on the pipes, then the Piping Live! Family Fun Day is the perfect opportunity to try out a musical instrument, safe in the knowledge that everyone around you will probably sound just as bad.

Rhythm Drum & Dance

High-energy show comes to the Edinburgh International Conference Centre

30 Jul 2010

We needed a lie down just after watching the YouTube trailer for this one. A high-energy, high drama drum show which began as a 20-minute show in Berlin (and has since expanded to tour around Europe) – this is a celebration of rhythms. And the RD&D…

RM Hubbert performs solo show

The acoustic guitarist supports Dananananaykroyd

30 Jul 2010

Fans of Sparklehorse (RIP, VIP) may care to check out Glasgow acoustic guitarist RM Hubbert’s moving cover of ‘Spirit Ditch’. Hubbert was a big Mark Linkous fan, and his recording is part of a series of covers (Elliott Smith and Vic Chestnutt have also…

Depthcharge teams up with Massimo DaCosta

Expect a night of underground Chicago and New York house

30 Jul 2010

Massimo DaCosta Depthcharge is joined by Belgian DJ Massimo DaCosta who will be demonstrating his profound love of underground Chicago and New York house. He started DJing at 17 and has now played across the globe but moved into production in 2000…

Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival

Promising line-up in an absolutely stunning setting.

30 Jul 2010

All festivals have their own unique selling point. Be it the buffalo burger stall, the grass sledges, the giant headliners, or a Ferris wheel. Here, besides the performances from Harper Simon, Badly Drawn Boy, The Divine Comedy, Erland & The Carnival…

Meow Meow – Feline Intimate

The post modern showgirl delivers a unique type of cabaret

30 Jul 2010

With more purr than a panther, divine diva Meow Meow slinks back to this year’s Fringe with her unique brand of kamikaze cabaret kitsch. With sell-out shows around the world and the likes of David Bowie on her fan list, Meow Meow’s hypnotic performance…

Ali McGregor – Jazz Cigarette

A sexy soulful rendition of songs that inspire

30 Jul 2010

It’s a fine woman who can wrap her vocal chords round Ella, Billie and, er, Britney, with suitable pizzazz. This is sexy soulfulness at its finest, with a harp thrown in. Having warmed up with stints in La Clique and Variety-Nite, here she keeps it real…

Kong plays at Captain's Rest in Glasgow

Loud, abrasive, and possibly naked bellies

30 Jul 2010

Loud, creepy and fond of wearing Y-fronts onstage (and nothing else except a plastic kid’s mask, or Sellotape on their faces). If that’s how you like your music, then this Fugazi-echoing Manc trio are most definitely for you. Expect abrasive punk, and…

Helen Arney delivers Songs of Modern Loving on the ukulele

Ukulele-wielding comic with one eye on the future

29 Jul 2010

When comic musician Helen Arney debuted at the 2009 Fringe with 81/2 Songs About Love (and other myths), she’d already named her 2010 follow-up. ‘Songs for Modern Loving sounds like a lot of things,’ she says. ‘A David Bowie song, a Jonathan Richman…

Five of the best interactive musical shows at the Fringe

29 Jul 2010

Baby Wants Candy: The Full Band Improvised Musical A veteran of four sell-out seasons at the Fringe Baby Wants Candy returns to show the young musical pretenders how it’s done. The premise is simple: the audience shout out potential titles and the…