Music, Pop, Issue 655

Labels of Love: Say Dirty Records

Advancing the DIY credo and cultural fetishism of landmark indie empires like Cherry Red, Creation, Fast Product and – particularly – Postcard, Glasgow’s Say Dirty has celebrated the sound of young Scotland (and beyond) since 2006. It’s run by identical…

5 Reasons to go and see... Omar Souleyman

1.) He’s Syria’s biggest star In the cassette stalls of Damascus, Omar Souleyman is king, with over 500 releases to his name. He plays around 20 weddings and parties a month and is also popular in parts of Turkey and the Gulf. His biggest hit, the…

Exposure: Esben and the Witch

Those of a fragile disposition are advised to look away now. Brighton horror-folk sorcerers Esben and the Witch – Daniel (axe, electronics), Rachel (lungs, bass), Thomas (axe, synth) – are rapidly advancing. They’re coming to get you, Glasgow You…

Courtney Love tours UK as Hole

Love her or loathe her, Courtney Love is not one to shy away from media attention. The latest feud (eh, besides the one with daughter Frances Bean) concerned Love’s reforming of Hole last year amid a series of high-profile rows with ex-band members over…

Pavement set for 2010 UK reunion tour

The demise of the much-loved American lo-fi band Pavement in the 90s was well documented, so ten years after their drawn-out spilt, the announcement of a reform was a welcome surprise for fans worldwide. Yet the band have made it clear that this is just…

Lady Antebellum - Need You Now

(Parlophone) This trio is taking America by storm, with debut LP sales to compete with Beyoncé – but it’s the country equivalent of the Jonas Brothers; all polish and soullessness.

The Sundancer - 5 Miles To Sunrise

(self-released) Kinks-inspired rock’n’roll with shades of The Monkees, there is a laid-back vibe to this album – unfortunately, it often ends up just sounding lazy and uninspired.

Tiga's Planet Turbo Tour

It must be a good position, to be so on top of your own game that one of the only things left to achieve is helping others to success. That isn’t quite what Tiga’s doing here, but his own label Turbo Recordings is no vanity project, and he’s as hands on…

Cold Cave

‘I grew up in the wasteland of the American 80s,’ explains Cold Cave’s founder Wesley Eisold. ‘(Its) sound has been with me as long as I’ve been here. Otherwise, what influences me varies a lot. Music and film and books like everyone else, but more so…

Holy Fuck - Latin

(Young Turks) Imagine the organic power of Explosions in the Sky married to the ultra-chic beats of Hot Chip. At their best, Toronto punk-dance outfit Holy Fuck blend the two threads brilliantly – crunching guitars, analogue synths and ferocious…

Laura Marling

Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Wed 14 Apr 2010

Everyone knows by now that Laura Marling (lest we forget, a 90s baby) is something of a prodigy, but even so, only a doting mother could have thought that the girl wonder had written ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’ (Neil Young’s song about heroin…

CocoRosie - Grey Oceans

(PIAS) Remember trip-hop pantywaists Sneaker Pimps? Disconcerting swathes of this fourth long-player from CocoRosie will jog your memory if need be. Thankfully the US-born, Paris-based sisters’ foray into cry-baby drum’n’bass is bedimmed by a collage…

JJ - JJ No 3

(Secretly Canadian) Let’s take a moment to clear something up. ‘Clannad’ need not be a term of abuse. A brief (and delirious) dip into their sublime Robin of Sherwood masterwork will bear witness. With reference to Sweden’s bliss-pop hipsters JJ…

Shonen Knife

‘When I finally got to see them live, I was transformed into a hysterical nine-year-old girl at a Beatles concert’ – the now immortal words of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain on Japanese punk-pop trio, Shonen Knife, who make their welcome return to the UK this…

Super Adventure Club - Avoid Zombies

(Armellodie Records) Avoid Zombies, eh? Good advice indeed from this Glasgow trio’s latest release, but that’s the only sensible thing about it. The opening track is called ‘Hip Hop Hot Pot Pot Noodle’ forchrissakes, and from there on in the Super…

Jim Kroft - Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea

(Sidewalk 7) Recorded in London via bohemian Berlin (where he now lives) and the Scottish Highlands (where he was raised), young Kroft has clearly procured his parents’ 80s pop-music collection: OMD, China Crisis, A Flock Of Seagulls, The Lightning…

These New Puritans

What did those drums ever do to These New Puritans? Something pretty heinous, judging by the way not one, but two of the band spend most of the set whacking seven bells out of them. It’s the most arresting aspect of the show -- and the sight of the two…