Music and Pop

Steve Strange and the Detroit Starrzz - Citrus Club, Edinburgh, Fri 3 Feb 2012

Disappointing gig from the New Romantic

8 Feb 2012

When 80s tribute band, and tonight's support act Party Fears Three dedicate their bombastically unsubtle cover of David Bowie's 'Ashes To Ashes' to Steve Strange,…

Lana Del Rey - Born to Die

The starlet's debut album outshines the blogocentric hype

8 Feb 2012

(Polydor) Amid the conspiracy theories, the double-standards, the cosmetic surgery obsessions, the questions of authenticity (or lack thereof – like pop was ever without a scheme); amid the histrionic revelations (how dare she have tried before!…

Still Corners, Captain’s Rest, Sat 4 Feb

Dreamy shoegaze five-piece tour recent album

8 Feb 2012

Still Corners had one heck of a 2011, playing SXSW, touring Europe and the US and releasing their debut LP, Creatures of an Hour, and the little basement of the Captain’s is full of people wondering if they can be as lovely live as they are on record.

Madonna announces Scottish date for 2012

The Queen of Pop will visit Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium on Sat 21 July

7 Feb 2012

Pop empress Madonna has just announced a world tour which will call in at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on Saturday 21 July. The 'Sticky & Sweet Tour' comes off the back of a busy period for Madge: she's just directed period/contemporary romance W.E.

Hazy Recollections – O2 ABC2, Glasgow, Sun 22 Jan

Electro-folk and French lullabies bring weepie and comedy moments

3 Feb 2012

Celtic Connections’ Hazy Recollections sessions are great for two main reasons. Firstly, they provide a gathering place for the legion of those with beards and plaid shirts. Secondly, you get to see just how far the festival’s remit of ‘folk, roots and…

M83 - The Arches, Thu 19 Jan

Revered French electro act let down by bad sound

3 Feb 2012

The problem with eagerly anticipating a show for any great length of time is that you always leave yourself open to disappointment if things don’t live up to your expectations, such is the way with live music. Sold out weeks in advance, M83’s…

Ed Sheeran - Tue 10 Jan 2012, HMV Picture House, Edinburgh

Unlikely chart-topping teen idol performs angsty ballads

3 Feb 2012

‘I have some news’, Ed Sheeran casually mentions amidst the screaming adoration, after a nice loop-pedal driven cover of 'Wayfaring Stranger'. ‘My album’s just gone triple platinum’. (More screams). Quite impressive, really, for the unlikely teen idol…

Wild Flag, Oran Mor, Mon 30 Jan

Indie-rock supergroup prove more than the sum of their parts

3 Feb 2012

The word ‘supergroup’ often sets alarm bells ringing. What if the weight of previous successes is too much pressure? What if this new project isn’t as good? Hell, what if it’s downright rubbish (see exhibit A: Velvet Revolver)? Wild Flag are of…

Paul McCartney - Kisses on the Bottom

Macca covers 1920s and 1930s standards, with vanilla results

3 Feb 2012

Paul McCartney has the weirdest back catalogue of any Beatle. This is an album of the 20s and 30s standards his dad used to play and it's less weird than perplexing, thanks to the unfortunate choice of Tommy 'Mainstream' LiPuma as producer. After his…

The Banana Sessions - Mixtape

Long-awaited debut album from the folksy Edinburgh fivesome

3 Feb 2012

Waiting four years before releasing debut album Mixtape, Edinburgh five-piece The Banana Sessions certainly can't be accused of rushing in to anything. Exhibiting an eclectic combination of styles Mixtape opens with 'Two Seasons' a well crafted folk…

Exposure: Still Corners

Cinematic dream-pop with a Lynchian vibe

1 Feb 2012

The whispery female vocal, the unsettling tone, the shoegazey guitars... There’s a very cinematic, 1990s David Lynch feel to the heavenly dream-pop of London-based Still Corners. The List finds singer Tessa Murray and songwriter Greg Hughes drinking…

Azari & III - Azari & III

Credit due delivering a straightforward house music manifesto with compelling four-to-the-floor forc

1 Feb 2012

(Island) This self-titled debut is actually a major label re-release of an album that, until recently, was widely available as an import – including on Spotify. It’s getting a reboot in the UK in CD form (you remember CDs right?) though really the…

Palace - Domino reissue several albums from Will Oldham project

There is No-one What Will Take Care Of You/ Days In The Wake/ Hope/ Viva Last Blues/ Lost Blues And

1 Feb 2012

(Domino) Before he cast himself as Bonnie Prince Billy, Kentuckian alt-folk heartbreaker Will Oldham recorded several exquisite, distinguished long-players under the Palace moniker. After aeons in the hard-to-find wilderness, they will be…

GFF 2012 - Silver Apples set for Glasgow Music and Film Festival

Live set from the cult 60s space rock pioneers

27 Jan 2012

When Simeon Coxe III took a 1940s vintage oscillator onstage with him to liven up the psych-rock band he fronted, sparks flew to the extent that half the band left, and, with only drummer Danny Taylor in tow, Silver Apples were born. With their name…

Django Django - Django Django

Dense and often surprising debut spitting up bursts of bold, spaced-out texture

27 Jan 2012

(Because) Django Django’s debut has a lot of strings to its bow. It benefits from being the result of prolonged and measured tinkering by three Edinburgh art school grads over the space of a couple of years in a London bedroom. These efforts have…

The high energy, high concept dance-rock of Justice is French through-and-through

To these new gods of French electronic music, we say Salut!

27 Jan 2012

The hair; the crotch-hugging denim; the ‘tude - everything about Justice’s demeanour screams metal. And with good reason. The band, comprising Xavier de Rosnay (monobrow, flaired nostrils) and Gaspard Augé (hair of Robert Plant, moustache of a Deep…

Trailer Trash Tracys - Captain’s Rest, Glasgow, Sun 15 Jan 2012

Effects-laden shoegaze fog heavy on the exquisite melodrama

27 Jan 2012

Not, as you might have expected from the name, a clan of bad-mouthin’, whisky-swillin’ Midwestern girls battering badly-tuned guitars and trying to resurrect the lost souls of L7 or The Distillers, Trailer Trash Tracys are instead three guys and a girl…

Real Estate set for UK tour

New Jersey trio take one of the best albums of 2011 on the road

27 Jan 2012

Let England Shake may have topped most of the critics’ lists, but for many it was word-of-mouth, you have to hear this, slow-burner Days by Real Estate that became their hands down musical highlight of 2011. This much-lauded record was an Ariel Pink…

The Twilight Sad set for UK tour

Kilsyth trio take third album No One Can Ever Know on tour

27 Jan 2012

With their third album No One Can Ever Know, masters of the dark side anthem The Twilight Sad add impressively to a catalogue that includes one of the finest Scottish debuts of recent years. It’s a bit of a surprise then to discover that the Kilsyth…

Howler - America Give Up

The kind of easily-digestible festival fodder that could hit the spot live, but is dull on record

27 Jan 2012

(Rough Trade) You think we would all have learned by now that it is frankly unproductive to call anything the ‘new this’, the ‘next that’, or, god forbid, ‘the hottest thing you’ll hear all year’. Sadly, whether they’re aware of it or not, young US…

Pulp - It/Freaks/Separations

Reissue of first three albums from 1980s originally released on Fire

27 Jan 2012

(Fire) Testament to the 80s’capacity to incubate provincial bands until they’re ready for megastardom, Pulp’s first three albums on Fire were a career’s worth in themselves, although hardly anyone remembers. Containing, as all three of these reissues…

Partikel - Cohesion

Trio’s flexible, responsive interplay maintains interest in material a little samey at times

27 Jan 2012

(Whirlwind Recordings) From the same label, Partikel are a London-based saxophone trio led by Duncan Eagles, with Max Luthert on bass and Eric Ford on drums. Sonny Rollins probably remains the most famous exemplar of the challenges and rewards of the…

Emeli Sande - Our Version Of Events

Powerful, sophisticated and smart mix of stripped down, acoustic songs

24 Jan 2012

(Virgin) Just imagine it, Adele and Emeli Sandé down the pub, putting the world to rights over copious pints. Men? Screw ’em. Hype? Whatever. But the main reason they’d make great gal pals is because they’ve both worked out ways to channel their…

School of Seven Bells - Ghostory

Third album from New York electro-phantoms, now a duo

24 Jan 2012

(Full Time Hobby) Ghostory – geddit? It’s the way in which our histories are colonised by ghosts. It’s the way in which persons come to haunt our tales of yore. It’s the third album from New York electro-phantoms SVIIB. At best, it is euphoric – all…

The Ting Tings - Sounds From Nowheresville

Second album a mixed bag containing glimpses of what makes them fun

23 Jan 2012

(Columbia) Pity the poor Ting Tings. After selling millions of records, the Mancunian electro-pop duo got stressed, scrapped a whole album and hid from their record label. Allegedly. You can see why the pair might worry about following We Started…

Lambchop - Mr M

Reassembled band present lovely low-key set recalling Sinatra, Bacharach and crooners

23 Jan 2012

(City Slang) Having taken a break from the long-lasting alt.country outfit (to collaborate with singer Cortney Tidwell on 2010’s KORT project), Lambchop founder and frontman Kurt Wagner has reassembled the Nashville-based band to make its 11th…

Preview of 2012 - Emeli Sandé

The Scottish chart-topper aims to release a hit album in 2012

6 Jan 2012

Whenever Emeli Sandé gets a chance to stop and think, she says, the journey she’s already been on in her life still has her pinching herself. ‘To think that three years ago I was sitting in a lecture theatre in Glasgow learning about anatomy,’ she says…

Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier to play Celtic Connections 2012

Material from Sadier's solo album The Trip, plus Stereolab songs

6 Jan 2012

In 2009, when Stereolab announced plans to go on indefinite hiatus, the group’s spectral-voiced singer Laetitia Sadier prepared for a life away from making music. Her other project, the pop quintet Monade, closed for business the same year. Suddenly…

RM Hubbert launches album Thirteen Lost & Found with friends

Aidan Moffat, Alex Kapranos and more to join in at Stereo show

6 Jan 2012

RM Hubbert’s debut album First & Last was more than just an instrumental record by a talented Glaswegian guitarist. Far from a commercial stepping-stone, the record was rather the result of Hubbert’s attempts to document a tumultuous three-year period…

Friendly Fires - Barrowland, Glasgow, Tue 20 Dec 2011

Triumphant end of year show from the St Albans indie-ravers

6 Jan 2012

2011 didn’t quite belong to Friendly Fires, as some had predicted it might, but they owned significant parts of it off the back of their euphoric second album Pala – not least the flying feet and skyward waving arms of a few summer festival crowds. The…

M83's Hurry Up, We're Dreaming combines ambient roots with pop sensibilities

We reassess the albumprior to Frenchman's upcoming UK tour

6 Jan 2012

The Associates’ Alan Rankine once opined that the best way to make an album is to ‘start with a climax, then go further.’ It’s a maxim that Frenchman Anthony Gonzalez – an Antibes-born, LA-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with an idiosyncratic…

Errors - Have Some Faith In Magic

Superb third album that should push the foursome out of Mogwai's shadow

6 Jan 2012

(Rock Action) Lazily regarded as Mogwai-lite for most of their seven year existence, Errors’ third offering finally sees the Glasgow foursome shrug off the shackles of their legendary label founders’ early patronage. Anyone with half a brain could…

Eat, sleep and breathe with Fránçois from Fránçois & the Atlas Mountains

A questionnaire about food and the touring musician

6 Jan 2012

Fránçois Marry is fuelled by a combination of herbal tea, techno, chocolate and Cognac – in varying quantities, depending on where the tour van is stopping that day... What time is breakfast? 7am at the hotel before a long drive. Tea or…

Malcolm Middleton - Electric Circus, Edinburgh, Wed 14 Dec

The ex-Arab Strap man isn't as miserable as he makes out

6 Jan 2012

What better way to celebrate Christmas than with Mr Season of Goodwill himself, Malcolm Middleton, the man whose campaign to get ‘We’re All Going to Die’ to the 2007 Christmas number one spot will live long in the hearts of those who believed in it.

The View - O2 ABC, Glasgow, Mon 19 Dec

Raucous, lager-soaked rock'n'roll show

6 Jan 2012

Being partial to the occasional shandy, it pained The List to witness the mass lager sacrifice that occurred at the ABC this night – nary a punter was spared a shower of the gods’ amber nectar as high-spirited young souls sent pint after pint looping…

The Saturdays - SECC, Glasgow, Tue 13 Dec

Polished pop performance that felt lacking in soul

6 Jan 2012

With Little Mix winning this year’s X-Factor, you would think the positively elderly Saturdays (average age: 24) would be showing signs of abject desperation not to lose their crown as the current biggest UK girl group not in semi-retirement. But no...

Kid Canaveral’s Christmas Baubles II - Summerhall, Edinburgh, Sat 17 Dec 2011

Josie Long, eagleowl and more join in Kid Canaveral's annual shindig

6 Jan 2012

The combination of cheap tins and 12 hours of live entertainment could be an endurance test in the wrong hands, but the second annual Fence Records/Kid Canaveral Chirstmas Baubles all-dayer doesn’t exactly feel like a chore. A joyous turn by Fence…

The Big Pink - Future This

Second electro-pop offering let down by over-egged desire to be anthemic

6 Jan 2012

(4AD) It’s easy to assume that London duo Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell’s oft-scrutinised industry connections have earned them their breaks while ignoring the fact that the dark, feedback and effects-swathed element of their music honours 4AD’s goth…

Boy & Bear - Moonfire

Mumford-esque mimsy-folk from down under

6 Jan 2012

(V2) If you’ve considered moving to the opposite side of the world to escape Mumford & Sons, think again – their Australian kindred spirits and touring partners Boy & Bear await you, ready to close the jaws of a vice-like international folk-pop mimsy…

Chris Devotion and The Expectations – Amalgamation and Capital

Worthwhile debut stumbles when it steps away from solid pop template

6 Jan 2012

(Armellodie) Amalgamation and Capital is the debut from Glasgow’s Chris Devotion and the Expectations. Kicking off with ‘A Modest Refusal’, a punchy salute to 50s/60s pop, complete with textbook dum, dum-dum, tshh’s and whoah-ohs, this is an album…

The Lemonheads - Laughing All the Way to the Cleaners: The Best Of

Expansive look at Evan Dando and co's back catalogue

5 Jan 2012

(Rhino) Evan Dando is still going strong as the lone remaining member of The Lemonheads, although his days as a mainstream slacker rock heartthrob are long behind him. As this two-CD, 47-track collection demonstrates, though – perhaps too extensively…

Single of the month: Trailer Trash Tracys ‘Candy Girl / Strangling Good Guys’

Florence and the Machine, Arctic Monkeys and more also reviewed

5 Jan 2012

Music snobs love to flame Florence and the Machine these days. But as ‘No Light No Light’ (Island) ●●●● proves, Welch does epic, pagan pop pretty much perfectly. Her only crime is that lots of people now like it. They’d no doubt sneer at the recent…

Mull Historical Society - City Awakenings

Varied collection of often backwards-looking eccentricities

5 Jan 2012

(Xtra Mile Recordings) A decade after the Mull Historical Society debut Loss, Colin MacIntyre marks the event with another gentle, curious and occasionally awkward platter, as they called them back in the early 00s. In some ways, MHS are becoming…

Trailer Trash Tracys - Ester

Dreamily insubstantial album that's very, very Lynch

5 Jan 2012

(Double Six) Rightly or wrongly, a lot of bands find themselves being likened to the soundtrack of a David Lynch film. In the case of Trailer Trash Tracys’ debut the comparison is, in fact, justified. Mixing dark and disturbing soundscapes…

François and the Atlas Mountains - E Volo Love

Breezy, summery pop from the former Fencer

5 Jan 2012

(Domino) Graduating, as James Yorkston and King Creosote did before him, from Fence to Domino, La Rochelle’s François Marry has produced an album here that’s worthy of the increased exposure. A set of breezy summertime pop songs which seem strangely…

The Hot 100 2011 - No. 32: Remember Remember interview

Graeme Ronald’s complex compositions get the full-band treatment

16 Dec 2011

‘Steve Reich on acid,’ is how one List critic described Graeme Ronald’s second album as Remember Remember, released this year. True, it has Reich’s trademark repetition – albeit combined with melodies that could only be Scottish – but Ronald is unsure…

Music-themed Christmas parties round-up

Festive shindigs on offer from Song, By Toad, Phantom Band, James Yorkston, Fence and more

13 Dec 2011

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas in Scotland’s indie village without a bunch of our favourite bands getting together to chip in for mince pies and mulled wine and treat us to / inflict upon us some of their most diligently practiced seasonal covers. Yes…

Best Christmas album 2011: Emmy the Great and Tim Wheeler’s This Is Christmas

Justin Bieber, She & Him, The Wurzels and Glee also reviewed

13 Dec 2011

Now more than ever the discerning music fan has about as much reason to look forward to Christmas as a poor Primark employee looks forward to the stampede of burly, booze-breathed horrors thundering through them at opening time on Boxing Day en route to…

Arab Strap - Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, Glasgow, Thu 17 Nov 2011

Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton strip down their back catalogue

13 Dec 2011

As if anyone would have called their band ‘William Harness’ anyway. That was the not-so-secret moniker Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton chose to add deniability to the fact they were getting the old band back together here, even if it was just for one…

Young Fathers - Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Fri 02 Dec 2011

Thought-out moves allowing for improvisation and spontaneity

13 Dec 2011

It was a night full of surprises. First off, early-comers were treated to a plate of chicken and rice, homemade by Young Father’s member Alloysious Massaquoi. As Jamaican street-party videos projected onto the screen and deep dancehall pumped through…

Professor Green – HMV Picture House, Edinburgh, Tue 29 Nov 2011

Confident and professional show from favourite Hackney rapper

13 Dec 2011

The majority of the Picture House crowd is screaming teenage girls and skinny chino-clad boys, eager to see their favourite Hackney rapper, Professor Green. Booty-shaking duo Rizzle Kicks warm them up with a fun, high-energy performance, featuring their…

Django Django - Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Thu 24 Nov

Infectious fun from band with no agenda other than having a good time

13 Dec 2011

Django Django’s music could be described as folk-rave, or math-beat, or perhaps contemporary hoedown. It’s hard to explain, really, why the combination of American West, Merseyside and East London rhythms should sound so good, meaning that, joyously…

Mariachi El Bronx - Electric Circus, Edinburgh, Sun 20 Nov 2011

Joyous musical Mexperiment from punk quintet The Bronx

13 Dec 2011

The fact that tonight’s gig has been moved to a much smaller venue is initially a cause for concern. Electric Circus is a substantial step down from the Liquid Room in terms of capacity – have ticket presales really been that slow? Will anyone turn up…

Eat, sleep and breathe: Discopolis

The Edinburgh electronic pop act on their eating habits

13 Dec 2011

What time is breakfast? Usually sometime after lunch... Fergus is an early bird though. Tea or coffee? Laurie can’t do without his green tea, Dave will have an occasional sip of a Darjeeling and Fergus can’t get enough builders’ brew. Smoking or…

Kelly Rowland - Here I Am

Sounding like a hastily assembled attempt to cash in on X Factor fame

7 Dec 2011

(Island) Released in the US in July, Kelly Rowland’s latest album Here I Am has hit the shores of the UK, presumably in a not-in-any-way cynical attempt to cash in on her X Factor fame. Frankly most of it sounds like it has been hastily assembled in…

Guided by Voices - Let’s Go Eat the Factory

Reformed lo-fi cult heroes do their unmistakable glorious shitness like no other

7 Dec 2011

(Fire) It was maybe only a matter of time before Guided By Voices got back together and made a new record. Responsible for 16 albums in 24 years and led by a guy in Robert Pollard credited with over 1000 songs, expecting them to totally curtail their…

Happy Particles - Under Sleeping Waves

Ambient vistas to rival Sigur Ros from Remember Remember-affiliated musicians

7 Dec 2011

(Self-release) This lovely debut from Glasgow slow-core melodists Happy Particles may be sneaking out as a self-release on December 25, but don’t be misled by their low-key approach: the ambient vistas conjured therein could rival those of Sigur…

Peaking Lights - 936

Psychedelic dub-pop mesh of krautrock, afrobeat, soul and hand build synths

7 Dec 2011

(Weird World/Domino) This psychedelic dub-pop excursion from married couple Aaron Coyes and Indra Dunis was originally released on LA DIY imprint Not Not Fun, and its woozy mesh of krautrock, afrobeat, reggae, soul and hand build synths is…

Standard Fare - Out of Sight, Out of Town

Raucous and thrilling indie ride from loveable power-pop trio

7 Dec 2011

(Melodic) Sheffield’s Standard Fare are putting their childhood rehearsal sessions in their grandparent’s living rooms to fruitful use in adulthood. They have become a loveable power-pop trio whose second album, Out of Sight, Out of Town, is a…

Singles of the month: She & Him's 'Christmas Day' and Laki Mera's 'Crater (Mogwai remix)'

The Plimptons, Smith & Burrows, Trailer Trash Tracys and more

6 Dec 2011

This being ‘the Christmas issue’, there are a few festive tracks in the mix. The Plimptons (16 Ohm) ●● release ‘Christmas All Over This Town’ – Madness type fun but with love ‘em/hate ‘em vocals. Smith & Burrows, comprised of Editors’ Tom Smith and…

St Vincent, Stereo, Glasgow, Tue 15 Nov 2011

Thrillingly eclectic live set from the American musician

21 Nov 2011

St. Vincent (okay, Annie Clark if you must), looks good lit from behind, her curls silhouette into an entirely appropriate halo-effect as the first angelic vocals hit an absolutely rammed Stereo. It's a set almost entirely taken from new album Strange…

Wild Beasts, Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh, Mon 14 Nov 2011

Compelling mix of fluid instrumentation and surreal vocals

21 Nov 2011

‘We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time’ declares Wild Beasts' Hayden Thorpe, raising his tumbler of whisky and Buckfast. After their latest album Smother proved a remarkable follow on from Mercury nominated Two Dancers, the band are fresh…

Interview: Jon Foreman of US band Switchfoot

Lead singer of San Diego rock band on music, faith and progress

17 Nov 2011

In their native USA, San Diego rock band Switchfoot have been a household name since 2003, when their major-label debut The Beautiful Letdown became a multi-million-selling hit. In the UK they’re a much less familiar proposition, but have built up a…

The chart-topping ‘Read All About It’ rapper Professor Green - interview

16 Nov 2011

First record you ever bought The ‘Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini’ 7”. And what!? Last extravagant purchase you made A Balenciaga jacket. First film you saw that really moved you E.T. Last lie you told I’ve never lied.

Why X Factor is good for Christmas

TV critic Graeme Virtue is glad Cowell has a chokehold on the festive charts

16 Nov 2011

In the fickle court of public opinion, Simon Cowell stands accused of many crimes. Some against fashion, some against common politeness, but mostly against music. The charge sheet is long, and generally unlistenable, but among the various sonic offences…

Top five Arab Strap lyrics

In honour of Middleton and Moffat's gig at Nice'n'Sleazy's on Thu 17 Nov, we sings their best bits

16 Nov 2011

1 Speed Date ‘The ugly tattooed swingers euphemise and call their mucky hobby “trysts” / But if I saw another man touch you, I'd break his fucking wrists.’ 2 The First Big Weekend ‘It was a beautiful day, and later that evening Malcolm introduced me…

Little Dragon on UK tour

Swedish electro-pop quartet and Gorillaz collaborators take third album Ritual Union on tour

16 Nov 2011

You’d expect a band to delight in having artists from Gorillaz to DJ Shadow and Big Boi beating their door down to work with them – especially if they’ve hitherto existed in relative obscurity. But while Little Dragon find it ‘super exciting’ to have…

Wake the President - Zumutung!

Harder, more mature songwriting on Glasgow duo's second album

15 Nov 2011

(We Can Still Picnic) An improvement from their first album You Can't Change That Boy in 2009, Wake the President have taken a harder, more mature songwriting approach on new album Zumutung!. Twin brothers hailing from Glasgow, Erik and Bjorn…

Fence’s Flamin’ Hott Loggz Anstruther Town Hall, Anstruther, Sat 5 Nov

The Shivers, Withered Hand and Serafina Steer join Bonfire Night party

15 Nov 2011

There were no fireworks at Fence’s Flamin’ Hott Loggz pop ‘n’ Guy Fawkes hoopla. There was no need for pyrotechnics when there were songs that soared like gold dust – King Creosote’s rare variation of Dexy’s ‘Come on Eileen’ around a bonfire; Serafina…

Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard - The Third Door, Edinburgh, Wed 26 Oct 2011

Near two-hour set pulls disparate parts into satisfying whole

15 Nov 2011

For this, one of the first gigs at the refreshed and renamed Third Door venue (formerly Medina, and now boasting a beefier new sound system), big personalities and hearts on sleeves are very much the order of the day. Opener Viking Moses is one Brendon…

Single of the month: Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks’ ‘Senator’

James Morrison feat. Jessie J, Erasure, Kelly Rowland, Vaccines and more also reviewed

15 Nov 2011

At last, the collaboration we’ve all been waiting for! Yes, it’s James Morrison feat. Jessie J ‘Up’ (Island) ●● and it’s astonishing that they’ve come up with a lump of saccharine X-Factor duet fodder and not the greatest song you’ve ever heard. What…

Copy Haho and Café Disco – Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Tue 18 Oct

Pop-rock double bill met with mild-mannered, heartfelt appreciation

15 Nov 2011

Cafe Disco seem a little nervous during their first foray onto the Edinburgh live scene. The combination of winning pop riffs and the odd spot of rocking out is as successful as ever, but the confidence they’ve displayed at west coast gigs is a little…

The Fall - HMV Picturehouse, Edinburgh, Thu 3 Nov 2011

Band deliver fiery performance despite injured and semi-present Mark E Smith

15 Nov 2011

'Mark has a really bad bruise on his feet so he can’t stand, announces keyboardist and better half Eleni Poloui. Cue blasts of effing and blinding from the angry mob. The Fall are clearly back in town – but unlike their performance at Studio 24 last…

Twin Sister - Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, Thu 10 Nov 2011

Infectiously prettified melodies threaten to become dance-floor dream

15 Nov 2011

In her geek-girl specs and floppy Annie Hall hat, Twin Sister chanteuse Andrea Estella appears as quintessentially kooky a New Yorker as any afficionado of 1970s me-generation peak era Woody Allen movies could wish for. The check-shirted quartet of…

Lykke Li - O2 ABC, Glasgow, Sun 30 Oct 2011

Passive response suggests lesson in stagecraft required

15 Nov 2011

Having transformed radically and impressively from indie pixie into purveyor of arty, bleeding-hearted Spector pop on her second album Wounded Rhymes, you hardly expected Li Lykke Zachrisson to be exchanging high-fives with the crowd all night. But then…

The Shivers - Mono, Glasgow, Mon 7 Nov 2011

Impressive, broad-ranging show from the US/Aussie duo

15 Nov 2011

‘I really love Glasgow,’ says The Shivers’ Keith Zarriello, ‘it’s much better than London.’ Cue easy-won cheers and chants from the home crowd. ‘He loves the power, don’t give it to him,’ laughed his keyboard playing accomplice Jo Schornikow. Too…

Eat, sleep and breathe: The Drums

The Brooklyn indie-poppers' guitarist Jacob Graham lets us in on his tour-time eating habits

15 Nov 2011

What time is breakfast? Whenever I wake up. Usually around 9.30 or 10am. But going through time zones can mess that up. Tea or coffee? I’ve never really gotten into either. I do like hot chocolate though. Smoking or non-smoking? Non.

Bill Wells - Lemondale

One of Wells’ most ambitious and enchanting records to date

15 Nov 2011

(Double Six) You wonder if Bill Wells ever sleeps. The Glasgow indie / avant-jazz catalyst has already made one of the albums of this year in Everything’s Getting Older, his exquisite union with Aidan Moffat – not to mention his forthcoming National…

Seafieldroad - Seafieldroad

Thoroughly beguiling second effort showcases a spine-tingling delivery

10 Nov 2011

(Biphonic) It’s a shock to find Swimmer One and Seafieldroad’s Andrew Eaton-Lewis stripped of all his usual sonic accoutrements. But this second solo effort of piano-backed ballads is thoroughly beguiling. Rich, sonorous vocals are the focal point…

Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow

The sensual, seductive Bush dominates a sparse, wintery, piano-led slow-burner

10 Nov 2011

(Fish People/EMI) In a burst of prolificacy unmatched since her 1978 debut year Kate Bush makes two new albums in 2011, raising her total for the last 18 years to a whopping three. Where Director’s Cut saw her reinterpret old songs, 50 Words For Snow…

White Denim - Last Day Of Summer

A stripped down snapshot of a band in transition and showcasing awe-inspiring musicianship

10 Nov 2011

(Downtown) Last Day Of Summer is a fascinating insight into what White Denim were knocking out for fun before the release of this year’s breakthrough; deservedly lauded fourth offering D. Recorded in a month and initially available only online, this…

Atlas Sound - Parallax

Deerhunter multi-instrumentalist's third and best solo album

10 Nov 2011

(4AD) The term ‘side-project’ somehow doesn’t do justice to Atlas Sound, the title under which the prolific Bradford Cox operates as a solo artist when he’s not doing his squally noise rock thing with Deerhunter. The Athens, Georgia based…

Odonis Odonis - Hollandaze

Auspicious introduction that further mines the fuzz-and-feedback-as-bliss school

10 Nov 2011

(FatCat) Toronto’s Odonis Odonis – the solo project turned full live band of Dean Tzenos – join a swathe of other North American artists presently mining the trashy, scuzzy, fuzz-and-feedback-as-bliss end of post-punk and its various derivatives from…

Johnny Foreigner - Johnny Foreigner vs Everything

Bright-eyed punk-pop anthems toytown post-punk and wistful emo ballads

10 Nov 2011

(Alcopop!) Ludicrously long song titles did no harm to the late, lamented Mclusky and Biffy Clyro in their early days, and Birmingham’s Johnny Foreigner attempt a similar route to notoriety with ‘If I’m the Most Famous Boy You’ve Fucked, Then Honey…

Rob St John - Weald

Forceful mix of melancholy and otherworldly rapture

10 Nov 2011

(Song, by Toad) Forget the much misused ‘F-word’. Rob St John is miles better than that, and putting a full electric band behind his whey-faced Lancastrian intonations has put muscle and guts on his musings. Yet for all the low-key chorales…

Django Django set for UK tour

Band support Metronomy and release self-titled debut in 2012

9 Nov 2011

‘We weren’t really a band when we started,’ says Dave Maclean of London quartet Django Django. ‘We had to engineer a band around us so we could play a gig. We were booked to play a gig at [Brick Lane venue] 93 Feet East and we just had to recreate our…

King’s Daughters & Sons - If Then Not When

Glorious pastoral folk-rock debut from alt-rock super-group on Chemikal Underground

9 Nov 2011

(Chemikal Underground) Not many alt-rock super-groups would simultaneously align themselves with William Faulkner and Led Zeppelin, but then Louisville, Kentucky’s King’s Daughters & Sons are no ordinary band. Formed by members of post-rock…

Arab Strap's Aidan Moffat - interview

Moffat and Middleton are set to team up again to celebrate Nice'n'Sleazy's 20th birthday

7 Nov 2011

The mid-90s Arab Strap song ‘I Saw You’ was inspired by The List’s lonely-hearts feature of the same name. Do you remember using I Saw You at that time? That I Saw You feature had just started, and it was quite exciting and cool. I did attempt to use…

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Thu 27 Oct, 2011

New material and Oasis classics from Gallagher senior

28 Oct 2011

Some gigs feel more like football matches than concerts, there’s always a certain frisson in the air when it comes to anything Oasis related. And Gallagher senior has perhaps more weight of expectation on his shoulders than little bruv’s Beady Eye…

Meursault and Happy Particles - Glasgow Science Centre, Sun 9 Oct 2011

Science meets creativity for a night beneath the stars

28 Oct 2011

Ever the fan of showcasing musical talent in the most unusual of circumstances, Detour teamed up with Glasgow Science Centre (GSC) for two shows during their Capture Space weekend. Held in the planetarium inside the centre, Detour selected two bands per…

Sweetly strange singer St Vincent set for Stereo

Everything from Hollywood musicals to brutally cranked guitars

28 Oct 2011

St Vincent’s 2007 debut, Marry Me, was a striking introduction to Annie Clark’s baroque pop vision. At times it sounds like an avant-garde take on pre-war Hollywood musicals, with Clark’s multi-tracked vocals vying for attention with expressionist…

Ever been to a silent disco with a Chinese dragon?

25 Oct 2011

Ever explored a museum at night? Ever had a cocktail surrounded by thousands of years of history? Ever been to a silent disco with a Chinese dragon? Thanks to the support of RBS and The List, the National Museum of Scotland is bringing you an exclusive…

The music and film collaborations of Tindersticks and Claire Denis

The creative partnership between the French director and the UK band

21 Oct 2011

Just as there are actors directors consistently work with, and where the French have a term called the acteur/actrice fétiche to define this affiliation, equally there are plenty filmmakers whose relationship with their composers seem equally…

Bon Iver set for 2011 UK tour

The collaboration-friendly indie-folk icon is still strongest on his own two feet

21 Oct 2011

‘Profit, profit, nigga I got it, everybody know I’m a motherfucking monster.’ Of all that Justin ‘Bon Iver’ Vernon might have done next following the huge critical acclaim and popular devotion for his exquisite 2008 debut album For Emma, Forever Ago…

Adele - Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 24 Sep 2011

The London 'misery pop' singer overcomes illness to deliver outstanding show

21 Oct 2011

With dates cancelled before and after her Usher Hall date, due to ongoing health issues, the fact that Adele appeared at all is cause for celebration. Albums 19 and 21 have garnered the young Londoner a strong fan base, so when she asks us to ‘bear with…

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds

The usual ingredients from a seemingly unencumbered Gallagher

20 Oct 2011

(Sour Mash) Given that Noel Gallagher hasn’t made a truly vital album since 1995 and his brother has already unleashed the underwhelming Beady Eye upon us, expectations perhaps aren’t stratospheric for the solo project the elder Gallagher has been…

Bjork - Biophilia / Dirty Projectors & Bjork - Mount Wittenberg Orca

Embracing innovative on niche experimental curio by a huge artist

20 Oct 2011

(One Little Indian/Domino) It’s clear that Iceland’s premier musical export has no interest in writing another ‘Big Time Sensuality’ or ‘Violently Happy’ to please the casual listener, but these almost simultaneously released new albums demonstrate…

Exposure - Lana Del Rey

The 'Videogames' singer's second stab at stardom looks set to be a sure thing

20 Oct 2011

The List hesitates not a moment in declaring this picture of dusky American pop perfection a star in the making – how could the self-styled ‘gangsta Nancy Sinatra’ not be? The New Yorker’s debut single ‘Video Games’ – a YouTube sensation that’s scored…

Eat, sleep and breathe: Twin Sister

The dream-pop quintet's guitarist Eric Cardona explains the band’s on-the-road eating habits

20 Oct 2011

What time is breakfast? Usually around 10 or 11 we are locating a Denny’s. Tea or coffee? Lately, it’s been coffee again. Not at Denny’s though. Too much water. One good cup a day. Smoking or non-smoking? Non-smoking for three of us…

Loch Lomond - Little Me Will Start a Storm

Tenderly sung and delicately arranged busy, decorative chamber-pop

20 Oct 2011

(Chemikal Underground) After Band of Horses’ song ‘Funeral’ helped to launch Danny MacAskill to worldwide fame when it featured on his breakthrough viral video, the young Scottish pro-cyclist then gave Portland six-piece Loch Lomond a punt by picking…