Music, Previews

The Cool Kids

14 Feb 2008

HIP HOP Ego, Edinburgh, Sun 17 Feb For the past few years hip hop in the states has been suffering. In 2007 album sales nose-dived and the ‘hip hop tycoon’ icon with clothing labels, butlers and perfumes finally crumbled under street level scrutiny.

Preview of the year 2007

2007 is about the future. And about the past. It’

3 Jan 2007

THE FUTURE Cyberspace invaders We may not be flying around in hover cars or wearing spangly all-silver outfits, but thanks to the internet the future has truly arrived. And the revolution will continue apace in 2007, argues Suzanne Black. A…

Bon Iver - Lone justice

4 Sep 2008

The breathtaking debut album from Bon Iver is evidence that isolation can produce something truly special. Colin McKean revels in this most singular of musical visions Disillusioned and frustrated by the disintegration of DeYarmond Edison, the band…

Islay Jazz Festival

4 Sep 2008

If the idea of a successful jazz festival on Islay once seemed more than a touch outlandish, the actuality has been quite the opposite. The Islay Jazz Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary this year with a line-up that typifies the programming policy…

MGMT

8 May 2008

PSYCHEDELIC ROCK The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Fri 9 May A lot of bands take themselves too seriously, but not MGMT. For evidence, get yourself to YouTube and check out the video for fantastic recent single ‘Time to Pretend’, a song satirising the…

Calexico

4 Sep 2008

‘It’s not what some people have called a return to form, because there are new elements on the record,’ says Joey Burns, singer, songwriter and co-founding member (with percussionist John Convertino) of the idiosyncratic alt.country outfit Calexico.

Exposure: Punch and the Apostles

4 Sep 2008

‘We’re not exactly palatable, but not immediately repulsive,’ suggests lead singer Paul Napier, to sum up the sound of Punch and the Apostles, the Glasgow seven-piece who’ve been bringing chaos to traditional folk music for almost a year now. Mashing up…

Fast punk club

4 Sep 2008

‘We call it a punk night,’ says Christopher Fast, ‘but it’s more about a punk attitude to music. From rockabilly, 60s soul, garage and hip hop to disco and electro, we set out to make different genres work together in an interesting way.’ For five…

David Holmes

4 Sep 2008

Famed for his soundtrack work on the likes of Ocean’s 13 and Out of Sight and his ever eclectic approach to DJing, David Holmes is one of the world’s most consistently excellent and interesting DJs. Veering from techno through funk and punk rock you…

Licence Pending

4 Sep 2008

Drew Taylor, compere and promoter of the Tron’s Licence Pending night, is outlining the ideas behind the event when he stops and checks himself. He’s just used the words ‘performance poetry industry’ and he feels the urge to add the caveat ‘if you can…

All day hip hop event

31 Jul 2008

Banksy’s subversive street art sells for millions, Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre are basically musical royalty and films such as Step Up 2 continue to popularise break-dancing and battling. Hip hop and street culture couldn’t be having more of a moment. Funny…

Edinburgh Fringe - LGBT Highlights

17 Jul 2008

Allan Radcliffe selects the best the Fringe has to offer in comedy, theatre and music

Sound offering - sound 2008 Festival

17 Jul 2008

It might be all quiet in the Central Belt, but the cultural flurry up North continues this fortnight with the launch of sound 2008, which sets its musical stall in Aberdeen this October. Now in its fourth year, the multi-genre festival will feature two…

Kate Nash

28 Feb 2008

One of the massive success stories of 2007, Kate Nash crowned off the year picking up a Best Female Solo Artist BRIT just the other week. And while it’s easy to deride her heavy mockney delivery you can’t dismiss the catchy nature of ‘Foundations’ or…

Old Crow Medicine Show

20 Sep 2007

BLUEGRASS ABC, Glasgow, Thu 27 Sep Like the American travelling bands from whom they take their name, Old Crow Medicine Show’s musical education came on street corners and county fairs. They came together in 1998 in upstate New York, bought…

Amy Thomas

4 Sep 2008

Sultry songstress Amy Thomas started off as a classical singer but is now more at home dipping into the Great American Songbook for some classic jazz vocals. And while she'll be performing jazz at the Jam House she's also fronts a band that mashes…

Five reasons to go and see: Swervedriver

4 Sep 2008

1 The shoegazing revival starts here! OK, Swervedriver were kind of more grungy than shoegazing, but the ballistic Oxford outfit had feet in both camps, creating a mesmerising racket on a par with My Bloody Valentine and Ride for the whole of the 90s…

Bowerbirds

4 Sep 2008

Nu-folk trio in the same vein as Devandra Banhart, professing a love of uncluttered natural living in their gorgeously constructed tumbledown tales of love, longing and the great outdoors. There’s a warmth and delicate beauty in their tracks built on…

Wire

4 Sep 2008

Debuting with Pink Flag in 1977, Wire were players on the UK punk scene but it was their minimalism and stark soundscapes that differentiated them form the pack. They were one of the main influences on the post-punk scene. They split in the 80s only to…

Hitlist - Music

The best gigs this fortnight

21 Aug 2008

N*E*R*D Justin Timberlake guested at their Scottish debut in 2003 after the MTV Music Awards and while this night might not have the trouser-snake in tow, Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams most certainly have what it takes to throw down a platinum hip hop…

Live at Loch Lomond - The Sex Pistols

31 Jul 2008

‘No future, no future, no future for me.’ Those words, penned by John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) back in 1976, expressed not only Lydon’s feelings, not only his band The Sex Pistols’ attitude to life, not only the stance of the fearsome punk movement…

Up close and personal - Niki King

Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

22 Jul 2008

For Niki King, intimacy is something to be embraced rather than feared. Claire Sawers lends an ear as the local singer gently explains why she loves getting confessional on stage.

Hydro Connect festival line up 2008

17 Jun 2008

The Hydro Connect Festival takes place in the stunning countryside around Loch Fyne within the grounds of Inverarary Castle between Friday 29th and Sunday 31st August 2008.

Sonic Boom Six

8 May 2008

PUNK Barfly, Glasgow, Sun 18 May Less than ten years ago, bassist/vocalist Barney Boom’s only audience were the people who showed up to parties he was MCing at. These days, he’s touring internationally, as part of the Manchester-based quartet, the…

Nick Cave

24 Apr 2008

Nick Cave is in his car. It’s a big car, but no Chelsea tractor. He’s in the driving seat, howling madly along with the bombast blaring out of the speakers. This isn’t a cruise down endless stretches of autobahn, freeways of America or through the arid…