Music, Previews, Doug Johnstone

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…

5 Reasons To Go See - John Renbourn

14 Aug 2008

1 He’s an axe hero OK, he’s not in the same mould as Slash, but the veteran English guitarist and songwriter delivers an exemplary, dextrous mix of blues, folk, classical and jazz to wow his audience. 2 He’s a Pentangle Renbourn was one of the…

Future of the Left

Title contenders

14 Aug 2008

You can’t beat a good song title, and Future of the Left have some of the best. The Cardiff based trio’s second single was the thrillingly angry rock of ‘adeadenemyalwayssmellsgood’, and the band’s debut album Curses was peppered with other gems such as…

Jackie Leven

Scottish outsider brings home his extensive back catalogue

7 Aug 2008

It’s the stuff on your doorstep that always goes unnoticed. While we heap plaudits on underground legends from across the pond, Scotland’s own talented outsider Jackie Leven remains unheralded. ‘I can’t get arrested in this country,’ Leven laughs…

Laura Marling

The Mercury Rev

7 Aug 2008

Laura Marling is infuriating. Not her music, which is sublime, heartfelt, folky genius, but rather Marling herself, who’s so bloody talented and still only 18 years old. She got started early, brought up by a gardener mother and a father who was an…

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…

5 Reasons to Go See - Jay-Z

17 Jul 2008

He stuck it right up Noel Gallagherafter Noel made some rash remarks about Jay-Z being chosen to headline Glastonbury this year. In retaliation, Jay-Z ran an intro tape mocking Gallagher, then proceeded to lead the huge crowd through a sarcastic version…

Mercury Rev - Original soundtracks

17 Jul 2008

They've refused to stand still musically in their 20 year career, and with this latest chapter Mercury Rev are pushing their music farther out than ever. Doug Johnstone revels in their sonic adventures Describing what Mercury Rev sound like is a…

The Breeders - The freed seed

17 Jul 2008

Death to the Pixies (again) meant a new lease of life for The Breeders. Doug Johnstone traces the musical highs and chemical lows of Kim Deal. The Breeders are not what you'd call prolific. But that's OK, good things are worth waiting for. The on-off…

5 Reasons To Go See - Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip

3 Jul 2008

They’re unclassifiable - to some they’re outsider pop, to others they’re hip hop played through a punk filter. Then again their recent debut album Angles could easily be called lo-fi electronica mixed with spoken word poetry. Whatever, the end result is…

T in the Park - The Fratellis

3 Jul 2008

The Fratellis aren’t a band you’d think of as suffering from existential self-doubt, eh? But a spell out of the spotlight has left singer and guitarist Jon Fratelli with the slightest lingering doubt about his band’s success and longevity. ‘I’m…

Stapleton

3 Jul 2008

INDIE ROCK Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, Glasgow, Tue 8 Jul It must be tiring, constantly being referred to as unsung heroes. Who wouldn’t rather be a sung hero than an unsung one? If Scottish outfit Stapleton feel any of that frustration they hide it well, but…

5 Reasons To Go See - Bob Mould

22 May 2008

Hüsker Dü - Mould was singer and guitarist with seminal American hardcore outfit Hüsker Dü. Throughout the 80s they released a string of hugely influential records including Zen Arcade and New Day Rising. Their unique blend of thrashy punk, melody and…

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…

5 Reasons To Go See - King Creosote

8 May 2008

1 He’s royalty Kenny Anderson (aka King Creosote) is a local legend responsible, along with his label Fence Records, for a renaissance of Scottish folk, lo-fi, electronica and rock. All done from a bolthole in the East Neuk of Fife. Clever, eh? 2…

5 Reasons To Go See - Willy Vlautin

24 Apr 2008

He’s an amazing singer, songwriter and frontman For the last 14 years, Vlautin has fronted Richmond Fontaine, the alt.country outfit based in Portland, Oregon. Eight finely crafted albums have seen him evoke the ghost of Gram Parsons in telling intimate…

5 Reasons To Go See - Edwyn Collins

10 Apr 2008

The Scottish troubadour’s career has spanned 30 years, during which time he’s been a relentlessly original and innovative artist, redefining pop music first with his band Orange Juice and then as a solo artist of great renown. Three years ago Collins…

Elbow

27 Mar 2008

Elbow’s recently released fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid, was met by a whole raft of effusive, praise-filled reviews which all fitted a familiar template. The underlying message across the board was essentially, ‘This band are unbelievably amazing…

The Gutter Twins

27 Mar 2008

ROCK Oran Mor, Glasgow, Mon 7 Apr For a legendary hellraiser, Mark Lanegan is surprisingly perky considering it’s early morning after a show in Amsterdam. I say ‘perky’, it’s all relative, he’s still monosyllabic, menacing, moody and terse. So how was…

5 Reasons To Go See - Jean Michel Jarre

13 Mar 2008

He’s an Oxygenius - Sorry, terrible pun to start with. Jarre’s revolutionary album Oxygene changed the face of popular music (trust us, you’d know if you heard it) on its release three whole decades ago. To celebrate the 30-year anniversary, he’s gonna…

5 Reasons To Go See - The Cult

28 Feb 2008

The Cult might have a rather dubious legacy after more than a quarter of a century in the business, but they can lay claim to one of the finest rock’n’roll albums of the last 30 years, namely Electric, every inch of which is riff-drenched, wailing…

Hot Chip

14 Feb 2008

ELECTRO-POP Barrowland, Glasgow, Tue 26 Feb ‘I guess we’ve always been outsiders,’ says Felix Martin, one fifth of geeky electro-pop outfit Hot Chip. ‘I think that comes across in our music. We seem to be unique, we’ve never felt closely related to…

Explosions in the Sky

17 Jan 2008

POST ROCK Barrowland, Glasgow, Sun 27 Jan What’s in a band name? In the case of Explosions in the Sky, a pretty accurate description of the mental images conjured up when they play. The intense and intelligent four-piece band from Austin, Texas…

5 Reasons To Go See - Nobody

4 Jan 2008

1 Indulge your musical whims indoors instead It’s January, you’re skint, it’s cold outside and there are hardly any decent bands playing at this time of year anyway (the ones worth seeing we’ve told you about elsewhere in the mag). You got some gift…

Benbecula Records - Our friends electric

29 Nov 2007

The Scottish electronica scene is probably healthier now than it’s ever been, and that’s down in no small part to Benbecula Records. Formed eight years ago by artists Beluga and Phase 6, and currently run on a day-to-day basis by general manager Steven…

5 Reasons To Go See - The Hives

15 Nov 2007

1 ‘Cos every girl crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man’ Sorry for starting with a ZZ Top quote, but it couldn’t be more apt for this impeccably attired Swedish five-piece garage rock behemoth. Every new record comes accompanied by a razor-sharp new look, and…

The Proclaimers - gig preview

1 Nov 2007

Whichever way you look at it, it’s been an astonishingly successful year for The Proclaimers. It’s 20 years since the Reid twins’ groundbreaking appearance on The Tube led to a string of hits, but 2007 finds their stock at its highest ever level. First…

Ash

18 Oct 2007

ROCK Barrowland, Glasgow, Sun 28 Oct ‘There’s always been a fight within ourselves between wanting to rock out and also wanting to be totally pop,’ says Tim Wheeler, grinning. ‘So there’s always a real tension to what we do.’ And there, in a…

The Rezillos

4 Oct 2007

1 They’re a joke OK, maybe not now, 30-odd years on, but when the proto-punk-glam-new wave gang from Edinburgh formed as The Rezillos in 1976, it was meant as a bit of a lark. So much so that when their debut single, ‘Can’t Stand My Baby’ started…

The Go! Team

Smirnoff Electric Cabaret

9 Apr 2007

CUT’N’PASTE FUN’N’GAMES If you’re looking for a gig with a difference, here it is. Human beatboxer? Check. Hula hoop artist? Check. Burlesque dancers? Check. ‘Giant balloon man’ (whatever that is)? Check. Right, let’s also get Lemon Jelly to DJ and…

Midlake

ABC, Glasgow, Mon 9 Apr

27 Mar 2007

ROCK Last June, an album emerged that was so completely unlike anything else around that it seemed to arrive fully formed from another planet. And yet it was so accomplished, so confident, so self-contained in its own strange world, that it was…

5 Reasons To Go See

Jackie Leven

13 Mar 2007

1 He’s an underground legend The 56-year-old singer songwriter from Fife has spent a lifetime on the periphery of various music scenes and genres, but has influenced generations. His 1971 debut, Control, is considered a psychedelic folk classic and his…

Air - 5 Reasons to see them

AIR

28 Feb 2007

1 Ils sont un groupe francais plus bon OK, we’re not going to keep that up, not with our school-level French. Anyway, for the last ten years, French duo Air (Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel) have, along with Daft Punk, been at the vanguard of…

Charlotte Hatherley

Oran Mor, Glasgow, Tue 27 Feb

12 Feb 2007

ROCK Charlotte Hatherley was always the odd one out in the lads’ gang that is Ash, but she brought a refreshingly spiky new dimension to the Irish rockers, so after almost ten years as a fully-fledged member it’s a shame that she’s left. But…

Aereogramme

The Classic Grand, Glasgow, Mon 12 Feb

29 Jan 2007

EPIC ROCK If you’ve ever sniffed around the Scottish post-rock underground, you might be familiar with the work of Aereogramme, but, trust me, you won’t be familiar with this Aereogramme. Because, after two years out of the limelight, the band are…

Hedrons, The

The Hedrons

20 Dec 2006

ROCK’N’ROLL How long has rock’n’roll been going now? It’s 2007, ferchrissakes, and yet there still aren’t nearly enough girls with guitars kicking out the jams. Over half a century of riffing guitars, rattling drums and throbbing bass since Chuck…

Sensational Alex Harvey Band, The

Sensational Alex Harvey Band

6 Dec 2006

ROCK What’s the best comparison to make? A headless chicken running around the farmyard, blood splurting from its neck? Far too harsh. A hesitant army unsure what to do after losing its beloved general? Still too harsh. The Argentinian football team…

Brakes

King Tut’s, Glasgow, Fri 1 Dec

21 Nov 2006

INDIE Brighton has long been an incestuous indie breeding ground, so when news broke of a side-project ‘supergroup’ featuring members of British Sea Power, Electric Soft Parade and Tenderfoot, it came as no surprise. What was surprising was the…

Micah P Hinson

ABC, Glasgow, Tue 3 Oct

18 Sep 2006

ALT.COUNTRY At 25 years old, Micah P Hinson seems a little young for the world-weary sorrow etched into his melancholic tones, but the Texan singer songwriter has experienced more than his fair share of heartbreak and misery. Hinson was a young…

Fionn Regan

ABC, Glasgow, Sat 16 Sep

4 Sep 2006

FOLK Fionn Regan is the latest in a long line of quality folk-influenced singer songwriters to come from Ireland. His recent debut album, The End of History, is so brimming with talent and assurance that it’s hard to believe it almost never got…

Joyriders, The

The Joyriders

4 Sep 2006

Rock’n’roll is peppered with sob stories. Meet The Joyriders. In the early 90s, the Edinburgh-based pop-grungers released two EPs which were both awarded NME Single of the Week, played with Nirvana, The Lemonheads and Mercury Rev and had a reputed dozen…