Music and Reviews

Dan Mangan - Oh Fortune

Third album from the alt.folk Canadian combines the bombastic with the understated

7 Dec 2011

(Arts & Crafts) Dan Mangan’s third album is a noticeable progression from his last (2009’s Nice Nice, Very Nice). He’s retained his talent for marrying lush orchestration with catchy pop hooks and the odd spot of lyrical genius. Now though, he’s changed…

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…

Anoushka Shankar - Traveller

Thrillingly diverse yet fluent sequence of Indian and flamenco that does justice to both

7 Dec 2011

(Deutsche Grammophon) With cutting-edge Spanish producer Javier Limón as collaborator, Anoushka Shankar (daughter of Ravi, sister of Norah Jones) brings together two strong cultures linked historically by nomadic Roma gypsies. Created more or less in…

Time Zone - Crossing The Line

London-based sextet bring together contemporary jazz with music of Cuba

7 Dec 2011

(Spherical Records) This London-based sextet led by trumpeter Loz Speyer are on a mission to bring together restless contemporary jazz and the music of Cuba, with a touch of Eastern European rhythm thrown in. This latest outing, featuring seven of…

Tunng - This is Tunng: Live from the BBC

Warped magic of eccentric east London glitch folk collective

7 Dec 2011

(Full Time Hobby) With a line-up alteration or two, eccentric east London collective Tunng have gone from glitchy cut and pasters to singalong folksters. Their This is Tunng compilation features bouncy numbers (‘Jenny Again’, ‘Bullets’) from 2010’s…

Fordell Research Unit - The Illusion of Movement

Edinburgh noise auteurs' exercise in metal machine minimalism

7 Dec 2011

(At War With False Noise/Braw Music) Following the textured nuances of his Pjorn 72 label’s Songs For Dying compilation, Edinburgh noise auteur Fraser Burnett joins forces with Muscletusk’s Grant Smith for a relentless exercise in metal machine…

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…

Korn – The Path of Totality

Blistering new dubstep direction from the nu metal overlords

25 Nov 2011

They’ll forever be known as ‘the godfathers of nu metal’, but on Path of Totality Korn have taken a massive side step. Sure the guitars are still heavy as hammers but they’ve gone dubstep. And we’re not talking the odd breakbeat this is a full on…

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…

Pass the Spoon

Shrigley's food-based opera aims for pure entertainment and succeeds

21 Nov 2011

The most David Shrigley has claimed of Pass the Spoon is that it's meant to be entertaining. It’s mock-modesty, but in Shrigley & Co's defence, they've succeeded. The plot, for there is one, is like a mash-up of Ready Steady Cook and Terry & June…

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…

FareWell Poetry / Matthew Collings / Hiva Oa / Opul, The Third Door, Edinburgh, Mon 14 Nov

Carefully crafted multi-media, poetry-meets-noise and guitar assaults

18 Nov 2011

Salsa class is cancelled tonight, according to the blackboard outside what used to be after-hours hippy student dive Medina, but which now looks intent on filling the DIY boho gap that the Roxy Arthouse and The Forest once occupied so randomly. The…

Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks, The Arches, Glasgow Fri 11 Nov 2011

16 Nov 2011

Pavement’s short-lived reunion last year was damn-near miraculous, but you couldn’t help but feel that the pleasure was all ours. So, when the announcement came shortly after that Stephen Malkmus and his other brothers (and sister) in arms, The Jicks…

Bon Iver - Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 22 Oct 2011

Justin Vernon's large ensemble fails to capture the albums' spare beauty

16 Nov 2011

To a long since sold-out crowd of ardent devotees, Justin Vernon takes the stage – after the audience impatiently chats through support act Kathleen Edwards’ countrified indie folk. (Vernon helped out with production and instrumental duties on Edwards…

David Lynch - Crazy Clown Time

The iconic director's latest foray into music has great moments but an overdependence on filler

16 Nov 2011

(Sunday Best) The dark cinema of David Lynch needs no introduction, nor does the music in his films – whether the work of composer Angelo Badalamenti or his use of older pop songs. Who could forget Dean Stockwell lipsyncing Roy Orbison’s ‘In Dreams…

Opeth - HMV Picture House, Edinburgh, Thu 10 Nov

Mesmerising show from the Swedish prog metallers

16 Nov 2011

Prog metal (from Rush to Mastodon) is an acquired taste but Sweden’s Opeth are at the top of their game and it is in the live arena where you can really appreciate their musicianship. You can watch each musician and really piece together their input…

The Last September - As the Crow Flies

The Edinburgh indie-folk outfit return with well-written, academia-provoked album

16 Nov 2011

(self released) After a five year hiatus, these Edinburgh gentle indie rockers return with a second album, following their well-received début, Vagrant Song. As the Crow Flies features guests Poppy Ackroyd (Hidden Orchestra and Aberfeldy) and Ali…

Various artists - Songs For Dying

Vibrant collection of tunes exploring noise genres from techno to metal

16 Nov 2011

(Pjorn 72) The local Noiserati and associates’ recent reclaiming of their techno and/or metal roots helped their clan avoid a nihilistic dead end. As this bumper fifteen track compendium of clings, clangs, sci-fi slapstick, sepulchral drones…

The Very Best of Muzsikás featuring Márta Sebestyén - Fly Bird, Fly

Fantastic retrospective of the Hungarian folk group's career

16 Nov 2011

(Nascente) Early on, Hungarian musicians Muzsikás, with singer Márta Sebestyén, were at the forefront of the European folk scene. Forty years after they pushed forward traditions championed by ethnomusicologists Bartok and Kodaly, they sound as fiery…

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…