Music, Rock and Emma Newlands

James Apollo - The Caves, Edinburgh, Tue 6 Oct

Ecstatic Americana

15 Oct 2009

Some people might say that rock’n’roll isn’t all about having great hair. But these people are fools! James Apollo has a truly spectacular quiff and a rockabilly sound of equally high calibre that both get an awe-inspiring showcasing in the…

The Big Tent Festival

23 Jul 2009

‘There is a real sense of belonging and connection to something at the Big Tent Festival,’ explains the event’s programme director Mike Small. ‘The message is more “come join us” than “gimme your money”.’ Set up in July 2005, the…

5 Reasons To Go See - 1990s

30 Apr 2009

They love numbers more than Carol Vorderman does. They can turn a bus journey into a sociological study. They get their inspiration from unusual sources. They’re fearless rhymers. They’re cosmically minded.

Cloudberry Records Night

16 Apr 2009

The Cloudberry Records label may be based in Miami, but there is an undeniably Glaswegian influence on the roster of bands on the bill at this jangly guitar showcase. The Catalysts, in the bronze medal position on the line-up podium, are musical gold…

Super Furry Animals - Dark Days/Light Years

16 Apr 2009

INDIE (Rough Trade) As per comedian Steven Wright’s line about making his own water, ‘two parts H, one part O’, there is a tried and tested winning formula for Super Furries records, and this, their ninth studio album, is no exception. A handful of…

The ID Parade

19 Mar 2009

ROCK Whether anyone should ever trust a man wearing tassles is a matter for each individual’s conscience to decide. However, even the most hardline fashion police officer would surely turn a blind eye to the flamboyant shirts modelled by at least one…

The Foxes

19 Feb 2009

REVIEW ROCK THE FOXES Named after ‘the great man himself’, as angelic-looking Foxes lead singer Nigel Thomas says, introducing their forthcoming single ‘Bill Hicks’, the band’s closing song is a two-minute-long rifftastic marriage made in heaven of…

Esther O'Connor

13 Nov 2008

Brel, Glasgow, Wed 29 Oct An ethereal vision in a white lace corset, voluminous cotton skirt and flowing red hair, you could easily be forgiven for thinking that Esther O’Connor had stepped either out of a painting or off the set of a period drama on…

Holy Ghost Revival

30 Oct 2008

Not only does the Devil have the best tunes, but he lurks in the detail, and so it proved for this five-piece, religiously obeying all the rock’n’roll clichés. Trashing equipment, leaping out into the audience and sprawling himself across the floor…

Exposure: Esther O’Connor

28 Oct 2008

‘I was brought up in a musical and artistic family where to want to do music as a profession was perfectly normal,’ says singer-songwriter Esther O’Connor. Fusing her gorgeous vocals to instantly hummable folk and country-inspired melodies, her music’s…

Exposure: Findo Gask

22 Oct 2008

Who are Findo Gask? They are Gerard Black, Gregory Williams and Michael Marshall who met at St Andrew’s High School, Kirkcaldy. Now based in Glasgow, legend states that they spent a year practicing in singer Gerard's bedroom above Nice n Sleazy's. But…

Iglu & Hartly

2 Oct 2008

ROCK ‘Glasgow make some fucking NOISE! We’re Iglu & Hartly and we’re here to party!’ If you’d ever wondered what would happen if a chiselled boy band took a brace of hook-laden pop songs to the wrong side of the tracks, then this was your answer.

Kevin McDermott

3 Jul 2008

ROCK Oran Mor, Glasgow, Mon 23 Jun ‘Was that good?’ says the chipper Scots musician early on in his set, and 20 years into his career as a singer-songwriter. ‘I thought so,’ he adds, tongue in cheek. ‘And I liked the guitar solo.’ But he has every…

John B McKenna, We Were Promised Jetpacks and Over the Wall

3 Jul 2008

ROCK Captain’s Rest, Glasgow, Thu 5 Jun Starting with suitably hushed reverence for John B McKenna’s gentle powerhouse of a voice in an acoustic set, and ending with the squawking guitar, pounding keyboard and trumpet combo of Over the Wall, tonight’s…

Sergeant

19 Jun 2008

ROCK/POP King Tut’s, Glasgow, Fri 20 Jun ‘I wasn’t prepared for the sublime genius of Sergeant,’ says Alan McGee, who believes the Glenrothes band is carrying on a great tradition of perfectly-crafted sunny Scottish pop songs. ‘They have that slight…

Manchester Orchestra

13 Mar 2008

ROCK Oran Mor, Glasgow, Sun 10 Feb When it comes to compiling the worst album titles of all time, this Atlanta-based five-piece will surely be up there with the likes of Fiona Apple and Limp Bizkit with their second release, I’m Like a Virgin Losing a…

The Apple Scruffs

14 Feb 2008

REVIEW ROCK 13th Note, Glasgow, Fri 1 Feb The original Apple scruffs used to hang around waiting to meet The Beatles, and tonight the devotion was so intense that you could have been forgiven for thinking that the door to the 13th Note was a portal to…