Music

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.

Virgin to become Zavvi

18 Sep 2007

Sir Richard Branson has sold 125 Virgin record stores in the UK and Ireland, which will see the Megastores rebranded as Zavvi. The value of the deal has not been disclosed but the business – sold to a group of senior staff – will continue to be run…

Paolo Nutini

21 Aug 2006

He has some beautiful tunes and cheekbones to match but Mark Robertson reckons Paolo Nutini has what it takes to make the successful transition from aspirant roadie to international superstar. Reclining in the June sunshine on the verdant grass…

Stereophonics

15 Nov 2007

ROCK SECC, Glasgow, Sun 25 Nov It’s a rock truism. Some bands burn out, some fade away while a few just keep rolling on for an age, undaunted by critical opinion and undimmed in their fans’ affections. Stereophonics are an archetypal example of…

Exposure - Vivian Girls

2 Dec 2008

Propelled into our lives on a wave of blog hysteria following a scuzzy masterpiece of a debut, Vivian Girls are possibly the most perfect outfit to come out of New York since The Strokes squeezed into those skinny jeans and stole our hearts all those…

Musicians' guide: How to make it in the music industry

27 Nov 2008

Want to make it in music? Fancy yourself as The Next Big Thing? Claire Sawers and Malcolm Jack track down nine very different people currently working in the industry and quiz them on just what they do and how they do it In addition, for detailed…

Four Year Strong, Meg & Dia and The Colour Fred

22 May 2008

ROCK King Tut’s, Glasgow, Thu 15 May In case you missed the memo, pop punk is cool again, and judging by those on this Give It a Name festival spin off tour, beards are too. But the trouble with all four bands being rotating headliners is that…

Biffy Clyro to headline Rockness 2009, with festival stretching to three days

28 Nov 2008

Scottish band Biffy Clyro have announced that they will be headlining the final day of RockNess 2009. The festival, which takes place in Dores on the eastern banks of Loch Ness, is set for June 12th, 13th and 14th in 2009, growing from two days to three…

Belle & Sebastian revealed as ‘Best Scottish Band of All Time'

1 Jan 2005

After a three-month public vote, Belle & Sebastian were named as the ‘Best Scottish Band Of All Time' at an exclusive Announcement Party at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow. The prestigious accolade, sponsored by Orange, was announced in front of an…

Tom Waits - album review

Tom Waits

27 Nov 2006

UNCLASSIFIABLE When the BBC were planning their resurrection of Jackanory, Tom Waits may well have been on the longlist of proposed readers. But maybe they got wind of his disturbing night-time terror ‘Children’s Story’ and revoked the invite. Like…

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

31 Jan 2008

(XL Recordings) INDIE Indie rock has taken many wilful turns in its ragged adolescence but the predilection for smartening up and tuning up has been one that’s arrived to infrequently for most. Vampire Weekend look like dropouts from an Abercrombie…

2008 Rock Ness line-up unveiled

31 Jan 2008

The picturesque surrounds of Loch Ness are set to host some of the biggest names on the UK rock scene. The Rock Ness music festival, named after its location on the banks of the famous Scottish loch, will showcase top bands, including Editors…

Stereophonics - album review

Indie rock

4 Oct 2007

Although rock’s snootiest critics might have it that The Stereophonics are one of the most blasphemous and superannuated crimes ever inflicted on music, it’s hard to underestimate the value of giving a fanbase what they want. Certainly, the band’s…

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Corn Exchange, Edinburgh, Wed 26 Nov

27 Nov 2008

Now this is how to work a crowd. ‘You’ve got the wrong band, mate’, says Nick Cave, as someone up the front makes a call for something not actually performed by he and his Bad Seeds (it must have been a Grinderman or Birthday Party track, we’re…

Trade secrets

27 Nov 2008

Five months before Margaret Thatcher’s landslide 1979 victory, and with Britain’s city streets still retaining the air of a depressed bombsite, highbrow arts programme The South Bank Show appeared to have been hi-jacked by a cell of musical terrorists.

Roisin Murphy

18 Oct 2007

ELECTRO Overpowered (EMI) A love or hatred of Roisin Murphy’s former band aside, there’s no arguing with the fact that this ex-Moloko vocalist currently makes some of the most sophisticated electro pop around. Boasting catchy melodies, demonic…

Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny

The devil plays guitar

13 Nov 2006

Tearing modesty a new asshole, Tenacious D describe themselves as ‘the world’s greatest rock band’. The D’s two members, Jack Black (vocals and rhythm guitar) and Kyle Gass (lead guitar and backing vocals), name check among their inspirations Kiss, Dio…

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…

Mr Hudson & the Library

18 Oct 2007

The ultimate hybrid, Mr Hudson & the Library mix mournful piano with emotive vocals, acoustic guitar and grime. It’s not a marriage you’d imagine would work, but Mr Hudson creates a startling new sound as Chet Baker-inspired rhythms are underpinned by…

Arctic Monkeys

ROCK

26 Apr 2007

The weight of expectation hasn’t affected the Arctic Monkeys one iota. They’ve hardly broken their stride and have tossed off a second album of casual brilliance. It almost feels unfair how off the cuff Favourite Worst Nightmare feels; the lyrics are as…

Sigur Rós - Hvarf-Heim

13 Dec 2007

ROCK (EMI) Released to loosely accompany the Icelandic outfit’s superb recent film, Heima, this two-CD album is a revelation. The Hvarf half contains outtakes and rarities from 12 years of full-band studio sessions and is full of the sumptuous epic…

Amy Winehouse interview

Life and soul

12 Feb 2007

It’s the morning after the tabloid outrage the night before. The weekend before we meet, Amy Winehouse was due to perform at GAY, the full-on, no-holds-barred club institution in the heart of London. Kylie’s done it with her sister Danni, McFly dropped…

Rock of Ages

3 Jul 2008

In a bid end that long-standing argument about just how old that guy from The Prodigy really is, Josie Balfour digs out the birth certificates of those appearing at T in the Park.

Serj Tankian interview: full transcript

System of a Down vocalist talks to The List

20 Aug 2008

System of a Down were a singular prospect in metal, intelligent, intricate and utterly unique. Now vocalist Serj Tankian has released his first solo album, Elect the Dead, as you'd expect it's as distinctive as his former band. Classical pianos morph…

Live at Loch Lomond - Róisín Murphy

31 Jul 2008

A backless dress with a microscopically small pork pie hat. A sequinned black body sock topped off by a feather boa. Spray-on Lycra and a red ‘Allo ‘Allo beret. Pop chameleon and ex-Moloko frontwoman Róisín Murphy knows a thing or two about killer…