Music

Exposure: Joe Carnall and the Book Club

28 Sep 2009

It's nearly five years now since the music media's microscope focused in on Sheffield as acts like Bromhead's Jacket, Little Man Tate and Long Blondes were heralded to define the decade. And though only Arctic Monkeys may have made it into the big…

Every Time I Die - New Junk Aesthetic

16 Sep 2009

(Epitaph) Every Time I Die’s last two albums were aptly entitled Gutter Phenomenon and The Big Dirty, showcasing the American noiseniks’ gruff and salacious sound. Their latest effort is little different. An unpredictable smorgasbord of neck-whipping…

Ocean Size - Twin Atlantic interview

10 Sep 2009

The popular Glasgow rockers Twin Atlantic pack an onstage punch, and have more than enough ambition to follow it up, finds Camilla Pia

Glasvegas - We Love To Boogie, Glasgow, Tue 1 Sep 2009

3 Sep 2009

‘Fuck the neighbours!’ shouts someone within the crowd spilling out onto the street. ‘James, please – turn it up to 11!’ Maybe the quiet little acoustic gig Glasvegas’ James Allan had in mind when he arranged this Twitter-promoted secret show wasn’t so…

Noah and the Whale - The First Days of Spring

21 Aug 2009

(Young & Lost) A sublime paean to the restorative powers of nature, space and time, The First Days of Spring elevates London’s Noah and the Whale from punctuation-denigrating indie-poppers – see 2008’s mini-hit, ‘5 Years Time’ (sic) – to philharmonic…

Admeto Re’di Tessaglia

Getting a handle on Handel

20 Aug 2009

Scorned lovers, jealous tantrums and furious outbursts are all in a day’s work for conductor Nicholas McGegan. As he explains, ‘There’s not a great deal of difference between opera and soap opera – they are all about love, jealously and ambition.…

The Magnets - Gobsmacked

Take it to the Fringe

16 Aug 2009

A multi-talented ‘six-pack’ ensemble from England, The Magnets breath fresh air into a cappella singing, while adding their cheeky confidence, dancing and interplay theatrics. With both combination singing and each individual taking a turn under the…

Amanda Palmer

14 Aug 2009

A singular talent who refuses to play the predictable game whether it’s on record, in print or on stage, Amanda Palmer has been turning heads since forever as one half of the Dresden Dolls, where she throws together Weimar cabaret and punk scree in…

Mumford and Sons

Furious energy from indie folk upstarts

10 Aug 2009

The tiny cavern that is Cabaret Voltaire may not be the biggest of venues Edinburgh has to offer, but it’s still some fear for these still relative unknowns from London to sell-out two intense, sweaty nights in a row, especially considering the…

Kerrang! The Album ‘09

10 Aug 2009

Since 1981 weekly metal mag Kerrang! has been waving the flag for hard rock charting the rise and fall of thrash, nu metal, grunge and emo. This double album exemplifies the dichotomy at the heart of any commercial magazine: do you cover what’s popular…

Taking Back Sunday on tour

23 Jul 2009

Taking Back Sunday have had so many line-up changes since their inception in 1999 that they’re now printing T-shirts with the slogan ‘I used to be in Taking Back Sunday’. So have they sent one to former bassist, Fred Mascherino, who had an acrimonious…

Bap Kennedy - Howl On

23 Jul 2009

Belfast-born singer-songwriter, Martin (or Bap) Kennedy, has been treading the rocky boards for nigh-on 20 years having led minor hitmakers, Energy Orchard, on their unsustainable UK Top 60 debut in 1990. Once sharing a stage with mentor, Van Morrison…

Wild Beasts - Two Dancers

23 Jul 2009

Imagine Antony Hegarty from Antony and the Johnsons fronting vintage Talking Heads. It might just work, right? Wrong, at least in the hands of Kendal kids Wild Beasts, it is. Maybe it’s all in the execution, which is at best seriously underwhelming and…

A-Team - The Musical

22 Jul 2009

Pity the poor fool who misses out on scoring a ticket to this musical version of the legendary 80s TV adventure series about a quartet of ex-crack commandos-turned-mercenaries. So, can Faceman hold a tune? How are Hannibal’s harmonies? What’s BA’s…

Win Tommy Reilly T-shirts!

7 Jul 2009

He’s making his debut at T in the Park this year, headlining the T Break Stage on Sunday 12 July – see our interview with him in issue 633 of The List, on sale Wednesday 9 July – and Tommy Reilly is so excited about the fact he has knocked up some…

Pixies to play Glasgow in August

2 Jul 2009

American alternative rock legends Pixies have announced a date at the SECC, Glasgow, on Sun 4 Aug. Since reforming in 2004 after an eleven-year split, the Boston quartet - Frank 'Black Francis' Black, Joey Santiago, David Lovering and Kim Deal - have…

Clutch - Strange Cousins From The West

25 Jun 2009

(Weathermaker) Clutch are one of those bands who constantly find themselves outside the circle of mainstream music, and unfortunately, it seems they’ll never transcend the fringes. This is their ninth studio effort and, rather unspectacularly, keeps…

AC/DC

25 Jun 2009

On paper the idea of AC/DC shouldn’t work. They’re Australian (well via Scotland); the lead guitarist is a fifty-something dressed in a velour school uniform, and their own brand of rock’n’roll remains as wantonly unsophisticated as it was 35 years ago.

Throbbing Gristle

11 Jun 2009

INDUSTRIAL When Throbbing Gristle issued a communiqué in 1981 announcing that ‘the mission is terminated’, it looked like the last self-destructive flourish by the UK’s premier avant-provocateurs. Sired from underground performance art troupe COUM…

The Amphetameanies

11 Jun 2009

SKA PUNK Cult Glasgow ska punk veterans The Amphetameanies’ line-up, past and present, includes members of Bis, Belle and Sebastian and Franz Ferdinand. Bassist Gordon Davidson refutes the suggestion that it must be frustrating being in all these…

James Blackshaw - The Glass Bead Game

11 Jun 2009

A supernatural 12-string axe-slinger, James Blackshaw’s extraordinary muse educes Philip Glass, John Fahey and Peter Walker: he is awesome. The Glass Bead Game, Blackshaw’s first album for Young God, (home to Devendra Banhart and Akron/Family)…

YolanDa Brown

11 Jun 2009

SOUL JAZZ Twenty-six-year-old London-born saxophonist YolanDa Brown is already remarkably successful, winning a MOBO award last year and collaborating with Alexander O’Neil, Mica Paris and The Temptations, all on the back of just two self-released…

Exposure: Jacob Yates and the Pearly Gate Lock Pickers

2 Jun 2009

Jacob Yates and the Pearly Gate Lock Pickers evolved from the defunct and missed Uncle John and Whitelock, taking from it some of the signature elements and the obvious influence of The Cramps but turning the horror R&B into Jacob Yates' cleverly…

Broken Records: Until the Earth Begins to Part

28 May 2009

Positively brimming with ambition, confidence and diverse songsmithery, this debut album from the Edinburgh seven-piece folk rock outfit sees them leaving behind early comparisons to Arcade Fire and growing into their own skins beautifully. Opener…

The 10:04s and The OK Social Club - The Hive, Edinburgh, Sat 9 May

28 May 2009

Is Leith the new Dundee? The area has all-of-a-sudden hothoused a bunch of ragged, jangly indie kids seemingly hell-bent on finding their way into Alan McGee’s phone book. Admittedly, none of this trio carry quite the same air of menace as The View, The…

Exposure: Dinosaur Pile-up

20 May 2009

Coming from the ever-growing, densely populated musical stomping ground that is Leeds, Dinosaur Pile-up are a trio whose songs embrace heavier sounds besides the standard infectious melody and pace associated with many of their contemporaries. With only…

William Orbit - My Oracle Lives Upstairs

30 Apr 2009

DANCE The man best known as the studio button-pushing monkey for Madonna’s Ray of Light album has apparently given up production duties of late to concentrate on his own muse. On this evidence, it’s a big mistake, because Orbit is not an inspired…

Big Ned - Big Ned

16 Apr 2009

(Optimo Music) The third release and first album from this new label isn’t what anyone who still believes Optimo is just a club night will be expecting. The brainchild of D James Clark and John Murray (and band), Big Ned is a seedy, guitar-propelled…

Secret Wars

2 Apr 2009

The first rule of Art Club is: you don’t talk about Art Club. Unless you’re writing a piece in a magazine. We’re not really sure what an event describing itself as ‘like Fight Club, with artists’ entails, but this live art battle has been running at…

Exposure: Thomas Truax

1 Apr 2009

A mechanical mastermind, Thomas Truax manipulates random objects into his own bizarre and genius musical instruments, a vision as well as sound that cannot be missed live. While Nick Cave comparisons are understandable, theatrically and voice-wise…

PJ Harvey & John Parish - A Woman A Man Walked By

19 Mar 2009

ROCK From topless indie pin-up to tormented folk mythologist, cult pop monarch Polly Jean Harvey has long exposed and scrutinised the predicaments of the human condition. She’s populated copious roles over her swaggering, nigh-on 20-year career…

Ipso Facto

5 Mar 2009

INDIE Last time über-bobbed female quartet Ipso Facto were in Glasgow, two of their number were aloft the shoulders of their companions in the auditorium of the O2 Academy, going nuts to reformed post-punk fabulists Magazine’s encore of Captain…

Further T in the Park 2009 tickets released

5 Mar 2009

T in the Park organisers will be releasing further tickets for the music festival. The tickets will go on sale tomorrow morning, Friday 6th March at 10am and will be on sale via Ticketmaster on 08444 999 990 and also online at www.ticketmaster.co.uk

Exposure: Esser

3 Mar 2009

He looks like Morrissey and talks like Stewart Lee, but Ben Esser is a real individual when it comes to music. 24 and living London, there's the danger of the young musician being swept up but 2009's tide of 80s synth pop throwbacks, desperately…

Scottish Opera - Five:15

19 Feb 2009

As a savvy soul once surmised, ‘the more opera is dead, the more it flourishes.’ Just take the rise and rise of Scottish Opera. While the opera cynic waxed lyrical about the need to redefine the remit for a noughties audience, there they were setting…

Noisy Nights

19 Feb 2009

Although it sounds like it’s something to do with closing time at the weekend, Noisy Nights is actually a Monday evening happening all about new music. Taking place in the bar of Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre, performances will be of new scores which…

Hitlist - Classical

19 Feb 2009

● Evening Concert: Brodsky Quartet As part of the ongoing celebrations in honour of the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn’s birth, the award-winning Brodsky Quartet play his second string quartet just a couple of days prior to the actual birthday date.

Of Montreal

22 Jan 2009

INDIE POP Although Athens-based concept-poppers Of Montreal have been active for over a decade now, their ninth and latest album Skeletal Lamping has seen the group reach their highest watermark yet. The record was a top forty entry in America, and…

Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light

22 Jan 2009

BAROQUE POP Mr Hegarty returns, with his mesmerising whine and theatrical warble grabbing the back of the neck like frosty fingers. The follow up to the Mercury prize-winning I am a Bird Now explores the spaces between male and female, shelter and…

In Case of Fire

22 Jan 2009

Fast rising Northern Irish trio are the opening act of the Kerrang! Tour in anticipation of their debut album, Align the Planets. As you’d expect the full line-up is a snap shot of modern metal including young tykes Black Tide and their old school metal…

Slipknot

8 Jan 2009

METAL For any rock band worth their salt, it’s all about the guitars. BIG. HEAVY. GUITARS. Slipknot have their fair share of shredding riffs and six string belligerence, although the first thing that hits us tonight, aside from the explosions and…

The Levellers - ABC, Glasgow, 18th December 2008

19 Dec 2008

Twenty years on and despite a few extra wrinkles and more than a few grey hairs, The Levellers have not lost an ounce of their infectious passion for live performance. Still decrying the establishment, but now with up to date political references (see…

Songs of the Year 2008

11 Dec 2008

‘Skinny Love’ Bon Iver One man’s heartbreak becomes our joy from the album of the year. ‘Like the Rest of Us’ Atmosphere The leftfield dwelling purists may sneer but this is beguiling, introspective hip hop brilliance. ‘Run Run’ Those Dancing Days…

Musicians' guide: Open mic nights

27 Nov 2008

Mondays Glasgow Nice 'n' Sleazy 421 Sauchiehall St, 333 0900. 8pm. The Monday Acoustic Jam, 8pm–midnight. Free to all performers. Bring your instrument and join in the fun. Open Mic NIght - Pivo Pivo 15 Waterloo Street, 564 8100. 6pm.

Andersen, Smith, Vinaccia

27 Nov 2008

JAZZ Norwegian bass maestro Arild Andersen teams up with our own Tommy Smith and Italian drummer Paulo Vinaccia in a superbly creative trio that has its immediate origins in the rather unlikely location of Islay. Andersen was invited to write some…

Plans annnounced for British Music Experience exhibition

27 Nov 2008

Amy Winehouse and David Bowie are just two of the names said to be backing a new exhibition charting the history of British pop. The British Music Experience is set to open at the O2 in London in March and will feature a mix of costumes and instruments…

Exposure: Alestorm

20 Nov 2008

Excuse us while we sit down for a bit, because we’ve just had the shock of our lives. You might feel the same when you open up the MySpace page of four-piece Perth (Scotland, not Australia) rock outfit Alestorm, because nothing can quite prepare you for…

Those Dancing Days - In Our Space Hero Suits

13 Nov 2008

Appearances can be deceptive. And in our image-obsessed age it’s great to hear someone like Linnea Johnson, who looks a cherubic Swedish folk-singer, but has a voice like heavily polished mahogany. Coming off somewhere between Liz Frazer and Alison…

Scottish Opera - La Traviata

30 Oct 2008

‘Born to die’ seems a bit of an extreme expression to describe a singer, but for Carmen Giannattasio it appears to fit the bill. Star of tragic opera after tragic opera, the Italian soprano says it’s unfortunate, but, ‘I have died so much in the last…

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…