Music and Brian Donaldson

Howard Marks in discussion event with MC5 manager John Sinclair

The two can offer different takes on the 1960s counter culture

22 May 2012

Every generation needs a figurehead to accentuate the fun side of drugs. From Thomas de Quincey to Sherlock Holmes and through to Timothy Leary, the Beatles and Bill Hicks, it’s not all been bad trips and cold turkey (if there any wags out there…

The Just Joans - Buckfast Bottles in the Rain

Underwhelming concept album from the indie-poppers

23 Apr 2012

(weePOP!) Naming themselves after a notoriously annoying tabloid columnist might be mistake number one, but it isn’t the worst of The Just Joans’ crimes. Claiming to have created an ‘audacious artistic undertaking’ of Bowie and Zappa-like proportions…

French Wives - Dream of the Inbetween

An astute and highly promising opening salvo from Glasgow band

18 Apr 2012

(Electric Honey) What a satisfying thing it is to hear a pop song that bypasses the tyranny of the chorus and sticks to its guns with a series of ear-warming verses. ‘Younger’, the shoulder-high stand-out track from the debut collection by French Wives…

How Soon is Now - music books round-up

A round-up of music books from Richard King, Rob Young, Martin C Strong and Bernie Krause

26 Mar 2012

The next best thing to hearing a great record is then going on to read all about it. Unless you feel that analysing music in any way is akin to destroying the purity of the aural experience. If you’re of that opinion then best avoid this clutch of…

Dean Owens - New York Hummingbird

Release from Edinburgh-based tunesmith a mixed bag

28 Feb 2012

(Songboy Records) Could it be that Dean Owens suffers from Ron Sexsmith Syndrome? RSS is that little-publicised but extremely frustrating affliction which strikes talented singer-songwriters who are perfectly capable of crafting a gloriously melodic…

Belle and Sebastian - Late Night Tales Volume 2

Eclectic mix of lush instrumentals, smoked jazz and 60s guitar interludes

22 Feb 2012

(Late Night Tales) As with being invited to perform stand-up on Letterman or to guest-host Have I Got News for You, some people might only feel vindicated in their cultural pursuit when they are asked back. And so the people behind the Late Night…

Mull Historical Society - City Awakenings

Varied collection of often backwards-looking eccentricities

5 Jan 2012

(Xtra Mile Recordings) A decade after the Mull Historical Society debut Loss, Colin MacIntyre marks the event with another gentle, curious and occasionally awkward platter, as they called them back in the early 00s. In some ways, MHS are becoming…

Chris Isaak - Beyond the Sun

Listenable but redundant take on some of Sun Records' finest

5 Jan 2012

(Vanguard Records/Rhino) During its 1950s heyday, Sun Records churned out standards by the bucketload from the likes of Elvis, Cash and Orbison. During the recording of Beyond the Sun, David Lynch’s favourite bequiffed rockabilly star was presumably…

The Hot 100 2011: 100-50

The definitive list of Scottish creative talent

16 Dec 2011

100: Gordon Ferris. Kilmarnock crime author makes good. The already packed Scottish crime writing field has finally found a bit of elbow room for another burgeoning talent. Joining the likes of Rankin, Brookmyre, McDermid and co is this Ayrshire-born…

Hot 100 2011 - No. 49 to 1

The definitive list of Scottish creative talent

16 Dec 2011

The Hot 100 is the definitive list of Scottish creative talent. From fashion designers to performance artists, everyone who has made a sizeable splash in 2011 has a place in this countdown. It’s for people who’ve created a buzz, but it’s also about…

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…

The Midnight Beast - Book At Us Now

Unfunny pop-parody book designed to cash in on upcoming TV fame

18 Oct 2011

(Coronet) ‘We mock the living hell out of stuff for a living,’ claim London pop parody trio The Midnight Beast. Even in this disposable age, simply poking fun at more talented people can only stretch so far before the game is up. Success rarely…

The Hazey Janes - The Winter That Was

Unoriginal effort from the Dundonian indie-poppers

12 Oct 2011

(Armellodie Records) For those looking to uncover evidence that the reservoir of originality has truly dried up on contemporary music, this new effort from Dundee’s Hazey Janes might well seal the deal. After an intriguing, brief opening salvo which…

Blueflint - Maudy Tree

Déjà vu melodies and clichéd narratives winds up down the same old cul de sac

14 Sep 2011

(Jorock) If ever there was a band best suited to be heard in the ale-imbued confines of a wee folk club rather than in the car or at home, it’s Scottish quartet Blueflint. For every song on Maudy Tree that seems to begin promisingly with a subtle…

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Tape Club

Enjoyable collection of B-sides and demos a predictably patchy affair

14 Sep 2011

(Polyvinyl) The 26 tracks on Tape Club, the majority of which are pleasingly under two and a half minutes long, represent unreleased tunes, B-sides, demos and rare recordings across a decade in the life of this Missouri outfit with one of the…

Fringe 2011 comedy: 5 musical comedians

Isy Suttie, Steve Pretty, ATF?, Pistol & Jack and Gareth Richards

29 Jul 2011

Isy Suttie. Dobby (from Peep Show not Harry Potter, silly) brings us Pearl and Dave, another heartwarming multi-character tale. With his Perfect Mixtape, Pretty recalls the tunes played at his own wake in 2005 (there’s a story there) and wonders what…

Viva Brother - Famous First Words

Dull and pointless album of Britpop-era rejects

13 Jul 2011

(Geffen) ‘If you don’t give yourself the option of fucking up, then you can’t fuck up,’ boldly announces Viva Brother frontman Lee Newell. And yet, time and again, their ‘gritpop’ (oh dear) debut album offers chance after chance for the band to make…

Lamb - 5

Diverting aural oddities abound on this return to action

13 Jul 2011

(Strata) Have you ever seen anything more 80s than Lamb’s cover design for 5? No, we’d venture, you haven’t. Yet curiously, their big comeback album (they’d put themselves on ice since 2003 and not, as you might guess first time, during the summer of…

Capercaillie, Lau and Eddi Reader set for Fringe by the Sea 2011

North Berwick festival offers alternative to August in Edinburgh

30 May 2011

What is there to dislike about Fringe by the Sea? For those in the capital mid-August sick and tired of being jostled by flyer-folk, it’s a wonderful opportunity to seek a retreat and still get a shot of culture. For residents in the North Berwick area…

Echo and the Bunnymen and Anna Calvi among highlights of Belladrum

Music festival set in deepest, brightest Inverness-shire

30 May 2011

The award-winning festival event returns for an eighth time with a big bunch of music acts parking their campervans in deepest, brightest Inverness-shire. Alongside the music fare, there’s whole lot of entertainment for children, street theatre…

New music books: Luke Haines - Post Everything, Andy Kershaw - No Off Switch,

Simon Reynold - Retromania, Scott Weiland - Not Dead & Not for Sale

23 May 2011

Semi-absent fans of former Auteur and Black Box Recorder man Luke Haines might have received something of a jolt on suddenly Googling him. The words on the second entry would have immediately caught the eye: ‘It is with deep regret that we have to…

Celebrity memoirs: Rob Lowe, Barbara Sinatra, Stacey Solomon, Judy Golding and Bear Grylls to publish books

13 Apr 2011

While Charlie Sheen implodes in front of the world’s eyes, he could take comfort in the salutary tale of his old Brat Pack boozing buddy Rob Lowe. In 1988, grainy video footage of him having a wild time with two women became the first commercially…

Mark Radcliffe to tour new book, Reelin’ in the Years: The Soundtrack of a Northern Life

13 Apr 2011

When David Bowie implores the public to indulge in thieving, you know it must be for a very good reason. His call to serious felony was raised on the publication of Mark Radcliffe’s Thank You for the Days: A Boy’s Own Adventure in Radio and Beyond, in…

Robin Adams' 'Be Gone' contains some worthwhile tracks, but ultimately lacks the depth of its forebears

13 Apr 2011

(Eye Dog Eye) It’s a bold move for Be Gone to kick off with a protest song called ‘Investment Graveyard’ which is so reminiscent of Bruce Dylan (or is it mid-period Bob Springsteen?) to be almost parodic. Fortunately, Robin Adams swiftly gets into…

Alela Diane: Alela Diane & Wild Divine

Family-made folk album from Diane

24 Mar 2011

(Rough Trade) Something of a family affair this for Alela Diane’s third album, with husband Tom Bevitori and daddy Tom Menig helping out on, respectively, co-writing and guitar duties. In this patchy yet occasionally uplifting collection, a downbeat…

33 Revolutions Per Minute, by Dorian Lynskey (Faber)

Comprehensive history of protest music

9 Mar 2011

While acknowledging that the protest song has its roots way before the 20th century, music journo Dorian Lynskey kicks off his impressive and extensive history book in 1939 because ‘that is where things get interesting’. This was the year of Grapes of…

Ian Green - Fuzz to Folk

Autobiography from founder of folk record label Greentrax

19 Jan 2011

(Luath) The life of Ian Green is certainly a packed one. Speedway champ, Korean veteran, grower of prize-winning chrysanthemums, police inspector and folk music entrepreneur are among the entries on his CV, but whether he can add ‘accomplished writer…

The best upcoming events in Scotland in 2011

Highlights of the 2011 cultural calandar from Film, Music, Comedy, Theatre and Visual Art

3 Jan 2011

Huge gigs, inspiring theatre productions, comedy legends and two cute little waving bears – just a few of the things coming up in ‘11 that we can barely contain our excitement about

The Hot 100 2010 - Mark Millar, Kevin Bridges and Alasdair Gray take top 3 spots

Our annual chart of the people from Scotland being interesting, successful and creative

16 Dec 2010

The Hot 100 is a list of Scots who’ve made a sizeable creative splash in 2010. It includes musicians, artists, writers, actors, fashion designers, technological innovators, shop owners, festival directors, record label heads and one mad cyclist.

The Greenhornes - ****

15 Nov 2010

(Third Man Records) According to some worldviews, the 1960s officially ended when The Beatles announced they were splitting up or when Charlie Manson and his followers unleashed a summer of hate. Clearly, no one ever informed Cincinnati garage band…

Video Killed The Radio Star

Nostalgic documentary on pop promo world profiles Russell Mulcahy, David Mallet and Wayne Isha

2 Nov 2010

(IND3D) Did you know that, with the dawn of MTV in the 1980s, the pop promo became almost as important to an artist’s career as their actual songs? Everyone who has studied that period or, worse, lived through it, won’t need telling twice. Well…

Eat Dr Ape - Love and Lust in Wonderland

6 Oct 2010

(EDA Publishing) While you’re listening to this seven-track affair drone on, why not play the band-name anagram game? It quickly throws up at least one intriguing alternative title which curiously matches the threatening ambience of the CD cover.

Agnes Obel

16 Sep 2010

Philharmonics (PIAS Recordings) Berlin-based Copenhagener Agnes Obel may well have just rewritten the book on ethereal pop. From ‘Falling, Catching’, the delicate opener of Satie/Einaudi piano cycles through its evocations of Sufjan Stevens, Stina…

Helen Arney

Sweet songs with a tender heart

24 Aug 2010

For Helen Arney, love is a many tentacled thing. Two centuries ago, there was ‘less choice, more farming accidents’ while now we’re never too sure whether the grass will turn out to be greener on the other side. For her own part, she seems to have a…

30 top shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2010

The List's pick of the Edinburgh Festival programme

23 Jul 2010

From Turner Prize-winning Martin Creed and New York theatre experimentalists The Wooster Group to former wild child Storm Large and promising newcomer Jonny Sweet, this is The List's pick of August’s entertainment.

The Gospel at Colonus promises rousing theatre experience

EIF soul and gospel take on Sophocles' tragedy sure to impress

16 Jul 2010

If there’s a more roof-raising theatre experience at the entire festival, never mind just at the International end of things, we can’t wait to hear about it. Lee Breuer and Bob Telson’s The Gospel at Colonus merges rock’n’roll, soul and gospel to fire…

Avi Buffalo will now support The Low Anthem at Edge Festival

Edinburgh gig by swoony youths rescheduled

16 Jul 2010

Avi Buffalo, or Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg to his mum, formed a band with three friends from his high school in Long Beach, California. That was three years ago, and their sun-bleached, jangly, trippy folk-rock has been slowly creeping into British hearts.

An overview of the 2010 Edinburgh Festivals and their directors

What to expect from Edinburgh in August

15 Jul 2010

Nowhere does a festival quite like Edinburgh, and even with the film folk having long moved out of August, there is more than plenty going on for lovers of art, literature, comedy, theatre, kids entertainment, music, dance and military displays. The…

Five new music books

7 Jul 2010

Rob Jovanovic - The Velvet Underground Unpeeled Some bands just refuse to go away and the Reed/Cale combo is one such example. This is the first full biog for two decades and is based on exclusive chats with the surviving members. Aurum. Rob Young…

Edinburgh festivals line-ups announced

28 May 2010

Whatever your cultural poison, Edinburgh’s festival circuit has it covered

Nina Nastasia - Outlaster

20 May 2010

(FatCat) Should you happen to have the severe misfortune of being stranded on a leaky boat in a most callous storm, the soundtrack in your head to accompany this horror will most likely be sung by Nina Nastasia. In this, her most lush offering to…

The National - High Violet

14 May 2010

(4AD) Over a ten-year spell, moody Brooklyn boys The National have been fretting over their souls and this messed-up world around them. The time to cheer up a bit is surely overdue with Interpol having long ensnared the miserablist NYC indie rock…

The Bacon Brothers - New Year’s Day

12 May 2010

(Hypertension) To those who say there’s not way too much recorded music in the world, please cop a feel of this. Featuring anaemic white reggae, crushingly vapid soul and decrepit grandad rock, there’s barely a track on Michael and Kevin Bacon’s…

Gavin Bain - California Schemin’

15 Apr 2010

(Simon & Schuster) It’s not difficult to see why Irvine Welsh has been so drawn to this story of two Scottish boys who fooled the music industry into believing they were a pair of Californian rappers. There’s a fair smattering of sex, large dollops…

Chris Bradley - At the Outpost

19 Mar 2010

(17 Seconds Records) With his angelic vocals and breezy folk aesthetic, this latest release from Aberfeldy man Chris Bradley makes for an engaging listen. At the Outpost never quite manages to rise out of its lower gears though, making for an…

Galaxie 500: Today/On Fire/This is Our Music

19 Mar 2010

(Domino) Between 1987 and 1991, the Harvard Uni-formed slowcore band released three albums which caught the indie mood of the times but have somehow, pleasingly, weathered the ravages of time. Awash with bonus tracks, the reissue of Today, On Fire and…

Channel Hopper: The Gemma Factor

2 Mar 2010

Ten years ago, something like The Gemma Factor (BBC3, Tue 9 Mar, 10.30pm) would never have been made. Quite probably in five years’ time, all programmes will be a little like this. Gemma Collinge (toothy newcomer Anna Gilthorpe) is obsessed with fame.

RM Hubbert - First & Last

17 Feb 2010

(Ubisano) Once a member of the now defunct Glasgow instrumentalists El Hombre Trajeado, guitarist RM Hubbert delivers his debut solo release and proves that there’s much to be said for working hard on your craft. Here, he flexes his post-rock…

Adam Green - Minor Love

6 Jan 2010

(Rough Trade) Looking like he’s walked straight off a Strokes album wrap party and now sounding exactly (I mean exactly) like Transformer-era Lou Reed, the former half of NYC’s Moldy Peaches delivers his sixth solo album. If or when you get over the…

Erect - Sweeney Straddles the Sun

17 Dec 2009

(Boffo Bear Studios) A chubby, cherubic young lad grins from the cover of Sweeney Straddles the Sun’s debut, the titular word ‘erect’ uncomfortably large beside the boy’s shiny head. Listening to this set of 11 tunes is equally fraught an experience…