Music and Emma Newlands

The Wynntown Marshals - Westerner

4 Dec 2009

(Charger) Impressively boasting two Keiths and two Iains amongst their ranks, The Wynntown Marshalls say they write songs about ‘love, loss, wars, natural disasters and the otherwise broken ride we like to call life’. More specifically, the songs on…

Jimmy Webb and The Webb Brothers

29 Oct 2009

‘People realise that this is not just another record, this is a family working together,’ says legendary singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb, explaining how he recruited various members of his family to make the album Cottonwood Farm in what turned out to be…

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…

Blueflint - Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Wed 30 Sep

The local folk duo dazzle

2 Oct 2009

Stories of heartbreak, revenge and plenty more drama besides pepper the lyrics of ace Edinburgh bluegrass banjo duo of Deborah Arnott and Clare-Louise Neilson who play the fingerpickin’ and clawhammer banjo respectively. Their sublime delicate vocal…

Sugar Crisis

Apple Store, Glasgow, Thu 17 Sep

23 Sep 2009

Even before they’ve played a note, the bubblegum pink guitar onstage seems like a sign that this boy-girl duo could well be about to perform a heady sugar rush of fluorescent pop. And so it proves – the short and sweet half hour set reveals a…

T-Model Ford

Authentic blues from the octogenarian

3 Sep 2009

Born James Lewis Carter Ford in Forrest, a small community in Scott County, Mississippi, myth, mystery and awe surround the life of the blues musician better known as T-Model Ford. His exact age, for instance, is unknown even to him, although he is…

Hotdoctors: The Downage

Slick DJs, slack comics

10 Aug 2009

As the old saying goes, if a job’s worth doing, then it’s worth doing well. So when it comes to the likes of musical comedy, you get your gems like Spinal Tap or Flight of the Conchords; elsewhere, subversive satire has brought us comedy gold panned by…

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…

Beerjacket: Animosity

9 Jul 2009

Like an iron fist in a velvet glove, acoustic troubadour Peter Kelly has wrapped powerful lyrical sentiment inside a delicate musical framework for this stripped-back-to-basics album. And what an album it is, with whispered vocals, plaintive harmonies…

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.

Basement Jaxx

16 Apr 2009

Ten years since they burst onto the music scene armed with hyperactively genre-hopping debut album Remedy and a carnival-like live act, are dusting down their turntables for a prolonged spell on the live scene this summer. DJs Felix Buxton and Simon…

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…

Beerjacket

19 Feb 2009

Look busy, here comes The Boss! Yep, the legendary Bruce Springsteen paid a spiritual if not physical visit to Oran Mor during a Beerjacket cover of ‘Dancing in the Dark’, and the song’s bittersweet tone and repressed optimism slotted very neatly into…

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…

Rolo Tomassi

8 Jan 2009

HARDCORE With the current trend for turning any conceivable subject matter into a feelgood singalong musical, it seems only fair and logical that Linda Blair’s most famous film role should be immortalised in song eventually. Or so it would seem…

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…

Exposure: Rosie and the Goldbug

10 Nov 2008

Who are Rosie and the Goldbug? Singer Rosie Vanier, who gave her name to the band, explains: ‘We’re from Cornwall, have been together for a year and a half and are made up of me, Pixie the bass player who’s a real life pixie, and Plums the drummer who’s…

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.

Pearl and the Puppets

4 Sep 2008

With a voice that’s as elegantly fiery as the red dress she wears to take to the stage, Katie Sutherland – aka Pearl – puts on a feistily charming and totally beguiling show for what she tells the crowd is her first-ever gig at Tut’s with the…

The Wave Pictures

4 Sep 2008

This trio may be from London, but the fine city of Glasgow is evidently a spiritual home for singer David Tattersall, who excitedly announces ‘I used to live here. I wrote this here!’ before one of the band’s raw but epic numbers, one of which includes…

Home work - Tipis and pods

17 Jul 2008

Home work A festival that is boutique in all the right ways, Hydro Connect offers some truly original bespoke accommodation options, as Emma Newlands discovers Ideally, all camping experiences would take place in Jellystone Park with Yogi Bear, or…

Bloc Party - A weekend out of the city

17 Jul 2008

'Alluding to a stadium moment is not something to be ashamed of,' grins Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke, 'if it can be done well...' The band's 'agit-jitter guitar pop' not only led to their 2005 debut album Silent Alarm selling a million copies, it…

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…

Black Kids

22 May 2008

INDIE King Tut’s, Glasgow, Wed 4 Jun They’re not going to teach your boyfriend how to dance with you, but tipped-for-greatness combo Black Kids are hellbent on entertaining the Tut’s crowd as part of their UK and Europe-wide tour. Speaking from…

Natty

10 Apr 2008

REGGAE Nice’n’Sleazy, Glasgow, Tue 1 Apr ‘You’ve made my night very enjoyable,’ says Natty at the end of his infectiously sunny set, before needlessly adding: ‘I hope I have yours.’ It’s a suitably charming signing off from this Londoner; fresh from…

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…

Yellow Bentines

28 Feb 2008

ACOUSTIC Linen 1906, Glasgow, Thu 31 Jan I like to imagine that bands are created in a Weird Science-style lab, and that when they’re complete, they emerge in a puff of dry ice to the delight of their creator. Then again, maybe I should lay off the…

Adele

14 Feb 2008

REVIEW SOUL Classic Grand, Glasgow, Fri 1 Feb Dovetailing two phenomena, namely the fast track route to fame via MySpace and the new crop of ‘60s-style female singers triggered by the combined forces of Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse, Adele is most…

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…

Rags and Feathers and Eugene McGuinness

31 Jan 2008

ROCK FOLK ‘Heckle us if you like!’ was a brave challenge from Rags and Feathers frontman Tom Davis, especially as the band was apparently brought to life in this very venue only a few months previously. But there was nothing to find fault in during a…

Beerjacket and Kate Sutherland

17 Jan 2008

ACOUSTIC Brel, Glasgow, Thu 20 Dec Katie Sutherland’s motivation for picking up a guitar was, she explains: ‘I wanted to do more than listen. I wanted to play. So I bought a Jim Deacon and taught myself guitar.’ It proves to have been a very wise…

Technophobes and Iamchemist

4 Jan 2008

ELECTRO POP Oran Mor, Glasgow, Sun 16 Dec Marty McFly was the only kid ever to get into trouble before he was born. Lamentably, I reckon I was the only person in the audience to get into trouble before either Technophobes or iamchemist were…

Luva Anna - review

29 Nov 2007

Barfly, Glasgow, Fri 9 Nov Dundee may currently be famous musically for giving the world The View, but other than a similar capability for whipping the audience into a frenzy, it’s clear from their opening, perfectly harmonised sea shanty that Luva…

Chi Weapon - review

29 Nov 2007

The Beat Club, Glasgow, Wed 7 Nov For every band breaking new territory by moving too fast to be pigeon-holed, there are plenty more who are spreading themselves too thinly. Chi Weapon, originally from Bute but now Glasgow-based, live up to their…

Paul Vickers & The Leg

15 Nov 2007

ROCK Nice’n’Sleazy’s, Glasgow, Tue 6 Nov Rock’n’roll clichés, eh? Musicians trashing their instruments, throwing TVs out of their hotel room windows, and erm... their backing bands modelling terrifying panda-meets-voodoo-skeleton outfits. The…

The Graduate

20 Sep 2007

ROCK Barfly, Glasgow, Thu 6 Sep ‘Did you see his hair? Did you see his arms? Did you see his teeth?’ The post-gig analysis comes in many forms, but for some it had an overwhelmingly teenybopper feel when The Graduate left the stage after this…

Plain White T's

6 Sep 2007

ROCK ‘We are the Plain White T’s from Chicago. And we’re super excited about this tour!’ Sharing that enthusiasm was the unusual occurrence of a squealing audience of young ladies in the Tut’s crowd, but despite a promisingly frenetic start, things…

Flavour of the month

23 Aug 2007

Food at festivals is too often hit and miss. At best you may find some culinary treat that shocks and delights the pallette, while others are there to fill a hole as you rush from stage to stage between bands. But the organisers of Connect are…

The Be Good Tanyas

16 Jul 2007

ROOTS THE BE GOOD TANYAS City Halls, Glasgow, Sun 22 July ‘We approach music simply, very simply,’ says Sam Parton of Vancouver-based trio The Be Good Tanyas. ‘In terms of production, we don’t tend to stray too far from what our capacities…

Candie Payne

21 May 2007

MELANCHOLIA Phil Spector’s name may now be more likely to be linked at the moment to incarceration than innovation, but the eccentric New Yorker’s influence still casts a powerful shadow over the performance by diminutive Scouse songstress Candie…

Amy Macdonald

King Tut’s, Glasgow, Tue 13 Mar

27 Mar 2007

ACOUSTIC POP I thought that if you had an acoustic guitar, a wise man once said, then it meant that you were a protest singer. Quite what he’d make of 19-year-old Amy Macdonald is difficult to predict; her lyrical targets include reality TV, ‘the…