Rock & pop

T in the Park - Saturday

13 Jul 2009

Having utterly failed to 'tweet' from T in the Park, Brendan Miles is given a second chance to voice his thoughts on some of the best acts to grace Scotland's biggest music festival

Pump up the volume - Music venues round up

15 Sep 2008

Glasgow and Edinburgh play host to some of the hottest hangouts in the UK. David Pollock explores the very best and handpicks the gigs you cannot afford to miss.

Music festival fever

15 Sep 2008

Scotland’s exciting music scene has paved the way for a plethora of music festivals, each a little different with something to suit every musical taste. T in the Park has grown from a little weekend event in Strathclyde Park into a huge three day…

Idlewild to perform all of their albums live

15 Sep 2008

Idlewild have announced that they are to perform each of their albums in their entirety at dates scheduled for December 2008.

Meshuggah

The Garage, Glasgow, Mon 8 Sep 2008

9 Sep 2008

Its been a long time coming for the return of the Swedish metallers and many may have wondered whether it would actually ever happen. Their last appearance this side of the border was way back in 95' supporting Machine Head with two cancelled shows…

Glasvegas announce new tour dates

8 Sep 2008

Glasvegas have announced details of a new UK winter tour to close a hugely successful year for the Scots foursome. Following on from the release of their debut album and September tour, one of Scotland's most exciting bands will embark on a 15-date…

Platinum Pied Pipers to play rescheduled Edinburgh date

5 Sep 2008

Detroit-based hip hop and R&B group the Palatinum Pied Pipers play at Edinburgh's Voodoo Rooms on Monday 15th September. Promoting their new album Abundance, PPP take a soul-based foundation and mash it up with their array of vintage & modern…

Bon Iver - Lone justice

4 Sep 2008

The breathtaking debut album from Bon Iver is evidence that isolation can produce something truly special. Colin McKean revels in this most singular of musical visions Disillusioned and frustrated by the disintegration of DeYarmond Edison, the band…

Calexico

4 Sep 2008

‘It’s not what some people have called a return to form, because there are new elements on the record,’ says Joey Burns, singer, songwriter and co-founding member (with percussionist John Convertino) of the idiosyncratic alt.country outfit Calexico.

Exposure: Punch and the Apostles

4 Sep 2008

‘We’re not exactly palatable, but not immediately repulsive,’ suggests lead singer Paul Napier, to sum up the sound of Punch and the Apostles, the Glasgow seven-piece who’ve been bringing chaos to traditional folk music for almost a year now. Mashing up…

Fast punk club

4 Sep 2008

‘We call it a punk night,’ says Christopher Fast, ‘but it’s more about a punk attitude to music. From rockabilly, 60s soul, garage and hip hop to disco and electro, we set out to make different genres work together in an interesting way.’ For five…

Bloc Party - Intimacy

4 Sep 2008

Sending out mixed messages is hardly a new tactic in the already fickle world of indie rock. Kele Okoreke and his clan have been issuing out puzzling notices for some time now, topped off with the claim that their Leeds Festival show would be their last…

Caledon

4 Sep 2008

They’ve toured all over the world, but for the first time in a couple of years Scotland’s three tenors, Caledon, are performing back in their home city of Glasgow. Classically trained Alan Beck, Jamie MacDougall and Ivan Sharpe bring a programme of…

Meshuggah

4 Sep 2008

Sometimes the devil is in the detail, but there are also times when the more you explain something, the less sense it makes. In Meshuggah’s case both are true. As regards the first notion, their music is arguably among the most complex and…

Dean Owens - Whisky Hearts

4 Sep 2008

Dean Owens Whisky Hearts (Navigator) The craft of songwriting has become devalued in mainstream music these days, but there remain talented individuals out there waiting to be found. One such is Dean Owens, Leith-based singer songwriter with a…

Five reasons to go and see: Swervedriver

4 Sep 2008

1 The shoegazing revival starts here! OK, Swervedriver were kind of more grungy than shoegazing, but the ballistic Oxford outfit had feet in both camps, creating a mesmerising racket on a par with My Bloody Valentine and Ride for the whole of the 90s…

Paul Vickers and The Leg

4 Sep 2008

‘You’ve all soaked up the reverb a bit,’ noted Paul Vickers a couple of songs in, ‘which is good’. He seemed a bit dazed by this whole experience, although that might just be down to the ex-Dawn of the Replicants singer’s Henry Rollins meets Daniel…

Solange - Sol Angel and the Hadley St Dreams

4 Sep 2008

So your big sister is Beyonce, one of the biggest pop stars in the world. What do you do? Open that bakery you’ve always fancied? Go help the poor kids in war-torn African states? No, of course not, you go into pop music. Knowles the younger has…

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…

Missing Twin presents

4 Sep 2008

Missing Twin is the publishing empire of cartoon genius Malcy Duff. Alongside geek-soul brother and Giant Tanker Ali Robertson, Duff makes up half of premier lo-fi fidgets, Usurper. This popcorn-friendly triple feature of late-night wow-and-splutter…

David Holmes - The Holy Pictures

4 Sep 2008

According to Holmes his fourth solo album began as a cluster of instrumental tracks which lead him into a creative cul-de-sac until seismic events in his life – becoming a dad, the death of his parents – inspired him to pen some personal lyrics and…

Glasvegas - Glasvegas

4 Sep 2008

‘The Best New Band in Britain’ says the NME. And for once they have thrown their fickle arrow of instant fame at a worthy target. In 2006, former footballer James Allan assembled a motley crew to give form to his ‘poems’ – disjointed conglomerations of…

The Streets - Everything is Borrowed

4 Sep 2008

Mike Skinner might be one of the finest pop artists of our generation, but there’s no escaping the fact that his fourth album is a real disappointment. Certain passages of it might well grow over time, yet the suspicion is that it’s just too damn…

Constantines - Kensington Heights

4 Sep 2008

Look up ‘nearly men’ in the Dictionary of Obscure Indie Rock Lore and you’ll find a long, arduous, hand wringing essay about Constantines. A band who in nine years, have never quite had their moment in the sunshine but work away feverishly, secretly…