Rock, David Pollock

The National - Trouble Will Find Me

A great sixth record, but not one which parades the fact before you

(4AD) The idea that much of the music here was written by guitarist Aaron Desner while bedevilled by bone-aching fatigue and sleepless nights following the birth of his baby daughter is a compelling one. It ties into the sense of a band shattered…

Exposure: Haim set for 2013 UK tour dates

Sweet, yearning, retro pop melodies from sister-heavy band

When Haim look towards their future, do they see anything between themselves and a torrent of riches and acclaim? We’ve checked, and we can detect nothing. Were we to be unimaginative, in fact, we’d say they have all the retroisms to one day go on to be…

William Tyler & Hiss Golden Messenger - Summerhall, Edinburgh, Sat 4 May

Songs setting a dense emotional mood and strong sense of place

Despite the setting in a cool, dark, wood-panelled lecture theatre, sometime Silver Jews and Lambchop guitarist William Tyler and Hiss Golden Messenger songwriter and fulcrum Michael ‘MT’ Taylor brought a certain sense of the pastoral with them for this…

King Creosote - Oran Mor, Glasgow, Wed 10 Apr 2013

Fence Records stalwart's bittersweet railing over declining physical music sales

Following on from his low-key appearance on the fringes of Fence’s Gnomegame festival in Anstruther the weekend before, Kenny Anderson was playing the second date of a monstrous month-long UK solo tour here, the first coming the day before in Shetland.

Five reasons to head to Electric Circus' Big Day In

Dutch Uncles, Discopolis, Dems, Jonnie Common and more head up the indoor mini-festival

1. It’s in, not out Worried about the shameful 'spring' weather we’ve been having? Wishing you could get away from it with some antipodean (autumn) sunshine and a bunch of bands in a field? Well, tough. But if you couldn’t afford the flight to Oz and…

Extreme hip hop/noise posse Death Grips coming to UK

MC Ride, Zach Hill and Andy Morin set to play London, Glasgow and Brighton

After their recent South by Southwest showcase set, Death Grips’ live show was memorably described by SPIN magazine as a journey into ‘chaotically thrilling what-the-fuckness’. All 33 minutes of it are available to watch below, featuring fearsome…

Exposure: Glasgow act Golden Teacher take their live dance music to club nights

Bells From the Deep End EP out on Optimo Music

Another winner has emerged from the Optimo Music stables, with the sleazy Dinosaur L-isms of Glasgow’s Golden Teacher. One of the greatest things to have hit the city’s dancefloors in memory, the ad hoc assembly are a collaboration between members of…

Atoms for Peace - Amok

Oblique Eraser-esque debut from supergroup featuring Thom Yorke, Flea and Nigel Godrich

(XL recordings) Don’t let the jaunty, almost flamenco-styled bassline which opens the light crackle of electronic pop and fizz of ‘Before Your Very Eyes’ wrong-foot you, because here comes the man at the controls to rain on your parade. ‘Look out at the…

Steve Mason - Monkey Minds in the Devil’s Time

Politically-charged and slickly-produced album of conviction from ex-Beta Band lynchpin

(Double Six) There’s plenty to be written elsewhere about the sad lack of socially-conscious mainstream music being made, whether that’s because most artists just aren’t interested or have an understandable fear of offending someone who might buy…

TeenCanteen - Noble’s Bar, Edinburgh, Sat 29 Dec

On the last Saturday of 2012, with Leithers gathering to get in training for Hogmanay in one of the area’s better locals, it's not the situation where you might expect to experience one of Edinburgh’s finer prospects. ‘I think that’s the first time…

Biffy Clyro - Opposites

Double album showing both sides of band contains some great material, but feels diluted

(14th Floor Records) Pick any classic double album in history and you’ll find one excellent, seminal record padded out with just as much filler. Here, the Biffy have decided to go full 1970s and not allow for much editing of the creative process, and…

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away

Tarnished lullabies of sadness and bitter menace

(Bad Seed Ltd) It would be a tired cliché indeed to speculate whether Nick Cave is mellowing with age just because this new album barely makes it out of second gear. The feral sex-wolf of legend is largely absent here, but in these tarnished…

Esben and the Witch - Wash the Sins Not Only the Face

Harrowing, furrow-browed and worthy follow-up to debut

(Matador) Like The Horrors with the darkness turned up to 11, Brighton trio Esben and the Witch make music which sounds like it was beamed directly in from a provincial student union sometime around the late 80s or early 90s. It sounds bloody great…

Hogmanay 2012: Bwani Junction

The indie-Afrobeat quartet are taking the stage at Edinburgh's Hogmanay for the first time

‘None of us have ever done the Street Party before,’ says Bwani Junction guitarist Dan Muir, a surprising admission from possibly the brightest young band in Edinburgh, and one that is going to be playing at that very event this year. ‘Well, our drummer…

Hot 100 2012: 59-50

Billy Connolly, Optimo and Kevin Bridges among Scotland's hottest cultural contributors in 2012

The Hot 100 is our list of Scotland’s 100 hottest individuals and groups who’ve made a splash this year, from comic book writers to comedians, artists to actors. If they've contributed to Scotland's cultural landscape in 2012, you'll find them here.

Hot 100 2012: 79-70

Dominic Hill, Ewan Morrison and LuckyMe among Scotland's hottest cultural contributors in 2012

The Hot 100 is our list of Scotland’s 100 hottest individuals and groups who’ve made a splash this year, from comic book writers to comedians, artists to actors. If they've contributed to Scotland's cultural landscape in 2012, you'll find them here.

Jack White - Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Thu 8 Nov 2012

The White Stripes man's show is by turns both surprising and comfortably predictable

Jack White’s come a long way since the days he could comfortably make a racket as part of a power duo with Meg in the White Stripes. A couple of regular bands have followed in between, and now for his first solo album, Blunderbuss, he’s touring with two…

Polica - SWG3, Glasgow, Fri 2 Nov 2012

Icy pop rock that's enjoyable without straining the imagination

It’s Minneapolis outfit Poliça’s first time in Scotland, says singer Channy Leaneagh, and we can tell it'll be the last they’re in a modest-sized venue like SWG3. Disregarding approval they’ve already had from Jay-Z and Bon Iver, they’re a collection of…

Crate Digging - Optimo Hallowe'en playlist

Twitch and Wilkes’ playlist of horror, including Sunn O))), Current 93 and The Birthday Party

At last, the Optimo boys come to Crate Digging just as their revered Halloween party and fancy dress armageddon Optimo (Espookio) makes its return. Time for Twitch and Wilkes’ playlist of ultimate horror... JG Wilkes: Sunn O))) ‘Black Wedding…

Green Day - ¡Uno!

The first of Green Day's new trilogy of albums is a decent pop album trying to be something more

All credit to Green Day for showing some adventure and recording a trilogy of albums (¡Uno!, ¡Dos! and, inevitably, ¡Tre!) for release over the space of three months, but Billie Joe Armstrong’s claim that they’re going ‘epic as fuck’ is somewhat…

Grimes - Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Tue 28 Aug 2012

Understated but wonderful set to loud and receptive crowd

Having played her last Scottish date in Glasgow’s Berkeley Suite earlier this year as a solo artist, Vancouver’s Claire Boucher (aka Grimes, even though there wasn’t a note of grime played here) seems to have decided the best way to go full-band is to…

John Cale promises 'straight rock'n'roll' for upcoming Edinburgh gig

The ex-Velvet Underground man discusses his latest album, Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood

Whatever you do, don’t even dare to ask 70-year-old ex-Velvet Underground member and renowned experimentalist and collaborator John Cale if he’s ever thought about retiring. ‘No, I’ve never thought about retiring,’ he comes back with a bristling laugh…

Vaccines - Come of Age

Anthemic guitar-laden indie-pop lacks passion and originality

It’s hard to reconcile the fact that this record sounds more constructed than an Ikea bookcase with its compelling charms as a pop album. If however, you’re looking for a bit of guitar-laden indie-pop with a certain anthemic quality, it’s unlikely to…

Divorce - Divorce

Uncompromising and underpinned by deceptively skilled post-punk rhythms

Hail Divorce, femme-metal overlords (overladies?) of every stage they’ve ever desecrated with their racket. In fairness, this debut album from a Glasgow quartet who have been around the houses with some of the best labels in town could only ever be a…

School of Seven Bells set for UK tour

Alejandra Deheza and Benjamin Curtis take Ghostory on tour

‘I’m really proud of this record,’ says Alejandra Deheza of her band’s new album, Ghostory. ‘I think it’s the best one we’ve done. I’m proud of the way we came together and wrote it, because there were a lot of people wondering if the band was going to…