Doug Johnstone

Robert MacFarlane at Edinburgh Book Festival with The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot

Finding a calling in nature writing

A new generation of authors is bringing an incredible range of skills to nature writing: literary style, social observation, memoir, geology, cartography and psychology amongst them. All of which can be found in Robert Macfarlane’s remarkable third…

Authors exploring nature writing at the 2012 Edinburgh Book Festival

Jean Sprackland, Robert Macfarlane and Kathleen Jamie go outside

There has been a genuine resurgence of interest in the field of nature writing over the last decade. Allied to an increase in the number of related programmes on television, the publishing world has really embraced this renaissance, with a wider range…

Cathi Unsworth - Weirdo

Searching fourth novel examines 20 year old teen-on-teen crime in rural Norfolk

David Peace calls Cathi Unsworth, ‘the first lady of noir fiction’, and this fourth novel is a decent piece of evidence to back him up, at least in terms of the British writing scene. Set in rural Norfolk and split between events of 1983 and a cold case…

Miaoux Miaoux - Light of the North

Gloriously melodic dance-pop in the vein of Daft Punk, Basement Jaxx and the Avalanches

This is a perfect example of how good pop music can be if it’s driven by a restless intelligence. Miaoux Miaoux, aka Julian Corrie, has been turning heads with his distinctive electro-pop sound for a while, but this first album for Chemikal Underground…

Jackie Kay - Reality, Reality

A short story outing with some beautiful moments but overall patchy quality

(Picador) In the wake of 2010’s fantastic memoir Red Dust Road and last year’s poetry collection Fiere, this short story outing has some beautiful moments in it, and Jackie Kay’s trademark compassion for her characters is intact, but the quality of…

Lightships - Electric Cables

Teenage Fanclub's Gerry Love album of sun-soaked, blissed-out guitar pop

(Geographic) Gerry Love might have insisted on a band name for this new project, but the sound is all Gerry. Love’s contributions to Teenage Fanclub are invariably the understated gems, and so it is here with this sumptuous, trembling collection of…

M Ward - A Wasteland Companion

Americana full of understated charm

(Bella Union) M Ward is probably best known these days for being one half of She & Him, his collaboration with Zooey Deschanel, but long before that partnership he was dishing up dreamy slices of Americana like this. As the title hints at, this…

Bobby Conn - Macaroni

Sixth album from flamboyant glam-pop weirdo

(Fire Records) Imagine if something really emotionally scarring happened to, say, Prince, something in his formative years that sent him down an altogether darker path. Now say hello to Bobby Conn, flamboyant glam-pop weirdo from Chicago with a…

Seamus Fogarty - God Damn You Mountain

Dreamy, mesmerising folk music with Americana feel from Irish singer-songwriter

(Fence Records) We’re beginning to suspect Fence Records have some secret laboratory in Fife where they genetically splice brilliant musicians to create new wonders. In the case of Irish singer-songwriter Seamus Fogarty, that would involve DNA…

Little Doses - Rock Riot Soul

Sadly lacking in songwriting originality and inspiration

(Black Ditto Recordings) Little Doses are an Edinburgh indie outfit established by bassist Mark McClelland, most famous for departing Snow Patrol just when they made it big. The Little Doses blueprint is undeniably more varied than Snow Patrol’s…

Shalom Auslander - Hope: A Tragedy

Probably the funniest book that’s ever going to be written about the Holocaust

(Picador) This is probably the funniest book that’s ever going to be written about the Holocaust. But then Shalom Auslander has previous experience of laugh-out-loud writings about Jewish guilt, paranoia, misery and self-loathing. His short story…

The Ting Tings - Sounds From Nowheresville

Second album a mixed bag containing glimpses of what makes them fun

(Columbia) Pity the poor Ting Tings. After selling millions of records, the Mancunian electro-pop duo got stressed, scrapped a whole album and hid from their record label. Allegedly. You can see why the pair might worry about following We Started…

First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar

Heartfelt ode to Americana from the Swedish siblings

(Wichita) On the surface, First Aid Kit’s obsession with Americana looks a little odd, given that they’re Swedish sisters barely out of their teens. But the pair’s homage is steeped in knowledge, and this second album sounds like it could’ve been…

Explosions in the Sky set for UK tour 2012

The post-rock icons return to Glasgow to tour latest album Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

There’s a long tradition of guitar bands scrabbling around trying to define the zeitgeist or whatever. Then there are the more restrained bands who quietly go about the business of being casually awesome. Explosions in the Sky fall into the latter…

Christos Tsiolkas - Dead Europe

Brutally bleak but beautiful novel, re-issued in the wake of The Slap's international success

(Atlantic) The Slap was a major breakthrough for Australian writer Christos Tsiolkas, winning the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in 2009 and becoming an international bestseller into the bargain. In the wake of that success, Tsiolkas’ backlist is…

Sigur Rós - Inni

Stunning live recording to accompany the Icelandic quartet's latest film release

(Krunk) Sigur Rós’s effortlessly epic post-rock feels over-exposed these days, seemingly soundtracking every nature documentary of the last decade, but stripped of that banal association it still wields enormous emotional power, as demonstrated on…

Alice Hoffman - The Dovekeepers

Overworked historical drama with underdeveloped characters

(Simon & Schuster) Alice Hoffman is one of the big guns of American fiction and an Oprah favourite, but this overworked and overwrought novel rather contradicts that reputation. Set in 70AD in the aftermath of the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans…

We Were Promised Jetpacks - In the Pit of the Stomach

Not groundbreaking, but an impressive second album

(Fat Cat) The main challenge for Scottish noiseniks these days is to not sound like Biffy Clyro, something We Were Promised Jetpacks achieve with aplomb on this accomplished second album. There are echoes of Interpol and even The Skids on the likes…

The Shivers - More

Sixth album of diverse styles linked by soulful sensibility from New York outfit

(Fence Records) Having tootled along in NYC for years, this is The Shivers’ sixth album but first to be released over here, and it’s a perfect introduction to their idiosyncratic and gentle form of genius. Diversity is the name of the game; anti-folk…

Interview - Alan Bissett

Writer tackles Scotland’s sectarian shame in fourth novel Pack Men

With the rivalry between the Old Firm reaching dangerously manic levels recently, you’d think that sectarianism would be reflected in our nation’s fiction, but it’s hard to think of many novels that examine our unique bigotry. Step forward Alan Bissett…

George Pelecanos - The Cut

An exemplary piece of work from the writer of The Wire

(Orion) George Pelecanos has taken his foot off the novel-writing pedal recently to work in television, most notably on The Wire, but it’s good to have back ‘perhaps the greatest living crime writer’, according to Stephen King. And he’s not wrong…

Ross Raisin - Waterline

Unconvincing follow up social drama to God's Own Country

(Viking) The strength of Ross Raisin’s debut novel, God’s Own Country, was the authenticity of the central character’s Yorkshire voice, but for this follow-up Raisin has moved proceedings to Glasgow, and it has to be said that his Scottish brogue is…

Denise Mina's 'The End of the Wasp Season' is a worthy addition to the DS Alex Morrow series

(Orion) Denise Mina is one of the most interesting Scottish crime writers, continually fighting the war on cliché in terms of prose, plot and characterisation. This second novel featuring DS Alex Morrow is a consolidation of her recent move towards…

Explosions in the Sky: Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

Post-rock titans add a few subtle colours to their palette for fifth album

(Bella Union) It’s been over a decade since this Texan post-rock foursome first formed through an advert – ‘Wanted: Sad triumphant rock band’ – and this fifth album sees them sticking to that definition while subtly expanding their sound. It’s…

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine

Plaintive vocals and guitar meets atmospheric melancholic soundscapes

This was apparently a labour of love between Fife folkster King Creosote and London electronica artist and producer Hopkins, recorded in fits and starts over the last seven years. It’s a beautifully complementary collaboration, Kenny Anderson’s…