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…

Andrew Maxwell

Sparkles with charm and wit aplenty

24 Aug 2009

With many a comedian taking the new offender route, Maxwell proves it's possible to be sharp and boundary-nudging without simply being obnoxious. A friendly presence onstage, our Irish raconteur has the crowd eating from the palm of his hand, amusing…

Ivan Brackenbury

Often-amusing ailment-themed gags

24 Aug 2009

Saying you prefer a band's early material may be a cliché but this year's 'all-new' hospital radio show makes 2008's Brackenbury-induced tears of laughter seem like a dream that can never be recaptured. The inappropriate song choices are still there as…

The Moonfish Rhumba

A jarring clash between the potential and the misfiring, crude reality

19 Aug 2009

Billed as a ‘unique blend of musical mayhem and off-the-wall comedy’, this double act is, at least, visually unique as Dan Lees and Guy Combes sport the looks of a 1930s detective and a Hispanic Freddie Mercury respectively. Their material is a…

Jollie

Story-based songs on various countries

19 Aug 2009

What do you get if you cross two men called John and Ollie? Why, ‘Jollie’ of course! And what do you get if you base an entire hour on their invitation to perform at ‘an important European festival’? Story-based songs on various countries, all delivered…

Holly Burn

A memorably awkward experience

18 Aug 2009

Oh, where to begin? At Home With Holly certainly has a quirkily curious appeal, staged in a lovely New Town flat where the audience gets to watch Holly Burn ‘live her life’. So far, so intriguing. But even before stepping over the threshold, it’s clear…

Dave Thornton

Nearly as hot as a shrimp on a barbie

18 Aug 2009

It would be easy to think the ‘Aussie abroad’ shtick has been done exhaustively from Crocodile Dundee to the many Antipodean stand-ups on the circuit, but Thornton can hold his own with some ‘bonzer’ material. A friendly demeanour, knack for visual and…

The Sunday Defensive

Unfulfilled geek potential

12 Aug 2009

They say bad things come in threes, but two can be just as terrible if this woefully unfunny double act is anything to go by. Phil Gilbert and Jacob Edwards are both geekily handsome and deliver every line with enthusiastic intensity. But it seems clear…

Pete Firman

Jaw-dropping tricks with fast and furious gags

12 Aug 2009

Firman may archly raise an eyebrow when he describes his act as ‘magic and gags, gags and magic: a killer combo’, but many a true word remains spoken in jest. Fusing jaw-dropping tricks with a fast and furious delivery of gags, he combines old school…

Craig Hill

The brutal coupling of a sharp wit and a queen bitch attitude

11 Aug 2009

Explaining how he was once told his act is ‘better than an epidural’, the stresses of the outside world really do become a distant memory when the captivatingly all-singing, all-dancing bekilted Hill is onstage. Basing his act less on scripted material…

Geoff Norcott

Former Nuts man on the more subtle differences between sexes

11 Aug 2009

‘Sexism is kind of funny’ says former teacher and Nuts TV presenter (!) Norcott during the show’s introduction. ‘It gets results in comedy.’ Hey, it worked for Jim Davidson, right? But what could have been a retread of dated material gets a breath of…

Stephen K Amos: The Feelgood Factor

Or maybe not...

10 Aug 2009

Irony is the currency of modern comedy, and Stephen K Amos’ show is undoubtedly an ironic experience; just not, perhaps, in the way he intended. Although it’s pitched as a feelgood experience, his hour turns out to be a very dispiriting one indeed. The…

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…

Ben Moor

Magical realist storytelling from Festival veteran

7 Aug 2009

‘It’s good to do it again after four years, in front of a live audience,’ says writer/comedian Ben Moor, as he prepares to perform from More Trees to Climb, his recent collection of short stories. Adapted from three of his one-man shows, Moor emphasises…

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…

Sammy J and Heath McIvor's puppetry for grown-ups

Forests, Dreams and Postcards from Purgatory in two new shows

13 Jul 2009

My favourite moments are when puppets break on stage,’ laughs puppeteer Heath McIvor, the man literally pulling the strings behind Sammy J in the Forest of Dreams, the cult adult puppet show which prepares to return to the Fringe this year. ‘There’s…

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…

Tongs of praise

28 May 2009

Summer wouldn’t be summer without the irresistible smell of something sizzling away on a barbecue. Although the traditional BBQ may conjure up images of basic burgers and sausages, there are plenty of pubs now offering something more upmarket, whether…

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…