Ryan Drever

Interview: RM Hubbert in his own words

The revered Glasgow guitarist explains how music brought him therapy

3 Feb 2012

Solo work and how it began 'I decided when my dad got ill I needed something to take my mind off things. So I decided kind of arbitrarily to learn flamenco guitar. I’d never played acoustics but I thought, "that looks really fucking hard". I don’t…

Henry Rollins – Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Fri 13 Jan

Prolific punk-rocker gets gut laughs on his three-hour rant

3 Feb 2012

Few people can make a decent living out of talking on stage for two hours. Henry Rollins, on the other hand, has it down to a fine art. An honorary punk rock graduate having earned his stripes fronting S.O.A. and Black Flag in the 80s, and later, his…

The Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon set for UK tour

The Wu-Tang Clan member comes to Scotland with new album

3 Mar 2011

Two years ago, when Wu-Tang Clan MC Raekwon announced the sequel to his acclaimed 1995 solo debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx …, you could’ve been forgiven for thinking it was merely some kind of clever ploy to stir up interest in a career that had…

The best things to do in Glasgow

22 Apr 2010

Where to … … take a walk Dumbarton Road is Mecca for enthusiastic charity shoppers (tip: start off at the Salvation Army near Byres Road) – make a day of it by wandering round the junk and vintage shops of nearby Ruthven Lane first. (Kirstin…

Howler - America Give Up

The kind of easily-digestible festival fodder that could hit the spot live, but is dull on record

27 Jan 2012

(Rough Trade) You think we would all have learned by now that it is frankly unproductive to call anything the ‘new this’, the ‘next that’, or, god forbid, ‘the hottest thing you’ll hear all year’. Sadly, whether they’re aware of it or not, young US…

Explosions in The Sky - O2 Academy, Glasgow, Mon 23 Jan 2012

An elemental, foundation-shaking post-rock rollercoaster

3 Feb 2012

Explosions in The Sky’s music has always had very elemental feel to it. As the unforgiving Glasgow winter freezes the breath in every pair of lungs waiting to get into the Academy tonight, the Texan’s set, which could soundtrack the bleak, sparse cold…

Henry Rollins

Glasgow O2 Academy, Wednesday, Wed 13 Jan

15 Jan 2010

It’s quite some achievement to be at the point where people will pay to listen to you talk for two and a half hours, and the magnitude of such an accomplishment is evident tonight as Henry Rollins takes centre stage in front of a loyal and packed-out…

Django Django - Django Django

Dense and often surprising debut spitting up bursts of bold, spaced-out texture

27 Jan 2012

(Because) Django Django’s debut has a lot of strings to its bow. It benefits from being the result of prolonged and measured tinkering by three Edinburgh art school grads over the space of a couple of years in a London bedroom. These efforts have…

RM Hubbert – Thirteen Lost & Found

Beautiful collaborative effort from the percussive guitarist

5 Jan 2012

(Chemikal Underground) Last year’s solo debut, First and Last, saw Glaswegian guitarist RM Hubbert communicate all manner of emotions and stories through his own beautifully lush and percussive playing style. On this second album, Hubbert (who…

South Africa's rap/rave Die Antwoord on UK tour promoting $o$ re-release

Blaring synths, pounding beats and South African accents

2 Nov 2010

When a video featuring South African rave/hip-hop crew, Die Antwoord surfaced late last year, a lot of head-scratching ensued. Is this for real? What’s up with their hair? And why is that guy shaking his penis? Whatever you thought of that video and…

Wooden Shjips and Trembling Bells set for Glasgow date

15 Apr 2010

Formed in San Francisco, California in 2003 – once a Mecca of sorts for the chemical adventurers and free-spirited musicians of the 60s/70s – Wooden Shjips are purveyors of droning psychedelica, so mind-bending and caked in searing noise, it plays out…

10 for 2010: Midnight Lion

7 Jan 2010

Accomplished electropop from ex Drive-By Argument members Midnight Lion.The duo score points for Miike Snow-esque chart potential and, just as Vodaphone do (they also tip them for success) we admire their melding of slick beats and Scottish accents.

Exposure: Dinosaur Pile-up

20 May 2009

Coming from the ever-growing, densely populated musical stomping ground that is Leeds, Dinosaur Pile-up are a trio whose songs embrace heavier sounds besides the standard infectious melody and pace associated with many of their contemporaries. With only…

Exposure: Haight-Ashbury

17 Mar 2009

Channelling the musicality and psychedelic nature of the late-sixties, along with a healthy dose of grungy noise and shimmering harmonies, Glasgow trio Haight-Ashbury - named after the district of San Francisco most commonly revered as the epicentre of…

RM Hubbert launches album Thirteen Lost & Found with friends

Aidan Moffat, Alex Kapranos and more to join in at Stereo show

6 Jan 2012

RM Hubbert’s debut album First & Last was more than just an instrumental record by a talented Glaswegian guitarist. Far from a commercial stepping-stone, the record was rather the result of Hubbert’s attempts to document a tumultuous three-year period…

Tom Vek - Classic Grand, Glasgow, Tue 14 Jun 2011

Return of multi-instrumentalist a muted success

21 Jun 2011

After the critical acclaim and moderate commercial success of Tom Vek’s 2005 debut album, We Have Sound, it looked, on paper at least, like he was on to a winner. Instead, despite pursuing the potentially long and fruitful career ahead of him, he more…

Exposure: Phil Campbell

28 Oct 2009

Glasgow-born singer/songwriter Phil Campbell has spent the last 15 years or so planting his musical seeds in London's bustling metropolis; which seems to have paid off in critical acclaim alone, landing him spots on Jools Holland and relentless touring…

Exposure: The Elvis Suicide

25 Aug 2009

The Elvis Suicide are a Glaswegian trio, mixing the balls-out swagger of old school rock 'n roll with the raw intensity and power-chord prowess of punk to bring about a whirlwind of blistering energy that would make any of those genre's fallen heroes…

Exposure: Brother Louis Collective

14 Aug 2009

Brother Louis Collective are an ensemble cast of Glasgow-based instrumentalists, centred around the musical endeavours of Louis Abbot. Harnessing the talents of friends and bandmates from his other band The Moth And The Mirror, Abbot's brooding…

Gallows - ABC, Glasgow, 8th May 2009

12 May 2009

Aided by the inevitable boost that comes with major label backing, Gallows are finding themselves, now on album two, amidst escalating popularity and in the throes of larger stomping grounds, in terms of live performance. Tonight's show at the ABC would…

Exposure: Jeffrey Lewis

22 Apr 2009

Jeffrey Lewis is not your average 'singer-songwriter'. Though he may, to an extent, echo the sentiments and sounds of some folk artists and influences, he also channels an eccentric talent in both storytelling and oddball comic book art, and appears to…

Thurston Moore - The Arches, Glasgow, Mon 28 Nov 2011

Captivating picture of solo artistic triumphs from Sonic Youth frontman

17 Jan 2012

You split from your wife of nearly thirty years, who not only is the mother of your child but is also responsible, along with you and some other talented friends, for creating one of the most important musical legacies in modern music – you’re gonna be…

Kid Canaveral’s Christmas Baubles II - Summerhall, Edinburgh, Sat 17 Dec 2011

Josie Long, eagleowl and more join in Kid Canaveral's annual shindig

6 Jan 2012

The combination of cheap tins and 12 hours of live entertainment could be an endurance test in the wrong hands, but the second annual Fence Records/Kid Canaveral Chirstmas Baubles all-dayer doesn’t exactly feel like a chore. A joyous turn by Fence…

Chris Devotion and The Expectations – Amalgamation and Capital

Worthwhile debut stumbles when it steps away from solid pop template

6 Jan 2012

(Armellodie) Amalgamation and Capital is the debut from Glasgow’s Chris Devotion and the Expectations. Kicking off with ‘A Modest Refusal’, a punchy salute to 50s/60s pop, complete with textbook dum, dum-dum, tshh’s and whoah-ohs, this is an album…

The Lemonheads - Oran Mor, Glasgow, Mon 5 Dec 2011

Chunks of a bulging, colourful back catalogue is consistently spot on

13 Dec 2011

Evan Dando of The Lemonheads has a somewhat mottled track record when it comes to live performances. Imbued with a drug-fuelled perma-haze since the 90s, many of his latter-day appearances have been cringeworthy, if not a little worrying. However…