Stewart Smith

Cry Parrot New Year Fest - Nice & Sleazy, Glasgow, Fri 13 Jan

Snapshot of Scotland’s restless underground featuring Sacred Paws

1 Feb 2012

Not so much a ‘hot tips for 2012’ shindig as a snapshot of Scotland’s restless underground, the second night of independent promoter Cry Parrot’s new bands residency is dominated by electronica, but there’s room for polyrhythmic guitar’n’drum jams too.

Lindstrom - Six Cups of Rebel

A blast taking in slamming synth boogie to shameless pomp metal

27 Jan 2012

(Smalltown Supersound) Like a cosmic disco Ulysses, Lindstrom has felt his way through space, to traverse the Balearic and land upon the wild party island of Six Cups of Rebel. This isle is full of noises, from slamming synth boogie to shameless pomp…

Group Inerane / Flower-Corsano Duo - Kinning Park Complex, Glasgow, Fri 2 Dec

Two transcendent groups in a Victorian school turned artists’ studio

9 Dec 2011

This was always going to be special: two of the most transcendent groups on earth in the bohemian environs of a Victorian school building turned artists’ studio. The diverse crowd is not left disappointed. Mick Flower and Chris Corsano mesmerise with a…

Carlos Paredes - Guitarra Portuegesa / Movimento Perpetuo

9 Nov 2011

(Drag City) Fêted by Six Organs of Admittance and the Kronos Quartet, Carlos Paredes was a virtuoso of the Portuguese guitar, a small 12-stringed instrument with a crystalline sound. Paredes was known as ‘the man of a thousand fingers’ and these…

Various Artists - Whaur the Pig Gaed On The Spree

Alasdair Roberts-curated comp of Scottish song recordings from 1950s

9 Nov 2011

(Drag City) In the summer of 1951 Alan Lomax made his first song collecting tour of Scotland, aided by the great Scottish poet and folklorist Hamish Henderson. Drawn from those recordings, this Alasdair Roberts-curated compilation does a superb job…

Sweetly strange singer St Vincent set for Stereo

Everything from Hollywood musicals to brutally cranked guitars

28 Oct 2011

St Vincent’s 2007 debut, Marry Me, was a striking introduction to Annie Clark’s baroque pop vision. At times it sounds like an avant-garde take on pre-war Hollywood musicals, with Clark’s multi-tracked vocals vying for attention with expressionist…

5 Reasons to Go See Toumani Diabaté

The Grammy-winning Malian musician has a rich history of collaboration

20 Oct 2011

1. His music is mesmerisingly beautiful Toumani Diabaté is a master of the kora, a traditional Malian harp-like instrument. His ability to weave a gorgeous tapestry of cascading melodies from the 21-string kora is magical. One thumb plays the tune and…

Eastern Promise brings live music and record fair to Platform, Glasgow

To Rococo Rot, Tarwater and Conquering Animal Sound

14 Sep 2011

The second Eastern Promise builds on the good work of last year’s festival by bringing an admirably eclectic bill of Scottish and international acts to Easterhouse. Underground pop legends The Pastels play their first show in over a year on the Sunday…

Music Is The Music Language

Festival of the experimental and esoteric

25 Aug 2011

Music Is The Music Language, a two day festival organised by DIY promoters Cry Parrot and Tracer Trails, is testament to the vibrancy of Scotland’s underground music scene. ‘Underground music is strongest and most exciting where and when the values…

St Vincent - Strange Mercy

Contemporary classicism with sharp beats, woozy synths and a personality of its own

24 Aug 2011

(4AD) Annie Clark, aka St Vincent, is an oddball pop whizz in the tradition of Kate Bush or Todd Rundgren, spinning gorgeous melodies from unconventional structures and inspired arrangements. Her voice is exquiste, but never merely pretty. Clark…

Tattie Toes - Turnip Famine

Debut from one of UK’s most inspiring underground acts

16 Aug 2011

(Pickled Egg) A Glasgow four-piece with a Basque singer, a Welsh violinist, a bassist from Bolton, and a puppeteer on drums, Tattie Toes have never subscribed to conventional notions of what a band should be. As a result, they’ve become one of the…

Sound installation the Ethometric Museum set for Edinburgh Festival

A world of sound, where science meets music

16 Aug 2011

Enter Ray Lee’s Ethometric Museum and be transported to a science fiction world of cosmic tones and esoteric technology. ‘Ethometric instruments represent the pinnacle of the little known – and some would say questionable – science of Ethometric…

Bert Jansch set for 2011 Edinburgh Festival date

Returning folk hero, pal of Neil Young and Devendra Banhart

16 Aug 2011

One of the great acoustic guitarists, Bert Jansch comes to Edinburgh fresh from an American tour with Neil Young and a London show with folk-jazz supergroup The Pentangle. Jansch has been doing an annual Festival show since the mid-90s, touching base…

The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient

Heartland American rock meets shoegaze guitars and spectral keyboards

10 Aug 2011

(Secretly Canadian) Philadelphia’s The War On Drugs aim to fuse the heartland American rock of Dylan and Springsteen with shoegaze guitars, spectral keyboards and motorik beats. Nice idea, and on songs like ‘Best Night’ it works quite well…

Nick Pynn

One-man folk orchestra

8 Aug 2011

Nick Pynn’s set-up resembles a slightly madcap music shop. An array of stringed instruments hang from their stands, some conventional, others more esoteric. One such instrument is the cocolele, a ukulele fashioned from a coconut shell. Pynn plays it…

Edinburgh International Jazz and Blues Festival 2011 - highlights

Tommy Smith, Courtney Pine, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and more

8 Jul 2011

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble A high energy blend of New Orleans horns and live hip hop beats, this Chicago nine-piece return to raise the Spiegeltent from its moorings. Barack Obama, Jay-Z and David Byrne are among the fans of this exciting block party…

Lee Konitz, Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat among highlights Glasgow Jazz Festival

Michel Legrand, Zu and Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra also appear

29 Jun 2011

A veteran of Miles Davis’ Birth of Cool sessions, Lee Konitz is one of the Festival’s most prestigious bookings. A key player in the development of cool jazz, the alto saxophonist has become more experimental with age. His playing partner, Polish…

Mulatu Astatke set for Glasgow Jazz Festival

Ethio-jazz pioneer visits Scotland for the first time

21 Jun 2011

An alto saxophone line snakes slowly over shimmering vibraphone and sensuous Latin percussion. Horns create a dreamy, exotic mood as Ethiopian modes meet Western scales. A buzzing guitar or grooving organ might come in, bringing a touch of slow-burning…

Paul McCartney - McCartney II

1980 album a work of bonged-out pop genius

13 Jun 2011

(Commercial Marketing) A relative flop in 1980, McCartney II is a work of bonged-out pop genius. The ‘hits’ – the dork disco gem ‘Coming Up’ and the beautiful ‘Waterfalls’ – although wonderful, only hint at the oddness within. ‘Temporary Secretary…

Richard Youngs - Amplifying Host

Resolutely avant-garde workings of simple folk songs

13 Jun 2011

(Jagjaguwar) A Glasgow-based librarian with a cracked choirboy voice, Richard Youngs alternates between experimental releases on tiny labels, and more ‘songwriterly’ albums on US indie Jagjaguwar. This is one of the latter, but it’s resolutely…

Fire! With Jim O’Rourke - Unreleased?

Members of The Thing, Tape and Wildbirds & Peacedrum

13 Jun 2011

(Rune Grammofon) Saxophone behemoth Mats Gustafsson is best known for his work with baws-oot jazzers The Thing, but Fire! is a relatively controlled affair, more rock-oriented improv than free jazz. Gustafsson, bassist Johan Berthling (Tape) and…

Polar Bear, The Vaselines and Alasdair Roberts set for Doune the Rabbit Hole

Music festival in leafy grounds of a Perthshire country house

30 May 2011

Situated in the leafy grounds of a Perthshire country house, Doune The Rabbit Hole is a magical, family-friendly affair, inspired by Lewis Carroll and the early free festivals. Ursine jazzers Polar Bear headline on Friday, with The Vaselines and the…

Jessika Kenney & Eyvind Kang - Aestuarium

27 May 2011

(Ideologic Organ) Ideologic Organ, Edition Mego’s ‘old records’ wing, have given this 2005 recording by Sunn O))) and Mick Patton collaborators Jessika Kenney and Eyvind Kang the handsome reissue it deserves. A Stephen O’Malley sleeve graces this…

5 Reasons to Go See. . . Khaira Arby

25 Apr 2011

She’s Mali’s biggest star Arby is known in Mali as ‘The Nightingale of the North’, and her music reflects the cultural diversity of the Sahara region. ‘Timbuktu is a multicultural city and has been for many hundreds of years. I sing in several…

Electronica/drone trio Emeralds return to Glasgow

The krautrock-influenced noisemongers play The Arches on Mon 23 May

20 Apr 2011

The American underground has fallen in love with the crystalline textures of vintage synthesisers. Like their friend James Lopatin of Oneohtrix Point Never, Emeralds drink deep from the kosmische fountain – the DNA of Ashra, Popol Vuh and Tangerine…

Our Love Will Destroy The World - Nice and Sleazy, Glasgow, Saturday 19 February 2011

Immersive noise and drone from New Zealander Campbell Kneale

3 Mar 2011

Under his Birchville Cat Motel moniker, Campbell Kneale made some of the most beautiful noise and drone of the last decade, being as much about tranced-out organ rituals as ear-bleeding brutality. Re-emerging as Our Love Will Destroy The World, the New…

Trembling Bells - The Constant Pageant

Encompasses Renaissance filigree, coliery brass bands and wailing free jazz

1 Mar 2011

(Honest Jon’s) l Like an Iain Sinclair of the North, Trembling Bells songwriter Alex Neilson seeks to evoke the psychic landscapes of his native Yorkshire. And so we find him in Goathland, nursing a broken heart, or in Otley, reeling from a demonic…

Mondo Morricone live performance of classic film scores

David Scott, Duglas T Stewart & friends pay homage to soundtrack hero

11 Feb 2011

Ennio Morricone is an undisputed colossus of the movie soundtrack. For Mondo Morricone, David Scott and Duglas T Stewart, of Pearlfishers and BMX Bandits fame, have rounded up a crack team of Scottish pop and jazz players to pay homage to their…

Taraf De Haidouks & Mama Rosin - Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Sat 22 Jan 2010

Romanian gypsy troupe's Celtic Connections date

28 Jan 2011

Beloved of Johnny Depp and Mike Patton, Romanian gypsy troupe Taraf De Haidouks remain a thrilling live act in their third decade. A spirited set of amped up Cajun and Zydeco from Swiss trio Mama Rosin makes for a fine appetiser, all accordian, banjo…

Trembling Bells' haunting folk-rock lined up for Celtic Connections date - interview

Glasgow date for band ahead of third album The Constant Pageant

14 Jan 2011

Last year was a golden year for visionary folk-rockers Trembling Bells, beginning with the release of their second album Abandoned Love in the spring and culminating in songwriter Alex Neilson’s nomination for the Arts Foundation Fellowship in Folk…

The Hot 100 2010 - Mark Millar, Kevin Bridges and Alasdair Gray take top 3 spots

Our annual chart of the people from Scotland being interesting, successful and creative

16 Dec 2010

The Hot 100 is a list of Scots who’ve made a sizeable creative splash in 2010. It includes musicians, artists, writers, actors, fashion designers, technological innovators, shop owners, festival directors, record label heads and one mad cyclist.

Marnie Stern - New York axe-heroine’s songs retain rush of pop joy

Captain’s Rest, Glasgow, Mon 22 Nov

30 Nov 2010

‘The future is yours, so fill this part in.’ That refrain from Marnie Stern’s 2008 single ‘Transformer’ truly captures the life-affirming power of her music. She plays it tonight, mid-set, taking the audience on a thrill-ride of dizzying finger-tapped…

AfroCubism latest project from makers of Buena Vista Social Club

Musicians from Mali and Cuba record album and play live dates

19 Nov 2010

AfroCubism was for several years one of world music’s great what-ifs? In 1996, Nick Gold of World Circuit Records invited the Malian musicians Djelimady Tounkara and Bassekou Kouyate to Havana to record with the cowboy-hatted Cuban singer and guitarist…

2010 Le Weekend bows out with Faust, Murcof and Tarwater

Pioneering Stirling experimental music festival also hosts Ben Frost, Bill Wells and John Butcher

6 Oct 2010

Since its inception in 1997, Le Weekend has brought a remarkable range of beautiful and challenging music to Scotland. ‘The idea of an experimental music festival, and also the idea of a festival in Stirling, was quite unique,’ says Alastair Campbell…

Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra

16 Sep 2010

Large-ensemble improvisation can sometimes be a tentative affair, fidgety rather than full-blooded, but GIO’s performance, the first in the Soundlab series of experimental music concerts, was a fitting tribute to the ‘joyful and life-enhancing sound’ of…

Five Reasons To See: A Sonic Soak

15 Aug 2010

1. Help to restore historic community baths Govanhill Baths provided residents of Glasgow’s south side with swimming and washing facilities from 1914 to 2001. Campaigners are hoping to bring the beloved building back into use. 2. Discover the…

James Blackshaw - All Is Falling

15 Aug 2010

(Young God) This latest from London’s guitar virtuoso sees our 12-string acoustic hero go electric. But while the gorgeous resonance of Blackshaw’s acoustic tone is missed, the toothier tone of the electric 12-string suits this material well.

Afro-Beat Airways: West African Shock Waves, Ghana & Togo 1972–1978

Analog Africa's latest compilation is a testament to 1970s Africa

5 Aug 2010

Drawing from the archives of Ghanian label Essiebons and PolyGram West Africa, Analog Africa’s latest compilation is testament to the cosmopolitan culture of 1970s Africa. Tracks by Ebo Taylor and Orchestre Abass offer intricate polyrhythmic grooves and…

Glasgow trio Nalle deal in otherworldly psych-folk

23 Jul 2010

Glasgow trio Nalle (Finnish for ‘teddy bear’) are touring a new album of otherworldly psych-folk. The List caught up with Hanna Tuulikki – whose keening soprano has been compared to Joanna Newsom and Björk – to discuss music and myth. How did Nalle…

Sonic Tapas: Al-Thawra, The Kominas and Gummy Stumps

13th Note, Glasgow, Fri 25 June

7 Jul 2010

The subjects of a documentary on the North American Islamic punk scene known as ‘Taqwacore’ bands Al-Thawra and The Kominas were fresh from playing Sufi folk-rocker Richard Thompson’s Meltdown festival at the South Bank Centre, a curiously civilised…

Land of Kush’s Egyptian Light Orchestra - Monogamy

7 Jul 2010

(Constellation) Following the lead of US novelist Thomas Pynchon’s Against The Day, Montreal’s Sam Shalabi reconvenes his psych-Arabic jazz orchestra for this exploration of shame, sexuality and society. With horns, strings, keyboards, percussion…

Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra with George Burt and Susan Alcorn

3 Jun 2010

Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, led by saxophonist Raymond MacDonald, can always be relied upon to add some experimental intrigue to the largely classicist Jazz Festival, and this year sees them develop their relationship with Baltimore pedal steel…

Robert Wyatt - Greatest Misses

1 Jun 2010

(Domino) Its title may be a wry acknowledgment of Robert Wyatt’s enduring cult status, but Greatest Misses stands as a fine introduction to a truly great artist. As the drummer in Soft Machine, Wyatt was at the forefront of English psychedelia, but…

Uninstal, Inferno Quiz Show – Taku Unami

28 May 2010

Uninstal has been devised by programmers Arika as a taster for Instal later in the year, a space for discussion, experiment and play. While some recent Arika events have been a little heavy on theory and low on thrills, Inferno Quiz Show successfully…

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti - Before Today

28 May 2010

Ariel Pink’s early albums were nuggets of bedroom pop alchemy, inspiring a generation of glo-fi and hypnagogic pop artists. Illicit pop pleasures – soft-rock, blue-eyed soul, 80s MTV – shone through, but as Ariel ‘Pink’ Rosenberg always insisted, the…

Kept Impulses: James Blackshaw, Nancy Elizabeth & Hauschka

6 May 2010

A self-taught 12-string acoustic guitar virtuoso, Hastings-based James Blackshaw weaves the minimalism of Philip Glass, through medieval ‘Early Music’, and the sparse ‘American Primitive’ guitar styles first played by John Fahey and Robbie Basho in the…

5 Reasons to go and see... Omar Souleyman

29 Apr 2010

1.) He’s Syria’s biggest star In the cassette stalls of Damascus, Omar Souleyman is king, with over 500 releases to his name. He plays around 20 weddings and parties a month and is also popular in parts of Turkey and the Gulf. His biggest hit, the…

Krautrock pioneers Faust embark on 2010 UK tour

22 Apr 2010

The story of Faust begins in 1970, when six dropout musicians convened in an old schoolhouse in rural Wümme, near Hamburg, to embark on a freewheeling musical project. Along the way they had run-ins with the Baader-Meinhof terrorist gang, and brought…

Wooden Shjips

Stereo, Glasgow, Sat 17 Apr 2010

21 Apr 2010

‘The three Rs: repetition, repetition, repetition’. Wooden Shjips may not sound anything like The Fall, but they’ve taken the words of that curmudgeonly visionary Mark E Smith to heart. When Ripley Johnson’s hairy band of travellers strike up a riff…

Dam Mantle launches debut EP

29 Mar 2010

Dam Mantle is the alter-ego of musician and artist Tom Marshallsay, who releases debut EP, Grey, on new Glasgow label Halleluwah Hits this month. A kaleidoscopic mix of melodic samples, jittery beats and post-dubstep bass mutations, Dam Mantle’s tunes…

Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra play Glasgow

10 Mar 2010

Initially conceived as a side-project to Canadian post-rock heroes Godspeed You! Black Emperor, A Silver Mount Zion has blossomed into a great band in its own right, evolving from a purely instrumental concern into an expansive rock group characterised…

Sir Richard Bishop

17 Feb 2010

For the past three decades, avant-garde guitar wizard, Sir Richard Bishop has dazzled, confounded and disturbed, both as a member of Arizona freaks Sun City Girls, and as a wildly inventive solo artist. While less deranged than Sun City Girls’ sprawling…

Real Estate

Captain’s Rest, Glasgow, Thu 28 Jan 2010

1 Feb 2010

‘What you want is just outside your reach,’ runs the opening line of Real Estate’s best song, ‘Beach Comber’. The crowd may skip along to its cantering beat, but the pensive guitar part and Martin Courtney’s lyrics pull the song towards melancholy. In…

Gary War - New Rayontheport

27 Jan 2010

(Shdwply Records) Finally given a proper UK release, Gary War’s debut album is a lovely, if disorienting, trip through a fog of gauzy synths, sputtering drum machines and half submerged vocals. While Gary War can’t quite match former collaborator…

The Ex & Brass Unbound

13 Jan 2010

In their 30 year existence, Dutch underground legends The Ex have made connections between post-punk, Eastern European folk, free-improvisation and Ethiopian jazz, yet they’re still widely referred to as anarcho-punks. A misrepresentation? ‘Yes – in…

Five reasons to see . . . Alasdair Roberts

13 Jan 2010

1 He was discovered performing at a ceilidh by Will Oldham. An apocryphal tale, but the pair have worked with Songs:Ohia’s Jason Molina as Amalgamated Sons of Rest, and Oldham (aka Bonny ‘Prince’ Billy) produced Roberts’ ballad collection No Earthly Man…

Beak>

6 Jan 2010

After the lengthy gestation of Portishead’s Third, it’s understandable that Geoff Barrow wanted to do something a little less painstaking with BEAK>. Written and recorded in a week, their eponymous album offers stripped down takes on the krautrock and…

Glasgow DIY Festival

The city shows off its talented underground arts scene

17 Sep 2009

Without wishing to play down the significance of Franz Ferdinand’s commercial breakthrough, arguably the real story of Glasgow rock in the ’00s has been the rise of the DIY gig scene. Nuts & Seeds got the ball rolling by booking weird, noisy and fun…

Self-fulfilling prophesy

16 Sep 2009

Without wishing to play down the significance of Franz Ferdinand’s commercial breakthrough, arguably the real story of Glasgow rock in the ’00s has been the rise of the DIY gig scene. Nuts & Seeds got the ball rolling by booking weird, noisy and fun…

Exposure: Nite Jewel

16 Sep 2009

The musical project of philosophy student and artist Romana Gonzalez, Nite Jewel filter ‘80s pop, ‘90s R&B and new age music through a dreamy lo-fi haze. Following the 12” ‘What Did He Say’ on estimable avant-disco stable Italians Do It Better, debut…

Trembling Bells

Ecstatic folk-rock magic from Glasgow

14 Aug 2009

Alex Neilson’s questing spirit has led him to play with Will Oldham and Texan outsider Jandek, make free jazz with saxophonist Sonny Simmons, and explode traditional folk songs with Scatter and Directing Hand. But with Trembling Bells, the mercurial…

One man army: Billy Childish

Stewart Smith salutes the singular genius of Billy Childish

29 Jul 2009

‘Your paintings are stuck. You are stuck. Stuck, stuck, stuck!’ said Tracy Emin of former boyfriend Billy Childish. In response the artist, writer and garage rocker founded the Stuckist art movement, rejecting the conceptual practice of his erstwhile…

Divorce, Vom and Teenage Ricky - Captain’s Rest, Glasgow, Sat 4 Jul

23 Jul 2009

Launching their Optimo Records debut EP – a satanic slab of red vinyl sleeved in a painting of ragged teeth and diseased gums – Divorce affirm their status as Glasgow’s most thrilling band. Their support acts are no slouches either. Teenage Ricky stage…

A Hawk and a Hacksaw

11 Jun 2009

FOLK The boisterous yet melancholy sounds of Eastern European folk music have long entranced Western musicians, from avant-jazzer John Zorn to indie-pop cosmopolitan Beirut. But few have gone as far as A Hawk and a Hacksaw in their exploration of…

Instal 09

19 Mar 2009

PREVIEW A church organ sounding the course of the stars, a cello being turned to dust, a sound poet voicing typewriter symbols, long stretches of almost nothing … Instal has been expanding the way we listen since its inception in 2002, building a…

Burt MacDonald with Lol Coxhill

Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

22 Jul 2008

A reunion with free jazz, lyrical flourishes and popcorn machines. One of Scotland’s most adventurous jazz groups, the Burt MacDonald Quintet are reuniting with Lol Coxhill. A legend of the soprano saxophone, Coxhill has worked with the band on five…

Exposure - No Age

8 May 2008

Set to be the breakthrough band from Los Angeles arts space The Smell, No Age have unleashed a scuzzy noise-pop masterpiece in their Sub Pop debut Nouns. Guitarist Randy Randall and drummer/singer Dean Spunt crank out a joyous racket that suggests a…

Triptych - James Blackshaw

10 Apr 2008

James Blackshaw In only five years, James Blackshaw has earned a reputation as Britain’s most brilliant young composer-guitarist, wowing the avant-garde and folk underground with his acoustic 12-string reveries. Like contemporary US pickers Jack…

Triptych - RememberRemember

10 Apr 2008

RememberRemember The Royal We and Sexy Kids bassist, Multiplies synth wiz, Mogwai auxiliary, Flying Matchstick Men axe-smith, Graeme Ronald’s musical CV is impressive to say the least. But it’s as RememberRemember that Ronald has come into his own…

Nuts & Seeds Presents…

29 Nov 2007

‘I like things to be inclusive and fun, I don’t enjoy elitism, and I think when the main concern is money it ruins everything,’ says Giles Bailey of independent promoters Nuts & Seeds. Their DIY ethos dictates that door prices are kept low, there are no…

Vashti Bunyan

23 Aug 2007

From Stones protégée to modern folk icon, Stewart Smith counts down the four ages of effervescent folk singer Vashti Bunyan

Vashti Bunyan

Cold comfort

20 Dec 2006

The story behind Vashti Bunyan’s 1970 album Just Another Diamond Day has become legendary. Vashti made her first bid for stardom guided by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Her wisp of a voice and tall, elegant beauty suggested she could be an…

Davey Graham

Oran Mor, Glasgow, Sun 24 Sep

18 Sep 2006

FOLK Lauded by Bert Jansch and Eric Clapton, Davey Graham is the guitar hero’s guitar hero. But despite his revolutionary impact on acoustic guitar playing and British folk music in the early 1960s, Graham has remained a relatively obscure figure. So…