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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.

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…

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

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…

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…

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…