Thomas Meek

Guy Incognito

A muddled execution that feels unfinished

24 Aug 2009

A series of sketches set over one public school term, the former BBC New Talent Pick of the Fringe act has a more interesting conceit than material. Though wonderfully empathetic at times (the English teacher defining 'love' nearly brought tears not…

Exposure: Joe Carnall and the Book Club

28 Sep 2009

It's nearly five years now since the music media's microscope focused in on Sheffield as acts like Bromhead's Jacket, Little Man Tate and Long Blondes were heralded to define the decade. And though only Arctic Monkeys may have made it into the big…

Mumford and Sons

Furious energy from indie folk upstarts

10 Aug 2009

The tiny cavern that is Cabaret Voltaire may not be the biggest of venues Edinburgh has to offer, but it’s still some fear for these still relative unknowns from London to sell-out two intense, sweaty nights in a row, especially considering the…

Exposure: Esser

3 Mar 2009

He looks like Morrissey and talks like Stewart Lee, but Ben Esser is a real individual when it comes to music. 24 and living London, there's the danger of the young musician being swept up but 2009's tide of 80s synth pop throwbacks, desperately…

Exposure: The 10:04s

1 Sep 2009

They’ve sold out venues all over Edinburgh, and worked with Super Furry Animals’ producer. Oh, and they’re huge fans of Back to the Future. The 10:04s have a lot going for them, not to mention the kind of enthusiasm rarely seen outside a small child in…

Exposure: Stanley Odd

28 Aug 2009

Still an odd paradox for some, Scottish hip-hop is only getting stronger. Acts like Young Fathers and Northern Xposure are bringing the spirit of South Central to the Central Belt, offering an alternative to the bountiful angular indie that's heard from…

Exposure: The Stormy Seas

20 Aug 2009

With banjo, squeezebox and a folk mindset in tow, The Stormy Seas are an Edinburgh five-piece exploring the traditions of Scottish music. Keeping it acoustic but loud, they'd be equally welcome at Wickerman or T in the Park, and equally likely to make…

Andrew Stanley's Comedy Mish Mash

The warmest welcome you'll get all August

16 Aug 2009

Returning with the same similar joyous mess of biscuits, stand-up and impromptu covers, Andrew Stanley compères another Mish Mash of genuine delight. Buried late into the night at the Gilded Balloon, this is probably the warmest welcome you'll get all…

Exposure: Louise Against the Elements

11 May 2009

They may have already supported Duffy, but Louise Against the Elements aren't quite comparable to the uncomfortable squeak of the Welsh pixie. Instead it's the raw garage power of Courtney Love and fellow Glaswegian, Shirley Manson, that drives a band…

The View: Picture House, Edinburgh, 12th Feb 2009

13 Feb 2009

It's hard not to admire The View. They certainly have their flaws. Their records are, at best, ramshackle indie, spawned from a feigned belief that anyone could do 'Up the Bracket'. They also have a cockiness in completely opposing correlation to their…

Hannah Gadsby

Genuine warmth and heartbreak

23 Aug 2010

Inspired by Cliff Young, a legendary Australian who won an ultramarathon at the age of 61, Hannah Gadbsy sets off to walk across England, proving it’s never too late to achieve something. Her story is one of genuine warmth and heartbreak as she battles…

A Surprisingly Tasteful Show About Nudity

Well-intentioned schoolboy charm

23 Aug 2010

With that same well-intentioned schoolboy charm shared by Russell Howard, it’s easy to be drawn in by Alexis Dubus, even if you are of the more prudish nature. Expect nudity, but in a context that goes some way to educate and entertain, taking in Greek…

The Ballad of Backbone Joe

A noirish tale of murder and meat fruit

22 Aug 2010

Combining versatile talents with the easy-going charm that comes so naturally from an antipodean accent, Suitcase Royale’s self-penned, music-driven comedy noir provides effusive, varied entertainment. It’s pre-war Australia and Backbone Joe is a…

Sophie Black

A character show with little in the way of actual characters

18 Aug 2010

Stumbling onstage in the guise of an overly ambitious street sketch artist/ex-con, Sophie Black’s solo character-based show never quite finds its feet. The cartoonist offers the inevitable poor drawings and grandiose ideas of her own ‘art’, but the more…

Gareth Richards

Quaint, bumbling stand-up and surreal, amateurish songs

16 Aug 2010

Despite containing three separate anecdotes involving the deaths of relatives, Richards’ mix of quaint, bumbling stand-up and surreal, amateurish songs still lifts the spirits. The pointlessness of life may be the theme on offer, but it’s counteracted…

Maeve Higgins

She could talk all day and keep you smiling

12 Aug 2010

I’d love Maeve Higgins to be my best friend. And it’s not just due to the whimsical stories and wonderful asides, she’d knit you a nice scarf too. On stage though, she can stumble with silences not so much awkward as unnecessary. She could talk all day…

Bridget Christie

Dabbling around the unhinged fringes of stand-up

11 Aug 2010

Bridget Christie openly admits that her act may not be the most commercially viable around. But you can’t help but feel the Fringe would be a bit more interesting if other performers were willing to forsake financial security and the welfare of a…

Smith and Smith

Dry self-deprecation and an irreverent take on immortality

11 Aug 2010

Some flimsy premises provide the platform for two men named Smith to come together. James W Smith talks of life and its problems (mainly children) in dry self-deprecation, though the pathos rarely pays off. Daniel Smith does, however, seem more at ease…

Henning Wehn

German humour remains a joke in itself

10 Aug 2010

As long as German humour remains a joke in itself, Wehn’s enormously referential style is unlikely to change. It’s lucky he can still do it with the originality and talent it requires, with his outsider take on British culture spawning some…

Daniel Sloss - My Generation

Teen comic hits home with the personal

8 Aug 2010

It’s not news most in the audience can relate to, but 19-year-old Daniel Sloss is getting on a bit. Or so he thinks he is, in only his second solo show at the Fringe.

Exposure: Japanese Voyeurs

12 Nov 2009

All fast guitars and heightened yelps, Japanese Voyeurs create the sort of music that can really only be done by those still young enough to have that satisfying sense of havoc. Luckily, that’s exactly what these guys are, and they do it well, being an…

Exposure: First Aid Kit

4 Nov 2009

Recent tour partners with new indie folk favourites, Fanfarlo, this Swedish duo are known to write the odd acoustic pleasure too. And all the more remarkable considering they’d still be at high school in the UK. For First Aid Kit are sisters Klara, 16…

Exposure: Mickey Gang

3 Nov 2009

Cool, minimalist electronica and songs about menstruating horses – just what you’d expect from any bunch of 19-year-olds nowadays. Mickey Gang do it with a flair though, both beguilingly innocent yet with a knowing smile underneath, celebrating the…

Exposure: Civet

30 Oct 2009

A civet is a 'small, lithe-bodied, mostly arboreal mammals native to the tropics of Africa and Asia'. They are also a remarkably kick-ass all female punk-rock group from Los Angeles. We can only wonder who’d be more fun to go out drinking with.

Exposure: Portugal. The Man

29 Oct 2009

Portugal. The Man is not the most conventional name for a band. But it’s one that suits this Alaskan quartet of unrestricted imagination more than most. Now based in Portland, the group revel in an Animal Collective-inspired delirium of musical chaos…