Archive for February, 2008
Wonder women
Friday, February 29th, 2008
If ever there was an excuse to celebrate the joy that is The Woman then February 29 is that day. Leap Day is more commonly associated with females proposing marriage to their blokes but seeing as that scenario will only terrify a small percentage of the population, we reckon it would be far more worthwhile to instead have a full 24 hours of lady-loving appreciation.
And since several of the finest poppettes in music are about to play shows in Scotland, it seems only fair we bring them together in one post for some girl-on-girl action…
There are beautiful women and there are beautifulwomen. RIHANNA is definitely the latter. What a fine specimen. And clearly, with her love of singing about umbrellas, the 20-year-old will be right at home in Aberdeen next week. Just like Barbados, eh, love?
But if you prefer your ladies to have some balls (metaphorically speaking, of course) then Norwegian firecracker IDA MARIA is who you’re looking for. Her feisty performance at the Classic Grand (see left) last night was quite fantastic and in set-closer Oh My God, she and her band have an ass-kicking anthem to die for. It almost made up for Vampire Weekend’s shameful last-minute decision to cancel their scheduled slot and go to the NME Awards ceremony instead – a decision the band’s drummer is no doubt regretting after he wasrun over by a car in London last night.
Taking things down a notch, we come to the lilting tones of Londoner LAURA MARLING. Crikey, she’s only just turned 18 and has already written and released a debut album. Even more impressively, she somehow made the Mystery Jets look good with her inspirational contribution to their oh-so-cute single Young Love.
The KATE NASH juggernaut shows no signs of slowing down. She has picked up both a Brit award and NME award in the past week but you get the feeling it will be her second album that determines how history will eventually look back on this very modern pop star.
If you’re searching for something with roots closer to home then there’s a whole night dedicated to the female of the species on March 8 at The Hold (Admiral Bar) in Glasgow, where you’ll find Edinburgh punk upstarts THE GUSSETS and Glaswegian guitar pop outfit VENDORS celebrating International Woman’s Day. There won’t be a pair of skinny jeans, ugly shoes or stupid haircut in sight..
4 Rihanna – SOS (Rescue Me)
b March 3, AECC, Aberdeen (sold out)
4 Mystery Jets featuring Laura Marling – Young Love
b March 4, Oran Mor, Glasgow (sold out)
4 Kate Nash – Men’s Needs (The Cribs cover)
b March 7, Barrowland, Glasgow (sold out)
4 Ida Maria – Oh My God
b March 20, Barfly, Glasgow (tickets)
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The mighty Quins
Wednesday, February 27th, 2008
There’s nothing more off-putting than hearing a band for the first time only to discover they’ve already amassed a large back catalogue and fanbase. It’s like turning up late for an orgy and finding that only the stragglers are left (something our favourite Scottish actor James McAvoy empathised with here).
So it’s understandable that when faced with the question of where to start in such a musical conundrum, the answer for many people is often not to bother at all. What you secretly want is for someone you trust to sift through album after album, separate the pop from the pap and give you a bite-sized chunk of the highlights. Which reminds us of our favourite Alan Partridge scene…
Ben: I love the Beatles.
Alan: Yeah, so do I.
Ben: What’s your favourite Beatles album, then?
Alan: Tough one. I think I’d have to say… ‘The Best of the Beatles’.
And so to TEGAN AND SARA, the guitar-wielding identical twins from Canada who have five full-length studio albums to their name – a daunting figure if this is the first time you’ve been introduced to them.
In fact, there is a strange parallel with The National, another group with twins. Before they made their career-defining records Alligator and Boxer, they used to be – and it pains us to write this – not that great, and were responsible for two patchy albums that rarely get a mention these days.
Similarly, Tegan and Sara Quin have taken time to hone their craft into the super-slick pop-rock outfit they are today. Their 1999 debut album Under Feet Like Ours had one good song (Clever Meals), its follow-up This Business Of Art contained two (My Number and Not With You), as did the next effort If It Was You (Monday Monday Monday and Living Room).
However, everything changed with 2004 record So Jealous, which saw the sisters at last deliver a full banquet of hook-laden tunes, while last year’s The Con was almost as ear-pleasing and just as worthy of a place in your record collection. In conclusion: Start at the end and work your way back.
4 Tegan And Sara – Not With You
4 The National – Around The Bend (new song, live in Brooklyn)
b February 29, QMU, Glasgow (sold out)
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Chips and no cheese
Monday, February 25th, 2008
The careers of dance music makers tend to lack longevity because the work they do rarely strikes the sort of emotional cord that would encourage the disco dweller to become an album-buying devotee.
So that’s why, when the massive popularity of HOT CHIP is dissected, you will uncover a band with almost as many crushing ballads as killer beats, a songwriter in Alexis Taylor who takes immense pride in his lyrics, and a loyal following who have taken their tunes from the dancefloor to their hearts.
If ever proof was needed of their mainstream acceptance, Hot Chip’s Ready For The Floor was covered by Duffy on Radio 1′s Live Lounge last Friday. And the following night, The Pop Cop managed to get a gold-dust ticket to see the Welsh songbird (see right) in the flesh in what must have been the first time anyone had played the 300-capacity King Tut’s while No.1 in the UK singles charts.
Now, who’s going to make the call for that crossover collaboration…
4 Hot Chip – And I Was A Boy From School
4 Duffy – Ready For The Floor (Hot Chip cover)
b February 26, Barrowland, Glasgow (sold out)
b July 12/13, T in the Park, Balado (sold out)
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