Archive for September, 2009
Too many indie bands, not enough chiefs
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Today, I’m going to tell you about an exceptional new talent in Scotland’s music scene. It struck me that this is something I don’t do particularly often – not because I don’t want to but because I’m not able to.
To put it bluntly, there is very little spread-the-word music being made in this country at the moment by up-and-coming artists. Despite checking out every single band recommendation, MySpace link and email tip-off that comes my way, I’d estimate that I find no more than one good new Scottish act a month, which explains why you are more likely to read about events, features, rants and touring foreigners on The Pop Cop.
The Scotsman’s Under The Radar takes a different approach. As thorough as it is in promoting the underground music scene in Scotland, I find myself becoming increasingly disillusioned by what they deem blogworthy talent. It doesn’t matter how they spin it, the frequency of UtR’s artist profiles – usually three per week – is done so at the expense of quality control, not with their writing (which is top-notch) but with the new acts they choose to feature. The overwhelming majority fall in the ‘average to alright’ category.
It’s the equivalent of going to the casino and putting your chips on all 37 slots on the roulette wheel – you’re guaranteed to land on the winner but you’ll also back an awful lot of losers.
If you’re a regular reader of The List you may have noticed that they very rarely give any local band a kicking, no matter how much they deserve it. I recently had the misfortune of attending a gig by a Glasgow group called Some Young Pedro which ranks highly among my most painful experiences in life, and that includes having my corneas burned. When The List reviewed their debut album last month, they gave it an unfathomably generous 3/5. Believe it or not, the line “they subvert ideas of what are commonly referred to as listenable music” was used as a compliment by the writer.
While it’s undeniably heartening that mainstream Scottish media give non-mainstream music scene such significant coverage, they do their readers a disservice by taking such a rose-tinted view of it. Surely it’s better to be brutally honest rather than take the stance that condemning a young Scottish band at a fledgling stage of their career is in some way unethical.
If you want to see how to dismantle a band in six paragraphs, I direct you to The Skinny’s much commented-on review of Broken Records’ debut album, Until The Earth Begins To Part. Now, I happen to think this record is one of the year’s best and pretty much disagree with every criticism levelled at it in the article, yet I can’t help but admire the courage it took for a well-respected Scottish publication to slaughter one of its own.
If a music critic can’t be trusted to give a balanced assessment of what is right and what is wrong then when they do finally find that precious diamond worthy of writing in capital letters, the reader will probably just dismiss it with a shrug.
Which leads me to the man The Pop Cop is prepared to stake its reputation on, THOMAS WESTERN. The 23-year-old singer-songwriter has just moved to Edinburgh and is in the process of booking his first gigs in Scotland and finding musicians to play with.
I first found out about him through an unassuming email sent my way when he was living down south and the strength of what I heard has compelled me to follow his progress ever since.
He plays acoustic guitar like Bob Dylan, carefully plucking out the most elegant melodies, while his fragile voice has a rural grace that echoes Jeff Buckley but with a subtler charm. I dare you to name a more heartbreakingly beautiful song than Your Front Door.
Thomas Western – Your Front Door
Thomas Western – Lay Down Your Weary Tune (Bob Dylan cover)
October 8, Henry’s Cellar Bar, Edinburgh
October 15, The Ark, Edinburgh
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Weekend Anthem
Sunday, September 20th, 2009
Hometown: Sydney, Australia
Hear more: http://www.myspace.com/youthgroupmusic
Pigeonhole: James, Interpol
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Step Away From The Computer #16: Loopallu
Thursday, September 17th, 2009
There are several tell-tale signs that summer has ended: You start wondering how you were ever able to leave the house without a jacket, making a Christmas wishlist doesn’t seem like a completely unreasonable exercise, and we reach the end of The Pop Cop’s guide to Scotland’s music festivals.
Hopefully we’ve helped persuade you to fill your nostrils with that invigorating outdoor smell at least once this year. The last big event of 2009 sees the award for the best-named festival in Scotland go to… LOOPALLU. You do realise that’s Ullapool written backwards, right? Emosewa!
Location:
Broomfield Holiday Park, Ullapool.
Fascinating fact:
Neville Staple, the singer for The Specials, cancelled his scheduled appearance this week due to illness. Alabama 3 agreed to step in at the 11th hour to fill their Friday night slot with an acoustic set.
Date:
Friday, September 18 and Saturday, September 19.
Weather forecast:
Friday
Saturday
Festival history:
This is its 5th year.
Total number of acts:
16
Cost of a ticket:
£62.50
So each act is worth:
£3.91
Big-hitters:
The View, The Lightning Seeds.
Organiser’s propaganda:
“When most of the country are thinking of hanging up their wellies as festival season draws to a close, there’s still one little corner of the Highlands still partying well after the summer sun has gone down. Loopallu is often fondly described as a family reunion you’d actually like to go to.”
Must-hear:
The View – Wasted Little DJ’s
The Dykeenies – Sounds Of The City
If you want to look back at any of our previous Step Away From The Computer guides, you can find the links here:
#1: Homegame
#2: Hinterland
#3: Big In Falkirk
#4: Stag & Dagger
#5: RockNess
#6: The Garden Party
#7: Insider
#8: Electric Bay
#9: T in the Park
#10: Wickerman
#11: Kilmarnock Edition Festival
#12: Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival
#13: SOSfest
#14: Sounds In The Grounds
#15: Wizard Festival
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