Archive for October, 2010
Music Alliance Pact – October 2010
Friday, October 15th, 2010
Exciting times, freeloading pop comrades. Not only is it the second birthday of the Music Alliance Pact, but I’ve roped in The Guardian Music Blog to be our new representatives for England.
The Guardian have been long-time supporters of the project (see here and here for are a couple of previous articles they’ve written about it) and were more than happy to be asked to take over the baton from The Daily Growl and publish the MAP posts on the 15th of every month.
This, of course, means that the songs each of the MAP bloggers pick is going to reach a heck of a lot more people, which is tremendous news for the bands and artists involved. And since my job it to identify a Scottish act deserving of reaching a wider audience, I don’t think there’s anyone worthier than Bear Bones. Take it away, guys and gals…
To download all 35 songs in one file click here
SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Bear Bones – Oil & Lacquer
Islay-born singer Ben Harrison’s thick brogue and some inspired bursts of accordion make eight-strong Bear Bones an unmistakably Scottish proposition and Oil & Lacquer a heavenly way to spend four minutes. Fans of Belle & Sebastian won’t be disappointed. Since it’s exactly two years since the Music Alliance Pact was launched, as a bonus you can also download a free anniversary compilation here which contains mostly exclusive and rare tracks contributed by 23 previous MAP artists from Scotland.
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Straight to video
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
Given that all the communicating I do with you is via the internet, you may be surprised to learn I’ve never been the quickest to embrace new trends.
I held off on getting a mobile phone for at least a couple of years after everyone else had them (“why would I want people to always be able to contact me?” seemed like a reasonable objection at the time), I was about 10 months late in joining the Twitter bandwagon and I only thought to set up The Pop Cop’s own Facebook page after the campaign to reinstate the blog was set up on Facebook in May.
Perhaps this might explain why I’ve made very little attempt to give any blogging space to music promo videos. It’s a shame, really, because the amount of time, effort, money, imagination and creativity that goes into making some of them often surpasses the time, effort, money, imagination and creativity that goes into making the song it is promoting.
So in a bid to redress the balance, I’ve picked out 15 of the best videos I could find from Scottish musicians who tend to be ignored by the likes of MTV, VH1, The Box and 4Music.
1990s – See You At The Lights
Most music videos with animation can feel incidental to the song itself, but clearly a lot more insight has gone into this one, with the band accurately morphed into cute cartoon characters, singer Jackie McKeown’s buck teeth and all.
Attic Lights – Wendy
Attic Lights play up their retro sound with Happy Days costumes, cheesy choreography routines and, heaven forbid, jazz hands. It works so well your interest wanes when it cuts back to their ‘normal’ look.
Beerjacket – Dancing In The Dark
Beerjacket’s cover is an original, simplistic, melancholic take on a classic song so it makes sense that the video should share those qualities. The twist, though, is that it was made by a fan, Kyle Wood, whose countless costume changes ensure he’s the real star of the show.
Emma Pollock – Paper And Glue
How much would you have loved to have been there for the director’s briefing: “Right, Emma, I’m going to enclose you in a lifesize perspex box and plonk you down in various Glasgow landmarks. You won’t look ridiculous, honest…”
Esperi – Home
Here’s a blissful summer chillout scene to fill you with envy. Adorable collies in the meadows, birds tweeting and a hint of the mindboggling array of instruments that create Esperi’s unique sound.
Frightened Rabbit - Swim Until You Can’t See Land
If you’ve ever wondered why lighting is so important to directors here’s your answer. There’s no story arc here, simply footage of our check-shirted heroes playing in front of a couple of dozen fans all waving torches. A visual treat.
Kassidy – Take Another Ride
Ah, the joys of major label budgets. This is proper cinematic stuff very much in the mould of No Country For Old Men, which complements the Western twang Kassidy have got going on.
Malcolm Middleton – We’re All Going To Die
Hey, look, it’s Malcolm Middleton dressed as Santa trying to kick the hell out of some pigeons. Wrong on so many levels.
Maple Leaves – Golden Ether
Paper aeroplanes, handclaps, knitted red jumpers, the Botanic Gardens… this must be the tweeest video ever made. But how could you not be won over by singer Anna Miles’ cute as pie smile?
Mitchell Museum – Tiger Heartbeat
Just when you think you’re going to be sitting through a Spectrum platform game, the main character comes to life as a drunken robot stumbling along the streets in Glasgow and getting thrown out of pubs. Genius.
Roddy Hart – Take Me Home
Four-and-a-half minutes shot in one continuous take in atmospheric black-and-white with a wintry, hilly Scottish backdrop. Just classy.
Sons And Daughters – Johnny Cash
Arguably one of the finest songs ever to come out of Scotland, its frantic, scuzzy riff could only be translated into moving image as a bar-room brawl.
There Will Be Fireworks – Midfield Maestro
The perfect example of a video that enhances the song. Shot in the rugged outdoors of the island of Barra, the stunning landscape is only trumped by the closing scene which sees the windswept group playing their hearts out on a deserted stretch of sand.
The Xcerts – Do You Feel Safe?
The driving tempo of the track contrasts beautifully with the slow-mo footage, which itself is the perfect foil for the sped-up thrashy instrumental interludes. The video portrays such a depressingly accurate picture of Glasgow’s city centre at 3am that it surely couldn’t have been staged.
We Are The Physics – You Can Do Athletics BTW
Despite being a fairly terrible song, the video is really slick and sees a convincingly unhinged performance from the band members interspersed with some smart comic-book effects .
Roddy Hart – Take Me Home
1990s – See You At The Lights
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When winners are losers
Friday, October 8th, 2010
Musicians and competitions make uneasy life partners. Entering a TV talent show rarely results in long-term success, while the manufactured rivalry of Battle of the Bands contests that tend to be put on by tackier live venues have as much credibility as cabaret night at Pontin’s.
The most worrying example of such exploitation, though, must surely be Live And Unsigned, which claims to be “the UK’s largest music competition for unsigned artists”.
They are holding auditions at Edinburgh’s Corn Exchange on January 29 and Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall on February 5 and if you know anyone who is considering applying, I would strongly suggest they find out exactly what they’re getting themselves into.
To enter, it costs £10 for solo acts/duos and £12.50 for bands, and the organisers have this to say about the audition process: “You will be asked to prepare a performance of up to 2 minutes and no longer (we recommend you keep instrumentals and intro to a minimum and perform the best part of your song at the start).”
Glasgow band Annie Stevenson entered Live And Unsigned last year and they wrote about their experience on the Aberdeen Music forum:
“We were ‘selected’ for an audition at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall, which you will agree sounds very grand… however, it was a small room just off a big hall where some wedding show was being staged. It was 8am. Here we were joined by hunners of young hopefuls.
“After a few hours had passed, and a few people had passed out having had no food, since none was available, we were called through to the audition room. No, sorry, it wasn’t the audition room, it was actually a long queue which we had to stand in for another wee while, until eventually we got led before the judging panel.
“Now despite being informed prior to this that all equipment by way of amplification would be provided, it turned out that there was only one guitar amp. As we have two guitarists, which our application form made quite clear, this gave us a problem. ‘Never mind’, we were told, ‘one of you can just mime a bit’. And so we played.
“After that we returned to the waiting area for what seemed like a very long time. Now something strange started to happen. As the morning wore on, acts who had already auditioned were getting called in no particular order and all without exception were getting told they had got through to the next stage. They were all getting handed nice glossy folders containing some stuff. Many folks where doing high fives and jumping in the air a hooping and a hollarin when told this news. Bootcamp here they come. Since we weren’t in this group we assumed we had failed to get through.
“Then after a while we got called over and got told we had got through as well. In fact I don’t think anyone got rejected, everyone was a winner, oh happy days. We even got a shiny new folder as well.
“We opened the folder and then it dawned on us what was going on. It contained a contract and some information re the next stage. It also contained 50-odd tickets for this event which we were expected to sell to our friends for £6 a piece. This would entitle our friends to attend a gig at a large Glasgow venue in which we would be playing for all of 3 minutes since there would be a lot of other bands on the bill who had also been given 50-odd tickets to sell and there wasn’t time for any more songs.
“It became clear that those auditions were just a means to ensure that a large amount of tickets were distributed to as many acts as possible. Maybe some acts did get rejected at this stage, I didn’t see any. We declined to sign the contract and passed on the next stage.”
It’s little surprise that if you type “Live And Unsigned” into Google, the second most common next word is “scam” – and you’ll find plenty of other horror stories about the competition’s money-making practices, including premium rate text voting.
Glasgow rock group The Detours beat over 10,000 other hopefuls to win the Live And Unsigned competition in 2009. Here’s what their guitarist, Michael Smith, posted on Jim Gellatly’s Facebook page last night:
“I was unfortunate enough to win it with my band and it’s a load of shit. We were promised up to £20,000 investment and saw none of it, a 100-date UK tour and didn’t get it and a whole host of false promises. So I urge you all please do not waste your time, money or talent in this competition.”
In stark contrast, there are at least three major competition prizes currently up for grabs that would genuinely make a positive impact on the careers of up-and-coming acts:
RADAR have launched their own Scotsman Radar Prize for which they will pick one unsigned Scottish artist to win a heap of goodies. They appear to be looking for the best song rather than the best artist (although one usually follows the other), but you can be sure whoever they pick won’t be complaining. You can listen to all the entrants so far here.
The winner will get:
– a day’s recording session at Chem 19 in Hamilton
- a slot on the bill of the Radar Presents gig at Edinburgh’s Electric Circus on November 13 featuring Mitchell Museum and Capitals
- a global single release distribution package from Tunefire
- a one-year pro account for SoundCloud
- a promo and/or live photoshoot
- an interview feature on Radar
How to enter: Upload an mp3 demo track here
Closing date: October 15
What are the judges looking for? “Quality and originality”
NEW FOUND SOUND will offer a substantial Development Deal to two acts, with the winners being chosen from all those who take part in their newly-launched Frankies Live gigs at Frankenstein in Edinburgh and Glasgow, which runs every week until December.
The winners will get:
– a weekend recording session at either Verden Studios in Edinburgh or House Practise in Glasgow
- a single release through Green Flame Recordings
- press, PR and a Scottish tour from New Found Sound
- radio podcast/exposure from Jim Gellatly’s New Music
- distribution from EmuBands
- web/online package from Pixelgaps
- merchandise deal from Vexed Apparel
- reviews/exposure from Peenko
- design from Bloody Honey
How to enter: Email a link to your music along with a short biography to gigs@frankenstein-pub.co.uk
Closing date: No official date, but the organisers intend to announce winners in mid-December
What are the judges looking for? “Good songwriting and stage presence”
HOG THE STAGE are giving bands the chance to win a spot on this year’s Edinburgh Hogmanay bill. It has not been decided whether the chosen one will appear at the Concert in the Gardens, headlined by Biffy Clyro, or the Street Party stage.
A panel of music industry judges will initially cut down all entries to a shortlist of five, who will then play a gig at Edinburgh’s Picture House on November 21 (amended date) when votes from both the audience and the judging panel will decide who wins. An email I got from the organisers this week revealed they are “looking at ways to make this less X Factor-y”. You can listen to all the entrants so far on the main page.
How to enter: Upload an mp3, live video, band image and short biography here
Closing date: October 28 (amended date)
What are the judges looking for? “Quality music, attitude, flair and personality – they’ve also got to be convinced you won’t cack yer kegs when you take the stage in front of thousands”
NOTE: Glasgow has held its own Road To Hogmanay since 2008 for unsigned musicians to win a spot on the George Square bill so no doubt details of this year’s competition will be announced soon as well.
Annie Stevenson – Get Off The Street
The Detours – Bull Rider
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