Archive for August, 2011
Freshers’ Week 2011: A beginner’s guide to Scotland
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
Welcome to Scotland, a country scarred by sectarianism, which has no chance of being eradicated while schoolchildren as young as four are separated by the religious leanings of their parents.
That’s the bad news.
On the positive side, it’s a nation of picturesque hills and romantic lochs, with weather that isn’t as bad as people make out (our summers are quite pleasant once they get started – just don’t assume you’ve seen the last of the snow when the calendar flips over to April).
One of the best things about this country, though, is that our government provides free higher education for its inhabitants* unlike the rest of the UK.
If you’re starting university this year then your Union may well be responsible for your first ever introduction to live music during Freshers’ Week, which takes place throughout the month of September. Yet some ents conveners choose to abuse this power by blowing their budgets on Simon Cowell’s cast-offs.
Others, thankfully, have managed to book some decent talent, much of it homegrown, so here’s a uni-by-uni rundown of the official Freshers’ Week live music events – preceded by a colourful guide to each of the cities and town, courtesy of some guest experts.
*On a related note, when the Scottish Government introduced free prescriptions for Scottish patients, the Daily Mail described it as… wait for it… “the latest example of medical apartheid”.
ABERDEEN - by John Anderson, The Kiosque
Once the stardust has settled after the visit of both the Made In Chelsea and Geordie Shore casts during Freshers’ Week this year (shoot me now, shoot them too if you get the chance), you’ll find yourself in a city that, let’s face it, gets its fair share of negativity from those in other parts of the country. Don’t listen to them. It’s going to be okay…
The music scene here actually punches above its weight for a town of this size (don’t believe me? Google some similar-sized places down in England and find out for yourself), especially when it comes to emerging bands. Sibling venues The Tunnels and Cafe Drummond are the first places to look, alongside promoters such as AGP and IMP who consistently book some fantastic stuff from all over. Add in a very healthy, growing local scene and you’ll find plenty out there. Keep an eye out for intimate shows at Cellar 35 and Project Slogan too, while bigger touring bands play at the Music Hall and The Lemon Tree. We’ve got one of those edge-of-town sheds (the AECC) for yer arena acts as well.
Club/pub/café-wise, away from the places you’ll very quickly learn to avoid (no names, find out for yourself, you’re on a voyage of discovery after all), Snafu is frequently lauded as one of the best smaller clubs in the UK, while Origin is the city’s spiritual home of bass-driven music. BrewDog, 99 Bar and The Moorings (one of the finest rock bars anywhere) are but three options outside of the usual identikit boozers, while those in search of a non-Starbucks caffeine hit should head to one of Kilau’s two branches. Oh, and learn some Doric while you’re here too, ken?
ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY, September 17-25
Sep 19: N-Trance (Priory)
Sep 21: Five (Priory)
Sep 24: The Hoosiers (Pearl Lounge)
ROBERT GORDON UNIVERSITY, September 17-25
Sep 19: Example
DUNDEE - by Daisy Dundee, music photographer and supporter of the local music scene
Freshers! You want my advice? Step. Away. From. The. Union. Instead, get out of the West End and see what the real Dundee has to offer. If you’re into live music, the centre of Dundee is the place to be. Home to one of the most vibrant local music scenes in Scotland, there are two venues in Dundee where it’s all happening when it comes to music involving actual live people with instruments. If you look hard enough there’s a lively scene right on your doorstep.
Two of the finest local music venues are The Doghouse on Ward Road and Dexters on Castle Street. The Doghouse is home from home to the city’s most famous musical exports, The View, and attracts some of the best UK touring acts throughout the year, as does its musical cousin Dexters. Both venues offer free afternoon blues sessions over the weekend that are well worth checking out, while The Doghouse hosts free open mic nights every Wednesday night. Fast-rising local bands The Mirror Trap, Vladimir, The Twist and Mass Consensus are all tipped for great things in the next year. Support them from home while you can.
Edible tip: For quirky breakfasts and tasty lunches check out The Parlour on the Westport or scoff homespun treats in vintage chairs at T Ann Cake in Exchange Street.
Stay hip: The fashionistas among you should check out Dundee’s fine selection of independent vintage boutiques, Maggie’s Farm on Union Street (now also available at Topshop) and the retrotastic Rara and The Pretty Vacant Showrooms on Exchange Street.
Secret trip: Pay your respects to Dundee’s own torch-singer Billy Mackenzie – who tragically took his own life in 1997 – at the city’s Balgay Cemetery. While you’re there take a hike up Balgay Hill for the singer’s favourite perspective on the city.
DUNDEE UNIVERSITY, September 3-11
Sep 4: The View
Sep 6: Charlie Simpson
Sep 7: Colour Coded + The Detours
Sep 8: Millsyeck + Jive Candy
ABERTAY DUNDEE UNIVERSITY, September 11-17
Sep 16: Pearl And The Puppets + Hazey Janes + Vukovi + Kings And Cowards
EDINBURGH - by Stu Lewis, The Tidal Wave Of Indifference
Listen to anyone musically-minded from the west and they’ll tell you that the only way is Glasgow. But recent years have seen Edinburgh starting to catch up, and 2011 finds the city in rude health – music fans will find plenty to enjoy here.
Meursault, Eagleowl and Kid Canaveral lead the way in terms of bands with a profile that stretches beyond the city walls, but there’s a plethora of bespoke venues, shops and bars stuffed with things to do and hear. Get on to the Song, By Toad blog first – there’s a weekly gig guide, which may not always be comprehensive but it’s a great place to get started. Or you could just get out and about – The Wee Red Bar, Henry’s, Electric Circus and Cabaret Voltaire are just some of the fine venues on offer, with Sneaky Pete’s and the larger Liquid Room attracting a few of the bigger names.
Fans of actually having a physical product to show for their music purchases will have a ball in Avalanche, now relocated to sizeable premises in the Grassmarket, where they’re now able to host a greater range of in-stores. But Vinyl Villains (Elm Row), Unknown Pleasures (Royal Mile) and Elvis Shakespeare (Leith Walk) are also delightful treasure troves of second-hand music.
There are, literally, far too many pubs to mention and plenty ooze scuffy charm and a decent jukebox. But a special mention is due for Joseph Pearce on Elm Row – once an old man dive, now a buzzing Swedish-owned bar with great atmosphere. Honourable mentions too for Nobles in Leith and Brass Monkey on Drummond Street. Finally, keep an eye on Pilrig St Paul’s, just off Leith Walk. Normally an unassuming church hall, recent years have seen it host Eagleowl’s Retreat! festival, Withered Hand and the farewell gig by local heroes Come On Gang! – and best of all, it’s BYOB. Hurrah!
NAPIER UNIVERSITY, September 3-10
Sep 4: Loick Essien + Rizzle Kicks + Becca Fox (Picture House)
HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY, September 3-11
Edinburgh Campus
No live musicians
Borders Campus
Sep 4: Pearl And The Puppets + Hip Parade
Sep 8: The Cheeky Girls
EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY, September 10-17
Sep 10: Gareth Gates (Potterrow)
Sep 13: Kassidy + Broken Records + Kitty The Lion (Potterrow)
Sep 13: Leon Jackson (Teviot)
QUEEN MARGARET UNIVERSITY, September 11-19
Sep 17: Pose Victorious + The 10:04′s + Emelle + Work And Weather + Greg Pearson + Windlestray + Letters + EmRoCo
GLASGOW – by The Pop Cop
There’s no getting away from the fact that Glasgow is staggeringly blessed when it comes to its music scene. Most Glaswegians take it for granted that every band worth caring about will pencil in a stop here on tour because, well, they always do.
It’s not difficult to see what attracts the biggest names in rock to Little Philly (as it shall now be known since George Square doubled for Philadelphia in Brad Pitt’s movie blockbuster World War Z). As well as being a city known for its super-enthusiastic, unpretentious music fans, it has venues to cater for just about every conceivable size of concert, although a disproportionate number of the smaller ones (Mono, Stereo, The 13th Note, The Flying Duck) are veggie-only – not ideal if, like me, you prefer your pre-gig food fix to be carnivorous.
While other towns are having to cope with live venues closing on a monthly basis, Glasgow just keeps on opening them - Stairway on Union Street is the latest addition and is well worth investigating. It’s not all about rock and pop, though. Broaden your musical horizons and take in a classical concert in the exquisite surroundings of the Royal Concert Hall or perfect the heel-toe-heel-toe step at Lauries on Bell Street where you’ll find a free ceilidh every Saturday night.
The Subway (15 stops in a continuous loop, £1.20 per journey) is the most hassle-free way to get from the city centre to the West End to the South Side, although scandalously it stops running at 6pm on a Sunday. Getting on a Glasgow bus is an experience best avoided unless you really want to put up with unreliable timetables, brattish teenagers and apathetic drivers.
Glaswegians love a bargain (i.e. they’re tight) so get into the spirit by shamelessly exploiting the Waitrose customer car park (free for 90 minutes) while going about your Byres Road business or being savvy enough to get a £6 return train ticket from Central Station to Edinburgh on the little-known TransPennine Express.
Oh, and if a ned asks you, “Whit team dae ye support?”, just reply “Partick Thistle” – you’ll get laughed at but at least you won’t end up in A&E.
GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY, September 12-16
Sep 12: Wagner (Campus)
Sep 12: Hector Bizerk (Marquee)
Sep 14: The Black Hand Gang (Club 520)
Sep 15: John Wean (Marquee)
GLASGOW UNIVERSITY, September 12-18
Sep 12: Twin Atlantic + Kassidy + Bwani Junction + The LaFontaines (QMU); Cancel The Astronauts + PAWS + French Wives + The Dirty Beggars + Poor Things (GUU)
Sep 14: Little Eye (SRC)
Sep 15: The LaFontaines + Washington Irving + Fatherson + Sunshine Social + Skippy Dyes + Scott McWatt – all acoustic (QMU)
STRATHCLYDE UNIVERSITY, September 17-25
Sep 23: Kassidy + The Black Hand Gang
Sep 24: Tinchy Stryder + That Drummer That DJ
PAISLEY - by Jim Connick, Aye Tunes
Paisley is a town with plenty of history behind it. From inventing patterns to being dubbed “Scotland’s drug capital” and famous sons ranging from Tom Conti to Gerard Butler, Sir Fred Goodwin and Paolo Nutini, as well as being home to St Mirren Football Club.
Nowadays the town is in the midst of something of a slump, with the High Street in the centre of town being host to more empty shop units than open ones. With businesses struggling to survive it wouldn’t be too hard to argue that the best thing about Paisley is that Glasgow is only 10 minutes away on the train. You might struggle to shop for much, but one thing you can certainly do is drink, with pubs being plentiful, particularly around New Street and Shuttle Street. Push beyond the ‘old man pub’ façade and you’ll find The Bull Inn and The Wee Howff to be good, hassle-free places for a pint.
It isn’t entirely bleak, though. The UWS Union has gradually built up a reputation for attracting bands back to the town, with the likes of Sucioperro and Admiral Fallow having played its F**k Thursdays live nights in the past year. Beyond that, the Paisley Songwriter’s Guild hosts regular open mic nights, while Carnivores, Alan McKim, Pacific Theatre and Michael Cassidy have popped up in recent years to show that the town isn’t bereft of local musical talent. Paisley Arts Centre often offers up a musical gem too, with a repeat of last year’s Paisley Underground gig series bringing Aidan Moffat & Bill Wells, FOUND and Strike The Colours to town in the coming weeks and months, along with panels on the music industry hosted by the Chemikal Underground crew.
UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND, September 19-30
Sep 29: The LaFontaines + LightGuides + Carnivores + Fatherson + Otherpeople + Dilectrics + The Mouse That Ate The Cat + All The Queens Bovine – also open to non-students over 18, £4 entry (Paisley Union)
ST ANDREWS - by Kate Lazda, Kid Canaveral
Here are some dos and don’ts for freshers at Scotland’s oldest university:
DO check out Music Is Love – a super-enthusiastic bunch of music-loving students who put on shows at the Union. Gigs in 2010/11 included King Creosote, The Pictish Trail, James Yorkston, Josie Long, Dry The River, Withered Hand, Sam Amidon, Let’s Buy Happiness, Woodenbox With A Fistful of Fivers and some band called Kid Canaveral.
DO be prepared for alcohol poisoning and pneumonia on Raisin Weekend. If you have no idea what I’m talking about then here is a handy explanation of this bizarre tradition, pictured above.
DON’T stay in St Andrews for four years. The rest of Fife is brilliant too. Ten miles down the road is Anstruther – awesome fish ‘n’ chips and of course home to the mighty Fence Records.
DO go to Aikman’s for a pint. Best beers in town and there’s a killer music pub quiz.
DON’T buy a gown. If someone says you need one then they are lying.
DO indulge in a fudge doughnut and sausage roll from local bakery gods Fisher & Donaldson. You’ll never settle for a Greggs again.
Most importantly, DON’T ever forget that the Kate Kennedy Club are a bunch of elitist, misogynistic c***s.
ST ANDREWS UNIVERSITY, September 17-25
Sep 23: French Wives + Woodenbox With A Fistful Of Fivers + Endor
Sep 24: Jose Gonzales + Admiral Fallow
STIRLING - by David Weaver, Detour Scotland
Stirling has played quite a substantial role in my life. Fifteen years prior to my birth, it was the scene of a fairly innocuous sexual crime; a quiet Highland biology student, on her way back from the pub to her student halls, was ambushed by a grubby homeless man, flashing his undoubtedly grubby homeless genitals at her. Thankfully, a passing Glaswegian, having finished his degree but hanging around campus for such an opportunity as this, was on hand to chase away the destitute deviant and provide comfort to the shell-shocked lass.
And that was how my mum met my dad.
It was obvious then that I would choose Stirling as a place to study. But what does it offer prospective alumni, beyond exceptional opportunities to meet future life partners? Being a campus university, it has a very different feel to the big city universities. Surrounding a beautiful wee loch, the place has a communal feel. Whether you are one of the first years living in the Swedish jail-inspired student residences or travelling in by bus from town, when you are sitting in the union with your cheap pizza and pint combo it’s hard not to feel part of a student community. It’s certainly almost guaranteed that you’ll bump into people you know; after your first term, you’ll be familiar with the faces of just about everyone on campus.
After dark, the Union hosts a selection of different nights, from Blue WKD-fuelled cheesy pop to far more cerebral live music events. Getting off campus, town offers an array of pubs; Nicky-Tams will serve you a haunted Guinness in rustic surroundings, while Cape will serve you a soulless pint in soulless surroundings, but you might well catch one of Scotland’s up-and-coming bands on one of their live music nights. The Tolbooth, the council-funded venue in the historic old town, has a lot more soul – and a fantastic line-up of bands and artists playing. There are only two places you will end up after the pub – Dusk or Fubar. Honestly, they are both just different levels of hell, but drink is so cheap you won’t care. You will just dance. When you wake up with a horrendous hangover, walk up to the castle, take in the view and breathe the fresh air. You might even meet your future husband. Or at least see a homeless man’s penis.
STIRLING UNIVERSITY, September 10-17
No live musicians
Kid Canaveral – Missionary (King Creosote cover)
LightGuides – Old Bucket Seats
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Live review: The National, Wye Oak @ Academy, Glasgow
Friday, August 26th, 2011
Myths that do not apply to Baltimore duo Wye Oak:
1. You need a bass player in your band.
2. Girls can’t play guitar.
3. Support bands are background music.
The spectacle of watching Andy Stack juggle keys duties with drum thunder is intoxicating enough even before you realise that the whole time he’s also fiddling with his hoodie. Of course keys-playing drummers are not unique – Giant Drag’s Micah Calabrese performs the same trick – but here it never sounds like any other players could possibly have anything else to add to his mountain of sound. A visual and aural smorgasbord.
And Jenn Wasner could outboy most boy guitarists without once coming close to self-congratulatory showboating. She seems to shimmer standing there, coolly peeling off one liquid lick after another.
Same band, same town, same venue. What could The National do to top their last visit to the Academy in November 2010?
That show, their first in Scotland since their High Violet album made its way into half-a-million homes around the world, had the advantage of being injected with readymade euphoria and anticipation. This time the only new material the Brooklyn band had to promote was Exile Vilify, a song that recently appeared on a video game soundtrack.
There were two main changes, though. A third of the songs (seven out of 21) didn’t appear in last year’s set; and the wow-factor of the lighting was ramped up considerably, with gorgeous hues of purples, crimsons and greens bathing the stage at different points.
Before they start Afraid Of Everyone, guitarist Aaron Dessner pokes fun at singer Matt Berninger, telling the audience, “He really is afraid of everyone, including us.”
I don’t think he’s joking. Berninger can appear the most uncomfortable of frontmen. With no instrument to play, during the vocal-free climaxes of the band’s songs (of which there are quite a few), his restlessness often leaves him with his back turned to the audience, making handwringing gestures or pulling expressions of anguish at the drummer.
Halfway through the gig he exits the stage completely for his now-customary disappearing act, returning just before the glorious Sorrow is in full flow. The next time he walks off, however, it’s down into the thick of the crowd as Squalor Victoria’s extended intro strikes up, eventually retreating back to the stage before he has to sing.
During the pounding Abel, Berninger picks up a note left for his attention on the foot of his microphone stand which reads, “Don’t break me – last one” and sticks it to his waistcoat. Four songs later, he’s pummelling the stand into the ground as if he were trying to burrow a golf flagpole into a non-existent hole.
People-watching aside, The National’s music is simply on another plain to every other band I would call myself a fan of. With albums as unconditionally majestic as Alligator, Boxer and High Violet to draw from, they have the luxury of being able to plunder at will from their back catalogue with no dip in quality. So much so that tonight’s set features eight songs (Start A War, Mistaken For Strangers, Lemonworld, Lit Up, Driver Surprise Me, Abel, Exile Vilify and About Today) that didn’t appear 24 hours earlier in Edinburgh’s Corn Exchange.
My one gripe would be that they ended the performance with the same trick they pulled off here nine months ago – a non-amplified version of Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks with mass audience participation. This time there’s no fairytale blanket of snow outside the venue for the audience to walk out into, just the wonderful reality of a night spent in the company of the greatest band around.
The National – Driver, Surprise Me
Wye Oak – I Hope You Die
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There Will Be Fireworks album #2: The making of their masterpiece
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011
Musicians who get ahead tend to find that talent and a little bit of originality provide them with all the self-promotion they need, opening doors to opportunities they never even knew were available and furnishing them with a fanbase founded on the inestimable pulling power of word of mouth (and, more commonly, word of tweet, post and text message).
This might help explain the enthusiasm and reverence that exists for There Will Be Fireworks, a Scottish indie-rock group whose magnificent grasp of noise and melody sets them apart just as much as the unique time zone they seem to operate in.
TWBF have never had a manager, nor a record label nor any kind of publicity team. They have no common geographical base either, given that the residences of their five permanent members are spread out as far and wide as Glasgow, Edinburgh and London.
Yet for a band whose signs of life can sometimes appear alarmingly scarce, they are in the rare but enviable position of being entirely self-sufficient financially. The only gig Nicky McManus (vocals/guitar), Gibs Farrah (guitar), David Madden (bass), Adam “AK” Ketterer (drums) and Stuart Dobbie (piano) have played all year – a sell-out show at The Captain’s Rest in Glasgow back in January – earned them £1,000 in ticket sales. They had to turn punters away at the door.
Since the release of their much-lauded self-titled debut album in summer 2009, There Will Be Fireworks have been leaving markers that they’re cooking up something rather exquisite.
Their one-off Christmas 2009 release In Excelsis Deo was simultaneously heartmelting and heartstopping, and deserved to stand alone as one of the best songs to be heard that entire year, never mind the festive period. In February 2010, visiting Austrian video-bloggers They Shoot Music Don’t They filmed them playing another two impressive new songs on a Glasgow rooftop.
There Were Fireworks were kind enough to accommodate my request to pop into Old Mill Studios in Strathaven, South Lanarkshire, and watch them putting the finishing touches to their second album, as yet untitled, which they have been working on for the past two years.
The first recording they let me hear is being called The Mandolin Song until they can come up with a proper title. Imagine the epic pull of The National, but more uptempo and with a mandolin obviously. It’s a mammoth song. I’m watching the band for a reaction. Nicky is looking up the Celtic score on his laptop. Gibs walks into the room and logs into Facebook. David is sat with his eyes closed, head slightly bowed, thumping his left hand onto his right arm in time to the beat. Then it comes. The song catches its breath for 25 seconds, a chorus of celestial harmonies strike up, and it explodes into its finale, a cacophony of guitars and crashing cymbals vibrating the studio speakers.
One song in and There Will Be Fireworks have already blown everything they’ve done before out of the water. There’s nothing else for me to do but applaud.
Nicky says The Mandolin Song is not that characteristic of the album as a whole, which is apparently much quieter. Gibs suggests I should hear Roots, which they have earmarked as the record’s opening track.
It’s a three-minute acoustic ballad. The drums echo mesmerisingly and there is a Streets Of Philadelphia quality to it. Nicky’s vocals are quite boyish-sounding. He sings “the growing up happened too fast” – the song seems to be a sentimental look back at young adulthood. It’s truly beautiful in every way. Marshall Craigmyle, who is recording the album, says there’s more to add; Nicky wants more “noise” at the start.
The next track they put on is This Feels Like, a mid-paced song with Gibs on lead vocals, which gives it a delicate charm. It has a campfire feel and I can imagine fans singing along to “the words fall from my lips and gather in clouds around your head”. The band caution that it’s still unfinished – Gibs wants some piano in the chorus, while the sound of Nicky whistling down a phone has yet to be added.
Ash Wednesday starts slowly but builds, the banjo giving it a folkish twang. This one isn’t as immediately engaging as the others, to be honest, and not as memorable.
River is one of two new songs (the other being South Street) that has already cropped up in their live sets. It sounds absolutely huge, almost devastatingly loud, with several shifts up in pace and stray guitar squalls, while Nicky’s singing gets more and more frantic in a vocal performance similar to Off With Their Heads from their first album.
Lay Me Down is the perfect antithesis, with gentle brush strokes and the soothing hum of e-bow. Nicky tells me that since 2009 he hasn’t listened to any post-rock, a sound that greatly influenced their debut record.
There Will Be Fireworks have 14 songs to choose from and expect to put 10 or 11 on the album. Before that comes out, however, they’re thinking of releasing a free download EP with the leftover material. “It will buy us a bit of time,” says Nicky.
For a band that counts a lawyer and a maths teacher among its members, it perhaps comes as little surprise that they’ve got their heads screwed on when it comes to prioritising real-world, day-to-day existence over any desperate chase to be professional rock stars.
With their debut album, everything was recorded live and there were very few takes. A purist ethos, yes, but one that was necessitated by financial constraints. However, when those recordings turned into four-figure sales figures, it generated There Will Be Fireworks enough income to effectively turned the Old Mill Studios into a second home for them during their protracted recording sessions. This time around they have embraced pop sensibilities and technology.
“Well before the first album, our ambition was not to sell records but just to see if we could actually sustain ourselves doing this as a hobby,” says David. “We’re totally self-sufficient as a band. None of us have had to put in any money from our own pockets since the first album, which is perfect.”
“I like doing it ourselves because we don’t have any restrictions and it allows us to not be tied down to anything,” adds Nicky. “We can’t give an awful lot of time to stuff like touring because we’re all working.”
David: “If someone was willing to distribute our second album that would be ideal for us, just help us get it out.”
While the long wait for new TWBF material and live appearances can be exasperating for their loyal fans, the absence of any sort of overseer breathing down their neck has afforded them one luxury that will only serve to enhance their legacy – time.
Time not just to take as long as they need to make their second album, but meticulously craft it into what is shaping up to be one of the finest records ever to come out of Scotland. Trust me, it’s going to be that good.
So when can we get our hands on it? Nicky thinks for a second. “I’d go for December, start of January, slash…”
There Will Be Fireworks – South Street (exclusive stream of not-quite-finished new song)
There Will Be Fireworks – In Excelsis Deo
There Will Be Fireworks are on Facebook and Twitter
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