I’ve seen Admiral Fallow so many times over the past couple of years that I notice nerdy things when they play live: they’ve got a brass section with them at the ABC1 therefore singer Louis Abbott doesn’t parp “ba-ba-ba-ba” during Subbuteo’s trumpets parts… Joe Rattray has completely ditched the double bass in favour of a conventional bass guitar… some of the lyrics in new song Beetle In The Box (“I eat your words and you mark my mistakes / We set the dictionary up to fail”) have parallels with the opening line of These Barren Years (“Pepper your paper with spelling mistakes”).

Playing in a venue this large, it also hits home just how quiet their quieter songs are. Thankfully the sell-out Glasgow crowd are so reverential that Louis can get away with scolding them for playfully booing his mention of Edinburgh (“Oh, fuck off! Cunts!”) and their yells of between-song excitement (“Let’s make noises like dicks”) which, to be fair, he seems to immediately regret.

The new songs they air are varied and instantly appealing, ranging from the rousing male/female harmonies of The Paper Trench to the brazen pop of The Guest Of The Government and second album opener Tree Bursts, which gracefully swoons and swells just like Dead Against Smoking and even includes a solo vocal from clarinet player Kevin Brolly.

The finale sees cannons of ticker tape whip the fans into rapture during both The Way We Were Raised and signature tune Squealing Pigs. ”Will you still know me in a year?” are the last words that come from Admiral Fallow. Given that the band’s next Glasgow date is at the legendary Barrowlands on December 8, you don’t have to be a hardcore fan to figure out the answer to that one.

The beautiful and criminally underused Mitchell Theatre was the setting for Celtic Connections darling Rachel Sermanni.

Despite being embraced into the bosom of Glasgow’s indie scene (half of Admiral Fallow make up her eight-strong backing band), Sermanni has found an enthralled audience in the folk market, with much of the seated crowd made up of middle-aged aficionados and curious foreigners.

It’s hard not to be captivated by her poetic imagery set to genteel acoustic strumming and wistful string arrangements. At times the 20-year-old’s natural talent is as effortless as it is frightening, but The Fog – taken from her new Black Currents EP – allows the Carrbridge girl to push her vocal range, something she probably doesn’t exploit as much as she ought to.

The old-fashioned rockabilly sounds of Adam Holmes & The Embers kick off a mixed bag at Hazy Recollections’ Sunday afternoon bill at ABC2.

Siobhan Wilson is a striking but unconventional performer. Sitting alone on stage, she alternates between playing her acoustic guitar vertically, singing an entire song in French and tinkling a glockenspiel. Her sparse songs could probably benefit from more musical accompaniment but she sure has a fine voice.

Jonnie Common has enough gizmos to hand to make enough noise for four, but unfortunately his electro/guitar mish-mash gets a bit monotonous. The most memorable moment was his quip of “This one’s for the lovers” before playing the least romantic-sounding song imaginable.

The Dirty Beggars draw the biggest audience with their drummerless, energetic bluegrass stomps. To their credit, they actually do a really good job of playing to the crowd.

Washington Irving have been Pop Cop favourites for a while now, and with the band finally ready to record their debut album, 2012 should be a big year for them. A few of their older songs, such as Phantom Buck, seem to have been ditched from the set, but the folk-rock troupe are still a thrilling live prospect, and Abbey Gallop is as good as it gets.

The BBC iPlayer has video highlights of the Gerry Rafferty tribute concert for Celtic Connections featuring Roddy Hart, The Proclaimers, Ron Sexsmith, Emma Pollock et al.

Admiral Fallow – Beetle In The Box

Let’s look at a few new projects that could shape how music in this country and beyond is commercialised for tourism, heard at gigs and purchased.

MUSICAL MYSTERY TOUR THAT PUTS A CITY ON THE MAP

Glasgow’s music pedigree is enviably rich and ceaselessly wonderful, yet the one detail its natives are most reminded about is that Oasis were “discovered” at King Tut’s. Whatever.

Thankfully this piece of neuro-numbing trivia only makes up a teeny-tiny segment of Walking Heads’ Glasgow Music Tour.

The 4½ hour audio walking tour, which is split into 60 chapters, is presented by Jim Gellatly and features interviews with the likes of Vic Galloway, Billy Sloan, Stuart Braithwaite and Emma Pollock to keep you entertained and informed as you navigate the city’s gum-addled streets on a culture-quenching mission.

The venture is the brainchild of Radio Magnetic parent company Inner Ear, who have already produced an Edinburgh Comedy Tour.

The Glasgow Music Tour will be available to download for just £1.99 from January 30 as an audio-only mp3 and as smartphone apps for iPhone and Android. Check out these previews:

Glasgow Music Tour: Teaser Route 1 by Walkingheads

Glasgow Music Tour: Teaser Route 2 by Walkingheads

Glasgow Music Tour: Teaser Route 3 by Walkingheads

Glasgow Music Tour: Teaser Route 4 by Walkingheads

The Walking Heads team will be giving a talk at Glasgow’s Citizen M Hotel at 8.30am on January 26 to mark the Scottish Music Industry Association’s first Monthly Music Meet Up.

ROCK CONCERTS THAT WON’T UPSET THE NEIGHBOURS

Silent discos are a common sight at summer music festivals, providing a party for headphone-wearing clubbers without the need to worry about noise disturbance or curfew restrictions.

Silent concerts which feature the combined sound of live instruments being transmitted into headphones would surely be a much more complicated feat to pull off. However, Falkirk-based Silentgig are fast changing that perception.

Run by Chris McCarron, a former touring sound engineer, Silentgig came into being in April 2011. After a few successful trial events they decided to test the market by persuading The View to play a gig to 200 fans at the Overgate shopping centre car park in Dundee in July 2011.

They have had major support and endorsements from Sennheiser, Allen & Heath, Marshall and Gibson, which culminated in Silentgig securing a contract with AEG Live for the December Sessions – the world’s largest free music festival – at The 02 in London in December 2011. Silentgig catered for 100 bands over 20 nights.

Director McCarron uses a team of about 10 freelancers – audio and lighting engineers, production managers, stage managers, back-line technicians, IT and graphics technicians, and financial and administration consultants.

Their next job will see them take care of a run of silent opera performances of La Boheme in London’s Old Vic Tunnels in February as part of a documentary being filmed for Sky Arts.

Silentgig have had approaches from Live Nation and other promoters, and there is interest from the corporate sector regarding specialised events around the London Olympics. They are also in the final stages of securing research partners for further developments in the fields of rehabilitation and medical research.

Look out for an April launch in Glasgow, as well as showcase events at the Apple Store and Glasgow Science Centre.

SELLING DIGITAL IN A PHYSICAL WORLD

There’s no better place for a band to persuade a fan to part with hard cash than at a gig. Emotions are running high, folded notes are only a pocket or handbag away.

The problem is that physical formats such as CDs aren’t cheap to produce and most fans who do buy them will probably end up ripping the tracks into mp3s for digital consumption.

So how can an artist combine the opportunity to sell their music in a physical world with a fan’s preference for non-physical music? Simple: sell them a more desirable piece of merch that does both jobs.

Glasgow-based T-shirt company Jetpace Industries have created Inklink, which puts a unique and secure digital download code onto every piece of memorabilia such as T-shirts, hoodies, belts, bags and hats.

The initiative means bands now have an alternative format for releasing their music: a band T-shirt, with a screen-printed Inklink to their latest track(s), album or video.

Jetpace director Tim Pearson said: “The Inklink idea arose as we pondered two factors. First, how hard it is for bands to sell their music on CD. And second, how increasingly reliant bands are on T-shirt and other merchandise sales. Integrating download codes into T-shirt designs seemed an inspired, cool and natural solution.”

RM Hubbert’s Inklink merch will go on sale for the first time at the launch show for his new album Thirteen Lost & Found at Glasgow’s Stereo on January 27.

I Build Collapsible Mountains’ Inklink T-shirts are due to go on sale soon and will link to two exclusive tracks, Song From That Never Scene and Double Dare.

There were 72 entries and these are the ones judge Harry Benson picked out as his favourites, with the winner bagging a pair of tickets to three different music festivals – Belladrum, Loopallu and Insider – plus two Golden Tickets to all the King Tut’s Summer Nights gigs, not to mention their photograph displayed on this website’s sidebar for 12 months.

(Click on the individual photos to enlarge them)

WINNER

Photographer: Bob Mather (Broxburn) (website)
Subject: Joe Elliott, Def Leppard
Location: SECC, Glasgow; December 9, 2011

Bob Mather: “I was shooting freelance for Universal News & Sport and was a last-minute stand-in for this gig (I only usually shoot in Edinburgh). I was looking forward to it as I’m a secret Def Leppard fan and bit of a rocker myself. There was a runway coming out into the middle of the crowd and I already had the bread and butter press shots so decided to try and get a bit of atmosphere into the shot. I ran round the side of the runway as Joe Elliott walked down it and put his arms straight out, so I shot backwards towards the crowd. This was taken with my back-up Nikon D7000 and Sigma 18-50mm manually exposed f2.8 at iso500 f3.2 1/320. I’ve never seen this amount of light at a gig before and found it difficult for that reason.”
Harry Benson: “There is energy and yet there is a calmness about the photograph as well. Of course, there’s the ruler/subject or preacher/flock that can be read into the photograph. I like the fact that the audience is in the photograph as I like to see as much of the environment of a photo as possible. It gives a sense of place and time.”

2ND PLACE

Photographer: Euan Robertson (Glasgow) (website)
Subject: Flavor Flav, Public Enemy
Location: ABC1, Glasgow; September 6, 2011

Euan Robertson: “I had been asked to go along to the Public Enemy gig for a magazine I sometimes shoot for. At that point I wasn’t typically a big hip-hop fan, but knowing what a massive band they are, and that they would inevitably have a great show to photograph, going along was a bit of a no-brainer. Straight from the off it was difficult to know where to point the lens with so much happening on stage, those guys definitely know how to work the crowd. They were great to all of the many, many photographers in the pit as well with Flavor Flav getting right down to the front of the stage and playing to the cameras. He got right into my camera for a couple of seconds – I managed to fire a couple of shots, missed focus on the first, and nailed the second. I’m pretty delighted with how it came out. It’s one of my personal favourites from 2011, and probably the shot that has had the most attention over the year as well.”
Harry Benson: “Despite what I said earlier about showing the environment in a photograph, I chose this one because even though it is a close-up, so much information about the subject is included in the photograph. It is a striking portrait.”

JOINT 3RD PLACE

Photographer: Jessica Newell (Oldham) (website)
Subject: Murray, Macleod, The Xcerts
Location: Cafe Drummond, Aberdeen; April 6, 2011

Jessica Newell: “I love to see bands play hometown gigs and I’m a huge Xcerts fan so I decided to travel the 300 or so miles up to Aberdeen to see them at Cafe Drummond. As it’s a smaller venue I chanced taking my camera along for fun. The venue was heaving and in between getting crushed and falling onto the stage I got some photos I was proud of. I chose to enter this shot as I really like it (I rarely really like my own photos) and it brings back memories of a fantastic gig.”
Harry Benson: “The photographer did not hold back, but got in a good position to take a dramatic photograph without letting the crowd interfere with her work.”

JOINT 3RD PLACE

Photographer: George Mackie (Aberdeenshire) (website)
Subject: Tinie Tempah
Location: AECC, Aberdeen; November 13, 2011

George Mackie: “I’ve been photographing live music for over a year and a half now so it’s good to make progress to get to shoot the ‘big gigs’ but I still enjoy the smaller venue stuff just as much. The bigger shows do (usually) have better lighting and so on which makes the photographer’s mission that little easier, however I’d like to think I’d have entered this pic even if it was a local, unknown band. I enjoy trying to capture jump shots but managing to do so whilst the singer is still singing is a little unusual. I think so anyway. The lighting going on behind Tinie also did me a favour.”
Harry Benson: “Good clear shot of the singer suspended in air like he was floating down from the sky. You stop to look at this photograph.”

Honourable mentions

Jade Esson - Twin Atlantic (The Forum, Aberdeen; December 11, 2011)

Thomas Slack - Ghostface Killah (The Liquid Room, Edinburgh; November 9, 2011)

Al Donnelly - Texas (Belladrum Festival, Inverness; August 5, 2011)

Emily Wylde – The Seventeenth Century (Bloc, Glasgow; November 25, 2011)

George Mackie - Les Savy Fav (The Tunnels, Aberdeen; March 1, 2011)

Chelsea Cochrane - Twin Atlantic (HMV, Glasgow; May 6, 2011)

Thanks to the following competition sponsors, who supplied the prizes for the winner:

Check out the previous winning photographs from John Lewis (2008), Su Anderson (2009) and Steve Perks (2010).

About our judge: Glasgow-born Harry Benson has photographed every US president from Eisenhower to Obama, as well as musicians such as The Beatles, Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, James Brown and Amy Winehouse. He was awarded the CBE in 2009 for his services to photography. Now living in New York, Harry has had 40 gallery and museum solo exhibitions, while 16 books of his photographs have been published. His photographs are in the permanent collection of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.

The Music Alliance Pact (MAP) shares free music on the internet once a month through a network of blogs in more than 35 different nations. What we do is 100% legal. All the blogs obtain written permission from the copyright holder before they submit a track for inclusion in MAP and the mp3s are hosted by individual bloggers, which gives us full control over the links we upload. For each month’s edition, I collate these tracks into one zip file which is uploaded to MediaFire, giving readers the choice of downloading MAP songs individually or collectively.

This is a wholly transparent and legitimate process, yet three Music Alliance Pact compilations fell foul of a United States copyright law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) last year.

The compilation for the March 2011 edition was removed by MediaFire under instruction from Seattle-based independent record label Tooth & Nail Records, who filed a DMCA takedown notice and complained that the copyright of Underoath, one of the acts (a “Christian metalcore band” according to Wikipedia) on their roster, had been infringed.

I checked the United States entry for that month’s MAP and was left puzzled when I saw that they had not chosen a song by them or any other Christian metalcore band. In fact, the only mention of Underoath was in the text that accompanied the Singapore submission, in which they were cited as an influence of Caracal, the Singaporean band chosen for March 2011.

Easy mistake to make…. IF YOU HAVE NOT BOTHERED TO LOOK AT WHAT IT IS YOU ARE ACCUSING OF BREAKING THE LAW.

Tooth & Nail Records ignored my email reply.

A few months later, two more MAP compilations were removed after MediaFire received DMCA takedown notices from a sinister-sounding company called DtecNet (“a market leader in supplying our customers with specialized software solutions to track and prevent piracy on their digital content and online business”), operating on behalf of CBS Corporation.

“We have a good faith belief that this material is not authorized by the Rights Owner, its agents or the law,” they warned MediaFire. So MediaFire removed the links. Hmmm, that’s strange, I could have sworn the Music Alliance Pact had permission from all the rights owners.

Here’s how it happened: the June 2011 compilation was removed because DtecNet thought the Danish band Why Don’t We Love Lucy was actually the CBS-distributed TV show I Love Lucy; the August 2011 compilation was also deleted because DtecNet figured that South African band MacGyver Knife must in fact be the CBS television series MacGyver.

Easy mistake to make…. IF YOU HAVE NOT BOTHERED TO LOOK AT WHAT IT IS YOU ARE ACCUSING OF BREAKING THE LAW.

DtecNet also ignored my email reply.

Spot the difference #1

Spot the difference #2

If you think the furore about SOPA and PIPA is just a lot of fuss being made by piracy sympathisers then you couldn’t be more wrong.

SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) are effectively souped-up versions of the DMCA copyright law, which was originally passed by Bill Clinton’s administration in 1998. DMCA has been abused to the extent that it’s now standard practice for companies to use robot algorithms to identify what it reckons are copyright-infringing links then send out thousands (there were 1,757 MediaFire links in the CBS complaint) of takedown threats at a time, safe in the knowledge that MediaFire, Blogger et al will instantly delete them, no questions asked.

In case you need reminding, it was a DMCA takedown notice filed by Columbia Records that caused The Pop Cop website to be taken offline and deleted in 2010 by Google’s Blogger service, its previous host. That DMCA complaint concerned an mp3 link that hadn’t been active for more than two years. Google, who have been vocal in their anti-SOPA stance, didn’t give a damn.

If you think the power of DMCA has been exploited, just remember that SOPA and PIPA – the two United States congressional bills intended to thwart the online piracy of copyrighted music, films and TV shows – will be a hundred times worse. This video explains why:

Why Don’t We Love Lucy – With You

MacGyver Knife – Stumble

The former Arab Strap man has been tweeting for just over a year now, mostly late at night, mostly while claiming to be intoxicated (but with suspiciously impeccable grammar and spelling). Those who have been following him on Twitter will know that few pop stars escape his QWERTY quashings other than perhaps The Saturdays, Nicola Roberts and the love of his life, Cher Lloyd – but even she had to put in a shift to win him over. Here are some of @AidanJohnMoffat’s greatest hits…

The Greatest Story Ever Told by Aidan Moffat & Bill Wells

February 25: Aidan Moffat & Bill Wells, The Arches, Glasgow (tickets)

Aidan Moffat is also collaborating with FOUND at Edinburgh’s Inspace on a project called #unravel, described as “a reactive sound installation in which visitors can unravel the truth about a narrator’s life by playing records from his collection”.  There are free public events relating to the work every week until February 19. #unravel will then go on display at SWG3 for the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art from April 20 to May 7.

Welcome to the 40th edition of the Music Alliance Pact, which takes a monthly snapshot of the world’s best new acts according to music blogs from their countries of origin.

For the first MAP of 2012, I’ve gone for Make Sparks, who have been getting stronger and stronger with every release and have a penchant for making attention-grabbing promo videos (see The Pop Cop feature here). Keep an eye out for their new Part Of The Masquerade EP which comes out on February 28.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a .zip file of the whole 36-track compilation here.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Make Sparks – Your Heart’s On Fire
Scotland’s rock scene is firmly in the spotlight thanks to the wildly successful exploits of Biffy Clyro and young pretenders Twin Atlantic. For those looking for the next band to follow in their footsteps, two contenders stand out: Make Sparks and LightGuides (featured in the July 2010 edition of MAP). Catchy choruses are fitted as standard on Make Sparks, who are making all the right noises with their relentless touring and recording ethic, slick promo videos and a vivacious pop sensibility.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Nubes En Mi Casa – Aceleremos
Nubes En Mi Casa is an indie-pop band led by singer Josefina Mac Loughlin. Aceleremos is a preview from their upcoming second studio album, Me Suelto y Vuelvo. The song sounds like an instant hit and we’re sure it will become one of our favorite tracks of 2012, so we can’t wait to hear the rest of it.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Sures – The Sun
The Sun is a short burst of sunshine from Sydney duo Sures. It sounds like a Beach Boys outtake, which might sound boring given the number of bands out there paying homage to Wilson and Co. Fortunately, The Sun is just two minutes of harmonising over a dull melody – it’s a catchy tune that will have those of us in the southern hemisphere pressing repeat throughout summer.

AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Diver – Illusions
Quiet is the new loud. Diver, a folky trio from various places in Austria and Germany and now based in Vienna, play beautifully melancholic songs with three acoustic guitars and lyrics that go “everyday reality is an illusion of possibilities”. Illusions is the opener of their first full-length album Kites, which will be out later this month. In the meantime you can listen to their self-titled debut EP on Bandcamp.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Bixiga 70 – Balboa Da Silva
Bixiga 70 is what happens when you combine African beats, jazz and Brazilian swing in a city as hectic as São Paulo, where they’re from. Their first CD was released last year and is available to download at the band’s website.

CANADA: I(Heart)Music
Honheehonhee – We Only Go
There’s more than a hint of early Arcade Fire to We Only Go but, as someone who misses early Arcade Fire, I don’t see why that’s a strike against Honheehonhee. Besides, this song (not to mention the rest of their debut, Shouts) is exuberant, unhinged fun, and the world can always use more music like that.

CHILE: Super 45
Los Embajadores – Peso
From all the tips made in the Chilean music scene for this year, Los Embajadores is one of the most interesting. Romantic goth-pop songs reminiscent of Cocteau Twins as well as the darkest hours of Miguel Bosé. Faisanes is the name of their soon-to-come new album, and Peso (“Weight”) is its first single.

CHINA: Wooozy
Elenore – Psycho Man
Beijing-based Elenore formed in late 2009 and have developed a sound influenced by bands such as Oasis, Kasabian and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The single Psycho Man fuses 60s swing drum loops, fuzzy guitar riffs and a Middle Eastern instrumental chorus which became a hit on China’s popular site Douban. In February, Elenore will release their first EP both on CD and the band’s own digital distribution site.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Nelson Can – Apple Pie
Danish girl-trio Nelson Can release their eponymous debut EP this month as part of a triple EP release with The Freudian Slip and Echo Me. Punk aesthetics spoon with pop flair and hipster cool on their first single Apple Pie, which reaffirms that apples are indeed a good thing. Like the girls on Facebook and check out the video for Apple Pie on YouTube.

ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
Money – Who’s Going To Love You Now
A four-piece based in Manchester, Money are part of that city’s tradition of earnest young men, “the weight on their shoulder”, as Ian Curtis once sang. They quote Austrian poet Rilke, while their Facebook features a “eulogy for the death of everything”. A recent Guardian New Band of the Day article contended that they “have a similar air of mystery and cerebral intensity to Wu Lyf, with a vocalist who can do enigmatically gruff as well as fervid and angelic”, positing them as the Mancunian Manic Street Preachers, with a shared sense of the sacred and intense.

ESTONIA: Popop
Zebra Island – Falling Through
Mysterious Zebra Island rocketed into blogs and social networks at the very end of 2011 and everyone in Estonia seems to love them, although no-one knows much about the band. Zebra Island is led by Rasmus Lill from Kosmofon (featured in the March 2011 edition of MAP) and beautiful vocals are provided by Helina Risti. Falling Through, their first and only song so far, is a lovely, pulsating electro-pop masterpiece that keeps you wanting for much more Zebra Island.

FINLAND: Glue
Greymouth – The Boy
Singer and songwriter Elisa Husu founded Greymouth in the summer of 2011 to recreate her folky songs with a full band. The Boy is the first taster of this project and highlights Elisa’s beautiful voice on top of epic acoustic sounds with a marked Fleet Foxes influence.

FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
Concrete Knives – Brand New Start
A perfect title for the first song of the year, Brand New Start is a highly enjoyable pop song, so good it’s featured in a commercial, and so fresh with its choir and upbeat sound, I would name it song of the year. Very good proof that the French indie scene is better than ever.

GERMANY: Blogpartei
Apparat – Ash/Black Veil
This month we’ve got one of the most discussed German artists of last year. Apparat’s 2011 album The Devil’s Walk took the concept of Sascha Ring, the man behind the moniker, further. The soundscapes created feels like a cairn, carefully layered and poised, yet built to last; but Ring has decided to use his falsetto, which has caused controversy with reviewers. Decide for yourself if this concept works well on Ash/Black Veil. I think it does!

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Hristos Lainas – H Thlipsi To Brady
Hristos Lainas’ first solo album, I Agapi Tha Lampsi (“Love Will Shine”) is stuffed to the brim with alluring pop melodies, drenched in skittering 12-bit samplers, filtered vocals, warm and luscious analog synths and infused with a pleasant aura of drowsiness. Lainas assembles an array of sounds and textures, adds sporadic splashes of static atmosphere and in the process creates a magnificent listening environment of rose-tinted optimism and disenchantment. H Thlipsi To Brady (“Sadness In The Night”) submerges a sense of intense feeling within its 80s fantasy electronic ether and instantly takes hold of your ears.

ICELAND: Rjóminn
Toggi – Let Them Bleed
This catchy little song, taken from the Iceland king of pop’s second album Wonderful Secrets, should be the anthem for any self-respecting Occupy movement. Feeling a need to protest? Then let Toggi’s tune occupy your mind and fire you up.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Belkastrelka – Pujian Ekspatriat
Belkastrelka are an eccentric electronic duo who sample sounds from various sources – windows, the library, television, nature and everything else. Combined with the tiny but wild vocals of Asa Rahmana, they create feral dance music.

IRELAND: Nialler9
Collie Collins & Monto – How Does?!?
A collaboration indicative of Ireland’s growing insurgency against genre borders, Keep Her Lit is an EP which was released last year from Dublin rapper Collie Collins. Teaming up with producer Monto for four tracks of electronic-infused rap, the result is something wholly Irish yet globally progressive. It’s a free download too.

ITALY: Polaroid
Esperanza – Aliante Giallo
Three skilled musicians and DJs put together a project devoted to an idea of music with no barriers. The sound ranges from chillwave to house, from trip-hop to psychedelia, and becomes a wide landscape. Featuring a collaboration with Banjo Or Freakout and released on the prestigious German label Gomma, this album works magic when the bpms slow down and the electronics becomes warmer and warmer.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
Praha Depart – Portrait Man
Praha Depart demand attention, the Tokyo band mixing constantly morphing guitar with drum smashes to create mesmerizing tracks that reveal new sonic details with each new listen. All of those elements appear on Portrait Man, but the highlight of the song is lead singer Mai and her jittery voice. Over the course of Portrait Man, her vocals bring to mind Lydia Lunch before zigging towards a style reminiscent of Sue Tompkins of Life Without Buildings.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta
Dolls For Idols – Run
Dolls For Idols are an electronic band underpinned by indie and pop sensibilities. Their music embraces 80s-inspired synthesised sounds and the 90s rave generation, all served up with an attitude that is very much rooted in the here and now.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Los Mundos – Ni Un Segundo Más Sin Música
Los Mundos is a long-distance collaboration that perfectly speaks about musical memory and desertic solitude. The title of this lush pop-shoegaze song means “Not a second more without music”. Indeed, it’s the urgent need of a music lover: to spend all their time in a record store (how nostalgic), living their days wearing headphones with an obsession for everything that spins – very accurate for a band whose name in Spanish translates as “The Worlds”.

NETHERLANDS: Unfold Amsterdam
Hospital Bombers – Traditional Maori Fight Song #9
This self-proclaimed stadium-folk outfit have been in hiding for too long, sitting on a wealth of new material that they’ve struggled to shape into that ‘difficult second album’. Thankfully, this month they’ll finally release the sequel to 2008′s Footnotes – the grandly titled At Budokan. Their lovingly lo-fi folk-pop is always rougher and rawer in the live setting, but this new collection again shows them up to be masters of careful songcraft, albeit unashamedly quirky songcraft that’s emblazoned with handclaps and violins.

NORWAY: Birds Sometimes Dance
Billie Van – On My Knees
Billie Van’s music makes me reminisce back to the 50s and the 60s, when country music was good and Nancy Sinatra was the one; when rock ‘n’ roll meant four chords and terrific songs; when guitar solos were mandatory and slapback echo came from the amps. Her music is all of this – great pop songs, tearful country ballads and hip-shaking rock ‘n’ roll, but it’s also new and done in a refreshing way.

PERU: SoTB
Chico Unicornio – Triángulo
Once again, it is the independent scene that gives us another interesting musical proposal. Chico Unicornio is a one-man project that combines acoustic folk sounds with a nice Andean instrument called a charango. The music that this young man makes is new to our local sound, giving it a freshness and novelty.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
We Trust – Time (Better Not Stop)
We Trust is André Tentugal’s one-man band. In 2011, Time (Better Not Stop) was one of the most-played tracks by a new independent artist on Portuguese radio. We are proud to have it here, exclusively, for download for MAP readers. You can also find it on We Trust’s debut album, These New Countries, which was released in November.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Coughy – Precambrian
Coughy are an experimental duo residing in Bucharest, featuring former and current band members of The Amsterdams. Therefore it is regarded as a creative playground where everything is accepted as a form of expression without the self-censorship required when playing in a regular and quite popular indie-rock band.

RUSSIA: Big Echo
M A Y Г L E Y – Farfour
M A Y Г L E Y are getting ready to strike Russia’s cruel winter with an ancient God’s spell, drowned in a wall of sound. Religion, symbolism, adrenaline, isolated genres and the naked language of post-Stalin 60s influence this psychedelic shoegaze project, who have made a great record.

SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
Riot !n Magenta – CTRL
Do androids dream of electric sheep? One thinks of such things when the contrast between the organic and inorganic meld together into a primordial blur of passion. Riot !n Magenta gently slip into the stream of your thoughts with Hayashida Ken’s dark, pulsing rhythms and Eugenia Yip’s wispful and forlorn vocal delivery. There’s tension in every stem as the words haze through: “I try to take it slow, you go faster…You need control…”. Definitely hoping to hear more from this special duo.

SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!
Jeremy Loops – The Gypsy Opera
Jeremy Loops is not a traditional band. He creates music on the spot with his gamut of loop pedals and impromptu collaborations. With The Gypsy Opera, he brings together his delicate mix of folk, hip-hop, bluegrass funk and blues all by using his guitar, ukelele, harmonica and beatboxing skills. It is something rather magical to behold.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
Galaxy Express – As Time Passes, Always Been Good
Galaxy Express is one of the best rock bands in Korea and have been for quite some time. During their Wild 30 project in 2010, a 30-day quest during which they recorded a piece of music for their Wild Days album every day, they showed that they put on the best of performances, even just going to karaoke. In late 2011, Galaxy Express released split EP Naughty Boy with Korean punk pioneers Crying Nut, which contained a re-recording of the somewhat atypical but gorgeous and engaging As Time Passes, Always Been Good from those wild days. Look out for more from Galaxy Express in 2012 as they’re heading for a US tour in March and playing SXSW for the second time.

SPAIN: Musikorner
Dolores – Volcán
Dolores are four, they’re from Madrid and they are certainly one of the best hopes for noise-rock made in Spain. Post-punk and shoegaze are two of the genres Dolores mix for achieving their sound (which is also spiced up with a touch of good ol’ pop and loads of energy). A good bit of that power can be heard on Volcán (“Volcano”), whose stunning rhythm will invite you to dance the hell out of yourself. And you won’t be able to refuse.

SWITZERLAND: 78s
Blanket – Hailey Fought The Law
Want to watch a video starring the runner-up of the figure roller-skating world championships dressed as a rabbit? Here you go. Given that Blanket’s accompanying song is a fragile and psychedelic piece of awesomeness, we obviously have a win-win situation.

TURKEY: WEARTBEAT
Haossaa – Holgar Godoni
Last year, Ozan Aktuna, Enis Özbek and Tolga Güldallı, three-pieced avant garde noise band Haossaa, became legends in the indie scene of Istanbul, mostly for their extraordinary live performances. And when their debut LP came out last September, their reputation finally got crowned.

UNITED STATES: I Guess I’m Floating
Fantasy Island – Avenue
One of 2012′s more promising American groups is Fantasy Island, a Los Angeles duo responsible for a pair of intriguing, soulful jams since their formation in late 2011. They’ve got a new single out on UK label Stroll On Records and a debut album on the horizon. With a song like Avenue (and the equally fantastic Breaking A Heart) it’s hard to keep wild expectations in check… guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the rest of the year cooks up.

VENEZUELA: Música y Más
Okills – Nube
Okills is a band that started in mid-2010 and fuses alternative indie-rock with other genres, resulting in some fun music. In September 2011, they released their Iniciando Transmisión EP for free via the web in a pack that includes six songs, illustrations and photos of the band.

While The Pop Cop’s undercover investigation into our music scene’s top 10 lovers remains ongoing, you will have to content yourself with the Scottish Musicians’ Cookbook.

Scottish musicians and cooking have more in common than you might realise: Joe Quimby of Take A Worm For A Walk Week and Remember Remember fame is best known for his passionate and occasionally unhinged blog Glasgow Mega Burrito which is devoted to the creation and devouring of the burrito in all its forms; And before RM Hubbert signed to Chemikal Underground, he had a “Will Play For Food” policy whereby fans could book him to perform a set in their homes in exchange for dinner.

Following on from this now-established great tradition, 14 musicians have concocted a homemade dish of their choosing for readers of The Pop Cop, complete with a list of ingredients, cooking instructions and photographic evidence (video footage in the case of Wake The President) so that you can replicate them in the kitchen for yourself… while listening to their tunes of course!

MICRO-PROTEIN SUPER-BIOTIC FAKE CHICKEN PIE

by Cat Calton, Aerials Up

Ingredients (serves 7)
1 bag of carrots
3 onions
2 trays of closed cup mushrooms (by trays I mean the ones sold in Iceland)
2 bags of micro-protein pieces aka Quorn
½ pack of puff pastry (depending on size of pack – basically you need 250g)
A lot of red Bisto (the original but somehow still veggie type)
2 bags of baby potatoes (from Iceland, notice a theme?)
1 sachet of rosemary roast potato mix from B&M
White sauce
A blob of butter or butter substitute
Dessert spoon of plain flour
Some milk (we used cow & bean)
Seasoning

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 200ºC. Dice your carrots and onions. Sauté the onions for a couple of minutes in a big wok, add your carrots for 4mins. In another big frying pan, fry off your sliced mushrooms, Quorn pieces and add a wee dash of water. Now add both mixtures together and add 4 teaspoons of Bisto.
2. In a small pot melt butter, mix in flour to make a paste and quickly add a dash of milk. Oh aye, the burner should be on under the pot on a low heat! As the mixture thickens add another dash of milk, keep stirring well, repeat until you’ve added approx 400ml of milk. Once it’s thick and creamy, season well (we went for black pepper, salt, parsley and garlic) and add to pot of onion mixture. Turn off heat under wok. Roll out pastry on floured surface. Pour mixture into casserole dishes. Lay pastry on top and seal round the edges and trim off extra. Cut a couple of slits into the pastry lid. Leave at the side (away from hungry dogs).
3. Boil potatoes for 5mins and drain. Pour enough oil into another casserole dish and stick in the oven for 5mins. Shake B&M potato powder stuff over potatoes. Bring oil dishes out oven and pour potatoes into them and pop back into the oven. Bake potatoes for 40mins. After 20mins pop your pies in (ooh-errr missus!).
4. Once everything’s nicely browned, serve with lashings of Bisto gravy. Mmmmmmm done!

Aerials Up – I Am

January 28, SECC, Glasgow (supporting Snow Patrol) (tickets)
February 9, Tunnels, Aberdeen (tickets)
February 11, King Tut’s, Glasgow (tickets)
February 12, Doghouse Dundee (tickets)
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SPICY OMELETTE (no cats were harmed during the making of this dish)

by Adam Stafford

This is a really simple dish to make (once you’ve mastered the “Final-flick”) – my mother-in-law swears by it!

Ingredients
2 free-range eggs
Carton of semi-skimmed milk
Slither of butter
1 red pepper
Cherry tomatoes
Slice of spicy Mexican cheese
Dried chilli flakes
Hot sauce (optional)

Instructions
1. Make sure you have a decent non-stick frying pan, fapp it on medium-to-high heat and add a knife-slither of butter, melt into the bottom of the pan, rotate until the oil is distributed evenly.
2. Crack your two eggs into a bowl and add only a tiny drop of milk (two tablespoons if you want to measure it out) – if you add any more, the omelette will be watery. Whisk the mixture thoroughly until there are tiny air bubbles and add to the frying butter. Swivel the pan so the omelette mix is evenly distributed and frying well.
3. Chop half of the red pepper and dice it into tiny cubes. After 5mins the omelette mix should be solidifying so add your peppers, chop some cherry tomatoes in half and add them. Sprinkle chilli flakes over the omelette then take a lump of your spicy Mexican cheese (Tesco and Morrisons sell it) and grate it over the omelette. (Spiceheads: add hot sauce at this point for extra spicy potency.)
4. Now for the “Final-flick” – take a fish-slice and gently separate the bottom of the omelette from the pan (you should be doing this throughout) and flick one slide of the omelette over onto the other, like a pancake or a crepe, so the middle of the omelette is sandwiched. The bottom should be golden brown by this point. Reduce heat to low, cook for a further 3-4mins, serve, garnish with some rocket. Bon Appétit!

Adam Stafford – A Temple Of The Holy Ghost

February 25, 13th Note Cafe, Glasgow
March 1, The Tunnels, Aberdeen
March 2, Manna Cafe, Newport-on-Tay
March 4, The Third Door, Edinburgh
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HOMEMADE CHICKEN BROTH

by Michael Cassidy

Ingredients
Chicken stock
Pearl barley
Yellow split peas
Green split peas
Marrow peas
Red lentils
Adzuki beans
1 onion
1 parsnip
2 carrots
Celery
Potato
1 chicken stock cube or 1 vegetable stock cube
Salt, pepper
Dried mix herb of choice

Instructions
1. Take the bones and leftovers of a roast chicken and soak them overnight in a pot of water. This will form the stock of the soup and give it all of the flavour. This also usually determines how much soup you are going to have at the end. At the same time you want to start preparing your soup mix. This will form the fibre of the soup and help keep you warm on a cold January day. If you can get pearl barley, yellow split peas, green split peas, marrow peas, red lentils and even adzuki beans then you are doing great. Morrisons have a country soup mix that has all of these ingredients and is in fact the very same pack I am using for my soup. Take a generous helping of each of these, throw them in a large bowl and steep them overnight in cold water.
2. The next day your chicken stock and lentils should be ready for soup-making. Take the bones and all the excess skin out of the chicken stock and start boiling the leftover tasty water. As I do this, I often like to visit facebook.com/michaelcassidymusic and listen to some relaxing acoustic music but this isn’t a vital part of the recipe.
3. Start adding some vegetables to this mix. I like to add in diced onions, parsnips, carrots (loads), celery and potato. Steer clear of tough vegetables like corn because they will ruin your soup and you will end up crying.
4. Add in your lentils, beans etc that have been steeping overnight. At this point you can also add in a chicken or vegetable stock cube. This will add more flavour to your soup and help thicken it. Watch out, though, because certain stock cubes can be heavily salty. You can also add salt and pepper at this point for extra seasoning but, again, watch out that there isn’t too much salt already in your soup.
5. I find it nice to add a dried mix herb at this point for a more pronounced flavour but this is where you can experiment and really make it your own. So let your hair down and try adding something wild to your soup, although all the rockers really should be wearing a hair net.
6. You have everything in place to actually finish the soup. What I like to do now is bring the soup to the boil (should take 5-10mins depending on how much you have made) then reduce it to a simmer and leave it for about 90mins. This lets all the vegetables cook properly and lets the flavours fully infuse.

Michael Cassidy – Everybody’s Scared

January 18, King Tut’s, Glasgow (tickets)
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BEEF & CHORIZO CHILLI

by Lauren Mayberry, Blue Sky Archives

Ingredients
500g beef mince
100g diced chorizo
2 red onions
3 red chillis
500ml beef stock
400g kidney beans (rinsed)
400g chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato purée
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
5 squares of dark chocolate
1 bottle of dark beer or stout
Handful of chopped coriander
1 tablespoon oil
Salt and pepper

Instructions
1. Roughly chop the onions and red chillis. Add a little olive oil to a large pan and heat on the hob. Once the oil is hot, add half the mince. Brown the mince at a high temperature, breaking up any lumps as you go. Once it has browned, put aside in a bowl then add the rest of the meat to the pan and repeat the process.
2. Drain the excess liquid from the browned beef. (Don’t pour it down the sink because such behaviour on a continual basis might block up your pipes and you may have to pay £72 for an emergency plumber to come out over the Christmas period when the pipe gives up and there’s water fleeing all over your kitchen floor. Not that that happens to people. Just saying.)
3. Use the same pan you browned the meat in to fry up the other stuff. Add the onions and cook on a gentle heat for 2-3mins until they soften. Add the chorizo, chillis, paprika and cumin and cook for 2mins.
4. Re-add all of the browned beef to the pan then stir in the beef stock, kidney beans, chopped tomatoes and tomato purée. Gently simmer for at least 45 minutes. (The longer you cook it, the more tasty it gets. I would say a maximum of 2-3 hours. Not days or anything. That’s mental.)
5. Whilst it’s simmering, add in the dark chocolate. Season with salt and pepper to taste and slap it on a plate, putting the coriander on top for a fancy edge.
6. Serve with rice, tortillas or nachos with sour cream and guacamole. I didn’t make the guac. I bought it from Tesco. Whatever.

Blue Sky Archives – Cosplay The Hard Way

January 18, Bloc, Glasgow (free)
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PAN-FRIED SCOTTISH WHITING WITH CRUSHED POTATOES, SYBOES, SHREDS OF HAM HOUGH AND A BUTTER SAUCE

by David Richards, Fiction Faction

Ham hough and whiting aren’t used enough, almost forgotten these days. They are healthy, Scottish and cheap – this dish cost me just £5 and feeds two handsomely. Also, ask your butcher to saw the hough in half. The supermarket fella will do this too. You don’t want to get home and realise you don’t have a pot large enough.

Ingredients
1 ham hough
2 skinless whiting fillets
10 baby potatoes
Bunch of syboes
50g butter
Half the juice of one lemon

Instructions
1. Boil the ham hough slowly for a minimum of three hours. Then allow it to cool and pick the meat off the bone.
2. Boil your baby potatoes until a knife slides through easily, drain and give them a very gentle mash, you don’t want them too broken up. Add the syboes (thinly sliced) along with the picked ham. The residual heat from the potatoes will cook the syboes in minutes. Season the mixture, however ham hough is salty so easy with the salt.
3. Bring a pan to a medium heat. Whiting is quite a delicate fish so just a medium heat for a minute or so a side. Place the fish on top of the potato mixture. To finish, add the butter to the pan the fish was cooked in and allow to brown slightly, then add the lemon, salt and pepper and pour over the completed dish.

Fiction Faction – Malenky Lizards

January 27, The Flying Duck, Glasgow (Pin Up Nights) (tickets)
February 11, The Captain’s Rest, Glasgow (tickets)
April 13, King Tut’s, Glasgow (tickets)
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PESTO ALLA GENOVESE (pasta with fresh homemade pesto, green beans and potato)

By Tom Stearn, Kettle of Kites

This is a traditional recipe from Genoa in the region of Liguria in northern Italy. It is the recipe of my girlfriend’s family, who is from Genoa, and when her mum made it for me the first time I stayed with them in Italy it was a revelation! So much better than the jarred or even fresh stuff you can buy here. The word ‘pesto’ in Italian means just a mix of ingredients that are bashed together to make a paste, but the pesto using basil originated from Genoa. In each region of Italy they will make it a slightly different way – omitting some ingredients or changing the quantities – so this is not the only way you can have it. Although traditionally the mix is bashed in a pestle and mortar, you can (and my girlfriend’s mum does) use a food processor to make it. It will just have a slightly different texture.

Ingredients (serves 4):
Around 50 basil leaves
50g pecorino cheese (there are many varieties, they’ll all work)
50g fresh Parmesan cheese
30g pine nuts
1-2 garlic cloves
Sea salt
Extra virgin olive oil
100g fine green beans
3 medium potatoes
500g pasta (linguine, trofie, gnocchi or lasagne sheets are traditional)

Instructions
1. If using a food processor put in the basil, pine nuts, garlic, pecorino, Parmesan, 2 tbsps of oil and a pinch of sea salt, and blend until it has formed a paste. Add some more oil to loosen the mixture but not too much (around 1-2 tbsps); often the pesto you buy here is swimming in oil which makes the dish really heavy and, well, oily, so just enough that it’s not a solid mixture but is still really thick. If using a pestle and mortar, bash the ingredients into a paste a few things at a time, starting with the garlic, basil, pine nuts and salt, then adding the cheeses a bit at a time and the oil to loosen it.
2. Fill the biggest pan you have with around 2 litres of water and bring to the boil (you need a lot of water to cook the pasta properly). Peel the potatoes and cut to around 2cm cubes. Cut the ends off the beans and throw the potatoes and the beans in the boiling water. Boil them for around 8-10mins depending on how long the type of pasta cooks for and at this point add the salt in with the ingredients to cook the pasta. The salting is very important as in Italy they put a lot more salt in the cooking water than we do. Salt the pasta properly and achieve the right bite (the salt actually affects the way the pasta cooks). A general rule is: for every 1 litre of water you need around 10g of salt. This will seem like a lot but it’s right.
3. Add the pasta in with the potatoes and beans already in the pot and use the cooking time on the packet.
4. While the pasta is cooking, put about 1 tbsp of pesto on each person’s dish and then take a tbsp of the water you’re cooking the pasta in and spoon it over the pesto. If you want, add a little drizzle of oil on, and combine well. Repeat this on all the dishes (this is a really important stage as the pesto will become creamy looking and lighter in colour). Taste the pasta before the time’s up and if it needs the full time or maybe even a bit more that’s fine.
5. Drain everything well and divide up the pasta, potatoes and beans over the pesto. Serve like this if you want and everyone can mix the pesto into the pasta. Some people put Parmesan on top. Buon appetito!

Kettle Of Kites – Mr Pearl

February 16, The Vintage Village Fete, Edinburgh
February 17, Art School, Glasgow
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SPICY LENTIL LOVEHEARTS

by Lucy Cathcart Frödén, Tall Tales

Ingredients
1 big cup of red lentils
1-1½ big cups of gram flour
Fresh chillis
Fresh ginger
Turmeric
Cayenne pepper
Cumin seeds
Grated lemon peel
Salt and pepper

Instructions
1. Rinse the lentils and boil them till they turn soft (probably about 10mins) but don’t let them dissolve into soup, or all is lost. Drain them really well in a colander.
2. Mix them with a generous helping of your favourite spices and add some grated lemon peel and plenty of salt and pepper.
3. Add gram flour, a bit at a time, until you’ve got a rollable dough.
4. Roll out on a floured surface and use a cookie cutter or knife to make your all-time favourite shapes.
5. Shallow fry on a medium heat until golden brown on both sides.
6. Serve with a herby yogurt dip (chopped mint and coriander is nice, or you could go all chivey).
7. Eat them while they’re hot and fresh.

Tall Tales – All The Things You Read To Me

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SOUFFLÉ BROCCOLI & ONION OMELETTE

by Clare Simpson, If You Lived Here You’d Be Home By Now

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
4 eggs
1 broccoli head
2 garlic cloves
1 medium onion
80g cheddar cheese
100ml milk

Instructions
1. Cut the broccoli into small florets, finely chop the onion and purée the garlic. Put your grill on a medium-high heat.
2. Heat a generous knob of butter in a pan and add the broccoli, onions and garlic. Cook on a medium heat until the onions are soft and the broccoli is cooked but still has a reasonable bite to it. Add the milk to the pan and reduce so the vegetables are sticky and not too wet. Now remove from the heat and place in a separate bowl.
3. Separate the egg whites from the yolks and whisk the whites until they resemble stiff peaks. Then gently fold in the yolks and broccoli mixture. Season with pepper.
4. Heat another generous knob of butter in a saucepan on medium heat. Pour in the eggy vegetable mixture and cook for about 4-5mins. Grate the cheese over the omelette and place under grill until golden brown and bubbling.
5. Carefully cut the omelette into quarters and serve with a lovely fresh salad. You can make changes to the cheese if you fancy – Stilton works well.

If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home By Now – My Heart’s In A Mess

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VEGGIE BANGERS ‘N’ MASH

by Oli Kass, Homework

Too much meat over Christmas but need a hearty meal in order to stave off putting the heating on? You could do a lot worse than this classic, no-nonsense winter warmer. You could also do a lot better.

Ingredients
Veggie sausages (don’t worry which kind, they won’t taste like meat anyway)
Potatoes
Carrots
Cabbage
Bisto gravy – a mixture of 50% ‘Favourite’ & 50% ‘Carmalised Onion’ works best
Yorkshire pudding (if you want to push the boat out)

Instructions
1. Whack the sausages in the oven (180ºC) and get the potatoes on the boil (15-20mins)
2. Get the carrots on the go (usually 10mins)
3. Get the cabbage on the go (usually 5mins)
4. Mash the potatoes with plenty of butter, cream and season to taste.
5. Use the drained potato water to make the gravy. You can add some cooked mushroom and onion if you wanna get fancy like.
6. Take the sausages out of the oven (30mins). If you have Yorkshire puddings add them in for 2-3mins to heat through.
7. Get it served and scoffed before you notice the sausages aren’t meat.

Homework – Why Oh Why

January 20, Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh (tickets)
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CHICKEN PESTO PASTA WITH TOASTED PINE NUTS

by Andrew Lindsay, Coat Hooks

Ingredients
Chicken breast fillets
Some form of pasta (today, I’m using Morrison’s finest “pasta quills”)
Pine nuts
Pesto
Olive oil

Instructions
1. Dice up your chicken breasts.
2. Boil some salty water and add the required amount of pasta when it’s time.
3. As the pasta boils, put some oil in a pan and start cooking the chicken until it’s nice and pasty.
4. Once the chicken’s ready, it’s probably time to drain the pasta.
5. Leave the chicken in a wee bowl for now and put some pine nuts in another small pan.
6. Put these guys on a medium heat, tossing them every 30-45 seconds until they’re brownish.
7. Merge the chicken and pasta, then add the pesto. Heat it as you smoosh.
8. Get it in a bowl, and throw the pine nuts in. Serve!

Coat Hooks – Popcorn Blues

January 18, King Tut’s, Glasgow (tickets)
February 16, The Captain’s Rest, Glasgow (tickets)
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SPECIAL SKYE FUDGE

by Innes Strachan, Niteworks

Ideal for winning over the mother of any potential girlfriends!

Ingredients
50g butter
1 tin condensed milk
1lb granulated sugar
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 cup of milk

Instructions
1. Over a very low heat (1 or 2 on your hob) melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan with the condensed milk. Once melted, add the sugar and mix together until a thick, sticky, sugary substance is formed. Add milk and golden syrup and mix in. Keep the hob on a very low heat, stirring the mixture, and bring it to the boil very slowly. This is the key as you need to make sure all the sugar melts so you’re not left with gritty fudge.
2. The fudge mixture will gradually change colour, getting darker as it gets closer to being ready. Before taking the pan off the heat, you want your mixture to be dark brown but be careful you don’t let it burn or stick to the bottom of the pan. A good tip for checking whether the mixture is ready and all sugar is dissolved is to take a teaspoon of your fudge mixture, run under a cold tap and then taste it. If it’s smooth and you can’t feel any sugar granules then take the pan off the heat.
3. With an electric whisk, beat the mixture for a good 5-10mins until you see the consistency of the mixture starting to get thicker and more rigid. Once the mixture has lost its shine, pour into a well-greased baking tray and leave to cool.
4. Once cooled, put the fudge in the fridge for a few hours then cut it up into small squares and serve.

Niteworks – Coisich

January 21, Oran Mor, Glasgow (tickets)
February 3, The Arches, Glasgow (tickets)
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PARTY PINEAPPLE

by Louise Quinn, A Band Called Quinn

The origins of the Party Pineapple was passed down to me via my older sister, who used to read Jackie magazine. I saw similar things on buffet tables at Lanarkshire weddings made by one of my dad’s nine sisters whilst doing the slosh to Una Paloma Blanca. This is my more exotic take on the classic (someone from the actual era recently informed me that an orange covered in tin foil should in fact be used as the base).

Ingredients
1 Pineapple
Cocktail sausages
Small pickled onions
Cheddar cheese

Instructions
1. Cut the pineapple in half and place the spiky end on a plate.
2. Cut the other half into cubes along with the cheese (make sure the cheese doesn’t get soggy from pineapple or onion juice as it makes it really difficult to skewer onto the cocktail sticks).
3. Skewer the cocktail sausages, onions and pineapples onto the cocktail sticks alongside the cheese cubes and stick hedgehog-style into your pineapple.
4. Voilà! You are ready to party with your pineapple!

A Band Called Quinn – Snowblind

January 13, Maggie Mays, Glasgow
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WHISKY FRUIT CAKE

by Fiona Soe Paing

Ingredients
2 cups plain flour
1 cup butter
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup brown sugar
1 or 2 pints whisky
1 cup dried fruit
1 teaspoon salt
Juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup chopped nuts

Instructions
1. Sample the whisky to check for good quality. Select a large mixing bowl/cup. Check the whisky again, taking care not to overfill the measuring cup. Pour into a glass, drink quickly.
2. Repeat the last step again.
3. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar and beat again.
4. Make sure the whisky is still of highest quality.
5. Add two arge leggs, two cups of dried fruit and beat till high. Next, sift three cups of salt or anything, it doesn’t really matter.
6. Sample whisky again, checking for tonsicicity.
7. Sift half the lemon juice, fold in chopped butter and strained nuts. Add one babblespoon of sugar or whatever you can find and mix in well. Grease the oven and turn cake tin 360 degrees. Now pour the whole thing into the oven.
8. Check whisky for a final time and go to bed.

Fiona Soe Paing – Deep Song

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SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE

by Björn Sandberg, Wake The President

Wake The President – Elaine

March 3, CCA, Glasgow
April 6, Stereo, Glasgow (tickets)
April 7, The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh (tickets)

It’s easy to forget that less than 10 years ago King Tut’s was one of very few options for small gigs in Glasgow. Back then, its only rivals were Nice ‘N’ Sleazy, Cathouse, 13th Note Cafe and the now-defunct 13th Note Club/Barfly. (There was also Strawberry Fields, but nobody in their right mind would step in there more than once.)

Fast-forward to the present day and a heap of alternatives have sprung up in Glasgow: Stereo, Mono, The Captain’s Rest, Bloc, Flat 0/1, Stairway as well as slightly larger venues in Classic Grand, Oran Mor and ABC2.

King Tut’s still reigns supreme, though. When it comes to how good a gig sounds - to the audience at least – this little outpost on an otherwise nondescript corner of St Vincent Street is untouchable. There’s nothing quite like the clammy anticipation of being at a sell-out show at Tut’s, especially when you realise it’ll be the last time you’ll have the privilege of watching the headliners play to a crowd this small.

If you’re on the lookout for new favourite Scottish bands, you could do much worse than park yourself at King Tut’s New Year’s Revolution, which runs until January 19. Individual bills are grouped into similar genres so if you’re partial to electro, metal, twee, hip hop, experimental, math-rock, acoustic singer-songwriters, avant-garde, emo or just straightforward indie then there’s something to cater for your tastes.

A bit of advice – look out for online ticket bundles being sold by individual acts (search Facebook) as you can bag gems such as Michael Cassidy’s debut EP or Reverieme’s debut album for free. If you’re lazy, just click on the date links below to buy tickets via Ticketmaster.

Friday, January 6: The River 68′s + The Fleet + The Toi + Kontraband + (free downstairs) Tragic O’Hara

Saturday, January 7: Raymond Meade + Elan Few + Mono Six + Luca + (free downstairs) Holy Esque

Sunday, January 8: The King Hats + The Heretics + Sick Kids + People, Places, Maps + (free downstairs) It Girl

Monday, January 9: Vukovi + Cities & Skylines + Atlas + Eras + (free downstairs) Juan Pablo

Tuesday, January 10: Discopolis + Capitals + Capstin Pole + Kill The Waves + (free downstairs) Blood Blood

Wednesday, January 11: Lynnie Carson + Matt Scott + James Murray + Johnny Barr + (free downstairs) Penny & The Restless

Thursday, January 12: Tango In The Attic + The Black Rats + Letters + Punto The Feef + (free downstairs) Restless Sinners

Friday, January 13: Kobi Onyame + Hector Bizerk + Black Bros + Michelle Elii + (free downstairs) Big Taj

Saturday, January 14: Vigo Thieves + The Last Of The Free + Iain McLaughlin & The Outsiders + Cherri Fosphate + (free downstairs) The Regiment

Sunday, January 15: Esperi + Callum Baird + Bronagh Monahan + Gary Ovens + (free downstairs) Café Disco

Monday, January 16: United Fruit + Lady North + Hunt / Gather + Natalie Pryce + (free downstairs) Jonathan Snee

Tuesday, January 17: Open Swimmer + Reverieme + Randolph’s Leap + Ajimal + (free downstairs) I Build Collapsible Mountains

Wednesday, January 18: Beerjacket + Michael Cassidy + Coat Hooks + Julia And The Doogans + (free downstairs) Burning Café

Thursday, January 19: Pareto + Dilectrics + Bear Arms + Wecamefromwolves + (free downstairs) Skippy Dyes

Golden Ticket for entry to all shows

Wecamefromwolves – For All Our Sins, We’re Golden

Sinking Ships by Capitals

I’ll keep this post updated throughout the year with any major new announcements and confirmed dates should you wish to bookmark it for future reference.

January 5-19: King Tut’s New Year’s Revolution, Glasgow
January 19-February 5: Celtic Connections, Glasgow

February 10-11: Kilmarnock Edition Festival, Grand Hall

March 1: Scottish Alternative Music Awards, The Garage, Glasgow
March 23-24: Celtic Connections Big Top, Broadford Airfield, Skye

April 7-8: The Electric Frog, SWG3, Glasgow
April 11-12: Wide Days, Teviot House, Edinburgh
April 14-15: Eye O’ the Dug, St Andrews
April 21: Record Store Day
April 21: Beatdoon Festival, Dundee
April 29: Haddow Fest, Edinburgh

May (date tbc): Summer Shindig, Black Isle Brewery, Munlochy, Ross-shire
May (date tbc): Sounds In The Grounds, Stornoway, Lewis
May 4-6: Darvel Music Festival, Darvel Town Hall, Ayrshire
May 4-6: The Big Stooshie, Howe Country Centre, Giffordtown, Fife
May 5: Brew at the Bog, Bogbain Farm, Inverness
May 19: Stag & Dagger, Glasgow

June 1-24: West End Festival, Glasgow
June 6-7: goNORTH, Inverness
June 8-10: RockNess, Dores, Inverness-shire
June 13: The Pop Cop 5th anniversary!
June 15-17: Eden Festival, Raehills Meadows, Moffat, Dumfries & Galloway
June 15-18: The Insider Olympiad, Aviemore
June 22-24: Solas Festival, Wiston, South Lanarkshire
June 22-27: St Magnus Festival, Orkney
June 30-July 1: The Garden Party, Kelburn Castle, near Largs

July (dates tbc): King Tut’s Summer Nights, Glasgow
July 6-8: T in the Park, Balado, Kinross
July 11-14: Hebridean Celtic Festival, Stornoway, Lewis
July 20-21: The Wickerman Festival, East Kirkcarswell, Dumfries & Galloway
July 20-22: Away Game, Eigg
July 21-22: The Big Tent, Falkland, Fife

August (dates tbc): The Edge Festival, Edinburgh
August (dates tbc): Rock N Roll Damnation, Glasgow
August (dates tbc): HaarFest, Anstruther, Fife
August (dates tbc): Retreat!, Pilgrig St Paul’s Church, Edinburgh
August 3-4: Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, Beauly, Inverness-shire
August 11: Bfest, Riverside, Wick
August 24-25: Wizard Festival, New Deer near Peterhead, Aberdeenshire
August 24-26: Doune The Rabbit Hole, Carron Valley, Stirlingshire

September (dates tbc): Jocktoberfest, Black Isle Brewery, Munlochy, Ross-shire
September (dates tbc): No Mean City, Glasgow
September (date tbc): EH1 Live, Edinburgh
September 21-22: Loopallu, Ullapool

October (dates tbc): Oxjam Glasgow/Edinburgh/Aberdeen/Dundee/Paisley/Ayr/Inverary

December (dates tbc): Glasgow Popfest
December 31: Edinburgh’s Hogmanay

Franz Ferdinand – Your Diary (demo)

The Seventeenth Century – The Gregorian Calendar

At the last count there were 762 Scottish musicians on Twitter, so narrowing that down to the eight I think you should listen to isn’t an easy or pleasant task, let me tell you. But here are the ones I’d put my money on, plus my two favourite non-Scottish newcomers…

FRIENDS IN AMERICA (Facebook/Twitter) (Glasgow)
Crisp melodies, an indie-rock entity with genuine variation and originality, four engrossing musicians with distinct personalities including a dapper frontman with astute lyrics you can/want to make out. Their debut EP is due for release in early 2012, but check them out live – they’re heartbreakingly magnificent. I’ve got relatives I don’t love half as much as this band.
Friends In America – You’re

February 9, Captain’s Rest, Glasgow (info)

CAFÉ DISCO (Facebook/Twitter) (Glasgow)
If catchy pop songs were easy to make, everybody would be at it. Sadly they’re not, so it takes a special kind of magic to rattle out the sort of riffs Café Disco dream up, thanks in no small part to the Swinton twins on guitar, Paul and Rachael.
Café Disco – Terra Nova

January 15, King Tut’s, Glasgow (free acoustic set in downstairs bar)
May 5, Brew at the Bog, Inverness (tickets)

SEBASTIAN DANGERFIELD (Facebook/Twitter) (Edinburgh)
Classy, carefully thought-out and executed folk-rock from the capital. A fine choice as winners of the 2011 Scotsman Radar Prize and makers of arguably the past year’s finest EP, The Sound of the Old Machines.
Sebastian Dangerfield – The Sycamore Tree

February 25, Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh (tickets)

BASTILLE (Facebook/Twitter) (London)
Bastille – Flaws
The only act I hadn’t already heard of in the Blog Sound Of 2012 longlist that was worthy of further investigation. Dan Smith’s solo project-turned-band is the most triumphant mix of indie and electro I’ve come across since The Postal Service.

YOUNG AVIATORS (Facebook/Twitter) (Glasgow via Northern Ireland)
Following in the footsteps of Two Door Cinema Club and Snow Patrol by relocating from Northern Ireland to Scotland to pursue their musical ambitions, Young Aviators are polished, charismatic and good-to-go for the big time. Their Hunting For Heaven EP is a belter.
Young Aviators – Hunting For Heaven

PAWS (Facebook/Twitter) (Glasgow)
The unpredictable thrill of watching PAWS live, when they turn up the reverb to ridiculous levels and blitz the audience with an aural assault of raw punk-rock, hasn’t really been captured in their recordings. That should change with their debut album, which they’ll be making in London in mid-January, and is strongly rumoured to be coming out on FatCat.
PAWS – Lekker

January 9, Vic Galloway BBC Radio Scotland session
January 26, Electric Circus, Edinburgh (tickets)
February 2, Cafe Drummond, Aberdeen
February 3, Madhatters, Inverness
February 4, Newmarket Bar, Thurso
February 16, Kirkcaldy High School (pupils only)
February 25, Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh (tickets)

MIKE NISBET (Facebook/Twitter) (Oban)
You can’t help but admire Mike Nisbet, quietly going about his business with little fanfare before releasing a remarkable debut album that makes you wonder why more musicians don’t spend as much time honing their craft as they do pimping themselves on Facebook. Vagrant is a proper singer-songwriter’s record, untouched by fads or trends. It deserves to make this man the biggest word-of-mouth success story from Scotland since Admiral Fallow.
Mike Nisbet – El Frida

January 15, The Pop Cop Subcity Radio session
March 10, Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh
March 11, Hootananny, Inverness

CRAIG_FS (Facebook/Twitter) (Glasgow)
I was a wee bit unsure about this Glasgow Podcart discovery when I heard some of his earlier tunes, but Grass Stains is a surefire deal-breaker: eight and a half minutes of epic, euphoric electro-house fusion with an outstanding vocal from Rachel Tesfaye. If you’re searching for the next Calvin Harris, I think you’re looking at him.
Craig_FS – Grass Stain (feat. Rachel Tesfaye)

BEAR’S DEN (Website) (London)
Former Cherbourg frontman Andrew Davie was top of The Pop Cop’s ones to watch in 2011 list as a solo artist, but he decided to take his incredible songwriting talents into a new heart-on-sleeve group called Bear’s Den and they could well be the latest sensations from the Communion scene.
Bear’s Den – Fickle Love

January 20, Mitchell Library, Glasgow (tickets)

OSKAR EMPIRE (Facebook/Twitter) (Wick)
Going out on a limb with this band. All there is to judge them by is one demo, but it brilliantly conjures up the spirit of Blink-182 (before their woeful reunion album). If Oskar Empire have more like Hide And Seek up their sleeves, their prospects look very healthy indeed.
Oskar Empire – Hide And Seek

As well as all the acts above, 2012 should be the year There Will Be Fireworks, Galleries, Bear Bones, Withered Hand, Dot JR, Make Sparks and The Jezabels all become famous and make millions from their new albums. Right? Right.

The calendar flips over from 2011 to 2012 this weekend and, given that Scotland is the world’s self-anointed Hogmanay party hotspot, expectation levels tend to be high.

There’s little danger of the occasion not being risen to, though, with an abundance of top-quality live musicians and DJs out ‘n’ about the country who have the unenviable task of leading sozzled punters into a countdown to oblivion.

If, like most people, you don’t intend to figure out how you’ll be bringing in the Bells until December 31, this guide to Scotland’s musical treats on New Year’s Eve might come in handy:

GLASGOW
The Flying Duck
Pin Up Nights: For Abel + Patricia Panther + Aidan Moffat DJ set + The Twilight Sad DJ set (info/tickets)

Flat 0/1
Milk: Otherpeople + Boycotts + The LaFontaines DJ set (info/tickets)

Mono
Jonny + Wake The President + Monoganon (info/tickets)

The Captain’s Rest
Olympic Swimmers + Jack Townes + This Silent Forest + Casual Sex (info/tickets)

Academy
2ManyDjs + Roman Nose + Dem Slackers (info/tickets)

Pivo Pivo
The Girobabies + Mummy Short Arms + The Plimptons + Loki + Konchis & Physiks + Gasp + Kayce One & Toni Smoke (info/tickets)

Nice N Sleazy
CROC: Yellow Magic Orchestra (info/tickets)

King Tut’s
Dead Sea Souls + Dixie Beaver + We Came From The Sea (info/tickets)

EDINBURGH
Concert in the Gardens
Primal Scream + Bombay Bicycle Club + Sons & Daughters + Matt Norris & The Moon (info/sold out)

Street Party
Waverley Stage: The Vaccines + Kassidy + William Douglas + James Brown Is Annie
West End Stage: Friendly Fires + Wild Beasts + Discopolis
East End DJ Stage: Mark Ronson + Jaymo & Andy George + Stu Todd + VJ Bryony
Scott Monument Stage: Peatbog Faeries + Capercaillie + Rura
The Mound Party Stage: Frisky & Mannish + The Cuban Brothers + Jade Richards
(info/tickets)

The Third Door
Ten Tracks: Broken Records + Withered Hand + Hidden Orchestra + Asthmatic Astronaut (info/tickets)

Song, by Toad house gig
Neil Pennycook (Meursault) + River Of Slime (info/tickets)

ABERDEEN
AECC
Granite Rocks: White Lies + The View + Twin Atlantic + The Little Kicks + The Tijuana Sun (info/tickets)

STIRLING
Stirling Castle
The Red Hot Chilli Pipers + Eddi Reader + Three Blind Wolves (info/tickets)

INVERNESS
Ironworks
Torridon + Niteworks (info/tickets)

AVIEMORE
The Old Bridge Inn
Kitty The Lion + Stanley Odd + Soutra + Detour DJ set (info)

Withered Hand – I Just Don’t Know How To Say Goodbye (Vic Galloway session)

Kitty The Lion – Pin The Tail On The Donkey

Merry Christmas, you!

If you’re sick of hearing the same old, tiresome tunes for the umpteenth time and Michael Bublé’s Christmas album isn’t quite putting you in the festive mood then fear not, salvation is here in the form of the best songs of 2011, which really ought to be combined with the tracks singled out in the best albums of 2011 post if you want the comprehensive guide to what’s been rocking The Pop Cop world this year.

You’ll find a smattering of Music Alliance Pact favourites, some ace album tracks, a tune that first turned up on this blog’s Jukebox and two from Make Sparks (a single and its B-side) because they’re both that good. Enjoy!

Arches – Like Fireworks (radio edit)

Ben Howard – Old Pine

Ed Sheeran – Lego House

Galleries – Darkness Coming

Kyla La Grange – Walk Through Walls

Lisa Hannigan – A Sail

Make Sparks – Apollo! Apollo!

Make Sparks – Your Heart’s On Fire

Paper Thick Walls – Old Weathered Wooden Dock

Sebastian Dangerfield – You Played Your Part, Singer!

Song Of Return – Trajectory

The Strokes – Under Cover Of Darkness

Washington Irving – Abbey Gallop

We See Lights – My Oh My Oh My

Young Aviators – Hunting For Heaven

There was one album I continually revisited this year (actually, there were two but the Endor record came out in 2010) and given that it was released way back in January, it’s fair to say its songs have made my entire 2011 a total joy.

Cold War Kids’ third album deserves to be hailed as a work of indie-rock perfection. The Californian band have always been blessed with Nathan Willett’s soul-searing voice, but Mine Is Yours backs it up with a barrage of songs fit for stadiums. The album sounds absolutely colossal at times, so much so that I was grudgingly likening it to Kings of Leon before I realised they’d shared the same producer (Jacquire King).

It took a bit of transatlantic sweet-talking but, in keeping with Pop Cop tradition, I managed to get a member of Cold War Kids to accept the Best Album of the Year award in person and follow in the footsteps of previous recipients The National (2007), Sigur Rós (2008), The Sounds (2009) and Admiral Fallow (2010). As you can see from the photo above, he struggled to contain his delight.

Here’s the top 10, each described in Twitter-friendly 140 characters…

1. COLD WAR KIDS – MINE IS YOURS
Melody dripping from every pore, insprired key changes in all the right places. Put simply, the best collection of songs to be found in 2011.
Royal Blue

2. BEN HOWARD – EVERY KINGDOM
Memorable, crowd-pleasing acoustic anthems with real depth. Introspective but never inaccessible. Ben seems like a sound bloke too. Win-win.
The Fear

3. BEERJACKET – THE WHITE FEATHER TRAIL
Peter Kelly’s greatest work to date included a career high in the poignant Jack Chasing Jill. I didn’t hear a finer Scottish album all year.
Jack Chasing Jill

4. THE JEZABELS – PRISONER
Epically intense and fragile. Think Muse meets The National made by an Aussie band who’ll be massive when this LP gets a UK release in 2012.
Endless Summer

5. JACK’S MANNEQUIN – PEOPLE AND THINGS
Makers of my favourite album of the last decade, my love affair with JM keeps going. Nobody can pull off piano-rock like these Californians.
My Racing Thoughts

6. WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS – IN THE PIT OF THE STOMACH
A relentless, ferocious album. The songs aren’t as strong as the ones on their debut but at least the recordings did them justice this time.
Human Error

7. LIGHTGUIDES – SAMBA SAMBA SAMBA
A dazzling live trio make a dazzling rock record. An emphatically more adventurous proposition than Twin Atlantic, this band should be huge.
WarHorse

8. MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA – SIMPLE MATH
America’s most interesting rock band in ages – trumpets, trombones, a school choir and a string orchestra all turn up on this concept album.
Apprehension

9. EMMY THE GREAT – VIRTUE
I didn’t obsess over this record anywhere near as much as predecessor First Love but there’s no doubting this is songwriting par excellence.
Paper Forest (In The Afterglow Of Rapture)

10. MIKE NISBET – VAGRANT
This man from Oban released his debut to little fanfare but word-of-mouth is bound to take him far. Quiet songs that’ll get under your skin.
Free Man

I didn’t know what to get you for Christmas… so I came up with an idea.

The Jukebox player on the right-hand side of this blog was launched 17 months ago and, since then, 39 people have paid £5 each to get a track on it for a month, raising a total of £180.06 (after PayPal took their cut).

I pledged to use every donation “to support grassroots music” and now you’re about to find out what I blew the budget on…

I’ve been a huge fan of Café Disco’s song Terra Nova from hearing it played live, so I decided to take the Jimmy Eat World-loving band (featured on The Pop Cop in July) to the Old Mill Studios in Strathaven, South Lanarkshire to record it.

To be honest, I got a bit over-excited and ended up breaking open my own piggy bank to fund a promo video to go with it, made by much-revered Glasgow specialists Shootback Productions.

So sit back, put your feet up, enjoy the ace video (filmed one afternoon in Nice ‘n’ Sleazy) and help yourself to a free download of Terra Nova plus 35 other songs chosen by my fellow Music Alliance Pact bloggers from around the world.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a .zip file of the whole 36-track compilation via MediaFire.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Café Disco – Terra Nova
I’ll never forget the first time I heard Terra Nova by Glasgow-based newcomers Café Disco. It was on a shaky YouTube clip filmed in June 2011 during one of the band’s earliest gigs. “Contains the peachiest guitar riff I’ve heard in ages” is how I described the song on my blog back then – and that verdict hasn’t changed with this studio recording, which was funded by The Pop Cop for the sole purpose of giving it away through the Music Alliance Pact, together with this rather fun promo video.

December 15, Nice n Sleazy, Glasgow (info)
January 15, King Tut’s, Glasgow (free in downstairs bar)
May 5, Brew At The Bog festival, Inverness (tickets)

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
The Empire Of The Moon – Transition
The Empire Of The Moon is the new project of Juan Sábato, a former member of Brian Storming, a band that was featured in the first edition of MAP (and, by the way, the grandson of writer Ernesto Sábato). Transition is the first single from The Empire Of The Moon’s just-released debut EP, Saturday Children, for which he wrote all the music, lyrics and beautiful pop arrangements.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Tim Fitz – The Line
Tim Fitz is a 21-year-old producer/instrumentalist/singer from Sydney. He put out his first EP, Infinite Space, in March but his latest release, Beforetime, is definitely a rich picking. Some might hear genre spanning and others will hear indecisiveness, but there’s a great feel to this collection of tracks. The Line is a good example of Fitz’s kaleido-instrumentals. Just as the flouncy percussion gets into the proper swing of things, we get bombarded by drive-high fuzz around the one-minute mark. Fitz’s sound is original, but the way he has put his sounds together is still familiar enough to catch on to.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Nana Rizinni – Nice Figure, Dangerous Heart
It’s almost 2012, but listening to this song from singer/drummer Nana Rizinni can take you back to the 90s with an awesome “sounds like The Breeders feeling”. Nice Figure, Dangerous Heart is from her first album, I Said, which is available to download from her website.

CANADA: I(Heart)Music
Fevers – Passion Is Dead (Long Live Fashion)
Fevers’ debut full-length (which is currently free via Bandcamp) is a wonderful blend of disco-pop and ambient Stars/Young Galaxy-style space-rock. This song, the title track from the album, falls firmly into the former category. It’s five and a half minutes of a glorious, life-affirming, wave-your-arms-in-the-air anthem, and it sets the stage for one of the best albums of the year.

CHILE: Super 45
Tio Lucho – Ilusión Rebelde
Even though Tio Lucho had an aggressive, non-conformist punk sound when they started, it has developed into a more danceable and, clearly, more passive format. Produced by Chalo González, their new album Innombrable, released through Cazador, has a strong new wave influence. Ilusión Rebelde is its first single.

CHINA: Wooozy
Mini Train Heart – Just This Feeling
Formed in 2009, Mini Train Heart is a peculiar band based in Wuhan. The band is noted for their unpredictable drumbeats and manic vocals. Also, you can’t easily tell who their influences are. We recommend you just drown in the lo-fi atmosphere and enjoy their uniquely dry humor in how they see this generation.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Anchorless – A Step Too Steep
Comprising members of bands such as Lack, The River Phoenix and The Fashion, indie-rock six-piece Anchorless are currently finishing their debut album, which I assume will be released early-ish next year. Until then dive in, dig and download A Step Too Steep from their six-song eponymous 2010 debut EP, which you can in fact download in full through this link.

ENGLAND: The Guardian Music Blog
Citizens! – True Romance (Populette remix)
This is an exclusive remix of the debut single, True Romance, by a London-based five-piece who have just signed to French electronic/indie label Kitsuné. Their debut album, due early next year, has been produced by Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand. The video to the single was directed by LA’s High5Collective, the team behind shorts for The Weeknd and Odd Future. And they believe that “pop is not a dirty word. It’s a holy one”. For Citizens!, pop is something David Bowie did in the 70s – they conflate glam-era Bowie and Bowie in Berlin with some of the tart arrogance of Suede and louche energy of Franz.

ESTONIA: Popop
Shelton San – Well-Behaved
Noise-rock band Shelton San started rocking the small Estonian indie scene in 2002 and, almost 10 years later, they are stronger than ever, creating massive, raw, hypnotic atmospheres, always polished, but never sterile. In 2006, they received the Estonian Music Award for the best punk/metal artist. Shelton San’s second LP was released on December 12.

FINLAND: Glue
Zebra And Snake – Burden
Matti and Tapio, best known as Zebra And Snake, positioned themselves as the next big thing in Finnish electro-pop in 2010 and since then, the duo has been carefully crafting their debut album while playing anywhere from Iceland to Indonesia. Burden, the first single off Healing Music (out in spring 2012), is an epic pop song with a Blood On The Dance Floor beat, analogue electronic hooks and powerful Bowie-esque vocals.

FRANCE: Yet You’re Fired
Marauders – Galley-Slave
Marauders formed in the late 80s in Strasbourg, and have been making garage rock ever since, before it was cool and re-popularized by The Black Keys. The quartet, who have released two LPs and appeared in various compilations, play short, edgy songs and are pretty awesome live. Galley-Slave is a sweet, soft-rock ballad that deserves some attention.

GERMANY: Blogpartei
Kraków Loves Adana – Silver Screen
The Black Forest, a myth. Since Kraków Loves Adana come from Freiburg, we can all speculate whether the forest has its influence or not. Hence, the sound of this duo is outstanding. The voice of Deniz Cicek is remarkably dark and complex, the use of the instruments is deliberate, creating deep and slightly ominous songs. Silver Screen is a MAP exclusive from their upcoming second album, which will be released in early 2012.

GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
2L8 – Let It Go
A collective led by K the Clown and comprised of talented Greek musicians, 2L8 is a bold and electrifying project that has come to be categorized by their radical stylistic shifts between albums. New Battles, Without Honor And Humanity is packed with feverous instrumental intensity and florid arrangements based on bursting guitars, pounding drums, subtle and luminous climaxes, dramatic strings and brass, hypnotically simple melodies, inner monologues and trembling, frantically passionate vocals, desperate and bleak lyrics about resistance, equity, freedom, love and equality coupled with a sense of hope.

ICELAND: Rjóminn
Low Roar – Friends Make Garbage, Good Friends Take It Out
Low Roar is the personal project of Ryan Karazija who, almost two years ago, moved from San Francisco to Reykjavík to follow the love of his life. His self-titled debut chronicles the challenges of starting anew in a foreign land and the struggles to acclimatize, find work and support his family in the Icelandic winter. Friends Make Garbage, Good Friends Take It Out, one of the highlights of the album, is a haunting, emotive and slightly melancholic song with a melody that will undoubtedly keep playing in your head long after the song is over.

INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Stars And Rabbit – Worth It
Stars And Rabbit are probably one of this country’s most promising indie acts. The duo mix some soul from Joan Baez, the cuteness of Lisa Mitchell and the playful touch of Björk to produce catchy, beautiful pop songs.

IRELAND: Nialler9
Come On Live Long – Elephants And Time
Formed last year, Come On Live Long have picked up a steady pace in no time as evident on the release of their latest EP entitled Mender. They make far-reaching alternative songs with considerable melodies, synths and a strong singular sound. Production by Nouveaunoise electronic maestro Conor Gaffney helps too. Ones to watch.

ITALY: Polaroid
Distanti – Astronomie
Distanti sing in Italian, but even if you don’t speak our old and praiseworthy language, I’m sure you’ll understand – in fact, you will totally feel the way Distanti tear up their post-punk sound. Visceral. Urgent. Clever. They just released a new EP, Mamba Nero, which you can get at To Lose La Track. And try to catch Distanti live, they’re amazing.

JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
Love And Hates – Party Trash
Love And Hates is a collaboration between Yuppa and Moe, two of the best indie artists in Japan today, from HNC and Miila And The Geeks respectively. Love And Hates finds them teaming up to make rap music with indie-pop touches, or kindergarten hip-hop as they dubbed it. Party Trash, with its cutesy chopped-and-screwed intro and solid structure, is not a lame dorm-room joke but rather a fun, appreciative stab at the genre. UGK they are not, but they still feel like a blast.

MALTA: Stagedive Malta
nosnow/noalps – Far Into The Night (Without You)
nosnow/noalps began its journey over mountainous terrain in early 2007 with their poppy indie-rock seasoned with punk, reggae and ska. Soon after, the quartet hit the live circuit with an energy and force comparable to an avalanche at a Swiss ski resort. The band’s first EP, Just Rock, came out in 2008 and they released their debut album, Romantikpolitik, this August.

MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
3Ball MTY – Ritmo Alterado
The city of Monterrey, in northern Mexico, is struggling in a war against drug-mafias: despite the violent context, a new musical genre is rising thanks to 3Ball MTY. Led by veteran electro-cumbia DJ Toy Selectah and a crew of skillful producers in their early 20s, the collective have created a new sound by merging polka, reggaeton and acid-tribal-techno. But the most peculiar thing about this trend is the style of dancing – like dodging bullets – while wearing ultra-long pointy boots. Curious? Just google ‘Pointy Mexican Boots’.

NETHERLANDS: Unfold Amsterdam
Spoelstra – Pallets
An alternative to the schmaltz of typical Christmas sounds, enjoy a dose of Spoelstra. He’s a collaborator with Dutch experimental label Narrominded, which specialises in all sorts of fantastic non-profitable sounds, from full-on noise rock to electronic warbles. And Spoelstra is a perfect fit, as he’s proven capable of both. His latest album Pallets was released earlier in the year. Packaged as a cassette and a book about everything you can imagine about pallets, it showcases a full rack of effects and a wonky mind. Part chip tune, part drunken country improv, part toy noise, this uneasiness is how Santa feels come Boxing Day.

NEW ZEALAND: Einstein Music Journal
The Eversons – I’m A Conservative
Fronted by Mark Turner (ex-Little Pictures) and with Chris Young (Insurgents, No Aloha), Tim Shann and Blair Everson, The Eversons have a crisp, clear garage-rock vibe that strongly recalls Art Brut and American college rock with its undeniable catchiness and the immediate satisfaction this brings. With classic guitar riffs and day-in-the-life-style lyrics, their debut five-song EP is instantly likeable. This is one of those bands that doesn’t muck around, delivering a top-class release very early in their career, which makes us excited about future things to come from them.

NORWAY: Birds Sometimes Dance
Sunturns – Hallelujah (Christmas Is Here!)
Sunturns can perhaps be labeled an indie supergroup – or not just an indie super group, but a Christmas indie supergroup. It’s something as rare as a full-time Christmas band and is comprised of some of the best musicians from the Oslo indie scene, with members from bands such as mylittlepony, Monzano and The Little Hands of Asphalt. They sing about both the nice and the more melancholic sides of Christmas. Their debut album, cleverly titled Christmas, is out now.

PERU: SoTB
Gris Volta – You Go Behind The Truth
Formed at the beginning of 2008, Gris Volta have too many influences to place the band into one genre – you can find anything from indie-rock to jazz themes and experimental music in their songs. Their debut record Monochrome is without doubt one of the best Peruvian albums released this year.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
Julie & The Carjackers – Mr Williams
One year ago, Julie & The Carjackers released their debut EP. Now the first album by João Correia (vocals, guitar, percussion) and Bruno Pernadas (guitar), with the help of some friends (none of them called Julie), is available. Parasol has been warmly welcomed by Portuguese press and blogs as a surprising and refreshing debut in the local indie scene.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Absurdcus – Puppy Slippers
Absurdcus is the solo project of Transylvanian bass player/multi-instrumentalist Laszlo Demeter. His music has been a continuous work in progress since 2003, when he first started recording bits and pieces under this pseudonym. His music stylistically ranges from alternative rock and funk to electronica and even metal. You can download his debut album here.

RUSSIA: Big Echo
Arktor – Pier ft. Didjelirium
Just like the original story by Philip K. Dick, Arktor’s album Retreat Syndrome recreates the atmosphere of madness and insanity, combining truth and despair with the skills of his mate, jazz pianist Ilz. Pier is recorded with a special guest, Shanghai rapper Didjelirium.

SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To…
Sonicbrat – Bed Of Forty Winks
Sonicbrat is the enduring moniker of sound artist Darren Ng, whose work is characterised by an intricate tapestry of field recordings and found sounds, strung together by subtly processed acoustic instrumentation with a classical bent. Gentle, stirring and complex, Ng’s music is the sort that invites itself into and comfortably inhabits one’s imagination. His latest release, Hana, is his musing on the life of a flowering plant and is available as a free download on the Totokoko label.

SOUTH AFRICA: Musical Mover & Shaker!
The Frown – The National (Yesterday’s Pupil remix)
The Frown makes a curious mixture of folk and electronica. With their song The National, Yesterday’s Pupil’s remix adds a special touch to it, with a heady mix of soaring strings and orchestration, low tempo colliding beats, dark and menacing basslines and the fragile yet commanding vocals of Eve Rakow. Ethereal and enigmatic, it’s one of the year’s most exciting songs.

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK
Kim Mok In – Scene
Kim Mok In started out as the guitarist of playful lo-fi folk quartet Cabinet Singalongs over a decade ago. This month he released his first solo album, Song Of Musician’s-self, with an updated sound and better production that still shouldn’t leave any old fan disappointed. Scene is a song about the Korean music scene which finds Kim Mok In’s voice and guitar accompanied by a sturdy piano.

SPAIN: Musikorner
Doble Pletina – Cruzo Los Dedos
Doble Pletina, a five-piece from Barcelona, were born from the ashes of Abrevadero (a one-of-a-kind cover band that would play songs of almost any genre). Thanks to their simple yet carefully crafted melodies and everyday life-inspired emotional lyrics – as in their latest single Cruzo Los Dedos – they have broken into the city’s local independent scene. They are, basically, what we would expect from a good indie-pop band.

SWEDEN: Swedesplease
Let’s Say We Did – Galaxies
If your idea of Swedish music is something exotic like Lykki Li, First Aid Kit, Little Dragon and/or Jens Lekman, the music of Let’s Say We Did might surprise you. On the whole, the new record hews closer to Big Star meets Wilco dad-rock than the drum and bass electronica music coming out of Sweden of late. Sebastian Fors is one of the main men behind the band. He has been contributing to the Swedish music scene for a few years in multiple projects. Let’s Say We Did’s new self-titled album, though, is some of the best stuff I’ve heard from him.

SWITZERLAND: 78s
Alejandro Jiménez – Die Fragestellung In Frage Stellen
Alejandro Jiménez is actually more poetry slam than singer-songwriting. He also had the honour of playing in the most famous theater in Switzerland for cabaret artists. On his second record, Nabelschau, he recorded 11 songs which have one thing in common: they’re raw and personal.

TURKEY: WEARTBEAT
Toz Ve Toz – Kara Mamba
Founded in November 2007, Toz Ve Toz make experimental songs that combine elements of jazz, surf, punk and Turkish classical music. The trio use guitar, synthesizer, drums, harmonica and bağlama – a Turkish instrument with three double strings. They have released two albums – the first featured music for a theatre play called Sahici İnsanlar Plastik Ölümler (“Real People Plastic Deaths”) in 2009; the second is a home recording called Ev/Home. Their third album will be released from their own record label soon.

UNITED STATES: I Guess I’m Floating
Gracie – Sisters
Philadelphia’s Gracie is an intriguing project to say the least. There is bedroom pop and garage rock, but the vibes coming from Gracie match more of a bomb shelter banger sound. Haunting, effervescent, glitchy, mesmerizing echoes, and driving beats that propel your ears forward straight through tangles of sonic cobwebs. Can’t wait to snag this unique release via Small Plates soon.

Like it or not, strangers will instantly pigeonhole you into a genre if you wear such a T-shirt in public - either they’ll know what kind of music the band plays or the design/logo will make them think they know. And they’ll decide whether to cross the street accordingly.

However, there’s little doubt that the root of countless friendships and relationships can be traced back to the risk-free conversation-starter that sporting a band T-shirt brings, so, armed with a host of donations from Scottish musicians, we investigated just how to make one stand out from the crowd (having model looks probably helps).

Take A Worm For A Walk Week
T-SHIRT VERDICT: Particularly smart font for the band name, but whether you’d want to show off caricatured images of four deranged-looking stubbly men encircled by the slogan “Look What The Worm Dragged In” is debatable.
STRANGER DANGER: High.

Donald Macdonald & The Islands
T-SHIRT VERDICT: Takes a bit of sleuthing to decipher the cryptic design (“Island”), so will probably appeal to readers of Dan Brown. Nautical but nice.
STRANGER DANGER: Low.

Donald Macdonald & The Islands – Blown Away

The Gothenburg Address
T-SHIRT VERDICT: Likely to attract inquisitive, historian types, which might see you end up in a heated political discussion – a tell-tale sign of a lousy night out if ever there was one.
STRANGER DANGER: Medium.

The Gothenburg Address – The Hessian

Randan Discotheque
T-SHIRT VERDICT: The word “Disco” will immediately convince observers you are a raver, the peculiar image of what appears to be a lady from Ancient Greek times will keep them at least 15 feet away.
STRANGER DANGER: High.

Randan Discotheque – Old & Grey

Hip Parade
T-SHIRT VERDICT: A jet-black T-shirt which screams out “I’m Fucking Dynamite” in capital letters. Wrong on precisely six levels.
STRANGER DANGER: Code red.

Hip Parade – Dynamite

Rachel Sermanni
T-SHIRT VERDICT: The microscopically-sized passage of text reads: “And I watch as he wards off the dark / With the gift that the sun gave him / And I learn from the moon what we are / All alone, but alone in a sea of lonely stars”. Perfect if you want people to spend a good 30 seconds staring at your chest.
STRANGER DANGER: High.

Rachel Sermanni – Breathe Easy

We Were Promised Jetpacks
T-SHIRT VERDICT: No hint of the band name anywhere, just a pretty cool logo that will induce knowing nods of appreciation from fellow fans.
STRANGER DANGER: Low.

We Were Promised Jetpacks – Human Error

Nevada Base
T-SHIRT VERDICT: Another very well-crafted design – just a shame it is spoilt by the need to spell out the name of the band underneath.
STRANGER DANGER: Low.

Nevada Base – All The Things She Said (t.A.T.u. cover)

Woodenbox With A Fistful Of Fivers
T-SHIRT VERDICT: A prancing horse is good enough for Ferrari, which must makes Woodenbox the sexy supercar of Scottish indie bands. Or something.
STRANGER DANGER: Medium.

Woodenbox With A Fistful Of Fivers – Hang The Noose

Photos © The Pop Cop

Massive thanks to all the musicians who sent in T-shirts, as well as Jetpace Industries, the staff at Hummingbird, Millerston rugby ground, Unity Centre Glasgow and The Pop Cop’s lovely model, Louise.

Music blogging is such a selfish discipline, an autonomous vanity project in which you attempt to convince readers that your music taste is clearly so much better than the blog next door.

The quirky thing about having such an opinion-driven cartel is that you end up with lots of authors but very little authority. That might help explain why the opportunity to join forces with other bloggers in an effort to wield collective influence is so tempting.

Around 30 UK music websites, The Pop Cop included, contributed to a poll called The Blog Sound Of 2012. Its chief organiser is an English blogger who wanted to come up with an alternative to the BBC’s annual Sound Of poll, an understandable undertaking in light of the heinous Jessie J being deemed ‘the Sound Of 2011′.

Nevertheless, wilfully diluting the one commodity that sets you apart from everyone else – personal taste – doesn’t sit easily with me, and these polls have only reinforced that.

The remit of The Blog Sound Of was to supply “a list of five acts you’d like to see make it big in 2012″. However, I quickly realised the five I’d picked out were complete unknowns outside Scotland, thus rendering my selections rather pointless given the volume and demographic of bloggers being surveyed.

I therefore decided to sacrifice one of my choices in favour of a non-Scottish band who I thought might actually have a chance of being picked by other bloggers. And, wouldn’t you know, The Jezabels turned out to be the only one of my five selections who ended up on the longlist*.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this same, flawed thought process goes on in the heads of the 184 critics, presenters and producers who were surveyed for the BBC’s Sound Of 2012 poll. There’s little doubt that judges Vic Galloway, Ally McCrae, Jim Gellatly, Dave Kerr, David Pollock, Muslim Alim and Brian Paige are well-qualified to identify and nominate the best new acts Scotland has to offer, but even if all of their choices favoured indigenous talent, it would cause barely a ripple in the BBC poll given that their collective influence makes up less than 4% of the panel (which, incidentally, isn’t even close to representing Scotland in the UK proportionately).

And if the Scottish judges are also aware of the futility of championing a scene that is commonly ignored down south, who could blame them if they just gave their BBC votes to half-decent buzz bands who might actually have a chance of being in the final placings?

As a fanatic of new music, I’d much rather read about the tips of individuals I respect than a poll which, by its very nature, decrees that a group’s most unoriginal taste is its most important.

The Jezabels – Hurt Me

*The Blog Sound Of 2012 longlist:
Alt-J
Bastille
Beth Jeans Houghton
Daughter
French Wives
Friends
Houdini Dax
Lianne La Havas
Lucy Rose
Meursault
Outfit
The Good Natured
The Jezabels
Theme Park
Washington

The Save BBC Introducing in Scotland campaign is in its 60th day so it seems like a good time to let you know how things are progressing as we’ve made some enormous strides.

November 9: We were invited to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh to meet Joan McAlpine MSP, who has been the campaign’s most vocal and proactive supporter within the Scottish Government’s zanily-designed corridors. She and her researcher Gail Lythgoe were tremendously receptive – they were keen to find out what help we needed/wanted to move things forward and we spent about 45 minutes bouncing ideas around.

November 14: Meeting at BBC Scotland’s HQ in Pacific Quay, Glasgow with Bill Matthews, the BBC Trust’s representative in Scotland. Again, he seemed genuinely interested and inquisitive. At one point he quoted something I wrote in my first blog post about the campaign, which was quite surreal. The discussion was very much a fact-finding exercise for the BBC Trust in terms of just how important the radio show is at grassroots level, and Bill promised to pass on our eloquently-made points to the big chiefs in London.

November 20: Back to Pacific Quay, this time for a Save BBC Introducing in Scotland busk outside the BBC building, which fellow campaigner Paul Downie of Pelmet Nites organised single-handedly. I can’t speak more highly of Blochestra, Aerials Up, Ben Harrison from Bear Bones and Kobi Onyame, who all performed in incessant rain and possibly ruined some very expensive instruments in the process. There was a healthy turnout of about 50 sodden punters and we raised £50 for Children In Need.

The Sunday Herald’s Catriona Stewart and The Glaswegian’s Tristan Stewart-Robertson wrote these lovely words:

December 1: Politicians in Westminster discussed the BBC cuts in the House of Commons, and our campaign was brought up during the debate. Jings! You can see the momentous moment by skipping the video forward to 2:01:13:

Kudos to Pete Wishart MP for bringing the Save BBC Introducing campaign to the attention of Westminster – here’s what he said:

“People are taking the issue into their own hands. There’s one fantastic campaign… Introducing In is under threat by the BBC. It’s one of these great programmes that so many new artists and bands find they get the radio platform for the first time in their careers. It’s responsible for the early development of artists like Paolo Nutini and Calvin Harris. Bands like Biffy Clyro and Frightened Rabbit sent their first demos to Introducing In… this is now to go.

“Such has been the response to this little radio programme on Radio 1 that it’s already secured a petition of some 6,000 people – that is more per head of population than the petition to try and save Radio 6 [6Music], such is the concern about this. The individual identity and opportunity for bands from Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland will be lost. This isn’t a local service, this isn’t a regional service, this is a national service.”

Afterwards he posted these nuggets on Twitter:

So that’s where we’re at… now here’s where we’ll be:

December 12: Andrew Rankine, a bass/dubstep music producer and DJ who goes by the name of Tactus, is putting on a club night at Edinburgh’s Sneaky Pete’s to support the campaign. He’s also releasing a Save BBC Introducing In Scotland compilation album on December 19 through his ABAGA Records label – any musicians wanting to get one of their tracks on it should email info@abagarecords.com by December 8.

December 19: We’re heading down to London to meet Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, to discuss the campaign, along with our counterparts from Northern Ireland and Wales who are also working tirelessly to stop their own BBC Introducing shows from being axed. We’re hoping to bring someone with us to play a brief gig inside Westminster – there’ll be more info about that as soon as it’s confirmed. The night will be rounded off with a Pelmet Nites vs The Pop Cop Club Fandango DJ set at The Bull & Gate, London from 10pm-11pm.

December 20: We’ll be handing in the petition in person to the BBC Trust headquarters in London, a day before the BBC’s public consultation period ends.

Make sure you sign the Save BBC Introducing in Scotland petition and keep an eye on the Facebook page for further updates. While you’re at it, sign the Northern Ireland petition as well. Unity is strength as the campaign nears its conclusion.

Most importantly, keep listening to BBC Introducing in Scotland with Ally McCrae. That’s what it’s all about.

Aerials Up – I Am

Bear Bones – Rose Fever

For some, Christmas is an excuse to whinge about commercialisation, fret over political correctness, or smugly remind everyone that its most common customs and traditions have secular origins.

If you are one of these people, you might want to hit that little ‘X’ at the top-right corner of your screen. I know I can be a cynical mofo about a lot of things in life, but never Christmas.

I love nearly* everything about it – homebrewed mulled wine, the possibility of snow, turkey sandwiches, Christmas specials on the telly, panto, feelgood movies set in a New York winter, checkout girls in Santa hats, finding creative ways of wrapping presents after all the wrapping paper has run out and, of course, December 25 – the most magical day on the calendar.

I adore this time of year so much I’ve decided to cobble together the best festive-branded Scottish gigs in December. I have absolutely no idea how the addition of phrases such as “Christmas Party” or “Baubles” affects a four-band local bill but, like I said, this is a cynical-free month for The Pop Cop, so enjoy it while it lasts and get yourself merry.

*Not a fan of mince pies, oddly enough

GLASGOW
George Square (free gigs organised by Hear Glasgow Loves Christmas)
December 8: Suspire + Connor Graham/Ashkhan + Cherry Grove + Miaoux Miaoux + Open Swimmer (info)
December 15: Selective Service + Shambles Miller + Tragic O’Hara + Sonny Marvello + A Band Called Quinn (info)
December 22: Dave Jolly + Bigg Taj + Herculean + Black Bros + Bear Bones (info)
December 29: Katie Sutherland + Kith & Kin + The Frets + The Seventeenth Century + GoGoBot (info)
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy
December 13: Young Aviators EP Launch And Xmas Party featuring Young Aviators + Poor Things + Cubhood + Copper Lung
CCA
December 15: Fence Records’ Secret Xmas Party (info/tickets)
Stereo
December 16: A Phestive Phantomime featuring The Phantom Band + Holy Mountain + Tut Vu Vu (tickets)
December 17: A Phestive Phantomime featuring The Phantom Band + Take A Worm For A Walk Week + Jacob Yates And The Pearly Gate Lockpickers (tickets) (2-day tickets)
December 20: A Quiet Night In – Mini Christmas Party featuring Make Sparks + Orphans + Scarlet Shift + Skippy Dyes + Verse Metrics (tickets)
Captain’s Rest
December 18: Glasgow Podcart’s Nightmare Before Christmas featuring As In Bear + PAWS + Citizens + Lady North
13th Note Cafe
December 22: The Second Hand Marching Band’s Christmas Party! featuring Withered Hand + The Second Hand Marching Band + The Last Battle (tickets)

EDINBURGH
Banshee Labyrinth
December 2: Gerry Loves Xmas featuring Lady North + PAWS + Trapped In Kansas + Field Mouse + The Japanese War Effort (tickets)
St Stephen’s Centre
December 10: Song, by Toad Records Christmas Party featuring Meursault + The Leg + The Japanese War Effort + Yusuf Azak + King Post Kitsch + Rob St John + Ian Humberstone + Jesus H Foxx + Lach + Animal Magic Tricks + Inspector Tapehead (tickets)
Summerhall
December 17: Kid Canaveral’s Christmas Baubles II featuring Slow Club + Kid Canaveral + Standard Fare + Josie Long + Eagleowl + Martin John Henry + Sweet Baboo (sold out)
Voodoo Rooms
December 22: We Believe In Father Christmas featuring The Deadly Winters + The FiREBUGS + The Dirt
Sneaky Pete’s
December 28: Communion 1st Annual Christmas Party featuring Panda Su + Adam Holmes & The Embers (tickets)

ABERDEEN
Lemon Tree
December 16: Bedford Records Xmas Party featuring Indian Red Lopez + The Deportees + Velvet Audio + Stanley + The Maydays (tickets)
Tunnels
December 21: AGP Xmas Gig featuring Make Sparks + The Barents Sea + Ross Leighton (Fatherson) (tickets)

STIRLING
Tolbooth
December 16: Roddy Woomble’s Christmas Hootenanny featuring Roddy Woomble + Seonaid Aitken (tickets)

DUNDEE
Doghouse
December 24: The Doghouse Christmas Eve Party featuring The Law + Mass Consensus + Tiny Little Robots + The Secrets + The Brackets + Pilgrims Carnival

INVERNESS
Ironworks
December 28: The Ironworks Winter Showcase #1 featuring He Slept On 57 + Iain McLaughlin & The Outsiders + Homework + Roadway + Sara Bills & The Hasbeens + Megan Blyth + Red Ronson + The Little Mill Of Happiness (tickets)
December 29: The Ironworks Winter Showcase #2 featuring The Whisky River Band + KOBI + Red Kites + Midnight Glory feat Graham Brown + Toby Michaels + The Frues + Ashley MacKay + Abagail Grey (tickets)

Christmas Leftovers
- You can download a free Hear Glasgow Loves Christmas compilation, which includes this cracker:
Katie Sutherland ft Ed Drewett – It’s Cold Outside by Hear Glasgow!

- Stanley Odd have launched an Oddvent Calendar, which will provide a new piece of content each day in the form of video diaries, unseen footage and unreleased music. In addition, the band will give away a free download every Friday that will make up their new EP, A Motely Assortment Of Things.

- Favourite Son is asking readers to make Secret Santa mixtapes for each other, while fellow blogger Aye Tunes has his annual Readers’ Poll.

- If you subscribe to the Fence Records’ Chart Ruse EP series before December 16 you will receive a Christmas Card and mini CD containing Withered Hand’s Christmas song Real Snow.

- Happy Particles are releasing their debut album Under Sleeping Waves on Christmas Day.

- And, most excitingly, There Will Be Fireworks have promised to play In Excelsis Deo – the most glorious Christmas song ever written by a Scottish band – at Stereo in Glasgow on December 18 (info/tickets). Also on the bill are your soon-to-be new favourite band Friends In America, the best thing to happen to 2012.

Altogether now: “Well, I can’t wait for Christmas…”

There Will Be Fireworks – In Excelsis Deo

Everyone has their own survival story about December 2010 in Scotland and the most brutal winter week in living memory.

Mine involves standing in the middle of the busiest motorway in the country, trying to push cars and vans up a slip road buried somewhere beneath thick layers of snow and ice. Fun times.

The inaugural Glasgow Popfest had the misfortune of taking place during this savage cold snap. With Scotland being pummelled into submission, the Monumental Freeze wreaked havoc with the schedule and forced the absence of not just ticket-holders, but several bands too.

It’s no wonder the organisers, local label Bubblegum Records, described it as an “endurance test”.

Last year, fans were left shivering in host venues Stereo and SWG3 in particular, so it’s understandable punters have been promised “lots and lots of heating” when Glasgow Popfest returns from December 8-11 in the infinitely more cosy surroundings of city-centre café/bar Heavenly.

Billed as a not-for-profit event (anything they do make goes to the Drake Music Scotland charity), the second annual celebration of indie pop features bands from as far afield as USA, Spain, Germany, Norway and Sweden, an exclusive collection of contemporary artwork by Manda Rin of Bis fame, and a couple of screenings at the GFT – the premiere of BMX Bandits documentary Serious Drugs and highlights from now-defunct BBC Scotland music show The Beat Room.

Thursday, December 8 (free)
20:00 Park
20:45 Asleep
21:30 Cineplexx
22:15 The Understudies

Friday, December 9
19:15 The Spook School
20:00 Bubblegum Lemonade
20:45 The Starlets
21:30 The Hardy Boys
22:15 Manda Rin and The Rinettes
23:00 The Amphetameanies

Saturday, December 10
17:15 Standard Fare
18:00 The Hobbes Fanclub
18:45 Nico’s Bike
19:30 Cola Jet Set
20:15 Westfield Mining Disaster
21:00 Edinburgh School For The Deaf
21:45 Zipper
22:30 Tender Trap

Sunday, December 11
14:30 Serious Drugs (GFT)
15:40 The Beat Room (GFT)
19:00 Baffin Island
20:00 Lenzie Moss
20:45 The Electric Pop Group
21:30 Maple Leaves
22:15 BMX Bandits

Tickets for Friday to Sunday gigs at Heavenly are available here, while tickets for Serious Drugs/The Beat Room screenings at GFT are available here.

Maple Leaves – Easy Speak

Orpheus Descending by Edinburgh School For The Deaf