Admiral Fallow, Popcop, Festivals, New Studios and more:

Photo: Luke G Joyce

Words: Olaf Furniss and Derick Mackinnon, copyright The Scotsman Newspaper



This month, Glasgow six-piece Admiral Fallow created our Track of the Month. Their recent performance at T In The Park was outstanding.
Subbuteo is taken from their incredible debut album Boots Met My Face scheduled for release on Lo-Five records in the autumn. The band play King Tuts tonight. Check out www.myspace.com/admiralfallow
for full details.

We were pleased to see the return of the excellent Popcop blog, after it was briefly shut down due to a mistake by its hosts, Google. As Scotland’s representative in the global Music Alliance Pact, which boasts 36 member sites, it has an important role to play by recommending Scottish artists to its foreign friends. Moreover, Popcop’s forum is a lively source of debate and the site has a great bunch of links. Visit the all new site at: www.thepopcop.co.uk

Glasgow’s newly renovated studio space, House Practice Studios, is calling on bands to get in touch to perform at the venue launch in August. The owners aim to make the two sites into places bands can hang out, get advice and record in a relaxed space. Email: alan@housepractisestudios.com

Festival season continues across Scotland and we are particularly excited by Doune The Rabbit Hole, taking place at Doune Castle on 30-31 July. Not only does it offer UTR favourites such as Meursault, Withered Hand and Rozi Plain, it has a retro twist with nouveaux mods Modus and Le Bof. Any money made will go to the charity, the National Deaf Children’s Society. www.dounetherabbithole.co.uk

Up near Beauly on 6-7 August, the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival features several Scottish artists including Edinburgh Ska masters Bombskare and local stars such as Rachel Sermanni and Colin MacIntyre, as well as Woodenbox With A Fistful of Fivers, Young Fathers, Unicorn Kid, Twin Atlantic and Amy MacDonald. www.tartanheartfestival.co.uk Belladrum is now Sold Out.

Meanwhile the Greenside Hotel in Leslie will be hosting Gig In The Car Park on 7-8 August, with more than 40 emerging acts. The bill boasts a strong local presence, with Healthy Minds Collapse, Crayons, The Manikees, The Lost Generation, Tango In The Attic and Ambulances all on the bill. www.myspace.com/sundaylattepromotions

The Wizard Festival takes place 30 miles outside Aberdeen on 27-28 August, with emerging stars Hip Parade, Roots System and Pearl & The Puppets joining Sandi Thom and the Happy Mondays. www.wizardfestival.com

Back in the capital a huge range of events caters for all kinds of tastes in August, with most focusing heavily on local talent. The Edge www.theedgefestival.com is the largest and takes place across many city venues. Acoustic Edinburgh www.acousticedinburgh.com features an eclectic line up which includes an unplugged set by hip-hop act Stanley Odd.

Taking place on 28-29 August, Retreat www.retreatfestival.co.uk in St Paul’s Church on Pilrig Street provides an excellent opportunity to hear some great local bands. Finally, the Forest Fringe www.forestfringe.co.uk will host a plethora of amazing talent throughout the month, as well as the electronica Ultrachip Festival on 21-22 August.

l Olaf and Derick run Scottish music scene social night Born To Be Wide, which on 5 August will host a celebration of Edinburgh’s music scene at Electric Circus on Market Street, including competitions to win tickets for the various music festivals taking place in the city during August. See www.borntobewide.co.uk

Visit www.scotsman.com/undertheradar/Under-the-Radar.6445290.jp for full info and www.scotsman.com/undertheradar for more news

Born To Be Wide Wed 9 – Fri 11 June goNorth Festival Ramada Jarvis Hotel, Church Street, Inverness 08 JUNE 2010 Born To Be Wide returns to goNORTH Festival, Wed 9 – Fri 11 June Calling all Bands / Music people: FREE Entry to music industry seminars, workshops and live showcases. It’s open to under 18s, emerging bands, seasoned professionals, entrepreneurs, budding managers, music fans – everyone! Get a 20% Discount at Highlander Hostel phone 01463 221 225 and quote ‘Born To Be Wide’. This hostel has filled up fast, we also recommend Inverness Student Hostel, where we have a number of press folk staying, phone: 01463 236 556 and let them know we said to get in touch goNorth Fringe on Wed 9 June at Inverness Ironworks Cheap bus tickets from www.megabus.com Full details on what’s happening from WWW.GONORTH.BIZ Born To Be Wide/New Found Sound team will also be on hand to introduce you to our guests, our friends in the press, goNorth staff and generally be helpful, let us know who you are, when you’re heading north and come say hello to us! ABOUT BORN TO BE WIDE Born To Be Wide was launched in February 2004 to provide a meeting place for those involved or interested in the Scottish music scene. A diverse range of musicians, journalists, promoters, label owners and friends of music, invited to play their all-time favourite records unless they were by Morrissey or Joy Division. Since April 2008 the night has hosted seminars covering subjects such as How To Get A Gig, Unveiling The Mind Of A Music Journalist, How To Get On The Radio, Music Management, and a Norwegian-special titled Play Norway. In February it celebrated its 6th birthday with a special German night which included a seminar, a live show by Berlin band Jeans Team and a DJ set by the Consul General. Born To Be Wide also organised the Wide Days conference and showcase event in Edinburgh on April 8, which included leading digital music experts, music lawyers and managers, as well as bringing together all of Scotland’s key festival promoters on one platform. Born To Be Wide, also co-hosted a weekend of new Scottish talent in Berlin on May 21-22. Five Scottish acts performed the city’s largest open air music event, Karneval Der Kulturen, which attracted over 1million people. Contact us: derick@newfoundsound.co.uk THE SCOTSMAN: Under The Radar Published Monday 31st May 2010 May 10/ June 10 – Track of the Month: STANLEY ODD ‘The Numbness’ Click photo to read and listen

The Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh
Saturday 16 January

Tonight, the Wee Red feels more like a sit-down session than a gig. Lounged-out upholstery speckles the venue and scores of incoming punters are making best use of the situation by parking their posteriors and slurping slowly on cheap ale. Perhaps it’s an indictment of the Edinburgh music scene’s languid start to 2010, but the lethargy that permeates Trampoline’s first outing of the year is almost tangible.

Some sympathy, then, must be lent to Thomas Western. The uphill battle of stirring the sleepy masses is challenging enough. To do it armed with just an acoustic guitar and a frail, threadbare voice borders on lunacy. Yet Western is nothing if not persistent and he gets to work belting out polished, folksy matter like a bull-headed street preacher oblivious to his surroundings.

The trouble with such brittle laments is that they’re the perfect accompaniment for idle chit-chat. And as the Derby-born songwriter coos through a set of muted reflection the escalating hum of conversation drowns out his tender tones. Such gentle purring will always find a home in Edinburgh’s troubadour-hugging bosom, but Western’s downtrodden songsmithery and reticent mannerisms lack the sufficient hypnosis to engage attention, never mind clear the cobwebs of the post-festive period malaise.

Fortunately, Over the Wall are on hand to shake off the slumber. Bleeding positivity, the Glasgow duo of Ben Hillman and Gav Prentice launch into an ebullient indie pop spectacle that resuscitates the comatosed crowd. Squeezing out hyperactive, synth-spangled romps like they’ve sniffed an ounce of aural laxative, the spectrum of keys, brass and guitar played at breakneck speed is an irresistible kickstart that finally lifts the Wee Red to its feet.

This shot of adrenaline is underpinned by a craft that belies the pairing’s delinquent playfulness. Cornerstoned by generous slivers of melody layered over complex rhythms, the band’s meticulous arrangements make a mockery of their self-effacing claims. Closing number ‘Thurso’ is a prime example of this embellished guile: slow paced and preening, it takes shape as a trumpeting crescendo that has palms clapping, feet stomping and hearts racing. It’s all to the beat of a band, undoubtedly, on the rise.

With ear-canals fully lubricated, an air of expectancy greets the arrival of headliners How to Swim. Jostling for space on the Wee Red’s not-inconsiderable floor, the nine-sided ensemble din like no-one else. A plunder of brass, string and percussion detonates as an avant-garde trill; below this wall of instrumentation lies Ink Wilson’s unmistakable crow, desperate to orchestrate cohesion amidst the chaos.

It’s an exhilarating trip that spoons myriad styles into one brilliant, bubbling pot. Trouble is, there’s just too many cooks stirring in too many ingredients. There’s no doubting the quality of the compositions – each is an intelligent slab of voluptuous art-pop – but the sheer scope feels disorientating and overwhelming. By constantly showcasing the entire suite of instruments, the set becomes a dishevelled sprawl that loses focus and, sadly, becomes ineffectual. For sure, How to Swim have created an impenetrable sonic shield, but tonight they could benefit from letting a few people in.

As the final notes fade from stage to be replaced by the sound of bombastic applause, one thing is achingly clear: In the space of just three hours, Edinburgh’s live music scene has finally kicked into gear.

Words: Billy Hamilton
Photos: Su Anderson

[Over the Wall: testing out the Trampoline on Saturday]

Please bear with us while we try out a yet another format to our weekly gig round-up…

Radar Recommends started out as a small selection of the best gigs in Scotland. Then its scope got wider with less critique. Now we’re aiming for the middle ground.

Every Friday we’ll write short previews about the most eye-catching gigs of the week ahead, then give you the bigger picture with the calendar below.

If we’re inundated with complaints we will, of course, change it back.

A Scottish Songbook
Saturday @ Glasgow Royal Concert Hall / 7.30pm / £16 – £20
Among the array of Celtic Connections options this week, this one could be pretty interesting. The festival directors have chosen classics and hidden gems from the vast archives of Scottish songwriting, for performers including Emma Pollock, King Creosote and Kris Drever.

Trampoline: How To Swim, Over the Wall, Thomas Western
Saturday @ Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh / 7pm / £5
Yet another tip-top line-up from Trampoline. How to Swim and Thomas Western both featured here in 2009, and we hope to put right the Over the Wall omission very soon. Because they’re superb.

St Deluxe, Stuart Braithwaite, Will Carruthers (DJ set), Joe Foster (DJ set)
Sunday @ Mono, Glasgow / 7pm / Free
Noisy, fuzzy St Deluxe and a solo set by the Mogwai man makes for an excellent free night out at the launch of a touring exhibition of work by artist Natty Brooker (best known for his collaborations with Spacemen 3 and Spiritualzed).

Comanechi, Divorce, Holy Mountain
Monday @ Captain’s Rest, Glasgow / 8pm / £5
Ear-ringing should come as standard as Londoners Comanechi are suitably teamed with shouty Glaswegians Divorce – definitely one to see – and heavy improvisation from duo Holy Mountain.

[Dananananaykroyd: in the running for award. Photo: Su Anderson]

In an attempt to stave off the general ennui of the first few weeks of the year, when we’re all coming to terms with the return to work/school/studies and the weather’s still pelting us with sub-zero sleet, people make up awards.

Have a glitzy, booze-fuelled party and cheer up, the thinking goes.

Earlier this week we told you about the Scottish Alternative Music Awards (see below), and today we’ve got wind of a few more.

Radio station Xfm have launched their New Music Awards for 2010, which considers any bands who have released a debut album over the past year. You can vote for whoever you like here, but they have published a list of suggestions, which includes Scots acts Broken Records, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Wake the President and Dananananaykroyd.

But as long as La Roux doesn’t win we’ll be happy.

In other award-related news, Under the Radar is up for another gong, in the Scotblog Awards 2010. As anyone could nominate anyone, there’s a massive longlist of 142 Scottish blogs, and you can vote for as many as you like. Other music sites in the running include The Pop Cop, Peenko and Aye Tunes.

Cast your vote here.

And finally… Celtic Connections starts in Glasgow today, with over 200 artists set to take the stage over the next fortnight. There are opportunities aplenty to discover new talent, especially at the Danny Kyle Open Stage, and we’ll pick a few of our favourites in Radar Recommends this week and next.

Got any other Scottish music news tips? Send them to utr.scotsman@gmail.com or get in touch via Twitter

Scots bands at Eurosonic

Two of Scotland’s most blogged-about bands will be playing a music industry conference in Holland this week that acts as a showcase for summer festival bookers across Europe.

A disproportionately high number of agents, promoters and bookers will be in the crowd when Broken Records and We Were Promised Jetpacks (pictured) ply their live wares at the Eurosonic conference in Groningen, which takes place from Thursday to Saturday.

Developments at SL Records

Edinburgh-based SL Records have announced that they’re now working with local anti-folk dude, Les Enfant Bastard. They have three of the songwriter’s lo-fi albums available and reveal that he’s currently working on a new, Gameboy-inspired LP. More info here.

In other SL-related news, Paul Vickers and The Leg are to return with a new album in February. Itchy Grumble is billed, intriguingly, as “a rock opera album concept; an epic in which an immortal anti-hero is given the task of revolving a lighthouse on the Firth of Forth.”

You can listen to some of the album tracks on the SL Records site.

Festivals off

After a grim year for Scotland’s major music festivals in 2009, it looks like 2010 isn’t going to be a whole lot better. Connect, Outsider, Big in Falkirk, Live at Loch Lomond and EH1 are among festivals shelved in the wake of poor ticket sales and funding problems. The more established events, including T in the Park, Rock Ness, Wickerman and Belladrum, are to go ahead as planned.

Full story in The Scotsman.

Festivals on

But it’s not all bad news, especially if you prefer a smaller-scale festival experience. Two such events which debuted in Glasgow last year are set to make their return. Stag & Dagger, a one-night, multi-venue event which last year featured the likes of Cold War Kids and The Phantom Band, returns on Saturday 22 May. And Hinterland, a similar event over two days which had well-documented problems with ticket sales, makes a surprising return, but (perhaps having learned their lesson) takes place on a single weekend day, Saturday 3 April.

And that’s not all. Edinburgh gets in on the action with a brand new mini arts festival at the end of this month. Hidden Door takes over the Roxy Art House and The Bowery with a wide selection of leftfield delights, from the bright electro of RBRBR to the anarchic racket of The Leg.

Polls open in alt music awards

Promoter Richy Muirhead has launched his Scottish Alternative Music Awards for 2010. Anyone can vote in the four rock-focussed categories, with bands featured including UtR-tipped names like Trapped in Kansas, Bronto Skylift and The Darien Venture. The winners will be announced at a ceremony at Classic Grand, Glasgow on 24 February. More info here.

Words: Nick Mitchell

Got any other Scottish music news tips? Send them to utr.scotsman@gmail.com or get in touch via Twitter

The 13th Note, Glasgow
Friday 8 January

Tonight brings both celebration and sadness for We Sink Ships. Ostensibly a launch party for WSS Radio, the Glasgow based art and music collective’s new podcast series, the gig was also a farewell to the duo’s Neil Milton – whose contributions will now come from his new home in Warsaw.

It may mark a new chapter in We Sink Ships history but this promising line-up boasts some familiar names. Euan McMeeken opens without his Kays Lavelle cohorts, performing solo material as well as stripped-down versions of tracks from the septet’s upcoming debut album.

Without his colleagues, McMeeken’s music is a different beast – fragile, simple, like the sound of a Christmas card-perfect snow scene. It sounds like the city looks tonight – delicate flurries of piano notes fall like snowflakes and McMeeken’s voice is whispery and emotive despite microphone problems.

If McMeeken’s music is all Scottish winter love songs then Iceland’s Benni Hemm Hemm is going to see your silly Scottish winters and raise you some arctic permafrost. “I might be making fun of you for thinking this is cold,” says band foreman Benedict Hermmannson, introducing a song he claims is about “when you’re trapped inside because of the weather and the only thing to do is attack your loved ones’”

Sporting a reindeer emblazoned novelty sweater, he sings in a mixture of heavily-accented English and Icelandic with the benefit of brass accompaniment from the Second Hand Marching Band. Although the set dips a little in the middle, by the end voice and instruments combine in a way which can only be described as joyous.

Is it cliché now to joke that the Second Hand Marching Band are getting too big for the ‘Note? It’s just that when part of your improvised instrumentation involves your ukulele player using the ceiling as percussion it’s one that’s hard to avoid. There isn’t much that can be said about the many-headed group that we haven’t said before, unless it’s to remark that live their sound is even more charmingly ramshackle than it is on record.

While tracks from early EPs still dominate the set, new material sounds promising – there’s a gentle sea-shanty style song, with sweet male-female vocals, and the epic ‘A Hurricane, A Thunderstorm’ which closes the set. This is supposed to be the band’s last show for a few months, while they disappear to work on more recordings, and it’s a good note to end on.

We Sink Ships will appear every Tuesday on Radio Magnetic with top fives, sets from Neil Milton and Heidi Kuisma and guest DJs, as well as the podcasted return of Milton’s Too Many Fireworks label.

Words and photos: Lisa Marie Ferla

Radar Recommends is back from its Christmas vacation and is – conversely – slimmer than ever.

The first weeks of the year are always quiet on the social front so this is another condensed version of the gig guide.

Glaswegians will at least be treated to the folky charms of Celtic Connections for a fortnight from next Thurday, and the Danny Kyle Open Stage is of particular interest to those in search of a discovery or two.

But apart from that it’s slim pickings, save for the likes of Super Adventure Club (pictured)…

Saturday 9th

Jackie Treehorn, Liars Dice @ Moorings Bar, Aberdeen, 8pm, £3
Jonathan Carr, Heart Beats, Gallus Fever @ King Tut’s, Glasgow, 8.30pm, £5

Monday 11th

Michael Simons @ Tchai Ovna, Glasgow, 8pm, £2
Jackie Treehorn @ Henry’s Cellar Bar, Edinburgh, 8pm, £tbc

Tuesday 12th

Jackie Treehorn, Vasquez @ The 13th Note, Glasgow, 8pm, £4

Wednesday 13th

An Evening With Henry Rollins @ O2 Academy, Glasgow, 7pm, £17.50

Thursday 14th

Ten Tracks Presents: Super Adventure Club @ Stereo, Glasgow, 8pm, £1
A Band Called Quinn @ King Tut’s, Glasgow, 8.30pm, £5
The Mill: I See Shapes, Belgrade @ Oran Mor, Glasgow, 7pm, Free but ticketed

Friday 15th

The Ordinary Allstars @ The Jazz Bar, Edinburgh, midnight – 3am
Come On Gang, Little Doses, Lean Tales, Around Zero @ Capitol, Glasgow, 8pm, £tbc
Danny Kyle’s Open Stage (Celtic Connections) @ Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, 5pm, Free

What have we missed? Tell us below, or add it to our gig guide by emailing utr.scotsman@gmail.com

If you’re an avid consumer of music journalism you could be forgiven at this time of year for picturing every blogger and critic to look like John McCririck.

OK, maybe they don’t look like the Ascot-frequenting eccentric, but they’re all having a go at being excitable tipsters.

Perhaps the most high profile formcard for the year ahead is the BBC’s Sound of 2010, which today crowned Ellie Goulding as the artist primed for stardom. Having already vented about the selection process behind their shortlist, I’ll refrain from any more cynicism now, but the comment from Drunk Country on our original editorial is worth a read.

Over the festive period a few of our writers offered their own Scottish tips for 2010, but we have refrained from compiling a thorough run-down or poll of the most exciting acts of the moment.

Why? Because that’s essentially what we’ve been doing for the past year anyway. The bands and artists we have profiled have been emergent by definition, the vast majority of them unsigned. If 2009 was the year of their formation, or the year they started gigging or self-released an EP, perhaps 2010 is the year they’ll ‘make it’ – and I’ll let you be the judge of what ‘making it’ entails.

Some of our choices from the class of 2009 – Withered Hand, North Atlantic Oscillation, There Will Be Fireworks, Copy Haho, Panda Su, to name a select few – are already growing their audience beyond the cosy confines of the Scottish scene. Others will undoubtedly come to nothing and fade back into obscurity. As any pundit will tell you though, that’s the risk you take in this game.

But like everyone else, we can’t resist the appeal of the crystal ball, so I’ll add a few more new names that have recently appeared as blips on our collective radar:

Django Django
Nomogram
The Last Battle
Midnight Lion
miaoux miaoux
Three Blind Wolves (Ross Clark’s renamed band)

Who are you tipping for 2010? Do you actually look like John McCririck? Let us know…

I find it hard to explain quite how much I loved Aereogramme. But simply put, it was a sad, sad day when they played their last gig.

So when a little item appeared on a Chemikal Underground mailout earlier this year along the lines of “Craig B’s been working on some new stuff”, it was like a whacking great jolt of excitement.

The Unwinding Hours, as you’ll know from their UtR profile in November, is a new project from Craig B and Iain Cook, debuting at Celtic Connections Chemikal showcase on 31 January; just typing those words brings a buzz to my fingers.

I can’t pretend to know if they will make it big, but I do feel they fully deserve to.

The Unwinding Hours: Knut

Who is your tip for 2010? Comment now or forever hold your peace…

Edinburgh’s Come On Gang had a good 2009, winning hearts and minds all over with their own style of ragged pop-rock. A successful string of appearances at festivals such as Rockness, Reading & Leeds and T in the Park in the summer is already behind them, as well as a spot at Texas’ SXSW showcase in March.

They play catchy melody-centred pop with a bit of edge, the kind of accessible indie that could quite easily garner mainstream attention. They may hardly be undiscovered, but I’ll be surprised if 2010 doesn’t see this trio take another step up the ladder to wider exposure.

Who is your tip for 2010? Let us know below…

Bronto Skylift, who we first featured in the run-up to their T in the Park show, give rock fans everywhere hope for the future of their genre, argues Ryan Drever…

I’ve been lucky enough to worm my way into an unholy number of gigs this year, and found myself awestruck and frustrated by the vast number of kick-ass Scottish acts that have previously escaped my attention. Rather than punish myself for being so far off the ball I’m playing an entirely different sport: I took it upon myself to make up for lost time.

In my valiant quest I saw so many great bands that truly blew my mind that it would be difficult to pick just one, but in terms of the most fun I had and perhaps the most ridiculously over the top show I’ve had the privilege to be a part of, I would have to nominate Bronto Skylift.

Tearing up stage after stage from festivals to caravans, sometimes playing Glasgow three or four times in the same week and nearly always ending up on the floor, in the crowd or on the tables, Bronto spent 2009 scaring some, charming others and deafening most with their brilliant, pounding noise.

It’s perhaps not always the easiest thing to listen to on record – though the band’s EP The Bearded Fish and The Jackalope gets a good step closer – but there is no denying the draw of the band’s audacious live presence and home-spun artwork.

Not to be confused with a two man novelty act, this pair possess enough chops to charm (or rather, melt) the ears off anybody yet to be convinced. Well, it worked for me.

Bronto Skylift: Danny Glover Isn’t Dead

Bronto Skylift: Eagle Falcon

OK, let’s get the niggling doubts out of the way first.

Yes, There Will Be Fireworks alternate rather too diametrically between quiet and (very) loud in that tried and tested post-rock manner. Yes, anyone who runs at the mere mention of the word ‘earnest’ will balk at some of the gushy sentiment. And yes, there is a feeling that their ship may have sailed, with the success of aesthetically similar bands like Frightened Rabbit, My Latest Novel et al.

But… I don’t subscribe to any of these caveats. In all honesty there have been perhaps a handful of new Scottish acts this year who really (and I mean REALLY) impressed me, and TWBF lead the pack.

I think it was their shameless, sky-high ambition that first landed its hooks on me. Without any commercial backing, to go away and record a debut album of such beauty and depth (the whole thing flows like a chilly Scottish burn) comes across like an affront to the usual way bands start out – tentative EP release, followed by another, then perhaps a long-player.

But a watertight test of music is its longevity, and the TWBF LP, along with the likes of Merriweather Post Pavillion, Veckatimest and Fever Ray, has maintained its position as one of the most-played new albums on my MP3 player this year. I can’t think of a better barometer than that.

As well as making an excellent album in 2009, TWBF managed to wreck their tour van, appear on STV daytime, blow the roof off any venue they played (metaphorically), write a Christmas song and are rumoured to be well on their way to album number two. Band of the year at a canter.

Under the Radar writer Lisa-Marie Ferla looks back on her transatlantic adventures of the past year and the music that soundtracked it…

Like many such stories, this one starts with a boy.

His name? Dan Willson. Quiet, unassuming and I doubt he noticed me that night in the 13th Note. The man behind Withered Hand (pictured above) was dishevelled and delirious and concentrating on his songs, these intensely personal, angst-ridden ramblings at once beautiful and profane. Eyes closed, he probably didn’t even notice the girls in the front row singing their lungs out to his ‘Religious Songs’ like another kind of hymn.

The thing is though, there was another boy. In the dying days of the job I lost earlier this year I saw a message on Twitter that Nick Mitchell and Under the Radar were looking for writers and, armed only with a promo CD by a Glasgow-based electronic act called The Lava Experiments who had seen my own blog I thought I would give it a bash. Nick knew who I was, vaguely – one of my photos of singer-songwriter Beerjacket had actually ended up on the site a few weeks previously – and the interview I put together was good enough to merit me being taken on.

2009 has been a bit of a rollercoaster year for me, but as I have struggled to come to terms with my changing place in the world the opportunity offered to me as a writer for UtR has opened my ears to a whole new world for a girl who, musically, has always looked towards the horizon. That’s not me saying that my taste is expansive, incidentally – more like the music I listen to tends to sound like roadtrips and car chases and epic American sunsets.

There has been a lot of navel-gazing, on this site and others, recently – talk that the Scottish music blogosphere “bigs up” its own undeservedly. It made me laugh because, for years, I turned away from the local. Scottish music was, to me, Texas and my much-loathed Belle and Bloody Sebastian, and the fact that half of Sauchiehall Street wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for MySpace and everybody’s kid brother in some dreadful Britpop tribute band. So focussed was I on my limited edition US import alternative country vinyl that I was oblivious to the wealth of talent on my own doorstep.

This year I saw a US legend older than my father go down a storm at a rainy Hampden Park, and punched the air as my new favourite band rocked a basement in Cincinnati, Ohio. I cried along to my favourite song in the world, live; and blew a kiss at Elvis Presley’s grave (after having my photo taken in front of the plane that bears my name and that of his daughter’s). But among all of these adventures, two moments stand out: both of which were punctuated by Scottish bands and both of which couldn’t have taken place further from my blustery Glasgow home.

It was February, as London ground to a halt in the middle of the sort of snowstorm we turn our noses up at north of the border my best friend and I fought to make the train that would take us away for a birthday week in Bath. As I tried to drag my little wheeled suitcase along a particularly treacherous pavement, cheeky voices in rough harmony poured out from my earphones. “Don’t go outside in the rain and the snow!” warned the Second Hand Marching Band (above), but while it was too late for us at least we made it to Paddington in time.

Halfway across the world, another friend and I crossed the Wolf River from Memphis into Arkansas just to say that we did. As we turned around for the drive back into Tennessee a tremendous crack of lightning split the sky in half, and I caught my breath even as the in-car playlist hummed along with some live version of Frightened Rabbit’s ‘Good Arms vs Bad Arms’. What I went to America to find, the sound of my soul, was reflected in a band with its roots not a hundred miles from my home.

What a ride. Joyous, life-affirming and essential. In 2010, I continue my education, and I can’t wait to hear what’s out there. An album for Julia and the Doogans, hmmm?

Withered Hand: No Cigarettes

The Lava Experiments – The Release

Second Hand Marching Band – A Dance to Half Death

Julia and the Doogans – New York

Midnight Lion, a duo comprised of former Drive-by Argument men, Stewart Brock and Lewis Gardiner, unleashed a few home-recorded tracks just a couple of months ago and already, people (particularly industry folks) are practically soiling themselves with excitement.

Taking a darker approach to electronic pop music, these two have managed to create a spacious yet slick sound, all from the confines of Gardiner’s bedroom, and with a neat bit of radio play, a growing online fanbase and rabid industry attention, this looks like it could very well be one of next year’s success stories.

UtR co-editor Billy Hamilton has been a vocal champion of his band of the year, both in our podcasts and in their profile feature back in June. Here he explains their (sometimes divisive) appeal…

2009 has been a dichotomous beast in terms of my musical fancy.

I started the year immersed in rich melodic folk. Now, at the end of the turkey-gorging season, I find myself cocooned by lightning-whipped electronica – a retreat I’m growing rather fond of, it must be said.

With this resting partially in mind then, my band of choice for the past 365 days has to be Edinburgh duo Dead Boy Robotics (DBR).

But it’s not because they’re the outfit I consider to be the most complete or impressive. No, quite simply, I cannot think of one act that has transformed quite so astonishingly in the space of just 12 months as DBR.

This time last year DBR were, in my mind at least, a plastecine-cast pairing exuding the obligatory pastiche of the hipster mass. I’d say Nick [Mitchell, UtR’s editor-in-chief] perfectly surmised DBR circa-2008 when he described them as “synth prodding wankery” (a pull quote that became their ironic MySpace strap line).

Yet, with 2010 on the horizon DBR are a band with one foot in the future. Tooled up with gun-totting synth and a penchant for pulsing tribal rhythm, Mike and Gregor are flying the flag for the criminally overlooked half of Auld Reekie’s creative undercurrent.

Their chaotic asylum-dwelling sound is founded on a throb of electro-bending and prolonged dog-like yelping. Live, it’s exhilarating: The duo meticulously build gigantic soundstacks that pierce the eardrums like the wrong side of a pneumatic pin-cushion.

On record, they’re yet to do themselves justice, but that’s what makes DBR such an exciting proposition. It’s not what they can do that matters. It’s what they could do that really counts.

Words: Billy Hamilton

DBR: As Children We Fear The Dark (part 1)

DBR: We Drown Ourselves (Cartographer Exhales)

Who was your artist or band of 2009? Let us know below…

David Byrne, Glasgow Concert Hall
31 March

No grassroots event this, but Dumbarton-born David Byrne’s show in the classical setting of the Glasgow Concert Hall was at least a pseudo-Scottish event.

And frankly I’d be telling a lie if I chose any other gig as the best I witnessed this year.

Why? Part of it must have been that strange feeling of collective awe when a roomful of lifelong fans is finally sat face-to-face with one of their musical idols – even if it was from a distant balcony seat in my case.

Byrne restricted the scope of the gig to his work with Brian Eno, but seeing as the famed studio boffin produced three of Talking Heads’ best albums, that certainly didn’t make for a defiantly obscure song selection.

Byrne has always conducted himself as a multi-faceted artist, a New York Renaissance Man, so the appearance of a trio of modern ballet dancers wasn’t exactly a shock (it actually worked well as a visual accoutrement).

What was more surprising was just how great an entertainer the silver-haired Byrne still is at the age of 56, and the entire crowd of fanboys and girls defied the conventions of the venue and were off their seats for the latter portion of the night, when Byrne & band blazed through songs like Burning Down the House and Crosseyed & Painless.

I don’t meant to dismiss the exploits of Scotland’s younger generation by picking a middle-aged Manhattanite as my live performer of the year, but Byrne was clearly still proud of his roots, and – for what’s it’s worth – he would no doubt be impressed by the music scene if he still lived here.

(For the record, my favourite smaller gigs of the year included The Japanese War Effort supporting Meursault at The Bowery, We Were Promised Jetpacks and Findo Gask’s triumphant sets at T in the Park, the mesmerising Rob St John at Edinburgh’s Retreat all-dayer, and an early Dupec show at Sneaky Pete’s.)

What was your gig of 2009? Let us know below…

The most notable new Scottish act of 2009 for me has been Edinburgh hardcore quintet Shields Up.

Despite only forming in March, they managed to self-record their debut album (released on local label Wasted State Records in October) and have completed three UK tours, playing any number of gigs in between – all while holding down full-time jobs.

It’s a hardworking schedule that any band could be proud of, and was a deliberate choice, as singer James Johnson explains: “That was the plan from the start I think. Me and Jak (Camoletto, drums) have spent over ten years playing in bands so we knew what we had to do and decided to do it quickly.”

Their self-titled debut was recorded over the course of a week or two at home, and the result is a blistering blast of unpretentious rock. The 13 tracks certainly don’t overstay their welcome, flying by in less than 25 minutes.

But where the band really come into their own is live. The frenetic pace and enthusiasm of their performances have been one of the highlights of my musical year. As Jak puts it: “We just want to have fun and our idea of fun is partying with loud music”.

It’s their no-frills attitude, quality tunes and unbridled energy that make Shields Up my choice for new Scottish act of the year.

Shields Up – Death Of You

Andrew Manson of Glasgow band Other People, who we featured last month, argues that the real meaning of Christmas can’t be found on Amazon.co.uk…

Christmas is a funny beast. I always let out a shudder when those picket fence voices first float out of my TV singing ‘holidays are coming’, but by the end of the 25th I’m usually fairly in swing with at least part of the ’spirit’.

Not yo-ho-ho-ing down the local community centre or anything, but I will have at least pulled a cracker and donned a party hat or two. Handed out a few gifts, that sort of thing.

Only a few gifts mind. I never buy a lot of presents. I don’t think I should waste my time and money on folk I never see or barely know. On children that don’t even know or care who I am. The doughy elbowed ones will be using their chocolatey hands to squeeze as much out of mum and dad as possible without me needing to contribute, I think. Maybe I’m just tight but to me this is where the meaning of the festive season has been lost.

The fact more and more people are Xmas shopping online shows just how impersonal gift giving has become. It doesn’t seem to be about giving, or receiving. It’s more like trading. Hearing chat of which places are doing the best DVD offers, as DVD presents are being handed back and forth next to the Christmas tree. That’s odd.

The economic slowdown could be the thing that pulls Santa out of this retail snowdrift. If no-one has the cash to buy the gifts to ease the guilt for never seeing any of their relations then perhaps they might just go and spend some time with them instead. Play Lego with their nieces and nephews. Take a bottle of whisky round the houses, get drunk, trip on the dog. Play charades with your parents. Yes dad, of course its f***ing Jaws. Remind these people why they send you a card every year.

The festive season should be about close family and friends, not crippling your credit card on people you don’t really know. That would be my Christmas message. Well that, and also that my first draft of ‘Gordon Brown Saves Christmas’ is almost complete. Any takers?

Favourite Christmas Song: ‘Stay Another Day’ by East 17

Other People: Whooplash

Other People play Captain’s Rest, Glasgow on 29 Dec

Versus, The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh
10 September

To put forward the inaugural Voodoo Rooms-based Versus as my gig of 2009 is doing the night little justice.

You see, this wasn’t just your bog-standard three band soirée that underpins gigs the length and breadth of this country. No, this was a spectacle – a loud one at that.

With Dead Boy Robotics, Foundling Wheel and Meursault taking up the leading roles, the three-pronged stage invasion had melody mingling with discord and folk frolicking with noise.

A pre-show natter with the man behind the concept, Ted Koterwas, revealed a desire to engage the polarized factions of Edinburgh’s music scene in a battle royale of sound that would open up doors and knock down walls.

But it wasn’t about indulging in a spot of musical peacekeeping, it was much, much more. Sounds blasted from the stage as if igniting from a Kennedy Space Center launch pad, while a roll-call of Auld Reekie luminaries took turns in complementing the starring trio’s kaleidoscopic mash up.

Bulging instrumentation frothed with all the frenzy of a rabid dog chasing its tail, leaving the senses of the punters ragged, frayed and, most of all, alive.

By the time the finale of tumbling percussion and electrified synth crushed solar plexuses, you knew what had unravelled was something very special indeed.

A night to remember? Perhaps. A night not to be forgotten. Definitely.

The next Versus night features eagleowl, Found and Oates Field, and takes place at the Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh on 21 January.

What was your gig of 2009? Let us know below…