The Scotsman, Under The Radar, April 2013

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Published Thursday 4th April 2013


THE hard-to-Google Glasgow band CASUAL SEX provide our track of the month. Already garnering a great deal of attention, including a live session on Marc Riley’s BBC 6 Music show, the single Stroh 80 / Soft School was released as a 7” vinyl and download on the ultra cool Moshi Moshi Singles Club on 1 April. You can catch them at Glasgow’s Nice ‘N’ Sleazy tomorrow, 5 April. Visit www.facebook.com/casualsexmusic Edinburgh’s innovative Song By Toad Records launch their Beer vs Records experiment as part of Record Store Day on 20 April. The label will release eight songs on vinyl, while microbrewery Barney’s Beer will release another eight songs (by the same artists) via a four-pack of custom-made beer which comes with download codes. Will music lovers prefer a beautiful musical memento or opt for MP3s and some beer? Visit www.beervsrecords.com for more infoOn the same day, one of city’s newest record stores, Voxbox Music in Stockbridge, will host a day of free live performances including Honeyblood, Mike Heron Band, Adam Stafford, eagleowl, Wounded Knee, Rob St. John, Magic Eye and the girls from Kid Canaveral. Visit www.voxboxmusic.co.uk Outer Hebrides musician Charlie Clark (now based in LA) was a founder of Astrid, a former member of Scottish supergroup The Reindeer Section and in 2008 provided our track of the month with his band Our Lunar Activities. Clark’s debut solo album, the gentle Feel Something, is released on 29 April on Edwyn Collins’ record label AED. Listen here: www.soundcloud.com/charlieclarkmusic Now in its fourth year, HaddowFest follows the multi-venue festival format and takes place throughout Edinburgh each year. The festival is branching out with the launch of a monthly showcase night titled HaddowFest Presents starting on 26 April at the Liquid Rooms, with the magnificent Meursault. Host for the evening will be BBC Radio 1’s Ally McCrae and the next instalment features the 10:04s on 24 May. Visit www.haddowfest.co.uk The impressive rise of Glasgow electro-pop act CHVRCHES continued at the world’s largest music industry convention, SXSW in Texas last month, where the trio won the Developing Non-US Act gong for the first ever Grulke Prize, launched in memory of the event’s late creative director, Brent Grulke. After recently playing to a sold-out audience at Canadian Music Week, the band return for a UK tour this month. Visit www.facebook.com/CHVRCHES Fence Records will host Gnomegame, a smaller version of the acclaimed Home Game, on 6 and 7 April in Anstruther (see feature, pages 2-3). Tickets were snapped up through a lottery system in under a day, despite the line-up remaining under wraps. Other Fence- related news includes a new signing, Monoganon, as well as the release of new albums by Kid Canaveral and eagleowl. www.fencerecords.com The Big Beach Ball returns to Aberdeen’s The Beach Ballroom on 5 May after last year’s inaugural festival. It features local heroes The Xcerts and The Little Kicks, who share the bill with We Were Promised Jetpacks, Three Blind Wolves, Randolph’s Leap and Miaoux Miaoux. The event also includes food stalls, stand-up comedy and live visuals to accompany DJ sets from S-Type, Jackmaster and Mungo’s Hi-Fi. www.thebigbeachball.co.uk Hosted by the BBC’s Vic Galloway and Ally McCrae, Brew At The Bog festival returns to Bogbain Farm on the outskirts of Inverness on 4 May. The line-up features a wide mix of bands, acoustic acts and singer-songwriters including; Fatherson, Discopolis, Homework, FOUND, Kitty The Lion, United Fruit, The Stagger Rats, James Mackenzie, Michael Cassidy, Verse Metrics, Fake Major, Three Blind Wolves and plenty more. Visit www.brewatthebog.com •  Olaf Furniss and Derick Mackinnon run Born To Be Wide, which hosts the annual Wide Days convention in Edinburgh on 10-11 April. This year’s event includes seminars on indie promoters, streaming, music publishing and music photography, as well as free showcases featuring some of Scotland’s most exciting new talent. www.widedays.com