Radar recommends: 6 - 12 Feb

[The Low Miffs: appearing in Stereo-sound on Thursday]

Plan your gig-going with our pick of the week's finest live music nights...

The best...

Live at the Beach
Saturday @ The Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen / 7.30pm / £7.50
Some of Aberdeen's brightest bands play a rare live music night at the famous Beach Ballroom: The Little Kicks, Indian Red Lopez, Cast of the Capital and The Underkills.

Louise McVey and Cracks in the Concrete, Hitlist Youth, Skinny Villains
Saturday @ 13th Note / 9pm / £tbc
The gorgeous, gothic voice of Louise McVey has already turned our heads here at UtR, and Saturday night at the Note is definitely one to watch.

Sisqo
Tuesday @ Fat Sam's, Dundee / 10.30pm / £7-£10
Sorry, but the prospect of the man behind 'The Thong Song' coming to play Dundee just seemed too good to pass over.

Beach House, Lawrence Arabia, Washington Irving
Wednesday @ King Tut’s / £9 / 8.30pm
Baltimore duo Beach House are the new indie darlings, although their watercolour dream pop stylings won't appeal to everyone. Get there early for Washington Irving too.

The Low Miffs, Hidden Masters, Foxgang
Thursday @ Stereo / 7pm / £1
In troubled economic times, you’ll struggle to find a better-value line-up than Ten Tracks’ monthly night at Stereo. Three top-notch bands plus a ten-track download compilation (this month from Hijack), for the princely sum of £1 – bargain!

The Leith Tape Club
Thursday @ The ISO Lounge, Leith / 8.15pm / £tbc
Space is always limited at this low-key monthly night, but this instalment - with eagleowl, Hailey Beavis and The Stormy Seas - is the last until May, so it could well be packed to the rafters.

Limbo: Found, Three Blind Wolves, Over The Wall
Friday @ Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh / 8.30pm - 1.30am / £tbc
A three-pronged prognosis of the state of new music in Scotland, with local favourites Found and the Glasgow pairing of Three Blind Wolves and the infectious Over the Wall.

The Late Call, The Last Battle, Emily Scott
Friday @ Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh / 7pm / £5
The Late Call is Stockholm troubador Johannes Mayer, supported on this date by Edinburgh regulars The Last Battle and Emily Scott, who we profiled last year.


The rest...



Words: Lisa-Marie Ferla, Nick Mitchell

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

Live review: Versus

Thursday 21 January
The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh

On-stage hook-ups can have spectacularly varied results. From The Last Waltz to Band Aid to all those carefully brokered festival duets masquerading as spontaneous 'happenings', there have been good, bad and painful examples. But in its short stint Edinburgh’s Versus night has got the concept just about right: thoughtful curation, proper rehearsals, mutual respect and minimum ego.

But tonight in a busy Voodoo Rooms ballroom we aren't plunged head first into a multi-band spectacle, oh no. Instead the artists perform separate mini-sets as a gentle introduction to the daring experimentation to follow. And it doesn’t come much gentler than eagleowl. With the darkened room almost at capacity, it takes a few moments before most attendees notice that the gig is underway, with the Edinburgh band’s brooding post-folk (c.f. every article ever written about them) making a quiet, undramatic entrance. But Bart Owl (pictured, right) gradually pulls focus stage-ward with his transatlantic vocals and understated but purposeful guitar strumming, backed by Clarissa Cheong on double bass.

Alan Oates of Come in Tokyo makes his solo debut as Oates Field (left) next - although he starts this maiden gig unceremoniously, crouched down at the side of the stage where he tinkers with a tattered synth and loop pedals. It all comes together when he steps up and stomps out a rhythm out on the bass drum, adding direction to his ragged folk rock. A seasoned live musician with seemingly scant concern for the occasion, it feels as if you’ve walked in on a private rehearsal in his living room.

There’s no red carpet in sight for tonight’s headliners, Bafta winners Found (below), but they follow Oates without a hint of grand pretentions, dutifully adding their electro-fringed, funk-flecked fare to the night’s rarefied menu.



After only one initial song they vacate the spotlight for the evening’s first special guest, The Wee Rogue (right). Reminding this writer of Mr Tumnus for a weird moment, the skinny, goatee'd Jamie O’Connor then locates himself nearer 60s America than Narnia with his finger-picked guitar and far-sighted delivery of a single “love song”.

A cover of eagleowl’s 'MF' delivered with relish by Oates Field follows, before Found return with a longer exposition of their assured folktronica. Ziggy Campbell pronounces his sabre-sharp lyrics with evident pleasure, while Kev Sim and Tommy Perman forge a torrent of drenched static, zinging FX and chugging bass. For a trio they emit a surprisingly complex, utterly composed sound.

There’s an unintentional interval before special guest number two, which Oates fills with a spot of improv comedy, and it’s to Phillip Quirie’s credit that he manages to shrug off Oates' playful jibes about his spaghetti junction of pedals and hooded jumper as he sets up his gear. Once he gets going, Meursault member Quirie, here tonight as Debutant (left), quickly draws the room deep into his shimmering, stormy realm. It’s his second effort, 'Thirst', that emerges as a highlight, not just from his brief set but the whole evening.

From here on in the 'versus' clause comes into full effect, with eagleowl, Found and Oates Field massing on stage as a kind of shambling supergroup, their mission to find new perspectives in each other's songs. For the most part they achieve this; each musician eyeing one other intently, studying the shifts and pauses and showing the kind of cohesion that must have required real preparation. The sedate pace of the eagleowl material benefits from Found’s box of digital tricks, and they consciously alternate between styles, from three-minute crescendos to American radio rock to segments of unrestrained jamming.

But with so many cooks crowding over the broth pot, at times it does go off the boil. There are at least two songs which fall flat, prompting the less attentive in the audience to restart their (no doubt essential) conversations.

Despite the downturn, the last song of the night, a version of eagleowl’s normally undulating 'Blanket' (but this time driven by a thumping beat straight from the subwoofer of your local boy racer) builds and builds to a magnificent climax, as if to reaffirm that, despite the risks involved, the pay-off on offer with such boundary-pushing is undoubtedly worthwhile.

Whoever they choose for the next Versus will have high standards to uphold.

Words: Nick Mitchell
Photos: Julia Stryj

Radar recommends: 28 Nov - 4 Dec

[There Will Be Fireworks at The Caves on Tuesday. Not the deathtrap it sounds.]

Let's face it. We're rapidly heading into festive season, so you might want to give your wallet (and your liver) a rest this week in preparation for the month of parties, work nights out and gigs ahead.

But we're not letting you off the hook that easily. Gig temptations coming your way...

Aberdeen
Frightened Rabbit
Tuesday @ The Warehouse / 7.30pm / £12
The popular Fat Cat signed band tour new material ahead of the release of their third album in the new year.
Also playing The Ironworks, Inverness on Sunday and Fat Sam's, Dundee on Wednesday.

Dundee
Saint Jude's Infirmary, Kid Canaveral, Panda Su, Hookers for Jesus
Sunday @ West Port Bar / 7.30pm / £5
Scottish music blog Manic Pop Thrills puts on another fine billing of up and coming talent.

Edinburgh
The Little Kicks, The Void, He Slept on 57, Salute Mary
Sunday @ The GRV / 7pm / £5
The hard-gigging Kicks return to Auld Reekie to showcase their polished indie-pop to the Sunday night crowd.

Johnny Foreigner
Sunday @ Cabaret Voltaire / 7pm / £7.50
Brummie's most mental noise-pop three-piece, much loved by the kids over on DiS.

Ringo Deathstarr, The Manikees, The Debuts
Thursday @ Sneaky Pete's / 7pm / £6
Not Ringo Starr, not the Deathstar, rather a disturbing combination of the two in musical form. The Austin Texas nu-gaze quartet's first UK tour hits the Wee Red Bar on Thursday.
Ringo Deathstarr also play the Captain's Rest, Glasgow on Friday.

**UtR's gig of the week**
There Will Be Fireworks, Broken Records (solo acoustic), Saint Jude's Infirmary, Meursault (solo acoustic)
Thursday @ The Caves / 8pm / £5 (£3 in advance from Avalanche)
Back in July There Will Be Fireworks burst on to the scene with an impressive, impassioned debut LP that had us scrabbling for adjectives. And we're not the only ones. Avalanche record shop has selected the Glasgow band for their next Album Club, and this launch party looks like a great night of music. More info here

Ten Tracks: Found, Meursault, Panda Su
Friday @ Roxy Art House / 7.30pm / £7-£10
The Scottish music download service is offering free entry to this gig if you buy a £10 annual subscription. That's mightily tempting when they've pulled together three of the east coast's most promising acts, including our recent blog guest Panda Su. More info here.

Glasgow
Woodlands Creatures
Sunday @ The Halt Bar / 7pm / Free
Either stay in and try and name as many woodland animals as possible, or go to this event. I suggest the latter.

We Were Promised Jetpacks, Dupec, Jesus H Foxx
Sunday @ King Tut's / 8.30pm / £7
Feeling patriotic? The part of Homecoming Live that isn't wallowing in 80s nostalgia.

Regina Spektor
Tuesday @ o2 Academy / 8pm / £22
Get your 'crispy, crispy Benjamin Franklins' out and buy yourself a ticket to see this quirky songstress.

Neon Indian, Zhyrlings, Tangles
Tuesday @ Captains Rest / 8.30pm / £6
With recently remixers Grizzly Bear, this promises to be an audio/visual delight you shouldn't miss.

Casino Brag, Foxgang, Satellite Underground
Wednesday @ Nice'n'Sleazy / TBC / £TBC
Have a punt on these post-punk players and support.

Lords, Holy Mountain, Citizens
Wednesday @ Captains Rest / 8pm / £6
Yes all round, have a look at Citizens' UtR profile here....

The Pain Of Being Pure At Heart
Thursday @ Stereo / 7.30pm / £12
Melancholy pop from this New York band, who've kind of made Glasgow their second home.

Lightning Dust, Early Day Miners
Thursday @ Captains Rest / 8pm / £9
Black Mountain side project comes to rest at the Captains.

Titus Gein, Black Sun
Friday @ 13th Note / 9pm / £TBC
Any band citing Trans Am and Lightning Bolt as influences deserve a gander.

Ringo Deathstarr, Silvermash
Friday @ Captain's Rest /8pm / £TBC
The aforementioned Deathstarr, this time with support from Fife shoegazers Silvermash, playing their first Glasgow gig.

Words: Aimi Gold, Nick Mitchell, Craig Dickson

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

On the radar: Cybraphon

[Is it a wardrobe? Is it a band? No, it's Cybraphon!]

Play: The Balkan Bazaar


We like our web 2.0 here at Under the Radar. Almost as soon as we started the blog we got ourselves a MySpace page, a Twitter account and a Facebook group. (Did we ever mention our rather pointless Last FM profile too?)

Yes, we're well aware of the narcissism involved, but it genuinely cheers us when we get one more friend, follower or group member, and it's doubly nice when these folks start reading the blog and telling us what they think.

It turns out we're not alone in our hopeless dependency. Cybraphon, Scotland's first robotic band, is utterly hooked. We got in touch with the obsessive contraption to find out what makes it tick, chime and whir...

Hi Cybraphon, where are you at the moment?
"The Inspace Gallery, Edinburgh (Crichton Street)."

How long have you been making music?
"Only a few months as a full band."

Why the name Cybraphon?
"My creators named me 'Cybraphon' as it's unique, so that I can search for myself easily online."

What are your influences?
"The Orchestrion and player piano. Facebook, Google, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo . . ."

What do you think makes you different from anything else out there?
"I've got a really original look and sound: don't you think I'm much prettier than human bands?"

Of course. And what are your ambitions?
"I want what every band wants – a record deal, big budget music videos, world tours, fame, fortune and groupies."


[FOUND feat. Cybraphon session from Off the Beaten Tracks]

Cybraphon is the latest madcap project from FOUND, the Edinburgh band who like nothing better than exploring other areas of artistic practice. Last year the collective built a robot musical installation at Edinburgh Botanic Gardens, and Cybraphon, which won New Media Scotland's Alt-w award, is a natural progression.

I asked FOUND's Tommy Perman whether the antique-looking robot is a world first: "There are various other robot bands out there but to our knowledge Cybraphon is the first to play different music depending on its online popularity."

The good news for Cybraphon - whose components include an organ, cymbals, chimes, an Indian instrument called a Shruti box and a MacBook Pro - is that its online popularity is soaring. The perfect 'And finally...' slot filler, the 'Autonomous Emotional Robot Band' has already been picked up by TV networks and news sites across the world.

Perman is delighted with the hype. "We've been stunned by how well it's been received so far," he says. "The story got picked up by US geek magazine Wired.com which lead to a CNN online feature. Since then it's gone global. Yesterday we discovered a hilarious feature that had run on a US cable TV channel. Watch it, it's phenomenally funny – it totally reminds me of a spoof from 'The Day Today' or 'Brass Eye'."

But Perman has ambitions as a human band too, and the possibility that Cybraphon might just overshadow FOUND is becoming a concern: "To be honest, we're becoming quite jealous of Cybraphon – it's already massively more popular on Facebook than FOUND and seems to have broken America without having to go anywhere. FOUND spent a great deal of money and effort going to SXSW earlier this year and are still relative unknowns! Little did we know that all we needed to do was build an emotional robot wardrobe."

Keep Cybraphon in a good mood by befriending it on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Vimeo, Flickr, and YouTube.

Words: Nick Mitchell

You can view Cybraphon at the Inspace Gallery until 5 September as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival. FOUND will perform in a 'battle of the bands' with their creation this Thursday (13 Aug) from 8pm. To book your free place click here.

Play: Cuckoo Clock (Five Fifty Four)


Play: A Quiet Sadness

Trampoline: fest within a fest

[The Kays Lavelle: playing the Wee Red on 7 Aug]

To counteract the imminent invasion of London-luvvies and pitiful art-school drop-outs, those thoughtful folk at Trampoline have laid on a series of exquisite August gigs at Edinburgh’s Wee Red.

With a roster that includes sonic-deities like Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers, Conquering Animal Sound, The Kays Lavelle and Found’s Ziggy Campbell, the four show run is a tune-strewn who’s who of Scotland’s finest melody makers.

Trampoline organiser Euan McMeeken says of the event: “I thought it would be great if Trampoline could be part of the festival (in a way) and push local bands onto a wider audience than normal. The way it's worked out, you get the four Trampoline shows on 7, 8, 14 and 15 [of August] so it's going to be a wicked two weekends of music for sure.”

McMeeken continues: “It’s very difficult for local promoters to find venues during the festival. As a result, local artists often miss out on good gigs during a period where the potential to be heard is massive. I've always thought it's wrong that the festival doesn't cater enough for the people that drive this city's music scene during the rest of the year.”

Spread across two weekends and costing just five of your finest pounds, Trampoline’s August showing offers a modicum of integrity within the Fringe’s wallet-emptying ‘get ‘em in, turn ‘em out’ philosophy.

Still don’t believe us? Well, we’ll leave the final word to the man who knows best:

“People should come firstly because the line-ups are great. But they should also come and support their local music scene,” McMeeken says. “People always bemoan the fact that there’s no local shows during August. I know there’s a lot on offer during the festival, but it would be great to think that the Trampoline shows will be on the minds of people when they are trying to decide what to do. They won’t be disappointed.”

Tickets for each show at the Wee Red are £5 and can be bought on the night.

The full Trampoline line-up is:

7 Aug: Wiseblood Industries showcase: Adam Stafford, The Radiation Line and The Kays Lavelle
8 Aug: Jonnie Common, Conquering Animal Sound and one act TBC
14 Aug: Ziggy Campbell, Golden Ghost and Yusuf Azak
15 Aug: Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers, Lovers Turn To Monsters and Shenandoah Davis.

Words: Billy Hamilton

Spotted any other musical gems at this year’s Fringe? Let us know below...

Radar recommends: 19 - 25 July

[Be A Familiar: on tour across Scotland this week]

Whether it's down to the long hangover cast by T in the Park, the gravitational pull of its smaller cousin Wickerman next weekend, or the looming prospect of the Edinburgh Festival's live music calendar, compiling this week's gig guide was like panning for gold in a puddle. But we still found a few nuggets worth leaving the house for...


Aberdeen

Be A Familiar, I See Shapes, French Wives, Mark McCabe & The Tearoom Posse
Thursday @ The Tunnels | 7.30PM | £5
UtR said that "there's an underlying feyness that renders Be A Familiar unmistakeably Scottish." Fellow Scots I See Shapes and French Wives also travel north, with local singer-songwriter Mark McCabe filling out the bill.


Edinburgh

The Cosmonauts
Wednesday @ Whistlebinkies |11.30pm | £tbc
Late 60s vibe with a modern twist and vocals like Jagger on Valium. The steady beats and catchy guitar hooks conjure up effortless rock at its finest.

The Mill: Paper Beats Rock and lions.chase.tigers
Thursday @ Cabaret Voltaire | 7pm | free
Locally sourced alt-rock in the shape of Paper Beats Rock, plus lions.chase.tigers, champions of Glasgow's burgeoning hardcore rock scene.

**UtR's gig of the week**
FOUND, Dead Boy Robotics
Friday @ Sneaky Pete's | £5
Having already treated us to shows by Meursault, Scott Hutchison and Yahweh, the Brown Bear night serves up another tasty dish: the cut'n'paste urban folk of FOUND, with the "cross-sworded cluster of palpitating electronica" of Dead Boy Robotics as a starter. Mmmm.

TV21
Saturday @ Electric Circus | 7pm | £6
Back from a 28-year interval, the Edinburgh band who counted The Skids, Teardrop Explodes and The Undertones as contemporaries have a new album to perform. Support from Fife singer-songwriter Panda Su.


Glasgow

Second Hand Marching Band, Sparrow & The Workshop
Tuesday @ Captain's Rest | 8pm | £tbc
SHMB's sound is "a thrilling skewer of swaying, earthy orchestration and climatic post-rock", while S&tW's vintage country schtick needs little introduction round these parts.

Be A Familiar, Tango in the Attic
Tuesday @ King Tut's | 8.30pm | 6pm
The aforementioned Be A Familiar, plus Tango in the Attic, who UtR said are "worth listening to". So check out this single launch. Also at Electric Circus, Edinburgh on Wednesday.

Red2Red
Thursday @ Cosmopol | 8pm | £3/£2
Energetic ska mingles with lazy reggae, as 6-piece Red2Red yield sunny, bop-along tunes. The pitch perfect vocal harmonies will effortlessly evoke summer even on a dreary Glasgow day.

Meursault, Lyons
Thursday @ Captain's Rest | 8pm | £tbc
What haven't we said in praise of Meursault? Maybe that they're named after a character from one of our favourite works of existentialist fiction. Yay. Support from soon-to-be UtR-touted Lyons.

Words: Nick Mitchell, Kirstyn Smith

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

Lights, camera, guitars... action!

The Edinburgh International Film Festival launched yesterday, and while it is mainly the realm of the cineaste, this year there are a couple of events to get us music fans salivating too.

The big news is the UK premiere of All Tomorrow's Parties. This documentary about the indie connoisseurs' festival of choice is a celebration of everything that's non-corporate and a bit dishevelled about the Butlins-based getaway. It has been lovingly compiled from Super-8, camcorder and mobile phone footage and includes performances from Sonic Youth, Daniel Johnson, Slint, and Scotland's own Mogwai and Belle and Sebastian.

You can watch it on 25 June at 6pm at the Filmhouse (£8.50/£7.50). But we recommend you opt for something a bit more special. The premiere screening is the day before (24 June) at the HMV Picture House, which will become "a 50s holiday camp dreamland" for one night only, with a top secret live music guest performing after the film. It starts at 8pm and tickets cost £18.50.

And just to show that the festival hasn't neglected the music scene on its own doorstep, another event, called Playing With the Past, is a selection of short films from the Scottish Screen archive, set to music by local heroes Found, Meursault and eagleowl. It's on at The Pleasance on 26 June, 8pm, tickets priced £6.50/£5.50.

Tickets for all EIFF events can be purchased here.

Play: eagleowl - Blanket


Words: Nick Mitchell

Any guesses who the top secret guest might be?

Radar recommends: 10 - 16 May

[FOUND: playing the Carnegie Hall (Dunfermline, not New York) on Thursday]

Another week, another set of gigs to get your lugs around. And, we're glad to say, there's more than just a delectable selection from Glasgow and Edinburgh thanks to Tigerfest's week long stint at Dunfermline's Carnegie Hall. Praise be. So, here you go, this is UtR's choice picks for the next seven days...

Metal 2 the Masses: Alba Gu Brath , Bonesaw , Skinkarver , Syth
Sun 10 May, Classic Grand, Glasgow. Doors 7pm, £6
Taking to the stage in a sea of kilts and long hair, Glasgow's Alba Gu Brath are a bit special. Their brand of folk-tinged battle metal blends traditional instruments and thrashing guitars, with many songs drawing lyrical inspiration from events in Scotland's history. They're joined on the night by Aberdonian death metal veterans Bonesaw, Skinkarver -Paisley's answer to Pantera - and Glaswegian power-metallers Syth. [JM]

The Balky Mule
Mon 11 May, The Bowery, Edinburgh. Doors 7:30pm, £5
If you’re after something a little different this week, then head along to The Bowery on Monday night. Hailing from Bristol but now resident in Melbourne, Australia, Sam Jones has recorded intermittently as The Bulky Mule for over a decade but is now focusing his energies entirely on the project. The sound switches neatly between electronic and acoustic, with some interesting bluesy influences and a vocal that lies between Syd Barrett and Ray Davies. Definitely intriguing. [SK]

The Amorettes
Mon 11 May, Bannerman's, Edinburgh. Doors 9pm, £4
With just one gig under their belts, what The Amorettes lack in experience they more than make up for with enthusiasm. From the rude and raunchy lyrics to the tight denim, the all-female three-piece from West Lothian make it abundantly clear that they're here to RAWK. Fusing a classic rock'n'roll sound with a punk rock attitude, the girls are about as subtle as a slap to the face but no less enjoyable for that. [JM]

Tempercalm , The Kamillas
Wed 13 May, Nice'n'Sleazy, Glasgow. Doors 8pm, £tbc
After the success of last year's debut album True Novella, Glasgow's Tempercalm make a quick stop in their home town to kick off a ten-date tour of Scotland. The band's polished grunge-rock has been compared favourably with the likes of Biffy Clyro and early Foo Fighters and, if the most recent demos are any indication, their upcoming second album is set to be another cracker. Tempercalm are supported by Greenock's The Kamillas, who combine slick alternative rock with bluesier influences. [JM]

Tigerfest presents: James Yorkston, Lisa Knapp
Wed 13 May, Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline. Doors 7.30pm, £10
There are few more mesmerising sights than James Yorkston on stage. A writhing blur of convulsive energy, the ex-Fence luminary shudders like a demon on heat while his heavenly acoustic swathes impregnate the airwaves. Armed with a voice cut from the sweetest larynx and a set of melodies that bleed pious beauty, Yorkston’s Tigerfest showing is sure to hypnotise what few unbelievers remain. [BH]

Sparrow and the Workshop
Thursday 14 May, Captain’s Rest, Glasgow. Doors 8pm
Prior to their UK wide tour alongside Broken Records, Sparrow and the Workshop return to their home city of Glasgow for a gig that marks the launch of their new single ‘Devil Song’. The Scottish/Welsh/American trio have made a name for themselves across Scotland with relaxed harmonies underpinned by a stripped down sound which has the capacity to captivate audiences. With their success taking them increasingly further afield, this is a great chance to catch them on their home turf. [SK]

**UTR's Gig of the Week**
Tigerfest presents: Cruiser, FOUND, Swimmer One
Thu 14 May, Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline. Doors 7.30pm, £6
Synthesisers all round at this invigorating Carnegie Hall billing. Exuding an air of lilting reticence, Cruiser spray coruscating keys across dejected, tear-duct seeping laments; while Swimmer One’s Casiotoned iceberg slowly melts into an ocean of gorgeous melodic poignancy. Of course, it’s FOUND that truly stand out here. More probing than a colonic irrigation, the Edinburgh quartet spew out rhythmic pulses with a throb that could register on the Richter Scale’s upper echelons. All in all, an unsurpassable sonic treat for any gig goer. [BH]

- Words by Billy Hamilton, Jodi Mullen, Stevie Kearney

What gigs are you going to this week? Have we missed anything? Let us know below...

UtR's Tigerfest five

Now in its sixth year, Tigerfest is an indie-kid’s wet dream. Sprawled across Edinburgh, Dunfermline and Aberdeen, the month long extravaganza oozes pleasure in every quarter; be it the cubby-hole intimacy of its venues, the obscure white label-like roster or the Credit Crunch busting door prices.

Yep, Tigerfest is a festival that truly shuns the modern era’s cash-money clutching, preferring craft and ingenuity to glitz and glamour. So in tribute to the sterling work by those in Tiger Towers, UtR has assembled its five ‘must see acts’ at this year’s Tigerfest.

Amusement Parks on Fire
An impenetrable swill of feedback and percussion, Nottingham’s Amusement Parks on Fire are the aural equivalent of a fist to the face. Their first two LPs were chiselled slabs of ice cold shoegaze, frothing with passion and, most importantly, decibels and the subsequent live shows were equally as lug-splintering. Back on the road in support of new EP ‘Young Fight’, the towering quintet are certain to pulverise solar plexuses with their battering-ram sonics - just remember to bring your ear-plugs.
Amusement Parks on Fire play Edinburgh’s Cabaret Voltaire on Wed 6 May (7pm, £8)



FOUND
It’s strange to think that FOUND are only now on the cusp of a breakthrough. In fact, UtR was recently approached by a certain ‘taste-making’ webzine enquiring whether we’d heard of this “new” band. Oh how we chuckled. Now in their fifth year, the Edinburgh based ensemble are beginning to make ripples down south thanks to a stint at this year’s South By South West festival in Texas and the release of the majestic 'Fidelities EP'. The band's live show at Tigerfest will no doubt affirm their oddball eccentricities, but underneath that goofy exterior lies a truly remarkable group waiting to be FOUND
FOUND play Dunfermline’s Carnegie Hall on Thu 14 May (7.30pm, £6)



King Creosote
Kenny Anderson doesn’t need much introduction. Head honcho of Scotland’s leading label Fence Records, he also creates sublime swathes of melody under the guise of King Creosote. Anderson’s early work was whimsical in vein, with linear folk strains blushing through rousing melodies, but new record Flick The Vs furrows more experimental pastures where shards of synth pulse like an eager tectonic plate. One thing, however, still remains: that astonishing falsetto crow soaring higher than Scotland’s towering topography.
King Creosote plays Aberdeen’s Lemon Tree on Sun 24 May (7.30pm, £14)



Meursault
If you haven’t heard of Edinburgh quartet Meursault by now you’re more than likely part of the myopic English media with eyes only for London. Quite simply, this is Scotland’s most spell-binding live band. Frontman Neil Pennycook has an inextinguishable vocal, the sort that excavates ear-canals with emotional piety; while the music is a vacuum of acoustic folk and jitterbug electronica. Almost too sublime for words, Meursault make a mesmerising live proposition that’s sure to hypnotise Tigerfest’s clued-up crowds.
Meursault play Edinburgh’s The Bowery on Thu 7 May (8pm, £5)



Swimmer One
With their sweeping, autumnal melodies and poetic verses, Swimmer One epitomise a modern Scottish band. Yet, there’s more to the Glaswegian duo than terse, melancholic laments. Theirs is a sound strewn with texture and punctuated with intensity; entangling itself in the heartstrings with a slew of 80s synth pop poignancy. Live, the brooding narratives succumb to an instrumental minefield that scuffles from bombast to brittleness with fluid aplomb. Certainly one to keep your ears peeled for at Tigerfest.
Swimmer One play Dunfermline’s Carnegie Hall on Thu 14 May (7.30pm, £6)



Tigerfest runs from 6 - 26 May across venues in Aberdeen, Dunfermline and Edinburgh. The full line-up plus ticket details can be found at the Tigerfest website.

- Billy Hamilton

Who are you going to see at this grrreat festival? Let everybody know below....

SXSW: The Scottish invasion

If you've picked up a music magazine, logged into Twitter or listened to the radio in the past week, chances are you'll have spotted mention of four letters: SXSW.

That's because South by Southwest is, quite simply, the place to be right now. The annual music, film and digital industries showcase takes place in Austin, Texas, where the city becomes one big, amorphous bubble of hype every March.

This weekend a selection of Scottish bands have been trying to make themselves heard in this hubbub, with gigs by new and not-so-new names.

So for those of you (and us) unlucky enough to be missing out, we've trawled YouTube for a round-up of some of the Scottish acts rocking Texas...

We Were Promised Jetpacks

The young Glasgow band have just signed to Fat Cat records, the label that hosts The Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit. Expect similar success for these likely lads.

Found

These artful Edinburgh guys are tipped for similar success. Interesting behind-the-band angle for the video.

Camera Obscura

Long-standing Glasgwegian indie favourites who look to have stepped up their game since signing to 4AD recently.

Glasvegas

It seems hard to believe that just over a year ago Glasvegas were virtually unknown. They hardly need the exposure now.

Primal Scream

The same can of course be said for Primal Scream, here with a brief snippet of 'Rocks'.