Tweet Nothings, feat. Edwyn Collins, Errors, My Latest Novel

Can there be a better way to whittle away the hours inside a sweaty tour van than letting the world know your deepest, darkest thoughts in 140 characters? What’s that you say ? Mind-altering chemicals? Lasciviously-intended harlots? MYSPACE? Pah...whatever Grandad. These hipsters ain’t interested in languid cliches: Tweeting is the new Rock ‘n’ Roll. Fact.

So here it is, the Under the Radar segment you’ve been waiting for with baited breath and giddy stomach: Our weekly round-up of your idols’ idle tweets. HUZZAH...

Edwyn Collins is as polite as you’d expect from a New Pop luminary...
@EdwynCollins: “Up late after busy day. Sunday Times interview, Radio 3 The Verb. Very nice man, Ian McMillan. I sang Home Again and gabbed.”

Tango in the Attic scoff in the face of punctuation as they plan a Glenrothes day out...
@tangointheattic: “ Thinking of putting on a bus to PJs on friday from glenrothes if theres enough demand, give us an email or txt if your interested!”

John B McKenna does his bit for the Glasgow tourism industry...
@johnbmckenna: “Last night a man fell asleep in the pub, wouldn’t wake up, so we phoned an ambulance, he woke up, peed on the wall, fell asleep on the wall.”

Debutant gets dizzy over a cholesterol overload that could only ever be acceptable in Scotland...
@debutantmusic: “Fucking yas! Haggis? WIN! Pizza? WIN! Haggis + pizza? WIN WIN! Exclamation marks all round!”

Pragmatism and capitalisation is the name of the game for Findo Gask...
@wearefindogask: “Are practicing hard in order to BE BETTER THAN WE ARE NOW.”

My Latest Novel wholly embrace the joys of Twitter by giving up on rational conversation...
@MyLatestNovel: “The smurf would turn flesh coloured! Can something be flesh coloured? Surely flesh is a composite of tones not a colour?”

Salesmanship is clearly not Dupec’s forte....
@Dupec: “Try out the new hand driers at @cabaretvoltaire at our gig tonight which is FREE entry and cheap bevvy. On at 8.”

Pooch + tweeting + heat = comedy gold...
@poochtheband: “Contemplating wearing icecream.”

Sixpeopleaway get into the Wimbledon swing of things...
@sixpeopleaway: "The faintly robotic & precisely disciplined motions of the ballboys/girls at Wimbledon is starting to freak me out ever so slightly..."

RBRBR go from a web of sound to a web of SPLAT...
@RBRBR: "Big old spider in my trainer this morning. Didn't notice until the shoe was on. :-( "

Unicorn Kid is creating his own heatwave...
@UnicornKid: "Played the sweatiest show in Unicorn Kid history tonight! There was at least a pint's worth in my t shirt."

And finally, Errors say what this half of Under the Radar's editorial team has been thinking all week...
@Weareerrors: "Too actual f*cking hot to do anything. F*ck off sun."

Words: Billy Hamilton (and Twitter)

Musicians of Scotland: Tweet something interesting/funny/newsworthy this week and you too could feature in Tweet Nothings. Just think how proud your Mum will be.

Spotted any other tweeting gems we've missed out on? Share your favourite weekly tweets with us below...

Tweet Nothings, feat. Frightened Rabbit, The Vaselines, De Rosa

We could sense the anticipation building in the blogosphere, but the wait is over. It's time for part deux of our now regular (until the sheer inanity of it all hits us like a Tyson uppercut to the chin) Twitter round-up. This week: band news, recommendations and even a spot of film criticism.


Tango in the Attic have a hair-raising time in Stirling...
@TangointheAttic: Just back from Cape in Stirling - fun gig, the mics gave us all electric shocks! Ouch!"

Miss the Occupier set up Twitter account, fail to tweet...
@MisstheOccupier: "______________"

Come on John B McKenna! We're not as bright as you...
@JohnBMcKenna: "Annona humboldtii Dunal [Monogr. Anonac. 64, t. 3. 1817] (= Annona humboldtiana Kunth)"

Frightened Rabbit threaten to go all Big Brother on us...
@FRabbits: "Getting a camera tomorrow so we might film ourselves making dinner if that's ok with you? Suggestions for ingredients welcome..."

While My Latest Novel threaten to go all rap on us...
@MyLatestNovel: "On the way home from our session for Marc Riley on 6Music. Felt good. Real good. In the hood. Don't be rude."

Jonathon of My Cousin I Bid You Farewell consults his inner film critic...
@mcibyf: "Michael Bay needs an editor badly. Seriously. I completely lost interest. I miss the theme tune too. 'Transformers! Robots in Disguise!"

We Were Promised Jetpacks big up their Mancunian contemporaries...
@wwpj: "In case anyone was curious, Tell You So by The Longcut is the best song ever."

The Gothenburg Address make a half-hearted attempt at a gig plug...
@gothenaddy: "playing 13th Note this wednesday .. come doon .. unless your at the ATP premiere .. which would be understandable .. "

The Vaselines have some good news...
@the_vaselines: "We've been writing new tunes this evening. Cant wait to finish them so we can play them for you. Soon."

While De Rosa have some bad news...
@wearederosa: "To all who listened. De Rosa has come to an end. If you liked our music or came to see us play we'd like to thank you all. Goodbye, De Rosa."

Words: Nick Mitchell (and Twitter)

Musicians of Scotland: Tweet something interesting/funny/newsworthy this week and you too could feature in Tweet Nothings. Just think how proud your Mum will be.

Spotted any other tweeting gems we've missed out on? Share your favourite weekly tweets with us below...

On the radar: John B McKenna

John B McKenna is a curious sort.

Blessed with an innate understanding of melody and visuals, the 21-year-old Glaswegian has always appeared somewhat reluctant to make his mark on the local scene; forever veiled behind an array of abstract pseudonyms and ad-hoc ensembles.

But, slowly, things have started to change. By setting out under his own name with a band of four behind him, McKenna’s finally taken charge of his own destiny.

“Recently we have formed a full band line-up for the music I previously performed solo - under the name Monoganon,” explains McKenna. “So the last three months we have been in a small practise space under the Kingston Bridge, where no-one can hear us scream, practising harmonies and the like.”

Play: John B McKenna - Keep Me In The Dark


Citing the likes of Neil Young, Grandaddy, Nirvana and Bruce Springsteen (“The Boss was the bane of my childhood excursions with the family," he bemoans) as influences, McKenna’s music is in many ways predictable; his pensive, self-interrogating lyrics are strewn across a patchwork of creeping acoustic guitar.

Yet the fortitude of his laconic brogue and tumbling strums dispels any fears of pointless retreading. This is a man set entirely on progress, be it via an eye for the abstract (see his website's striking robo-retro design) or an ear for the beautiful (his free to download demos are a stellar indication of his talents).

Play: John B McKenna - Monomania


McKenna, however, seems unsure as to where destiny lies: “I don't know exactly what we are doing, yet,” he says reservedly. “There is a world of ways we could go all ending in different achievements - one of them could be finding the musical elixir of life. I'd like to say we could achieve that but I don't want to limit our ambition with that as the ultimate goal.”

He may not know it, but for John B McKenna the possibilities are endless.

- Billy Hamilton

Tell us what you think of John B McKenna and his pursuit of life's musical elixir below...