Radar recommends: 23 - 29 January

[North Atlantic Oscillation: limbering up for Limbo on Friday]

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

The best...

John Knox Sex Club, Baby Boyz
Saturday @ The Ferry, Glasgow / 8pm / £6
Not your typical wide-eyed indie-pop band, The JKSC inflict moody, clanging blues riffs and deranged vocals on anyone who'll listen. Will you?

Burns Night Celebration: Broken Records, Woodenbox With A Firstful of Fivers, Whisky Kiss
Sunday @ King Tuts, Glasgow / 8.30pm / £12
More Scottish than a ginger man in a kilt shouting 'freedom', drinking whisky and killing a haggis with his bare hands. What a lovely patriotic way to celebrate the Bard.

Marble Valley
Tuesday @ Nice'n'Sleazys, Glasgow / 7.30pm / £TBC
In advance of their much-anticipated return, Pavement drummer Steve West shows his vocal worth.

The Foundling Wheel, Smack Van, Ian Ryan
Wednesday @ Electric Circus, Edinburgh / 8pm / £3
The Foundling Wheel is a solo project with a difference: a one-man, bass guitar-wielding, beat-programming, noise-fuelled rammy. And then some.

The Mill: The Seventeenth Century, There Will be Fireworks
Thursday @ Oran Mor / 7.30pm / Free but ticketed
Gilt-edged, mellifluous folk-rock from the highly rated Seventeenth Century. There Will Be Fireworks? Apparently a few folk rate them too.

The Low Anthem
Thursday @ The Old Fruitmarket / 9pm / £16
Lovely Celtic Connections ditty. Beautiful pop in a beautiful building. It’s gonna be special guys.

Limbo: North Atlantic Oscillation, Simon Doherty and Louise McVey & The Cracks In the Concrete
Friday @ The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh / £5 / 8pm
Limbo had a healthy effect on the Edinburgh scene over the past two years, so locals will be happy about its imminent return. The night may have gone from weekly Thursdays to monthly Fridays, but their band booking policy looks as infallible as ever.

Adam Green
Friday @ Stereo / 7pm / £10
Get your skinny jeans and white plimsoles on and boost your indie credentials with a trip to see the manly half of The Mouldy Peaches solo. Sweet.

The Lava Experiments
Friday @ The 13th Note, Glasgow / £5 / 8.30pm
To quote ourselves, The Lava Experiments make "gorgeously cinematic electronica, reminiscent in places of Kraftwerk or a heavier Explosions in the Sky". They launch a new EP of remixes at this gig, for which they enlisted the help of Dans Le Sac, Pumajaw and Betamax Warriors.

The rest...



Words: Aimi Gold, Nick Mitchell

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

Newsflash: Limbo launches first in series of live albums

Of all the promoters staging live music in Scotland, few can claim to have worked as tirelessly as Limbo over the past year and a half.

The 'live music dance party' hosts three bands a week in the plush setting of Edinburgh's Voodoo Rooms, and its two head honchos, Dave Cummings and Andy Richardson, have been recording it all for the first of a series of live albums. UtR asked Cummings about his plans.

How did you choose which bands to include?

Purely on the basis of which recordings made sense. We've recorded about 120 bands now and these are just some of the first that we mixed down properly over the first six months. Volume 2 will come out in June and once again it will include a wide variety of different bands, including some of the early recordings which we've not mixed down properly yet.

What are your ambitions for the album?

Limbo Live is an ongoing project to document a Scottish music scene that is currently punching way above its weight. In this respect, series such as Live at the Blue Note were definitely an inspiration. We'll be putting out new volumes as often as we can. From another angle, the series also gives bands an opportunity to get their music to a much wider audience more quickly. We can get very good recordings much more straightforwardly than having to go into a studio. We'll see how this one fairs but we're confident of the fact that it will have wide appeal because of the quality of the recordings.

What's the tracklisting?

1) Zoey Van Goey - City Is Exploding
2) FOUND - When You Fall
3) Punch & The Apostles - Asylum
4) Meursault - Pissing On Bonfires / Kissing With Tongues

5) Sparrow & The Workshop - Last Chance


6) Isosceles - Get Your Hands Off
7) Over The Wall - A History of British Welfarism 1945-1984

8) A-lix - Never Grow

9) Cancel The Astronauts - Slow Dance At The Disco

10) Thieves In Suits - Clockwork


11) Come On Gang! - Spinning Room
12) Kid Canaveral - Second Time Around
13) Haight-Ashbury - Favourite Song
14) Night Noise Team - Menolick

When is it coming out?

Limbo Live Volume 01 launches tonight (23 April) at Limbo. Nine of the bands on the CD will be playing in collaborative and experimental ways at the launch event.

Where will it be available from?

limbolive.co.uk and 'all good record shops'.

The Limbo Live launch takes place tonight (23 April, Doors 8pm, £5) at The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh. Playing live in some shape or form will be Meursault, Sparrow and the Workshop, Isosceles, Over the Wall, A-Lix, Theives in Suits, Kid Canaveral, Haight-Ashbury and Cancel the Astronauts. There will also be an after-party at Sick Note, Cabaret Voltaire, with the Black Spring DJs playing a headline DJ set (11pm-3am, free entry).

Radar recommends: 12 - 18 April

[Young Fathers: playing King Tut's on Friday]

After the copious delights of the past couple of weeks, things slow down on the gig front this week. But we've still managed to select a few choice nights to keep you busy.

Oso, Enemies and Super Adventure Club
Monday 13 Apr, Cassette, Glasgow, FREE, Doors 8pm
Respect to Oso. The polyrhythmic Californians have packed six (yes, six) Scottish dates into their UK jaunt, and this one could well be the highlight, because sharing the bill are UtR favourites Super Adventure Club. [NM]

Play: SAC - Tommy Sheridan


Withered Hand, Ray Rumours, Francois
Mon 13 April, The Bowery, Edinburgh. Doors 7.30pm, £5
We can’t tell you much about support acts Ray Rumours and Francois, but we do know Withered Hand (aka Dan Wilson) are absolutely sublime. Skewering crisp melodies with arresting experimentation, Wilson’s textured folk canters are a dichotomous sonic treat that never fail to captivate the ear-canals. Backed by myriad local luminaries, it’s also an ideal opportunity to spot a few Auld Reekie celebrities. [BH]

Wine, Women and Song featuring L-Marie, Jake Cogan, Nuala Kennedy
Wed 15 April, Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh. Doors 7.30pm, £8
A new night on the Edinburgh circuit, Wine, Women and Song’s raison d’etre is to highlight the fairer sex's musical virtues. This inaugural eve sees a sterling line-up of nu-soul cooer Lizzie-Marie, Edinburgh songstress Jake Corgan and folk hustler Nuala Kennedy appropriate the Voodoo Rooms' ballroom. Here come the girls? You bet. [BH]

**UtR's gig of the week**
We Are Trapped in Kansas, The Darien Venture and Esperi
Thursday 16 Apr, Captain's Rest, Glasgow, £tbc, Doors 8pm
This night of semi-experimental sounds is headed by Scotland's most accomplished math rock act (and there aren't too many of those at the last count), We Are Trapped in Kansas, and bolstered by the poppier Darien Venture and recent UtR stars Esperi. [NM]

Play: Esperi - Proverb

Limbo featuring Marina and The Diamonds, My Cousin I Bid You Farewell
Thursday 16 April, Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh. Doors 8pm, £4
In a week where Edinburgh gig pickings are slimmer than Kate Moss on Atkins, it’s left to old faithful Limbo to once again produce the goods. On the cusp of a major league breakthrough, Marina and The Diamonds’ acrobatic trinkets soar skywards with the grace of Kate Bush and the brazen intensity of Bat for Lashes. Supported by My Cousin I Bid You Farewell (soon to be ‘on the radar’), this is sure to be another corking Limbo showing. [BH]

Esser, Young Fathers and Jesus H Foxx
Friday 17 Apr, King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow, £6, Doors 8.30pm
Young London trendy Ben Esser headlines this gig at Tut's, but it's the supporting acts we're more interested in. Young Fathers are leading the way for Scottish hip-hop in their own blistering style, while Jesus H Foxx are finally set to deliver on the hype with a new EP. [NM]

The Sexual Objects
Saturday 18 Apr, Mono, Glasgow, FREE, Noon-Midnight
To mark Record Store Day, the muso haven that is Monorail plays host to live music and DJs in an all-day event. Don't miss The Sexual Objects at 7pm, the enigmatic group fronted by ex-Fire Engines veteran Davey Henderson. More info here. [NM]

Goodbye Lenin, Sebastian Dangerfield, The Byrons
Saturday 18 April, Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh. Doors 7pm, £5
We’re suckers for an old-fashion slosh of indie here at UtR and, fortunately for us, that’s exactly what this trio of Edinburgh-based miscreants do best. Radiohead (well, Ed O'Brien) commended riff-mongers Goodbye Lenin are the vanguards of a night that showcases the exuberant guitar flutterings of Sebastian Dangerfield and The Byrons’ caged-beast schlock ‘n’ roll. Definitely one for Converse loving indie-aficionados. [BH]

- Billy Hamilton & Nick Mitchell

Have we missed something? Let us know below...

Radar recommends: 5 - 11 April

[Dead Boy Robotics: appearing at Limbo this week]

In the second instalment of our weekly gigs round-up we've broadened our scope beyond Auld Reekie to take in the best gigs wherever they are in the country. You'll notice that when we say 'country' we mean Edinburgh and Glasgow, but we did look for noteworthy gigs elsewhere without much success. Care to prove us wrong? Leave a comment below.

Fangs, Boycotts, Unicorn Kid and Findo Gask
Sun 5 Apr, King Tut's, Glasgow. Doors 8pm, £tbc
Since their ill-fated attempt to win the praise of Alex James and the rest of the 'expert' judges on a certain TV 'talent' show, Fangs are back doing what they do best: strutting their flamboyant electro-punk stuff. And there's plenty more on offer: the urgent energy of Boycotts, teenage electro whizz Unicorn Kid and the toybox 'tronica of Findo Gask. [NM]

Remember Remember and Matt Elliott
Mon 6 Apr, Cassette, Glasgow. Doors 9pm, £3
Whoever said sellotape couldn't be a musical instrument (and someone must have) never heard Remember Remember. Graeme Ronald crafts his delicate songs from whatever comes to hand, and does it live, in front of your eyes, with loop pedals! At this gig he's playing with cosmopolitan troubadour Matt Elliott. [NM]

Dananananaykroyd
Tues 7 Apr, Cabaret Volitaire, Edinburgh. Doors 7pm, £7
In all honesty, Dananana’s epileptic thrash-rock should only appeal to a niche fitting few. But so infectious are the Glasgow ensemble’s lives shows, not to mention last year’s brilliant Sissy Hits EP, that the buzz around their debut long-player Hey Everyone! has reverberated like a beehive in a megaphone. So, the day after the record drops UtR advises you get your derrière down to Cabaret Voltaire to find out just what all the fuss is about – you won’t be disappointed. [BH]

Limbo featuring Paul Vickers & The Leg, Electronicat, Dead Boy Robotics
Thurs 9 Apr, Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh. Doors 8pm, £4
As ever, Limbo pulls out all the stops with this exceptionally coined line-up. Headlined by abstract proto-punk yelpers Paul Vickers (last seen by UtR dressed in full panda bear attire) & the Leg, the undercard juxtaposes renowned Berliner Electronicat’s effects-skewered swathes against the throttling two-pronged synth assault of local lads Dead Boy Robotics. In short, this is going to be one hell of an evening. [BH]

[Dead Boy Robotics - Cloud Sequence Animals]


**UtR's gig of the week**
This Is Music: Chutes, The French Quarter
Fri 10th Apr, Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh. Doors 8pm , £3
A mainstay on the Edinburgh circuit for over two years, promoters This Is Music have put together a couple of Scotland’s finest young bands for this show. Teetering on the verge of a breakthrough for what’s seemed like aeons, Edinburgh five-piece Chutes are a maelstrom of taut melody and doom-saying lyrics that ignites the dancefloor like a guitar-slewing Molotov cocktail. More sombre but no less incessant, Tillicoultry quartet The French Quarter melt post-rock compositions with sloping, brush struck refrains to create a sound that, although innately Scottish, is utterly unique. [BH]

Glasgow PodcART presents Burning Codes, Robyn G Shiels and Yahweh
Sat 11 Apr, Stereo, Glasgow. Doors 7.30pm, £6
Like UtR, the people at Glasgow PodcART know a good thing when they hear it, and their podcast is an essential (and funny-as-hell) listen. Here they stage a showcase that spans the Irish sea, bringing you the best of Belfast (wistful one-time Snow Patrol cohort Burning Codes and the distinctive drawl of Robyn G Shiels) and Glasgow (one of the discoveries of the year in Yahweh, who we recently featured). [NM]

[Yahweh: The Wee Ending]


Aerials Presents: Great Eskimo Hoax, San Sebastian and Nacional
Sat 11 April, Cassette, Glasgow, £tbc
Combining Foals-y guitar interplay with winning harmonies, Great Eskimo Hoax are a pleasure to behold, and for this gig they are supported by two quality Scottish bands. San Sebastian make brooding, magnetic post-rock soundscapes, while Nacional bring their grandstanding indie home from SXSW. [NM]

Paper Planes, Foundling Wheel, Kung Fu, The Planes
Sat 11 Apr, Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh. Doors 7pm, £4
Sneaky Pete’s has become the place to be seen in Edinburgh these days and this ear-bleeding evening of noise mongers is no exception. Glasgow outfit Paper Planes are the big draw; spanking out a splurge of party hard art-punk a la Yeah Yeah Yeahs. But, before that, the Foundling Wheel’s Ted Koterwas will penetrate nervous systems with an agitated clash of electronica that besieges like a category five hurricane. Supported by The Planes and Kung Fu, this is a night to be heard and not scene. [BH]

[The Foundling Wheel - Out To See]


- Billy Hamilton & Nick Mitchell

UtR news: April

[Panda Su - photograph by Portis Wasp]

Our latest track of the month comes from Fife-based artist Panda Su. Her debut is produced by Steve Mason from Beta Band/ King Biscuit Time, and she's set to play at the Fence Homegame festival in Anstruther on 18 April.

Panda Su - Moviegoer


Another act tipped by Under The Radar, We Were Promised Jetpacks, have recently returned from SXSW in the US. The band's showcases were completely sold out, mainly as a result of being played on Seattle-based independent radio station KEXP late last year – exposure which resulted in their song Quiet Little Voices being downloaded by more than one million Americans. The track will be released as a single by Fat Cat on 4 May, and their debut album, These Four Walls, is out on 15 June, ahead of a full UK tour.

Providing a snapshot of the hottest talent in Scotland, the Hinterland Festival will take place in Glasgow from 30 April-1 May across a dozen venues in the city. Acts taking part include We Were Promised Jetpacks, Sons & Daughters, Broken Records, Meursault, Juno, Manda Rin and many more.

Edinburgh College of Art has just announced the release of a live DVD, filmed in the Wee Red Bar, featuring 20 acts with ties to the college.

Bands include St Jude's Infirmary, The Shellsuit Massacre, Futuristic Retro Champions, Action Group and others. The DVD is currently on sale from various independent outlets, including Avalanche Records, The Fruitmarket, Analogue Books and online at www.artschooldance.com

Since its launch in late 2007, Edinburgh's weekly Limbo night has established itself as the place to go to check out new talent and the club played a significant role in its host venue, the Voodoo Rooms, picking up the PRS Music Pub Of The Year award last year.

During the past 18 months many of the gigs have been recorded and 23 April sees the release of the limited edition Limbo Live CD, which includes tracks by Found, Punch and The Apostles, Meursault, Isosceles, Over the Wall, Come On Gang, A-lix and Kid Canaveral.

Record Store Day takes place on 19 April and will see independent record shops throughout the UK celebrating new releases, new formats and all things independent. From 10am there will be free in-store performances and DJ sets in thousands of stores. To celebrate there will be lots of free goodie bags, new releases and an exclusive Record Store Day vinyl and CD release (limited to just 500 copies).

This column appeared in The Scotsman on 30 March 2009