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

Promoter profile: Trampoline

[Randan Discotheque: playing Trampoline on Saturday]

On Tuesday we featured the Glasgow night Don't Make A Scene, and they're not the only ones with a purposeful name. For the past two years in Edinburgh, Trampoline has been doing its best to act as a springboard to success (geddit?) for the capital's best bands, having staged early shows by the likes of Broken Records and Meursault at the indie haven that is the College of Art's Wee Red Bar.

As one half of The Kays Lavelle, Trampoline main man Euan McMeeken understands the challenges faced by local musicians, but stresses that his night isn't another identikit indie party: "We also accommodate touring bands and I think this is where what we do is completely different from other promoters. The touring bands we attract such as Glissando, Trespassers William and Sleepingdog tend to be very much on the darker side of the musical spectrum: simple, atmospheric and bleak. It's this kind of music I particularly love."

But far from shy away from success, the current vitality of the Edinburgh scene (the dreaded s-word strikes again!) is a positive for Euan: "This city's music scene is thriving and fortunately we have a wide variety of like minded people wanting to help maintain and enhance what has become the place in Scotland for good new music."

Much of this excitement has been generated by a handful of acts, but Euan has his own priorities: "From a personal point of view the artists that excite me most in Scotland at the moment are Meursault, Withered Hand, Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers, Y'all Is Fantasy Island, eagleowl, Inspector Tapehead and The Japanese War Effort. I'm also getting well into Jesus H Foxx at the moment and am a big fan of Aberdeen artists Debutant and Katerwaul as well."

Before we let you in on this Saturday's Trampoline roster, we need to put a call out on Euan's behalf: he wants visual artists to get in on the act too. "You’d think being at the Art College would help me source artists for the nights, but often the music takes up so much of my time that I can’t get the art organised. It’s something I really want to sort out in 2009 because when it works - like 7VWWVW and the dancing ladies of the Wintergreens, it can add a new dimension to the night. If any artists or musicians want to get in touch about playing they can contact me at trampolinemusic@gmail.com or drop me a message via MySpace."

Trampoline takes place this Saturday (16 May) at the Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh, featuring Randan Discotheque, White Heath and The Stormy Seas - Doors 7pm. Future confirmed artists include Meursault, Wounded Knee and Glissando.

Words: Nick Mitchell

Play: Randan Discotheque - Daily Record May 18th 1993


Play: White Heath - Wait Forever


Play: The Stormy Seas - Blood On The Carpet