Radar recommends: 13 - 19 Feb

[Unicorn Kid: giddy techno at Tut's on Tuesday. Photo: Jane Barlow]

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

The best...

Trampoline: Kid Canaveral, Babygod, Cancel the Astronauts
Saturday @ Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh / 7pm / £5 (£3)
Trampoline is fast becoming one of the capital's most reliable live music nights. See this month's delectable indie-pop menu, for example, featuring local favourites Kid Canaveral and one of our favourite bands around, Cancel the Astronauts.

Divorce, Bitches
Sunday @ Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh / £tbc / 7pm
Possibly not the wisest destination for a romantic date on the 14th, but anyone who wants to celebrate their singledom in truly anarchic fashion should check out Glasgow nae-wavers Divorce, here with London duo Bitches. Bitchin.
Also playing The 13th Note, Glasgow on Saturday.

Unicorn Kid
Tuesday @ King Tuts, Glasgow / 8.30pm / £7
Signed just this week to Ministry of Sound, it’s unlikely this Edinburgh wunderkind will be playing venues of this size much longer.

Bronto Skylift, Ex Wives, Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers
Wednesday @ Nice’n’Sleazys, Glasgow /10pm / £4
Two-piece noise act Bronto Skylift headline this fundraiser for Glasgow art school students that includes DJ sets from Optimo’s Twitch and Men and Machines. Call in sick to work/uni/life now.

Yeasayer
Wednesday @ Oran Mor, Glasgow / 7pm / £10
Touring their new, poppier album Odd Blood, these Baltimore-via-Brooklyn boys hit Glasgow mid-week.

Panda Su, Julia and the Doogans, Sophie's Pigeons
Wednesday @ Brel, Glasgow / 7pm / £4
A night of female-fronted talent in the form of UtR-touted Panda and Julia, plus the intriguingly titled Sophie's Pigeons.
Panda Su and Sophie's Pigeons also play Duke's Corner, Dundee on Tuesday.


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

Live review: Trampoline

The Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh
Saturday 16 January

Tonight, the Wee Red feels more like a sit-down session than a gig. Lounged-out upholstery speckles the venue and scores of incoming punters are making best use of the situation by parking their posteriors and slurping slowly on cheap ale. Perhaps it’s an indictment of the Edinburgh music scene’s languid start to 2010, but the lethargy that permeates Trampoline’s first outing of the year is almost tangible.

Some sympathy, then, must be lent to Thomas Western. The uphill battle of stirring the sleepy masses is challenging enough. To do it armed with just an acoustic guitar and a frail, threadbare voice borders on lunacy. Yet Western is nothing if not persistent and he gets to work belting out polished, folksy matter like a bull-headed street preacher oblivious to his surroundings.

The trouble with such brittle laments is that they’re the perfect accompaniment for idle chit-chat. And as the Derby-born songwriter coos through a set of muted reflection the escalating hum of conversation drowns out his tender tones. Such gentle purring will always find a home in Edinburgh’s troubadour-hugging bosom, but Western’s downtrodden songsmithery and reticent mannerisms lack the sufficient hypnosis to engage attention, never mind clear the cobwebs of the post-festive period malaise.

Fortunately, Over the Wall are on hand to shake off the slumber. Bleeding positivity, the Glasgow duo of Ben Hillman and Gav Prentice launch into an ebullient indie pop spectacle that resuscitates the comatosed crowd. Squeezing out hyperactive, synth-spangled romps like they’ve sniffed an ounce of aural laxative, the spectrum of keys, brass and guitar played at breakneck speed is an irresistible kickstart that finally lifts the Wee Red to its feet.

This shot of adrenaline is underpinned by a craft that belies the pairing’s delinquent playfulness. Cornerstoned by generous slivers of melody layered over complex rhythms, the band’s meticulous arrangements make a mockery of their self-effacing claims. Closing number 'Thurso' is a prime example of this embellished guile: slow paced and preening, it takes shape as a trumpeting crescendo that has palms clapping, feet stomping and hearts racing. It's all to the beat of a band, undoubtedly, on the rise.

With ear-canals fully lubricated, an air of expectancy greets the arrival of headliners How to Swim. Jostling for space on the Wee Red’s not-inconsiderable floor, the nine-sided ensemble din like no-one else. A plunder of brass, string and percussion detonates as an avant-garde trill; below this wall of instrumentation lies Ink Wilson’s unmistakable crow, desperate to orchestrate cohesion amidst the chaos.

It’s an exhilarating trip that spoons myriad styles into one brilliant, bubbling pot. Trouble is, there’s just too many cooks stirring in too many ingredients. There’s no doubting the quality of the compositions – each is an intelligent slab of voluptuous art-pop - but the sheer scope feels disorientating and overwhelming. By constantly showcasing the entire suite of instruments, the set becomes a dishevelled sprawl that loses focus and, sadly, becomes ineffectual. For sure, How to Swim have created an impenetrable sonic shield, but tonight they could benefit from letting a few people in.

As the final notes fade from stage to be replaced by the sound of bombastic applause, one thing is achingly clear: In the space of just three hours, Edinburgh’s live music scene has finally kicked into gear.

Words: Billy Hamilton
Photos: Su Anderson

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...

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