Under the Radar podcast #5

...or, the one where we headed down to Oxjam Edinburgh, grabbed a few bands in various states of inebriation and recorded the results, with a few songs thrown in for good measure.

We have interviews with Meursault, Boycotts, Dead Boy Robotics, The Little Kicks, Jesus H Foxx and Y'All is Fantasy Island which we've stitched together quite simply in the order they happened.

Stevie, our Bowery correspondent, chatted to three of the bands at that venue, while Billy caught up with Dead Boy Robotics after their Cab Vol set and Nick spoke to Boycotts backstage at the same venue and The Little Kicks later on outside the 'aftershow' party.

Listen for tales of yacht sailing off the coast of Barcelona, Aberdonians "trying harder" out of town, and the conundrum of how to fit seven band members into one tour van (answer: tow a trailer).

Play: Podcast #5


Running order:
00:07: Interview: Dead Boy Robotics
04:57: Dead Boy Robotics - All Sixes & Sevens
09:22: Interview: Y'All is Fantasy Island
10:52: Y'All is Fantasy Island - With Hand Claps
14:26: Interview: Boycotts
18:20: Boycotts - Luella & Lies
21:33: Interview: Jesus H Foxx
24:22: Jesus H Foxx - I'm Half the Man You Were
27:32: Interview: Meursault
30:14: Meursault - A Few Kind Words
33:17: Interview: The Little Kicks
37:22: The Little Kicks - We Came Alive

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Podcast: Stevie Kearney, Billy Hamilton, Nick Mitchell

Previous UtR podcasts

Radar recommends: Edinburgh gigs, 29 March – 4 April

Greetings music fans! Under the Radar [UTR] welcomes you to our very first foray into the world of gig listings. Now, we know you guys are busier than Madonna in an African adoption agency, so rather than reeling off a succession of shows we’ve done all the hard work for you and extracted the highlights of the next seven days and placed them into one essential feature. Without further ado then, UTR brings to you its top five Edinburgh gigs of the week [and, yes, we know Frightened Rabbit and Meursault are playing The Bowery on Friday but if you’ve not got a ticket by now don’t even bother]...

**UTR’s GIG OF THE WEEK**
Duty Free featuring Thomas Truax, Withered Hand, Greg Dodgeson
Friday 3 April, Cabaret Voltaire, doors: FREE(!)
Anyone who’s witnessed the beguiling sight of Thomas Truax (pictured above) in full flow will understand just why this is our gig of the week. A madcap human hurdy-gurdy, Truax and his smorgasbord of self-moulded instrumentation emits tunes like an off-kilter Andrew Bird teetering on the edge of both brilliance and derangement. Supported by the delectable harpsichordal strums of local troubadour Withered Hand, this is shaping up to be quite a showing. Oh, did we mention it will cost you not one penny?

Rob St John, The Wee Rogue, Ben Wetherill
Saturday 4 April, The Bowery, doors:TBC
Think of the sound of silence. Now add to it a tender, corkscrewing vocal and a few pulse-stopping melodies and you’ve done it; you’ve pinned down Rob St John. The once singer/songwriter now fully functioning band is an exquisite aural pleasure that never fails to induce the tingle of goose-flesh across UTR’s oh-so-manly self. Set in the Bowery’s haunting halls and supported by The Wee Rogue’s brittle-boned mews and Hack & A Hacksaw collaborator Ben Wetherill, you’d be a fool to miss this one.

Limbo featuring St Deluxe , Team Turnip, French Wives
Thursday 2 April, Voodoo Rooms, doors £4
A staple on the Edinburgh scene for over a year now, Limbo consistently produces the goods when it comes to gigs. This one’s no exception. St Deluxe are a thrashing romp of Ash-like hooks and swagger; Team Turnip wail out infectious melodies like The Boy Least Likely To in a Lego-less toy shop; while French Wives are the sweet sound of string-laden waves crashing against a shoreline of The Delgados and Arcade Fire. Will we ever stop singing Limbo’s praises? Doubtful.

Manky Bastard Presents: The Gothenburg Address, North Atlantic Oscillation, San Sebastian
Saturday 4 April, Sneaky Pete’s, £5 doors
When someone going by the name of Manky Bastard presents you with anything you’d normally make for the pepper spray. But this time you’re in safe hands because this lovingly-wrapped gift is the oscillating sound of The Gothenburg Address. A clan of indie luminaries, the Edinburgh-dwelling quartet’s voiceless thrust of chord embellishing Post-Rock is picking up plaudits like Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli picks up women, sans the incorrigible catchphrase and finger snapping.

Jesus H. Foxx (Single launch), Y’all Is Fantasy Island, Hindle Wakes
Thursday 2 April, Sneaky Pete’s, £4 doors
We here at UTR make no apologies for our unreserved love of Jesus H. Foxx. The Edinburgh-based quintet’s new-wave, post-punk scuffling has been tickling our sensorial cones for over a year now. This week's gig marks the launch of The Foxx’s brand new single and is supported by infectiously morose mainstays Y’all Is Fantasy Island and Glasgow’s whispered Hindle Wakes. All in all, it’s guaranteed to be a corker.

Disagree with our selection? Wanna tell the world where you 're going this week? Let us know below...

Scottish bands and musicians on Twitter

I realise you're probably fed up with the constant media coverage of Twitter by now. So Stephen Fry got stuck in a lift? So what.

Rather than be the umpteenth blog to preach about why it's probably so essential that you should sign up right now and start informing the world of your every move, I'm going to offer something a bit more useful (presuming you are indeed interested in Scottish music): a handy list of all the Scottish bands and musicians I could find on Twitter.

Other music blogs have done similar things, but as far as I'm aware no-one has done this for specifically Scottish acts.

There are some great bands in the list, and there's no better way to keep up-to-date with the latest news, announcements and mundane lifestyle details (there is even a Twitter account for Mogwai's latest dietary adventures) than following them.

Alex Cornish - Gifted English singer-songwriter who upped sticks to Edinburgh
Any Color Black - Glaswegian electro-rock duo recently featured on this blog
Attic Lights - Natural heirs to Teenage Fanclub's melodic pop crown
ballboy - Veterans of the capital's indie scene
Briganties, The - Indie rockers from the Borders
Broken Records - Hyped Edinburgh group with debut album on the way
Calvin Harris - Electro-popstar uses Twitter mainly to slag the NME
Camera Obscura - Makers of the finest indie-pop since Belle & Sebastian
Chris Flew - Glaswegian singer-songwriter
Come On Gang - One of the capital's most hyped bands at the moment
Copy Haho - Stonehaven's finest musical exports
Dan Lyth - Dunfemline singer-songwriter
Dananananaykroyd - Multi-syllabic Glaswegians make warp-speed pop-punk
De Rosa - Chemikal Underground-signed earnest indie rock
Dead Boy Robotics (Gregor and Mike) - Electro duo from Edinburgh
Epic 26 - Edinburgh band recently played the city's inaugural Twestival
Errors - Signed to Mogwai's label, adding electronica to their post-rock sound
Francis Macdonald - Ex-Teenage Fanclub man turned producer
FOUND - Quirky, art-school folktronica act signed to Fence Records
Isosceles - Art-pop tunesmithery from Glasgow
Hussys, The - Glasgow girl band and one of the first on Twitter
Jesus H Foxx - Edinburgh's prime exponents of Talking Heads-style punk-funk
Joe McAlinden - West Coast indie stalwart going it solo
Kid Canaveral - Gentle indie from Edinburgh
Luva Anna - Dundee psych-rockers who appeared on Orange Unsigned TV show
Louise Quinn - Singer-songwriter in Glasgow's A Band Called Quinn
Malcolm Middleton - Falkirk native and Arab Strap co-founder Malky Middleton
Manda Rin - Former Bis starlet now doing it solo
Mitchell Museum - Fledgling indie obscurities
Mogwai (Stuart Braithwaite - 'Gwai guitarist delivers band news and setlists.
Norman Blake - Another ex-Teenage Fanclub member
Proclaimers, The - Scotland's finest musical twins
RBRBR - Playful electro pop act from Edinburgh
Scottish Enlightenment, The - Dunfermline band
Twilight Sad, The - Awesome mix of post-rock and folk - with a heavy West Coast accent
Unicorn Kid - Teenage electro-pop prodigy from Leith
We Are The Physics - Manic punk from these Glesgae livewires
Y'All is Fantasy Island - The most prolific band in Scotland hail from Falkirk

And of course, we're on it too: Under the Radar

Have we missed anyone?
Leave your additions to the list in the comments below and I'll add them in.