Elaine Liddle: My band of 2009

[Photo: Luke Joyce]

In the first of a series of blog posts in which UtR writers pick their favourite bands and gigs of 2009, and tip acts to look out for in 2010, Elaine Liddle plumps for a band who we featured back in August

They might have been officially around since 2006 - but 2009 was the year I finally began to love Brother Louis Collective. Before January they were one of those names I'd heard in the general chatter, always assumed I'd quite enjoy, but then been distracted by something else before I remembered to investigate them. Then I saw them live and it all started to make sense – so I came back for more.

In case you didn't catch their UtR profile, BLC's music is folky but not too folky, sweet but not saccharine. Put simply, they write good songs about love and life.

A high point in the bunch of times I saw them perform this year was - bizarrely for an accomplished six-piece band - the stripped down version at the Strike the Colours album launch in Stereo. Having apparently stepped in at the last minute, and without half the band, they nevertheless pulled off an engaging and entertaining set.

Recent Brother Louis Collective blogging promises that their very first album will be out early next year (so I guess I'm not *too* late in catching up with them). Ten tracks recorded at Chem 19 with Paul Savage certainly mean there will be more to look forward to in 2010.

BLC - Barren Years


BLC - Squealing Pigs

Radar recommends: 5 - 11 Dec

[eagleowl: swopping down on The Bowery on Friday]

We edge ever closer to Christmas party season this week. But if you want to purge all thoughts of 70s glam rockers with mirrored hats and 80s woolly jumpered, mullet-headed warblers for the time being, you may want to head down to one of the following recommended gigs...

Aberdeen
Steve Earle
Tuesday @ Music Hall / 7.30pm / £22.50
The bearded US singer-songwriter and spiritual counsellor from The Wire tours his latest album, Townes.
Also playing Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow on Sunday and The Ironworks, Inverness on Thursday

Edinburgh
Sebastian Dangerfield, Washington Irving, We Were Promised Jetpacks (solo)
Saturday @ The Bowery / 7.30pm / £5
Edinburgh indie quartet with support from recent blog stars Washington Irving and Adam from the Jetpacks.

The Last Battle
Saturday @ Carters Bar / 9.30pm / Free
The Edinburgh band launch their Christmas single, Once Upon a Boxing Day.

Schwervon!, Withered Hand, The Pineapple Chunks, Les Enfant Bastard
Saturday @ Henry's Cellar Bar / 7pm / £5
The cream of New York anti-folk is joined by the cream of Edinburgh anti-folk for this intimate night of, er, anti-folk.

Tubelord, Trapped in Kansas
Monday @ Sneaky Pete's / 7pm / £6
Tubelord trade in high voltage fight-pop, while Trapped in Kansas are quite simply one of our favourite new bands of the year.

Deerhoof
Tuesday @ The Bongo Club / 7pm / £12.50
Change of venue, which means now you'll be able to get even closer to the deranged noise emanating from the San Fran band's amps.

Benni Hemm Hemm, Alasdair Roberts, Wounded Knee
Wednesday @ St Mark's Unitarian Church / 7.30pm / Donation
Icelandic troubadour Mr Hemm Hemm leads the musical prayers at this unusual church gig, with excellent support/collaborations.

Broken Records
Wednesday @ Cabaret Voltaire / 7pm / £7
Everyone's favourite Edinburgh-based klezmer-tinged seven-piece play their own homecoming (with a small 'h') show.

The Mars Volta
Wednesday @ HMV Picture House / 7pm / £17.50
You can excuse the odd ten-minute guitar freakout if Cedric Bixler-Zavala still manages to do a handstand while bending his versatile vocals around their bizarre subject matter.

The Banana Sessions, Small Feet Little Toes, Freemore
Thursday @ The Bowery / 7pm / £5
We first encountered The Banana Sessions playing covers on the Glasgow-Edinburgh train one night. Now they're playing proper shows and they shouldn't be missed.

**UtR's gig of the week**
eagleowl, Withered Hand, Jill O'Sullivan
Friday @ The Bowery / 7.30pm / £5
The much admired Edinburgh collective eagleowl launch their kinda-Christmas-kinda-not single Sleep the Winter. Read our interview with Bart Owl a bit further down the page.

Glasgow
Vic Godard and the Subway Sect, The Sexual Objects
Saturday @ Stereo / 8pm / £10
Punk pioneer Vic (he was supporting The Clash in '77) celebrates the 15th anniversary of the Creeping Bent label at this Sounds in the Suburbs night.

Brother Louis Collective
Sunday @ Bloc / 8pm / Free
UtR-tipped six-piece with heart-felt, sweet folky numbers are at Bloc tonight.

Sunn 0)))
Sunday @ Stereo / 7.30pm / £15
Every bearded-chin-stroking muso-boy in Glasgow will be having their very cores vibrated by the US doom merchants with their grimm robes and reaaalllyyy loooonnng, REALLY LOUD notes.

The Gothenburg Address, Loss Leader, The Bucky Rage, Aidan Moffat (DJ set)
Monday @ Mono / 8pm / £5
Band who include sometime Arab Strap and Zephyrs members and make beautiful shoegazy-style instrumental tunes launch their debut album with help from one-man gloom extravaganza Loss Leader.

Ensemble Thing
Wednesday @ 13th Note Cafe / 9pm / £4
Lots of talented folk from a bunch of other Glasgow bands/orchestras get together and make lovely, “post minimalist” music.

Malcolm Middleton's Long Dark Night
Thursday @ Oran Mor / 7pm / £14.50
Get your festive celebrations off to a cheery start with Mr Middleton's intimate show of wintry acoustic songs “about love, hate, death and other stuff”, plus a solo support slot from his former Arab Strap bandmate.

Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers
Thursday @ King Tuts / 7.30pm / FREE
Woodenbox do a sneaky wee acoustic gig in the bar at King Tuts – and won't even make a dent in your Christmas present fund... unless you want to partake in the accompanying supper.

Nuts and Seeds: Box Elders, Goldern Grrrls, Mazes, Water Wolves
Thursday @ CCA / 8.30pm / £4
A transatlantic mix of bands as Nebraska brothers Clayton and Jeremiah McIntyre head up this Nuts and Seeds night along with experimental noisy Glasgow trio Golden Grrrls.

Any Color Black, Less Than Sober
Friday @ Stereo / 7pm / £6
I'll forgive that whole 'American spelling thing of coloUr' thing because this fun electro-rock duo make me want to dance.

Edwyn Collins, 1990s, The Low Miffs
Friday @ ABC / 7pm / £18
The Orange Juice man has made a significant return from illness in the past two years so fans shouldn't miss this rare show – along with two bands indebted to the Postcard records legacy.

Words: Elaine Liddle, Nick Mitchell

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

On the radar: Brother Louis Collective

Play: Barren Years


Play: Squealing Pigs


Orchestral-folk combo Brother Louis Collective have been hauling their cargo of bittersweet, emotive pop tunes all over the Scottish music scene for about three years now.

The six-piece, led by ‘Brother’ Louis Abbott, perform in a number of other mainstay Glasgow bands including The Moth and the Mirror and alongside Anna Meldrum, who recently upgraded from solo to band status.

After releasing their first single 'These Barren Years' in March the band took to the studio to record a full-length album.

"We chose to record at Chem19, working with Paul 'Walnuts' Savage, and he was great at getting the best out of us," says guitarist Gordon Skene. "We did the drums and bass live, and seemed to race through everything else, it was a real breeze for the most part.

"The atmosphere in there is so relaxed, with daylight, and a fussball table. What more can you ask for? It felt like the best time to get this collection of songs committed to tape, so we got some money together and headed in and just got the job done."

On stage the band pick and mix instruments, switching between guitar, flute, clarinet, and upright bass. This plethora of instrumentation leads easily to comparisons with the endlessly referenced Arcade Fire. But if anything they’re a gentler version; just as passionate, but like a younger, more instantly likeable sibling. A Haribo Arcade Fire if you like.

It's the quality of the vocals and lyrics that sets Brother Louis Collective apart. Clever observations of life and love fall from Louis and female vocalist Sarah Hayes’ mouths with real warmth. In live favourite ‘Squealing Pigs’ there’s even a good, old-fashioned hoe-down in the mid-section.

After playing T in the Park’s T Break stage this summer the band are hoping to make some progress with their new recordings.

"It feels like our time to push things forward," Skene says. "Until now we've been playing carefully, treading water a little and finishing uni, working at jobs and all the rest of it.

"But now things in our personal lives are shaking up a bit we're hoping to make the most of it and get some good gigs, find somebody to put our record out, make a name for ourselves outside of Glasgow and Edinburgh."

Words: Aimi Gold

Like what you hear? Watch Brother Louis Collective live at An Tober, Isle of Mull on 21 Aug and a new venue TBC in Glasgow on 14 Sep. Check their MySpace for future dates.

Radar recommends: 28 June - 4 July

[There Will Be Fireworks: lighting the fuse on their debut album this week]

So farewell then, Michael Jackson. The twinkle-toed king of pop, who played Scotland just once at Glasgow Green in 1992, is no more. The question is, will any of our nation's up and coming musicians have a go at a Jacko cover this week? You'll have to get out there and find out for yourself.


Aberdeen

The Muscle Club, Get In Get Out, Come On Gang, :cryoverbillionaires
Wednesday @ Tunnels. Doors £
Welsh quartet headline, with support from local act Get In Get Out and highly touted Scots bands Come on Gang and :cryoverbillionaires.


Dundee

Unicorn Kid, I Wish I Was Weaver
Wednesday @ The Doghouse. Doors 6pm, £5
Sugar-fuelled electro-trancey-pop from teenage sensation Oliver Sabin, plus support from Arbroath-based I Wish I Was Weaver.

The Boycotts, Ross Clark and the Scarves Go Missing
Friday @ The Doghouse. Doors 8pm, £5.
The Boycotts’ hook infused indie-pop is as moreish as candyfloss, while UtR-touted RC&tSGM (nice acronym eh?) ply an eclectic brand of Americana.


Edinburgh

Duty Free: Lost Knives, Dupec
Sunday @ Cabaret Voltaire. Doors 7pm, £free
Mancunian pop from Lost Knives, plus talented Edinburgh indie-rockers Dupec, who we featured on this here blog last month.

I Heart Hirsohima, The Pineapple Chunks
Tuesday @ The Bowery. Doors 7.30pm, £6
Aussie slacker-rock from Hiroshima, with support from fruity Edinburghers The Pineapple Chunks.

We See Lights
Thursday @ Wee Red Bar. Doors 8pm, £4
We See Lights are "connected by the Forth River" and make chiming, folky indie.

Brother Louis Collective, Little Kicks, Saint Jude's Infirmary
Thursday @ Sneaky Pete's. Doors 7pm, £5.
Brother Louis Collective do polished indie with a Scottish accent, flute and piano, and will play the T Break tent at a certain festival next month. What's more, you get to see a band we recommended only last week, Aberdeen's Little Kicks, and perennial local favourites St Jude's.

The Skinny Dip: The Twilight Sad, Adam Stafford, The Foundling Wheel
Thursday @ Bongo Club. Doors 7.30pm, £10
We can hardly stop listening to the two new tracks that have appeared on The Twilight Sad's MySpace of late, and with a hugely anticipated album on the way, this is a real coup for The Skinny's fledgling gig night. As if that wasn't enough, you also get a solo set from Y'All is Fantasy Island's Adam Stafford and experimental sounds from The Foundling Wheel.

Dog Tired
Friday @ Bannermans. Doors 9pm, £free
For thrashing, shouty tattooed heavy metal, you can't beat Dog Tired. Screaming guitars, thrumming bass complimented by comprehensible lyrics - what more could a metalhead ask for? Well, a debut album due to be released this year is one thing, and a gig which promises a 'groove-ridden, train wreck of a sound' is another. An unrelenting, driving cacophony of pure noise should top that off nicely. Dog Tired are playing Bannerman's with Battle of the War Machines. Yes, you will want to start a pit, so get your metal groove on and check them out. [KS]

:cryoverbillionaires
Saturday @ Sneaky Pete's. Doors 7pm, £5
:cryoverbillionaires mix it up a bit; a psychedelic wall of sound battling with hints of dance, drum and bass and topped off with swooping choruses. Add to this their lyrical soundness and impressive skill when it comes to musical experimentation, and you have a band not to be ignored. [KS]

Neoviolet
Saturday @ The Ark Doors 7.30pm, £4
Neoviolet are an indie rock three-piece with a lightly folky tinge. Slowly but surely making their mark across Edinburgh's pubs and clubs, they combine relaxing, jangling guitars with intense, angsty lyrics. If you're a fan of pitch-perfect harmonies and fancy blending this with a smooth undertone of cello, then catch the band at the Ark on 4th July for a reassuringly laid-back gig from a band who have very much found and filled their chilled-out niche. [KS]


Glasgow

Limbo: Zoey Van Goey, Isosceles, Punch And The Apostles, Haight-Ashbury, A-lix, Cancel The Astronauts and Thieves In Suits
Sunday @ Stereo. Doors 8pm, £5
The lauded Edinburgh gig night moves west for a one-off special to give their recent live album an official launch in Glasgow, with a line-up that reads like a who's who of emergent Scottish indie-pop talent.

Jocasta Sleeps
Sunday @ Nice'n'Sleazy. Doors 7.30pm, £tbc
Glasgow alt-rockers launch their new single 'Crayfish'.

The Darien Venture, We Are Trapped In Kansas, We Hung Your Leader and City of Statues
Sunday @ The Twisted Wheel. Doors 8pm, £free
The Darien Venture are in the melodic indie-punk racket, and they are joined by the superb math-rock outfit Trapped in Kansas, blistering rockers WHYL and City of Statues.

**UtR's gig of the week**
There Will Be Fireworks, Lions.Chase.Tigers, We Hung Your Leader
Wednesday @ Nice'n'Sleazy. Doors 7.30pm, £5
The thrilling TWBF launch their jaw-droppingly good self-titled debut album, with support from one of our favourites, Lions.Chase.Tigers, and the aforementioned We Hung Your Leader.

*Check the blog this week for an exclusive track-by-track album preview from Fireworks singer Nicholas McManus.

Jocky Ventakaram and The Mickey 9s
Friday @ Pivo Pivo. Doors 8pm, £3/2
Album launch for the enigmatic, Malcolm Middleton-influenced Ventakaram.


Words: Nick Mitchell, Kirstyn Smith

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