Under the Radar podcast #7

It was looking like it might never happen, but finally we have recorded our first podcast of 2010.

Two months away from the microphone has rendered some of our chat slightly nonsensical (what's new?), but the standard of music on this podcast is probably the best so far...

We were fans of The Japanese War Effort from the first time we saw him play at the erstwhile Bowery venue last year, and we open on 'Usain Bolt', taken from his new LP, I Will Leave You Now, And Two Loudspeakers Will Take My Place. The fastest man alive should be proud.

Another act to have graced this blog are The Unwinding Hours, the new band comprising one half of Aereogramme, and from their self-titled debut album we've chosen the spine-tinglingly epic 'Tightrope'.

We also turn our attention to this weekend's main event, the Fence Collective's annual Homegame festival in Anstruther, Fife. In anticipation of three days and nights of crammed pubs, fish suppers and maybe even the odd bit of music, we've got tracks from a trio of acts on this year's bill: Django Django, Findo Gask and Silver Columns.

And that's not all. There's more tuneage from the sickeningly talented Miaoux Miaoux and the ethereal Call To Mind (both of whom have new EPs on the way), as well as the obligatory 6 Music post-match analysis.

Hope you enjoy, and, as ever, let us know what you think below...

Play: Podcast #7


Running order:
00:00: The Japanese War Effort - Usain Bolt
04:04: The Unwinding Hours - Tightrope
08:58: Django Django - Storm
14:59: Findo Gask - Va Va Va
18:42: Silver Columns - Brow Beaten
25:10: Miaoux Miaoux - Dream On
34:02: Call To Mind - Breathe Pt. 1

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Podcast: Billy Hamilton, Nick Mitchell

Previous UtR podcasts

Radar recommends: 4 - 10 Oct

[Over the Wall, playing The Skinny's Birthday Party. Image: David Forcier]

In true Scottish style, we seem to have left our damp squib of a summer behind, skipped over autumn and plunged headfirst into the tree-bending winds and Arctic chills of winter.

On the bright side, at least 'fashion scarves' can now serve a practical purpose, and we can all converge at the nearest gig venue to huddle together like penguins and maybe even watch a decent band...


Aberdeen
Sky Larkin, Copy Haho, Marionettes
Monday @ Cafe Drummonds / 8pm / £6
Still promoting their album six months after its release, Leeds band Sky Larkin come to Aberdeen with support from the very tight Stonehaven boys Copy Haho and Killers-like Marionettes.

Cats & Cats & Cats, Greater The Shadow, Katerwaul, Free Korps
Monday @ The Tunnels / 7.30pm / £5
Ahead of the release of their new single Staines band Cats & Cats & Cats travel north with support from the brilliant Aberdeen band Katerwaul, as well as Greater the Shadow and Free Korps in this rather epic line up.

Three Blind Wolves, Washington Irving
Thursday @ Snafu / 10pm / £3/£2
A busy, busy week in Aberdeen with Bloc Party, Turin Brakes and Nerina Pallot but the cool kids will be going to the Dirty Hearts Club to see Ross Clark's newly renamed band play some top class alt-folk.

Dundee
RBRBR, Call To Mind
Thursday @ The Doghouse / 8pm / £5
Edinburgh electro five-piece come to Dundee supported by the rather beautiful sounds of Call To Mind.

Edinburgh
Dizzee Rascal
Sunday @ HMV Picture House / 7pm / £17.50
He's just a rascal, a sell-out rascal.

Indian Red Lopez
Tuesday @ The GRV / 7pm / Free
Aberdonian band with "great tunes, clever lyrics and top class musicianship." According to us.

Cats & Cats & Cats, There Will Be Fireworks, Free Korps
Tuesday @ Cabaret Voltaire / 7pm / £6
Every old spinster's dream scenario are also London indie types, but we're more interested in one of 2009's finest new bands, There Will Be Fireworks.

Mudhoney, The Vaselines, St Deluxe
Friday @ HMV Picture House / 7pm / £17.50
Pretend it's 1992 all over again. And don't say you're too young to remember 1992.

This is Music: Jesus H. Foxx, Boycotts
Friday @ Sneaky Pete's / 8pm / £3
A night of clattering punk-funk and sharp garage rock as these Edinburgh and Glasgow bands go head to head.

Micachu & the Shapes, The Invisible
Saturday @ Sneaky Pete's / 7pm / £6.50
Quirky pop from these mega-hyped Londoners.

Ten Tracks
Saturday @ Electric Circus / 11pm - 3am / £6
Scotland's version of iTunes hosts its own gig night, featuring Popscure and The Vangelis.

Glasgow
The xx
Monday @ The Captain’s Rest / 8pm / Sold out
Gothy, moody, minimal-electro; were you cool enough to buy a ticket in advance? Me neither, wow – you think the hype is unfounded too. We’re so similar.

Sky Larkin, Copy Haho
Tuesday @ Classic Grand (2nd Floor) / 7pm / £7
Can’t think of anything good that comes from Leeds? (Don’t you dare say Chris Moyles.) Meet Sky Larkin, a bit Pretty Girls Make Graves, a lot awesome. With Copy Haho in support the night can only go well.

The Mill: United Fruit, Orko
Thursday @ Oran Mor / 7pm / Free but ticketed
We’re in a recession. This is free. You should go.

Kill it Kid, Sparrow and the Workshop
Thursday @ The Captain’s Rest / 7.30pm / £6
Kill your Thursday by kindly treating it to this combo of Arcade Fire likened headliner and Glasgow based folk-pop support. Also playing Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh on Wednesday.

J. Tillman
Friday @ Nice’n’Sleazy / 9pm / £TBC
Bluesy, soul solo show by one quarter of Fleet Foxes.

Fiery Furnaces, French Wives
Saturday @ Nice’n’Sleazys / 7.30pm / £8.50
Boy/Girl Indie Rock served up on American and Scottish platters.

**UtR's gig of the week**
The Skinny and Ten Tracks Twisted Kids Birthday Party
Saturday @ The Arches / 10pm-3am / £7
A proper celebration; P.A.R.T.Y through to the wee hours with Meursault, The Blessings, Over the Wall, RBRBR and a whole host of DJs.

Words: Aimi Gold, Nick Mitchell, Andrew Learmonth


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

On the radar: Call To Mind

[Picture: Steven Gallagher]

Play: All The Happiness In My Head


Some bands are all talk. They may not be able to further the evolution of music in any meaningful way, but catch their eye after a gig and they'll drone on for ten minutes about how they're getting a lot of hype and how a few record labels are sniffing around but how that doesn't matter y'know, 'cos it's all about the music.

It's a well-worn cliché, but other bands prefer to let their music do the talking, one being Call To Mind. Guitarist Jamie Ross explains their modus operandi: "We just like to keep our heads down and write and record and occasionally play gigs. It’s difficult sometimes when you are on your own (without a label) with day jobs etc, but our songs stand tall next to anyone’s."

That last declaration may carry more than an echo of the aforementioned ear-bending, but coming from one quarter of this Glasgow-via-Inverness group, it sounds much more like considered self-assurance.

Jamie, along with fellow Invernessians Martin Ross (vocals) and Andrew Masson (bass), lived in Glasgow long before Call To Mind's inception. They met drummer Joe Smillie through mutual friends - namely the guys from Barn Owl (who we featured last month) - and they've been making their slow-burning, progressive rock for about a year and a half now.

Having turned the heads of diverse taste-makers from Alan McGee to Glasgow PodcART, their music - imagine the kind of cast-adrift melodies favoured by Grizzly Bear stretched out onto a vast panoramic canvass - is surely deserving of a wider audience.

Although they cite their influences bluntly as "Kate Bush, Elbow, Super Furry Animals", Call To Mind are obviously passionate about their music: "We would still be hanging out listening to records or watching gigs and stuff if we weren't in a band," says Jamie.

The band's ambitions are similarly straightforward: "To get to that self-sustaining point anyone musically minded aims for," Jamie says, "whether that’s on someone’s label or on our own."

While they're still waiting on that record deal themselves, Call To Mind are full of admiration for some of their more established musical contemporaries. "There are some great bands that have broken through recently, Frightened Rabbit, The Phantom Band and The Twilight Sad being good examples," Jamie says. "Yet there are many gems under the soil with little or no backing behind them, like Yahweh, Barn Owl and Bronto Skylift." [Ahem, we've featured all three! - Ed]

And having left the Highlands behind, do they still consider it a good place for music?

"Inverness is always great when we play there," Jamie says. "Hootananny in particular is always thriving with something, whether it’s a folk, reggae or metal night or whatever. Glasgow is quite saturated with gigs on a nightly basis. In the North though, where there aren’t nearly as many gigs, the crowd are generally more responsive; bands from the Central Belt would be pleasantly surprised if they decided to venture up there."

Like what you hear? Watch Call To Mind live at the following shows:

28 Aug @ Wizard Festival, Aberdeenshire
31 Oct @ Hootenanny, Inverness

Words: Nick Mitchell

Play: Breathe