Win tickets to Hinterland 2010

Hinterland returns to Glasgow for a second year next month, bringing with it a slew of hotly tipped bands from near and far.

Taking place across six city centre venues, the mini-festival is the latest to take on the 'Camden Crawl' format, and it takes place on 3 April from 5pm 'til 3am.

The line-up so far: Mystery Jets, British Sea Power, Joe Goddard (Hot Chip) DJ set, Friendly Fires DJ set, Jeffrey Lewis, Hot Club de Paris, Wave Pictures, Greco-Roman Soundsystem, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaur, Fenech Soler, Johnny Foreigner, Bleech, Make Sparks, The French Wives, Little Yellow Ukuleles, Ambulances, Pulled Apart By Horses, Panda Su, The Boy Who Trapped the Sun, Midnight Lion, The Darien Venture, The Kays Lavelle, Kitty the Lion, Cooly G, Eclair-Fifi and Konx Om Pax.

Early bird tickets have sold out, but we have two pairs of tickets to give away.

To enter this competition, answer the following question:

How many of the bands playing this year's Hinterland have been interviewed on this blog?

- 2
- 4
- 6
- 8

(Hint: see the list, below right)

Send your answer to online@scotsman.com with the subject 'Hinterland'.

Live review: We Sink Ships

The 13th Note, Glasgow
Friday 8 January

Tonight brings both celebration and sadness for We Sink Ships. Ostensibly a launch party for WSS Radio, the Glasgow based art and music collective’s new podcast series, the gig was also a farewell to the duo’s Neil Milton – whose contributions will now come from his new home in Warsaw.

It may mark a new chapter in We Sink Ships history but this promising line-up boasts some familiar names. Euan McMeeken opens without his Kays Lavelle cohorts, performing solo material as well as stripped-down versions of tracks from the septet’s upcoming debut album.

Without his colleagues, McMeeken’s music is a different beast – fragile, simple, like the sound of a Christmas card-perfect snow scene. It sounds like the city looks tonight – delicate flurries of piano notes fall like snowflakes and McMeeken’s voice is whispery and emotive despite microphone problems.

If McMeeken’s music is all Scottish winter love songs then Iceland’s Benni Hemm Hemm is going to see your silly Scottish winters and raise you some arctic permafrost. “I might be making fun of you for thinking this is cold,” says band foreman Benedict Hermmannson, introducing a song he claims is about “when you’re trapped inside because of the weather and the only thing to do is attack your loved ones’”

Sporting a reindeer emblazoned novelty sweater, he sings in a mixture of heavily-accented English and Icelandic with the benefit of brass accompaniment from the Second Hand Marching Band. Although the set dips a little in the middle, by the end voice and instruments combine in a way which can only be described as joyous.

Is it cliché now to joke that the Second Hand Marching Band are getting too big for the ‘Note? It’s just that when part of your improvised instrumentation involves your ukulele player using the ceiling as percussion it’s one that’s hard to avoid. There isn’t much that can be said about the many-headed group that we haven’t said before, unless it’s to remark that live their sound is even more charmingly ramshackle than it is on record.

While tracks from early EPs still dominate the set, new material sounds promising - there’s a gentle sea-shanty style song, with sweet male-female vocals, and the epic 'A Hurricane, A Thunderstorm' which closes the set. This is supposed to be the band’s last show for a few months, while they disappear to work on more recordings, and it’s a good note to end on.

We Sink Ships will appear every Tuesday on Radio Magnetic with top fives, sets from Neil Milton and Heidi Kuisma and guest DJs, as well as the podcasted return of Milton’s Too Many Fireworks label.

Words and photos: Lisa Marie Ferla

Radar recommends: 9 - 15 August

[Dollskabeat: playing support to Telepathe on Wednesday]

The size of this column seems to ebb and flow from week to week. Last week there was little musical sustenance for Scotland's music lovers; this week there's enough out there to give you a dose of heartburn if they're not careful. If you happen to live in the 'big two' that is...


Edinburgh

The Lost Brothers, The Kays Lavelle
Sunday @ Sneaky Pete's £6 7pm
Melancholy folk from The Lost Brothers, with piano-led indie-rock from Edinburgh's Kays Lavelle.

Telepathe, Dollskabeat
Wednesday @ Sneaky Pete's £7 7pm
Trendier-than-thou Brooklyn electro dames roll into town, flanked by Edinburgh's own glitch queen, Dollskabeat.

This is Music: Dead Boy Robotics, The Foundling Wheel
Friday @ Sneaky Pete's 7pm £tbc
The August instalment of Auld Reekie's finest monthly gig night showcases the talents of two noise-inclined members of the Bear Scotland collective.

The GRV Fest: Ritalin Kids, Dupec, Boycotts, The Nature Boys
Friday @ The GRV £tbc 5pm onwards
The first night of The GRV's big bash is stuffed with local talent, including two of our favourites in Dupec and Boycotts.

The GRV Fest: The Debuts, Epic 26, OK Social Club, 10:04s, The Breech, Homework, The Steals
Saturday @ The GRV £tbc 3pm onwards
Day two of The GRV Fest is even bigger. Can you last the distance?

Young Fathers, Unicorn Kid
Saturday @ Cabaret Voltaire £7 8pm
Proving that Edinburgh's music scene is more diverse than first meets the eye, Young Fathers and Unicorn Kid bring bombastic hip hop and sugar-rich techno to the table respectively.


Glasgow

Stellar Sounds: Rio Callahan, Funksion, Federation of the Disco Pimp
Wednesday @ Glasgow Science Centre | £12 | 7pm
A gig with a difference this, given that it takes place in a planetarium. See Stevie's preview a few posts down the page.

The Mill: Maple Leaves, Panda Su
Thursday @ Òran Mór | Free but ticketed | 8pm
Delectable folk-flecked indie from two of Scotland's brightest acts.

Telepathe, RBRBR, Super Adventure Club
Thursday @ King Tut's | £7.50 | 8.30pm
The aforementioned Telepathe head west, bringing with them two of Edinburgh's best new bands as support.

Attic Lights, The Seers, Invisible Republic
Friday @ Stereo | £9 | 7pm
Fundraiser for the Scottish Epilepsy Initiative, headed up by the winsome indie-pop of Attic Lights.

Boycotts, French Wives, Kalla Heartshake

Saturday @ ABC2 | £5 | 7pm

Boycotts launch their eagerly anticipated EP at this gig, with excellent support from French Wives and Kalla Heartshake.

Múm, My Latest Novel
Saturday @ Òran Mór | £15 | 7pm
Exquisite electronica-tinged indie from Icelanders Múm, not to mention the forward thinking sounds of Greenock-based My Latest Novel.

The Second Hand Marching Band, Over the Wall
Saturday @ The 13th Note | £tbc | 9pm
We can't get enough of SHMB's heartfelt shanties - or Over the Wall's textured pop for that matter.

Words: Nick Mitchell

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

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...