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

On the radar: Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers

Play: Heart Attack


Play: Hang the Noose


What makes a good band name? Well, according to Ali Downer of the splendidly-named central Scotland country-rock collective Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers, it’s the opportunity to annoy the naysayers.

“I had made a recording called Woodenbox and played some wee affairs under that alias,” he explains. “When the rest of the guys came on board we wrote some new songs and changed some of the older ones.

“We came up with a bit of a country thing and decided to call ourselves Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers – it was a bit of a laugh really but it’s stuck because a few people didn’t like it and that made it somehow more appealing for us.”

Downer and his bandmates Nick Dudman (drums/ukelele), Fraser McKirdy (bass/organ), Phil Cardwell (trumpet), Jordan Croan (electric guitar) and Sam Evans (sax) have gone from strength to strength and have built up a reputation for their raucous live shows since getting together at the beginning of 2008. This month sees the band take in some venues in Northern England – but they’re still managing to fit in a show as part of Oxjam’s Edinburgh Takeover.

“Oxfam is the undisputed king of charity music outlets and we are happy to be associated with the good name,” says Downer. “We played at Gimme Shelter last year too, and really loved the vibe.

“I hope there is a bit of cash available for the charity, and we will be doing our bit by having free CDs for people who come to the show.”

The band’s two-piece brass section is among the many things that set them apart from many bands in the local scene. “Ultimately we want to create something different,” Downer explains.

“It’s great writing songs and pulling them together as a band then trying different ways of playing and recording them.

“We try to play a raucous live show to make our music different from how it is recorded too – we wanna have a different vibe.”

The band count themselves as big fans of experimental folk and blues acts such as Captain Beefheart and Dr Dog; and closer to home The Phantom Band. “They’re an inspiring, phenomenal force,” says Downer .

“I love music that uses harmony and interesting uses of instrumentation,” he adds.

“I became obsessed with the Serge Leone films a few years ago and the soundtracks by Ennio Morricone were so inspiring. I went out and bought the soundtracks on record and through of making a wee side project of music like that – the tracks I came up with ended up just becoming hybrids that we play in the band.”

Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers have recently finished recording their debut album, which will be released at the beginning of 2010. “It’s a good year to release an album, and we’re really excited to get it out there,” says Downer.

Words: Lisa-Marie Ferla

See the band play their Oxjam gig at Sneaky Pete's on Friday (23rd) at 9.15pm.

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...