German electronic four piece The Notwist entertained a mesmerized crowd at Tuts last night playing songs from their new release ‘The Devil, You and Me’. The set included favourites from their 2002 release ‘Neon Golden’ and older songs such as ‘Chemicals’ from the 1998 album ‘Shrink’

It is evident they are a band who experiment with different sounds and styles and this really shows in their live set. Programmer Console (Martin Gretschmann) was even using a Wii on stage to add to his ambient soundscapes.

The melancholy opening guitar riffs of pretty pop song ‘Puzzle’ were a beautiful contrast to the dark noise crescendo of previous track ‘This Room’. It is this type of variation that makes their music interesting and it explains their journey from post-punk outfit in 1989 to expert purveyors of beautifully layered electronica.

The Notwist made this transition in their third album ‘12’ in 1995. The sound of their first two releases could easily be mistaken for a different band altogether, but that is not to say they have left behind any of the energy of their earlier styles.

They release a new single in the form of ‘Boneless’ on 1st December via City Slang, The release also features a seriously warped and wonderful ‘Boneless’ remix from Animal Collective’s Panda Bear and an unreleased Notwist gem, the gentle ballad ‘Come In’.

The full set list is below, support came from Lukid and Engine 7.

Boneless
Pick up the Phone
Wherein this World
This Room
Puzzle
Sleep
On Planet Off
Gloomy Planets
Different Cars and Trains
Pilot
Gravity
The Devil, You and Me

Good Lies
Chemicals
One With the Freaks

Words: Emily Macintosh
Pics: Tomas Hermoso

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There’s an art to pleasing a Glasgow crowd, copious amounts of beer, relentless football banter, the list goes on. Fortunately for The Faint the exuberant stage antics seemed to do the trick.

The Nebraskan five (Todd Fink, Jacob Thiele, Michael Dappen, Joel Petersen and Clark Baechle) are on a whistle stop European tour to promote their fifth album, Fascination, a self produced compilation of bold punk beats and synth. 

Keyboard guru Thiele stole the show with an all-out body popping showdown. Both the tight-lipped head nodders and mosh pit revellers came alive as lime green pyrotechnics pulsed to the beat of ‘Paranoia’. New tune The Geeks Were Right was another winner that showcased the band’s unique electro sound.   

After being signed to Saddle Creek Records in 1998, The Faint released their debut album ‘Media’. They went on to produce three more albums (1999’s Blank Wave Arcade’, 2001’s ‘Danse Macabre’ and 2004’s ‘Wet From Birth’) before announcing in May of this year that they were splitting from the label to self release future tracks.              

The relatively unknown Yankees made their mark on the Glasgow scene and Glasgow made its mark on them. Behind the goggles and lab coat lead singer Fink could not contain his glee as their lyrics were belted out in unison in a rough Scots’ accent. The full set list is below,

Agenda
Drop Kick
Hospital
Centipedes
Psycho
In Concert
Posed
Desperate Guys
Seduced
Conductor
Worked Up
Machine
Mirror
Paranoia Disappear

Words: Ann Russell
pics: Tomas Hermoso

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High anticipation for The Black Keys SOLD OUT Edinburgh gig last night was satisfied by the pounding opener ‘Thickfreakness’ and the blues rockers, who hail from Akron, Ohio; a city famous for its rubber production and Goodyear tyres, certainly didn’t lack any motion.

Drawing comparisons to the White Stripes and Hendrix the band can count several high profile fans amongst the ranks including, Radiohead and Robert Plant. The boys were involved recently in a special Barack Obama benefit concert at The Akron Civic Theater with fellow Akron band Devo.

Last night they played an extremely generous hour and fifteen minute set, that was definitely not too long for the diehard fans who filled up the Queens Hall.

Men of little words, guitarist Dan and drummer Patrick didn’t mess around and they got straight to the point by keeping the blues nod along, rock rolling, with songs from their new and now best-selling UK album ever ‘Attack and Release’ as well as older classic tracks like ‘10am Automatic’.

Any risk of the long set becoming repetitive was squashed by highlights such as ‘Strange Times’ and the Captain Beefheart cover ‘I am Glad’ which really filled up the intimate grandeur of the lovely Queens Hall.

Words: Emily Macintosh

Broken Records new single “Lies” came out last week, and is #7 in the Indie charts, according to singer Jamie. To promote the single, they did a wee acoustic instore at Glasgow’s Avalanche yesterday, before later supporting Okkervil River at the Òran Mór. It was pretty cosy, considering the size of the band and the size of the shop. They have 2 different sides to their song writing, the slow and sweeping, or the quick, raucous, Eastern European ceilidh that makes you just want to grab the person next to you and dance. Unsurprisingly, they went for the former in Avalanche, they played;

If The News Makes You Sad, Don’t Watch It
Ukulele Song
Wolves
Lies
A Slow Parade

You can catch them at the Shelter show in Edinburgh on the 29th November.

Words/Picture: Julia Gay

Last night promising anti folk songstress Emmy The Great was down at the Twisted Wheel on Queen Street. Usually an area of Glasgow to be avoided on Saturday evenings, this long standing and previously under-used space have new owners, who are doing an awesome job of helping to change that.

Fresh from shows in NYC at the CMJ Music Marathon and with her upcoming London date sold out this short tour is a chance to catch them in a relaxed and intimate setting. Singer Emma-Lee Moss is highly talented, charming and good looking, not surprisingly then, she already has a Young Husband.

Emma informs the crowd that the debut album ‘First Love’ (out in January) was mixed in Glasgow, she then goes on to say some of the band are still working day jobs, last week the day job for one member was helping on the Obama Campaign in Chicago. Single ‘We Almost Had a Baby’ was followed by a song about the president in 24, the full set list is here:

MIA
Easter Parade
We Almost Had Baby
Dylan
War
24
Museum Island
First Love
Gabriel
We Are Safe
Everything Reminds Me of You
Edward in Demand
City Song

“We hear bands get free beer when they play the Barrowlands” Emma is clearly excited by this. They’ll be back in Glasgow in February and judging by tonight’s show there will be plenty of free beer in 2009.

Here’s a video of them playing ‘Hypnotists Son’ on BBC Introducing.

Support came from Laura Groves charming new project Blue Roses and Ben TD an Australian who travelled the world in search of a creative energetic city to make music in, he settled on Glasgow back in 2006 and has worked with Jo Mango, who was also at the show last night. If you like the Decemberists or Bon Iver you will be interested to know he is launching his album at the Captains Rest on the 24th of November.

Pics: Eszter Biró

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Seattle’s Fleet Foxes are pretty funny lads. Which is good thing, when you come onstage to some technical problems. “Look, now my drums aren’t making any sounds!” quips J Tilman, the night’s support, who also happens to be Fleet Foxes’ drummer.

Despite the not so serious stage banter, these guys play serious music. Having one good vocalist in a band is always pleasing, but four in the same band? Now that’s impressive. 4-part harmonies and A Capella breakdowns bring magic to their songs; americana folk twinged tales of family, romance and, um, the Southern States.

Their set mainly consisted of the songs from their highly acclaimed debut, Fleet Foxes and stunning ep Sun Giant. For the encore, Robin comes out, unplugs his guitar and stands infront of the microphone and just belts it out. Which is damn impressive given this was ABC1, a sizeable sold out venue, compared to the tiny ABC 2 they played back in June. Anyone making any noise during this moment did find themselves being quickly reprimanded by those around them.

And who knows, even if you weren’t there, you may have spotted the boys down at King Tuts post-gig, watching Built To Spill.

Words/Picture: Julia Gay

I think there are 2 viewpoints when it comes to Sigur Rós. Either you regard them as musical geniuses, or you mistake them for whale music. Personally, I find their music is amongst the sublime in contemporary music.

This is their second time in Scotland in the last few months, before appearing at Connect, and now at the Carling Academy. A distinct difference between both performances is the lack of Amiina and the brass band support that they’ve had over the summer. To some this could be a disappointment, but it changes the dynamic of the performance, it becomes a lot simpler, a lot more stripped down. It involves a lot more feedback. It becomes more intense. It also means they play some more older songs, such as Ný Batterí.

There are 2 songs that steal the show though. Recent single Gobbledigook is just spectacular to witness. Support band For A Minor Reflection join the band on stage all manned with drums, Jónsi asks everyone to stand up (though the bouncers weren’t to pleased with this…) and clap along with the music. A fantastic sound, and at the climax, confetti explodes from the ceiling and noone can not smile. The other being long established closer #8 (also known as Popplagið, or “The Pop Song”) which, as one of my friends puts it “ends all music”. While I might not go that far, it builds up to an amazing climax, and as it ends, you’re not quite sure what just happened.

Words: Julia Gay

Frightened Rabbit are set to release a Xmas single, ‘It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop’ on the 15th December.

Originally released exactly a year ago, the 2008 version is radically re-mixed, re-scored and expanded - including the addition of sweeping strings, flutes, brass, Rhodes piano and a full choir - by fellow FatCat artist, David Karsten Daniels.

Their ever growing reputation in the USA (recently featured in One Tree Hill and Grey’s Anatomy) has impacted back home and the dates below are sure to sell out!!

Check out this video of the boys on abc America!!

King Tuts, Glasgow 29th November SOLD OUT
Mono, Glasgow 30th December (Acoustic Set)
Liquid Room, Edinburgh 9th December tickets
Fat Sams, Dundee 10th December tickets
Moshulu, Aberdeen 11th December tickets
SECC, Glasgow 20th December opening for Biffy SOLD OUT!!

Shelter have announced details of their 4th annual mini festival for the last weekend of November. The line-up includes the cream of Scottish signed and unsigned talent. Here’s the details:-

Saturday 29th November - The Caves, Edinburgh 7.30pm till late (first act 8.15pm)

The Caves will be the setting for Gimme Shelter 4’s first night. Mixing a combination of fab live acts, DJs and Gimme Shelter’s games, the evening will kick off at 7.30pm with two stages of live music. Acts playing include

Broken Records
ballboy
Wake the President
Steve Mason (DJ Set)
The European Union
De Rosa
Found (DJ Set)
Withered Hand
Meursault
eagleowl
Jesus H Foxx
Little Pebble
The Kays Lavelle
Team Turnip
Kat Healy

A limited number of tickets are on sale now for £6 ( a bargain!!!) from Tickets Scotland and Ripping Records.

Sunday 30th November - Mono, Glasgow 2pm to 11pm (first act 2.15pm)

The annual Mono event will be a St Andrew’s Day special. The day long festival will include performances by some of the finest Scottish acts around. This will include

Frightened Rabbit (Special acoustic set)
Manda Rin
Findo Gask
Down the Tiny Steps
Juno!
De Rosa
Ross Clark
Woodenbox with A Fistful of Fivers
The Moth and the Mirror
The Second Hand Marching Band
Richie Gallacher
Panda Su

Entry to Mono is by donation so you can put in what you can afford when you arrive, but no one likes a cheapskate!!

The French Wives played a headline set at the Captains Rest on Halloween, support came from fellow Glaswegian’s Paper Planes and the impressive Stricken City, up from London. It was hard to tell the crowd apart from the bands as almost everyone had got dressed up for the evening. The night was a huge success, although there were reports of one cheeky punter paying for their ticket with a Zimbabwe ten pound note!!

With some recent play on MTV 2 and an article in The Times describing them as having ‘a floppy just short of fully formed’ Striken City are definitely a band to keep an eye on over the coming months. Singer Rebekah Raa shortly dispels any ideas she’s only there to be the sexy front woman, the highlight of their set is a stunning solo vocal that sees the Glasgow crowd unusually hushed for the duration.

The French Wives are a band growing in confidence with each show and effortlessly work the room into a frenzy with highlights ‘Capilano’ and closer ‘Your Friends and Mine’, they are playing around Glasgow across November, you can listen and see dates of upcoming shows here!

Pics: Eszter Biró

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