July, 2009

As you may well know, ‘Time To Die’ – LP3 from SF-based acrobatic folk trio The Dodos leaked onto the Internet last month. A few thousand tweets and a few dozen Rapidshare links later, the August 31st release found itself coursing through the veins of the web, more than two months before its official street date.

In response to the leak, the band launched a dedicated website - timetodie.net - where you can listen to a high-quality version of the album, get a free download of The Dodos first single ‘Fables’ and watch a video message from band members Long and Kroeber explaining why they’re bumping the digital release date up to this week!

The album is available to buy digitally NOW from Amazon in both the US and the UK, and indeed it’s already up on Spotify. Physically it is released on 31st August on Wichita Recordings. The Dodos at King Tuts last year was one of the very first gigs we reviewed and almost a year to the day they are back at Tuts on September the 4th, tickets are here!

Continuing his meteoric rise, Frank Turner will be releasing his brand new download-only single The Road on 31st August through Xtra Mile Recordings/Epitaph Records. Its an immediately catchy slice of sing-a-long folk/punk taken from the stunning forthcoming album ‘Poetry Of The Deed’.

Poetry… Franks third studio album  is released a week later on 7th September. Recruiting his outstanding live band for the recording process Frank, along with Grammy nominated producer Alex Newport (Death Cab For Cutie, At The Drive-In, Two Gallants) has captured the essence of his live show onto the record as performing live has always been at the very heart of the Frank Turner experience. The results are a big, lush album that showcases Franks growing maturity in song-writing and style perfectly. Frank played Oran Mor last year (above) and will be in Edinburgh on August 28th at Cabaret Voltaire and in Glasgow on October 15th at the QMU, tickets are here.

Having sold out the original run of nights at Glasgow’s Clyde Auditorium Billy Connolly has announced more dates from 9 -12 October 2009. These are sure to sell out immediately and will go on general sale at 9am this Friday here.

Bat for Lashes’ album Two Suns has been nominated for the 2009 Mercury Prize. This is the second nomination in as many records for the delectable Natasha Khan, who was the only multiple nominee on this year’s list, elevating her into the ranks of other Mercury veterans like Radiohead, PJ Harvey, Amy Winehouse and Arctic Monkeys. The winner is due to be announced live on BBC Two on Tuesday 8 September 2009.

The new single ‘Sleep Alone’ is released on 7 September and a full UK tour has been announced for October with very special guests Yeasayer, who played on several tracks from Two Suns.

Following an immense Glastonbury show, an epic Somerset House performance (not just musically but meteorologically) and a packed out headline set at Latitude, a full UK tour has been announced for October with two nights at the Roundhouse in London and two Scottish dates below. Khan continues to delight audiences and critics alike with her magical live shows, with Johnny Depp being the latest in a long line of high profile fans proclaiming Two Suns to be a “masterpiece” when interviewed on Radio 1 recently. Added to that, Coldplay have asked Natasha to join them for two dates in Europe this September.

‘Sleep Alone’, the third single to be taken from the acclaimed album Two Suns, combines a nagging acoustic riff with dark disco beats, fluttering strings and Natasha’s spooked falsetto vocal; “My mama told me / the dream of love is a two-hearted dream”.

The digital release also includes a remix of ‘Sleep Alone’ by the hotly tipped Swedish electronic wizards (and producers of the new Fever Ray album) Van Rivers & The Subliminal Kid, as well as two stunning radio session tracks recorded live from Sirus Satellite Radio in New York. You can catch her in Scotland on:

Mon 19 Oct: Glasgow O2 Academy

Tue 20 Oct: Edinburgh HMV Picture House

Hailing from Omagh, Northern Ireland, John Mullin gravitated to the thriving Liverpool scene and was front man with cult Indie legends, The Basement. Following their demise he went back to his Celtic roots and started working on an acoustic blend of folk and rock. Collaborating with none other than Bill Ryder Jones (formerly of The Coral).

“The people who inspire me now are the honest writers, Jack White, Fleet Foxes, Bright Eyes. …… When you hear their records you know they are doing it for the right reasons.”

Here at Rokbun we pride ourselves on being devoted to new music. We trawl tiny venues searching for hidden gems and get terribly excited about little known indie bands with barely and EP to their name. Thus it may seem out of place to review a fifty nine year old man playing to a stadium audience of seventy thousand people. Tonight normal rules don’t apply. Tonight is Bruce Springsteen and the amazing E Street Band.

The Boss hasn’t played in Scotland for thirteen years and steps out before a drizzly Hampden . It’s worth the ticket price alone just to feel the hairs stand on end as Nils Lofgren walks on stage playing Flower of Scotland on his accordion. There was also the sight of the ‘biggest Scotsman you ever did see’ saxophonist Clarence Clemons, inexplicably dressed as a priest for the evening. After shouts of ‘Is there anyone alive out there!’ that stir things up to fever pitch, ‘Badlands’ arrives as the first song in a truly enormous set.

As the sound reverberates around Hampden Park we are treated to a band that sound better by the song. Old favourites are interspersed with more obscure numbers and the balance is struck to perfection, allowing for some surprise highlights. ‘Outlaw Pete’, for example, being one of the most recent songs played and one of the best of the night.

Just like at Glastonbury, Springsteen spends ten minutes picking out banners with song titles from the crowd before sifting through them and playing four or five requests. The result is rare outings for tunes like ‘Pink Cadillac’ and ‘Cover Me’ to the backdrop of a delighted audience. Thereafter, and as the skies grow dark, the big hitters emerge and the gig shifts into another gear. ‘Born to Run’, ‘Thunder Road’ and ‘Dancing in the Dark’ are about as good as music can get and with ‘The River’ Springsteen achieves the rare feat of creating a moment of intimacy in such a big horrible venue!

What’s truly glorious about The Boss is that his mere presence is magnetic. I’ve never seen so many people smiling in one place and his every move, gesture and word are greeted with fervour. It might seem clichéd, cheesy and incredibly American to note songs like ‘American Land’, or the fact that the night closed with a cover of ‘Twist and Shout’, but whilst bathing in the communal love for the man on stage none of this mattered. He could have sang the phone book and the reaction would have been every bit as riotous.

Of course it had to end sometime but after twenty eight songs we were still crying out for more. Springsteen’s energy at fifty nine and his visceral love of playing live are staggering. The effort and industry of the man are a joy to behold and the gig feels truly memorable. Three hours, no support and barely a moment to draw breath. The band walk off stage to teh sound of Bruce announcing

‘We’ll be seeing you Scotland’. Don’t leave it so long next time!

Bruce Springsteen played:

Badlands
Out in the Street
My Lucky Day
She’s the One
Outlaw Pete
Working on the Highway
Working on a Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
Atlantic City
Raise Your Hand (Instrumental Gathering Signs)
Incident on 57th Street
Pink Cadillac
Cover Me
Waitin’ on a Sunny Day
The Promised Land
The River
Kingdom of Days
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born to Run

Thunder Road
American Land
Bobby Jean
Dancing in the Dark
Twist & Shout

Words: Alastair Mitchell

If you’ve never been to Studio Warehouse then it might as well be in deepest Marrakesh. Near the Clyde, beside a ship, along a never ending street and under some railway arches is this gem of a venue, a centre for performance arts. It might appear unconventional but there’s a real atmosphere in the room and a wonderful setting for any band. After a flurry of confused text messages and people lost in taxis, a respectable crowd forms and Paper Planes take to the stage.

T in the Park is a week away and Paper Planes are warming up for their slot on the T Break stage. With the stars and stripes pinned to her jacket, New Jersey native Jen Paley brings her usual confidence and cool to the microphone and the Planes headline a night loosely in recognition of Independence Day.

The band have been gigging incessantly and there’s a growing momentum which flavours the performance. In stark contrast to that which preceded them, the Planes have an impeccable sense of the subtleties and nuances required to make songs work. You can throw as many gimmicks and unnecessary theatrics at something as you want, but ‘Permanent Marker’, two minutes, a blast of noise and a chorus you can shout at, is perfect because of it’s poise. Tunes speak for themselves. ‘The Sway’ doesn’t need dressing up and ‘Disconnected, I Know’ wouldn’t be improved upon by some on stage antics. Gimmicks merely show a lack of talent and confidence and it’s those latter aspects that the Planes have in abundance. The Scotsman have prominently listed them as ones to watch at T in the Park next week and on tonight’s evidence you’d be mad to miss them.

Words/Pics: Alastair Mitchell/rokbun

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