photo: Nicolas Giertan

Having recently undergone a dramatic rise to stardom, ex University of Glasgow student, Emeli Sande took some time out before her show at the Oran Mor to reflect on the last year, all the exciting developments that it’s brought with it, and the goals she’s aiming to achieve.

Glasgow Guardian
Miss Sandé, it’s lovely to see you back in Glasgow again.

Emeli Sande
It’s lovely to be here!

G:
So do you think you can describe in a few words just how crazy the last year has been?

ES:
It really has been the craziest ride… Things that would normally be life-time achievements have happened in such a short space of time and the past three months in particular have just been so mind-blowing! I’m really looking forward to getting a week or two off over Christmas to relax, be around my family and take it all in.

G:
Do you think you’d be able to put your finger on a key turning point from the last year?

ES:
Well I guess that would be when I finally made the decision around June time that I wasn’t coming back to medicine. That was when I really said to myself ‘I’ve got to go for this full on… there are no excuses now.’ That was before we’d released ‘Heaven’ which was the first thing I’d done by myself as a solo artist, so I guess when that charted and did well, it felt like the ball had really begun rolling.

G:
And it did do so well, charting at number 2! How did that feel?

ES:
It was incredible and felt like a really big step. The week after it happened I found myself a bit busier and then all of a sudden I realised that I hadn’t been home for a month! I suppose you really notice the change when things that are totally insane become normal… like I’ll find myself just emailing Alicia Keys! (Laughs)

G:
Oh wow, really?! You played with her a little while back did you not?

ES:
Yeh, I opened up for her and then went out to New York recently to do some writing with her. It was awesome. We’d both be there, sat at her amazing Steinway, and I’d literally be asking myself; ‘am I dreaming right now?!’ We wrote some really great songs and I’m going back in a couple of weeks to write with her again.

G:
Fantastic, so what’s this collaboration likely to lead to?

ES:
Well I think one of the songs she might use on her album and one I’ll use on mine… We’re just going to see what happens. We had a really good energy writing together and it all worked out so well. She’s great to work with and is, obviously, extremely cool.

G:
How exciting, well that’s certainly something for us all to look forward to. So, it’s Glasgow tonight and the Oran Mor – Presumably the city holds a quite a special place for you?

ES:
Of course! It’s the perfect place for me to begin the tour having spent four or five years studying medicine here. I’m really looking forward to seeing all the graduated doctors and friendly faces in the crowd. It’s just such a cool city, even just driving around, seeing Hyndland road and going back up to the uni… I was there today actually. They decided to give me the award for young alumnus of the year, which was lovely. My parents came down and I got a little trophy. It was really nice to see that the university appreciates what I’m doing.

G:
The university must be very proud to see you doing so well. There’s such a buzz about you around here at the moment. Would you say you missed Glasgow?

ES:
I miss the people. I miss the fact that everyone’s on a level here. You know, it’s not about industry; it’s a lot about the music and the vibe. I miss that compared to London but I do love the London pace. I’ve become used to it and have found myself wanting to go somewhere even faster now – New York perhaps…

G:
I think a lot of people would regard London, at least in musical terms, as the centre of the universe. Would you agree with that?

ES:
Kind of… just because if I need to record something at 3am, I can be at the studio I need to be at and then the next day I can go and hand it in to the record label. Everything is so connected, whereas if you’re doing it in Glasgow, everything slows down – mainly because the labels aren’t based here. There are a few and some great independents but mostly the headquarters for the major labels are all down South.

G:
Plus everything closes on a Sunday… This city does tend to ‘have it’ on a Saturday evening. But in terms of being signed to a major record label like Virgin, how easy is it to keep the people that you’ve got trust in around you? Do you have a lot of control in, for example, working time and again with your producer, Naughty Boy, who you’ve been with right from the early days?

ES:
Well because I was a songwriter before hand and because I developed the sound with Naughty Boy prior to getting signed, I had so much more control than I might otherwise have had. I was in a good position in the sense that other labels wanted me to write for them and so was able to say ‘look, please trust me. Let me get on with my thing. This is the producer I work best with.’ I feel I’ve been very lucky in having people I’ve got around me. In terms of controlling the artistic output, if you’re constantly creating and doing well with what you’re doing then it would be silly for anyone to stand in the way.

G:
And plus with websites like Zimbalam emerging which are making it increasingly easy for D.I.Y independent artists to get a foothold in the industry, these labels are having to realise that allowances like the ones you’ve been talking about need to be made.

ES:
I think so. The good news now is that labels are paying more attention to signing genuine ‘artists.’ What’s more, they’re realising that they’ve got to take a risk. I mean, I was a big risk to sign, but Virgin just said ‘we get it. Let’s go’ and they had a really focussed plan.

G:
And it’s paying off! I’ve got to ask you about X-Factor. How was it playing in front of Miss Rowland and Mr Barlow and around 20 million other people?

ES:
It was really funny… First of all, I didn’t want to think about how many people were watching and because the stage we were on was super narrow, I was really scared of falling off it or slipping on the glitter or even having a firework go off in my face!

G:
Well it’s such a pyrotechnic show that they put on now isn’t it. I’m curious though to know how you, as an artist who writes all their own material, found being a booked act on that show which has been responsible putting out into the public sphere a lot of acts which can sing, but can’t write? How easy has it been subverting recent norms in the sense that you’re there from the conception, right through to the delivery of the music and yet are still managing to entertain the masses?

ES:
Well I’ve actually been quite surprised that it has gone into the mainstream because I never wrote music with that intention. If you do write with that goal, you inevitably end up watering down what you’re writing. We took quite a risk when releasing ‘Heaven’ as the first single but we just thought, you know what; we’ve got to put this out there. For it to get to number two in the charts really demonstrated that you can be mainstream without compromising. It seems that people do definitely want to hear something different and not necessarily all that the radio feeds us. I definitely feel a change with people like Ed Sheeran and Lana Del Rey emerging… people that write from the heart and perform all their own work.

G:
So what’s you’re take on the British music scene at the moment? Do you think it’s in a healthy state?

ES:
I do. I guess the genre I’m a part of – what many people would call ‘urban’ I suppose, certainly seems to be healthier than ever. The States are really looking to us for what’s coming through. I mean, there have been acts like Plan B and the amazing Labyrinth recently too, so yes, I’d definitely say that right now seems to be a really creative time for UK music.

G:
Do you think that the fairly significant social upheavals going on at the moment are affecting that? People seem to be increasingly questioning authority figures and finding a voice – something that’s been poignantly demonstrated in recent weeks by yet more anti-capitalist protests. Would you say that feeds into the music?

ES:
Well yeh, it must do right? It’s got to be reflected somewhere. I think people are starting to realise their power. Kids are finding these independent acts and labels are becoming less and less significant. People realise that being a fan really means something, you know? They’re becoming aware that we can build this thing without ‘the man.’

G:
Definitely. With your songs being very personal in their own right, particularly in the lyrics, have you found that you’ve had people saying ‘you speak for me?’

ES:
I have and that’s really been the best thing. More and more people are starting to recognise my stuff, which is cool, but it’s almost like it’s not about me at all, it’s more about the fact that they’ve connected to the songs. That really means a lot to me. I love that people are listening to the lyrics and that those words are penetrating. I mean, I’m not promoting myself as Jason Derulo or anything like that, so it’s really nice that the songs are getting to people before I do…

G:
In terms of the song writing process, do you prefer to put lyrics down first or do you like to work music around lyrics? How do you like to go about it?

ES:
Usually I like to write from a concept. I think you’ve already got 80% of a song if you’ve got a really strong idea or maybe a word, so usually I’ll start with a lyric and it’ll flow from there. Sometimes I might have a piano riff and I’ll try and work something around that but more often than not I just love a good concept.

G:
I’ve got to ask you about Jools Holland and being on his show. In recent years he’s provided such a platform for so many artists to launch themselves and their careers. How was it for you being on that stage?

ES:
It was amazing. I’d always dreamt of doing Jools Holland and my mum was so excited when I told her! It’s such a legendary building and they told me that apparently I’m the first person to have been on twice in the same series, which was kind of cool. So the first time we were next to Little Dragon, who I love, and then the second time we were right beside Coldplay! It was just such a privilege meeting all these incredible artists and being involved in the show.

G:
And we’re you at all tempted to do a cover of ‘Up the Junction’ by Squeeze?

ES:
Haha, nooo…

G:
Having appeared on all these widely watched T.V shows, having your face all over the London Underground, and being touted as ‘the next big thing,’ how easy is it to keep your feet on the ground?

ES:
Well, it’s very strange! Obviously I still take the tube but some people will tend to stare! I suppose though that my whole focus is always on the music and if you’re not creating good songs then you’re not happening. Anyone can be famous and have posters of themselves plastered everywhere but I’ve always got to keep in mind that I want to make another album after this and I want to be consistent. Having met Alicia Keys and seen how humble she is after selling millions upon millions of records, it really becomes so apparent that you’ve got to keep humble or else you’re going to stop doing what you do well. It’s all about keeping the focus.

G:
And so what is there to come? What have we all got to look forward to?

ES:
Well the album is out February, 2012 and so that’s the main priority right now along with the tour.

G:
And what with your recent success at the MOBO awards, there must be a huge amount of hype in amongst those involved with the forthcoming release?

ES:
Yeh, people seem excited. It seems as though it’s quite anticipated which is really nice. Right now I just can’t wait to get it out because people will hear ‘Heaven’ and think you’re one thing and then hear ‘Daddy’ which is something different again. I think the third single is going to be something a bit more stripped back. Most of all though I just can’t wait to get the album out and to be able to say ‘this is everything. This is all of me.’ I’m nervous but at the same time really happy with how it all sounds. At this stage we’re down to getting the string sections on it and making it sound all magical!

G:
Do you regard it as important to establish a dynamic on the album? Are you looking to include some fairly stripped back songs which show off the power of your voice on its own, alongside more highly produced tracks like ‘Heaven?’

ES:
I think it’s really important to make both ‘Clown’ and ‘Heaven’ fit together on the same record, which I’m hoping will come via the lyric and via my style of delivering the song. But yes, it is very important to get the album sounding like a whole piece.

G:
Are you able to tell us what it’s going to be called?

ES:
It’s going to be called ‘Our Version of Events’

G:
And what’s the story behind that?

ES:
Well I was having breakfast with my producer, Naughty Boy, and we were getting annoyed about all the rules and regulations involved in this particular publishing company thing. Naughty Boy came out with the line; ‘you know what, this is our version of events!’ which I thought was really interesting and the more we thought about it, the more it seemed an appropriate title… I do think that a lot of young people feel misrepresented by what they hear and what they’re fed by T.V and it seems to me that there’s a substantial portion of the population that are saying, ‘you know what, we’re here too.’ What with the riots in London over the summer, the rise in tuition fees and all the anger and frustration that huge numbers of people are feeling, people clearly don’t feel represented. I think that we do want to be remembered by something and someone needs to say ‘this is our version of events. This is how we feel.’ I only hope that I can be a voice for some of those people.

'Divorce's a-tonal riffing and lumbering funk bass combine to hone metal down to measured, spasmodic thrusts of incoherent rage (photo by Alex Woodward)

There are those that insist it’s the venues themselves that give Glasgow its accolades. For the freshers, one ‘legendary’ live venue you’re going to hear people repeatedly bleat about in the interests of increasing their membership is the QMU, which unfortunately is priding itself on an out-of-date reputation. The same is also true of King Tuts whose interior seems to consist of homage after dated homage to gigs your parents could have seen. It’s time to grow up – Kurt’s dead and nobody that mattered liked Oasis before eight pints of larger. This is not to say that they don’t occasionally put good gigs on, but if there ever was anything unique in these venues, it’s long since left the premises. And so long as they gestate in a past that’s no longer relevant, it won’t be coming back.

Over the last few years, there has been a process of decentralization that has shifted efforts away from the venues and profit-driven ideals that have staled the city’s music. Bands have shunned the exploitative pay-to-play schemes still operated by some venues. Fans have left the alienated spaces that money-hungry promoters created for the intimacy of their living rooms, abandoned buildings and wholesome venues like the 13th Note with cheap overheads and respect for bands. Collectives such as Winning Sperm Party have provided cheap, easy access to a wealth of creativity, and free parties by the likes of Croc Madame vs. Croc Mousier have given everyone a few reasons to feel better about live music, and life in general. Don’t label it, but if you have to, then call it DIY.

Holy Mountain are set to release an album some time soon, but have already become the victims of lazy journalists who compare them to Black Sabbath without noticing that they are instrumental stoner rock who have a big fan base amongst ladies who like topless heavy rock. (photo by Alex Woodward)

The most incredible thing is, none of this is new – it has happened before on multiple occasions through various guises, and perhaps it is the spirit behind it that lends the city’s live scene the praise that has been the subject of those annual eulogies. If there’s a difference this time round, it’s that everyone is invited. Welcome to Glasgow, where instead of paying fifteen pound for the privilege of standing at the back of the ABC, you can come and witness and involve yourself in something homegrown and thrilling for less then a fiver. Better yet, you can do it yourself.

The One Ensemble (at Music is the Music Language) from Winning Sperm Party on Vimeo.

Music is the Music Language (festival)
SWG3, Glasgow, 4th September 2011

Showing up at the Arches, I realized how much trouble I was having comprehending the fact that it’s been FOUR YEARS since New-York City innovators BATTLES released the celebrated Mirrored. With the possible exception of single Atlas (which has cropped up all over the place, from LittleBigPlanet to Top Gear – I’m getting tired of Britain’s most celebrated bigots hijacking my favorite tunes), there isn’t a track on the 2007 record that doesn’t sound like it was released yesterday, or even ten years from now.

Quite the achievement, and so inevitability when founding member Tyondai Braxton left the band last year, questions were bound to get asked and tensions were bound to arise about the bands future. To no-one important’s surprise, none of these were necessary. It’s true that the days of undecipherable poly-rhythms and pitch-shifted crooning are over, but it’s hard to imagine a group as thrilling as Ian Williams and co. standing in the same spot for too long – if you can’t get along with this, you’re more than welcome to remain in the past (at least there’s some jobs going there), just try not too ruin anyone else’s fun.

And FUN is the operative word here. Tonight’s performance exclusively showcases material from the new record GLOSS DROP which goes some way to placing the trio in what a cynic might call ‘accessible’ territory. Whoever took the decision to avoid Atlas all together should be commended because it lends the new line-up a whole lot of credibility. There are some dangerously ravey moments as the skewed, chopped up guitar loops build themselves up into the colorful, saturated festivals of driving, noisy joy that battles are pedaling now, with new single Ice Cream getting a good rise out of the crowd. Of course with so many guest-vocalists on the new record (Gary Numan, Matias Aguayo, Kazu Makino) it would be impractical for the vocals to be delivered live, which leads to a particularly nice touch – live projections of the respective vocalists delivering the lines in sync with the music. Overwhelming.

I’ve got one complaint though and it’s the volume. On times, the synths are uncomfortably loud and jarring, and during the beat-less, sweeping ambience of the encore I am genuinely concerned for the well-being of my ear-drums. I’m sure there’s some wonderful tech-based explanation as to why the sound-guy couldn’t just turn it down a little on the speakers, essentially placing the blame on my refusal to wear earplugs. I’ll see you at lip-reading 101 I guess.

- Jean-Xavier Boucherat

GLOSS DROP is out now on Warp! Listen now or pose forever!

Watching the Baltimore math-pop noise-lite four-piece, I had a lot of fun dissecting their influences. After the thirty minute set I came away with an impressive range, starting with the kind of ecstatic, guitar-riff work you’d expect from Fucked Up, and finishing somewhere close to the kind of relentless drumming you’d expect from The Mars Volta, with elements of My Bloody Valentine and Battles (who THANK YOU are opening for tonight) to boot. Usually I’d steer clear of what might sound like an overly-saturated mess, but THANK YOU seemed to of developed a tightness, or maybe better word might be cohesion, that’s as enticing as a post-exam pint (and for many of us, the post-degree dole queue).

It’s true that on times the song-writing feels a little disjointed, with certain sections feeling like they were simply tagged onto the end of another, but the writing itself is that excellent type of engaging catchiness – something that’s both intellectually stimulating and at the same time manages to stick on you. Furthermore, I’m not convinced that THANK YOU would be at all interested in what I had to say about their song-writing anyway – on stage, they are clearly having a lot of fun with their own material, engaged in it in a way that suggests just how much thought has been put into it. I’d be surprised if they someone told me they had totally stuck to the script tonight as the performance seems littered with improvised moments, which again, occasionally don’t seem to fit the picture, but on the whole are adventurous and refreshing (which coincidentally is an excellent description of the haircuts on offer tonight).

-Desmond Shaw

GOLDEN WORRY is out now on the excellent Thrill Jockey label. Check out the guys on MySpace.

Jean-Xavier Boucherat on the most cleverly named festival since Rockness, Doune the Rabbit Hole

Jamie Murray is one of the names behind a somewhat curious event that took place near the sleepy burgh of Doune last summer. I wasn’t there, but apparently, in what was an all-together phenomenal coincidence, a sizeable number of campers (including something like half the population of Woodlands) adorned in flowers, rubbish hats and rain macs quietly and politely descended along the same riverbank. Once there, they spent a pleasant day or two indulging in a number of sonic-based treats and psychedelic treasures, courtesy of a number of bands that also happened to be in the vicinity. They say the whole thing made for a bewitching, somewhat bewildering experience.

Turns out the whole thing was orchestrated, and what’s more, it’s going to happen again. The punderfully named ‘Doune the Rabbit Hole’ has just announced the first names for its June 2011 line-up, featuring names like Alasdair Roberts, Rise Kagona, Remember Remember, RM Hubbert and Dam Mantle. You’re either excited, or joyless. We went to talk to Jamie about the joys and terrors of putting on your own festival.

The line-ups just been announced, are you pleased with it? Who are you particularly excited about?

We’ve given people a taster of what’s to come but you can expect a lot more! That said, I’m really excited about seeing The Vaselines at Doune, and Mike Heron will be fantastic! Some great ones to watch are Rudi Zygadlo, Remember Remember and Trembling Bells but to be entirely honest picking a select few is somewhat arbitrary as I’m excited about every single one of the acts to tell you the truth!

Stylistically, have you tried to keep the music consistent? Or is it more an open to anything approach?

It’s never good to keep everything too consistent because then you end up with a long weekend of samey-same-samery and that can get boring so we’ve kept it pretty varied with great talent from lots of different platforms: folk, psychedelic, garage, reggae, electro-synth-pop-clamour-glam-superflava-pornowave and some other great fluff.

A big portion of the line-up is Glasgow-based talent – is this just because there’s quite a bit coming out of glasgow, or is there another reason?

We’ve got a lot of music from Glasgow, the reason being that we’re based here and there’s alot of good stuff going on. It’s great to be in a city with so much happening art-wise! We’ve also brought bands from further afield as well – people like Colorama and Blurt as well as Frank Fairfield who’s coming over from the States (what a Banjo genius he is!).

Apart from the music, what excites you most about the festival?

We’ve got a few brilliant non-musical acts joining us as well from comedy and dance to film to workshops and lots of stuff for kids too but the atmosphere is something pretty special in itself. Another thing that’s pretty important to us is the consequences of the festival – not alot of people are aware of this but we’re actually not-for-profit. Any of the funds raised from our events will go towards setting up workshops, evening classes and outreach programs to teach people how to paint, play an instrument, write poetry or anything creative really.

Tell us how DTRH came about. What was the trickiest part in setting it up? (I’m assuming it was a fairly DIY operation).

I suppose it came about almost entirely by mistake, myself and a few friends were just thinking about the idea of starting a festival. We realised that we always make grandiose and magical plans but never actually do anything about them and with this one we just decided to go for it and do the worrying later. So yes, incredibly D.I.Y, and I’m not about to tell you any of it’s easy! We learnt a lot of lessons from the first festival last year. The hardest part is probably dealing with the red tape that goes along with this kind of thing – health and safety and risk assessments and bla bla bla grumble grumble grumble. There’s just so much bureaucracy involved!

In relation to this question, why Doune?

We have a friend with some land just outside Doune and we knew that he would be very open to the idea, so we went to look at it and it turned out to be beautiful and perfect for a festival: A medieval walled garden for the main arena, a river running by the campsite, beautiful woodland, and the backdrop of Doune Castle. It’s stunning! We couldn’t be happier with the location.

Would you like to see the festival grow in the upcoming years or are you happy with it’s current size?

We don’t want or need to get too big. The great thing about a small festival is that you get a fantastically close community develop over the weekend and with that comes a really friendly atmosphere that’s unique and quite unrivalled really.

How do you feel the environment for independent festivals is in general?

Great – people are starting to realise that huge, corporate festivals only really provide an ugly, commercialised kind of entertainment which feeds off a mundane lack of creativity and the odd desire for some people to have their critical ability flagellated into submission by mainstream media. Smaller, independent festivals show people that there is true, original creative talent out there and it doesn’t have to sound like X-Factor to be exciting.

Do you want to help out at DTRH this year? Of course you do you kind, gentle soul! You can email Jamie at Jamie@dounetherabbithole.co.uk, but no band requests! Jamie is up to his neck in them and doesn’t need that kind of stress!

A psychedelic security guard, keeping out the bad vibes

Glasgow’s ‘DIY Ethos’ has existed in various shapes and forms for at least twenty years now. RM Hubbert has seen an awful lot of this since his days in the endlessly creative math-rock outift El Hombre Trajeado, who in their time played with the likes of Deerhoof, Nick Cave and Malcolm Middleton. The group was laid to rest in 2004, but they have since made all their records available for download on bandcamp, with the option to name your own price, like you did for In Rainbows all those years ago.

In the mean time, Hubbert’s been stupidly busy with various projects, most recently the 7-piece guitar-only improv group Burghead, but the last couple of years have seen his solo project take some precedence. In that time, Hubbert has recorded an achingly honest debut album, collaborated endlessly, played in various kitchens as part of his ‘Will Play for Food’ scheme, and is about to embark on a European tour supporting Mogwai. We caught up with him to talk about music, Glasgow, and The Man (that is, the one who grinds you down).

You’ve been going solo for a couple of years now, usually equipped with just the guitar. Is this a more fragile arrangement? What’s the biggest advantage to it?

It’s certainly a more convenient arrangement! Doing solo, instrumental acoustic guitar makes it very easy to do shows in more unusual spaces. Makes touring a lot simpler too. That’s not the reason I do it though. I started writing the solo pieces as a way to help deal with my inability to communicate clearly in any other way about my depression. As the subject matter was so personal, I felt uncomfortable getting other musicians involved.

Tell us about your decision to make largely instrumental music. Where does the flamenco influence come from?

I’ve been making mostly instrumental music for the last 16 years or so, first with El Hombre Trajeado then as RM Hubbert. I’ve always liked the way that the listener can imprint his or her own meaning onto instrumental music, with that narrative changing over time. It’s much more difficult to achieve that with lyrics. Learning flamenco was actually a fairly arbitrary choice; I needed something to take my mind off things when my father was dying. I figured that flamenco would be a hard thing to learn.

You were recently signed to Chemikal Underground; How did you feel about this? Being Glasgow-based, would it be fair to say it’s pretty significant for you?

I was really happy to join Chemikal Underground. I’ve known them all since before the label even existed and think that what they have managed to do over the last 16 years is nothing short of amazing. They are still a DIY label at heart and that is important to me. To be honest, I wouldn’t have been at all interested in signing to a label other than them.

Do you think your music reflects the fact you’re Glasgow-based at all?

Not particularly, to be honest. I don’t think that there is a discernible ‘Glasgow sound’ right now. This is a good thing.

You’ve made most of your material freely available, with the option to contribute to the artist, explaining on your website that ‘Obscurity is a far greater threat to artists than piracy’. Tell us about that decision. How would you explain it to someone who might be looking to make millions off of their releases?

It actually started more as curiosity. I have been interested and involved in the Open Source software movement for a long time and was very interested in how those principles might translate to music. I started a label called Ubisano with my friend John Williamson and we released First & Last as an experiment in doing things this way. It has worked well for us so far. We found that in the majority of cases, when people are given the choice to pay what they want for music they will actually pay more to support the artist. To put in simple terms, we made more money and distributed the album more widely than we would have done if had followed a traditional model.

As for someone that in making millions off of music, my advice is to become a plumber instead. Those fuckers are loaded.

Do you consider this an act of defiance against ‘The Industry’? Or more of a withdrawal?

Not defiance, just indifference. The traditional music industry model simply doesn’t work without spending a lot of money up front and even then it’s rare to break even, let alone make money.

Last December you supported GY!BE, having supported Silver Mount Zion previously. Tell us about that. How did you feel about the re-union?

I had a great time playing with both of them, they are all really cool, welcoming people. As were their audiences I might add. Playing the Barrowlands for the first time was pretty incredible too. It was the last thing I had to do on the little list that I had made in my head when I first started making music. The 16 year old me was happy about that.

I saw Godspeed a few times that week and all I can say is that it was never forced and easily as good as the first time round.

Are there any Glasgow-based artists you’re particularly excited about just now?

I think that Glasgow is having a really inspired time right now. Some of my favourites, in no particular order are Remember Remember, Yahweh, Happy Particles, Correcto, Trapped in Kansas, Campfires In Winter, The Ballad Of Mable Wong, Human Don’t Be Angry, Aidan Moffat, Stevie Jones, Alasdair Roberts, The Unwinding Hours, The Phantom Band, Make Love, Finn LeMarinel, iSSHO Taiko Drummers, Tattie Toes, Divorce & Gummy Stumps. Plus many, many more.

Visit www.rmhubbert.com for links to all of Hubbert’s releases, many of which you can name your price for. Hubbert is headlining a show at the Arches on the 26th of this month, along with Finn Marinel. Tickets are available from Monorail, as are hard copies of Hubbert’s releases.

There are moments when you have to question your validity as a music journalist. Reviewing Radiohead is one of them. Radiohead isn’t a band; it’s an institution, and one with a fanatical membership at that. Those who care most about this release will (as they should) make their own minds up about it. So the value of critically appraising The King Of Limbs is clearly limited, and that’s before one even considers that its release was orchestrated specifically to bypass thoughtless critical appraisal, that can so detract from the pleasure of that first listen.

That this unexpected release was staged so successfully will, in fact, probably prove the most remarkable feat of this album; it has been many years since an album generated this level of release-date excitement. Bloggers everywhere went into overdrive, desperate to be among the first to deliver their verdict. That The King Of Limbs could begin arriving in people’s download folders halfway through Friday morning, with virtually everyone clueless as what to expect, was a unique event in the climate of music sharing. The launch gloriously transported fans and journalists to a simpler time, as it was analyzed, nitpicked, indulged in and pored over for the first time, everywhere, simultaneously.

The King Of Limbs is quite dense, and remains fairly opaque during those first few listenings. The album follows very much in the footsteps of In Rainbows, but lacks the immediacy and variation of its predecessor, making for an altogether more challenging experience. That’s not to say there aren’t rewards waiting if you’re willing to be patient. Morning Mr Magpie is an invigorating exercise in restraint. Its bass and drum lines click with tireless repetition, constantly threatening to burst into something elaborately complicated, but ultimately submitting to the song’s unapologetically meticulous structure. Little By Little is pleasingly textured, creating a game out of discerning the central melody from the wash of background noises. Feral is perhaps the one song on the album that misses its mark. A nod towards the avant-garde, this instrumental purports to thicken the record’s moody atmosphere, but perhaps lacks the invention required to validate its presence. Followers of Flying Lotus will recognise the inspiration Thom Yorke has taken here from his time spent contributing to the superb Cosmogramma, but feel disappointed that the song doesn’t quite recreate the magic of that album.

The King Of Limbs is reborn with Lotus Flower. This is the closest thing the album has to a single, and the video is well worth a look; Yorke heedlessly shows-off his own charmingly erratic brand of dancing. Separator, the final track, is possibly the album’s strongest. Jonny Greenwood’s guitar makes a rare, shimmering appearance, lifting an album that would otherwise be in danger of seeming downbeat, mournful even.

The King Of Limbs does not have the playful, creative streak of In Rainbows, and it steers well clear of the alt-rock anthems that built the band’s global reputation. Indeed, it can seem joyless and hopelessly understated in places. This is, however, a considered and well-crafted piece of music, but most impressively, a strong restatement of the band’s commitment to reinvention and innovation.

Japanther

Captains Rest

10/02/11

Japanther use cassette tape players in their live shows. They like to perform their art-punk-dance-party-silliness over recordings of their own songs. You hear it and you ask yourself all kinds of pointless questions about artistic ownership and the nature of performance. That, or you spend the next week boring your friends to death with stories about how awesome it sounded. Except Japanther’s tape players weren’t loud enough at the start of their set. Let me just say this – any band who thinks it’s funny to spend a good few minutes berating the soundman is firstly, totally immature, and secondly, pretty funny. In a way, the evening’s preliminary sound issues highlight just how much of a damn Japanther don’t give. And listen now, because I’m serious – not a single solitary damn was given tonight, and that is exactly the kind of rubbish, generalized statement I’m completely averse to making.

It was really good to see the Glasgow one-man outfit Streets of Rage opening tonight with a full band set-up – they tear it up like a stripped down Social Circkle and it sounds joyous, translating well from the glorious fuzz-ridden drum-machine fuelled sound of the EP (available online).

Shellshag are quite obviously the perfect warm-up for Japanther’s feel-good fest. ‘Alright!’ they cry, ‘My new best friends! Let’s go!’, before wailing, crooning, dancing and thrashing through a rapturous, forty-minute eruption. Visually, Shellshag throw a stunning party. Everyone loves a standing drummer bashing the hell out of a floor tom and snare, especially one who’s got so many bells and jangling trinkets on her person that every other step she makes sounds like a hippie’s back garden in the middle of autumn. Truly the best medium through which to deliver succinct, inspired messages like ‘Fuck Society, Fuck Sobriety’. True that.

Here’s the biggest problem with this gig – it doesn’t take long to realize that you will never in your life come close to having nearly as much fun as Japanther seem to have all the time. The joyful arrogance of the two beach-combing art school terrors yelling down their telephone-microphones, thrashing out an uncompromising brand of feel-good noise is something so utterly ridiculous and overblown about that it feels revolutionary. Or at least, it does, until something ridiculous like the duo’s encore destroys any pretentious notion whatsoever – amid a sweating crowd demanding one more tune, Japanther stick on a weathered Beach Boys tape and dance onstage for the entirety of Surfin’ USA. I suppose the real question is why did I not feel like I was getting ripped off by Cry Parrot, and I’m not being flippant, I’m sure there is a perfectly good answer to that question involving words like ‘spectacle’ and ‘challenging the nature of performance’, but honestly, I find it hard to care, and have found reality to be quite a challenge since.

Jean-Xavier Boucherat

Speaking to NME earlier this February, there was an air of apology about Freddy-and-Justin-from-the-Vaccines. As they stared hazily into space, the pair struggled over how to best describe their debut album: “I think the sound is quite immediate…” “…Yeah… yeah I don’t think it’s very… err… testing… I think you’ll know straight away whether you like it or whether you don’t…” Their modesty is endearing. They seem genuinely concerned about what the public might expect from them. Who could blame them? Having been almost universally touted as ‘the next big thing’, ‘the sound of 2011’, or else ‘the second coming of Pete and Carl’, it’s understandable that the band wouldn’t want to raise their fandom’s already highly inflated hopes any further.

But does What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? deserve these defensive sentiments? Yes, sadly. It is a debut full of youthful exuberance and catchy hooks, but woefully lacking in depth, originality and just about everything else. The lyrics are the worst offender. Meaningless literary references (“The angles came F. Scott Fitzgerald / The evening news and the morning Herald”) and choruses worryingly suggestive of sexual grooming (“Her mind’s made up; she don’t wanna go steady / She’s only seventeen, so she’s probably not ready”) are just a hint towards how vacuous this record actually is.

The album isn’t devoid of value. The band certainly has an ear for a melody, and they clearly know their audience. It’s just disappointing that they haven’t developed their ideas into fully fledged pop songs, and that they’re too brazenly commercial to seriously be considered punk. They lend heavily from both genres, but do justice to neither.

Trolling through endless review material to ascertain a flavour of what the furry sextet had to offer, the same buzzwords appear time again so much so that if we were to get our Staedtler highlighter out for the occasion there would be a florescent rainbow of ‘twee’ and ‘high fructose’ scrawled across our jotters.

Nevertheless, with a new year, a drastic band reformation and musical re-orientation comes a new Bearsuit. Gone are the brass and strings in favour of a decisively hipster set of techno-rhythms and synthesizers. The band, in steely competition with the Sugababes for most line-up changes, returns with their fourth album The Phantom Forest. Rising from the ashes of their former indie-laden sweet tooth melodies first championed by long-serving BBC1 DJ John Peel, they return with an abrasive new sound which strives to make easy bedfellows of the punk and dance genres.

Regrettably, despite a noble attempt, the band has stumbled into the jaws of the dance-punk bear-trap alongside the countless bands that had their fleeting 60-seconds of fame when the first season of Skins reinvigorated the adolescent craving for glow stick bulk buys and neon shades. Reminiscent of new-rave favourites These New Puritans and Cajun Dance Party, Bearsuit attempt to tap into the same gene pool and bring about the dominance and cult following which those previous outfits lost their grapple of.

This album has occasional glimmers of promise, most notably in opening track ‘Princess, you’re a test’ maintaining a taste for their art culture roots but sprinkling it with guitar chaos, but regardless, Bearsuit have missed the new-wave boat that was revelling in success five years ago. It is a noteworthy attempt but this will not be an album to make a roar in the art rock music scene.

Louise Pollock