Sunday 26 February 2012

Favourite bands so far this year

Okay, just another quick update to tell you about a couple of bands that are on repeat right now.

1. Unpunished Monsters - Not my usual choice of music but they are reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem who I loved.

2. The Ok Social Club - More my usual sound. The Scots are making a name for themselves with their similarities with The View and their lyrics of drunken nights in and out.

3. The Imagineers- Another band that hails from the best part of the UK (Scotland). A guitar based band who are a bit different, especially with the song Spanish Sands. Strongly recommended.

Hopefully that will keep the ears busy a while, enjoy!

M.

New Writer

We have a new writer on the blog now- go easy on her now, she's an amateur!
Hopefully this will mean more regular updates and we might start doing different things, who knows. Just keep checking on the site and tell everyone you know! Stay cool.

 M.

Sunday 19 February 2012

How does Scotland continually produce these great indie bands?

When it comes to Scotland, there isn't much to be hopeful of. The weather is dire year round, there isn't much money to spare and it's near impossible to get a job. Yet there is one thing that may shed some light on our bleak horizons: Music. Over the past forty odd years, Scotland have produced some of  the finest bands ever to have graced our ears.

Attention was first brought to Scotland by the Bay City Rollers. They enjoyed great success-albeit, short lived- and created mass hysteria over Britain during the mid 70's. They did all this while making tartan cool.
Then came the synthesisers of Deacon Blue and Simple Minds; then the rocking guitars of Primal Scream.

The Proclaimers are perhaps Scotland's best loved act of all time with their anthemic songs like I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) and Letter From America. They were also one of the first bands to sing in their native accents- an act continued by Scottish indie bands of today.

The past decade saw some amazing Scottish bands emerge, many of whom have the same sort of style, yet a completely different sound. My favourite band for the past 5 years is Frightened Rabbit. Their music is so heartfelt and deep, and their lyrics are meaningful, beautiful and raw with emotion- and they are definitely one of the best live acts I've seen. Many other Scottish bands have come to my attention and have been added to my musical collection, most notably, The Twilight Sad, My Latest Novel, Broken Records, We Were Promised Jetpacks and more recently Admiral Fallow. Each band has it's own talents and use a broad range of instruments showing the musicians sheer talent.

Scotland keep churning out these amazing bands that don't seem to get the credit they deserve they have released three or four albums, but the wait for fame is worth it when bands begin breaking into America and making the big bucks from tours and further record sales.

#


In my opinion, Scotland always have had the best bands. They may not be the most successful bands who make their millions from all the 14 year old girls buying their music and screaming in their faces, but they are by far the most talented, emotive and thought provoking bands ever to have played. They bring the whole country a glimmer of hope that Scotland does own something of value.

Wednesday 15 February 2012

Admiral Fallow


Admiral Fallow are an indie folk band with a bit of an orchestra throw in the mixer as well. Their second album is due to be released on May 21st and is to be name Tree Bursts In Snow. Front man Louis Abbott gives us an insight into the decision to name the album this:


“…the title refers to the sound and the image of an artillery shell exploding into a cluster of snow-drenched trees.…I'm also astounded by the sheer volume of gun related violent crimes throughout the world but in particular in the U.S. The lyric from 'Tree Bursts' was inspired by the idea of the effect that losing friends through violence, in particular during times of war or conflict has on young men and women. They are "the leaves that fall louder than backfire, all orange and halloween red..."


Tree Burst In Snow will consist of 10 tracks:
1.) Tree Bursts                                            
2.) The Paper Trench                                
3.) Guest Of The Government                 
4.) Beetle In The Box                                 
5.) Old Fools                                   
6.) Isn't This World Enough??     
7.) Brother                                       
8.) The Way You Were Raised    
9.) Burn        
10.) Oh, Oscar 

The first single to be taken from the album is Beetle In The Box which can be downloaded for free for a limited time here: http://admiralfallow.com/

They are about to start an extensive UK tour, the dates of which can be seen here: http://www.songkick.com/artists/3065666-admiral-fallow/calendar

Monday 6 February 2012

Dog Is Dead


Dog Is Dead are a 5 piece indie, poppy, jazzy, Bombay Bicycle/Animal Collective band from England. I first became aware of this band about a year ago when I briefly saw them at Rockness where they were playing to a crowd of less than 100. But they have received a bit of attention from Radio 1 and Radio 6 where they got some air time and they also appeared on E4 drama Skins, twice in one episode. They are on tour at the moment and I'll hopefully be seeing them again in Inverness on March 1st. I expect big things from this band who are sounding fantastic already, without the release of any album- only a couple of EP's. Listen to all the tracks but, in particular, Glockenspeil Song, which is probably the best and realises the bands full potential.