When anyone asks me what I do for a living, I tell them that I criticise people for what I can’t do myself. I can’t write or perform music and I can’t play Rugby League. But yet I write on both these subjects, and criticising people for doing these things infinitely better than I could myself is my way of paying the rent. Call me a professional hypocrite…

Getting paid to write about music sounds ludicrous in itself, John Peel once wrote about being on the radio, “I’ll laughingly call this ‘my career’”, because the concept of simply playing music and being paid to do it was (and still is), quite frankly, too good to be true. Peel couldn’t even do it well most of the time, playing the wrong tracks at the wrong speeds. And it’s the same with writing about music and (just about) keeping the wolves from the door – there are probably a million worse ways to get by in life.
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Meursault

Scotland’s music scene is in rude health. Bands are blooming like it’s spring-time and the support of bloggers and punters has created a biosphere of creativity. So, in the first of what’s to become a regular column, Billy Hamilton – co-editor of The Scotsman’s Under the Radar new music site – delves deep into its tartan-toned landscape. At the bottom of the post, you can download a free mixtape featuring all of the bands mentioned.

If 2009 was Scotland’s cultural homecoming, then 2010 is the year its musicians need to pack their bags and finally move out.

For the bands that enthralled local gig-goers last year, the next twelve months are critical. Sure, the swollen cyber-palms of backslapping bloggers suggests a limited degree of success beckons, but true worth can only really be gauged if the tartan-kilted nest is vacated for a sojourn to more robust climes down south.

One glance at the upcoming gigs of our lauded young ‘uns shows a burning want to remain within the ball-court that begins and ends on both sides of the M8. Granted, there’s an admirable grit in believing success lies beyond fellating the barnacled cock of Big Ben, but even if the thrill of being sucked into a whorehouse of in-store shows and vacuous T4 slots isn’t your game, the possibility of discovering new audiences should be incentive enough.

In recent years, the most successful (and by successful I mean in terms of collecting critical adulation) Scottish bands to seep into the national hemisphere have been 4AD’s Broken Records and FatCat Records trio The Twilight Sad, Frightened Rabbit and We Were Promised Jetpacks. Yes, they may be enrolled on national labels but these acts had already proven themselves as capable wooers of unfamiliar crowds; each band confident in its ability to unravel the crossed arms of cynics based purely on their music. And it’s this sort of confidence the new breed of Scottish act has to exude in 2010. They need to move away from the Scottish music scene’s cotton-wooled bosom and furrow a pathway through the UK, not just across the Central Belt. Almost certainly, many will fail and return to familiar haunts to be consoled by familiar faces but, hell, at least they tried; at least they can say they gave it a stab, even if they didn’t draw blood.

Positively, 2009 saw the likes of Meursault, There Will Be Fireworks and Panda Su make their first tentative footsteps south – 2010 needs to see this turn into a concerted effort on a broader scale. Many a promising Scottish act has rotted in the gutter because of a lack of national exposure. To avoid joining them, the new batch of Scottish music makers needs to grab its future by the balls because, quite frankly, no one else will.

So, this inaugural dip into the Scottish music scene is not a start of year tiplist. It’s more a roll call of the bands that are closest to being ready to step up and make the breakthrough from local heroes to national runners. Continue Reading

The Drums

We gave the hysterically contested BBC new bands list a spin in the office on Friday to see what everyone is getting so worked up about. For those who don’t know: a bunch of pundits and industry types each pick out 3 bands they think are gonna do well this year, and the votes are aggregated to a shortlist of 15, then narrowed down to 5 Next Big Things. The five winners each get a resoundingly crap short film made about them. Even the allegedly easy going and profoundly easy-on-the-eye Ellie Goulding (the eventual winner, incidentally) is somehow made to look like a special needs jogger.

So: the list. There’ s a lot of stuff that sounds precisely like it belongs in the pop mainstream, which is maybe the point. Marina & The Diamonds for example – nice looking and dynamic sounding but basically entirely unchallenging, soulless and tuneless, a bit like the vacuous braying of Florence & The Machine, who probably topped the list last year. There’s some half arsed 80’s style pop from the seriously average Hurts, who apparently made their video for £20 (at the time of writing we don’t know what the £20 was spent on – catering, maybe). Delphic are achingly dull. There’s an execrable MC on there who’s name I forget. And a bunch of other Actually Really Not At All Good stuff. Daisy Dares You I mention only in case it brings people to this blog via Google searches. If so: Shizer Minelli bruv, can you not search for something better?

But anyway, enough bitching. The list contains some exciting bands, and a few good prospects. Continue Reading

To bring 2009 to a close, Oh! Canada has conducted a survey to discover some favourites, uncover a few hidden gems and give some tips as to what 2010 might have in store for the Canadian music scene. Some answers were short and sweet, some long and drawn out. Some struggled to name just one act, while others tipped themselves for success. So without further ado….here is the Oh! Canada survey for 2009. Continue Reading

Have TEN years really gone past? Madness! 10 years ago I was graduating with my whole life ahead of me… I’d never heard of Jens Lekman, Wilco or The National… my entire life sprawled in front of me like a contented cat in front of a fire… Where did that time go? As 2010 (the most sci-fi of all years) sharpens into view, it gives us a chance to look back. To have a think about the albums that have been released in the last 10 years and what they mean to us, how they’ve affected us and how they’ve augmented our lives. Without some of the albums on this list, like Wilco for example, TLOBF wouldn’t have existed. Myself and Mr. Thane would never have met. How scary is that?

So, we got our splendid team of writers to nominate their favourite albums of the last 10 years. This is what we reckon are the best, and must hear, albums since the noughties arrived!

= Listen on Spotify

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There’s something pure and untainted about Frankie & The Heartstrings. Mr. Thane hit it on the nose recently by saying you have to REALLY search to find anything out about these guys. Having only just released their debut single, on their own Pop Sex label, 2010 is going to be the year when they can finally cast off their shitty day jobs.

There’s an air of The Smiths in their pomp and swagger, whilst their tunes seem to distil all that’s been great about British pop music in the last 20 years – acres of guitar hooks, sing-along choruses and a eye for something a little different.

The band answered our emailed questions last week, and shared with us their favourite albums of the year as well as the best description of their band yet…
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Jingle jangle jingle jangle… Can you hear that? It’s the sound of the Indie Unicorn shaking it’s mane in your direction. Munch Munch ride on it’s muscular body, shouting and screaming in wondrous voices as they gallop across the musical landscape of 2010.

Three lads and a lady from Bristol who are the missing link between Broken Social Scene and the power-pop stylings of early Weezer, you know, when they were good… It’s the charged rumbling chords of their synth’s, turned up to 11, combined with their rambling vocals that seem to suggest they’re having the biggest party in the world… and YOU’RE invited. Ace.

We asked them some questions, they responded, and even gave us a seasonal Spotify playlist! Result.
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Having now turned up on the BBC’s Sound of 2010 longlist, perhaps we no longer need to shout about these boys… But we will anyway. Delphic, a trio of gents from the great pop city of Manchester, will be huge next year. Recent single ‘Doubt’ seemed to connect the dots from late 80’s New Order via their multitude of spin-off’s and then planting their feet firmly in the post-LCD Soundsystem dance-rock cross-over.

Their debut album, Acolyte, is out at the beginning of January and sets the early pace for not just great debut albums, but great albums period of the year… mighty praise indeed.

We fired off some questions to the band recently…
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Lists upon lists, upon lists… It really IS that time of the year. We’ve been keeping ours closely under-wraps, but now the time is here to unveil TLOBF’s Albums of 2009!

This year, we got each of our writers to nominate their favourite albums of the year, we counted up the votes, and spewed forth the results below. Easy. Always discussion points, I think our Top 10 is certainly one of the most consistently great lists for a number of years. It’s FELT like a good year for music and, despite or, indeed, because of, the rampant consumerism and X-Factor dominating charts, 2009 has felt pretty fresh. Anyway, enough of my ramblings, here we go… Continue Reading

Communion is a club night and record label based in West London.

It’s run by Kevin Jones and Ben Lovett from Mumford & Sons and has been growing steadily since 2006.

It’s based in Notting Hill Arts Club and each month they put on sold-out shows.

The Communion event has grown so much they run simultaneous nights in Leeds and Brighton each month and are launching a new one in Bath early next year.

On-top of this they are launching as a record label and their first compilation features exclusive music from the likes of Johnny Flynn, Peggy Sue, Alessi’s Ark, Broadcast 2000 and more.

The Gents came up with a Ten Point Plan to creating the Perfect Club Night.
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As the year draws to a close, we start to look ahead to the wonderfully Sci-Fi sounding 2010. As part of this, we’re going to be running a series of Introducing interviews with bands we think people should be keeping an eye and ear out for in the coming 12 months.

First up are the Welsh answer to Sigur Ros – Yucatan. Their wonderful produced soundscapes have produced a number of small and limited released EP’s so far, and they’re playing the Queen Of Hoxton tonight. Their latest EP was released on the 30th of November and continues their exploration of post-rock and ambient quasi-folk. We spoke to Dilwyn from the band to find out more about them.
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Another month and another addition to our Now Playing feature, where we find out what’s been dominating the ears of our regular contributors!
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At the end of November, the UK Festival Awards will name 2009’s victors in what will be a rare instance of the results of democracy being categorically wrong. There is no dispute about which is the best festival in the country, or even the world – nothing can touch All Tomorrow’s Parties. Held at either Minehead’s Butlins or Camber Sands’ Pontins since 1999, bands such as Mogwai, Sleater-Kinney and Slint have curated the line-up, and next May, the newly reformed Pavement will take the helm. Over the past decade, “All Tomorrow’s People” – from renowned cinematographer Vincent Moon to fans – have been lovingly documenting the escapades of spectators and bands alike, brought together in a heartwarming keepsake film from Warp. Continue Reading

Nhessingtons

Welcome back, friends. Let’s talk about music, shall we?

First off, did you hear the new song by Pistol Disco? I’ve written about them before, I know. But this song is just too epic not to mention. It’s called ‘Bad Wisdom’ and you can download it for free from www.pistoldisco.com. If the story of Pistol Disco was a movie, this song would be the scene where Alex and Mikael are riding their steeds trough some dusty plains. Just before taking off into space, obviously.

As I’ve mentioned before, Alex has done some work on the debut album for the Service act IKONS (who are going to be massive, if anyone wonders) and one of the members, Carl Hedén just finished a new song with his other project together with Pär Bourghardt, called Outmen. The song is called ‘You Might Be In a Band’ and it’s a truly beautiful pop song, complete with kind of Ennio Morricone-esque guitars and percussion. One of the most spot-on songs I’ve heard in months. They a currently working on new material and it’s going to be really exciting to hear what comes out. Continue Reading

Another month, another list of what our team of writers have been listening to. Bit of a random selection this month as well, from A-Ha, to Kyuss via Nine Inch Nails and Speed Caravan. We do have an eclectic bunch… Continue Reading