Music highlights from the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe

This article is from 2011.

Lach's Antihoot, James Blake and Oneohtrix Point Never among highlights

LuckyMe: 3 Days

The LuckyMe collective of artists and designers is one of Glasgow’s most successful cultural exports of recent years, and the group’s August party will once more give festival-goers a chance to find out what they’re all about. This year, they’re having not one party but three in a row. First, they’ll be presenting their new signing, Montreal producer, DJ and singer ANGO, alongside club-based art from fellow Canadian Tyson Parks and a live set from American Men. On Saturday, the full LuckyMe resident crew will be out in force for a set headlined by Warp signing and friend of the label Hudson Mohawke and Planet Mu’s Machinedrum. On Sunday, Mike Slott presents an electronic live score to Andrei Zvyagintsev’s 2003 film The Return.
Quarter Mile, Laurieston Place, 11 Aug, 7pm, free; Cabaret Voltaire, Blair Street, 0131 220 6176, 12 Aug, 11pm, £5; The Summerhall, Summerhall, 0131 650 6130, 13 Aug, £10 (£9).

Shonen Knife

The all-girl Osaka trio bring to Edinburgh a show which is rich in serrated punk-pop anthems, timeless exuberance and day-glo humour that’s not nearly as naïve as you’re meant to think it is. Sneaky Pete’s, Cowgate, 0844 499 9990, 15 Aug, 8pm, £10. Part of The Edge Festival.

Warpaint

One of the most hotly-tipped of all the Edge Festival’s roster of new artists, all-girl LA quartet Warpaint have been courting serious stardom ever since last year’s brooding, shoegaze-heavy debut album The Fool on Rough Trade.
Queen’s Hall, Clerk Street, 0131 668 2019, 23 Aug, 8pm, £19.50. Part of The Edge Festival.

Evelyn Evelyn

Mrs Neil Gaiman and sometime Dresden Doll Amanda Palmer joins forces with Jason Webley for ‘the world’s only conjoined-twin singer-songwriter duo’.
Assembly George Square, 0131 623 3030, 17–21 Aug, 9.10pm, £13 (£12).

Oneohtrix Point Never

Brooklyn experimental musician and vintage synth enthusiast Daniel Lopatin will no doubt bring a crowd to one of Edinburgh’s smallest venues, playing tracks from last year’s breakthrough, Returnal.
Sneaky Pete’s, Cowgate, 0844 499 9990, 7 Aug, 7pm, £9. Part of The Edge Festival.

Jackie Leven

An enduring under-the-radar Scots artist, Leven – originally from Kirkcaldy, Fife – has been performing since the late 60s, first with his band Doll By Doll and latterly as a solo artist. His signature folk, blues and punk style, a big favourite of author Ian Rankin, is primed for rediscovery here.
Cabaret Voltaire, Blair Street, 0131 220 6176, 11 Aug, 7pm, £7.50. Part of The Edge Festival.

James Blake

The poster boy for intelligent, British electronic music, 23-year-old Londoner Blake’s eponymous debut album and striking live shows fuse Antony & The Johnsons-style piano balladeering with crunching dubstep bass.
Liquid Room, Victoria Street, 0131 225 2564, 30 Aug, 7pm, £10. Part of The Edge Festival.

Soweto Entsha

Tipped as ‘the African Magnets’, these four smart-suited Soweto lads combine a cappella harmonies with a crowd-pleasing take on the sounds of their home continent. A fresh spin on a classic Fringe style, in other words.
Udderbelly’s Pasture, Bristo Square, 0844 545 8252, 6–29 Aug, 4.30pm, £14.50 (£13). Previews, 3–5 Aug, £7.

Withered Hand

Edinburgh indie songwriter Dan Willson became something of a cause celebre earlier this year when a petition had to be raised to win him a visa to SXSW. Supported here by friends from the Scottish scene, his excellent music deserves international acclaim.
Queen’s Hall, Clerk Street, 0131 668 2019, 25 Aug, 8pm, £10.

Lach’s Antihoot

Anti-folk instigator and ‘the man who discovered Beck’ Lach brings his New York open-mic club back to the ‘Burgh, this time on the back of a new album named Ramshackle Heart on the local Song, By Toad Records.
Gilded Balloon Teviot, Teviot Row House, 0131 622 6552, 4–29 Aug (not 9, 12, 13, 16, 19, 20, 23, 26, 27), midnight, £12 (£10).

The Burns Unit

Formed at a Robert Burns-themed writing retreat five years ago, this Scots supergroup (featuring King Creosote, Karine Polwart, Emma Pollock and more) released their debut album Side Show onto the alternative folk scene last year.
Queen’s Hall, Clerk Street, 0131 668 2019, 24 Aug, 8pm, £17 (£15).

Big Deal

For those who think fellow fuzz-toned newcomers and Edge performers Best Coast are just a bit too all over the place, try up-and-coming London boy-girl duo Alice Costelloe and KC Underwood instead.
Cabaret Voltaire, Blair Street, 0131 220 6176, 13 Aug, 7pm, £7. Part of The Edge Festival.

Po’Girl

One of a series of roots and alternative country sets at St Bride’s throughout August, this date sees Canada’s former Be Good Tanyas affiliates Po’Girl return to Edinburgh.
Acoustic Music Centre @ St Bride’s, Orwell Terrace, 24 Aug, 8.30pm, £12.

This article is from 2011.

More: Music, American Men, Andrei Zvyagintsev, Ango, Big Deal, Daniel Lopatin, Evelyn Evelyn, Hudson Mohawke, Jackie Leven, James Blake, Lach, Lach's Antihoot, LuckyMe, Machinedrum, Mike Slott, Oneohtrix Point Never, Po'Girl, Shonen Knife, Soweto Entsha, The Burns Unit, The Return, Tyson Parks, Warpaint, Withered Hand

Comments

No comments yet – be the first.

To post a comment you'll first need to sign in: Forgotten your password?

Sign in

Email
Password
Remember

Not registered? Sign up – it only takes a minute.

RSS feed of these comments