Edge Festival

Faith No More

Massive shots of musical adrenaline that have the crowd and band pumping

27 Aug 2009

Surely the crowning glory in this year’s Edge Festival - the reunited Faith No More returning to Scotland after a long, long absence. Firstly, Manchester youngsters Oceansize kick things off in suitably fuzzy prog metal style, reminiscent of oor ain…

Amanda Palmer

Songs and stories from the former Dresden Doll

23 Aug 2009

With spectacular support from Zen Zen Zo, a unique and terrifying part of the five-star dance spectacle, Zeitgeist, Amanda Palmer gives herself a lot to live up to. A proper cabaret entrance though, slowly stepping down the stairs of the Picture House…

Frightened Rabbit

New material promises great things

21 Aug 2009

From the moment Frightened Rabbit take the stage, the capacity crowd at the Queen’s Hall gives them a warm welcome - roaring their approval before a note has been played. They open with the first track from their Midnight Organ Fight album, ‘The Modern…

Hitlist: Festival music

What to see this week

21 Aug 2009

Pokey La Farge, Actus Tragicus, Magazine, Maria Tecce, Malinky, Camille O'Sullivan, Air Alba

Magazine - Second Life

21 Aug 2009

On their return earlier this year, Magazine received ecstatic words. Now, Neil Cooper is convinced lighting can strike twice. Valentine’s Day is the perfect time for reigniting love affairs. This year, in a concrete hall close to Manchester University…

Sparrow and the Workshop

Pure to the core and pure class

21 Aug 2009

It's a sign of their sweet nature that Sparrow and the Workshop feel the need to apologise for the sweat dripping down most people's backs in the bunker that is Sneaky Pete's. They must surely be the ones most feeling the heat, if the sodden t-shirt of…

Hitlist: Visual art

Our pick of visual art for the week

20 Aug 2009

Scottish Paintings: Old Masters to Contemporary. Milestone, The Creative World of Alan Davie, Jane and Louis Wilson: Unfolding the Aryan Papers, The Enlightenments, The Discovery of Spain, Eva Hesse: Studiowork

Broken Records

A dry atmosphere and a workmanlike performance

19 Aug 2009

Promoted to the Queen's Hall after last year's Edge festival performance at the Liquid, and following a year of showing the world just how beautiful music can be, you'd think this old cacophonous church would be the ideal place to show off the…

Festival Music hitlist

16 Aug 2009

Amanda Palmer, Trembling Bells, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse, Benbecula Records, The Caledonia Sessions, Biffy Clyro, Orchestra in the Age of Enlightenment

Amanda Palmer

14 Aug 2009

A singular talent who refuses to play the predictable game whether it’s on record, in print or on stage, Amanda Palmer has been turning heads since forever as one half of the Dresden Dolls, where she throws together Weimar cabaret and punk scree in…

Telepathe

Old-school synths and discrete artistry

14 Aug 2009

Just what, exactly, is affecting young female Brooklynites with such analog aplomb right now? Like fellow New Yorkers Au Revoir Simone, Telepathe’s duo of Melissa Livaudis and Busy Gangnes have picked up a swirl of old-school synths and applied some…

Faith No More

They were true rock subversives and are back to blow our minds.

13 Aug 2009

It’s almost impossible these days to imagine just how bad things were, but rock music was a fucking embarrassment in the early 80s. The collapse of the dinosaur rock behemoths of the previous decade into hopelessly bloated, overblown, self-important…

Boys Noize

13 Aug 2009

This is the biggest club event of this year’s Edge Festival as City is taken over by German electro producer Boys Noize (aka Alexander Ridha), a master of sparkling grooves that build to an epic electro-tech frenzy of acid squelches and heavy basslines.

Top 20 Festival Shows

12 Aug 2009

Emmanuel Jal There are few people who could even imagine the terrors of being a child made to fight in a war-torn homeland. This guy has lived it and come through the other side. Jen Hadfield In a year of poetry shocks, this Shetlands-based…

The Stranglers

HMV Picture House, Edinburgh, Fri 7 Aug

10 Aug 2009

The opening night of this year’s Edge Festival, and while young folksters Mumford & Sons are playing the other side of town, it couldn’t be more different at the Picture House as old school punks The Stranglers keep things ‘Nice’n’Sleazy’. Formed in…

Unicorn Kid and Young Fathers

The man with the horn

7 Aug 2009

He may wear a lion hat and be named after a fantasy creature, but with the Pet Shop Boys, Calvin Harris and a belting set at T on his side, Unicorn Kid is set to make myth a reality. The Lion and the Unicorn have long been heralded as hostile beasts.

5 reasons to go see: The Telescopes

6 Aug 2009

1. It’s a trip down memory lane. Formed in 1987 by frontman Stephen Lawrie, these wall-of-sound shoegazing-cum-baggy space-rock pioneers are the forgotten sons of 1990s indie. But forgotten no more! Cos they’re playing this gig, likes. 2. You get…

Múm - Icelandic collective a family affair

Doug Johnstone meets Icelandic otherworld music collective, Múm

6 Aug 2009

Getting the members of Icelandic folktronica collective Múm in the same place at the same time sounds like something of a cat-herding operation. With nine band members appearing on the band’s forthcoming fifth album, the beautifully titled Sing Along to…

Music hitlist

The best music from the festival

6 Aug 2009

The Bang Bang Club, David Byrne, Dub Syndicate, The Edge, Rough Cut Nation, Rough Cut Nation, Shooglenifty, The Stranglers, Time(less) Machine

The Black Dog and Mr Copy set for Soma Records Night

6 Aug 2009

It has become a bit of a mainstay at the Edge Festival and Glasgow’s premiere label, Soma Records, is back once again for its annual showcase of all that’s great and good in the world of house and techno. This year’s line-up includes seminal UK techno…

Edinburgh festival highlights: The top 30 shows

August’s finest entertainment at a glance

13 Jul 2009

We bring you a selection of the best shows at Edinburgh this year across all the festivals, including barnstorming retelling of the Goethe story Faust, former Talking Head David Byrne in experimental mood, The Wire's creator David Simon and theatre…

Enter Shikari show at Edinburgh Edge Festival

Hardcore dance punk for teenagers to pensioners

13 Jul 2009

For readers of a certain age, Enter Shikari might be a baffling proposition. Coming on like sonic napalm, their mix of hardcore metal and hard, fast trance beats firebomb the senses with speed and intensity. ‘To the greengrocer I’d say, we are just an…

Exposure: Múm

25 Jun 2009

Múm are an icelandic band whose brooding, yet beautifully delicate electronica have been greatly revered far beyond their homeland over the years. Adopting arguably more accessible structures and melodies this time round, Múm return with their fifth…

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip

Electrifying collaboration brought together by MySpace

21 Aug 2008

Opposites attract, right? That certainly seems true for Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, the former being a short, stocky, shy beatmaster while the latter is a tall, skinny hyperactive wordsmith. ‘We both bring the best out of each other,’ says Pip, aka…

Miniprofile: Jay Brannan

Sound sugar-coated acoustica with crystal clear swooping vocals and an edge of stark sexuality.

21 Aug 2008

Was it terrifying releasing your first album Goddamned yourself? It seems like the natural order of things to me because I’m such a weird person with very specific ideas and opinions and beliefs. It’s a lot of work, for sure. I’m like, ‘do I get to…