Reviews & features: Music, Issue 611
Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip
21 Aug 2008
Electrifying collaboration brought together by MySpace
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
21 Aug 2008
Sound sugar-coated acoustica with crystal clear swooping vocals and an edge of stark sexuality.
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…
Regal king size
21 Aug 2008
Karol Szymanowski considered himself an outsider which is why he identified with Sicily’s King Roger II and why his opera has become a gay favourite, finds Carol Main The Edinburgh International Festival’s staged opera programme is swinging from one…
Fettes Jazz Festival
21 Aug 2008
Swingin’ in the Marquee
The fourth Fettes Jazz Festival offers another attractive weekend festival housed in a marquee in the grounds of Fettes College, with a programme that combines top local talent with some exciting guests. The familiar format features an opening session…
Hitlist - Music
21 Aug 2008
The best gigs this fortnight
N*E*R*D Justin Timberlake guested at their Scottish debut in 2003 after the MTV Music Awards and while this night might not have the trouser-snake in tow, Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams most certainly have what it takes to throw down a platinum hip hop…
Five reasons to go and see: Tam White & The Dexters
21 Aug 2008
They’re an Edinburgh Institution - the mere mention of the name brings a warm glow to the hearts of Edinburgh music fans of a certain vintage. The band’s legendary residencies at the Preservation Hall and Platform 1 (both now gone as music venues) back…
Two Drummers Drumming
21 Aug 2008
Where’s the six geese a laying and the five gold rings?
Have you heard the one about the drummer? Maurice Bacon and Mathew Priest have, and they’re sick of it. Stick-bashing veterans of two notable bands of the 60s and 90s, they’ve brought their ‘Two Drummers Drumming’ show to this year’s Fringe to dispel…
Inside Yerma
21 Aug 2008
Singing, dancing and despair
Lorca’s play, widely regarded as a metaphor for the Spanish civil war, deals with grand themes of honour, passion, desperation and love. In the Spanish campo, Yerma is unable to conceive with a husband she does not love and feels entombed in her house…
Budapest Festival Orchestra
21 Aug 2008
Folk and gypsy influence evident in programme of two concerts
Starting off with a programme inspired by gypsy music and Hungarian folk melodies, the Budapest Festival Orchestra give two full orchestral concerts in the last week of the Festival plus two presented by some of their soloists. Featuring some rather…
Women in Harmony: Annie Grace, Corrina Hewat and Karine Polwart
21 Aug 2008
Good things come in threes
Three haunting voices, harp, guitar, whistle and pipes, beautifully blended. Annie Grace (pipes/vocals), Corrina Hewat (vocals/harp) and Karine Polwart (guitar/vocals), are three seriously talented musicians in their own right – each with their own solo…
Mr McFall's Chamber - Aye: An Affirmation of Martyn Bennett
21 Aug 2008
Fitting tribute to a Scots music pioneer
The eclectic and innovative Mr McFall’s Chamber will be gracing the Spiegel Tent with their own particular interpretation of the music of the late Martyn Bennett who died tragically in 2005 leaving an inspirational musical legacy. Consisting of a core…
Camerata Ritmata
21 Aug 2008
Guitar virtuoso-fronted ensemble experiment in jazz, classical and world
A short bus ride heading eastwards and in no time at all the crowds ease as the coastal community of Musselburgh comes in sight with its handy bus stop just outside the honest toun’s Brunton Hall. Appearing here with special guest singer, Daisy Chute of…
Air Alba
21 Aug 2008
A celebration of Scotland’s contribution to world cuisine through song, story and music
As the small audience shuffled in out of the early evening drizzle, raconteur Nancy Nicholson and guitarist Tony Mitchell happily greeted the audience, spinning yarns before most had even taken their seats. This friendly welcome set the tone for an hour…
Jerusalem Quartet
21 Aug 2008
Globally renowned Israeli foursome make their EIF debut
Making its Edinburgh International Festival debut, the Jerusalem Quartet is the final string quartet to appear at this year’s impressive Queen’s Hall series. Performing in the wake of the Ysaÿe, Belcea and Pavel Haas quartets, the quartet is, says EIF…
Midnight Juggernauts
21 Aug 2008
Aussie trio hit the disco highway
In the past few months, the globetrotting Midnight Juggernauts have toured with Bloc Party, been featured in stroppy lifestyle bible Vice and even cooked for Justice – friends in high places to be sure. While not the latest act to attempt to infuse rock…
The Raconteurs
21 Aug 2008
The seemingly spontaneous nature of the release of their frankly tremendous second album, Consolers of the Lonely, might suggest this quartet, the brainchild of Jack White and his long-time best bud Brendan Benson, were trading in off-the-cuff…
Five questions: Marco Bernardi
21 Aug 2008
Marco Bernardi is the mild-mannered janitor behind Octogen, the jewel in Soma Records’ electronic crown. He comes to Edinburgh as part of the Edge Festival’s Soma Records Night and submits to our probing with peculiar results 5 words to describe your…
