Reviews & features: Music
- Filtered by:
- Music
Twonkey’s Kingdom
7 Aug 2012
Absurdist and ramshackle entertainment from Paul Vickers
‘We’ve all taken a bag of ecstasy and tried to book a skiing holiday, haven’t we?’ If you say so, Paul Vickers, renowned Edinburgh musician and maverick, and key-holder to the frankly baffling kingdom of Twonkey (it rhymes with ‘wonky’), who is a small…
Tom Thum: Beating the Habit
7 Aug 2012
Beatboxing Aussie seems to have swallowed bagpipes, decks and a didgeridoo
Part of Australian acrobat-dance-variety show the Tom Tom Crew, 27-year-old beatboxer Tom Thum now brings his solo show to the Fringe. With the ability to conjure up a large variety of unusual sounds – bagpipes and a didgeridoo all show up — the Aussie…
Rock
7 Aug 2012
Rabid account of US punk movement from one man and a cellist
Long before Kurt Cobain moved to Seattle, sold his ass and lost his soul, the clouds of the American punk rock movement were gathering, rumbling and occasionally transcending. From the poetic beat riffs of Gregory Corso through to the narcotic and…
The Beast
7 Aug 2012
With uke and loop pedal Bowden commands a spellbound crowd
Stuart Bowden wants to tell you a story about a beast. His name is Winslow and he lives on the edge of town, just a short helicopter ride away if you happen to have a helicopter. Winslow is a little awkward and a little lonely, one of his prized…
Eat, sleep and breathe: Ali McGregor
7 Aug 2012
The opera singer turned cabaret diva puts a distinct twist on modern rock and pop hits
What time is breakfast? 6am with my two-year-old or 8.30 if my wonderful husband is on duty! Tea or coffee? Neither. Unless you have chai, which cafés rarely do here. Smoking or non-smoking? Non smoking. Unless it’s 3am and I should know…
Five electronica composers at the 2012 Edinburgh International Festival
6 Aug 2012
Terry Riley, Laurent Garnier, Craig Armstrong, Abel Korzeniowski, Isao Tomito and Ryoji Ikeda
So the Edinburgh International Festival can be regarded by some as... how does one put this delicately... highbrow? Scholarly? Of course that’s not the Festival’s fault. That’s the fault of us lowly plebeians who refuse to dive into the deep immersive…
Amanda Palmer & Neil Gaiman bring joint live show to Edinburgh Fringe
6 Aug 2012
Singing and reading from musical and literary couple
‘Amanda taught Neil to love the festival,’ speaks the Palmer/Gaiman marital unimind (in fact hallowed fantasy author Gaiman emailing on behalf of himself and his ex-Dresden Doll and Fringe mainstay spouse). ‘He used to come to Edinburgh and do the book…
The Blanks' Big Break
6 Aug 2012
A capella comedy from the Scrubs quartet, with some non-musical filler thrown in
George, Paul, Sam and Philip are best known as nervy lawyer Ted’s all male a capella quartet from the TV series Scrubs. Now billed as The Blanks, in their Fringe debut they don’t let you forget it. Combining stand-up, sketches and frankly impressive…
7x7th Street
4 Aug 2012
Interactive sounds sculptures create a musical promised land
Seven and seven is, well, a very magic number indeed in Jean Pierre Muller's walk-through collaboration with musical icons including Robert Wyatt, Nile Rodgers, Archie Shepp and Terry Riley. Free-associating ideas based around the number seven (days a…
Fringe by the Sea 2012: Five ingredients for the ultimate seaside experience
1 Aug 2012
North Berwick will host Kate Rusby, Neil Innes and more on 6–12 August
Take a break from the buzz of the city and join in the thrill of the seaside. For the 5th year running, Fringe nge by the Sea returns ns with an eclectic mix of music, comedy, theatre, film, authors- in-conversation and, of course, the…
Interview: Archie Shepp - Edinburgh date for avant-garde firebrand
31 Jul 2012
The legendary sax-man talks bagpipes, gospel and reggae before his Summerhall show
Archie Shepp came to prominence in the mid-1960s as a leading light of the black avant-garde, playing with Cecil Taylor, Bill Dixon and Don Cherry, among others. John Coltrane sponsored Shepp's contract with Impulse! records and invited him to play on…
Aussie musicians Daniel Holdsworth and Aidan Roberts on Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells For Two
29 Jul 2012
The pair aim to recreate the album in its entirety live on stage
Surely everyone has heard at least something from Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells – even if it’s just in the soundtrack to The Exorcist – but two Australian musicians, Daniel Holdsworth and Aidan Roberts, know it better than most. It’s a truly iconic…
Canadian pianist Chilly Gonzales prepares for first Fringe shows
29 Jul 2012
The multi-talented musician is set to blend comedy, music and spoken word
‘The world that the Fringe represents is a world I’ve always been conscious of,’ says omnitalented raconteur, pianist and friend to Canada’s finest alternative musicians, Chilly Gonzales. ‘But to be honest, I’ve always chosen consciously not to go…
Eat, sleep and breathe: Hot Dub Time Machine
29 Jul 2012
Aussie DJ/ VJ Tom Loud shares his tour habits ahead of his Fringe appearance
What time is breakfast? Early! I lost the ability to sleep in when I turned 30! No matter how late I stay up, (often VERY late, my show finishes at 3am) I’ll be having breakfast before 9am. I make up for it by taking disco naps before I perform. Tea…
Detour's Ally McCrae on late-night Festival music series Circa
29 Jul 2012
The gigs will feature performances and DJ sets from Twilight Sad, Lady North, Churches and more
There are many locals who could see the Edinburgh Festival far enough, and don’t need another unicycle with ukelele cabaret act. But many do like the fact that August brings with it extended opening hours. Gigs can go on til 5am if they like, a detail…
Top 5 music shows for kids at Fringe 2012
29 Jul 2012
Featuring The BIG Sing-a-long, Flamenco for Kids, Sesame Street and Music Bugs
The BIG Sing-a-long! Back for their third Fringe running, the BIG Project’s Children’s Choir invite you to join in with chart hits and musical mash-ups. St Mark’s artSpace, 228 1155, 4 Aug, 2pm, £6 (£4–£5). Flamenco for Kids Warm up your hands…
Summerhall to host second Scottish Independent Music Fair
29 Jul 2012
The event brings together Scotland's finest independent labels and artists
Local, lovingly reared, carefully selected, packaged with care. Nope, it won’t be organic food being laid out across the stalls in Summerhall’s Dissection Hall. Just quality produce of the musical kind. Stuart Thomas from the Scottish Music Industry…
Five reasons to go see Henry Rollins
29 Jul 2012
The fast-talking raconteur returns to the Fringe
1. He’s a walking punk rock legend The bratty ex-frontman for Washington DC upstarts State of Alert, Rollins became the physical embodiment of 80s punk rock after joining Black Flag. A tattooed hulk of a man, his turbulent tenure with the band dictated…
Dan Willson aka Withered Hand looks forward to upcoming gig with Darren Hayman, Gordon McIntyre and Josie Long
29 Jul 2012
All-star cast for lauded Edinburgh-based singer songwriter
Withered Hand, alias thrash-pop heartbreaker Dan Willson, is amped for his forthcoming indie spectacular. ‘Two of my songwriting heroes are playing special sets: Darren Hayman [Hefner] and local legend Gordon McIntyre [ballboy]. A grand piano has been…
Life is a cabaret: 7 cabaret shows at Fringe 2012
27 Jul 2012
Featuring Auntie Myra, Bourgeois & Maurice, Damsel Sophie, Ria Lina and more
Auntie Myra’s Fun Show As the legendary Jeremy Lion showed, reluctant children’s entertainers make for bleak but blisteringly funny comedy. We suggest that Rotherham’s Myra Dubois may be in the same vein. The Voodoo Rooms, 226 0000, 3–26 Aug (not 6…
Interview: La JohnJoseph bring Boy in a Dress to Edinburgh Fringe 2012
25 Jul 2012
'Totally autobiographical' show combines, music, vaudeville and striptease
La JohnJoseph has a distinct memory of his first foray into performance: ‘I wore a cocktail dress and my dear friend Gina wore my suit and we created that infamous scene from Showgirls where they have sex in the swimming pool, and we did that to the…
Analysis: Morrissey's devotional fanbase
18 Jul 2012
Morrissey is on UK tour and subject of two 2012 Edinburgh Fringe shows
The Smiths made music between 1982 and 1987. In band years that’s a relatively short period of time, but it was five years that produced four revered albums and stoked a mythology around the band’s singer Steven Patrick Morrissey that endures 30 years…
Edinburgh International Book Festival 2012 highlights
18 Jul 2012
David Walliams, Jeremy Paxman and Alistair Darling among guests
Funnyman David Walliams, interviewer Jeremy Paxman and former Chancellor Alistair Darling are just some of the well known names set to headline this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival. The capital’s annual literary bonanza will welcome…
Interview: Camille O’Sullivan on her 2012 Edinburgh Festival and Fringe shows
11 Jul 2012
Songstress on her ballsy, ballad show hitting Australia and Edinburgh
Camille O’Sullivan is the tireless workhorse and sultry glamourpuss who has Edinburgh in the palm of her hand. Kelly Apter meets the woman who is breaking new ground at this year’s festival
The tragic number - Fringe shows charting the musicians who died aged 27
11 Jul 2012
Trio of Edinburgh Fringe shows explore the haunted number
John Kielty is sitting in an Edinburgh bar, listing the supernatural properties of the number 27. ‘It’s the cube of three; three being the original magic number,’ he says. ‘The moon orbits the earth every 27 days. The sun revolves on its axis every 27…
