Reviews & features: Music

Mr McFall’s Chamber

Tribute to Scottish techno-folk composer

In a concert featuring the music from their latest album, Mr McFall’s Chamber present a programme of the same name, ‘Birds and Beasts’, celebrating the musical legacy of ‘folk meets techno’ composer Martyn Bennett, and including a couple of pieces by…

Sarah Connolly

Mezzo soprano returns to jazz roots

Among other things, 2010 is likely to be memorable as the year of the mezzo-soprano at the Edinburgh International Festival. Joyce DiDonato, Petra Lang and Christine Brewer, who replaces the indisposed Susan Graham, are just three of the famous names…

Professor Green

Hackney rapper loves a Nando's

Professor Green knows how to party. When his debut album, Alive Till I’m Dead, charted at number two last month, the East-London rapper let it rip: ‘I was so over the moon that I celebrated with a full chicken platter, two large sides and a refillable…

5 Questions - Barockestra

It started off as an idea for an album, now 14 years later rocker Steve Grant and Emmerdale’s Deena Payne have formed a troupe of rock musicians, opera singers and classical dancers to bring Barockestra to life – think Mozart playing an electric guitar…

Meow Meow - Feline Intimate

Cabaret will never be the same

The former star of La Clique, who counts David Bowie among her fans, strips away the mystique of cabaret in this riotous postmodern deconstruction of her art. That’s literally the case when during the first few minutes of the show she’s interrupted by…

Ali McGregor

A versatile diva, doing jazz this time

As soon as Ali McGregor takes to the stage to sing she has the audience captivated for the rest of the evening. A seasoned performer (she has appeared in La Clique, and in The Opera Burlesque at previous Fringes) she commands the stage with her warm…

Call Mr Robeson

Inspirational story of legendary singer

Having suffered a setback by losing his voice during the world premiere run of this show in Edinburgh three years ago, writer and star Tayo Aluko subsequently took it on tour around the world. This year the monodrama about the life of African-American…

Arlo Guthrie

Folk runs in this family

Following the same career as a famous parent can be a double-edged sword – a name can open doors, but it can also be a lot to live up to. Arlo Guthrie, son of folk legend Woody Guthrie, has carved out his own successful niche over four decades, but also…

Part Wild Horses Mane On Both Sides

Kelly Jones and Pascal Nichols are a free drumming duo, who add cobweb-light flute to their primal, otherworldly sound. A little bit New Age, a little bit jazz-punk, it’s a beautiful, ethno-folk slow-burner – for those who can get past the slightly…

Withered Hand set for Edge Festival show

Key player in Edinburgh alt.folk scene hits the Fringe

This likeable oddball is a key player in Edinburgh’s alt.folk scene. Singer Dan Willson is a regular performer at Fence Record nights (and also pops up at this week’s Haarfest festival, see page 129) and counts Neil Pennycook (of Meursault) Bart Owl…

Red Cello Electrified

South African cellist plugs in

When thinking of solo cello music, something like Bach’s ‘Six Suites For Unaccompanied Cello’ generally spring to mind. Perhaps something more conventional such as this should have been in South African soloist Carol Thorns' thoughts also, as her…

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble

Chicago fusion of jazz, hip hop and funk

This nine-piece comprising eight horns and a drummer are not what you might expect at the Jazz & Blues Festival.

Sharp-suited sextet The Magnets a solid night out

Acappella group cover pop hits

Their fifth year at the Fringe, The Magnets have once again pulled in a full house to witness their all-vocal/voxbox extravaganza. For more than a decade this London-based sharp-suited sextet have wowed audiences nationwide and toured supporting the…

The Tiger Lillies

Sideshow inspired death-gypsy tunes

The Tiger Lillies are probably one of only a few proponents of the ‘Death Oompah’ genre. Frontman Martyn Jacques comes to the stage adorned with thick harlequin war paint and armed with songs of murderous circus freaks and decrepit prostitutes, sung in…

The Ukulele Project

Charming folk take on modern classics

Festival newbies The Ukulele Project make their debut here, bringing their unique take on everything from Radiohead and The Beatles to Plan B and Gorillaz.

Brazil! Brazil!

Capeoira kicks, samba hips and footie tricks

Brazil! Brazil! is like the fantasy beach party everyone wants invited to. Chilled-out Brazilian beats to rival Astrud Gilberto, buff bare-chested guys wheeling out jaw-dropping capoeira kicks and backflips, voluptuous feather-topped girls in bling…

Rhythms With Soul

Foot-stomping romp through flamenco history

On posters Venezuelan-born flamenco dancer Miguel Vargas appears smouldering and bare-chested. But unlike paparazzi-friendly contemporaries such as Joaquin Cortes he is no peacock, all baby-oil and no substance. There is strut aplenty. There is simmer…

The Besnard Lakes set for Edge Festival date

Montreal psychedelic rockers play Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh

This Montreal quartet’s third album, The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night, has been shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize, which is Canada’s equivalent to the Mercury, and are up against the likes of Broken Social Scene, Caribou and Owen Pallett.

LuckyMe decamps to Cabaret Voltaire for the Festival

David Pollock talks to the Glasgow-based record label/art collective

This has been the most important year yet in the evolution of Scottish electronic label LuckyMe, and this third annual Edinburgh Festival event featuring their friends, collaborators and signees should be the perfect showcase for local supporters and…

Tinchy Stryder to take over the HMV Picture House

The East London grime boy done good, and Third Strike is on its way

If Tinchy Stryder’s second long-player, Catch 22, saw him vault the grime underground and snare the pop mainstream (number one hits, collaborations with N-Dubz and a Sugababe, the best-selling UK solo artist of 2009), you wonder what level of stardom…

The Songbird

Giant Productions's sound poetry at the Botanic Gardens

Glasgow’s Giant Productions makes its Fringe debut with this interactive tone poem about an exotic songbird captured by a ruthless logger. Set against the stunning backdrop of the Botanic Gardens, and performed by a pianist, cellist and two actors, the…

The Forest Café celebrates tenth birthday

Volunteer-run café is a true original in Edinburgh

The Forest Café’s tenth birthday, happening mostly on Saturday 14 August, but spreading its shambolic, joyous tentacles throughout the rest of the month, is one of those true causes for celebration. That an entirely volunteer-run, hippy-hearted…

Five hirsute gents tickling our fancies (and chins) this month

Look out for these bearded men at this year's Festivals

Phil Kay Furry Fringe veteran Kay makes no fewer than four fuzzy-faced appearances this year. His kids’ show Gimme Your Left Shoe makes a welcome return; there’s a solo show in the evening called In Tweed; a late-night radio show titled RadioFree; and…

The Loose Screw promises a sexy gypsy midnight music party

Denise Black answers five questions on her Fringe show

5 words I’d use to describe my show Sexy gypsy midnight music party. 4 things I bring on tour Guitar, pedal steel, busking licence… and I can’t do without my virtuoso guitarist Graeme Taylor, who was a long-haired rockstar in the 70s with folk…

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra play Carl Nielsen's Fourth Symphony

Helsinki-based orchestra bring two nights of romance and drama

In a festival blockbuster of an orchestral programme at the Usher Hall, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra’s pair of concerts stands out as a triple celebration of one of Scandinavia’s greatest composers, Wagner and the human voice. In putting on…