Kris Drever, John McCusker + Roddy Woomble

The Holy Trinity of modern day traditional Scottish music (Kris Drever, John McCusker and Roddy Woomble) are currently on a mini tour, the last of their performances coming off the back of their debut album together, 2008’s ‘Before The Ruin’. Tonight’s attempt by The Ironworks to change their venue from the cavernous space it is to a moody, dimly lit folk club is well appreciated: tables and candles make a nice addition to the vast venue.
Hailing from the Orkney Isles, Kris Drever is a man whose voice betrays his years. To listen to his gruff, baritone voice would lead you to think he is one of last century’s traditional folk singers; however he is more of a contemporary, with his music branching out with a more Americana and occasionally Bluesy tinge. He opens tonight with ‘Steel and Stone (Black Water)’ from his solo debut ‘Black Water’ with John McCusker accompanying him on fiddle and Roddy Woomble doing what he does best on stage: looking around awkwardly and (probably) regretting he never took up an instrument so he could join in. Drever's intricate guitar work is made to look effortless and he is obviously a man who knows his trade. It’s not until ‘Into The Blue’ from the trio’s album that Roddy Woomble (best known for being the singer in Idlewild, arguably the most consistent Scottish indie band of the last fifteen years) displays his dulcet tones. His songwriting is almost poetic at times, and the one constant within it is his great ability to write the perfect chorus. With Idlewild I am certain there is not one bad chorus written and his transition to Scottish folk is seamless. What follows is a set of songs built up over the last five years or so under various projects and solo albums. ‘My Secret Is My Silence’ and ‘Waverly Steps’ from Roddy Woomble’s first venture into folk music fit in perfectly between a selection of songs from both of Drever’s albums.
Even John McCusker, more suited to backing bands up and guest starring on albums, gets his moment in the spotlight as the Idlewild man makes his way to the side of a stage. Drever and McCusker are left to show off their musical talents and the chemistry between them is evident as they blast their way through a number of “wee tunes” that John has written for various people over the past few years. However before the tables are thrown aside and The Ironworks turns into a full blown ceilidh Roddy comes back on stage to “bring the mood back down”. He is the ultimate shy, composed (some would say awkward) artist. He sits with his legs crossed in the middle of the stage, staring at the ground or playing with his hair. He is renowned for standing side stage when he plays with Idlewild when an instrumental section is in full swing, although there is none of that mid-song wandering tonight.
Ending the expertly chosen set with my personal favourite of the trio’s ‘Moments Last Forever’, Drever’s Pogues inspired ‘Poor Man’s Son’ and the delicate ‘Stuck In Time’, the three slide off stage with the promise of Woomble returning in January with a solo show and a new album. One must hope they return all together in the near future with a new album of their own.
8/10

The Xcerts - Scatterbrain

Sometimes an album is not just a group of people’s musical talent organized into 12 tracks. Sometimes the production process takes over a band’s creative flair and curves it into the producer’s own idea of what makes a good album. The Xcerts’ second full length ‘Scatterbrain’ is one of these albums. Thankfully however the producer in question, Mike Sapone, is one of modern rock music’s greats. From everything Brand New have released to the classic Taking Back Sunday album ‘Where You Want To Be’, via Public Enemy and The Early November, Sapone can be accredited to some of the decade’s finest rock albums. And now for the next decade; who knows what the next ten years will bring to rock music. However with albums like ‘Scatterbrain’ to kick us off it’s evident the next ten will be as good as the last.
The ‘proper’ opening/title track (prior to 'Scatterbrain' there is a minute of warped feedback, loud-hailer vocals and general haphazard noise) can be interpreted in two ways. Firstly it could be that one of Sapone’s last albums - Brand New’s 'Daisy' left behind a couple of demos and a load of equipment especially for the British trio to pick up where they left off… it seems unlikely but the sound is uncanny. Secondly this could be a sign of things to come: The Xcerts have ‘matured’. As singer Murray Macleod says in the press release “The first album was – as for most new bands – something of a 'greatest hits' from the band's early years” – a perfect blend of teenage angst, catchy melodies and most importantly a selection of great choruses whilst still retaining an edgier side. ‘Scatterbrain’ has done well do move on from ‘In The Cold Wind We Smile’. However where ‘In The Cold Wind…’ got the mixture of bassy riffs and melody spot on within each song ‘Scatterbrain’ struggles to hold the two as close together. Tracks like ‘Scatterbrain’, ‘Distant Memory’ and ‘Hurt With Me’ are fast paced, scuzzy and slightly all over the place, whereas ‘He sinks. He Sleeps’ and closer ‘Lament’ are shoe gazingly melodic. Both singles ‘Slackerpop’ and ‘Young (Belane)’ would have fit in well on ‘In The Cold Wind…’. Easily the catchiest and most likely song to get stuck in your head ‘Slackerpop’ will have you singing “I’ll be your man, I’ll be your mannequin” for hours.
Murray sums the album up pretty well: “This is an album lover’s album for the fans of the band. It’s not about a particular track or single and should be listened too as an entire body of work with an open mind. We hope everyone falls in love with it like we have.” I always knew The Xcerts had an album like this in them ever since the first time I saw them in a dingy local venue in front of about 50 people. Their live performances always did have an edge to them, a sort of sinister addition that when recording the band just couldn't seem to capture … until this album. ‘Scatterbrain’ – a brooding album album which patchily combines restless, angsty break downs with melancholic melodies.

Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can

Laura Marling is part of the indie-folk revolution that has gripped new music for the last couple of years. It started when a small group of friends started helping each other out with their music; giving each other support slots at their gigs and playing various weird and wonderful instruments on their albums. This group of friends from Wimbledon now make up the majority of some of the best albums from the last three or four years. It consists of Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons, Jamie T, Noah and the Whale and Johnny Flynn.

Laura Marling’s second album ‘I Speak Because I Can’ is the deepest, darkest and most mysterious of the lot. Complete with new “take me seriously” hair (her once pixie-like blonde locks have been dyed pitch black) this brooding masterpiece is like taking the darker tracks from Mumford & Sons’ outstanding ‘Sigh No More’ and adding the deepest Joni Mitchell vocals over it. Marling describes it as being based on “responsibility, particularly the responsibility of womanhood.” There are no real light hearted tracks, unlike her outstanding debut ‘Alas, I Cannot Swim’ which was scattered with cheery acoustic folk, although ‘the mature album’ seems too petty a judgement for such a good album, but it does sum it up plainly.

Produced by Ethan Johns (Kings of Leon, Ray LaMontagne, and sadly THAT abomination of a Paolo Nuitini album – it still puts shivers down my spine) and with arguably the best new band of 2009 as her backing band (Mumford & Sons) it was destined to be a hit. If she wrote ‘Alas, I Cannot Swim’ when she was 16 and, for want of a better word, ‘immature’ in her songwriting then this was always going to be ‘the mature album’ and with the added load of a break up with Noah and the Whale singer (the band Marling started out with) it was destined to gloom… however Marling seems to do gloomy better than she does content!

Live ‘I Speak…’ is outstanding. Real hairs on the neck stuff. She is a true modern troubadour and her haunting voice and her solo guitar is fantastic. Highlights include the title track, the downright spooky ‘Devil’s Spoke’, ‘Goodbye England (Covered in Snow)’ which is probably as close to cheery as the album gets, and ‘Rambling Man’

With Mumford & Sons beginning work on their new album, Laura Marling trying to get another album out by September and Jamie T back on the gigging scene, all I can say is viva la indie-folk-revoloution!

'I Speak Because I Can' is out now on Virgin Records.

NME Awards Tour 2010 - Glasgow Barrowlands

The NME has been at the forefront of new music for the last 60 years, but with new music becoming so readily available online, the magazine has kind of taken a back seat in the past decade or so. However the NME Awards Tour has always been an opportunity for NME to prove its worth in taste in new music and this year’s lineup is no different. The tour usually comprises of three of the best new artists around at the moment, and one fairly established band that NME have supported for a while.

New York quartet The Drums get the opening slot, playing tracks from both their outstanding ‘Summertime!’ E.P and their forthcoming album. They’ve been described by most people as “like Joy Division covering The Beach Boys” and this description pretty much sums them up perfectly. Their Cure-esque guitar and synth lines go strangely well with their surf tinged melodies and singer Jonathan Pierce’s Ian Curtis impression is extremely convincing – he’s even got the dance down to a tee. If he was 15 years older he’d be an embarrassing dad at a wedding, however the music makes up for it. Highlights of their set include their super catchy single ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ and the 1950s influenced ‘Don’t Be a Jerk, Johnny’, at which point they’re joined on stage by two members of Glasgow indie pop band Camera Obscura on backing vocals.

The Big Pink are up next, the band I’m least excited to see as I’ve only heard their less than average one hit wonder ‘Dominos’. In an over the top, dry ice and laser show they arrive on stage. They trudge through a six song set filled with dreary, distortion filled tracks, coming to one great anti-climax in the form of ‘Dominos’. Definitely the low point of the evening and the best is definitely yet to come.

Bombay Bicycle Club prove with their 2009 debut that they are one of the most exciting new bands in Britain right now. They won the Road to V Festival in 2006 and, after two E.Ps, their debut album ‘I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose’ received critical acclaim from all corners of the music press. As they walk on stage it feels as is if they could easily be the headline act. Opening with the leading track from their album, the instrumental ‘Emergency Contraception Blues’, they work their way through a stellar set, playing the best songs from the album and one new song. The now capacity crowd seem to know all the words to possibly the catchiest song of last year ‘Always Like This’ and they close their set with the anthemic ‘Cancel On Me’.

On release of their second album, ‘Wall of Arms’, The Maccabees turned from relatively unknown composers of fast paced yet romantic indie anthems to a genuinely heavyweight band, acquiring main stage slots at most of the major festivals last summer. They open their set with ‘William Powers’, one of the lesser known but better tracks from ‘Wall of Arms’. The three layered guitars and chanting vocals make for an extremely impressive opener. It’d be extremely hard to play every great song from both their albums… because there really is no filler in either of them. ‘X-Ray’ has probably the catchiest guitar line since most of Arctic Monkeys’ debut album; ‘Precious Time’ is one great big singalong and ‘No Kind Words’ is an eerie track, climaxing with yet another amazing guitar riff. A questionable cover of the 1983 Orange Juice hit ‘Rip It Up’ is really the only low-ish point in the set but they make up for it by playing a one song encore and highlight of the amazing second album, ‘Love You Better’. Definitely one of the best live sets I’ve seen in a long time, and with outstanding support (minus The Big Pink) this was definitely a night to remember.