Listen Before You Buy

I fully believe that your current environment and state of life can make or break an album for you. An album listened to in the dead of Winter, dark and cold and dreary, can sound completely different when listened to in the blistering sun of Summer, or revisited 10 years later when you’ve matured and [...]

Some people fell head over hells in love with this Glaswegian quadruplet when they first started doing the rounds back in 2007/2008, and then there were some people who hated them. I was half and half.  Maybe it’s because I’m Scottish and I don’t hear it enough, but I tend to be drawn towards songs [...]

Photography by Neale Smith I’m always partial to music that’s from my native land but that doesn’t mean that if you’re lucky enough to be from there that you get extra special treatment, it’ll only go up if it’s good, and this IS! Hailing from the Scottish Highlands but based in Glasgow, this quartet of [...]

Artist: Frightened Rabbit Hometown: Selkirk, Scotland Members: Scott Hutchison, Grant Hutchison, Billy Kennedy, Andy Monaghan, Gordon Skene Formed: 2003 Released: 2010 Genre: Indie, Rock, Folk Label: Fat Cat Records Singles: “Swim Until You Can’t See Land”, “Nothing Like You”, “Living In Colour”, “The Lonliness And The Scream” Connect: MySpace | Facebook | Website | Twitter Buy The Album: Amazon: [...]

I’m not sure where it started but I’ve noticed a strange trend with Scottish acts making music with spoken “vocals” over the music.  I’ve spoken about it on here a few times, likening them to Arab Strap since that’s where I first heard it. An entire album of it would probably become quite trite quite [...]

Young Fathers are a hip-hop three piece from Edinburgh that produce music that sounds like it should never have come out of Scotland. Branding it “Superpop”, it is a blend of electronica, hip-hop, dub and indie sensibilities that has made for some very fine singles over the past two years. This week sees the release [...]

Follow the countdown to the number one album of the year. Win the top three albums of 2010 on vinyl! Artist: Belle & Sebastian Hometown: Glasgow, Scotland Members: Stuart Murdoch, Stevie Jackson, Chris Geddes, Richard Colburn, Sarah Martin, Mick Cooke, Bobby Kildea Formed: 1996 Released: 2010 Genre: Indie, Pop, Twee Label: Rough Trade (U.K.), Matador (U.S.) Singles: “Write About Love” Connect: [...]

I cannot get enough of this song. When I first heard it on their video introduction to their upcoming album “Belle & Sebastian Write About Love” with a couple of songs being played live, it was instantly stuck in my head and there was no remedy but sleep to rid my brain of the chorus. [...]

Belle & Sebastian released a brand new song for free from their upcoming album “Belle & Sebastian Write About Love”, the followup to 2006′s “The Life Pursuit”.  They gave it exclusively to certain Twitter followers a day early, some of whom released onto the dubya dots for all of us to enjoy before it’s officially [...]

I’ve been waiting for this for quite a while now, and it’s oh so close to finally being here. This morning Belle & Sebastian announced on their site that on September 7th they’d release their first single from their upcoming album “Belle and Sebastian Write About Love“, but today you can hear that song “I [...]

QuickPicks are my attempt at getting all of the music that’s sent to me that I like (or just music I like but have no words for because it’s so awesome), out into the dubya dots. Any time I get sent music that I like I “star” it in Gmail and then go back and [...]

If you’re unaware of the concept behind Desert Island Discs, check out the basic pitch I gave the artists and bloggers I got in touch with.  If you’re an artist or blogger and want to take part,  just send your submission with the eight pieces of music (not the actual mp3s) and some words about [...]

Croy based, Post-Rock Pop outfit Campfires in Winter celebrate the release of their debut EP “Cardboard Ships” on ‘stand & wave’ with a mini ‘flat’ tour. The band are embarking on a series of intimate acoustic gigs, playing for fans in their very own living rooms! This is a new concept in band promotion, breaking [...]

Frightened Rabbit made their first live appearance on U.S. late night TV this morning playing a rousing rendition of “Nothing Like You” on Jimmy Fallon. They’ve been touring the U.S. for the last month or so in promotion of their latest (stunning) album “The Winter Of Mixed Drinks”.  I reviewed it back in March and [...]

No, not me.  I wish, but I’m talking about the excellent San Francisco video site Yours Truly.  They’ve had some awesome acts walk through their doors from Local Natives to Delorean, Toro Y Moi to Burn Ruffians, and this time it was the turn of Camera Obscura.  Even though they didn’t quite walk through any [...]

Sefiros is the performing pseudonym of Bryan Henderson, a Scottish musician who mainly creates electronic music that traverses genres such as post-orchestral electronica, ambient, industrial, 8-bit, and chillout. Over the past five years he’s released a multitude of albums on the internet,  all of which are available to download for free at his official website. [...]