Work that one out if you can.
It's quite simple really.
Yesterday was St Andrew's Day, and with St Andrew being the patron Saint of Scotland and I had intended to have a Scottish theme to yesterday's post but then I got myself into a bloody mess and didn't really have the time. So I'll write it up a day late instead, besides I've always been a procrastinator anyway.
The Irish have St Patricks day which involves wearing something green and drinking a lot of Guiness. The Guiness company have done quite well out of hijacking St Patricks day, but here in Scotland we don't really do much for St Andrew's day. In recent years there has been some movement to make it a national holiday but even if it was a day off from working most people would probably only use it to go Christmas shopping or something. The problem with it being so close to Christmas is that most people are saving up for all the Christmas parties that start in the next couple of weeks so its hard to get excited about a St Andrew's Day. That made coming up with a theme for this post difficult so I finally just decided to go with a Scottish music theme by mentioning bands and a song worth checking out.
So here they are in no particular order, download them at your leisure.
The Fratelli's new band this year that seemed to come from nowhere to have one of the best debut albums of the year. Unique sound and very energetic, and would be a great band to see live. Softer track to listen to Everyone Knows You Cried Last Night
The Skid's A punk rock band of the late 70's & early 80s that in truth I had forgotten about until U2 & Greenday got together and remade The Saint's Are Coming
Son's & Daughter's Folk/Rock with Scottish accents. Another unique band that are great live. Track to listen to is Monster's if only for the line 'compassion's just a word in a dictionary on your shelf'.
Arab Strap If you have ever wondered what a Scotsman (no not me) sounded like when drunk then you have to listen to this duo because thats exactly what they sound like. Some bands specialize in singing love songs, not Arab Strap miserable cunts that they are (and I say that in the nicest possible way) they sing anti-love songs. Strangely it works, possibly because he does sound likes he's drunk. The song to listen to is The Shy Retirer, partly for that authentic drunk sound I was talking about and partly for the 'you know i'm always moanin' but you jump-start my seratonin'.
Belle & Sebastian A little bit twee but sometimes twee is ok. If You Find Yourself Caught In Love
Paolo Nutini Another debut act this year. At 19 years of age he has all the ingredients that would make it so easy to hate him, he is good looking and he has talent and a voice beyond his years. I haven't figured out why I haven't been able to hate him yet other than for the reason of not getting a ticket for his shows that sell out incredibly fast. Last Request
Camera Obscura. This was a band I heard a lot about from friends who had seen them live but I didn't pay much heed until I heard them for myself and then I went through a phase where I just played everything they had ever performed basically because I thought that the lead singer's voice was gorgeous and I couldn't get enough of it. Books Written For Girls
Biffy Clyro Before there was the Arctic Monkeys there was Biffy Clyro. Justboy.
The Corries. I have a rather ecletic taste I like most types of music but I was never that keen on Scottish folk music basicly because most of it is (excuse my French) embarrassing shite. Most Scottish folk music seems to me to talk about 'roamin' in the gloamin' and I have no clue what that means but then neither do the Englishmen who write that crap. Not only do the songs have no real relevance to Scotland but most of the singers are bloody awful, where they find them I do not know but it makes for painful listening. The Corries though were different, they clearly enjoyed performing and knew how to work an audience, they could make you laugh, they could make you cry and they could make you sing along. So many bands today could learn a thing a two by watching an old show of The Corries in action. The Corries were a duo who mostly did small venues in the middle of nowhere but no matter where they were they made sure that the audience had fun. Yes they sang about Scottish history, but there was none of this roamin' in the gloamin' crap, they were much more than a folk singing duo they were also a comedy act too. And of them was responsible for writing the now adopted Scottish anthem Flower Of Scotland which seems apt for St Andrew's Day
Jesus & Mary Chain. I was listening to this band for 2 years before I even knew they were Scottish. They were unlike any Scottish I heard up until that point. Just Like Honey
KT Tunstall. Genuine nice girl, great live act and incredibly ballsy. She never gave up on her dream despite being turned down by the industry for 10 years and remained true to herself and her music and was rewarded for it when she made finally made the breakthru. Girl & The Ghost
Idlewild. Scottish Indie band there seems to be a 1000 of them around now but Idlewild showed them how it was done. Love Steals Us From The Loneliness
Anyway thats enough, maybe next year i'll add more.
3 comments:
And there I was thinking you were going to have links to the songs!
I've listened to 7 of the 12 and will see if I can find the rest somewhere out there on the net.
Recently downloaded The Fratelli's off a music blog. Liking.
I've only listened to a little Arab Strap. Now I feel like I need to go back and listen with your description in mind.
Enjoy the B & S when I am in that mood.
Only found Camera Obscura in the last year. I missed them in concert because I wasn't paying attention to the listings.
I was partial to Gimme Hell and Head On by the J & MC.
If I hadn't owned KT for a couple of months before radio got a hold of her I probably would not have given her a chance. Can you say overkill!?
Other than the Scottish I've only met one other person who knew of Idlewild.
I had initially intended to post links to the songs but then I realised I didn't know what I was doing in that department so I didn't. My apologies.
KT has been overkilled by radio but then I find that with a lot of music. I'm constantly on the look out for new music and I don't know how many times I've sat there smug in my chair listening to good music that few people have discovered, only to find a few months later that the whole country is playing it. It's very disappointing. So anyway I knew KT has been played to death the world over so thats why I suggested a song off of her new mini acoustic album.
You should be able to find the other bands easy enough but if you can't I'll send you some. I can't be fairer than that.
You'll find that a lot of Scottish bands like Idlewild don't really make radio mainstream, maybe its the music they play or maybe its the small label that they are attached to but they do seem to do a lot of tours in countries like Australia and New Zealand. I'm not sure why that is either there is a bigger Scottish population over there than I thought or they are just happier to give obscure bands a chance. Sons and Daughters for example had the poster of their album featured in the background of a cafe scene in an Australian film and the film was made around the same time as the album was coming out here, at that time most people in England wouldn't have been aware of Sons & Daughter's so I don't know whats going on there. Maybe their labels just have to work that bit harder to get them an audience.
I don't know how to link songs either.
I'll check the Hype Machine and see what I can find there. Otherwise I may ask you to email me a song or so :)
I think all the bands that I listed that I've heard of have either been to Vancouver or Seattle (just across the border...2hrs) but I've never made any of the shows. Either I've missed seeing the listing or they sold out right away. Vancouver loves foreign bands, especially if they have cute accents.
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