Scotsman Radar

Radar podcast #20: The Shivers on their Scots links

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 19:30:00 GMT

In this episode Stevie Kearney speaks to Jo Schornikov of Brooklyn band The Shivers, who are signed to Fence Records. We also have Berlin-based Scots Milwalkie, electro-pop from CHURCHES, cutting edge hip hop from MOG, the ethereal singer-songwriter Cara Mitchell and an exclusive track from Peterhead band Velvet Audio, one of our tips for 2012.

Radar podcast #19

Thu, 10 May 2012 14:20:00 GMT

In this episode of the Scotsman Radar podcast we hear from Simon Ward about Errors' year so far, and their one-off show at The Arches in Glasgow tomorrow.

We also have a track from Holy Mountain's riff-heavy debut album Earth Measures, new material from one of our tips for last year, The Son(s), and our new band spotlight falls on Glasgow drone duo Le Thug.

Radar podcast #18

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:55:00 GMT

In this episode of the Radar Podcast, we present five tracks by a quintet of bands who our writers have tipped for success this year.

Glasgow grunge trio PAWS, Aberdonian indie-pop outfit The Little Kicks, west coast slowcore collective Happy Particles and melodic Edinburgh group The Machine Room offer a snapshot of the Scottish music scene in 2012.

We also have an excerpt from our recent interview with Discopolis, a fast-rising trio of synth slingers from Edinburgh, on their unlikely Japanese connection and their plans for the year ahead.

Radar podcast #17

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:29:00 GMT

Stevie Kearney brings you a festive feast of northern soul (and folk, and indie, and hip hop...).

He is joined in the studio by Steven Milne, frontman of The Little Kicks (one of our bands of 2011 no less) and Lucy Pell belts out a stunning live version of her song 'I Fall Down'.

Stevie also chats with Jamie and Mark of Shmu FM's band of the week show.

A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to our listeners!

Radar podcast #16

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:00:01 GMT

In this edition of the Radar podcast we feature The Moth and The Mirror, a Glasgow band whose majestic debut album has been "a long time coming". Founding member Stacey Sievwright tells us about the long but rewarding experience of making of Honestly, This World (available now), and the former member of The Reindeer Section reflects on the ever-changing Glasgow scene.

Our Introducing slot is given over to Edinburgh trio Collar Up, who deliver a brilliantly infectious piano-driven number called Short Term Memories, while Glasgow's Otherpeople open the show with their anthemic anti-folk (quite literally) song, (I am so bored of) Acoustic Guitars.

We revisit the retro grandeur of Aberfeldy-based Star Wheel Press and the off-kilter, post-punk inspired indie of Edinburgh quartet Blank Canvas - both bands who have been 'on the Radar' in the past month.

Radar podcast #15

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 19:10:00 GMT

What better excuse to revive the Radar podcast than having Stevie Kearney stand in the rain, somewhere near Aberdeen?

Our North East correspondent braved the elements to report on the Wizard Festival, which brought together the old and the new last weekend, and caught up with DJ Jim Gellatly and Steven Milne of The Little Kicks along the way.

Radar podcast #14

Tue, 07 Feb 2011 22:45:00 GMT

Podcasts shouldn't be quarterly affairs, but that's exactly what our one is threatening to become.

Almost three months have passed since our last foray into iTunes, so we had to dust down the micophone and re-train our radio voices (cough) for this one.

We'll be aiming for more regularity in 2011, but for now we present a bumper package of some truly brilliant new music, counterbalanced with some truly meandering chat, for which we apologise in advance.

Running order:
00.06: Jonny - Beach Party
04.55: Conquering Animal Sound - Wildthings
09.48: Panda Su - Moviegoer
20.33: Lady North - Carnival
24.34: Dead Boy Robotics - Ever
35.20: French Wives - Covered in Grace
45.13: The Seventeenth Century - Young Francis

Radar podcast #13

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 01:54:00 GMT

We could have saved some space in the title of this post and just called it The Plugcast. It's nothing to do with electrical appliances. Rather, this slightly overdue episode of the Radar Podcast contains repeated use of the words 'Radar', 'gig' and 'this Saturday' (what, you hadn't heard?)

But there's an upside to all this promotion: you can listen to tracks by all three of the bands on the bill. There's also another chance to listen to THE BEST UNSIGNED BAND IN SCOTLAND, as deemed by the recent Scotsman Radar Prize.

And to prove that we're not completely self-indulgent, we have music from Over the Wall, Lady North and Tokamak, which we play for no other reason than they're all basically great. Well, the Tokamak contribution also ties in with our discussion of the Edinburgh music scene following the demise of the Roxy et al

Running order:
00.05: Over the Wall - Shifts
05.45: French Wives - Halloween
13.22: Mitchell Museum - Tiger Heartbeat
16.44: Lady North - Ali, the Pig Opera and the Helicopter
23.33: Capitals - Hello World
33.57: Tokamak - Lost Bike
38.30: Bronto Skylift - Wolf

Radar podcast #12

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 02:03:00 GMT

Once again the Radar Podcast is a leaner, meaner version of our (second and final) Edinburgh Festival radio show on Fresh Air. So we thought it would be fitting if we took the opportunity to focus on how the local music scene copes with the annual Fringe onslaught.

Joining us to discuss the issue is Ted Koterwas, who as an Edinburgh-based American creating music under the Foundling Wheel name, and brains behind the superb collaborative gig night Versus, has something of a unique perspective on the issue.

Billy has also compiled a special report on the issue, featuring interviews with Dave Corbet of The Edge Festival, Bart Owl, one half of the duo behind the upcoming DIY weekender Retreat!, and Andrew Eaton, arts editor of The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday.

On top of all the debate, there's brand new music from AK Kids featuring Profisee, Miaoux Miaoux, Capitals and SHe'S HiT - as well as the unexpected interjection of a booming jetplane.

Running order:
01:19: AK Kids feat Profisee - Listening
05:42: Miaoux Miaoux - Knitted
10:30: Capitals - Hello World - introduced by Ryan Drever
14:53: Interview: Ted Koterwas
29:57: The Foundling Wheel - Mayday
35:09: SHe'S Hit - REPEATER
39:47: Special report: The Edinburgh Festival and the local scene

Radar podcast #11

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 02:42:00 GMT

The eleventh episode of the Radar Podcast is merely a condensed version of our Fresh Air radio show from Wednesday night.

But stay with us here, because that means there's plenty of ad-libbing, there's more chat than usual, and there's a pleasant thrum of Pleasance Courtyard atmosphere through the open studio window. It doesn't get more Fringe than that.

Listen out for Cancel the Astronauts' a capella jams and Christian Slater yarns, and James from Dupec's hyperlocal knowledge nuggets...

Running order:
01:14: Kid Canaveral - 'Good Morning' (introduced by Lisa-Marie Ferla)
05:55: Interview: Cancel the Astronauts
19:09: Cancel the Astronauts - 'Things I Shouldn't Tell You'
23:41: Take A Worm For A Walk Week - 'Luscious Things'
27:18: Over The Wall - 'Thurso' (introduced by Lauren Mayberry)
33:02: Interview: James Yuill of Dupec
37:28: Dupec - 'I Can Still Probably Swim' (live acoustic)
46:43: Dupec - 'Snakes and Ladders'(live acoustic)

Radar podcast #10

Tue, 26 Jul 2010 21:50:00 GMT

We finally made double figures for the Radar Podcast and it only took us 14 months - but then again it's the quality, not the quantity, or so we tell ourselves.

This time around we have irresistible pop via the brand new album by Glenrothes indie rascals Tango in the Attic and the debut single from Futuristic Retro Champions, political prophecy from the wondrous Wounded Knee, an exclusive new track from Edinburgh-based American experimentalist The Foundling Wheel, Yahweh's magical contribution to the new Gerry Loves split single, electronic post-rock futurism from American Men, plus an interview and live performance recorded with the magnificent Mitchell Museum at T in the Park.

We also look forward to August, when Retreat! returns to provide the perfect antidote to the Edinburgh Festival, and when we make our live radio debut on Fresh Air (gulp).

Running order:
00:00: Tango in the Attic - 'Off To'
03:43: American Men - 'Cccccool Wrld'
10:08: Interview - Mitchell Museum
15:34: Mitchell Museum - 'Warning Bells' (live session)
19:40: The Foundling Wheel - 'May Day'
25:20: Yahweh - 'Make Me Stop'
33:03: Wounded Knee - 'Coffee Ballad'
39:06: Futuristic Retro Champions - 'May The Forth'

Radar podcast #9

Tue, 02 Jun 2010 15:58:00 GMT

We're worse than a minor celebrity on a chat show sofa when it comes to shamelessly promoting ourselves, and this month's podcast is unlikely to alter that image.

That's because we've got interviews with two of the artists playing our inaugural Radar live event on Friday in Glasgow: Julian Corrie (Miaoux Miaoux) and Jonathan Sellar of My Cousin I Bid You Farewell. But fear not, we also managed to ask them some questions which weren't just Radar-related.

And to avoid this episode coming across like some kind of audio gig poster, we also caught up with Andrew Eaton of Edinburgh's finest alt-pop (if that's a genre) act, Swimmer One. Disclaimer: Andrew is also arts editor at The Scotsman, but we're sure you won't accuse us of any editorial bias when you hear some of the excerpts from their new album, Dead Orchestras.

The podcast is also bookended by two of the best Scottish bands around: Errors' remix of The Twilight Sad's 'Reflections of the Television', from their upcoming EP The Wrong Room, and 'Dogfight', by Glasgow band and newly annointed Radar diarist, French Wives.

Running order:
00.03: The Twilight Sad - Reflection of the Television (Errors remix)
04:52: Interview: Jonathan Sellar (My Cousin I Bid You Farewell)
10:03: My Cousin I Bid You Farewell - What We Are Eating Tonight
12:47: Interview: Andrew Eaton (Swimmer One)
20:38: Swimmer One - Psychogeography
26:03: Interview: Julian Corrie (Miaoux Miaoux)
30:37: Miaoux Miaoux - Dream On
34:32: French Wives - Dogfight

Radar podcast #8

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 10:52:00 GMT

Our latest podcast is all about the synths, sequencers and sine waves. By some strange coincidence, when Billy and I were drawing up the tracklisting for our eighth episode we soon realised that there was one common denominater: electronics.

But equally, there's a huge range of sounds here, from the pulsating synthetic rock of the opening track 'Good Po-lice', an exclusive teaser of the forthcoming debut EP from LuckyMe-signed trio American Men, to the gleeful Moroder-esque beats of closing track 'Cool Kids', by Glasgow producer Tokyo Knife Attack.

Stuffed between these polar extremes we have not one but four exclusive interviews with some of the most convention-crushing artists working in Scotland right now:

- Tom Marshallsay of Dam Mantle, who we featured on the blog last week and who has just released a corker of an EP. Combining cut'n'paste sampling with an ear for melody, the Kent native has embraced the buzzing Glasgow electronica scene, without necessarily feeling part of it.

- Gregor McMillan of Dead Boy Robotics, the Edinburgh duo who have overhauled their sound in the studio over the past six months and are set to unleash a new clutch of epic tracks on an unsuspecting world with 'The Tale of the Winter Kids' EP.

- Johnny Lynch of Silver Columns, the new electro-pop project from The Pictish Trail and Adem. When their identities remained secret a series of leaked tracks and remixes caused a minor earthquake in the blogosphere. With festival slots and a debut album on the way, expect the tremors to spread nationwide.

- James Scott of Conquering Animal Sound, the looptastic experimental duo whose debut single recently launched the new Gerry Loves label. Now they're preparing for a UK tour as the word gets out about their beguiling music.

This time around we got to the point where we had to reluctantly leave a few tracks on the cutting room floor, so we'll be back soon with Podcast #9. You never know, it might even feature a guitar or two, but we're not promising anything...

Running order:
00:02: American Men - Good Po-lice
06:32: Interview: Tom Marshallsay (Dam Mantle)
11:18: Dam Mantle - Rebong
15:48: Interview: Gregor McMillan (Dead Boy Robotics)
21:40: Dead Boy Robotics - Tale of the Winter Kids
26:03: Interview: Johnny Lynch (Silver Columns)
32:29: Silver Columns - Cavalier
37:00: Interview: James Scott (Conquering Animal Sound)
41:44: Conquering Animal Sound - Giant
45:50: Tokyo Knife Attack - Cool Kids

We know this is not a comprehensive overview of electronic music in Scotland, but we think it's a decent snapshot.

Radar podcast #7

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:57:00 GMT

It was looking like it might never happen, but finally we have recorded our first podcast of 2010.

Two months away from the microphone has rendered some of our chat slightly nonsensical (what's new?), but the standard of music on this podcast is probably the best so far...

Running order:
00:00: The Japanese War Effort - Usain Bolt
04:04: The Unwinding Hours - Tightrope
08:58: Django Django - Storm
14:59: Findo Gask - Va Va Va
18:42: Silver Columns - Brow Beaten
25:10: Miaoux Miaoux - Dream On
34:02: Call To Mind - Breathe Pt. 1

Radar podcast #6

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:16:00 GMT

Christmas. It might be chilly outside but it's hardly the coolest time of the year is it? We over-indulge in party snacks, strange, once-yearly liqueurs (eggnog?!) and belt-busting meals, before battening down the hatches on our little cocoons of reliable family customs, TV drowse-athons and enough lighting effects to melt Greenland. In short, the carving knife is all that's cutting edge about Yule-tide.

So it pleases us at UtR to know that the young hipsters and hipstresses of the Scottish music scene are equally predictable at this time of the year. Don't believe us?

Well, Billy caught up with a quintet of his favourite music makers for some festive banter, and was treated along the way to a poorly executed version of The Waitresses' Christmas Wrapping, a shameless plug for Terry's Chocolate Orange and the earth-shatteringly weird coincidence that two separate musos both long for one of those tiny screwdriver sets in their Christmas cracker.

Panda Su, French Wives, Conquering Animal Sound, Dead Boy Robotics and Cancel the Astronauts... we're looking at you.

We also asked a few more of our favourite acts of 2009 to contribute either Christmas-themed - or just plain new - songs, and eagleowl, The Last Battle, There Will Be Fireworks and Tokyo Knife Attack duly obliged.

Again, the sound quality isn't perfect, but rest assured that top of our list for Santa this year is some professional recording gear. Hope you enjoy it anyway...

Running order:

00:54: There Will Be Fireworks: In Excelius Deo
07:10: Interview: Panda Su
10:32: Panda Su - Eric Is Dead
15:44: Tokyo Knife Attack - Invisible Sister
20:15: Interview: French Wives
23:30: French Wives - Me vs Me
28:04: eagleowl - Sleep the Winter
34:09: Interview: Conquering Animal Sound
37:48: Conquering Animal Sound - Where The Wild Things Are
42:22: Interview: Dead Boy Robotics
44:31: Death Ohh Eff - Me and Fift (Dead Boy Robotics remix)
48:22: The Last Battle - Once Upon A Boxing Day
54:14: Interview: Cancel The Astronauts
57:27: Cancel the Astronauts - Funny For A Girl

Radar podcast #5

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:00:00 GMT

...or, the one where we went down to Edinburgh Oxjam, grabbed a few bands in various states of inebriation and recorded the results, with a few songs thrown in for good measure.

Yep, that's pretty much what it says on the tin. We have interviews with Meursault, Boycotts, Dead Boy Robotics, The Little Kicks, Jesus H Foxx and Y'All is Fantasy Island.

Stevie, our Bowery correspondent, chatted to three of the bands at that venue, while Billy caught up with Dead Boy Robotics after their Cab Vol set and I (Nick) spoke to Boycotts backstage at the same venue and The Little Kicks later on outside the 'aftershow' party.

Radar podcast #4.5

Wed, 06 Oct 2009 11:00:00 GMT

A couple of months back we pondered the question of whether an unsigned band can achieve a reasonable degree of success without the backing of industry 'pros'.

At the time it seemed to hit a nerve with our readers, causing a minor flurry of surprisingly well-informed, illuminating comments (for the interweb).

Unfortunately we never got round to pursuing the issue in the podcasts which have followed, so to make amends, we asked UtR contributor Stevie Kearney to go out and investigate the DIY topic in a bit more depth. (No, he didn't go undercover at Homebase, before someone cracks that joke.)

Stevie spoke to Peter Kelly, who has tasted a few crumbs of success from the top table in his guise as Rolling Stone-touted Beerjacket.

Stevie also chatted to someone who knows a thing or two about the kind of well-intentioned, small-scale operations we discussed in the editorial. Tallah Brash is the newest addition to the ever-expanding Edinburgh band Jesus H. Foxx, who have been championed by the tireless blog/label Song, by Toad.

Because it doesn't run to the normal 40-odd rambling minutes and is instead an opinion-packed package, we've stopped short of branding it podcast #5. Instead we opted for the ingenious title of ... podcast #4.5.

Radar podcast #4

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:00:00 GMT

It may be old news now, but the ripples of record sales cast by the Mercury Music Prize are still being felt across the industry. Following our editorial on the subject a couple of weeks ago, we discuss the outcome (or more accurately, Billy vents his fury!), and whether the concept of the awards ceremony has any value at all.

And as if that wasn't enough to tempt you to download/play/whatever it is you do with a podcast, we also have a great selection of tuneage.

There's the new single from the Low Miffs' collaboration with former Orange Juice / Josef K legend Malcolm Ross, a new cut from Glasgow math rock upstarts Citizens, a taster of North Atlantic Oscillation's long-awaited debut album, as well as music acts we recently featured on the blog: Tokyo Knife Attack, The Pineapple Chunks and The John Knox Sex Club.

Running order:
00:12: Malcolm Ross and the Low Miffs - Cressida
04:34: Tokyo Knife Attack - Another One Falls
09:43: The Pineapple Chunks - The Horror The Horror
13:44: Discussion: Mercury Music Prize
19:17: Errors - Salut France
22:42: North Atlantic Oscillation - 77 Hours
27:46: Citizens - Shit Whistler
32:20: The John Knox Sex Club - John the Revelator

Words and podcast: Nick Mitchell, Billy Hamilton

Radar podcast #3

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:00:44 GMT

Unsurprisingly, this is the third podcast from Under the Radar.

This time it's all about the music: we have an exclusive new track from Trapped in Kansas, a Springsteen cover by Beerjacket and new singles by UtR-featured Randan Discotheque and The Seventeenth Century.

On top of that, Stevie caught up with Edinburgh band White Heath for a chat at their recent EP launch, and there's more music from Glasgow/Dundee math rockers Popolo, a band we haven't featured yet (shock) in My Tiny Robots, and Small Town Boredom, the Paisely duo who were offered a record deal a couple of hours after appearing on UtR (yes, that's the sound of us patting our backs).

Running order:

00:55: The Seventeenth Century - Roses in the Park
06:22: Beerjacket - Dancing in the Dark
10:15: Popolo - Or Optimism
13:45: Interview: White Heath
17:20: White Heath - Election Day
21:30: Trapped in Kansas - Carpathia
24:53: My Tiny Robots - Other People Matter
30:01: Randan Discotheque - Daily Record May 18th 1993
35:10: Small Town Boredom - White Cart Water

Radar podcast#2

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:49:57 GMT

The second podcast from Under the Radar.

This time we investigate the situation of modern day music journalism in depth, enlisting viewpoints from both sides of the journos vs bloggers divide.

We also have tracks by a fine array of UtR-tipped bands, including There Will Be Fireworks and Cancel the Astronauts, and we look forward to T in the Park with music from My Cousin I Bid You Farewell, Dead Boy Robotics and Tango in the Attic.

Running order:

01:20: There Will Be Fireworks - Foreign Thoughts
05:49: Cancel the Astronauts - Late in the City
10:34: Special report: music journalism v blogging (Mike Diver / Matthew Young)
20:18: Second Hand Marching Band - A Dance to Half Death
26:37: My Cousin I Bid You Farewell - The Contented Hearts
30:00: Dead Boy Robotics - We Drown Ourselves
32:59: Tango in the Attic - Jackanory

Radar podcast #1

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:37:30 GMT

The inaugural Under the Radar podcast.

As well as songs from the likes of Mitchell Museum, Yahweh and The Gothenburg Address, Billy caught up with rising Edinburgh electronica artist Dollskabeat for an exclusive interview.

Running order:

00:50: Mitchell Museum - Take the Tongue Out
03:52: Dupec - Snakes & Ladders
08:31: eagleowl - Blanket
13:59: Interview with Dolskabeat
19:34: Dolskabeat - Zodiac Rising
23:28: The Gothenburg Address - The Lesser Coming Home
29:48: Rob St John - Paper Ship
36:43: Stag & Dagger preview
38:38: Yahweh - The Wee Ending