The Blue Nile.

"Do I love you?"
















"YES, I LOVE YOU!" the crowd roar back as one from the seats of the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, on the 26th day of November in 2006. This moment remains forever fresh in my memory as Paul Buchanan performs 'Tinseltown In The Rain' on this world-famous stage. It's a Blue Nile concert in all but name, complications arising from a member who does not want to tour.

They don't tour very often, nor do they pump out albums on a frequent basis. There are merely four released so far in the twenty-SEVEN years since they began making music. This is no ordinary band though. The Blue Nile are very special, the kind of band that forge new sounds and ideas for generations to come. It is pop music, but with endless layers. Not a single note or beat is wasted, efficient yet incredibly moving.

Back in my seat, it is apparent that Paul Buchanan was born to sing in this concert hall. The sound coming out of his mouth diverts in two directions; out of the large PA speakers either side of the stage to sweep across the auditorium, and scaling up the roof of the hall- itself built specifically to magnify natural sound from the stage- to drench the patrons sitting in the upper and grand circles in a warm sonic mist.

I have in my possession a mere thirty-three songs from their studio albums (no official live releases have been forthcoming, nor sadly a full audio document of that night) yet trying to choose a selection of songs was horrendous. After all, I can only use so many words to convince you of their worth and impact on Scottish music until I implore you to just listen.

Craig B of Aereogramme (my favourite band that are still active, no question) has mentioned them as an influence and if you search, you can find screeds of effusive journalistic praise. You can read further into their history, though the members themselves will provide scant information for the trendy photoshoots, fact-sheets and various paraphernalia afforded to bands far less magical.

Yet nothing can really prepare you for what you are about to hear, so just listen and enjoy. If you have a spare fiver- or equivalent currency of your choice- invest in Hats (discussed further below). You won't regret it. You MUST see Paul Buchanan/The Blue Nile tour if they are near you. Alas, their most recent US tourdates were suddenly pulled, leaving fans bemused but not shocked considering their previous regard for essentials of the 'business'.

They just want to make beautiful music, and in an age where image is everything and the depth of a personality can be scoured open with a mascara brush, I salute them with a tear in my eye. Just like I did when they left the stage of the Usher Hall that fateful night.

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The MP3s:

Paul Buchanan- Tinseltown In The Rain (live)

Paul Buchanan- A Walk Across The Rooftops (live)

The Blue Nile- Stay Close

The Blue Nile- Happiness


Two songs from their debut- A Walk Across The Rooftops- performed live in Coventry (or Warwick, I can't recall?). One each from their third and fourth albums- Peace At Last and High respectively. I've swapped the third and fourth album choices because I can. But nothing from their second album?!

I'll leave you to discover the magic of Hats for yourself for two reasons-
1) I'm not in that haunted mood that lets repeated plays of it envelope me like a shroud. This is music that asks a lot of questions amongst its blissful resolutions, and it can leave me utterly drained.
2) It's probably in my top five albums ever, as a suite of songs it's basically perfect.

And now I shall leave the others to post.

Slackers. ;)

From here:
The Blue Nile on Wikipedia
The Blue Nile on Youtube
The Blue Nile on Facebook
Quick UK link to Hats (it's £5 in a few notable chain stores, email me to ask)

Superhero Songwriters..

The nation is awash with mediocrity. Take note; Pillaging decades of passionate, influential and inspired singer-songwriters and clogging our senses with dull, unimaginative Fuckwit Blunt (yes that scapegoat) and his pals is going to cause a backlash when the nation realises we're knee-deep in their pseudo heartfelt nonsense and when the majority actually don't understand why some absolute tit is singing about his new shoes. Nutini: Is Shite the t-shirts will say. We'll celebrate all that is pure, honest, challenging. We'll shove their nylon strings where... Well ok, you get the point of this rant. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of another myspace friend whore adding me with 'their new tunes.' only to find DIRGE. That's the word for it, nothing more, nothing less. Yes ok, myspace isn't exactly the forefront of talent in this country but it's giving a voice to people who think they are and they're knocking on my inbox. Yes, I know I can turn band friend requests off but quite frankly the day Beyoncé added me as her 'friend' was the sexiest day of my life to date.

My pretentious 'snobbery' and internet social life aside, it's rare in this day that I find a solo artist to connect with. Someone who sounds, feels and has the ticket to the fairground extravaganza that is myself and my emotions. In two weeks I found two and they're both from Scotland and they're both wildly different but parallel each other quite nicely.


The first of these discoveries was found rather excitingly the through the radiowaves, a rarity these days for lots of music lovers around the country. His name is Malcolm Middleton and yes he's been around a fair while and yes he's the half of Arab Strap that doesn't drunkly commit himself to tape for all and sunder to dissect. I say that, but in fact he has a vocal style not dissimilar to Aidan Moffat, that thick Scottish drawl shines through but with a quicker pace and cynicism replacing the downright angst but the musical similarities to his previous project stop here.
His third solo album 'A Brighter Beat' has recently been released and it is downright angry & bitter. I pity his heart for it seems a sad thing, I pity those who connect with it but quite frankly you can't help it. Everyone's been there. That romance thing. It's a bugger and he's expressed it wonderfully. Song titles such as 'Death Love Depression Love Death' and 'Fuck It, I Love You' barely scratch at the door, but give an idea of the tone of this album. Don't be fooled, this is an enjoyable and beautiful document; tender but raw. Well worth a few moments of your day.

Listen:
A Brighter Beat
Up Late At Night Again

More info:
Buy 'A Brighter Beat'
Official Website
Myspace (With more tracks)




My second saviour is Emma Pollock, of defunct Scottish cult heroes The Delgados. Always having a beautiful voice, she's now pursuing a solo career and it's producing fabulous results. With a busy gigging schedule, the adding of a backing band and recent appearances at SXSW in Texas, things are looking up and moving forward for her. I recently experienced her live and she captivated the room immediately both through her songs and her obvious charm and bashful nature. There isn't much publicaly available (if at all) that's recorded but a debut album is planned for 2007. The two songs for download here and different in many respects, one is a haunting and natural folk lullaby that gnaws at you and the second is almost jaunty in it's own piano led way (lyrics are supplied on the second track by author Louise Walsh who collaborated with Pollock on the recent Ballads of The Book Compilation). I'll leave you to fall in love with her at your own pace.

Listen:
Limbs
Jesus On The Cross

More info:
Official Website
Myspace (With more tracks)


Enjoy!

I Know It's Not Quite The Custom In This Country...

This week, ladies and gentleman, I give you-

FRIGHTENED RABBIT


Frightened Rabbit are a bassless trio [Soon, I'm going to show you a band with TWO bassists (!!), so I'll fulfill the bottom end in time] with the best debut album I've heard in years. Their main trade is creating wonderful pop songs with a surprising amount of instrumental depth and some stunning lyrics to chew over.

It's really difficult to pick out an album highlight, because it's consistently amazing and the flow 'is like woah' [(c) me], including awesome wee interludes. So I've picked two from it, one to highlight the uptempo triumphant indie-rock and one to reflect their folkier side.

I had never even heard the name when I stumbled into about the only regular gig venue in Edinburgh, Cabaret Voltaire, for one of their free gigs last year. I had intended to see Beerjacket, but he was literally packing up as I made my way down! He said 'Stick around for the next band'. I did, and my jaw hit the fucking floor. I hope these MP3s do the same. You can stream the album on their site and there's goodies on their Myspace too.

P.S. I put in a sexy bonus new song because I'm nice like that.

E!

Frightened Rabbit- Music Now!
Frightened Rabbit- Behave!
Frightened Rabbit- The Twist
FR's Myspace (touring the US now, playing a Glasgow date in mid-April)
FR's own site (bands, make sure you do this! Myspace is buggy as fuck.)

P.P.S. The title of this post is a lyric from their utterly phenomenal Go-Go Girls. It's also on the album.

Union Of Knives - Taste For Harmony

Not often, but just sometimes, the best way to summarise a band is by quoting their own press releases, as lazy as it may seem... i present to you, Union Of Knives...

The music of Union of Knives is a meld of analogue riffs, beautiful voices and guitar abstractions over a dirty backbeat of programmed drums. It was designed to hypnotise and offer a true ode to life in all its dark beauty.

What this translates to (in case you couldnt already guess) is wonderful glorious music.

Their debut album Violence And Birdsong was released last autumn to critical acclaim, and they have an ever expanding fanbase it seems. Still small, yes - but not for all too long i'd guess.

For now however, Union Of Knives remain one of the best kept musical secrets in Scotland.

The aforementioned album Violence And Birdsong is out now in most good record shops. You can also order online here.

You can also find out more album Union Of Knives on their official website, at www.unionofknives.com

Simon x

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To download a couple of sample tracks from the stunning debut album, just follow the links below:

Union Of Knives - Evil Has Never (Highly Recommended!)
Union Of Knives - Lick Black Gold

Uncle Fritz - Field Reports

Uncle Fritz then, a man with a breakfast-sized bowl of rage in one hand and a contract in his other, with the deeds to your soul written in blood. Armed with an acoustic guitar and infectious melodies, he pummels you with both fists until you submit to the wonders of ‘Field Reports’.
But with that, I’m barely scratching the outer skin of ten songs which make up the second set of recordings to surface from your favourite father’s brother, the first being debut ‘9 Songs’.

If you’re familiar with that debut you’ll know this isn’t your typical solo act, in many respects. This of course isn’t a bad thing and there’s enough flirting with influences from the obvious Folk heavyweights to prevent leaving you completely out in the cold looking in.

The term ‘Field Reports’ isn’t merely a title, this really feels like a collection of observations and scribblings and ideas that have been floating around wistfully inside a brain captivated. It confronts ‘cheery’ subjects such as days in the life of a vampirical creature, disdain of fellow Dundonians and feelings of disillusion but this is all pulled off extremely well. Conjuring up fantastic and honest lyrics is no mean feat and this is nowhere better displayed than in opener ‘Volcanic’, detailing a desperate conflict with anger. Other notable highlights of the record include the wonderfully spiteful ‘If I Had Shotgun’, which you’d hope was slightly tongue in cheek and the desolate closer ‘Little Fish’… which is a truly intimate ending to the journey and possibly the most heartfelt moment on the record.

Musically you confront complex and original guitar picking, layered with a multitude of atmospheric sounds, which not only mark a clear progression in songwriting but also help the album flow beautifully from song to song. There’s a familiarity as the time passes but with enough distinction to stop it blending into a mush of beige blandness. In fact, black is the correct shade to describe this as, a darkness seeps throughout which may be off putting to a casual listener. This grounding paves the way for his unique vocal style to shine through and wickedly lullaby you, for it would not be folly to put this record on after a stressful day or evening and let it’s meandering take hold, such is the ambient quality the songs possess.

Essentially what you have here is an extremely personal album, I doubt two listeners will feel exactly the same way about it and I’m sure many still may not connect with it but if you like to spend a little time with your records and set about this journey in the right frame of mind, you’ll surely be recanting another name on your list of singer-songwriters and recommendations. Now, if only our nation would embrace more sensational and challenging talent such as this. There’s a sense we wouldn’t be knee-deep in the latest fad.


‘Field Reports’ is available on CD through petpiranha.com and available to download from your favourite online purveyor.
http://www.myspace.com/yourunclefritz
http://www.petpiranha.com


Now before you take eponymous purchasing steps here are some downloads to judge for yourself, taken both from this record and his debut.
As always, right click and save as..

Memory Man (Opener of Field Reports)
Divorcing September
Inner City Love
Ballad of The Lighthouse Keeper