Indietracks Festival 24-26 July 2009

Okay, it's not a Scottish festival but a number of great Scottish bands have been lined up to play the Indietracks Festival, which continues to go from strength to strength.

This year's line-up includes appearances from several Scottish acts including Camera Obscura, The BMX Bandits, Wake The President and Butcher Boy.

Go to the Indietracks website for more details.

Attic Lights - Five Weeks Behind

Here's Attic Lights doing "Five Weeks Behind" at Celtic Connections last Saturday with the Cairn String Quartet:



I've also got BMX Bandits doing E102/Witchi Tai To and The Sailor's Song/After I Make Love To You, Attic Lights doing Dirty Thirst/Nothing But Love/Wendy and Winter On and Norman and Euros doing a song I'm trying to get the title of! Enjoy.

Attic Lights, Norman Blake/Euros Childs, BMX Bandits, Boa Morte - ABC, Glasgow 17 January 2009

Sometimes you look forward to a gig so much that you're disappointed when the high expectation isn't met but the Shoeshine Showcase was the exception that proved the rule.

Even the slightly disappointing opening act Boa Morte couldn't dampen my spirits because, to be blunt, they just weren't my cup of tea. Having more of a pop sensibility, their Lambchop-esque musings didn't really move me. Nothing personal guys, it just wan't my thang.

Over the years I've seen Duglas and the travelling circus of merry men and women that is the BMX Bandits quite a few times and they've never failed to entertain. Tonight was no exception as they played several tracks from their last/current album "Bee Stings" as well as some well-loved golden oldies. (You can see The Cat's interview with Duglas and Rachel in the previous post).

BMX Bandits: The Sailor's Song, After I Made Love To You, Elegant Lines, Take Me To Heaven, I Wanna Fall In Love, E102, Witchi Tai To.

Norman Blake and Euros Childs were up next as the acts came thick and fast with each band playing slightly shorter sets. Kicking off with a cover of 23rd Turnoff's "Michelangelo", Norman and Euro dovetailed in perfect harmony as this musical marriage-made-in-heaven enthralled everyone. The set also included a cover of Stories "Love Is In Motion". The fruits of their 2008 recording sessions should come out in 2009 and it'll be well worth the wait, especially if "Do the Cave Dance", the closing song, is anything to go by. If they're not careful they might even have a hit single/download on their hands.

Norman Blake/Euros Childs set: To be confirmed

Having seen Attic Lights in Dunfermline last year I knew what to expect but they still did the business again with their wonderful brand of West Coast powerpop; Scottish West Coast, that is. Not afraid to kick off with a hit (or should I say single as they rather surprisingly haven't troubled the chart scorers yet) they played a sparkling set, which was aided by the accompaniment of the Cairn String Quartet on some tracks. The girls even supplied backing vocals on set closer "Winter On".

If the much anticipated follow-up to "Friday Night Lights" is half as good as their debut we'll still be in for a real treat. No new songs on stage tonight but we did get their cover of Dennis Waterman's "I Could Be So Good For You", which hopefully won't become an albatross around their necks as it features in the current (pointless?) remake of "Minder".

Attic Lights set: God, Never Get Sick of The Sea, Dirty Thirst, Nothing But Love, Wendy, Five Weeks Behind, Late Night Sunshine, Bring You Down, I Could Be So Good For You, Winter On, Walkie Talkie (encore).

A good night was had by all, with many "names" (or should that be "faces") in the crowd. As well as Shoeshine supremo and curator of the Showcase Francis McDonald, there was Next Big Thing's Lindsay Hutton, ex-Pastel/Radio sweetheart Martin "Nothing To Be Done" Hayward, Eugene Kelly and Traceyanne and Carey from Camera Obscura spinning the tunes between sets.

I've filmed some other stuff on my Flip Ultra and when I learn how to upload stuff in less than 4 days, I'll put it up!!

The BMX Bandits talk to Jocknroll

Tomorrow (18th) I'll provide a full review of tonight's Attic Lights/Norman Blake and Euro Childs/BMX Bandits gig from the Celtic Connections festival. Meanwhile, here are Duglas and Rachel from the BMX Bandits talking to The Cat about lyrics, nappies and tattoos!

From The BMX Bandits, with love xxx

"At Elefant we are congratulating ourselves on the release, for the second time, of the exclusive 7” of one of the most vital and active groups of the Scottish pop scene. Duglas T. Stewart put together a handful of unreleased songs in this item that marks the sepia- tinted memory of the most elegantly poppy seventies, led by the piano, evoking the halo of composers like Burt Bacharach or Henry Mancini and artists like Dusty Springfield or Françoise Hardy. From the new version of “Our Secret Life” in French, rebaptized here as “Quand il n'y a plus d'amour” (with the French adaptation by Nick Garrie) to the closing gem of the EP, a version of “Hopelessly Devoted to You” that Olivia Newton-John sang in “Grease”, one of our favourite films, which Duglas deliciously recreates with the collaboration of the Scottish band THE ATTIC LIGHTS (Is it just me or those chaps everywhere just now? - The Cat). The single is completed with two very recent recordings, the unreleased “I Can Wait Forever”, intimate folk pop marked with elegant melodies and vocals, and a version of “You Don’t Want to Be My Girlfriend, Phoebe” by MY LITTLE AIRPORT. When Duglas received MY LITTLE AIRPORT’s album, published by Elefant, he fell instantly in love with the song. He played it live a few days later and soon after decided to record it in the studio, the magnificent result of which is here. A precious collection of songs with the indelible stamp of one of the most gifted minds in pop of the last 25 years at the controls. As always, Duglas, it’s a pleasure. "

You can buy The BMX Bandits Love EP at: http://www. elefant. com/shop/singles

You can see The BMX Bandits this Saturday at the ABC in Glasgow, supporting Attic Lights and Norman Blake/Euro Childs. Boa Morte are also on the bill of this Shoeshine Showcase. Oh, and I, The Cat, will be there too!