“The benchmark for festivals across the world”: Why Scottish music fans are choosing Primavera Sound to kick off their summer

By Tony Inglis Imagine this day: you wake up, saunter down the sunny street to a cortado and a freshly baked pastry. Refreshed, you spend the day sightseeing in a city teeming with exuberance, shaded by beautiful buildings, and stepping in and out of some of the best museums and galleries Europe has to offer. …

Live Review: Mac DeMarco

By Tony Inglis Barrowlands, Glasgow, 24 November 2017 The first time I saw Mac DeMarco play live – a few years ago, in Glasgow’s now shuttered iconic club venue, The Arches – kids literally hung from the rafters as Mac and his band closed out their set with a raucous, hilarious, ingratiating rendition of Metallica’s …

Live Review: The War on Drugs

By Tony Inglis Barrowlands, Glasgow, 9 November 2017 One sure fire way to avoid the #dadrock backlash is to be extremely good at what you do. The War on Drugs have so far been immune from the criticisms that plague other all white, male guitar bands of the moment because their brand of arena-ready revivalist …

Album Review: Taylor Swift, reputation

By Tara Fitzpatrick “The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now...” Having gone almost entirely off the grid since that celebrity-spat with Kanye and Kim Kardashian-West, Taylor Swift is back with a dramatic reinvention and her most ostentatious marketing campaign to date. ‘Reputation’ her sixth album, is a 15 track analysis of fame, friendship …

Live Review: Julien Baker

By Tony Inglis CCA, Glasgow, 9 November 2017 Tennessee singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Julien Baker arrived in Glasgow riding a crest of popularity, but not completely shielded from criticism. Touring off the back of her weirdly divisive new album Turn Out the Lights, its recent release has garnered a reaction ranging from an outpouring of …

Live Review: Big Thief

By Niall Christie CCA, Glasgow, 6 November 2017 A cold night in Glasgow welcomed rising stars of indie folk, Big Thief, to the dreary delights of Sauchiehall Street for the second time since August. This time the main event, the band's edge was present as in their previous visit but lacking was a focus which …

Live Review: (Sandy) Alex G

By Tony Inglis CCA, Glasgow, 18 October 2017 About three quarters of the way through Alex G’s set at the CCA (or (Sandy) Alex G, as he has rebranded himself this year so as not to be confused with the dumbfounding uber popularity of a similarly named YouTube star), the eponymous Alex Giannascoli takes a …

Live Review: EMA

By Tony Inglis Broadcast, Glasgow, 6 October 2017 EMA brought her brand of noisy, paranoiac pop to the low-ceilinged basement at Broadcast on a busy Friday night in Glasgow’s city centre. The low turn out for the show suggested that too many people had decided to submit to the lesser pleasures of the city’s pubs …

Live Review: Turnover

By Tony Inglis Stereo, Glasgow, 26 September 2017 I’ve seen arguably better bands fail to sell out the small but significant room in the basement of Glasgow’s Stereo; certainly, acts who are pushing more at the boundaries of what can be done with guitar music than Virginia’s Turnover. But on this sweaty September night, with …

June and Winter: Picks of the week

By Niall Christie and Tony Inglis Here’s a rundown of the music released, films screening, shows playing, books read, events happening and stuff going on that we think is worth talking about this week. Borg McEnroe - Released September 22 It may seem strange, but a tennis film following the battle between two of the …