It’s time to talk music with the roundup of February. This was the month of Margins, where Roddy Woomble crooned with a fantastic band, and they were supported by Withered Hand and Alasdair Roberts, and which also saw Malcolm Middleton’s Scottish supergroup Human Don’t Be Angry overshadowed, in the nicest possible way, by his auld mucker Aidan Moffat and Bill Wells, who were the musical highlight of the festival.
The month also saw the record label Flowers in the Dustbin weekender in Glasgow’s The Admiral Bar, more of which below, but things got off to a flier when I was sent a link to the new video from the shimmering Bird n’ the Monkey. The track’s called Do You Wanna, it’s from the DeBaser’s EP, and here it is:
Next up is something which technically should have been in January’s roundup, but I forgot (sorry Lloyd). How I forgot is another matter as it is new material from the lovely Randolph’s Leap, out on a resurrected Peenko Records. I was going to say you can only get it as a download, or on cassette, which I’m sure has caused a stir among all you nostalgic audiophiles. Unfortunately I’ve just realised that they’re sold out of cassettes, so apologies for causing juice flow. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t appreciate the music. This is Sunday Morning from Randolph’s Leap and the Curse of the Haunted Headphones and I think it’s the standout track. Did someone say pastoral idyll?:
Now for a couple of bands new to me. The New Fabian Society are a wee bit new wave, a wee bit psychedelic, both of which are pluses in my big book of musical genres. There’s a little Velvet Underground, a little Radiohead and even a slice of The Jesus and Mary Chain in there. How can you fail to be impressed. This is Lost in Berlin from their debut EP Exhibition of Love:
And now for The Halfway House by Edinburgh’s Letters, a band who boast their own cello player, a more common feature of the Scottish music scene than you may expect. It’s a piece of epic pop that builds and builds to a tremendous finish. Did someone mention sonic cathedrals?:
https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F35329050 LETTERS – The Halfway House by Soundandvisionpr
Lastly we have the new track from the mighty Mummy Short Arms who headlined the Saturday night of the Flowers in the Dustbin showcase, supported by I’m Sick and the fantastic The Lotus Project, who you really must see if you get the chance. It was the first time I’ve seen Mummy Short Arms live and they didn’t disappoint, even though they didn’t play Cigarette Smuggling. Crammed on to a small stage they blew the roof off. Here’s the latest single Silicone Dream and it’s as reliably nuts as we have come to expect:
https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F37895336 Mummy Short Arms – Silicone Dream (single) by Flowers In The Dustbin
That’s a bit of a shorter post than normal, but this was the music which moved me in February and we only try and bring you the best. If music is your thing then the 14th Scots Whay Hae! podcast will be out in the following days and it sees Ali and Chris joined by that fabulous commentator on all things musical Nicola Meighan. Have a listen, rage at what we’ve chosen, and what we’ve left out, and by all means let us know. Until next time, hugs and kisses all round.