RS ; Scot who's been moulding catchy
wee, scene-reflective dance nuggets in
|ND|E his bedroom. Yes, Harris has a sound MY TINY ROBOTS ; not entirely his own but it is timely. well Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, presented, and delivered with the ; Wed 31 Jan .... detachment of a Myspace idol.
The band he has assembled for touring duty justifiably strut around with the air of a debate team declared too cool for school and the outcome is indeed pleasingly fresh despite sounding not unlike a half-dozen retro- dance outfits out there. We can happily 1 assume Calvin Harris will fulfil his full pop potential and there's no reason why we shouldn't all be making up Harris pin badges and adding him to our friends list. (Mark Edmundson) ; Edinburgh four-piece My Tiny Robots ‘
. - ROCK have been knocking about the live - COLD WAR KIDS 1
scene i” the Game“ for some years Barrowland Glasgow Sat 3 Feb now. and it‘s been time well spent. .... ’ ’
They've built up a formidable clutch of songs that could well see them finally get the break they deserve in 2007. Unlike many of their local peers. they've applied a genuinely healthy degree of eclecticism to their writing. Rolling country arpeggios clash with a menacing synth in the gloomy ‘Other People Matter‘. Multi-Iayered ‘hoo-hah’ vocals, meanwhile. make for an inspired touch in the brilliantly titled ‘Kenny Rogers (Scent of a Woman)‘ — the closest example you'll find of an indie rock paean to Ennio Morricone. Their most formidable tune comes in the form of tremendously infectious pop loll 'The Haircut Song' — singer Dylan Childs' homage to cutting his own mop. Something that. if all goes
Tomorrow's music today. This issue: Tilly and the Wall
A technicolour ball of energy, this cute indie pop band from Omaha started making no-fi, unapologetically chirpy, folksy sounds in 2001. The band consists of three girls and two boys, with band member Jamie’s bouncy tap dancing taking the place of drumming. Pal Conor ‘Bright Eyes’ Oberst released first album, Wild Like Children, on his Team Love label. Singer/guitarist Derek Pressnall explains how things started.
Jamie. Kianna and Neely grew up with kids in the Omaha music scene including
well in the next 12 months, he might , Instead of nipping over to the UK to 3 Conor. We weren't setting up a band. we were just hanging out. Everyone wrote. not be forced to do quite so often. ' establish a reputation that can be built i everyone contributed. One of our first shows was opening for Rilo Kiley. We hung out (Malcolm Jack) on back home. as so many American 3 and became friends. Working with friends is more comfortable. The band is fun for us. bands do, you sense California-based like an antidepressant. Our songs are like, ‘Yeah. life sucks sometimes, there's lots of
g‘iigfiapaannls quartet Cold War Kids won't need any ? sad stuff. but we gotta keep on living!' Ultragroove’ Cabaret Voltaire, such fix to win over their country folk. Second album, Bottom 0.! Barrels, was recorded In a studio, not Edinburgh, Sat 27 Jan ... Havrng skimmed their musrcal Conor’s garage like the first. How does It sound?
- ' '- i pointers from stateside rock. blues and 5 We're fans of music that's not too polished or perfect. Even in a studio, we try to keep Stop me if you've heard one this soul, there's a molten strength and it honest. If there's mistakes. we'll keep some of 'em in. That's where all the soul is. before: Calvin Harris is the new Mylo. l intensity to the band's sound that . What goes on at a live gig? must admit I didn't get the anticipated should burn them a tidy hole all of their That‘s a whole other world. it‘s magical. with so many dynamic things happening on use out my old one and am somewhat own in the US market. It'll help of ' stage. We encourage any behaviour — clapping, dancing, singing. whatever. As long wary of upgrading my pop-club course that, live. they’re utterly as it's not violent! We like to dress up. It's a performance and we like the crowd to saviour should it prove obsolete or. captivating: all clanging. reverby guitar have fun. We're basically trying to create an experience. some kind of electricity. heaven forbid. omnipresent by the and wailing vocals Tom Waits style. ' (Claire Sawers) close of festival season. So once again ‘ These kids are definitely alright. I King Tut's, Glasgow, Wed 27 Feb. Their single. ‘The Freest Man' with 'Sing we have a perfectly pedestrian looking i (Malcolm Jack) 3 Songs Along' (Hot Chip remix) is released on Moshi Moshi Records on Mon 5 Mar. ROCK
CHARLOTTE HATHERLEY Oran Mor, Glasgow, Tue 27 Feb
ll Charlotte Hatherley was always the odd one out in the lads’ gang that is Ash, but If she brought a refreshingly spiky new dimension to the Irish rockers, so after almost ten years as a fully—fledged member it's a shame that she's left.
But Hatherley is proving herself to be a consummate solo artist. Her debut solo album. Grey Will Fade. was released while she was still whacking out solos for Ash, but now there's a very different and much more expansive follow-up. The Deep Blue, released on her own label and showcasing a much greater depth of songwriting talent.
'That first record was made in two weeks between Ash tours.‘ she says. 'I had more time to spend over this record. and I tried to embrace the other side of my songwriting, influences like Kate Bush and The Flaming Lips. It’s more ambitious. more expansive. and I'm glad it's completely different, because I didn't want to do the same thing again.‘
Things came to a head when the rest of the Ash boys relocated to New York. just when Hatherley was getting right into her solo work back here. She didn't have to think too long about the decision.
'It became obvious they wanted to get on with the next record. and my heart wasn't into going to New York or abandoning what I’d started.’ she says. ‘lt was an amicable split, but I think it had been a long time coming.’ Ash's loss is definitely our gain. (Doug Johnstone)
64 THE LIST 15 Feb—1 Mar 2007