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MUSIC | Previews 90 THE LIST 2 Apr–4 Jun 2015
VINYL CELEBRATION RECORD STORE DAY Various venues, Sat 18 Apr
You can keep your MP3s and iTunes and whatnot. It’s been eight years now and, thankfully, the UK is still not over Record Store Day. Glasgow’s getting into the spirit with Monorail’s much-anticipated RSD event. This year, Rose McDowall is headlining (read interview, page 88); plus local screamo queer- rock trio Pennycress and a DJ set from Ela Orleans (see review, page 92). It wouldn’t be RSD without Love Music’s fabled cakes, so, while things were tbc at the time of going to print, we’d still wager a visit to the Dundas Street store will yield carbs as well as new releases and live acts. Scotch Bonnet Records, meanwhile, have a pop-up shop at The 78 in Glasgow and will be treating your ears to reggae and dub sounds to dance to all day and into the night.
Over in Edinburgh, Coda on the Mound are hosting a duo of contemporary folksy goodness: King Eider at 1.30pm playing from their self-titled EP, and Malinky at 2.30pm. They’ve got plenty copies of the White Stripes’ 10-year anniversary release of Get Behind Me Satan — and are laying on bacon butties for the first 75 customers. King Eider then bolt down to Leith Walk’s Elvis Shakespeare (pictured) to play there as well, followed by punk with the Cathode Ray and psychobilly sounds from Filth Spector; all have new releases available on the day. For all your dance, electronic and specialist fancies, Underground Solu’shn on Cockburn Street are opening at 8am, with live performances later from James Yorkston and Randolph's Leap, and DJ sets from Finitribe and Vic Galloway. If you just can’t get enough, head to Electric Circus for more acts with RSD releases and another pop-up record shop, or down to Stockbridge’s VoxBox where Miracle Strip, Supermoon, Garden of Elks, Delta Mainline, the Holy Ghosts, Randolph’s Leap and Gerry Cinnamon will all be performing on the day. (Kirstyn Smith)
HIP HOP RABBLE-ROUSER TYLER, THE CREATOR Barrowland, Glasgow, Tue 12 May
One of the last times I saw Tyler, the Creator he was in typical rabble-rousing form, in knee-high socks swan-diving off a stage and causing pandemonium. It was his, and his hip hop cabal Odd Future’s schtick. They were hip hop’s Bash Street Kids, always getting into scrapes, swearing in caps lock on Twitter, writing shock / horror lyrics and generally acting out a kooky kind of contemporary, situationalist numbskullery. Basically doing whatever the fuck they liked and having lots of fun doing it.
Fast forward a few years and I find a video of Tyler from February with him sitting between two paunchy white guys onstage at some decaf tech meeting talking about plans to launch his own internet TV station. Tyler’s business buddy says it will be ‘a fantastic new paradigm for a lot of premium brands and influencers’. This is not a diatribe pointing out ‘Man, he sold out!’. It’s recognition of how savvy an operator
Tyler Okonma is. What use is stoking that cult of personality without the platform to share your shamanism with those loyal followers? Tyler has enough whiff of rebellion to carry it off. He also has the talent. His last solo effort, 2013’s Wolf, saw him mature a smidgen but still revel in that provocateur persona. Tyler’s still a force of nature, relishing the ongoing cultural climate change. (Mark Keane) ■ For a longer version of this preview, see list.co.uk
SPRING MUSIC SERIES NOTHING EVER HAPPENS HERE Summerhall, Edinburgh, until Thu 21 May
That name is a joke; a play on the often-parroted refrain that nothing happens in Edinburgh musically, that it’s a dead zone compared to ever-bustling Glasgow, and intentionally brushes aside the fact that many independent and mainstream promoters are busy throughout the year populating Edinburgh with live music. ‘There’s plenty going on in Edinburgh,’ says Jamie Sutherland, curator of Nothing Ever Happens Here, whose lineup includes the Phantom Band, Honeyblood (pictured) and Withered Hand. ‘It’s just that not many people go to a lot of them.’ Sutherland describes this spring series partly as a challenge to the gig-goers of the capital – who will turn out for bands they’ve heard of – to try something new, and partly an exercise in promoting Summerhall as an option for UK tour promoters who brush over Edinburgh, thinking its provision might not be great in certain areas. He’s using the 450-capacity Dissection Room in Summerhall that’s recently hosted sell-out gigs and parties by Dive!, Heatsick and Golden Teacher, and Sutherland says fills the gap perfectly between the smaller Electric Circus and the larger Liquid Room.
As a member of Broken Records (who headlined the first evening on Thu 26 Mar, with support from Garden of Elks and Fuzzy Star), Sutherland has been well placed to call up a few friends. He mentions Paws (Thu 2 Apr), James Yorkston (Thu 23 Apr) and an album launch for Rozi Plain’s new record (Fri 1 May) among his upcoming highlights. (David Pollock)