Live in Edinburgh This Week – 17th October 2011
The above photo is of the Palm House in Edinburgh’s Botanic Gardens, and was taken and passed on to me by Dylan, of Blueback Hotrod legend. And given that the weather outside is all kinds of shit I thought there would be a sort of bitter irony in using it today. See – that’s how nice Edinburgh can be, so what the fuck is this pissing rain all about?
Anyhow, traditional British whingeing aside, it’s going to be a pretty bloody mental week this week. Thursday is going to be a particular swine, what with the awesome David Dondero going up against the Fruit Tree Foundation night in Leith, as well as the Travelling Band/Jonnie Common show at the Electric Circus. Then it’s Oxjam takeover time on Friday. Then Rob St. John’s album launch on Saturday. Fucking hell, I’m going to have a liver like a cricket ball by Sunday.
Wednesday 19th October 2011: This is Music presents Denis Jones & Adam Stafford at Sneaky Pete’s.
My pal Howard, who runs Humble Soul Records down in Manchester, absolutely raves about Denis Jones, as does Jonnie Common, and I can’t imagine two people whose recommendations I would take more seriously. Apparently Mr. Jones does a lot of looped vocal stuff, but everyone who has told me about it has qualified that with ‘yeah, but it’s nothing like you’d expect’. Intriguing.
Denis Jones – Elvis
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Thursday 20th October 2011: David Dondero at the Scottish Storytelling Centre.
David Dondero is kind of under the radar, I suppose, but from the relatively little I know about him, he can be fucking spectacular. Rothko Chapel was one of my songs of the year a couple of years ago, and his sparse, acoustic Americana is really gorgeous.
David Dondero – Rothko Chapel
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Thursday 20th October 2011: The Fruit Tree Foundation presents James Yorkston, Rod Jones & Withered Hand at Nobles, Leith.
The Fruit Tree Foundation was set up by former Idlewild gentleman Rod Jones and former Delgado Emma Pollock to raise awareness for the Mental Health Foundation. My personal knowledge is a little sketchy, but I think musicians have volunteered to act as mentors for young songwriters, and together to create new music, and I think it is this which will be performed in Nobles on Thursday. Given the calibre of the musicians involved, it should be really good.
Thursday 20th October 2011: The Travelling Band & Jonnie Common at the Electric Circus.
Jonnie Common actually worked on a track by Adam Gorman of the Travelling Band for his recent Deskjob project, so this pairing makes plenty of sense from that perspective. As to how the rousing Americana of the band and Jonnie’s idiosyncratic electropop will go together musically, erm… well, remains to be seen.
Adam P. Gorman – Hitchhiker (from Jonnie Common’s Deskjob)
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Friday 21st October 2011: Oxjam Edinburgh Takeover (Facebook link).
This is a beast of an event, with gigs happening at the Electric Circus, Cabaret Voltaire, Sneaky Pete’s, The Banshee Labyrinth and the (recently resurrected) Left Banke. The full list of bands thus far confirmed as playing is as follows: As In Bear, Black International, Broken Records (solo), Citizens, Dead Boy Robotics, Endor, Esperi, FOUND, French Wives, i build collapsible mountains, The Last Battle, Letters, Loch Awe, The Machine Room, Meursault, PAWS, Sebastian Dangerfield, The Spook School, Trapped in Kansas, Trapped Mice, Vasquez and Verse Metrics. It’s going to be a beast of a night, I suspect, but you’re own your own with this one, I am not digging out links for all those bands, nor attempting to describe them. Just go.
Saturday 22nd October 2011: Rob St. John album launch with Meursault, eagleowl & Viking Moses at Pilrig St. Paul’s.
Personally, I think this is damned close to being the lineup of the year. I’d like to see anyone else top it, in any case. This is also, the header implies, the launch show for Rob St. John’s gorgeous debut album Weald, out on 12″ gatefold vinyl at the end of November. We have partnered with John Truckasaurus to add Viking Moses to a bill already bursting with goodness. Tickets are available at Avalanche Records and online, here.
Rob St. John – Your Phantom Limb by Song, by Toad
Saturday 22nd October 2011: Patrick Wolf at the Liquid Room.
Alright, alright, a few of you might well raise an eyebrow at this one, but I remember when Patrick Wolf first broke through. His brand of flamboyant, baroque pop was a bit over the top perhaps, but it certainly had a certain element of fascination. So I may of course be personally endorsing Rob St. John’s album launch, but this one still kinda caught my eye.
