Another week, another entirely biased list of the best gigs in town.  I’m spending a few days out of the country at the end of the week, so I will leave you in the hands of Campfires & Battlefields, potentially assisted by Mrs. Toad, but that rather depends.

I won’t be going to any gigs at all this week, but rather than leave you with an empty page, here’s a quick run down of some bits and bobs.

Monday 2nd June 2008: Johnny Foreigner at Cabaret Voltaire.
The frenzied buzz surrounding this band baffles me somewhat.  I’ve never really heard anything all that special in the recordings that I’ve heard, but when they played last they were lauded to within an inch of their lives by my pal Billy, so I am a bit gutted on missing them yet again and not being able to decide for myself.  At the very least this should be attended though, because with all this smoke there must be a flame in there somewhere.
Johnny Foreigner – Our Bipolar Friends

Wednesday 4th June 2008: The Wee Rogue & Randan Discotheque & Gand-eye at the Wee Red Bar.
I remember seeing the Wee Rogue (then just Jamie if I remember) playing his first solo gig in Edinburgh.  He seemed so shy and played so slowly that there were times you wondered if it had all become too much for him and he’s just given up.  Oddly enough though, I remember being pretty impressed with his songs, so I’d like to see him again.  I won’t be in the country for this one, but you should go if you get the chance.
The Wee Rogue – Into the Mist

And amazingly, that appears to be about it for this week.  Looks like I picked a good week to go away.

Well well well, another week, another flutter through the pages of Edinburgh’s virtual classifieds for the finest tuneage known to man.  Or at least, Edinburgh man.  And woman.  For this week.

Tuesday 8th April: Alex Cornish at The Ark.
Me old pal Alex will be playing at The Ark on Tuesday, so for Scotland’s finest dose of mellow, pianoey pop songs, this is the place to be. Pop up and say hello afterwards too, as he’s the friendliest chap imaginable. I’ll be away unfortunately, so I won’t be able to make this one.
Alex Cornish – This One’s For You

Friday 11th April: Randan Discotheque & Sanna at The Village, Leith
This is part of the Club Welto folk night. Randan Disco is acoustic stuff, but written with that trademark Scottish humour permeating every song, and Sanna bring some gentle electro underpinnings to matters. The Village is a top way to spend your Friday nights in general, I’d say.
Randan Discotheque – Heather the Weather

Saturday 12th April: Chippewa Falls at Henry’s Cellar Bar.
Bart’s Gentle Invasion promotion sideline are hosting this one at Henry’s. Instrumental rock is a bloody hard thing to pull off, but the only reason Bart got out of the promoting lark in the first place is that he refused to put on gigs where he didn’t love the entire lineup, and that ginger man’s word is good enough for me.
Chippewa Falls – Wolfy

Update: now definitely CANCELLED. Sunday 13th April, Make Model, Found, Frightened Rabbit at Cabaret Voltaire.
Frightened Rabbit have a new album approaching called The Midnight Organ Fight, which I am pretty interested in having a listen to, as soon as it’s possible. I haven’t given the band that much thought for a while, I have to confess, so it’s time I started to pay attention again I think. Between their indie rock and Found’s electronic indie-folky stuff – bleep hop, they call it, which makes more sense – this is an excellent lineup only slightly let down by the headline act who are no better than reasonable, in my eyes. Be a little careful with this one, as Found have it down on their site as cancelled, whereas the others do not, so it may just be that Found themselves aren’t playing, which would be a shame.
Frightened Rabbit – The Modern Leper
Found – FCN Mapa Remix

My liver is delighted to announce that there isn’t really that much on in Edinburgh this week, which is a bit of a relief. There are a couple of ways to spend your evening in a musical fashion however, and they are these:

Wednesday 12th March: Found at the Wee Red Bar.
This is another gig put on by the excellent Trampoline, and includes indie popsters Cancel the Astronauts as well as Billy Bates, a group about whom I know nothing at all. Found are just brilliant though, and if you haven’t seen them recently then you really have to. Their performances are getting better and better and their rather unique brand of indie pop, all beaty electronica and folky energy, was one of my favourite discoveries of last year.
Found – When You Fall

Thursday 13th March: Meursault at the Voodoo Rooms.
Meursault’s debut album is out now, and bloody marvellous it is too. Catch their soaring, lovelorn electronica at the Voodoo Rooms with a group called, erm, Shellsuit Massacre. Meursault are superb live, and you’ll almost certainly have the chance to buy their record at the gig, which is an opportunity you should take immediately.
Meursault – The Furnace

Friday 14th March: My Kappa Roots, Randan Discotheque & The Wee Rogue at the Wee Red Bar.
Remember the Edinburgh folk scene I mentioned last week? Well this gig is slap bang in the middle of that scene, and an excellent intro for anyone yet to dip their toe in the capital’s most thriving musical community.
My Kappa Roots – Summer You Dancer
Randan Discotheque – Heather the Weather

I’m not normally the type to plug specific events this obviously, but it gives me the opportunity to shed light on one of Edinburgh’s most thriving music scenes – in many ways Edinburgh’s only seriously thriving music scene. Now, this isn’t to say that there aren’t plenty of really good indie-pop groups knocking around Scotland’s capital, but the audience for anything other than a particular kind of alternative folk music is pretty sparse for the most part, and this is a bloody shame.

That said, there is a sort of delicate, introverted folk music or, alternatively, a discordant, sightly arhythmic style of alt-folk or folktronica or whatever you’d want to call it that seems to suit the locals for some reason. It’s not all that weird, just slightly skewed somehow, and I like it but I couldn’t tell you why it’s so much more popular over here than other stuff which I would consider more, umm, what, populist, perhaps?

It’s almost as if this city takes pride in the amateur nature of a lot of its native artistic enterprises, and I’m not sure where this comes from. It may be from the aristocratic nature of the place, or perhaps a reaction to the rock ‘n’ roll dominance of Glasgow or perhaps even a reaction to the considerable wealth of Edinburgh’s huge financial community. Without doing proper research – in fact, maybe even if I did proper research – I just couldn’t tell you.

Anyway, the upshoot is that there is a really solid group of people making what I guess you would describe as ‘difficult’ folk music, some of which, once you get used to it, is terrific. I’m not making claims on behalf of any of these bands beause I don’t know any of them that well, but they are all playing this Saturday at the Village Fete, which appears to be some sort of student art thingummy. It’s at Old Saint Paul’s Church Hall on Jeffrey Street and starts at about noon, so if you’re a resident of these parts get yourselves down there to see Withered Hand, Randan Discotheque and Wounded Knee.

If you’re not, then listen to this stuff and wonder, as I do, why this kind of music in particular seems to take hold around here when plenty of other, equally deserving styles seem to get the cold shoulder. They’re a strange breed, the Edinburgh music fans, and even after almost three years here I am still struggling to really understand them properly.

Withered Hand – Hard On
Randan Discotheque – Heather the Weather A serenade to an iconic local weather lass.
Wounded Knee – Canary

And here’s a couple of others, just for shits and giggles, by Eagleowl and My Kappa Roots.
My Kappa Roots – Summer You Dancer
Eagleowl – This is Not Your Lucky Day These chaps are Bart’s band, one of the regular commenters here, and are supporting The Twilight Sad at The Liquid Rooms on the 20th March, so I’ll have a proper reaction to them after that gig.  This is gorgeous though.