Radar weekly: The latest from the Scottish music scene

New Frightened Rabbit tour, Haddow Fest returns, free all-day event from Cry Parrot and Green Door, Bongo Club finds a home, Twin Atlantic soundtrack space jump; plus this week’s new music and gig picks.

Plenty to report in this week’s edition, and there’s no shortage of live music in the next seven days. But have we missed anything? Get in touch by email or Twitter.

• Tickets have gone on sale for Frightened Rabbit’s February UK tour. Expect this one to be popular, so if you’re looking for tickets, here’s the link. The indie-folk favourites play HMV Picture House, Edinburgh (26th), Aberdeen’s Music Hall (27th) and the Barrowlands, Glasgow (28th).

• Free live music alert! This Saturday, promoters Cry Parrot and Green Door are staging 11 hours of forward-thinking sounds at Nice’n’Sleazy in Glasgow, 4pm - 3am. The full line-up is as follows: Ballad of Mable Wong, Becoming Real (DJ), Casual Sex, Ela Orleans, Gordon McDougal (Vars of Litchi), Golden Teacher (formerly the G.D Disco Band), Konx-om-Pax (DJ), North American War, Organs of Love, Palms, Young and Young.

• Whether you’re a Talking Heads fan or not (and why wouldn’t you be?), those with any interest in the inner workings of the music industry should get themselves along to the Glasgow Film Theatre on Friday (October 26) for an audience with Mr David Byrne. The Dumbarton-born star has always been one to push the envelope when it comes to the presentation and execution of his work, and so this discussion of his new book, How Music Works, with Chemikal Underground’s Alun Woodward, could prove to be absolutely fascinating. Be warned: there are very few tickets remaining.

• It was announced last week that Edinburgh’s Bongo Club has found a new home just three months before it was due to be turfed out of its current Holyrood site. Arts organisation Out of the Blue, which runs the Bongo, has secured the space under the Central Library which is occupied by the Underbelly during the Fringe. The lease will run from January of next year until June 2014. The move is part of a more general effort by the Council to make better use of their cultural properties in the capital, as The Scotsman reported.

• Glasgow folk-rockers Three Blind Wolves are in the running for MTV’s Brand New Unsigned competition for 2013. You can vote for them here.

• A reminder that Haddow Fest is this Sunday, at six venues in Edinburgh. As well as headliners The Cribs and Hadouken, there is a wealth of rising talent, including Meursault, Tango in the Attic, Discopolis, Miaoux Miaoux, Washington Irving and much more. See the website for full timings.

• Glasgow clubnight Processed Beats has found a permanent home at The Arches. The monthly electronic night will return on November 16 with a mammoth line-up: Clouds, Optimo’s JD Twitch, T Break 2012 winners Roman Nose, Radar-featured HaHaHa, Any Color Black and Indian Red Lopez, as well as Ginger Bread Men. The event will also be streamed live on the city’s Sonar FM (105.7). Check out the new website for more info.

• The world watched last Sunday as Felix Baumgartner launched himself on a 128km freefall from the edge of space. And the music that was chosen to showcase the official YouTube replay of the feat was a ‘Spaced Out’ version of ‘Free’ by Glasgow’s Twin Atlantic. Be roughly the 26 millionth person to have watched it here.

• Dixon Street Studios in Glasgow is running a competition for one artist or band to win 30 hours of recording time. They received 36 nominations from local bloggers, and now they have put it to the public vote. You can listen to each of the contenders and cast your vote online.

NEW MUSIC

• “12 tracks of the internet’s finest web-psych for your listening pleasure”. That’s how Glasgow tape label Instructional Media tees up its new compilation. Earlier this year, when we spoke to Lewis Cook, the creative mind behind first Yahweh and now Mother Ganga, he told us about his plans to expand his DIY label. ‘The Instructional Media Guide to Mindful Internet Exploration’ is the result, featuring contributions from Tangles, Magic Eye and some of the guys behind synth-loving acts like Errors and Fox Gut Daata. It’s available as a digital download or a limited edition cassette. Read more about this intriguing project, and listen to the tracks on Bandcamp.

• Edinburgh-based mini50 records have released a free, nine-track sampler featuring some of the highlights from past and upcoming releases. It includes a few names which will be familiar to regular readers, such as Caught in the Wake Forever and The Kays Lavelle, and provides a suitably atmospheric soundtrack to the changing of the seasons outside. Get your woolly mitts on it now from Bandcamp.

• Another Edinburgh label has new musical wares to promote. Song By Toad has a new split 12” featuring songs from PAWS, Dolfinz, Waiters and Sex Hands, all recorded in label owner Matthew Young’s living room. This lends the recording a raw immediacy, which he talks about more here (where you can also order the vinyl).

• Irvine singer-songwriter Sean C. Kennedy unveils his debut EP today, following a launch show at Glasgow’s Oran Mor at the weekend. Titled ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore’, the five-track release is jangly guitar pop which seems well primed for the mainstream, and he has already received praise from those who know a thing or two about the charts, including Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor. More info at www.seankennedymusic.com.

• Olympic Swimmers have made a video for ‘Knots’, taken from their debut album No Flags Will Fly. Watch it here.

THIS WEEK’S GIG PICKS

Dundee Oxjam continues this week. Remember to follow their Twitter account for the latest secret gig announcements.

As we mentioned last week, PCL’s new venue on Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street, Broadcast, opens this week, with gigs from Three Blind Wolves (Thursday) and United Fruit (Friday).

Monday: Noisemongers par excellence, Fat Goth, play The Art School, Glasgow.

Wednesday/Thursday: Mercury-nominated Radar favourites Django Django are touring their fantastic debut album, with shows at the Liquid Room on Wednesday and Glasgow’s O2 ABC on Thursday.

Thursday: The HMV Picture House in Edinburgh sees the return of Music Like a Vitamin, the charity night that is part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. Curated by Rod Jones, it features his band The Birthday Suit, alongside Fatherson, Withered Hand and Sparrow and the Workshop, all for just £5.

Thursday: On the same night in Edinburgh is an Oxjam fundraiser at the Electric Circus, with local bands Matt Norris and the Moon, Cancel the Astronauts and Lady North.

Thursday: The last in the series of Paisley Underground showcases is curated by Chemikal Underground, with live sets from Malcolm Middleton’s Human Don’t Be Angry and Miaoux Miaoux. Spiegeltent @ The Spree, Paisley.

Friday: Randolph’s Leap launch their new EP, Hermit, with a little help from their new label, Fence Records, at the Glad Cafe in Glasgow.

Friday/Saturday: Their music recently featured on an official replay of Felix Baumgartner’s space jump (see above), but Twin Atlantic return to earth with two successive shows at Glasgow’s Barrowlands.

Friday: Cross-genre night Neu! Reekie! is at Summerhall, Edinburgh this week, with music from James Yorkston and Craig Lithgow/Emelle.

Friday: Motown-inspired Edinburgh band Braxton launch their new EP at the Voodoo Rooms in their hometown.

Friday: Song By Toad’s Bad Fun (see last week’s round-up) is at St John’s Church, Edinburgh, with “hipster supergroup” Ghost Wolf Crystal Toads (feat. James Yorkston & the Athletes, Broken Records, Sparrow and the Workshop, Meursault and Rob St. John), Viking Moses and Woodpecker Wooliams.

Saturday: The last Tidal Wave of Indifference gig for the foreseeable future is at the Wee Red Bar in Edinburgh, and features a fine selection of music-makers: The Last Battle, Plastic Animals, Fuzzystar and The Early Morning Satellites. More info.

Saturday: Teen Canteen play a show at The Poetry Club in Glasgow with support from Belle and Sebastian’s Stevie Jackson.

Saturday: Cry Parrot v Green Door Free All Day Festival is at Nice’n’Sleazy, Glasgow. See above.

Saturday: Bloggers AyeTunes and Peenko go head-to-head once again under the ‘Blogtoberfest’ banner. Playing the Flying Duck in Glasgow for them is French Wives, Cancel the Astronauts and The Bad Books.

Saturday: Singer-songwriter Lenzie Moss headlines a show at the Glad Cafe, Glasgow with talented support from Francis MacDonald (Teenage Fanclub) and Chris Deveney (My Latest Novel). More info.

Saturday: Malcolm Middleton heads to The Twa Tams in Perth for a free show as the aforementioned Human Don’t Be Angry, with support from Jamie Flett and Martin John Henry.

Sunday: Haddow Fest is the main event in Edinburgh, with all-day gigs at HMV Picture House, the Liquid Room, The Caves, the Bongo Club, Maggie’s Chamber and Whistlebinkies. See above.

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