Under the radar

Published on Sunday 28 June 2009 20:05

OUR Track of the Month is provided by electronic wunderkind Unicorn Kid, who hails from downtown Leith.

Having just finished school and gained a place at Edinburgh College of Art, 17-year-old Oliver Sabin has already remixed the Pet Shop Boys' Did You See Me Coming? (in his school holidays) and is due to release his own single Lion Hat on the Euphonios label. He rounds off his headlining UK tour in Scotland with dates in Dunfermline (30 June), Dundee (1 July), Arbroath (4 July) and Edinburgh's hottest new music venue, Electric Circus (5 July). Then he is due to appear at T In The Park and Edinburgh's The Edge Festival (15 August), before taking his brand of vintage electronic sounds to the United States for a series of dates lasting most of September.

Appearing on the same bill as Unicorn Kid at the main musical contribution to the Fringe will be former UTR track of the month providers Young Fathers, while other Scottish bands appearing include Broken Records, Frightened Rabbit and Malcolm Middleton. For full line-up see www.theedgefestival.com.

It seems that the cinema is the place to go to hear some of Scotland's rising stars. Adam Stafford from Falkirk band Y'all Is Fantasy Island (www.myspace.com/yifimusic), has teamed up with Alan Bissett on the film The Shutdown, which tells the story of living next to the Grangemouth oil refinery and the impact it had on the author's father who worked there. Stafford directed the movie and composed the soundtrack, while Bissett wrote and narrated it. Screened at the Edinburgh International Festival, it was premiered at Silverdocs in Washington DC, one of the leading US events for documentaries.

Meanwhile, Found, The Ads, St Deluxe and Palace Ballet are featured in a nationwide cinema ad for The Mill gig nights (which pay Derick's rent) timed to coincide with the release of the new Terminator movie. And proving it is not necessary to live in a city for your music to reach the parts many bands don't, Stornoway's Dot Jr have had their UTR track of the month picked up for the trailer of What Goes Up, the new film starring Steve Coogan and Hilary Duff. Released in mid June, it features the song Where The Stars Falls Down.

Another Lewis native poised to burst into the limelight is Colin McLeod aka The Boy Who Trapped The Sun (www.myspace.com/theboywhotrappedthesun). Having recently signed a deal with Geffen Records – the label which broke Nirvana and Guns N' Roses – the charismatic singer/songwriter is due to play a series of summer festival dates, having supported Bruce Springsteen in London at the weekend.

Both The Boy Who Trapped The Sun and Dot Jr played showcases at goNorth in Inverness on 11 June, which in turn provided the bulk of the most exciting acts at this year's Rockness festival. We forecast that newcomers will deliver many of the most exciting performances at T In The Park (www.tinthepark.com) and Wickerman (www.the wickerman festival.co.uk) in July.

The former's T Break stage includes the excellent 1990s, Tommy Reilly and The Phantom Band – who by rights should really enjoy a far higher billing – as well as buzz bands such as Ming, Ming & The Ching Chings, Hip Parade and Barn Owl. Wickerman's equivalent, the Solus stage, features The X Certs, Luva Anna and Meursault.

• For more great music check out the Under the Radar blog