Radar weekly: The latest from the Scottish music scene

FOUND: Ziggy Campbell, Tommy Perman and Kev Sim

goNORTH gears up

The annual goNORTH showcase returns to Inverness this summer, and the organisers have chosen over 70 acts set to perform in the Highland city in the run-up to RockNess. Explaining the process behind the selection, goNORTH’s Shaun Arnold said:

“We are delighted with the quality and range of acts invited to showcase at this year’s goNORTH. The A&R process to establish our 2013 list proved particularly challenging as we received a record number of high quality submissions. As goNORTH continues to develop, each year the music element becomes increasingly competitive. We would like to offer a huge thank you to all the acts that applied to play this year and look forward to delivering our most ambitious showcase programme to date.”

Among the lengthy list of acts confirmed for goNORTH are Radar-profiled bands like Alarm Bells, Black International, Book Group, Call to Mind, Campfires in Winter, Hector Bizerk, Homework, Plastic Animals and Vasquez.

goNORTH takes place in Inverness on June 5-6. All events are free but registration is required. The full line-up will be revealed over the coming weeks at gonorthfestival.co.uk.

Dirty Weekender line-up revealed

The Dirty Weekender festival returns to Kilmarnock this year with an expanded line-up. Now boasting a third venue, the event has programmed 45 acts over the weekend from Friday, May 31 to Sunday, June 2.

Headline bands include Esperanza, Jon Windle, Fridge Magnets, The Ok Social Club, Mechanical Smile, Junkman’s Choir and Chris Helme.

Tickets for the Dirty Weekender are priced at £27 and are available via Tickets Scotland.

Other acts confirmed for the festival include The Holy Ghosts, Bear Arms, Culann, The Begbies, Crusades, Mickey 9s, Sinster Flynn, Waiting For Go, The Banter Thiefs, Matt Scott, Greg Pearson, Lori McTear, Delgetti, Altered Sky and Nothing But The Night.

FOUNDing member leaves band

Edinburgh collective FOUND will have to make do without the services of Tommy Perman, after he announced that he is leaving the band to focus on his new role as a father. The talented artist, designer and musician wrote a farewell message to fans of the band:

“I became a Dad on 18 January 2013 when my son Patrick was born. Soon after I decided that as the youngest member of the collective I’m clearly too old for this lark and it’s time for me to move on and do my own thing. So after over a decade of collaboration with Kev and Ziggy and over five years working with Simon I’m bidding them farewell as I prepare for new adventures in fatherhood.”

But FOUND have no plans to call it a day, and there is new material forthcoming from two of the members’ side-projects, Lomond Campbell and Rivers of Slime. Perman also revealed that he is planning a solo electronic-based release under the pseudonym of ComputerScheisse for the Phuturelabs label.

• Three Blind Wolves will release their debut album on the Instinctive Racoon label on May 27. It’s titled Sing Hallelujah For The Old Machine, and the Glasgow band have lined up a series of shows in support of the release. They will be calling at Brew at the Bog near Inverness on May 4 and the Big Beach Ball in Aberdeen on May 5, before they travel to Germany and Switzerland supporting Wintersleep. They’re back in the UK for more shows later the same month – check their Facebook page for more details.

• Glasgow’s Stag & Dagger festival has added a bunch of new acts. Phosphorescent, Rachel Sermanni, Randolph’s Leap, French Wives, Fake Major, Prides, Chris Devotion & The Expectations and Donald Macdonald & The Islands all join the line-up on May 18. More info and tickets.

• The longlist for the second annual Scottish Album of the Year Award will be revealed on Thursday. Which artists do you expect will be recognised?

New music

• Remember Midnight Lion? Well now two become three as the duo expand to a trio called Prides with the addition of Kitty The Lion’s Callum Wiseman on guitar / vocals. They’ve already been generating early buzz with their first track Out of the Blue, which they posted on YouTube last week.

• Glasgow band Woodenbox, who joined Olive Grove Records in January, have a new single out this week. Courage is taken from the sextet’s second album End Game, which is out on May 27. They have booked gigs next month at the Electric Circus in Edinburgh (18 May) and the official launch show at Grand Ole Opry in Glasgow (23 May). Listen on SoundCloud.

• Back in 2010 we featured Airdrie singer-songwriter Louise Connell’s captivating debut album as Reverieme. She has just released the followup, With Up So Floating, and it’s available to stream and/or purchase via Bandcamp.

Gig picks

CHVRCHES

Wednesday 24 Apr @ The Garage, Aberdeen, 7.30pm, £12

Folklore Tapes with Rob St John, Ian Humberstone, Malcolm Benzie, Tom Western, David Orphan

Wednesday 24 Apr @ The Glad Café, Glasgow

Thursday 25 Apr @ Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh

Drenge

Thursday 25 Apr @ Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, 7pm, £6.50

Dante album launch + Rod Jones

Thursday 25 Apr @ Electric Circus, Edinburgh, 7pm, £5

Withered Hand with Pam Berry

Thursday 25 Apr @ The Glad Café, Glasgow, 7.30pm (sold out)

Juteopolis festival: We Were Promised Jetpacks / Rolo Tomassi

Friday 26 – Saturday 27 Apr @ Beat Generator Live, Dundee

Cry Parrot’s 6th Birthday: Sacred Paws, Hector Bizerk, Tut Vu Vu, Ultimate Thrush, Ela Orleans, Sad City

Friday 26 Apr @ The Glue Factory, Glasgow, 9pm, £5

Haddow Fest presents: Meursault & friends (support TBC)

Friday 26 Apr @ Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 7pm, £10

Neu! Reekie 31 (Jock Scott, Aiden Moffat, Panda Su)

Friday 26 Apr @ Summerhall, Edinburgh, 7pm, £7

Brown Bear and the Bandits + Miniature Dinosaurs + Junebug

Friday 26 Apr @ King Tut’s, Glasgow, 8.30pm, £6

Sunday 28 Apr @ Electric Circus, Edinburgh, 8pm, £6

Rolo Tomassi + Crusades

Saturday 27 Apr @ Nice n Sleazy, Glasgow, 8pm, £5

The Twilight Sad + United Fruit + Vladimir

Sunday @ 20 Rocks, Dundee, 8pm, £10

Malcolm Middleton + Seamus Fogarty

Monday 29 Apr @ Electric Circus, Edinburgh, 7pm, £12