Radar weekly: Bwani Junction go Forth for daring gig | goNORTH reveal Wickerman line-up | Scottish gig guide

In this week’s Scottish music round-up: Edinburgh band pull off Forth Bridge stunt; goNORTH announce Wickerman roster; Neu! Reekie launch label; plus new music from Esperi and this week’s gig picks.

Good Monday to you. It’s a hectic one over here in Glasgow, but it’s also, as we shall see, an historic day on the Forth Rail Bridge.

That’s because – right around the time I’m writing this – Bwani Junction are the first band to have played at the top of the iconic structure.

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Daringly scaling the heights today, they were 100m high and posted this frankly astonishing pic.

Drummer Jack Fotheringham said: “It’s been an ambition of ours ever since we wrote our track, Two Bridges.

“To now finally get a chance to play 100 metres up top of one of Scotland’s most noticeable landmarks and celebrated architectural designs will be an amazing experience and to be the first band to play will make it even more special.”

• The line-up for this year’s goNORTH festival tour tent at the Wickerman festival has been announced. The event takes place on July 20 and 21, and on the goNORTH stage you’ll find: Blue Sky Archives, Campfires In Winter, Fat Goth, Miniature Dinosaurs, Olympic Swimmers, The Whisky River Band, Quickbeam, Washington Irving, Xavia, Yusuf Azak, Aaron Wright, Blindfolds, Brown Bear & The Bandits, Café Disco, CLEAVERS, John Wean, Michael Cassidy, Pioneers of Love, Stanley Odd, and The Mirror Trap.

Director for music Shaun Arnold said: “Wickerman has established itself as one of the most diverse festivals on the calendar and has demonstrated a sustained commitment to supporting new music across genres. Our stage last year proved a huge success and we are really excited to be returning with some of the most exciting new acts in Scotland”.

Good job, all involved – to book tickets and so on, visit the Wickerman website.

Neu! Reekie has announced it will launch its own record label later this month – with a weekend of celebrations lined up to mark the first release.

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On July 27, it will host a night at the Scottish Book Trust featuring, among others, Malcolm Middleton. The following day, it will launch its first double-a-track single at Avalanche in the Grassmarket.

Track one is by Jesus, Baby!, - featuring Davy Henderson, Carla Easton, Roy Moller and Marco Rea – with the song written by Michael Pedersen. Track two is by Kevin Williamson, with music from Graham McInnes and Producer Bob.

Following the launch, the party will decamp to Glasgow for a gig at Mono the same night, featuring Alasdair Gray, Teen Canteen, The Store Keys, The Sexual Objects and Jesus, Baby!. So that’s that.

NEW MUSIC

Esperi releases his debut album, In A Moment, Emotion, Sentiment today on Fall On Records. It’s been quite a wait – Radar first wrote about multi-instrumentalist Chris Lee-Marr back in 2009 – but certainly worth it.

• Glasgow’s Pronto Mama release their new EP, ‘Lickety Split’, today through their own label – best name ever – Tasty Records Are Tasty. Recorded with Jamie Savage and Paul Winton at Chem19 and North Road Studios, the EP was funded in part by Creative Scotland. Get a hold of it on iTunes, or have a wee watch of the video for lead single ‘One Trick Pony’.

• Also unleashed today is a new single from We Are The Physics called ‘Goran Ivanisevic’ – well timed, tennis fans.

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Vocalist Michael M had this to say: “We know zero about tennis, but Goran has always been one of our heroes just because of the sheer determination he had, having lost the title several times and the fact he claimed at every match he was playing against five different opponents, one of which was himself.

“And also the ball boys.

“After losing a title he said he was going to kill himself, then after beating Tim Henman he claimed he was genius. Just that furious drive and refusal to quit in the face of worldwide sneering, we’ve always thought was equally admirable and terrifying.”

Fair enough, really.

Battery Face have released the video for their song ‘Lurch’ which features some rather frightening face paint. It’s taken from their album, Addams Family Values, which will be out on July 30.

• Another new video comes from Minature Dinosaurs, for their single ‘Lemonade’ which will be out this August 13. Photo-frame-tastic!

THIS WEEK’S GIG PICKS

If you’re not off to T in the Park this weekend (and if you’re not, of course you can follow the action right here), fear not. There are still some – ok, just a few - things happening elsewhere, you know.

WEDNESDAY: The Milk girls have Arches, Archimedes Principle and a DJ set from Fantastic Man at Flat 0/1 in Glasgow this week.

THURSDAY: Brand new Olive Grove Records signing Jo Mango plays Mono, Glasgow with her band, Body Parts (Jenny - Strike the Colours, and Jill - Sparrow and the Workshop) and Adam Stafford.

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SATURDAY: Meursault launch third album, Something for the Weakened, at the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, with support from Rob St John, Jill O’Sullivan and Jenny Reeve. More details on Facebook.

…and sadly we run out.

RADAR: SHOWCASING THE BEST NEW MUSIC IN SCOTLAND

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