The Canadians win at music. We went to three things at the Canadian showcase: Hooded Fang (above), Slow Down Molasses, and Hot Panda, and all three were fucking great.  I know it’s a cliché to say that Canadians seem to be disproportionately go... more info

Zowie, these guys were fucking awesome!  I loved Hot Panda’s last album How Come I’m Dead, but I have to confess that I’d rather stopped thinking about the band in if I am being honest the only reason I actually saw them today was b... more info

 I’ve heard bands complain about Glasgow crowds in the past.  In much the same way Glasgow bands tend to find Edinburgh audiences eerily quiet, a lot of Edinburgh bands can find gig-goers in Glasgow inattentive, particularly when the music in q... more info

 I’ve had a somewhat lukewarm relationship with Islet over the years.  I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve heard, but it’s been a little abrasive for constant listening, and I have never managed to see them live, where they are appa... more info

This is big, throbbing, hypnotic guitar music.  That threshold where indie morphed into Britpop is not an area I am all that familiar with, but seems to be a strong source of inspiration here, with bands like Ride perhaps ringing a few bells here and... more info

Monster Rally build songs out of sampled bits of old records, and they do it very, very well.  Pretty much the limit of my experience with this kind of music is the barmy and brilliant Frontier Psychiatrist by Avalanches from back in about 200o or so... more info

 I have to confess that Andrew Bird’s recent work has left me underwhelmed to the point that this album actually came out over a month ago and I only bothered to actually listen to it for the first time a couple of days ago. After what are, to ... more info

April Fool’s Day really does bore me to tears.  The jokes are so weak and obvious most of the time that they really are pointless, although Avalanche’s Withered Hand futon did make me laugh. It’s the forced bonhomie which I find the... more info

As you might know, I have spent the last three days or so down in London, partly to see Meursault play at the Old Blue Last on Tuesday, partly to meet some music industry people for various reasons and partly to catch up with a couple of old friends.... more info

 Sometimes you realise you’ve been writing about bands for years, and it slowly dawns on you that you might actually be the only one.  A quick search on The Hype Machine shows that’s not really true, but despite the fact that they’v... more info