I Am Derek – I Am Derek EP

November 14, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com

I Am Derek

North Devon 2 piece “I Am Derek” release their new EP on Friday 17^th November. This follows on from debut (demo) EP (“Zipped” ) recorded and released between Christmas and New Year last year having got together in December 2016. The Zipped EP was picked up by several radio stations across the UK and Canada.

New SONGS

In May 2017 they started writing and demoing new tracks which were again picked up by radio stations. These early demos received radio play worldwide on internet and FM radio stations. One of the tracks, “Boxes”, was voted no 4 in an Australian radio station’s weekly indie chart.… Read the rest

Tarbeach Records – NYC Record Label

October 30, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com

Tarbeach Records

Over the years, there have been a number of essential record labels with Scottish roots that have given rise to some unforgettable bands and their music.

The list is massive but everyone must be familiar with at least one of these:

Postcard (Orange Juice, Josef K, Aztec Camera)
Creation (Oasis, Ride, Primal Scream, Jesus and Mary Chain, House of Love)
Creeping Bent (Vic Godard, Secret Goldfish, Alan Vega)
Chemikal Underground (Mogwai, The Delgados, Malcolm Middleton, Arab Strap)

And that is just scraping the surface.

Scottish Roots

Add a new one to that list – Tarbeach Records. Although NYC based, the label has Scottish roots and a number of Scottish bands on their release list.… Read the rest

The Screens “Jennifer Jones” new single

October 12, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com

The Screens

The Screens are duo, Neil and Colin. They have a long background in creating and producing music for TV shows and films. This project is their opportunity to have the “creative freedom” to make their own music and share it with the world. They don’t let the fact they live thousands of miles apart impact their ability to create their music.

They are currently in the process of recording a debut album for release in 2018

Colin : “When we wrote (first single) “Avalanche” we discovered our sound for this album. We’d written lots of songs that we liked but it wasn’t until we finished Avalanche that we discovered what The Screens were about.

… Read the rest

The Media Whores – Mercury prize nominees for Dangerous Minds

September 25, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com

Who are The Media Whores?

The Media Whores are a Falkirk based “political power pop punk” band (description courtesy of Vive Le Rock) who have now have three albums to their name.

Debut “Starfishing”
2013’s “Pornophonica” (9/10 in Vive Le Rock)
and latest release “Dangerous Minds” (2016) (again 9/10 in Vive Le Rock) and was also long-listed for the Mercury Music Prize.

Although Dangerous Minds has been out for a while now, it seemed like a good time to catch up with the band following the Mercury long-listing.

Band members are:

Craig A – vocals & rhythm guitar
Doogie Mackie – bass guitar & backing vocs
Martyn Heath – lead guitar & backing vocs
Andy Russell – drums

Recent shows

The Media Whores have been prominent and noticeably busy since the album release.… Read the rest

Morrissey – Spent the Day in Bed

September 19, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com

I was wishing I had taken Mr Steven Patrick Morrissey’s advice and “Spent the Day in Bed” when I was listening in to Radio 2 for the world’s first play of his new single. I was sitting in my car on the M8 going absolutely nowhere….

Morrissey joined twitter yesterday with his cryptic first tweet being the title of the single. I must admit to be slightly concerned about Moz on twitter. He often opens his mouth and spouts a lot of mince these days. And look what Trump gets up to on Twitter….

Anyway, back to the song and thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed.… Read the rest

Gun – Favourite Pleasures is a welcome return for this Glasgow band

September 17, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com

Gun

I’ve followed Gun since the beginning. Enjoying seeing live gigs with the likes of Texas and Slide when they were all starting out. Their first album, Taking on the World, was packed full of riff laden tunes. Shame on You, Money and Better Days all songs which I still play regularly.

The three bands went on to varying degrees of success. Gun scored a number of hits and changed line-ups several times over the years. One period had Little Angels Toby Jepson on vocals. I freely admit that this part of the band’s career passed me by slightly as I was never a fan of Little Angels.… Read the rest

Daniel Wylie – Interview and new Cosmic Rough Riders album

September 12, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com

Daniel Wylie has been around the Scottish music scene for around 30 years. From his beginnings with The Thieves and their catchy debut single “Talk Your Head Off” through various incarnations of Cosmic Rough Riders and solo releases. He has just released new album as Daniel Wylie’s Cosmic Rough Riders and it is a great listen. On the album, he has enlisted the help of some other well-known names within Scottish music to record the album with.

Daniel took some time out to answer some questions for me.

New Album and previous releases

Thegingerquiff: This album is the latest in a growing list of releases from you via The Thieves, Cosmic Rough Riders/Daniel Wylie’s Cosmic Rough Riders and solo.

… Read the rest

Crimedesk and Thirteen – Album/EP reviews

September 11, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com

It’s a bit of a coincidence that I received Crimedesk’s album and Thirteen’s EP within a few days of each other.

I say this, as I’ve recently featured Drunk Gods and earlier this year I saw all 3 bands in Ivory Blacks. It was a great nights entertainment. 3 very different bands in sound but all enjoyed by a small but enthusiastic crowd.

In another coincidence, the gig should also have featured Heavy Drapes. I also wrote about recently, unfortunately they had to pull out at the last-minute.

Crimedesk – Louder…..FASTER

Crimedesk have been around and about since ’79 and are a hard-gigging 3 piece punk band from Fife featuring the 2 Alan(n)s on guitar and bass & vocals and John on drums.… Read the rest

Drunk Gods

August 31, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com

Drunk Gods are a 3 piece from Lanarkshire, Scotland. Having previously played together as Gobstopper, Ewan released the debut “Drunk Gods” album in 2014 and got the members of Gobstopper back together to play the songs live.

I recently caught up with Drunk Gods main man Ewan McGhee to talk about what motivated him to make and release Drunk Gods. I also wanted to find out what is next for Drunk Gods.

Drunk Gods Album

The first track on the album is “What’s Ma Motivation?”, so what is your motivation?

‘What’s Ma Motivation?’ Well, at the time when I was writing and recording the album, there was very little music around that I found exciting and provocative.

… Read the rest

The Cundeez – Ehm Feelin Teckle

August 26, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com

Its Saturday morning and ehm feelin’ teckle!

From the moment the cymbals, guitar & moothie (harmonica) start off this feel good tune, I defy you not get on your feet and dance. Even as I’m listening to it again as I’m typing this I’m finding in hard to sit still!

Continuing the Dundee theme from the last post, new single from The Cundeez hit my inbox this morning and what a way to kick off the weekend, its set me up to tackle anything.

If you have been fortunate enough to have seen the band live, you’ll know what an entertaining treat it is.… Read the rest