The annals of history are brimful of artists, writers and musicians turning their backs on the neon and noise of city life to unspool among the bracken and briar of the countryside. Few have gone to such extremes as Johnny Lynch, however, who upped sticks from the relative bustle of Fife to the Inner Hebridean island of Eigg – population 105, give or take – 10 years ago.
Her latest record is a glorious paean to lost love and friendship. So how will it fare when Angel Olsen brings it to Scotland on Valentine’s Day?
Many of the biggest names in Scottish music have gathered to explore the imaginary kingdom where Ivor Cutler’s career began, discovers Sean Guthrie
Start to End play Hats by The Blue NileMackintosh Queen’s Cross, Glasgow
“TO BE a good writer, to make your own music, you have to be a great listener.” So says Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy in his recent memoir, Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back). “That’s more of a special attribute than having a lightning-fast faculty on the guitar.”
THE man who invented heavy metal is on the line. The man who, alongside bass player Geezer Butler, drummer Bill Ward and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, thundered out of Birmingham in 1968 strafing the sky with round after round of gnarled riffs, siring hundreds upon hundreds of groups and changing the face of music for ever. The man who survived the bacchanalian excess of the 1970s and 80s when many of his friends did not. The man who ranks only slightly below Satan in the estimation of millions of met
Guerrilla jazznik Bill Wells might be the most underrated arranger and melodicist this country has ever produced. Whether working with the National Jazz Trio of Scotland, serving as musical director for luminaries such as Yo La Tengo, Karen Mantler and Syd Straw, or providing the impeccable backdrop for fellow Falkirk escapee Aidan Moffat’s grizzled poetry on two exemplary albums, he is the epitome of imaginative, individualistic musicality.
