As it is Muriel spark week ,I decide as she was Scottish I decide to do an expanded song for sunday .To include five of my favourite Scottish bands and singers –
First up is Scottish singer songwriter Ivor Cutler ,I can’t remember the exact day I heard Ivor first but I know where I heard it and that was on John Peel ,I ‘d been twelve or thirteen under bed covers listening to his radio show .I remember thinking this guy is surreal and still think that his deadpan delivery and odd humour make him a true one-off .
Second up are the Jesus and Mary chain these were a band I discovered via friends at school or the NME I can’t remember ,but there fuzzy hazy guitar and dark lyric matter soon made me a fan of them like a bastard child of the velvet underground and sex pistols with a bit of lee Hazelwood thrown in these guys looked like no one else in a time of flowers and fey pop .
In the early nineties Irvine Welsh appeared on the lit scene and just before him the Scottish writer James Kelman won the booker so sottish dialect and tales of the dark side of growing up in Scotland were the order of the day so then step up Arab strap another band lead by a singer with deadpan singing style but much darker and up to date than Ivor Cutler .
Fourth up is King creosote a member of the fence collective ,whose members all hail from the Kingdom of Fife in Scotland Crail King Creosote is only eight miles from my Late Gran’s home and near where my Aunt still lives ,also Fife is home to the mighty Rob of Rob around books .
Last I give you the Phantom band a band I ve like for the last few years the debut was in my top ten albums the year it came out ,they seem to embody all the Scottish artists and bands I grew up with in one package .
Who are your favorite Scottish band ?
Fun idea! Mine is probably Texas.
Five off the cuff –
Orange Juice – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx5nn1kq-2U
Fire Engines – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTRQSYxt5Ok
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqx5j-FuqeI
Momus – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3rjCyK94qg
Josef K – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL5C7KVA0jA
& One for good luck
Altered Images – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAa0qkg6Sds
Great selection Seamus I download all thou Momus albums a few years ago when he made them free online ,all the best stu
I am not saying The Bay city Rollers. teehee hee. i don’t often admit in public that I really don’t follow much music. My brain just doesn’t seem to remember the music I have listened to .
Bay city roller were huge in there day ,all the best stu
Proclaimers! Who else would walk 5oo miles?
Arab Strap, Belle & Sebastian,Boards of Canada,The Cocteau Twins, Mull Historical Society, Malcolm Middleton, Primal Scream,Mogwai, in fact the more you think about it the more you come up with , so I’ll stop now.
PS.Teenage Fanclub anyone ?
David Byrne?
greta choice Bryne forgot he was scottish
so many isn’t there when you think afterward thought could have done ten and hand bands left over ,all the best stu
Oddly enough Ivor Cutler taught in my primary school, something largely omitted from most bios of him. He wasn’t a teacher as such, he took a rather special sort of class with music and dance – a sort of semi-extracurricular thing. I hated it, and was mystified years later to discover he was actually moderately famous and not just some weird guy at my school who made us play cowboys and indians as a group while he played on the piano.
Oh great Did he sing ,all the best stu
Great idea, all the best stu
Oh, how fun! I am so glad you shared this with us. I am horrible at finding new music, but this helps 🙂
thanks
Okay, it took a while but here goes:
Call Mother a Lonely Field – Jackie Leven
Frida Kahlo’s Visit to the Tay Bar – Michael Marra
Pray the Dawn – James Grant
You Can’t Win Them All Mum – Lost Soul Band
Tom Weir – Aberfeldy
(Ok, I would definitely have included King Creosote and Belle and Sebastian, but they’ve already been mentioned)
And I love Muriel Spark.
Great selection Leven is o=someone I m just discovering my self ,all the best stu