ONES TO WATCH We invite the great and good of the Scottish music scene to recommend the bands you must see this summer
UNICORN KID Aka Oliver Sabin – Edinburgh-based electronic wunderkind, this
year playing festivals including T in the Park, Wickerman, Belladrum and Bestival
Hudson Mohawke He makes super sweet futuristic jams. I loved last year’s album Butter. I missed him at SXSW in
March, so I’m keen to see him at Glastonbury. Crystal Castles I’ve been following Crystal Castles since I was 15, when Nu Rave first kicked off. I saw them at T in the Park last year and it was wild. Their new album has just been released and they’ve managed to transcend the electro movement which they stemmed from.
Drake Drake is rapper Lil Wayne’s protégé. I’ve had his new track ‘Over’ on repeat and I imagine his
live show will be huge. Aeroplane Aeroplane did some super dreamy remixes of Friendly Fires and Sebastien Tellier, I’ve been listening to them on and off since then. I can imagine myself getting blissed out watching them.
Kele Kele Okereke from Bloc Party has a new single coming out called ‘Tenderoni’, which is like a mix between Wiley’s ‘Wearing My Rolex’ and the last Bloc Party album, it’s brilliant.
GRAINNE BRAITHWAITE A former festival booker, Braithwaite is now a leading Scottish promoter through her company
Synergy Concerts
Four Tet I’ve seen him live about 20 times, and the last record (There is Love in You) is the best thing he’s done. The Slam Tent crowd will love it, seriously. Aphex Twin The UK’s godfather of electronic music over the last 15 years, I can’t imagine what this will be like. If he’s DJing, expect glitch, grime and stuff on labels like Skam, Rephlex and Kompakt.
DAVE CLARKE MD of Glasgow’s Soma Records (roster includes: Slam, Funk D’Void, Alex Smoke), Clarke STEVE MASON Formerly known as King Biscuit Time, Mason was also a founding member of The Beta Band, and is
is also the programmer playing solo at Rock
of T in the Park’s Slam Tent Ness and The Edge festivals
Plastikman Richie Hawtin is a great DJ, but for him to appear as Plastikman is a rare prospect. Musically it’ll be Eminem I’ve always really liked him but I’ve never seen him live. [His T in the Park show] will either be a pile
darker and deeper, like a Kraftwerk for the modern day. of shit or brilliant, but hopefully he’ll smash it to bits.
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble They’re all brothers, they’ve been playing since they were kids and it The Drums Partly because I’ve never seen them and partly because I’ve got a really hard-to-impress mate
shows. It’s unique, tripped out dance music and it’ll be a great way to start Sunday on T’s NME Stage.
Yeasayer The single ‘O.N.E.’ is just the perfect song for the summer, and I reckon this is the last time we’ll be Echo and the Bunnymen One of the bands I grew up with, although I haven’t seen them in over 20
able to see them on a stage this small before they really take off. years. This should be a masterclass in rock’n’roll.
Buzzcocks I fucking love the Buzzcocks. How many Saturday nights have we all spent dancing in our living rooms to ‘Orgasm Addict’? And because they’ve influenced so many people like Arctic Monkeys, they still sound totally current. Twitch & Wilkes / Jackmaster / Teamy / Pro Vinylist Karim They’re all playing The Wee Chill, and between them they pretty much sum up what’s happening in dance, hip hop and electronic music in Scotland right now.
Eminem It’ll be one of T in the Park’s definitive sets, though it’s hard for me to leave the Slam Tent. But we’ve got D12 [playing the Slam Tent Saturday night] so I’m hopeful he’ll make an appearance with them. Sven Vath He’s never played the Slam Tent before, even though he’s such a huge star of the techno scene. We’ve had a couple of great sets from him at [Pressure at] the Arches, but the bigger the stage, the bigger the show.
who’s always going on about how great they are. dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip I played on the same bill as them in Camden once, and I only knew their big track, ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’, at that point. The rest of their set was just as good – it’s fun, but at the same time it really makes you think about music and life in general. Always a good thing.
The xx I like that album a lot, there isn’t a lot going on in their music but it really holds the attention. It’ll be interesting to see if they can still do that in front of a festival crowd because a lot of what they do is so quiet and subtle.
Leftfield I was a massive fan of their first album [Leftism], and I’ll be looking forward to seeing how their music’s stood up over the years. They could be a real highlight if it has.
MAY JUNE
FESTIVALS TIMELINE From Rock Ness to Roskilde, Glastonbury to Glasgow Jazz Festival, we list the best of the many great fests happening throughout the summer. Which one(s) will you choose?
3 Harbours Arts
Festival 29 May-6 Jun, Prestonpans,
Cockenzie and Port Seton, East Lothian, www.3harbours.co.uk
Evolution Weekender
30-31 May, Newcastle Gateshead Quayside, Newcastle,
www.evolutionfestival.
co.uk
Music, art, food, Paulo Nutini, Calvin
performance and much more in this community- based all-purpose fest. See Around Town,
page 39.
Harris, Enter Shikari, The
Horrors, Delphic and Dananananaykroyd headline the two-day Newcastle festival
weekender.
20 THE LIST 27 May–10 Jun 2010
Rock Ness Download
11-13 Jun, Loch Ness, 11-13 Jun, Donnington
Isle of Wight Festival
Inverness,
Park, Derby, 11-13 Jun, Newport,
Edinburgh International Film
Festival
16-27 Jun, various venues, Edinburgh,
www.rockness.com The best of the old and the new collide at Rock Ness as Blondie, Fatboy
Slim, The Strokes, Doves, Ian Brown,
Leftfield, Crystal Castles and Aphex Twin take to the loch-side stages.
www.downloadfestival Isle of Wight,
.co.uk www.islefwightfestival
AC/DC, Rage Against The Machine, Aerosmith,
Stone Temple Pilots, Deftones and Them
Crooked Vultures descend upon
Donnington Park for a weekend of non-stop
rock’n’roll.
.com www.edfilmfest.org.uk
Paul McCartney, Jay-Z, The Strokes, Blondie, Pink and Biffy Clyro are just a few of the big
Thriving away from the rest of the festival
hubbub in its new June slot, this year’s EIFF will
names appearing at Isle host screenings of
of Wight festival this Sylvain Chomet’s The
year.
Illusionist and Toy Story 3, with
announcements about plenty more star
studded-films to follow.