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BBC Radio Scotland joins BBC Radio 5 live.
Friday 17 May 2013, 10:09
... A Month of Great, Scottish Musicians and Bands who we revere and consider as great friends of Another Country.
It’s going to be big, noisy and very exciting and it all starts this Friday with Woodenbox. Many of you will remember their session from a couple of years back and since then they’ve managed to lose a ‘fistful of fivers’ and keep things simple with a one word monikor. They’ve also given birth to a fab new album, tracks from which they will play this Friday as well as an interesting cover version which they’ve rustled up for us.
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As ever though we’ll make sure you hear the best of the new things out there. I’m pleased to say we’ll continue to enjoy the new offering from Patty Griffin, we’ll reflect on a wonderful Emmylou...
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Thursday 16 May 2013, 10:05
There are two types of hype machine on the market these days. Hype Machine 1: the uber-slick, expensive and highly attuned device, targeted specifically to meet all of our zeitgeisty requirements, usually driven by – and for – the masses. When it works it can be an impressive beast. You would have to have been living under a very large (and non disco ball shaped) rock not to have heard at least a little of the most recent Daft Punk single “Get Lucky”. The strategic placement of a one-minute advert during the American TV show Saturday Night Live displayed Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers (backed by the Punk’s robots in residence) in all their glitter-suited glory, and did a quite frankly magnificent job of alerting us to the groove heavy delights of the song.
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Monday 13 May 2013, 17:21
…I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings. (Robert Louis Stevenson – a fine writer and Scotsman to boot)
I’ve had a wonderful few weeks and I did mean to send everyone a postcard from Brighton...
That’s why, having spent a number of weeks on the road, I’ll be very happy to be land-locked in studio 6 on Friday night with a pile of new records to share with you. This Friday, my friend, there are no guests, no session versions, only great new records. And boy, do we have some great new music for you.
Here’s what we have lined up so far: New records from the fab Phosphorescent, Ruth Moody and Holly Williams. New discoveries….we hear from Daniel Meade for the first time. Daniel’s from Scotland and we’ll also share some great new records from fellow Scottish artists Woodenbox and Peter Roe. We’ll introduce you to Brazos and we’ll hear some great vintage recordings from Hank Thompson, The Carter Family and Tom T Hall. Does that whet your appetite enough?
As I mentioned earlier I’ve been on the road these last few weeks. I’ve been pleased to have My Darling Clementine as my special guests each night and Michael and Lou have given me a sneak listen to their...
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Wednesday 8 May 2013, 16:01
As the song goes, “it takes two, baby”. But collaboration in music is the most unpredictable of beasts. Do it well and you can create some truly interesting work – valid and challenging musical projects that bring the best of talent together in new, unusual and often unpredictable ways. Think ex-Belle and Sebastian singer Isobel Campbell and former Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan, both seemingly from different ends of the musical spectrum, combining to glorious effect on their Mercury nominated album “Ballad Of The Broken Seas”. Or serious indie troubadour M Ward and actress...
Thursday 2 May 2013, 14:16
In last week’s blog I mentioned my admiration for the voice of Roy Orbison, a man who could reputedly scale nearly 4 octaves with apparent ease (those tight trousers paid off in the end). But somewhere amongst the superlatives perhaps I failed in my attempts to describe just why I find it so special. “Distinctive” was the simple word I was searching for. Because when you hear a Roy Orbison record in whatever context, there is no denying that it’s Roy Orbison. And yet it’s hard to put a finger on just why his vocals connected so deeply with listeners over the years: maybe the tone...
Friday 26 April 2013, 16:16
My first hour guest on this week’s Sunday morning, Camila Batmanghelidjh, is a woman of colour and style, both in appearance and personality, both of which shine through, even on the radio. A charity campaigner and trained psychotherapist, she founded Kids Company, which offers practical, emotional and educational support to the most deprived and at risk children, in our society. Together with her personal choice of music, it’s a wonderful listen, and in fact Camila stays on, to join in a discussion in the second hour of the show about a project that’s currently gathering momentum in some...
Thursday 25 April 2013, 10:42
“Legend” is a word bandied about far too often in music these days. Take one top ten hit, add a celebrity romance (preferably followed by a messy break up), throw in a dash of rehab then season with a triumphant comeback and you practically have the Legendary Status Recipe nailed. But it shouldn’t be that way. The musicians that we should truly revere are the ones who stick at it no matter what, who have to work hard to earn our respect: endless gigging, constant writing and recording, sacrifice, blood, sweat and rock n’ roll. And above all, talent. These are the people with the...
Friday 19 April 2013, 09:32
Joining me on this week’s Sunday Morning programme, is a man whose life was completely turned around, thanks to a chance meeting with a ginger tom cat, he named Bob. James Bowen was a street-musician, struggling to cope with homelessness and former drug addiction – now his books charting his changed fortunes have become best-sellers, and there’s even talk of a film about it all.
In the second hour of the programme, I’ll be asking how we could radically change the future of Scotland – a subject covered in another book by writer Alf Young about a road journey both he and his son Ewan took...
Wednesday 17 April 2013, 14:50
Define “cool”. According to that highly reliable source of all information Wikipedia, it is “an admired aesthetic of attitude, behavior, comportment, appearance and style, influenced by and a product of the Zeitgeist”. Whilst we all know that even attempting to attach a label to it is so uncool it risks condemning us to yet another lunch in the school refectory alone, “admired” may be the key component of that particular definition. Because although not many are lucky enough to achieve coolness, there is no doubt most of us certainly aspire to it such is its heavenly allure....
Tuesday 16 April 2013, 16:00
Maybe it’s just me but I sometimes wonder if music doesn’t just drive you mad. I was having a wee nap recently and dozed off to an iPod shuffle that kept throwing up gems. I wanted to smile beatifically – Bilko style – but kept waking myself up to check what the track was.
It’s the same in the pictures. I was fairly disappointed at my two cinema adventures last week but always curious to watch the credits so I could check out who sang what. It’s a curse I tell you…ask my wife.
On a lovely drive back through the hills of Galloway I returned to some old playlists; in particular the songs...
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