So… they have finally done it. After 15 years of bickering, arguing and rumours of reunions The Stone Roses have finally reformed. Playing 2 gigs in Manchester next June, doing a World Tour and releasing an album. This may be big news in todays media however I am very much in the “couldn’t care less” camp, A camp in which going by Facebook etc is bigger than i thought it would be. One good album and a questionable follow-up does not make you one of the worlds “greatest bands” that has been sprawled everywhere in recent days. I, for one, can’t see it lasting much longer than said gigs next summer. Maybe Ian Brown and co. seen the hype Steps have received in the last couple of weeks and thought “we’ll have a bit of that”. Co-headling tour anyone??

Anyway onto more relevant things in a blog about Edinburgh’s local music scene. As I said in the last post there have been loads of bands putting stuff out recently so I’m gonna mention a few more on this.

We’ll kick off with The Stagger Rats who release “I’m In Love” on the 26th. Follow up to (proper) debut single “Fuzzy Fuzzy” Callum Easter takes lead vocals on this one, highlighting the diversity in his and co-lead Daniel Paylor’s voices. This being the case The Rats still manage to keep the sound of that “gypsy punk” they have been telling us about. The single was recorded in Hungary last year and was produced by Owen Morris (Oasis, The View) and the production definitely see’s the guys take a step up from recordings of the past. A cracking tune to say the least.

Hold The Suspect have recently released a new EP.  It is available here for a very reasonable £1.50. Hold The Suspect always remind me of other local acts such as The Winter Tradition and Make Sparks. I think the EP sounds a lot more grown up that its predecessor ”Are You Home Yet” however “Glass Half Full” was one of my favourite tracks of last year so while you are on the bandcamp why not pick up a free copy of that EP here.

Frantic Chant are releasing new album “Oscillator”  on 12th November and they are having a launch party on The Cruz in Leith on the same night. So get yourself along to that and have a listen to the bands lead single “Let In The Sound” from the new album here.

A bit of a live news update, last week I told you Stanley Odd would be launching their latest EP “The Day I Went Deaf” at the Liquid Room on Friday night (21st) and I was delighted to hear that in support that night will be the fabulous Banana Sessions. This is made what was already going to be an excellent night into an even better one. I saw Banana Sessions at Glastonbury and the gripped the crowd with an energetic set which had everyone dancing and singing along. I interviewed Roberta (for a podcast that I must complete) and she told me that the album is almost ready to go, so more on that in the coming weeks hopefully.

Also on friday night is the Edinburgh takeover of Oxjam. Running in various venues (see line up below) the cost of a single ticket gets you into everything and makes you feel slighty better about yourselves having that 10th pint knowing you have donated to charity. The line up is..

The City Cafe
18:00-18:30 I Build Collapsible Mountains
18:45 Smithsonian
22:15 DJ sets
Electric Circus
18:30-19:00 Loch Awe
19:15-19:45 Letters
20:00-20:30 Verse Metrics
20:45-21:15 Sebastian Dangerfield
21:30-22:00 Endor
Sneaky Pete’s
19:15-19:45 The Spook School
20:00-20:30 Dead Boy Robotics
20:45-21:15 FOUND
21:30-22:00 Black International
Medina
19:15-19:45 Trapped Mice
20:00-20:30 Esperi
20:45-21:15 Broken Records (solo)
Cabaret Voltaire
19:45-20:15 Trapped In Kansas
20:30-21:00 PAWS
21:15-21:45 Meursault
The Wee Red Bar
20:00-20:30 The Last Battle
20:45-21:15 French Wives
21:30-22:00 The Machine Room
The Banshee Labyrinth
20:30-21:00 Vasquez
21:15-21:45 As In Bear
22:00-22:30 Citizens

Tickets are £10 from Avalanche or We Got Tickets

What Have I Been Listening To While Writing This

Grouplove – Never Trust A Happy Song

The Duke Spirit – Bruiser

The Stagger Rats – I’m In Love

Frantic Chant – Let In The Sound

Sunday Sessions Playlist 9/10/11

We Were Promised Jetpacks – Medicine

U Me – Captive

The Gold Lions – Broken Bones

Campbells Wild – High Me

Grouplove – Tongue Tied

Music Math – Blood Pressure

Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto/Hurts Like Heaven

Stanley Odd – The Day I Went Deaf

The Detours – One Last Chance

The Draymin – Don’t Fade Away

Wild Beasts – Thankless They

TV Girl – Benny & The Jets

Bert Jansch – Needle Of Death

Pet – What You Building

Biffy Clyro – Buddy Holly

The Stagger Rats – Fuzzy Fuzzy

Cate Le Bon – Puts Me To World

The Horrors – I Can See Through You

Mayre Hawthorne – A Long Time

Saint Saviour – Here In Me

Seafield Road – Crammond Island Causeway

Frightened Rabbit – Living In Colour

Discopolis - Weekenders

Contact

Facebook – www.facebook.com/aliveandamplifiedmusic

Twitter – www.twitter.com/alivenamplified

Email – craig@aliveandamplified.co.uk

The Sunday Sessions Twitter – www.twitter.com/lfmsessions

Tune into The Sunday Sessions at 4pm on Sunday on 98.8FM or www.leithfm.co.uk/listen

New Releases

There are a few releases due out in the up and coming months, I am going to focus on four here just now but I will feature more nearer their release date. I’ll be kicking off with the new EP from my favourite Scottish Hip Hoppers Stanley Odd. They release “The Day I Went Deaf” on 24th October. The follow-up to “Anti Hero Material” sees Stanley Odd take a further step away from the light-hearted lyrics from debut album “Oddio” and walking into the more dark side of Scotland’s current state. “Get A Grip” tackles the recent phone hacking scandal and “Simon Cowells cannibalism” as well the Government “trying to jack off watching Cher Lloyd getting her swag on”. To me this track is,in parts, an update to 2010 round-up “The Oddyssey”. Lead track “The Day I Went Deaf” see’s Solareye stop listening and start tweeting and how so-called “Smart” phones have possibly numbed our minds. Get yourself along to www.stanleyodd.com where you can pre-order the EP and buy tickets to the launch, which will be on the 21st October in The Liquid Room.

On 14th November will see the eagerly awaited release of debut album ”Of Rust And Loss” from The Stormy Seas. This has been a long time coming but I am very much looking forward to hearing this album. The guys were guests on my Sunday Sessions show on Leith FM where they performed 3 session tracks which you can hear here. The launch for this will be in the Wee Red Bar on 12th November and you can download their current double A-Side for free here.

Luke G. Joyce, former frontman of The Gothenburg Address has released new album “The Spector & The Act” under his solo project I Build Collapsible Mountains. I first saw IBCM’s outside The Gothenburg Address playing on a roof in the Pleasence Courtyard as part of Detours Wee Jaunt in Edinburgh a few months back, and seeing a guy with just an unplugged acoustic guitar outdoors capturing a big crowd like he did, was pretty impressive and the album does not disappoint. Have a listen and buy it here.

Last but certainly not least is the new EP from former Groove Armada star Saint Saviour. “Suukei” is the following up to springs “Anatomy” including tracks “Here In Me”, “Red Sun” as well as a couple of cracking remixes. If remixes are your thing check this one out which you can get for free “Here In Me Remix” This is a great remix but you don’t get to hear the beauty in Saint Saviours voice in this, for that get along to iTunes to but the whole EP and while you are at it you’d be silly not to just get “Anatomy” as well. Hopefully Saint Saviour will be doing an interview on The Sunday Sessions soon.

What’s On    * = A&A Recommends

Wednesday

6pm – Easy Chair – The Jazz Bar – Free

7pm – Munich – Electric Circus – £6 (£3)

Thursday

7pm – New Model Army – Liquid Room – £18.50

7pm Bwani Junction + Miniature Dinosaurs + Blank Canvas – Electric Circus – £5 (£3) *

Friday

6pm – Rossco Galloway – Jazz Bar – Free

7pm Bill Wells & Aiden Moffat – Cabaret Voltaire – £10

9:30pm – Emelle – Nobles Bar – Free *

Saturday

7pm – Strawberry Ocean Scene – Electric Circus – £5 (£3)

7pm – EagleOwl – Wee Red Bar – £5 *

7pm – New Confessions & The Directors – Liquid Room – £5

What Have I Been Listening To While Writing This

We Were Promised Jetpack – In The Pit Of The Stomach

Stanley Odd – The Day I Went Deaf

The Stormy Seas – Morbid Desires/The Tall Ships

Vic Galloway’s BBC Introducing Podcast – 7th Oct

The Sunday Sessions Playlist – 02/10./11

Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit

Beastie Boys ft. Santigold – Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win

Foo Fighters – Arlandria

Horrors – I Can See Through You

SBTRKT - Pharaohs

The Gold Lions – Elsy’s House

Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto/Hurts Like Heaven (Live From The iTunes Festival)

Joe Goddard – Gabriel

Mona – Shooting The Moon

Transfer – Losing Composure

White Lies – Death (Live From The iTunes Festival)

PJ Harvey – The Last Living Rose

The War On Drugs – Baby Missles

Saint Saviour – This Ain’t No Hymn

Groove Armada – Paper Romance

Frank Turner – If I Ever Stray

Discopolis – Lofty Ambitions

We Were Promised Jetpacks – Act On Impulse

Metronomy – Everything Goes My Way

Make Sparks – Your Heart Is On Fire

Grouplove - Itchin’ On A Photograph

Florence & The Machine – What The Water Gave Me

Admiral Fallow – Squealing Pigs

Chapel Club – All The Eastern Girls

Contact

Facebook – www.facebook.com/aliveandamplifiedmusic

Twitter – www.twitter.com/alivenamplified

Email – craig@aliveandamplified.co.uk

The Sunday Sessions Twitter – www.twitter.com/lfmsessions

So here we are again, after a long, long absence I have decided to start the blog again, I feel I have had more comebacks than Barbara Streisand but this one will be greater that Lazarus I promise. Or will it last a couple of weeks? Who knows. I have decided to make the blog more structured. Sections and everything. It might be easier to keep on top off. After Born To Be Wide’s Blog seminar I was inspired to create a “super” blog. This would include the blog, podcasts, up and coming A&A news, a live link to the radio show etc etc, this is still on going. I feel I may need some assistance, anyone? No? Oh well on with this then.

What’s Been Happening

Well, since the last blog there has been loads that has happened so I’m not going to go through everything, I will mention a few things before I go onto more current events. Haddow Fest went off with a bang and despite some difficulties with venues, bands and organisation the whole weekend was a success. I was delighted to given to opportunity, by festival organiser Hamish Jolly, to interview some of the bands that played the weekend, including Razorlight (not Borrell though, he doesn’t do press seemingly). Anyway instead of rattling on about it here check out the 2 podcasts I made which feature the interviews and music from the bands. They are here & here.

We also had Wide Days, which I was involved with. Anyone who doesn’t know about Wide Days it’s an all day spin-off event from Born To Be Wide, which is a monthly music seminar and networking night held in Edinburgh. The day consisted of a whole host of panels, workshops and one to one sessions with some of the top players in the UK music industry, those who weren’t there definitely missed out. After a day of knowledge getting, it was time to soak up some of Scotlands best up and coming bands and artists. I’m not going to give to a run down of every band as it’s all about your own opinion, just click on the band’s name here and get a link to there pages and judge for yourself, as alway any feedback is more than welcome. Firstly it was off to Sneaky Petes to see Letters and Paws, then along to Cabaret Voltaire for Rachel Sermanni and Withered Hand, finally ending up in Electric Circus for Capitals & GoGoBot. You can also hear an interview I did with Rachel Sermanni on Leith FM on that second podcast above.

Right on to more current on goings. I was delighted to be invited along to Detours “Wee Jaunt” around Edinburgh. The Wee Jaunt is basically a trip around Edinburgh stopping at along the way to listen to some of the best bands from the city. On the day we witnessed probably the noisiest a library has ever been, techno, techno, techno  with TeKlo at the Pleasance Courtyard and Lady North on the urine splattered steps of Fleshmarket Close, one again ending up at Electric Circus to hear Discopolis and Found. A fantastic day out that was made a little hazy with Jaegerbombs and the Stanley Odd lot. Good times indeed.

This weekend saw the start of the annual Leith Festival where Leith gets taken over for 2 weeks of culture including music, poetry, drama and art. I, of course will focus on the music. While there are some great bands playing this year including Ariels Up, Kim Edgar, Emelle, Kat Healy and The Gold Lions (click to listen) I think it is a shocker to put your biggest pull (Ariels Up) in the atmosphereless great big working mans style club that is the Dockers Club. The Dockers is a great venue to have you mum’s 60th in or even you dad’s second cousin’s daughters christening. This, however, is not a music venue and never will be. There are too many seats that people automatically sit on and the gig loses all aspect of  what it is meant to be, a live music gig, where people get down the front and jump about sing along and dance, not sit at seats drinking their whiskey chasers discussing the latest Coronation Street episode or the latest footballers affair scandal. I was disappointed to see Leith venues such as The Granary (which has worked in recent years) Pilrig Church and Nobles not used as much as The Dockers and its equally seat ridden Queen Charlotte rooms.

Recent Releases

Pose victorious – Beneath The Light House EP – Download

The Laymanites – All The Angels – Download

Scrap Brain – Nal – Download

What’s On?

Monday 13th

Matt Norris & The Moon – The Village – £5 (£4)

Tuesday 14th

Laki Meri – Sneaky Pete’s – £5

Wu – Tang Clan + Hyro Da Hero + Young Dirty Bastard + DJ Semtex – Picture House -£30

Thursday 16th

Seven Deadly Sins + Miss The Occupier + Casino Queen + Ghosts Of Progress – Dockers Club – £5

Friday 17th

Supermarionation + Rolled Up 20′s + China Shop Bull – Whistlebinkies – FREE

Friend Of Friends + The Gold Lions – Queen Charlotte Rooms – £tbc

Edinburgh School For The Deaf – Sneaky Pete’s – £5

Mearsault + The Savings + Loan & John Eghill – The Caves – £7

Bwani Junction – Maggie’s Chamber – FREE

Kim Edgar – Iso – Bar – £7

Saturday 18th

Discopolis + Blank Canvas – Wee Red Bar – £tbc

Little Doses + FO Machette + Death Trap City – Cabaret Voltaire – £6

The Mars Patrol – Electric Circus – £7.50

Waverly – The Store – £5

Stevie & The Moon + The Laymanites + Sau Paulo – The Voodoo Rooms – £6

Sunday 19th

Mouthful Of Grass + The Dark Jokes & Cutter + Willis Band – The Village – £tbc

Augustrailia + Remnant Kings + A Fight You Can’t Win – Dockers Club – £5

What Have I Been Listening To While Writing This Blog

Frank Turner – England Keep My Bones

Grouplove - Grouplove EP

What Did I Play On The Sunday Sessions Last Week On Leith FM

Coldplay – Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall

My__Is Pink – Yes!

The Naked & Famous – Youngblood

Blood Orange – Sutphine Boulevard

Stanley Odd – The Winter Of Discontent

Emelle - Greaseball

Grouplove – Colours

Muse – Time Is Running Out (live)

Saint Saviour – This Ain’t No Hymn

PJ Harvey – Soft Queenie

The Gold Lions – Elsies House

Horrors – Still Life

Young Knives – Love My Name

Admiral Fallow – Squealing Pigs

Night Beats – Dial 666

Pose Victorious – Off The Wall

Other Lives – 4:12′s

King Post Kitsch – Don’t You Touch My Fucking Honeytone

Man Man - Steak Knives

The Draymin – Mirrors

The Oatsfield – To The Sea (live)

Steve Heron – A Conversation Waiting To Happen

The Black Keys – You’re The One (Live)

Snow Patrol – Crazy In Love

Jeff – The Brotherhood

Foster The People – Pumped Up Kicks

Welcome along to this weeks A&A blog. In this installment we will have all the results from the Scottish Alternative Music Awards (SAMA’s), news on the next Alive & Amplified gig, Wide Days updates and some of the live highlights coming up in Edinburgh over the weekend.

Firstly the SAMA’s took place on Friday night at Captains Rest in Glasgow. Congratulations to all the bands who were nominated for awards, unfortunately there can only be a few winners and they were… dun dun dun

Best Rock/Alternative – Little Eskimos

Best Acoustic – Alan Mckim (Debut EP out April 16th)

Best Metal – Zombie Militia

Best Newcomer – Xavier

Best Live – Three Blind Wolves (see why Cab Vol 26th March)

Best Electronic – Indian Red Lopez (playing Haddow Fest 2nd & 3rd April)

Again congratulations to all the winners and nominees.

The countdown to the next Alive & Amplified gig at Maggie’s Chamber is well and truly underway. Taking place on 11th March the gig will feature three of Scotland’s finest bands. On headlining duties will be Emelle, a personal favourite of mine. Emelle never fail to impress live, taking their raw busking sound to a stage without any need for any amendments. They will leave you feeling you have just set foot on a pirate ship and are about to go swashbuckling with Captain Jack. Possibly Captain Jack Daniels.

Supporting on the night will be The Sundancer. Fresh from a couple of unorthodox gigs, The Sundancer is set to bring his Bob Dylan and Neil Young influences to Maggies.

Also on the bill are the fantastic The Chans fronted by serial gigger around Edinburgh Rossco Galloway. When i think of The Chans Mike Scott’s Waterboys come to mind.

Get to www.aliveandamplified.co.uk now for tickets. They are £4 in advance and will be £5 on the door. Check out www.soundcloud.com/aliveandamplified-1 for a little taster of what to expect from the bands.

April will see the return of Born To Be Wide’s Wide Days. A whole host of seminars and live music in Scotland capital. Last year saw some fantastic speakers, including Gavin Bain, Keith Harris and Bruce Findlay. This years event is set to be a massive success so book your early bird tickets now from www.widedays.com and get along to Electric Circus on Thursday to find out the initial programme of speakers and bands.

Fancy a bit of live music over the weekend. Hear are some of my highlights of whats happening over the next few days.

Thursday 3rd

Matt Norris & The Moon + Kitty The Lion + Fran O’Hanlon + Caro Bridges & The River – Sneaky Pete’s

The Boxer Rebellion + We Are Augustines – Cab Vol

Friday 4th

Blank Canvas + Jump Press A + Curators – Wee Red Bar

Saturday 5th

Ben Ottewell – Cab Vol

Echo Arcadia + Selective Service + Steve Heron + Rachel Morrison – The Bongo Club

The Remnant Kings + Green Man Running + TBC + Aspen Tide – Maggie’s Chamber

Withered Hand + Zoey van Goey + O’Messy Life – Voodoo Rooms

Sunday 6th

Haftor Medboe + Renee Stephanie – The Voodoo Rooms

Monday 7th

Wombats – HMV Picturehouse

Tune in to The Sunday Sessions this Sunday for live sessions from Emelle & The Chans. 98.8FM or www.leithfm.co.uk

Join The A&A Facebook Group Here…http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alive-Amplified/110388078986930

Welcome along to the Alive & Amplified blog, again apologies about the lack of blogs in the last couple of weeks, it has been very busy round here mainly because of

Alive & Amplified presents… Aaron Wright & The Aprils + Rolled Up 20′s + The Black Tongues took place last Friday night in Maggies Chamber, I would like to thank everyone involved but especially, the bands, sound engineer, Gary Tait for doing the door, Ian Schofield for the photos (to follow) and especially everyone who came down to the gig and supported local music in Edinburgh.

The night itself got off to a  start with the first performance of newly formed band The Black Tongues. No one in the audience would have been able to tell that this was the guys first gig as they strutted their stuff on the stage. Definitely one to look out for in Edinburgh and around in the coming months.

Second on the night were the ever improving Rolled Up 20′s. Armed with a new drummer they took to stage and blew the crowd away with their infectious guitar riff and Deano’s stunningly distinctive voice. With a new EP on the way the only way is up for the Rolled Up 20′s

On headling duties were Aaron Wright & The Aprils, fresh from a two-week jaunt to Camden where they played various venues. This is the first time I have seen Aaron performing with a full band behind him and the results are fantastic. With his cheery acoustic lead indie songs Aaron has only bright things ahead, including a support tour with The Charlatans and breaking news, which may not be broken yet so I better not say too much, another support tour with a certain lady who is fond of her Skinny Jeans.

Once again thanks to everyone who made the first A&A night at Maggies Chamber a success. But this is not time to be looking to the past… to the future…

Alive & Amplified presents Emelle + The Sundancer + The Chans. Maggie’s Chamber 11th March. I have been a big fan of Emelle since the brought themselves to our attention at Leith FM. The have an amazing recorded sound but they are even more amazing live. They must be seen, so why not pop down to this one. Supporting on the night will be Glasgow based The Sundancer. As a solo act he recently played at the “Dylan Night” at The Voodoo Rooms and played an acoustic set at Nobles. The Album “5 Miles To Sunrise” is out now at all good independent record stores and is available at http://www.reverbnation.com/thesundancer. The full band will be along on the night so this is not to be missed.

Completing the line up will be one of the hardest working men in the Edinburgh music scene, Rossco Galloway brings his Chans to Maggie’s Chamber for what is sure to be a cracking set full of guitar, saxophone and melodies that could have you tone-deaf auntie singing along. Check out www.myspace.com/rosscogalloway for tracks and more info.

Ticket for this night are £4 if bought in advance from www.aliveandamplified.co.uk and will be £5 on the door.

Friday night see the 2nd annual Scottish Alternative Music Awards (SAMAs) take place. Some of our past guest on the sunday sessions are nominated for awards, including Stanley Odd for Best Live Band and The Winter Tradition up for best newcomer. I am not going to list every nominee on here and bore you. Instead head over to www.sama11.co.uk for all award nominations and vote for your favourite. Check back here on saturday for a run down of the winners.

Very exciting news on the local releases this week. Stanley Odd release the eagerly awaited follow-up to “Oddio” with “Pure Antihero Material” The band embarked on a Scottish tour last week and, despite some van troubles, tore up Scotland like only Stanley Odd can do. Get the new EP from www.stanleyodd.com NOW!!!!

Playlist 20/2/11

Pose Victorious – Cold Hands, Warm Heart (free DL @ http://posevictorious.bandcamp.com/track/cold-hands-warm-heart)

Tune Yards - Business

Mumford & Sons – Timshel (Live From The Brits)

Bosco Del Ray – Evil Lives

Midlake – Head Home

The Duke Spirit – Everybody Is Under Your Spell

Session – Obehi

Love Is Just A Pain (Live)

Oxygen

In My Head (Live)

Fool

Vaccines – Wreckin Bar (Ra Ra Ra)

Mogwai – San Pedro

No Doubt – Underneath It All

The Winter Tradition – Sending Waves

Bwani Junction – Two Bridges

Stanley Odd – Winter Of Discintent

Fireproof Match – Decay

Lip Sync For Lullaby – Nightingale Falls

White Lies – Strangers

Tame Impala – Lucidity

Tango In The Attic – Blunderground

Edward Sharp & The Magnetic Zeros – Janglin

Tune into Leith FM this weekend for The Sunday Sessions where we will be joined by Matt Norris & The Moon aswell as Night Noise Team. 98.8 and www.leithfm.co.uk/listen

While writing this blog I was listening to

Frankie & The Heartstrings – Hunger

Yuck – Yuck

PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

Hello folks, firstly apologies about the lack of blog last week. It was a hectic week. I will do two blogs this week.

First on the agenda this week I want to bring your attention to Glasgow singer/songwriter The Sundancer. With a couple of gigs coming up in the next week you should definitely make time to go and see him. He will be playing at the Voodoo Rooms on Thursday night as part of “Dylan Night” This night see a whole hose of local musicians and bands get together to celebrate the music of the great man Bob Dylan himself. If you would rather see The Sundancer performing his own stuff head along to Nobles Bar in Leith on Friday where he will be doing an acoustic set. You can also get his fantastic new album “5 Miles To Sunrise” for £5 in all good independent record shops and through Reverbnation

“Mr Haddow Fest” Hamish Jolly popped into the studio on Sunday to give us the latest on this years festival. Taking place on the 2nd & 3rd of April in various Edinburgh venues, including Maggie’s Chamber, Electric Circus, Sneaky Pete’s and this year The Corn Exchange, this year is already looking to eclipse last years offering and not only because it is now a 2 day affair. The line up boasts musical heavy weights Razorlight, Twisted Wheel and Johnny Foreigner but more exciting line it has the cream of Scottish talent on show. With such bands as The 10:04′s, The Draymin, The Stagger Rats, Any Color Black & Ok Social Club confirmed you would be mad to miss out. Get along to www.haddowfest.com for full line up and ticket details.

Another festival that is taking place a little later in the year is The Leith Festival. Booked in between 10th & 19th of June, Leith will be turned into a music, drama, poetry, arts and culture hotspot. the music strand of the entertainment has seen many bands over the years like, Little Doses, Carrie Mac, The Remnant Kings to name but a few in a very long list. If any bands are interested in playing this year please get in contact with Gary Tait on gary.tait@leithfestival.com and check out www.leithfestival for more details.

Ticket are still on sale for Alive & Amplified Presents… Aaron Wright & The Aprils + Rolled Up 20′s + The Black Tongues at Maggie’s Chamber on 18th Feb. Early bird tickets are only £4 but go off sale on the 10th so be quick. You can get them from www.aliveandamplified.co.uk

Playlist for 30/01/11

Groove Armada – Paper Romance

Chapel Club – Surfacing

Natural Child – Nobody Wants To Party With Me

The Grip – The Shamen Man

Banjo – Freakout

Live Session – The ABC Club

The ABC Club – Go Set Go (live)

The ABC Club – Thieving Magpie

The ABC Club – Friend Of Mine

Ben Otwell – Blackbird

Rico – Dawn Raid

Chapel Club – Oh Maybe I

Frank Turner – Long Live The Queen (Live)

O-S – Permanent Scar

White Lies – Bad Love

LCD Soundsytem – Someone Great

Check back here towards the end of the week where I will publish blog 2 of 2 which will feature some live gigs coming up in Edinburgh this weekend, the latest Sunday Sessions playlist and find out how you can win tickets to Alive & Amplifed Presents…

Hello from all at Alive & Amplified Tower’s firstly a big thank you to everyone who has been reading the blog in the last few weeks. Last week was had the highest number of hits yet and January is already proving the most popular month. When you do read please feel free to leave comments about what you would like to see in the blog and if you have anything that you want mentioned please don’t hesitate to drop me an email at craig@aliveandamplified.co.uk

Firstly this week it give me great pleasure to announce the line up for the first of many night A&A will be putting on at Maggie’s Chamber in Edinburgh. Playing on 18th Feb we are delighted to have Aaron Wright & The Aprils, Rolled Up 20′s and The Black Tongues playing.

Aaron Wright has gone from a solo acoustic performer a few years back to recruiting his Aprils and taking the Scottish music scene by storm. performances last year at Wide Days, Glastonbury, T In The Park and Benicassim in Spain along with the release of EP “Behold A Pale Horse” confirmed 2010 as his best year so far. He is not ready to start relaxing for 2011 though with his debut album in the can ready to go and many scheduled festival apperences in the summer expected this could be the year of the Aprils.

Rolled Up 20′s have really started to make some waves in the last 6 months, from the first ever Alive & Amplified night at Sneaky Pete’s, they have had line up changes and have started recording new material which will be debuted at this gig.

The Black Tongues are a relatively new band forming from the ashes of Sugar Daddy. Get along to see one of their first ever gigs.

These 3 bands will be playing at Maggies Chamber on Feb 18th Doors are at 7:30pm and tickets will be available soon at www.aliveandamplified.co.uk.

Playlist For The Sunday Sessions 23/01/11

Martin Solveig ft Dragonette – Hello

The Black Crowes – Jealous Again

Cold War Kids – Louder Than Ever

Session 1 – The Oates Field

The Oates Field – To The Sea (Live)

eagleOwl – Morpheus

The Oates Field – Girlfriend (Live)

The Oates Field – Black Stocking Girl

Fridge Magnets – Miss Right

Mogwai – San Pedro

The Breeders – Doe

Carrie Mac – Like A Star

Screaming Females – Wild

Adele – Rolling In The Deep

Amy Macdonald – Mr Rock n Roll

Amy Duncan – Rare & Free

Session 2 – Jump Press A

Jump Press A – Masquerade (Live)

Caroline Gilmour – Deny

Jump Press A – You Are (Live)

Aaron Shandley – I Think I Love You

Jump Press A -  Only The Brave Deserve The Fair

Neoviolet – Between The Floorboards

Tune into this weeks Sunday Sessions on Leith FM at 98.8 or www.leithfm.co.uk/listen where we will be joined by Born To Be Wide Organiser Olaf Furniss and also I am very excited that we will have The ABC Club in for an interview. This Leeds band will be playing Maggie’s Chamber on Sunday and have been tipped for big things in 2011 here are some quotes about them

“One of the most exciting of 2010′s debuts.” Rough Trade

‘artful indie full of creaky disco beats and big blooming choruses.’ NME

“the abc club exist in the space between The Smiths and The Strokes, the understated vocal of Zandra Klievens offset by the taught energy of circling guitars and snapping rhythms” Abeano Music

**NEW FEATURE**

While writing this blog this week I listened to

Funeral Party – The Golden Age Of Nowhere

Belle & Sebastian – The Boy With The Arab Strap

Hello again, this is the second blog this week to make up for missing last week. On this part 2 we will take a look at some of the local gig coming up in the next few week. Including live dates from Carrie Mac, The Stormy Seas, Aaron Wright & The Aprils and Scrap Brain.

However, we will start on a piece if sad news. It was announced at the end of last year that Hog The Stage finalist Come On Gang! would be calling it a day. This is sad news for the Edinburgh band as they have just finished recording their new album and things were looking good for 2011. Good news however is that they will be releasing the album and will all continue to be involved in music. Get along to the Album Launch/Fairwell Gig at Pilrig Church in Leith on 12th Feb and tune into The Sunday Session on Leith FM on 6th Feb from 4pm where they will be joining us in the studio.

Now on with some better news, in fact great news. Carrie Mac is currently touring the UK with X Factor winner Alexandra Burke. This is a fantastic opportunity for Carrie to play to massive crowd all over the country. This is very much deserved as Carrie has been one of the hardest working musicians in Edinburgh for the last few years. Hopefully soon I will be blogging about her headlining UK Tour. Congratulations Carrie Mac

If you are out and about this Saturday why not head along to The Store (formally GRV) where Lee Alexaander Promotions presents Hagana + Scrap Brain + Kid Fire. This is going to be a cracking gig if Hagana’s recent EP release is anything to go by. Get along early and check out Kid Fire and New Found Sounds “Friday Night At Frankies” winners Scrap Brain. This band is one of my favourite live band in Edinburgh at the minute. get along and check them out. You won’t be disappointed.

On The Sunday Sessions last week we were delighted to be joined by Aaron Wright and one of his Aprils. Aaron has been going from strength to strength in the last couple of years, playing T In The Park, Glastonbury and Bennicasim in 2010 and he, along with The Aprils will be supporting The Charlatans on their forthcoming acoustic tour. I am also very pleased to announce that Aaron Wright & The Aprils will be playing for Alive & Amplified on 18th Feb at Maggies Chamber. The rest of the line up will be announced very soon so check back to the facebook page here http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Alive-Amplified/110388078986930, on www.twitter.com/alivenamplified or at www.aliveandamplified.co.uk. Of course all details will be in up and coming blogs.

We were also joined by The Stormy Seas on this weeks show. A great band who are currently working on releasing their debut album. They were playing at Sneaky Pete’s on Monday night. Anyone who went to that will have had a great night. In more exclusive Alive & Amplified news The Stormy Seas will be playing for Alive & Amplified at Maggies Chamber on 11th March along with Emelle & Rossco Galloway. At this minute we are unsure whether Rossco will be doing his solo thing or will be playing with The Chans. Same addresses as above for deets.

Playlist for The Sunday Sessions 16/01/11

Gaslight Anthem – The 59 Sound

Darker My Love – Pharoah Sanders You

White Lies – Bigger Than Us

Live Session – The Stormy Seas

The Stormy Seas – Slow Dance

The Stormy Seas – Sea Wind

The Stormy Seas – Souls Part 1

Woodenbox With A Fistful Of Fivers – My Mule

Campfires – Chasing Planets

French Miami – Older

Florence & The Machine – The Dog Days Are Over

Live Session – Aaron Wright & The Aprils

Aaron Wright & The Aprils – Go On Yer Self

Aaron Wright & The Aprils – Trampoline

Aaron Wright & The Aprils – I’ll Be Fine

Aaron Wright & The Aprils – Takes One To Know One

Group Love – Don’t Say Oh Well

Les Savy Fav – Lets Get Out Of Here

Rolled Up 20′s – Get It On

Rubik – Laws Of Gravity

Katie & The Dull Fudds – Unknown

Sleigh Bells – Riot Rhythm

Deserter Sessions – I Want To Make It With You.

Tune into The Sunday Sessions this sunday at 4pm on 98.8 or www.leithfm.co.uk/listen where we will have The Oats Field & Jump Press A in the Studio

Anyway… January has proved to be a very popular month for bands to get into the studio and start work on their 2011 releases. In the last blog I featured some of the albums that will be coming out in the next couple of months. So this time I will focus on a few local bands who are currently recording new material.

Firstly The Winter Tradition are in the studio recording their debut album. The guys are being very strict with this recording, when I spoke to them they told me “We have loaded all our equipment into a space and lock ourselves away from the world for 9 days.” Drums, bass and guitars are all recorded and they are now working on the vocal. “Everything is sounding massive and piecing together nicely” said the band. They are recording the album themselves as they prefer to be in control of the whole process. The album is set for a summer release. If you want more details on how recording of The Winter Traditions Album head to their recording blog at www.thewintertradition.tumblr.com

Another band who are currently working on the whole recording process themselves are Glasgow’s Any Color Black. Andy & Louise are recording a double A-Side single “Fall Apart” & “You Never Listen” This double single, due out in May, will be the follow-up to the guys “The Answer” EP and “Touch Me”. if you don’t have these get over to www.anycolorblack.com and order a copy of each, you will not be disappointed. The band is heading out to Berlin this week for a gig and will be supporting the fantastic Metronomy at King Tuts this Thursday 20th Jan. Get along to this early if you have tickets.

A very new band who are currently working on their first release is The Grip. This band is so brand new they are currently looking for a drummer. They dropped their demo into me and I was very impressed with it. To me it sounded like a mash-up of smooth style Fun Lovin Criminals & Alabama 3. Not a bad thing in my ears. The Grip are looking to have the album out around Easter so look out for them playing a venue near you soon.

An EP that is recorded and ready to go is “Pure Antihero Material” from Stanley Odd. The follow-up to amazing album “Oddio” will be out on 21st Feb and the band are going out on tour to promote it. Check out www.stanleyodd.com for tour dates, EP news and find out how you can get the brand new EP & a gig ticket for only £6.50.

Here is The Sunday Session Playlist for 09/01/11

The Joy Formidable – Austere

Gorillaz – Tomorrow Comes Again

The Naked & Famous – Young Blood

Sister Crayon – Still The Same

Zoo Kid – Out Getting Ribs

The Banana Sessions – The Drunken Doormouse

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Janglin

White Lies – Bigger Than Us

Black Mountain – The Hair Song

The Vaccines – Wreckin Bar (Ra Ra Ra)

Death From Above 1979 – Sexy Results

The Oats Field – Black Stocking Girl

Come On Gang! – Wheels

The Pretty Reckless – You Make Me Wanna Die

Fever Ray – When I Grow Up

Saint Saviour – I Like To Hide (Live From The Union Chapel) Free download @ www.oursaintsaviour.fanbridge.com

Future Of The Left – Arming Eritrea

Warpaint – Shadows

French Miami – Older

Emelle – Baby

Arcade Fire – Ready To Start

Again apologies for the delay on this and check back on Thursday when blog 2 of 2 will be up. 

Welcome along to the first Alive & Amplified blog of 2011. I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year and are looking forward to some of the fantastic music that is coming out this year.

On this weeks Sunday Session we had a look at some of the most anticipated albums coming out in the next couple of months. Firstly White Lies will release the follow up to number 1 album “To Lose My Life” on Jan 17th with their new offering “Ritual”. Produced by Alan Moulder, the first single “Bigger Than Us” is out this week. The band have a lot to live up to from the success of the debut album, however if early reviews are anything to go by the masses of White Lies fans will not be disappointed. To see them live get along to Glasgow Barrowlands on 16th Feb.

Past guest on out Friday show Chapel Club will finally release their debut album on 24th Jan. Titled Palace, the long player will feature they lads hits, “Oh Maybe I”, “All The Eastern Girls” and “Five Trees”. Ian and I were delighted to have Chapel Club in the studio in 2010 when frontman Lewis Bowman explained the band already had enough songs in the tank for a follow-up. Should we expect a Coral style onslaught. Possibly not but these guys are sure to have a great year. Catch them live at King Tuts on Feb 10th

Veteran Edinburgh Rockers Mogwai will return with seventh studio album “Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will” on Valentines Day, Feb 14th (for all you non romantics out there). For a free download of current single “Rano Pano” head to www.mogwai.co.uk now and follow the link and see them live at Edinburgh’s Picture House on 21st Feb.

Another album I am looking forward ti hearing this year is the debut from Sunderland band Frankie & The Heartstrings. “Hunger” is due for release on 21st Feb. We have been playing the singles “Fragile” & “Ungrateful” for a while now on the show and I’m looking forward to hearing the rest of the track on the album which will be called “Hunger”. They don’t currently have any Scottish dates planned but I’m sure they will feature heavily at this years festivals.

Sunday Sessions Playlist 02/01/11

French Miami – Older

Big Scary – This Way

Beach House – Zebra

White Lies – Bigger Than Us

Campfires – Crime Pays

Chapel Club – All The Eastern Girls

Mogwai – Rano Pano

PJ Harvey – Soft Quennie

Stanley Odd – The Oddysey

Metronomy – Holiday

Razorlight – Kirby’s House

Space Invaders – Done It Again

Frankie & The Heartstrings – Ungrateful

Broken Records – A Leaving Song

The Strokes – Last Nite

Idlewild – You Held The World In Your Arms Tonight

Dangermouse & Sparkehorse – Revenge ft The Flaming Lips

Arcade Fire – Ready To Start

Nine Inch Nails – Everyday Is Exactly The Same

Nirvana – All Apologies

The Fatalists – Staring Into The Distance For Jesus

conversion – Party Burns

Crocodiles – Sleep Forever

In other exciting Alive & Amplified news we have just secured at monthly gig at Maggie’s Chamber which is above the 3 Sisters on the Cowgate. The First night will be on the 18th Feb. The line up will be announced very soon. Go to the facebook page for more info which is here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alive-Amplified/110388078986930