Music/Arts: Pop Boutique/Do It!
March 10, 2010
Pop Boutique: Saturday 13 & Sunday 14 March | 22 Schoolhill | 10am-5pm| Free
Do It!: Saturday 13 March | The Tunnels | 9pm | £3
A couple of events this weekend in aid of social care charity VSA:
First up, in the old Harley Clothing store at 22 Schoolhill, Pop Boutique (Facebook event page) gives you the chance to buy exclusive pieces from young Scottish artists, designers and creative bods…
Then it’s off down The Tunnels from 9pm on the Saturday for an afterparty courtesy of the Do It! crew. A move from their regular haunt of Cellar 35 means they can kick up things a notch, so expect all the things they’re good at (great visuals, eclectic selectors, funk, house, 80s tunes, dancing, artwork, that kind of stuff) to be somewhat multiplied and amplified, which, to state the screamingly obvious, is a good thing. Soundtracked by Do It! resident White Chocolate alongside guest Kid Bell, the night also sees the launch of the Aberdeen Sketch Book project (look! another Facebook event page). Aye, this lot know how to fuse art and music together alright. More power to them…
Music: Indian Red Lopez Interview & Video
February 25, 2010
Guitars, electronics and visuals outfit Indian Red Lopez are of the brightest prospects from round these parts right now, and last year’s Castles Incomplete EP turned more than a few heads on its release. With an appearance at the Fence Homegame festival on the horizon, we asked frontman Mike Chang what they’re up to at the moment and to introduce a cool little video edit they’ve been working on…
We’ve featured IRL on the site a few times now, but for the slower ones up the back, tell us a bit about yourselves:
We’re just 5 lads from Aberdeenshire and one from the arse end of nowhere (!!), who’ve come together to make music and art, put it all together and present it as (hopefully) an all-round audio/visual experience. It’s what we’ve wanted to do from the very beginning, it’s just taken us a while to get where we are musically, and into our frame of mind (whatever that may be). Incorporating the visual relevance of it all can take time too, we’re always trying to figure out better/more effective, interesting ways of presenting our visual ideas.
Photo: Neil Henderson
Music: Errors, Marionettes, Min Diesel
February 22, 2010
Friday 26 February | The Lemon Tree | 8pm | £8.50 Tickets
Glasgow instrumentalists Errors’ soon-to-be released second album ‘Come Down With Me’ sounds like that Channel 4 show you pretend you don’t watch if said in a clipped, 70s sitcom upper-class English accent: Come Dine with me. Let’s go Dine to my Hice. Hmmm. Kind of works. I’ll leave it in anyway. I’ll read it back later and wonder what the hell I was on about though. Guaranteed.
Anyway, Errors are signed to Mogwai’s Rock Action label and their new stuff is a pretty glorious mix of synths, guitars and driving drums which draws on krautrock, house, funk and post-rock with some big, swirling sounsdcapery thrown in for good measure. Check out their ace, bouncy, new single (out today, Mon 22nd) below. F**k knows what’s going on in the video though…
Support comes from tight, melodic and energetic local indie types Marionettes and the mysterious Min Diesel.
Music: Incoming!
February 17, 2010
Here are a few shows over the next couple of weeks which get the Giant Kiosque Foam Thumb pointing skywards in approval (click band names for MySpaces etc)…
Friday 26 February | The Lemon Tree | 8pm | £8.50 Tickets
Errors, Marionettes, Min Diesel
Fantastic Glasgow electronica ‘n’ guitars outfit
Saturday 27 February | The Tunnels | 7pm | £5 Tickets
There Will Be Fireworks, Lions.Chase.Tigers, Farewell Singapore
Superb Scottish post-rock band and really good support – Cancelled (to be rescheduled)
Thursday 4 March | The Tunnels | 7.30pm | £5 Tickets
Copy Haho, Moon Unit, Kuda
First Aberdeen show for a while from the Stonehaven indie-pop dudes
Sunday 7 March | The Tunnels | 8pm | £10 Tickets
Richmond Fontaine, Alana Levandoski
Critically-acclaimed Americana from Portland, Oregon
Wednesday 10 – Sunday 14 March | The Blue Lamp | Various Tickets
Aberdeen Jazz Festival
The Jazz Festival is back!
Boom! There is no Giant Kiosque Foam Thumb by the way. Wish there was. Local foam thumb-makers are welcome to get in touch however…
Music: The Deep End
February 12, 2010
Saturday 13 February | Snafu | 11pm | £6/£3 before 12
Some of the city’s best up-and-coming talents join regular Saturday night resident Funky Transport down Snafu way this weekend. Expect quality underground house in all its shapes and forms. Pre-party upstairs in The Athenaeum from 9pm with discount/free passes on offer too…
Music: Jeans Team
February 4, 2010
Friday 5 February | The Tunnels | 9pm | £6/£5
Jeans Team are an electro/house band from Berlin. You’ve already heard them. Remember that landmark 2ManyDJs mix album a few years ago? Remember the ‘Keine Melodien’ bit? That was them. Anyway, they’re playing tomorrow (Friday) at The Tunnels as part of a flying visit to Scotland and following the show will be new indie/electro/retro night The Polar Bear Club with DJs Ross Calder & JJ Bull. Sounds like a good way to limber up for the Live at the Beach show on Saturday…
Music: Live At The Beach
February 1, 2010
Saturday 6 February | Beach Ballroom | 7pm | £7.50
Aye, you can breathe easy, it’s indoors. Not actually on the beach…
The Beach Ballroom is criminally underused but remains one of the city’s iconic venues, I mean, how many places these days still have a sprung dancefloor? Boing! Yup, this is going to be good, if you’ve any interest whatsoever in the local music scene then get yourselves along …
The line-up? Well, it’s not too much of a stretch to say that these are four of the best indie bands in Aberdeen, all of whom we’ve featured on The Kiosque at some point or other:
After finally releasing debut album ‘Boxing Clever’ last year, it’s a bit of a mystery as to why Steven Milne and his cohorts’ brand of angular indie-pop still hasn’t seen them become very big indeed. Fine. We’ll keep them to ourselves then. Totally polished, hook-laden melodies that will sound superb in this room. Guaranteed.
One of the most exciting new bands to come out of the North-East in years, Indian Red Lopez’s ‘Castles Incomplete’ EP caused a bit of a buzz on release, and quite rightly too. Beats, electronics and good old-fashioned geetars melt together in a totally intoxicating, mesmerising way. Back in the studio, and recently added to the sold-out Fence Records Homegame festival in March, 2010 will be the year of the Lopez.
Shimmery, sunny indie-pop with a capital (sorry) POP, this lot will make you think you’re next to the Pacific Ocean rather than the North Sea. Already featured on Steve Lamacq’s BBC6 Music show and with appearances at Rockness, Belladrum and Wizard under their belts, their stock will rise even higher this year. If there’s any justice in this world.
Ploughing a slightly rockier furrow than the other bands on the bill. Anthemic, powerful, stomping indie-rock which should be a great way to open the show.
We’re also promised visuals from the always excellent M.O.C/Do It! crew which will only add to the sense of occasion. This is a great chance to prove how healthy the scene is up here, if you’ve got any friends who usually only turn out for the big touring bands, take them along to this. They won’t be disappointed.
Music: Liquid Liquid (DJ Set), Findo Gask & more
January 30, 2010
Sunday 31 January | Snafu | 9pm | £6
A little reminder for this one, the second of The Dirty Hearts Club’s 4th Birthday nights (Thursday with the Filthy Dukes was a stormer by all accounts). There’s a wee bit more info in our previous post here (the competition’s closed now, obviously). Get down early to catch Findo Gask live. Good band…
Music: Haiti Fundraiser
January 28, 2010
Thursday 28 January | 99 Bar & Kitchen | 8pm | £5 (Donations)
Tonight (Thursday)! Great cause. Nice bar. Excellent line-up of DJs. What’s not to like?
Music/Competition: Dirty Hearts Club 4th Birthday
January 21, 2010
We’ve got a great prize to give away for this, but more of that later…
I’d imagine quite a few of you reading this have been to the Dirty Hearts Club down Snafu way at some point; it’s a beacon of good taste on a Thursday night, I mean check out some of the bands and DJs who’ve played there on their myspace. Pretty impressive.
Anyway, they’re celebrating their fourth birthday in style with two cracking nights which encapsulate the club’s eclectic nature perfectly…
