The Weight of Years

Idlewild/Fatherson – Fat Sam’s, Dundee – 30th December 2010 If you believe recent interviews, by the time you read this, Idlewild will officially be on hiatus with no plans to record or tour. Although it has to be said that last night at Fat Sam’s it looked like Roddy had knocked off a couple of…

A New Ice Age

Scars / TV21 / Ballboy / Shock and Awe – HMV Picture House, Edinburgh – 29th December 2010 Last night’s show was undoubtedly the music scene event of the festive period in Edinburgh. Promoted by Avalanche Records, legendary band the Scars reformed for their first show in more than 25 years in front of almost…

2010 LPs (Part 1)

I’d really rather be doing 2010’s live gigs tonight but since I’ve still got two potentially great nights to go this year, that will have to wait. So instead I’ve had to whittle my 40 LPs purchased down to a Top 20. Overall there have been lots of good LPs in 2010 but perhaps fewer…

2010 – Singles

There was a time when I probably bought as many, if not more, singles than LPs each year. The demise of the physical product means that all too often singles are now literally just that – single songs, which you can get on the LP. E.P.s still keep some form of short form alive but…

2010 Reissues

I can’t say that I’ve exactly spent 2010 scouring for reissues. Only 3 significant ones spring to my mind: 1. TV21 – Snakes and Ladders (Review) (Buy it) This Cherry Red compiled just about all the original official TV21 releases including, after a very long wait, the debut LP ‘A Thin Red Line’. The first…

MPT Festive Podcast 2010 #1

Over the next few days I’m going to be looking back on my best of 2010 (as well as hopefully fitting in a couple of gig reviews). In the meantime here is the first MPT Podcast to appear on Mixcloud featuring some of the artists to feature in the coming days: Manic Pop Thrills Festive…