2013 - THE ALMOST PREDICTABLES

2013 has been a great year for music with many high points including a new Depeche Mode album that refuses to stop being great, my eyes being opened to fantastic Glasgow talent (hello Machines In Heaven, Atom Tree and Nevada Base) and much much more. The blog has really taken off this year thanks to you dear reader whoever you are and it's led to me discovering so much music and making a ton of new friends. My Depeche Mode adventure in November was a particular highlight for me and it will live long in the memory - I hope you enjoyed reading about it too. There's been more to music than Depeche Mode and electronic music generally this year though so this post will allow guitars in. I'm going to give you a highlights of my year kind of thing together with a convention defying Top 19 albums of the year with an entirely unsurprising number 1. I hope you like it. Next year you'll have more of the same from me if that's quite alright with you. There'll be more Depeche Mode retrospectives, more about the frankly incredible Glasgow scene and a few more things I'm working on now that I don't want to jinx by talking about. Thanks for all your support in 2013 you beautiful lot. It really does mean a lot to me. Anyway, enough ramble. It's time for 2013's Almost Predictables.

MUSICAL MOMENT OF 2013

A tough category this one. There's been a lot to inspire me this year from a stunning Pixies gig at the Barras on 22 November, to seeing Depeche Mode return, to the Atom Tree/Machines in Heaven show in October. I am, as the blog title nearly says, almost predictable however so the Almost Predictable for musical moment of 2013 goes to Mr Martin Gore of Depeche Mode for moving me to tears by performing But Not Tonight in Dublin on 9 November. I still can't quite believe he did that. It was one of those moments where a band you love plays a song you love in a brand new way that totally changes the feeling of the song in a brilliant, brilliant way - watch the video linked in this paragraph and tell me I'm wrong. Thanks Martin.

TRACK OF THE YEAR 2013
For this award I'm ignoring Depeche Mode and in fact any of the more familiar bands that'll appear on this list. Ok, Alone by DM is great as are Pink Rabbits by the National, Before Your Very Eyes by Atoms For Peace, Lies by CHVRCHES, Came Back Haunted by NIN etc etc but as one of this blog's main tasks is looking at Glasgow's music scene, this Almost Predictable goes to Desired Effect by Atom Tree from the first class Tide Of Thorns ep. This ep really is one of this year's highlights and Desired Effect is the stand out track. If you haven't heard it you're missing out. Track of the year.

GIG OF THE YEAR
I think 2013 has been a record year for gig going as it feels like I've been to hundreds. Whenever I or my wife tell people we're off on holiday we're now routinely asked who we're going to see which is a bit harsh! We only saw two gigs on holiday this year which is surely a normal level (it IS a normal level right?). Anyway this year I've seen a lot of Depeche Mode (Munich being the highlight), CHVRCHES, Suede (a fantastic night at the Barras), Machines In Heaven, Atom Tree, Frightened Rabbit and many many more but the stand out was the Pixies at the Barras on 22 November. Unbelievable. 90 minutes and 34 songs of the utmost quality including Planet of Sound which nearly tore the roof off. They've still got it, in fact they've got much more of what it is than many other bands have.

WATCH THIS LOT AWARD 2013
A real joy this year was the Glasgow Jihad ep by Machines In Heaven who you've heard me bang on about a lot and with much justification. The promise shown by the ep is backed up by the new tracks the band are currently playing live and 2014 should hopefully see their much anticipated debut album arrive. The Almost Predictable for watch this lot goes therefore to Machines In Heaven. Watch them. A lot.

RECORD SHOP OF THE YEAR
LoveMusic in Glasgow. Simple as that. Not only do they put up with me looking for Depeche Mode singles but they also tweet me to tell me when they're in. THAT is service. Plus Record Store Day there was a real treat with Sandy laying on coffees for those of us daft enough to queue from 7.30am. Loads of vinyl, regular in store live shows and a pinball machine - if you haven't been there go there immediately

PODCAST OF THE YEAR
The Almost Predictable for this goes to my mate Glen Hammarstrom for the frankly brilliant Breathing In Fumes which is a Depeche Mode podcast that provides rare tracks and interviews from Glen's personal stash adding them to classic tracks, live tracks and much more. If you have even the slightest interest in Depeche Mode you really want to get into this. Honourable mention in this category for the Scottish Fiction podcast which is a real joy for all lovers of new Scottish music.

Only 6 Almost Predictables but I hope you agree that they're all justified. If Martin Gore wants to get in touch I'll arrange to hand over his award personally ;) Anyway, to round off this mini review of the year here are my top 19 albums of the year in a vaguely proper order.

19:  Friends In America - What It Is To Be
A Glasgow based band channelling the spirit of Johnny Marr at his Smiths peak and The Sundays
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/FriendsInAmerica

18: David Bowie - The Next Day
After the majestic Where Are We Now it was something of a surprise to get such a rock based album. The fact it harked back to the likes of Lodger made it a real treat though. The surprise of learning Bowie was back was a highlight of the year in itself

17: Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away
A fairly minimalist album by Nick Cave's standards but a real beauty containing a genuine classic in Jubilee Street

16: British Sea Power - Machineries Of Joy
They never fail to disappoint. A less bombastic affair than usual but still a very very good album

15: Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
Worth the hype? Perhaps not however there is still much to enjoy on this album. Get Lucky despite the fact it is easily this year's most overplayed track is a belter and whilst there are a few duffers on here there are enough solid tracks to make this one of the top 19.

14: Boards Of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest
The mysterious electrobods returned with a typically cryptic promo campaign and a typically cryptic album. You really can lose yourself in this record. It was worth the hype.

13: Factory Floor - Factory Floor
Coming on like a lovechild of LCD Soundsystem and Low Life era New Order, Factory Floor's full length debut really is a danceable beast. I'm finding it very hard to (1) stop playing it and (2) stop grooving aroudn my kitchen when listening to it which believe it or not is a compliment

12: Atoms For Peace - Amok
Ah Thom you've done it again. My fear was that the inclusion of Flea would involve this sounding like the Red Hot Chilli Peppers but that was soon dismissed. A really great album somewhere between The Eraser and Amnesiac which is very much no bad thing

11: Randolph's Leap - Real Anymore
This really was a great discovery this year. Randolph's Leap take the humour of The Smiths and the sound of Belle & Sebastian (albeit less smug) and turn out great song after great song. This mini album contains some real crackers such as the title track and the Derek Acora referencing Psychic. You have to check this out - you will love it

10: Sigur Ros - Kveikur
Sigur Ros decided to move away from the almost fully ambient feel of their last record and turn on their guitars making this a loud almost rock like in places album. It's one of those albums that really grabs you much their live show at the SECC this year which showcased the tracks perfectly.

9: Arcade Fire - Reflektor
Along with DM and Radiohead, Aracde Fire are a real favourite of mine. Reflektor is a great album although it is maybe a song too long. There's a lot to love on here though from the title track to the brilliant Afterlife. You can hear James Murphy's influence throughout too which is of course a very good thing

8: Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks
Trent's back and whilst he's not as angry as he used to be he's still pretty annoyed. Brilliant stuff

7: Pet Shop Boys - Electric
Well who was expecting that? Neil and Chris decided to head back to the Disco (deliberate pun ;) ) and it really worked. Electric zips by at a pace that belies the boys' age with the only drop out being the appearance of the hideous Example on Thursday. Other than that it's their best since Very

6: Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse
This year saw Frightened Rabbit jump up a league or two thanks not only to Radio 1's patronage and a series of increasingly big sold out shows but due to Pedestrian Verse which is one of their strongest sets of songs to date. Backyard Skulls and The Oil Slick are particular stand outs for me and their live shows this year were fantastic.

5: Suede - Bloodsports
We all thought Suede were long gone and certainly their previous album A New Dawn was as far away from the beauty of Dog Man Star as you could get. Bloodsports is a hugely impressive comeback however and shows a band right back on form. A real treat.

4: Arctic Monkeys - AM
Fantastic. Simple as that!

3: The National - Trouble Will Find Me
What an album. Whilst it may not have the consistency of High Violet, Trouble Will Find Me is a fabulous collection of songs featuring a genuine classic in Pink Rabbits. The National really are developing into a fascinating band and they're only going to get better and better. Make time in your life for this album

2: CHVRCHES - The Bones Of What You Believe
I've already given this a full review ( see here ) and my opinion hasn't changed at all. A must have.

1: Depeche Mode - Delta Machine
What else was it going to be eh? After the mainly dull Sounds Of The Universe I was worried that Depeche's creative juices had run out - how wrong I was. Delta Machine is a fantastic record containing some of the band's best songs in a decade or more. They've no right to still be this good you know. The live shows this year were so impressive too. Bands half their age should take heed.

So that's that - 2013 in a nutshell. Thanks again for reading and see you next year!

Glasgow Endless - Glasgow's Electronic Music Revolution

Despite its rich musical history, Glasgow has never been particularly well known for electronic music. The club scene has always been vibrant with legendary names such as the Sub Club and Optimo leading the way from the 90's onwards but the live music scene has predominantly been guitar based. Recently, a number of bands have appeared, most notably CHVRCHES, and Glasgow electronic bands are starting to generate huge interest. I caught up with 4 of these bands (Machines In Heaven, Nevada Base, Prides and Analog Angel) to find out more about them and how they see electronic music in the city. Initially, I should declare something if a personal interest here. My band Western Electric gigged around Glasgow from 1997-2000 and we found we were an anomaly on the live circuit. All we had were synths and vocals - people were genuinely mystified at the lack of bass or drums. The recent increase in the number of electronic bands playing live therefore has really excited me. John Brown of Analog Angel has a similar tale albeit his band (then known as Dr Strangelove) had been around since the late 1980's. John recalls Dr Strangelove playing live a few times but any gigs or the scene itself were very much word of mouth only. Over the last few years more and more venues have become receptive to live shows with Bloc, Nice N Sleazy, Broadcast, Stereo and Classic Grand putting on shows. King Tuts is catching up too with Prides (30 July) and Nevada Base (2 August) soon playing shows there. Who are all these bands though? Let's find out a bit more.

THE BANDS

NEVADA BASE

Nevada Base first came to my attention when I saw them support New Build at what was The Captain's Rest last year. I was blown away by their mix of electronics and live instruments which created a sound that immediately brought to mind the likes of LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip and Talking Heads. This is no band of copyists however - Nevada Base have their own sound as their most recent single Foresight (see review here) showed. Albert, the band's lead singer, cites DFA acts and Talking Heads as influences but adds Kraftwerk, hip hop and even a hint of reggae to the mix. That's the beauty of not only Nevada Base but all the bands I'm looking at. There are so many interesting influences there and they all produce fantastic electronic music. Interestingly, the Foresight ep features a remix of the title track by Machines In Heaven's Magic Daddy. As a fan of both bands I think that's really cool as it's great to see them working together.

The band started off as Albert Kawmi (vocals), Andrew Brown (guitar) and Gus who were joined by Johannes who in Albert's words "pushed (them) to record a demo." Johannes moved back to his native Berlin and Gus moved on but the band continued to gig adding Calum Muir on drums and James Vorley on synths and samples and that line up is still going today. Most recently (28 July) they played a very well received show at the Merchant City festival and will be gigging regularly over the next couple of months.  I asked Albert how the band fared when they first played live in Glasgow given their set-up. Did he find they were treated differently?

"Yeah, it was definitely more noticeable before we had a drummer on stage. Sequenced beats gave it a different feel. Even now with a live drummer soundchecks are different because of the multiple electronic elements. It's not as straightforward as a power punk trio!"

(APA) "What about the current electronic scene in Glasgow? Would you say it's booming?"

"I wouldn't say it's booming because it feels like it's been pretty good for years! Great club nights, high quality local and touring DJ's and electronic acts. Just lots of good sounds. It's a wonderful city for any type of music."

He's not wrong. Nevada Base are a band that with any luck will become a mainstay of the Glasgow music scene and like the rest of the bands I'm looking at I really hope they'll inspire other electronic acts to have a go at playing live. The immediate future for the band is clear. There are more gigs in the pipeline and another one or two EP's. I'll of course be reviewing them as and when I get them and I'm sure I'll be telling you all to get your hands on them. Finally, the band recently remixed New Build's False Thing which you can grab for free here. It's a really impressive remix that for me betters the original.

MACHINES IN HEAVEN
Machines in Heaven are a band who mix live electronics with almost My Bloody Valentine like guitar to create some of the best new electronic music I've heard for quite some time. I really must insist you get the Glasgow Jihad ep (link) as its three tracks (The National Monument, Mumbo Jingo and bordersbreakdown) display all their qualities perfectly. You can read my review of it here. Their influences vary from The Pixies, through The Cure and Radiohead to Mogwai, rave and all forms of bass. It's maybe my oversensitive ears but I hear elements of Depeche Mode there too and that is of course no bad thing.

The band formed a couple of years ago when Graham "Great I Am" and Greg "Magic Daddy" Hurst started writing and producing, Davey "Blood Blood" Gwynne and Conor "Yutani" Reid then joined to complete the live set up and the band started gigging. Recently they've played at the T Break stage at T In the Park and the Wickerman festival with more gigs to come including an appearance at the Doune the Rabbit Hole festival. They make the transition from the studio set up to the live stage sound effortless and are of course a must see. I asked them how they find the current live electronic scene in Glasgow:-

"The club scene is one of the strongest in the UK but for the live circuit it's different with some punters and venues less interested in the electronic scene. However, we've seen some great electronic nights at Bloc, Broadcast and Stereo recently so it's getting better all the time."

The band have also recently finished recording their debut album "bordersbreakdown" which I am very excited to hear. There'll be a couple of EP's along too with the band promising "one taster and one of new stuff." They've also been hard at work on a few remixes so basically you're going to be hearing a lot of them which is a very good thing. Call them a supergroup, call them electro influenced, call them rave/bassss/Eno or whatever you want - if there is any justice Machines In Heaven are going to be big and you should get into them now.

ANALOG ANGEL
Analog Angel are John Brown (vocals), Derek MacDonald (synths) and Ian Ferguson (synths). Kicking off in the late 80's as Dr Strangelove, the band were on  hold for a while until their video for Why Do You Do on youtube was discovered by a DJ/Promoter from Israel who liked what he saw and asked them if they'd like to support Depeche Mode in Israel. Unsurprisingly they jumped at it. New demos were recorded and whilst the Depeche slot sadly didn't come off, the momentum was there and Analog Angel were born. Of all the bands I'm profiling Analog Angel have the most electronic approach as it were given that they are simply synths and vocals. John's vocals range from a booming mix of Dave Gahan and Douglas McCarthy to a gentler croon whilst the music veers from almost DAF like EBM through Nitzer Ebb, Depeche Mode, ReCoil, Nine Inch Nails and more. Their most recent EP Pride is well worth checking out and my review of it is here.

Analog Angel have been gigging around Glasgow for a few years now and have also played prestigious shows at the BAS festival and Moritzbastei in Leipzig a huge outdoor electronic music festival. To their credit they have a significant global following now but like Machines In Heaven, Analog Angel initially found the Glasgow scene a little less receptive than it is now. John Brown says

"We eventually ground promoters down and they gave us gigs alongside rock and indie bands. It's safe to say we didn't go down well! We were fortunate to know Barry Douglas at the Classic Grand which is a cracking venue and he is the top promoter for our kind of music in Scotland."

The band are already two albums into their career with Dischord and The Thin Line both appearing in the last couple of years. Their style has mellowed a little from the initial harder almost industrial sound they had and the Pride EP mixes all the styles mentioned above with some poppier elements reminiscent of Yazoo and even (sorry John!) early OMD. John is keen to push not only Analog Angel but also all other electronic acts in Glasgow:

"I would love to part of a collective effort to put Glasgow electronic music on the map. Right now would be a great time with CHVRCHES popularity"

It's a great idea and one we're keen on here. Before that though, Analog Angel are focusing on album number three and you'll see a review of that here as soon as I get my hands on it. If they continue going the way they're going, it will be something very special indeed.

PRIDES
Prides are the newest kids on the block of the four bands I'm looking at and indeed at the time of writing only have one song available online but if that song (Out Of The Blue - here) is an indication of where the band are headed their future is a very bright one. Starting off as Midnight Lion, Stew and Lewis recruited Callum to help out live and once he started writing them they became Prides.  The band aren't frightened to show off their pop roots and with influences as diverse as "80's pop bands, modern pop, Roxy Music, Taylor Swift, Jimmy Eat World and Blink 182" informing their sound you get the most synthpop oriented sound of all the bands here and I love that. Out Of The Blue is instantly catchy and deserves to be huge.

In common with the other bands, Prides found the electronic scene in Glasgow to be difficult at first:

"When we started as Midnight Lion we certainly felt we were out on a limb somewhat not exclusively because of the electronic tag but certainly the synthpop one. Recently there's much more understanding and excitement around electronic stuff coming out of Scotland in general."

Which is of course no bad thing at all. Going forward, as well  as their Prides and Friends night at King Tuts (30 July) the band have played at Wickerman and will be gigging a lot more including slots on the BBC Introducing Stages at the Leeds Festival (23 August) and Reading Festival (25 August). You should really get out and see them. They are still deciding on the next single but if it's as good as Out Of The Blue we're in for a treat.

MUSIC FOR THE MASSES?
CHVRCHES increasing popularity means that there is a focus on the Glasgow electronic scene that we haven't had before and their debut album in September will only make that focus more intense. Luckily we have the bands above and the likes of Miaoux Miaoux, Atom Tree and many more who are all contributing to a vibrant scene making these really exciting times for electronic music fans both in Glasgow and beyond. Hopefully the success of CHVRCHES will help these bands succeed too and Glasgow will join other legendary electronic music cities as one of the true homes of electronic music.

Thank you to all the bands for answering my questions, to Ally and to Clair at Piggyback Management.



(c)David McElroy/Almost Predictable. Almost. 

Nevada Base - Foresight review

Nevada Base are back with a fantastic new release Forseight which appears on the Black Lantern label, a label you should all be checking out. I was first introduced to Nevada Base when they supported New Build at the Captain's Rest in Glasgow last year and I was blown away by them to be perfectly honest. I was certainly excited to see New Build but Nevada Base managed to steal my attention from the main act. If you get the chance to see them live then make sure you go.

To the new ep then (cover above) on which Foresight is the lead track. In previous press Nevada Base have been talked of as influenced by DFA acts and having a Talking Heads feel and whilst these elements are present here there is much more to Nevada Base than than. Albert's vocals have a David Byrne feel to them and musically there is certainly an LCD Soundsystem/Talking Heads vibe there but there are bits of disco, synthpop and even a little bit of funk and plenty of cowbell which is of course a very good thing. Overall if we are to draw a comparison to something I'd say Foresight reminds me of Eno's Before and After Science album in feel and mood.

The song itself is propelled by a top notch bass line which demands that you move to the music. It starts off at a gentle pace building to a belting chorus, exploding into synthy gorgeousness and even throwing in a vocoder part and that's just the first two minutes. There's a lot going on here but it all works. It's a great track and I highly recommend you get it. The b-side (in old money) is Hindsight is a slower, dubbier track which is more electronic than Foresight and borrows nicely from the main tracks melody. Clever stuff. There are two remixes of Foresight here too. First up there is Magic Daddy's Quantum Enmanglement which is a remix by Magic Daddy of both Magic Daddy and Machines in Heaven fame. This is a cracking remix that splashes Magic Daddy's brand of electronica all over the lead track and I mean that in a good way. Last up is the Raketenbus Remix which is a slow building almost wholly electronic take on the track by former member Johannes. Both remixes are excellent takes on the track.

Overall, the Foresight ep is a top notch and hopefully a sign of things to come from Nevada Base. You really should go and get it. I've added the links below.

http://nevadabase.bandcamp.com/album/foresight-single-2
https://soundcloud.com/nevadabase