JO MANGO & FRIENDS - WRACK LINES

Jo Mango's new e.p. Wrack Lines sees her and four leading Scottish singer-songwriters explore the dichotomy that exists between being a musician on the road and the toll that touring takes on the environment. Jo became conscious of her own personal carbon footprint as she toured America by plane and road in 2007, causing her to fully consider the sustainability (or unsustainability) of life on the road. Wrack Lines is an e.p. immersed in these concerns, from its superb artwork that uses the tracked movements of each artist throughout the 2015 festival season, to each track's lyrical concerns, making it, not only a superb e.p, but also something to really cause you to consider your own environmental impact. Above all else though, it's a wonderful example of fine songwriting.

Opener Loneliness and Rhythm featuring Admiral Fallow's Louis Abbot is an intimate duet between he and Jo, with the vocals almost whispered to each other over a stark but atmospheric musical accompaniment. RM Hubbert pops up on the next track, Sustain, which is a quite lovely, dreamlike track, delicate but captivating. My personal favourite, Believe Me, I Know featuring the ever excellent The Pictish Trail, is a superb pop number. It features The Pictish Trail's usual collection of bleeps, beeps and vintage drum machines, with Jo's vocals sounding like they're beamed in from another planet almost like, and forgive the comparison but it IS a good one, the radio style vocals you hear in Buggles Video Killed The Radio Star. Trust me on this and while you're at it, admit you love that song too. The lyrics are superb too, documenting the tension the musicians feel between life on the road and wondering if all the hassle is worth it ("Playing to literally tens of people...just to cover my travel home."). Jo goes solo for the fourth track The Sky Exploded, a beautiful, warm ballad which recalls the Icelandic ash cloud and its effects on travel plans in 2010, telling the tale of a a cancelled flight to Spain proving the catalyst for a road trip. The e.p. ends in another duet, this time with Rachel Sermanni, and the track, Bitter Fruit, is a fitting end to an excellent release. Definitely an e.p. you'll want to hear.

Jo Mango & Friends Wrack Lines ep is out today on Olive Grove Records on cd and download via their Bandcamp page. All profits from this release will go to Creative Carbon Scotland and their work to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland.

Olive Grove Bandcamp https://olivegrove.bandcamp.com/album/wrack-lines-2

Jo Mango Facebook https://www.facebook.com/JoMangoOfficial/?fref=ts

SCOTTISH MUSIC IN 2016 - WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TO

I wasn't going to do this as many others have already taken care of this topic, most notably Murray Easton's superb post on his Everything Flows blog where he lists 16 things to look out for this year. Have a read of that as there's loads of good stuff there. Anyway, I keep getting emails about new things and reading about bands and their forthcoming releases so, in no order particularly, these are a few things I'm keeping an eye out for this year:

1. New NightSchool records magic

In a recent interview I did with Michael Kasparis, he mentioned that 2016 will see new releases from Happy Meals, Apostille, Molly Nilsson and two as yet unnamed artists. It's also the label's 5th anniversary and it keeps going from strength to strength

2. A new Machines In Heaven album

Easily one of the intriguing electronic bands around, Machines In Heaven's second album promises to have a more experimental feel than their bordersbreakdown debut. It's going to be superb - that's guaranteed

3. Twissted

One of my favourite electronic bands and one who are definitely going to grab a lot of attention this year, Twissted will be releasing a new e.p. and touring this year. Not to be missed.

4. The Insomniac Project

You've read all about them here already (here and here) and you're going to read a lot more about them this year in many more places. There's a reason James Murphy got scared and brought LCD Soundsystem out of hiding you know...

5. Kill The Waves

The band are due to record their second album for the rather lovely Bloc Music label and, if it's anything like debut The One That Could Have Been it's going to be splendid. Read all about it and Bloc Music's forthcoming plans here http://blocmusic.org/news/happy-new-year/

6. King Tut's New Year's Revolution

This is basically the best of new Scottish music crammed into one legendary venue, spread over 16 nights. The gig on 13 January featuring Tongues and Machines In Heaven looks unmissable (http://www.kingtuts.co.uk/gig-info/?gig=6862) but there are so many wonderful bands to see over the length of the event (7 January to 23 January) that you'd be best advised to take residence in King Tut's an enjoy the whole lot. The Apache Darling headline set on 20 January (http://www.kingtuts.co.uk/artist-biog/?artist=6870) is also bound to be a belter. I've seen them play King Tut's before and they were magnificent.

7. Chvrches at the Hydro on 2nd April

This is obviously going to one of the gigs of the year. A hometown show, a Saturday night and The Twilight Sad on the bill. Ridiculous. 

8. The Twilight Sad

I missed the Barrowlands gig sadly but I'm making up for it a bit by seeing them at the Chvrches show and then in Berlin later on in the year supporting The Cure. The fact that Robert Smith handpicked them to support on a sold out worldwide arena tour is amazing, The Twilight Sad are going to make thousands of new fans this year.

9. Other blogs

I'm going to be immersed in an all consuming Depeche Mode project until the end of March meaning my writing about new Scottish bands will suffer. But, there are far better places to read about that anyway and blogs like Everything Flows, Gold Flake Paint, Podcart and of course one of my other homes and, frankly, one of the best music blogs there is full stop Scottish Fiction will more than take care of your needs. The job these blogs do in promoting new music can't be ignored - go and read them all. 

After you've read this obviously

10. HQFU

This blog's Best New Band of 2015 is going to have a huge year. A new ep, a tour and no doubt more majestic electronic wonderfulness awaits.

11. Call To Mind and The Son(s) at the Glad Cafe on 30 January

Two of the brilliant Olive Grove Records finest bands playing a gig in a great venue about 5 minutes from my house - how cool is that? Just needs a Martin Gore DJ support to top it off. Maybe you can call him Lloyd? Tickets here http://www.musicglue.com/the-glad-cafe/events/30-jan-16-independent-venue-week-call-to-mind--the-sons-the-glad-cafe/

There are 11 things for you to mull over. I could have gone on and mentioned the inevitable rise of Kloe, a new Friends In America album, Hot Gem continuing to put out some of the most inventive electronic music there is, the SAYS, the BAMS and more but I had to stop eventually. An in-depth analysis of the samples used on the Death Mix of Fly On The Windscreen won't write itself. 

All I would add is that, as far as I can recall, there has never been a better and more fertile music scene in Scotland than we have at the moment. Go and check all of it out, buy the records (at Love Music Glasgow and Monorail), see the bands, read the blogs and enjoy it. 2016 is going to be quite superb.

WOODENBOX - FOREIGN ORGAN

As I've no doubt said before, Olive Grove Records is a label that keeps releasing outstanding music seemingly effortlessly. The label's latest gem is Foreign Organ, the new album by Woodenbox which brings to mind the likes of Mercury Rev, Wilco and The Beatles while retaining a distinctly Scottish feel and sound, producing a quite marvellous album that should soundtrack everyone's summer.

In comparison to their previous works, Foreign Organ is a confident, in places muscular beast. Opener Somewhere New starts proceedings off gently mixing a beautiful piano line with vocal harmonies and Deserter's Songs-like horns before Life Decays enters changing the mood, bringing a full on pop feel to the album. It's a hugely impressive song, especially around a minute in when a full on horns attack takes the song to a new dimension. It's one of many tracks here that are instantly unforgettable and one that you can well imagine increasingly large crowds losing it to.  More Girl Than Friend calls upon the assistance of label mates Alex and Cat from Skinny Dipper to lend female voices to a song about a friendship that has nothing left but lust. It's an absolute joy with a chorus most bands would die for. The band then go almost all out pop with Roberto which is propelled along on the sort of guitar line that Idlewild used to do well. Again, it's a song that surely can't fail to connect with any audience that hears it. A9 North then slows the pace, a piano led song telling a story of plans being made on a journey which fits in nicely with the feeling of post referendum blues the band felt partly drove the album.

One of my highlights of the album is the next track Directions And My Boy, a father's message to his son that features some quite wonderful Beatles like harmonies that are beautiful. The song has a distinct Paul McCartney in his louder moments feel and that's echoed by the next track Face Able which is another of the standouts here. It's a diatribe against internet dependency, which kicks off like an angry Daytripper before one of the most memorable choruses I've heard in a good while lands, turning the whole song into a riot of pop joy. The irony of writing a review on a blog that will be linked to on Facebook and Twitter whilst singing "He became obsessed with being liked" is not lost on me I must say. The beautiful Carbon Mold follows before Rust arrives, bouncing along on a piano line that makes you jump about in your seat without realising you're doing it. It's an outstanding track and it just makes you smile. The feeling of post referendum blues returns with closer Scotland, a lament for a country that could have been, but one that remains optimistic and dreams of change in the future.

Foreign Organ is a quite remarkable album really. I've played it numerous times today and not just in that excited way you play a great album when you first hear it and love it. I'll play Foreign Organ many more times over the forthcoming months and years because it is one of those albums like, for example as referred to earlier, Deserter's Songs, that has a timeless quality that will mean it will be with you for years to come on many journeys, be they on the A9 or elsewhere. Go and get this album.

Foreign Organ by Woodenbox is released on 8 June on Olive Grove Records and is available on green 12" vinyl, cd and digital download. Stream the album now at The Skinny (http://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/playlists/listen-woodenbox-premieres-foreign-organ) and head along to the launch party at Nice N Sleazy in Glasgow on 5 June.

Olive Grove Records http://www.olivegroverecords.com/  

Olive Grove Records Facebook https://www.facebook.com/olivegroverecords?fref=ts

Woodenbox Facebook https://www.facebook.com/woodenboxband?fref=ts

HENRY & FLEETWOOD - ON THE FOREST FLOOR E.P.

Olive Grove Records is a label I love. It has a beautifully diverse range of artists from the magnificent soundscapes produced by the wonderful Call To Mind to the supremely catchy pop folk of Skinny Dipper. New signings Henry & Fleetwood are a welcome addition to the label's roster and their debut e.p. On The Forest Floor is an intriguing and quite lovely release.

Henry & Fleetwood are a duo comprising Martin Henry of De Rosa and Gillian Fleetwood of State Broadcasters. The e.p, as the title and cover art (above) belie, has a pastoral feel throughout with songs that evoke the Scottish countryside, viewing it as an escape from the day to day drag of urban life. Combining harp, acoustic guitars and synths, the songs sound like a soundtrack to a lost weekend in a quiet rural part of the country but that's not to say this is an e.p. that doesn't posses a certain power or darkness. All four tracks (On The Forest Floor, Forestry, Timber, Perfect Mess) manage to sound melancholic yet uplifting at the same time and, as you all know, that is what makes the very best music. Timber is my favourite track from the e.p. with its combination of folk and pop producing something quite unique but, overall the release works best heard as one piece rather than individual tracks. Repeated listens reveal more and more layers to the tracks too - this is very clever and very impressive music.

On The Forest Floor is out on Olive Grove Records  on 13 April on limited edition cd and download. There is also an e.p. release show tomorrow, April 11, at The Glad Cafe.

Olive Grove Records Facebook https://www.facebook.com/olivegroverecords?fref=ts

Henry & Fleetwood Facebook https://www.facebook.com/henryandfleetwood?fref=ts

SKINNY DIPPER - MASKS EP

Skinny Dipper are the newest addition to the impressive Olive Grove Records roster and, on 8 September, their Mask e.p. is released on download and limited edition vinyl. The 9 piece "almost a girl group" (8 girls, 1 boy) are made up of members of Randolph's Leap, Blochestra, Quickbeam and many more and together they create a perfect late summer soundtrack filled to the brim with beautiful music, harmonies and melodies so memorable that, once you've heard them once, you won't get them out of your head

Landing is a spectacular opener to the e.p. and, for me, it's the standout track here. It's one of those songs that combines everything that is wonderful about pop music and it deserves to be heard by millions. If you try one song from the e.p. try this one. Hospital Bed (available to listen to on The Pop Cop here) comes next, continuing where Landing left off, immediately grabbing the attention with its' stunning harmonies and vocals redolent of The Sundays at their peak before The Kids Are Moving On slows the pace showing off the band's folkier side. Cellphones beams in briefly from another planet, taking you by surprise, before Son Of A Mitch closes the e.p, a beautiful end to what has been a mesmerising debut release.

Skinny Dipper are holding an e.p. launch at Stereo on 12 September with support from Chrissy Barnacle and blog favourites, Call To Mind. It'll be a great show which you should definitely try and get to. Firstly though, get Masks and get ready to fall in love with Skinny Dipper.