Browsing Category

Glasgow

Glasgow Music Blogs

 

Glasgow’s thriving music scene has a strong grassroots foundation; it is also a city rarely left off the map for global artists on arena tours. Every city’s scene beats to its own rhythm and is celebrated by the inhabitants, but the hype around the Glasgow music scene is so much more than the city-dwellers banging their own drum.

Glasgow was the first city in the UK to receive the UNESCO city of music award in 2008. In 2019, Glasgow was dubbed the United Kingdom’s top creative and cultural city by the European Commission.

Glasgow is home to several prestigious arts companies, including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and The Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Glasgow doesn’t fall short on homegrown talent either. Some of the biggest acts in the UK have roots in Glasgow, including The Jesus and Mary Chain, Teenage Fanclub, The Vaselines, Mogwai, Franz Ferdinand, Primal Scream, Glasvegas, The Fratellis, Bis, and Texas.

Glasgow’s most prodigal sons, Arab Strap, started making waves in 1995; with their comeback album, As Days Get Dark, in 2021, they got to the top of the UK Record Store sales chart and held the number 1 position for quite some time.

There are plenty of famous venues in the Glasgow music scene for up and coming artists to cut their teeth. Even with a 300-capacity, King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut is one of the most famous indie venues in the world for the part it played in Scotland’s history of indie. When Oasis turned up at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut and demanded a place on the bill, their superstardom went supersonic. The hut also hosted other legendary alt-90s artists, including Beck, Manic Street Preachers, the Verve, Blur and Radiohead. For three years in a row, the venue was dubbed the UK’s Best Live Venue. If that wasn’t a big deal, the fact that it featured in the number 7 spot in a follow-your-bliss bucket list curated by New York Magazine.

Other iconic venues in Glasgow include Barrowland Ballroom, Nice N Sleazy, Bar Bloc, Mono and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Glaswegian music fans also have the reputation of raising a roof, regardless of the venue or genre.

Glaswegians are spoilt for choice with the wide range of radio stations. For the freshest indie fixes, listeners turn to BBC Radio Scotland. For pop hits, Clyde 1, and the biggest beats, electro fans tune into Trancetechnic.

Dr. Void and the Skinjob’s latest darkwave horror punk anthem, Rave to the Grave, transmits the ethereal echoes of midnight ecstasy

Step away from sonic mundanity and into the pulse of ‘Rave to the Grave’ by Dr. Void & the Skinjob’s, a track that redefines darkwave electronica with its fusion of horror punk and darkwave industrial synthpop.

The Glasgow-based Synth, Bass & Drum trio have amassed reverence through their seductively sinister discography, now home to their new EP, ‘Sexy, Scary, Doomed & Dangerous‘. With synths that drip arcane textures and beats that pulse with a life of their own, the standout single, ‘Rave to the Grave’ is a Lovecraftian incantation wrapped within a floor-filler of an earworm.

The hedonic anthem vibrates with kinetic energy and phasers capable of transfixing you to the track, allowing you to imagine Sisters of Mercy stripped of their pretence under the influence of Misfits. After just one hit, John Carpenter’s scores will never sound the same.

The manifesto from the maestros of the macabre is an invitation to lose yourself in the depths of electronic ecstasy. If you dare to descend, be prepared: this is a full-on collision with the spectral heartbeat of dark synthwave.

Rave to the Grave dropped on Halloween; experience the euphoria for yourselves via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Daniel Aether tore through the EDM scene like a ‘Tsunami’ in his latest track, featuring Princess Lourdess

If your playlist is missing a track that can thrash through the mundane with visceral intensity, ‘Tsunami’ by Daniel Aether featuring vocal lines from the salacious siren, Princess Lourdess, will fill that void.

So much more than an anthem; it’s an unapologetically soulful storm that melds afrobeat grooves, textured RnB vocals, boom-bap beats and a relentless EDM drive, allowing it to tear apart genre boundaries with hedonistic heat. Once you’re caught in the rhythmic momentum of ‘Tsunami,’ you’ll have no option but to surrender to its evocative pull.

Raised in Italy, based in Scotland, and rooted in Nigerian sounds, Aether’s cultural melting pot of influences pours seamlessly into this track. His appreciation for RnB, Afrobeats, and K-pop harmonies shines through, as does his affinity for MNEK, Little Mix, and Mariah Carey, but it’s the ad-libs and harmonies—think Destiny’s Child with a twist—that distinguishes this single. His seamless integration of influences makes the single as versatile as it is slick, complete with polished production that belies his underground indie status.

‘Tsunami’ may be a love song for volatile hearts, but it’s the refined production and sublime vocal layering that should have this track shimmering at the top of the EDM charts.

Tsunami will hit all major streaming platforms on November 15; stream the single on SoundCloud first.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Broghan – The Calm Before the Storm: Southern Gothic Glaswegian Alt-Indie Folk

The Glaswegian alt-indie-folk singer-songwriter Broghan has come a long way from busking in Glasgow and Edinburgh at 14 years old. Her latest single, The Calm Before the Storm, which sees the haunting aesthetics of Southern Gothic Folk meet Scottish Art Folk, is set to push her to even greater heights. I wouldn’t be surprised if roles were reversed in the near future and Lewis Capaldi opens for her in front of a 12k cap capacity crowd!

The ethereally Avant-Garde score builds from a minimalistic instrumental piece into an arcane tour de force, with a series of filmically thematic transgressions pulling you through the shadowed corridors of the single which exhibits how Broghan has mastered the art of tonality and spatial effect.

The anticipation before the crescendo will leave your rhythmic pulses on the brink; the angular notes that haunt the soundscape following the first climatic build testify to how immersive this visceral ride through the singer-songwriter’s talent truly is. She’s a phenomenon in her own right, and it is only a matter of time before she’s showered with plaudits and songwriting awards.

The Calm Before the Storm reached the airwaves on November 1st; stream the single on all major platforms, including Spotify, now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Spotlight Feature: Ryan Alexander put Glasgow on the Afrobeat map with ‘Me & You’

Ryan Alexander’s standout single, Me & You, is a pulsating declaration of the DJ and producer’s ability to bolster Glasgow’s burgeoning stature on the global Afrobeat scene. Emerging from the underground with a sound that carries the weight of authentic Afrobeat rhythms and the lightness of transcendent summer vibes, Ryan’s work in this single is nothing short of revolutionary.

Right from the outset, the track asserts itself with an irresistible vibrancy; produced by Steven Alexander, the track adeptly weaves influences from the likes of Fuse ODG and OMI into a multi-sensory auditory experience. The use of organic percussion roots the track in Afrobeat’s rich rhythmic traditions while providing a fresh sonic texture that is all too easy to get addicted to.

The track’s sensuously smooth lyricality, brings a sincerity that cuts through the synthetic beats prevalent in much of today’s EDM, offering instead a voice that is as heartfelt as it is harmonic.

Ryan’s ability to blend the guest vocalist’s sincere vocal delivery with lush, layered instrumental backdrops sets Me & You apart as one of the most unmissable anthems of the summer.

Stream Me & You on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Get into the groove with Ryan Alexander’s funk-chopped disco pop earworm, Stay the Night

Ryan Alexander’s latest single, Stay the Night, featuring pop vocalist Michael, is more disco than a disco ball with its funk chops which cut through the kinetic grooves to ignite dancefloors and send sparks of serotonin flooding through the psyche of anyone who encounters this synthesis of sonic nostalgia and salaciously amplified contemporary innovation.

The hit mainlines the guitar rhythms of Nile Rodgers with the beats of Daft Punk, while the infectiously euphoric pop vocals from Michael turn up the heat in this magnetic earworm, resulting in a track that showcases the immense potential of this independent producer’s talents.

Although Alexander is currently reverberating through the underground, it is only a matter of time before he breaks major ground and storms the mainstream with his flair for expansively fusionistic songwriting and producing.

Hailing from Glasgow, Ryan Alexander’s passion for music is evident in every beat of his rapidly growing discography, which is picking up major traction through his local performances in October Café and other revered venues around his hometown. There’s no doubt that a big break is around the corner.

Stay the Night was officially released on July 22; stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Reach Nirvana with DJ Roko’s Slice of EDM ‘Heaven’

DJ Roko dialled up the disco dance-pop euphoria in his latest burst of beat-driven euphoria, Heaven; 90s disco nostalgia permeates the exhilarated EDM production that embodies the UK producer’s influence of David Guetta, Tiesto and Calvin Harris while leaving plenty of room for his signature style to ensnare the airwaves. If rhythm is a dancer, as Snap! proclaimed in ’92 it would get down to this hit that will maximise your lust for life.

The West Midlands-born, Glasgow-based artist and DJ first exhibited his talent for fusing kinetic rhythms with melodies that melt into the mind through his official debut release, Velocity, earlier this year, and has already attracted over 10k monthly Spotify listeners with the infectious intensity within his sound that will undoubtedly flood dancefloors throughout 2024.

With his self-produced debut LP, in addition to several other projects, ready to drop later this year, DJ Roko isn’t a name EDM fans will want to ignore for much longer.

Heaven was officially released on April 27; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Synthpop meets pop-punk in Crashes’ elementally augmented anthem, Living in the Future

Crashes may be ‘Living in the Future’ in their latest single, but there are plenty of ties to sonic nostalgia in their pop-punk meets jangly new wave indie synthpop hit that electrifies from the first synth-charged note.

The elementally augmented anthem is dynamically intense enough to run a power grid off, make you lose your head and the dancefloor and become your new favourite adrenaline-fueled earworm. If there were any more boxes to tick, Crashes would brandish their sonic signature right through them.

Living in the Future is a clear sign of how honed Crashes’ songwriting has become since their debut in 2017; you just can’t help getting swept up in the tumultuously hooked momentum. Following the success of their 2022 EP, Infinite, the track is set to seal the Glasgow-hailing band’s illustrious fate in the industry.

While other artists stop with new wave assimilation, Crashes are pouring their innovative volition, achingly honest emotion and curveball-throwing creativity into the high-octane mix, to a dizzyingly euphoric effect. Even with the antagonism and agony projected into the performance of Living in the Future, the ecstasy isn’t just heard, it resounds.

Living in the Future was officially released on January 26th. It is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

archie razed the airwaves with his latest augmented with attitude and style alt-indie hit, Mayalyn

With a voice which resonates with over 155k monthly listeners on Spotify and the confidence to create under the mononym archie, knowing that the name will become synonymous with his anthemic new wave indie aesthetic, it is no surprise to see that the 19-year-old singer-songwriter has hit razed the airwaves with his latest augmented with attitude and style single, Mayalyn.

With a vice-like grip which hits all the provocative and evocative marks, the track that starts with a saturated in delay jangly indie pop instrumental arrangement beneath his raspy croons, reminiscent of the 1975, evolves into a fiery feat of overdriven and modernised rock. With a seemingly infinite sequence of twists and turns, every progression is a revelation with Mayalyn. A revelation which paints its orchestrator as one of the most essential artists in 2023.

The classically trained Scottish singer-songwriter may only be getting started but he’s already giving every other up-and-coming act tips on how to raise the bar with lyrical ingenuity, which goes hand in virtuosic hand with his ear for a melody that will consume you when brought to life with his impassioned intensity.

Mayalyn was officially released on September 22; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Connor Fyfe has released the stickiest earworm of the year with his new wave indie track, Cars

https://on.soundcloud.com/A1cfi

After becoming the youngest act to sell out Kings Tut in Glasgow and perform at TRNSMT, the 17-year-old Connor Fyfe is already in the habit of making history with his songwriting chops that are as sharp as they are sticky-sweet. His latest single, Cars, gives plenty of clues to how his ascent has been an unfaltering upward trajectory since leaving school in May.

With a bigger-than-Blossoms synth-drenched sound that borrows from the new wave synth pop genre while ticking all the right indie rock boxes, the momentum within Cars is momentous, but the adolescent prodigy knew just when to inject a sense of fragility and vulnerability into his vocal lines to ensure it’s a track that sucker punches the emotional and rhythmic pulses simultaneously.

Co-written with the legendary Ross McNae of Twin Atlantic, Cars pulsates with commercial appeal; each intricately clever chord progression embeds the earworm even deeper while the soulful synergy between the impassioned vocal lines and synthy indie rock synthesis ensures it will deliver endless euphoria.

With the promise that there are plenty more tracks in the pipeline, don’t be surprised if Connor Fyfe is one of the biggest Scottish artists since Lewis Capaldi.

Cars will officially be released on November 17th; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Robin Ashcroft rocked the pop beat in her latest electrifying vindicative earworm LIAR

Radio DJs will be lining up to add LIAR to their A-lists; the hook-proliferated hit which demonstrates Robin Ashcroft’s flawless command over her dynamic vocal lines with the enliveningly immersive atmosphere of the track will resonate in your heart, soul, and rhythmic pulses.

After an intro that will pull you in as forcefully as the prelude to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ ‘Maps’ or Toxic Airborne Event’s ‘Sometime around Midnight’ the track veers into a pulsating electro-pop anthem with glistening guitars and a backbeat so strong it makes this earworm a heavyweight champion.

Those soaring with soul vocal lines and the vindicating energy of the release that will bring waves of catharsis to anyone feeling frustratedly naive for believing the fallacies that gaslighters can’t help but spin is the perfect introduction to one of Scotland’s most promising solo powerhouses.

LIAR will drip scorn onto the airwaves on November 2nd; check out the official lyric video on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast