We find ourselves in the bowels of “Edinburgh’s most haunted pub”, but the sound emanating from the small, buried room is than ‘gothic’ – Philip Budny – one man with a iBook, sampler and a mic – layers digital rhythms and ethereal vocals to make a sound that’s engrossing in nature but perfectly danceable, somewhere between Slam and Optimo, to give some local reference points. And doing it all live too. Not sure how it’d go down at T, mind.
Black International are more full-on than I recall. And just two guys – one Malcolm Middleton lookalike, and a drummer who leathers the life out of his kit until it starts to make its way across the floor. The guitar is spiky and raw, as are the vocals but controlled aggression throughout their set and particularly on recent single ‘Gilded Palace’ makes for a sound bigger than a duo might usually achieve.
Trapped Mice like to whip up a storm. In the tiny arena, the bassist prowls the stage area (and the audience) while singer Ian Tilling’s melodramatic kitchen sink epics are given weight by thunderous drums and ample backing from their singing keyboardist. They’re showcasing (read practicing) their second album, to be recorded soon with Scott at Armellodie, the label which put out their acclaimed debut Winter Sun in 2012. This means that we only get ‘Mona Lisa’ from that effort, but the new material sounds on a par – ‘The Trial’ is “bleak” but stands out, as does the closing number which has “no end” it seems, the whole epic crashing into itself with only a plaintive violin line holding things together. With a little luck, Trapped Mice could find themselves playing much larger venues in 2014.
@isthismusic Malcolm Middleton? Better than Boy George I suppose…