Over the next few weeks I’ll be documenting
my relocation to Glasgow, Scotland. My aim is to post something twice a week
but my aim might be off from time to time. I didn’t want to start my blog with
a post about car booting in Wales so I’ve gone for something a little more
retrospective.
My love affair with Scotland started in
about 2009 and it’s all thanks to music (and later Craig Ferguson and Doctor
Who but that’s a story for another time). I was a fan of Scottish music prior
to that but my interest was only spiked occasionally by the odd artist here and
there – my listening preferences somewhat tainted by an aversion to anything
that sounded like Belle and Sebastian due to having ‘Dear Catastrophe Waitress’
blasted at me non-stop during my record shop working days. I’m not sure if
there’s an unwritten law in Scotland about Belle and Sebastian as there is with
the Manic Street Preachers in Wales – ‘thou shalt not say anything untoward
about said band or thou shalt be damned for eternity’. No doubt I’ll find out.
The last time I openly dismissed the Manics in Wales I poured a beer over
myself. Karma.
Way back in 2004 I started a music webzine
called ‘Funky Mofo’ which eventually morphed into ‘Cat On The Wall – Music and
Culture Webzine’ - it’s still online today although I am no longer the head
honcho. Running a music webzine meant I was sent numerous emails on a daily
basis with artists and PR’s all vying for my attention. The first Scottish act
that perked up my ears was The Twilight Sad with their record ‘Forget the Night
Ahead’. It remained regular listening fodder on my iPod for a considerable
amount of time. The next couple of years saw a significant increase in Scottish
artists and labels reaching out to the webzine.
I can’t highlight everyone but
one label that really stood out was Olive Grove which was started in 2010 by Halina
Rifai (Glasgow Podcart) and Lloyd Meredith (Peenko). I recall the first artist
I came into contact via the label was Esperi – beautiful acoustic fuelled
loveliness by multi-instrumentalist Chris James Marr. Following on from that
release came Pensioner, The Sons, The Moth & The Mirror and one of my
absolute favourites Jo Mango. As far as I’m concerned, right now, Olive Grove
can do no wrong.
Of course Olive Grove is just the tip of
the iceberg regarding my favourite Scottish music. The past 5 years have been
incredibly fruitful. A few months ago I put together a mixtape called ‘Scottish Winds’ – 15 tracks
of some of the best music that I feel has come out of Scotland in recent years.
There’s plenty more. I’ll try to include a regular blog post about my favourite
music in the months to come.
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