6 Music
Phil: I have mixed feelings on this, well not mixed really, it seems sad for them to get rid of it. Not a George Lamb fan and although I don’t generally listen to the radio, it would probably be the first place I would turn the dial to. They certainly seem to be a high profile supporter of less well-known music.
Kim: I am also quite adamant that George Lamb is the devil. That aside, there is a whole host of programming and content here, not to mention the support for emerging and left-field talent that it would really be sad to lose.

Frightened Rabbit – The Winter of Mixed Drinks
P: I’ll give it a go soon I’m sure but I’ve never got round to their first album. Controversial?
K: Well yes and I’m taking your delay on this one quite personally. Frightened Rabbit are the working band that got far thanks to some clever US TV drama syncs. I really got attached to The Midnight Organ Fight. I’m really liking the sound of the new album. Swim Until You Can’t See Land is sorta like a folkier version of Pete Townshend’s Let My Love Open the Door.
P: I’ll take your word on this. Come back to me in a couple of weeks.

Musicbox
P: http://elbasessions.co.uk/2010/02/musicbox-march-2010/ – Antimatter and our big brother Elba Studios showcase a unique night of music and photography at Universal this Thursday (4th March).
K: Any multi-art based event always intrigues me. I’m sad I’m not free to head along to this on Thursday.
P: Favourite multi arts event? Ballads of The Book at The Tramway in (07??) was pretty good! I miss Triptych.
K: It was 2007. I missed quite a bit of this due to all the effort and exhaustion of putting the festival together. It was a perfect pulling together of all of the elements from the album. Plus Jenny Soep was there doing some art in action. Me likey.

King James – Elba Podcast
P: King James podcast continues to sound beautiful. Listen/Download ‘here’.
K: Simple Folk Radio are also (and quite rightly) keen on this.
P: Indeed, Johny in retrospect finds the interview slightly Spinal Tap. Personally a walking tour of Devon and Cornwall sounds spectacular!

Macca at Hampden
P: I really feel like I should go and see him? I mean he’s a little questionable, if you believe what you read but he was a Beatle and it’s only a 20 minute walk. I’d imagine it won’t be cheap though. In fact, this could turn into a summer of geriatric shows, I’m planning Crosby, Stills and Nash too but tempted to pay the extra £40 on tickets for that one to see them when I’m in Paris rather than at the cow shed (sorry, SECC).
K: Ugh the price tag alone would put me off both of these. The problem is, once great performers still draw huge crowds and a lot of the time it just isn’t worth it. I’m definitely one who is against this revival spirit floating around right now. I get that the ‘I SAW THEM IN THE FLESH’ brag/closure is something that people strive for. However, the ‘I saw the wrinklier, 30 years after their heyday, not really all that talented anymore version’ is the less impressive reality.
P: Yeah, that’s the other half of my brain speaking. Although only with Macca. Crosby, Stills and Nash are fantastic. Stephen Stills probably never was always there anyway!

Other interesting gigs
P: Burnt Island (who I am quite digging at the moment) host their single launch on Sunday at Mono along with The Second Hand Marching Band, Benni Hemm Hemm and everyones favourite miserable storyteller Aidan Moffat.
K: Burnt Island are the sort of band that make me breath a little slower and steadier. Their music is that teetering on the edge of heartbreaking. Sorrowful and beautiful. This is a nice little line up for Mono. My heart as ever belongs to Arab Strap and all the bearded glory of Mr Moffat.

A bit of a heads up for everyone on a new event happening next month. It’s called ‘Musicbox’ and it is being run by local label Antimatter Records with the help of our older, more business-like sibling, Elba Studios and cutting edge audio visualists Genre Is A Dirty Word.

The night will showcase an eclectic set of 4 musicians and as a bit of a twist, 4 great photographers. The idea being that each photographer is assigned an act each and is given a month to get together a visual representation of their work to be projected on the night during their act’s set. I make today the 4th of Feb so I suppose the project has started for the photographers!

The acts playing on the night will be…

The Recovery Club
Engine7
Paul McLinden
Lamplighter

and the photographers…

Kat McDonald
Gavin Inglis
Gingiber
Retrogoth

Musicbox will take place at Glasgow’s Universal on March 4th at 8pm and you can get more info as well as being able to purchase advance tickets on the Antimatter website. Entry is a very cheap £3.