Music, music, music.

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.