Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall was buzzing tonight with music from many of the ‘happening’ bands of the moment. Held in the capital for the first time tonight’s Live at the Longlist offered us the chance to hear from some of the bands nominated for the Scottish Album of the Year Award (SAY).
Tonight the list was announced for the award which will be made at Assembly Rooms on 6 September. This is the eighth year of the list which does not pay any heed to sales, genre or labels.
The prize is one worth getting with £20,000 provided by Creative Scotland and the sought after title too. Previous winners have included Young Fathers and Anna Meredith. By next month the list will be halved to just 10 albums. Then it is over to the public and you will be able to vote for the winner from 12 August 2019 during a 72 hour period. There will be a special BBC Radio Scotland show beginning at 9.00pm on 15 August when the shortlist is announced.
The 9 runners up all get £1000.
The list of 20 albums is as follows :
- Aidan Moffat and RM Hubbert – Here Lies The Body
- Aidan O’Rourke – 365: Vol. 1
- Andrew Wasylyk – The Paralian
- Auntie Flo – Radio Highlife
- Brìghde Chaimbeul – The Reeling
- C Duncan – Health
- Carla J. Easton – Impossible Stuff
- CHVRCHES – Love Is Dead
- Edwyn Collins – Badbea
- Fatherson – Sum Of All Your Parts
- Fergus McCreadie Trio – Turas
- Free Love – Luxury Hits
- Graham Costello’s Strata– Obelisk
- Karine Polwart with Steven Polwart and Inge Thomson– Laws of Motion
- Kathryn Joseph – From When I Wake The Want Is
- Kinnaris Quintet – Free One
- Mastersystem – Dance Music
- Niteworks – Air Fàir an Là
- Sean Shibe – softLOUD
- The Twilight Sad – It Won/t Be Like This All The Time
The SAY Award helps to celebrate and promote the Scottish music industry, and the list was whittled down from an original 293 album submissions by 100 nominators. The results of the longlist were announced by Vic Galloway and Nicola Meighan at the Live at the Longlist event.
This year’s Live at the Longlist was in aid of Help Musicians Scotland, with all proceeds going to the them as The SAY Award’s charity partner for 2019.
Robert Kilpatrick General Manager of The Scottish Music Industry Association said :
“Each year, the announcement of The SAY Award Longlist allows us to take a step back and feel proud of our cultural identity as a nation. It gives us a chance to both shout about and reflect on who we are, as well as celebrate the passion, creativity and vibrancy of Scottish music; in all its incredible diversity and glory.
“With the Longlist having been selected from the votes of 100 impartial music industry nominators, it truly is the product of an extraordinary nationwide consultation and showcases 20 incredible Scottish records to the world that are both important and valued artistic works.
“A huge congratulations to each of this year’s Longlisted artists on fantastic album releases.”
Follow The SAY Award’s 2019 journey on Twitter @SAYaward, Instagram @sayaward and Facebook @SAYaward
For those of you who really want to know, these are the nominated albums :
• Aidan Moffat and RM Hubbert – Here Lies The Body
Fans of all good music to come out of Scotland will be familiar with the name Aidan Moffat. A stalwart of Glasgow, one half of Arab Strap and Scottish Album of the Year winner among many other accolades joins fellow SAY Award winner and Chemikal Underground label mate RM Hubbert for this new project, this time out on Rock Action Records. ‘Here Lies the Body’ has a dual meaning, sex & death. These are common themes from Aidan Moffat; since his days with Arab Strap, he has explored these subjects with a grace and grit that plunges deep into the human soul. But this is no re-hash of the past, rather a further leap forward for Moffat, now teaming up with singer and guitarist extraordinaire, RM Hubbert. The result is a moving, diverse record of great beauty that straddles a line between light and dark and faith and fear; at once fun, funny, and forlorn; melancholic and sanguine and inherently melodic throughout.
• Aidan O’Rourke – 365: Volume One
‘365: Vol.1’, a double album (released by Reveal Records on 25 May 2018) from one of Scotland’s finest musicians, fiddler and composer Aidan O’Rourke. The multiple BBC Folk Award winner and founding member of Lau, Kan and Blazin’ Fiddles spent a year writing daily musical responses to James Robertson’s short story collection 365: Stories (Hamish Hamilton / Penguin Books Ltd 2013). This music is about storytelling – how to tell stories without saying too much. James Robertson wrote a story every day for a year and O’Rourke decided to test out the same process on composition, and in response to James’s words, he wrote a tune every day for a year. Inevitably the melodies are rooted in his own background as a Scottish folk fiddler, but when Kit Downes gets involved he takes the harmonies to the most wondrous places.
• Andrew Wasylyk – The Paralian
Andrew Wasylyk is the alias of Scottish writer and producer, Andrew Mitchell. Mitchell has conceived and contributed to over sixteen albums to date, including seven albums as lead vocalist/guitarist with indie-pop group The Hazey Janes, produced/mixed three lauded albums with electronic-experimental duo, Art Of The Memory Palace, and two critically acclaimed LPs as ‘Andrew Wasylyk’ (a return to his original Ukrainian surname). ‘The Paralian’ (a dweller by the sea), a conclusion imbued with blue and golden melodies that explore the Angus landscape and its looming North Sea neighbour, landing in a territory akin to experimentalists such as Robert Wyatt and Virginia Astley. Through which, Wasylyk weaves the listener along a Modern-classical, Jazz and Ambient dream of Scotland’s east coast.
• Auntie Flo – Radio Highlife
Auntie Flo is a central figure in the ‘new strand of club music fusing electronic and world influences alongside the likes of Four Tet, Daphni, Romare, Sinkane and John Wizards’ (Joe Muggs, The Wire, 2013). Originally from Glasgow but now residing in London, he has travelled the world extensively pushing his unique ‘Afro-futurist’ sound either with the Auntie Flo live band or solo as a DJ. His new album is an expansive summation of his career thus far. His music has always drawn from a wide span of connections and more so than ever before, the album ‘Radio Highlife’ presents a kaleidoscope of different encounters that sparked its patchwork of ideas. Seven years of wild travelling, serendipitous encounters, deeply personal moments are packed into the fourteen tracks with field recordings and studio sessions from everywhere from Cuba to Cape Town, Bali to Kampala and voices from Russia, Istanbul, Senegal and the UK expertly fused together in an ambitious and original global statement.
• Brìghde Chaimbeul – The Reeling
Brìghde Chaimbeul’s debut album ‘The Reeling’ was recorded in the historic East Church in Cromarty.
These largely traditional Scottish and Bulgarian tunes (many sourced from old manuscripts) were performed on the Scottish smallpipes. For this record Brìghde devised a new way of arranging for pipe music that emphasises rich textural drones and a trance-like constancy of sound. She was joined by violinist Aidan O’Rourke from experimental folk trio au, who produced the album, Radie Peat from Lankum on concertina, and 82- ear-old singer and piper Rona Lightfoot contributing canntaireachd. The Guardian called The Reeling “Simultaneously ancient and modern, profound and direct.” Brìghde Chaimbeul grew up on Skye and began mastering the Highland bagpipes at the age of 7. She was introduced to the Scottish smallpipes in 2014 by the instrument’s revivalists Fin and Hamish Moore; developing an innovative style that won her the 2016 BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award, leading to collaborations with Gruff Rhys, Ross Ainslie, Carlos Nunez and Aidan O’Rourke. In 2018 she became the first signing to Rough Trade’s new folk imprint River Lea. Her debut album The Reeling was named The Guardian’s Folk Album of the Month and one of The Quietus’ Albums of the Year.
• C Duncan – Health
Born and raised in Glasgow, Christopher Duncan started making music at a young age. After graduating from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in composition, he signed to FatCat Records and started recording albums under the name C Duncan. His self-recorded debut ‘Architect’ was nominated for the Mercury Prize and SAY Award in 2015, and his sophomore album ‘The Midnight Sun’ was shortlisted for the SAY Award in 2016. Released in 2019, ‘Health’ sees C Duncan ditch his bedroom studio setup to work with other producers, engineers and musicians. Navigating themes of love, anxiety and sexuality, ‘Health’ is a deeply personal record that delves into a world previously unexplored by the artist. Enlisting the help of producer Craig Potter, ‘Health’ is C Duncan’s most ambitious record yet, intertwining his love of classical and popular music.
• Carla J. Easton – Impossible Stuff
Glasgow-based singer-songwriter Carla J. Easton follows the runaway sell-out and critically acclaimed success of her debut album with lush symphonic arrangements for her second solo offering Impossible Stuff released on Olive Grove Records. Produced by Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire) at his studio Hotel2Tango in Montreal, ‘IMPOSSIBLE STUFF’ features 10 tracks of Spectoresque indie-pop perfection fusing analogue synths, anthemic brass and strings with stacked double drums. This album shows a powerful development of songwriting, seductively introspective with outstanding melodies at their core and Carla’s trademark vocal. It was recorded with support from Help Musicians UK and Creative Scotland.
• CHVRCHES – Love Is Dead
Formed in Glasgow in 2011, CHVRCHES are Lauren Mayberry, Martin Doherty and Iain Cook. The band have released 3 critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums; 2018’s ‘Love Is Dead’ being their third consecutive album to achieve a top 10 chart ranking in the UK. Featuring the singles ‘Miracle’, ‘Get Out,’ and ‘My Enemy’ (feat. The National’s Matt Berninger), Love Is Dead sees CHVRCHES welcome outside influences; with 2017 and 2018 GRAMMY Producer of the Year Greg Kurstin (Adele, Sia) co-producing nine tracks, whilst BRIT Award Producer of the Year 2018 Steve.
• Edwyn Collins – Badbea
Having released his last album, ‘Understated’ in March 2013, ‘Badbea’ is his first release since moving both home and studio to Helmsdale on the North East coast of Scotland in 2014. Building a new studio from scratch, the impressive Clashnarrow Studios which sits on the hills overlooking Helmsdale, Collins completed work on ‘Badbea’ with co- producer Sean Read (Dexys, The Rockingbirds) and long-term musical cohorts Carwyn Ellis (Colorama) & James Walbourne (The Pretenders / The Rails).
• Fatherson – Sum Of All Your Parts
Forming in Kilmarnock, in early 2010, Fatherson immediately captured hearts with their raw, honest alt-rock sound. Inspired by Scottish stoicism as much as their own personal turmoil, debut album ‘I Am An Island’; and its 2016 follow-up ‘Open Book’ were masterclasses in full-throttle rock songwriting, helping garner supports alongside their north-of-the-border brethren in Biffy Clyro, Frightened
Rabbit, Idlewild as well as further runs with the likes of Kings Of Leon, Augustines and Enter Shikari. 2018’s ‘Sum of All Your Parts’ saw the band reach wider audiences than ever before, with sell-out shows from London’s Scala to Glasgow’s 02 Academy. Recorded live and in chronological sequence at The Chairworks studio with producer Claudius Mittendorfer (Weezer, Interpol, Arctic Monkeys), Fatheron’s third album fizzes with a youthful energy, reinvigorating the group from the get-go. Shaking off the preconceptions of their open-hearted, raw rock sound, Fatherson instead found themselves embracing an ‘anything goes’ approach and rewriting their legacy in the process. ‘Sum Of All Your Parts’ skips from hypnotic, looped piano, through storming post-rock passages, to the soaring pop nous of first-released single ‘Making Waves’.
• Fergus McCreadie Trio – Turas
Labeled “simply outstanding” by JazzWise Magazine, the Fergus McCreadie trio blur the lines between Jazz and Scottish Music. Their music features the improvisation and harmony of Jazz, but it is the introduction of Folk melodies and rhythms that make their compositions so allluring. ‘Turas’, their debut album, is the Scottish Gaelic word for Journey, and the feeling of travel and place is conveyed strongly throughout the compositions on the record. The trio have travelled a lot across Scotland (having rehearsed intensely in the north of Scotland in the lead up to the recording) and this feeling of place and journey shines through in the playing on the album. The overall result is one of evocative musical landscapes and a satisfying combination of the Jazz and Folk idioms. The trio have featured in Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania, and are set to appear at the legendary Ronnie Scott’s International Piano Trio Festival in August.
• Free Love – Luxury Hits
Free Love is the latest manifestation of duo Suzanne and Lewis Cook – a continuation and progression of their utopian dance pop experiments which have seen them performing across the globe. Touring across Europe and with festival shows as far as Austin, Moscow and Bangalore, the band have become notorious for their sensual live ceremonies. ‘Luxury Hits’ is an open-hearted love letter to possible futures. Trans-temporal projection through pop music for dancefloors. The music is about breaking through the limitations of our surroundings, not through escapism but defining a new reality on our own terms and breathing it into existence. The record is a tropal soup of sonic utopias – balearic, acid, italo, synthpop, psychedelia -served in the mercurial bowl of HERE AND NOW.
• Graham Costello’s Strata – Obelisk
Named as one of Jazzwise Magazine’s “Ones to Watch in 2019” Graham Costello’s STRATA are one of the most exciting and innovative bands on the Scottish jazz scene and beyond. Three years in the making, their debut album ‘Obelisk’ explores music that Strata has been performing and developing since the band’s inception. The music, all written by Costello, represents his background in both the Scottish underground/independent scene and later the jazz scene. Musically it fuses the energy of post-punk and noise rock with the unhinged improvisation of jazz, all under the umbrella of classical minimalism. ‘Obelisk’ and the band as a whole aim to break down the barriers between the independent scene and the jazz scene.
• Karine Polwart with Steven Polwart and Inge Thomson – Laws of Motion
Karine Polwart is a multi-award-winning songwriter, musician, theatre maker, storyteller, and writer. Six-times winner at BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, including 2018 Folk Singer of The Year, her seventh solo album ‘Laws Of Motion’ (“Epic, assured and spinetingling” The Quietus) was chosen as Mojo’s Folk Album of the Year 2018. As the follow-up record to 2017’s acclaimed and SAY nominated album ‘A Pocket of Wind Resistance’, in ‘Laws of Motion’, people move, again and again, as emigrants and exiles, child refugees and grieving fathers, lonely boys and traumatised young soldiers. “I didn’t set out to write songs on a unified theme”, says Polwart, “they’ve just landed that way. Perhaps that’s no surprise, given the times we’re in”
• Kathryn Joseph – From When I Wake The Want Is
From ‘When I Wake The Want Is’, released via Glasgow’s Rock Action Records is the follow up to Kathryn Joseph’s 2015 acclaimed SAY Award-winning debut ‘Bones You Have Thrown Me And
Blood I’ve Spilled’. This album is a captivating set that documents both life’s traumas and their resolutions. Produced by Marcus Mackay, who also worked on her debut album, ‘From When I Wake the Want Is’ mixes new songs with material gathered over the past ten years to create an intimate and often devastating portrait of Joseph’s world.
• Kinnaris Quintet – Free One
Bursting onto the scene back in 2017, Kinnaris Quintet wowed audiences with the release of their much-anticipated debut album, ‘Free One’. It is a fitting title for a band whose love of life is given full expression through their music. Recorded ‘as live’, the band wanted to ensure that the musicality that is so apparent in their live performances is not lost in over-production or their own over-analysis. Living in Glasgow has brought these five vigorous, driving and high-spirited musicians together, and what makes Kinnaris Quintet’s dynamic and compelling sound is the marriage of their diverse musical backgrounds, influences and styles. Combining Scottish and Irish folk with bluegrass and classical, they are unable to hide their joy at making music together. Their enthusiasm is infectious; anyone who has seen them live will attest.
• Mastersystem – Dance Music
‘Dance Music’ is a dark, honest, soaring album, exactly what one might expect if Frightened Rabbit, Editors and Minor Victories combined forces. A collaborative effort featuring Scott Hutchinson and Grant Hutchinson (Frightened Rabbit), Justin Lockey (Editors), James Lockey (Minor Victories). The idea for the band came about on an uncomfortably hot day in Berlin, 2016.
The conversation went something like this:
Justin – ‘So, Yer think, we should I dunno, maybe do something at some point, sometime… yer know, kinda heavy maybe, but still melodic… but a bit fuzzy / heavy? ‘
Scott – ‘Aye.’
Grant – ‘Aye…’
Justin – ‘Nice one. I’ll email you’s’
The album is the story of four bearded men in their thirties, making an album they are immensely proud of.
• Niteworks – Air Fàir an Là
Childhood friends from Skye, NW are Innes Strachan (Synth/Keys), Allan MacDonald (Pipes), Christopher Nicolson (Bass) and Ruairidh Graham (Drums). Notable UK performances include Cambridge Folk Festival, Hebcelt, SkyeLive and internationally in Ireland, Germany, Borneo, Corsica and Belgium.Furthermore, Niteworks have scored the music for Edinburgh’s Hogmanay fireworks and have performed at The SSE Hydro as support for the Martyn Bennett Grit Orchestra.
‘Air Fàir an Là’, is the second album by Niteworks (NW) and translates from Gaelic to ‘at dawn of day’. This reflects the point of the bands musical journey; the beginning of something new, different and unknown, with yet more potential to be seized and explored. NW vision was to produce a record that blurs the lines between traditional music and contemporary electronica, by bringing together Gaelic/Scottish folk song, tunes and melodies, with electronic sounds. The album features many collaborations with artists including Julie Fowlis, Iain Morrison, Kinnaris Quintet and SIAN, with techno producer Alex Menzies (Alex Smoke) overseeing production.
• Sean Shibe – softLOUD
Sean Shibe, “one of the world’s top classical guitarists” (The Observer), was born in Edinburgh in 1992. He is the first guitarist to be selected for the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists Scheme, receive a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, and win the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award. Last year his debut release was shortlisted for a Classical Brit. His latest release, ‘softLOUD’, continued the trend in being a finalist for the BBC Music Magazine Awards, and in May it received the Best New Recorded Work Award at the Scottish Awards for New Music.‘softLOUD’ is Sean Shibe’s powerful response to discourse which dominates our everyday: electric and acoustic, early and modern, these radical contradictions speak to our time. Gently beautiful Jacobean lute manuscripts are confronted by music of cathartic grief and anger originally for nine bagpipes (Julia Wolfe’s ‘LAD’); David Lang’s ‘Killer’ is iron-clad in its abrupt fury. All these works are arranged by Shibe, placed alongside a breath-taking recording of Steve Reich’s ‘Electric Counterpoint’ the composer describes as “the best ever”. ‘Have we today forgotten how to speak gracefully,’ Shibe asks, ‘or is the real danger that we aren’t screaming loudly enough?’
• The Twilight Sad – It Won/t Be Like This All Of The Time
The Twilight Sad are James Graham (vocals), Andy MacFarlane (guitar), Johnny Docherty (bass), Brendan Smith (keyboards) and Sebastien Schultz (drums). ‘It Won/t Be Like This All the Time (IWBLTATT)’ is the fifth studio album by The Twilight Sad. The album is the band’s first studio album on Rock Action (the band had previously been signed to Fat Cat Records since 2005), and their first Top 20 in the album charts along with a number 1 in the Vinyl and Scottish Album Charts. Led by James Graham’s impassioned brogue, ‘IWBLTATT’, is an exhilarating listen, by turns cinematic and claustrophobic in its scope, the band dug deep and it’s perhaps their most raw and dynamic record to date.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
