Instal '08 @ The Arches

Coming in at an exhausting 7,000 years long, music is weighed down by too many mid-tempo tunes, most notably Liebestraume No. 3 in A flat and Closing Time by Semisonic. The Onion recently ran a story covering Pitchfork's review of music giving the "ancient art form" a mere 6.8 and saying that "if music has any chance of keeping our interest, it's going to have to move beyond the same palatable but predictable notes, meters, melodies, tonalities, atonalities, timbres and harmonies." It may be a cheap laugh, but also a clear case of true words said in jest. The ghosts of Bob Dylan (he ain't dead – Ed) and Jimi Hendrix hang over the entire rock genre like a ten ton anvil, with bands terrified of deviating from traditionally prescribed ways of making, thinking about, listening to and enjoying music. Which is what makes the Instal festival consistently one of the most important musical events in Scotland. Eschewing the academic chin-stroking approach to experimental music, it instead favours thrilling high-octane performances from truly original artists. From dense, destructive, mutli-band improvisations featuring altered saxophones, slide steel guitar and junk percussion to explorations into the very nature of what constitutes sound, and with members of Sun Ra and Fushitsusha (the best rock band in existence, forget about your 02 Arena history fetishes) in attendance, Instal once again looks to be the best place to re-evaluate your tastes in music. It does involve taking a risk on something you may never have heard of, but even one day at Instal will give you a new favourite band for life. [Ali Maloney]