Live Music Highlights - October, 2008

With a sound that is only slightly edgier than Bob Holness in oven gloves, much touted Sheffield lads Little Man Tate nevertheless look set to provide a polished set of crowd-pleasers at Fat Sam’s in Dundee on 3 Oct. Bouncy riffs, cheeky lyrics, yada yada yada. As straightforward as Tetley’s and just as enjoyable.

Superhotrightnow threepiece Johnny Foreigner deal in adrenalin-soaked scuzz pop and their gig at Edinburgh’s Cabaret Voltaire is one of this month’s hottest tickets. With their breakneck almost stream-of-consciousness boy/girl vocals, filthy guitar sound and deceptively complex song structures, it’s pretty obvious why so many people are so excited about this band.

You may not have read that much about Maps & Atlases before but for our money, their show at Glasgow’s Captain’s Rest on 8 Oct will be one of the month’s most special gigs. Their hard-to-describe sound is at once languid and frenetic, paring unusual, snaking vocal and guitar lines with unorthodox bass and a very high level of technical skill. These dogs be thar real deal, yargh!

Probably Fife’s finest purveyors of celestial psych rock, The Aliens will play Edinburgh’s Liquid Room on 9 Oct. With Beta Band comparisons now largely unneccesary, it’s now clear that The Aliens are a force to be reckoned with - as their burgeoning catalogue of weird, poppy and hugely enjoyable songs testifies. Glorious, brilliantly melodic stuff, this. Another definite highlight in a rather splendid month for gigs.

All the way from Portland Oregon, alt-country (bleugh!) daddy-Os Blitzen Trapper will deliver a spirited, melodic set to Glasgow’s King Tuts on 9 Oct. With a distinctly Wilco-ish spring in their step, their dreamy compositions and western twang will satisfy those with a thirst for old-time Americana. They’ve got a song called Crushing The Wheat, fer Chrissakes!

Skinny faves and Glasgow locals Errors will play Glasgow Oran Mor, our very own 'Skinny Dip' at Aberdeen Moshulu and Dundee Doghouse on 10, 11 and 12 Oct respectively. If you’ve not caught them yet then October offers a hat-trick of opportunities to luxuriate in their shimmering web of loops, guitars and electronics. A band of real substance, and one of the most interesting outfits on the Scottish scene.

Two further manifestations of the musical group known as The Fall are predicted to occur on 10 Oct at Aberdeen Lemon Tree and 12 Oct at Edinburgh Queens Hall. Having dropped a corker of an album earlier this year, expectations will be high for these gigs and no doubt Smith will oblige with a set of semi-coherent rambling and gloriously disruptive ‘live mixing’.

The month is rounded out by Tilly and the Wall (aye, that band that has a tap dancer instead of a drummer) who play King Tuts on 23 Oct. Look past the novelty however, and you’ll discover a fantastic pop band with an infectious enthusiasm and a great stage show. Definitely something different.