Scottish Music Highlights: 20-26 Mar
This week's gig round-up features unmissable shows from Young Fathers and Dream Wife, a bumper line-up curated by Catholic Action, and some interesting sonic happenings at both ends of the M8
SINK @ Riddle's Court, 22 Mar
Join Edinburgh-based ensemble SINK for the first gig at the newly-refurbished Riddle's Court just off the Royal Mile. The trio – on saxophone, violin and accordion – will play a mixture of existing material and new improv work in response to the "three tenets of learning: Sympathy (heart), Synergy (hand) and Synthesis (head)" of pioneering Edinburgh town planner Patrick Geddes. They're joined by songwriter Jemima and the Fuse.
Vök @ The Mash House, 23 Mar
A blast of chilly Icelandic electronica for your Friday night, in the form of Reykjavík dream-pop trio Vök. The 2013 winners of Iceland's Músíktilraunir competition are joined on their UK tour by ambient indie songwriter Emily Underhill, aka Tusks.
Belle & Sebastian @ Usher Hall, 24 Mar
Having based themselves back in Glasgow for their recent run of How To Solve Our Human Problems EPs, Belle & Sebastian head to the east end of the M8 for a show in the palatial surroundings of the Usher Hall. Be sure to head down early to have your emotions thoroughly prodded by the excellent Julien Baker – and if you can't bag a ticket for the Edinburgh show, you can also catch both Baker and B&S at Perth Concert Hall on 23 Mar.
Golden Arm vs MC Almond Milk @ Leith Depot, 24 Mar
"Gauchepop" trio Golden Arm are joined by Save As collective rapper MC Almond Milk for what should be a fun-packed night at the Depot, with ambient Edinburgh duo Super Inuit thrown in for good measure.
Indigo Velvet @ Summerhall, 24 Mar
The tropical pop quartet's rise continues with this headline show at Summerhall – expect upbeat melodies and calypso-style guitar riffs, even if it will almost certainly be pitch-black and freezing cold outside. Support comes from Leith's own Ayakara.
Gig of the Week
[Young Fathers by Mihaela Bodlovic]
Young Fathers @ Barrowlands, Glasgow, 24 Mar
Their new album Cocoa Sugar is a sprawling lo-fi epic that's set a high bar for the rest of 2018 to clear. Their live shows are incendiary spectacles that have to be seen (and heard) to be believed. Oh, and they're playing on a Saturday night at one of the most crowd-friendly venues in the world. Do what you must to get a ticket for Young Fathers – you will not regret it.
Gigs in Glasgow this week
Sigrid @ Saint Luke’s, 21 Mar
Having recently impressed us with her performance at this year’s Eurosonic Noorderslag festival in Groningen, the BBC Sound of 2018 winner is set to play Glasgow tonight and it’s definitely worth leaving the house for. Live, Sigrid has bags of energy and her band are super tight, making for a wholly enjoyable pop experience which we reckon will be second to none in the majesty of Saint Luke’s. Oh, and you can bet your ass you’ll be singing ‘Stray-ay-ay-ay-aaaangers’ for day-ay-ay-ay-aaaays after, which is no bad thing.
Dream Wife @ Stereo, 23 Mar
Fresh from releasing their critically-acclaimed self-titled debut album back in January, Dream Wife return to Glasgow tonight to further prove themselves as one of the most exciting live bands around right now. We awarded their last Glasgow show five stars, describing it as “oozing with confidence, energy and ultimate sass,” which is surely something you’d like to witness for yourself.
Catholic Action & Friends @ King Tut's, 24 Mar
Catholic Action frontman Chris McCrory is one of the pre-eminent faces on the Glasgow scene, and seems to have produced or worked with half the bands in the city. Now CA have put together a stacked line-up of their pals for a bumper evening at King Tuts – they're joined by lo-fi electronic duo ST.MARTiiNS, Oh Sees-influenced riffmongers Shredd, singer-songwriter Ewan Cruickshanks, dream-pop quartet Life Model, plus The Bellybuttons, West Princes, Herbert Powell... and there's a set from Catholic Action themselves. Like we said, stacked.
Phoenix @ Barrowlands, 26 Mar
The French indie luminaries return to Glasgow in the wake of most recent album Ti Amo, with support coming from always-exciting Paisley art-poppers The Vegan Leather.
Django Django @ SWG3, 26 Mar
ECA alumni Django Django sent heads a-nodding when they broke on to the scene with their self-titled Mercury-nominated debut album in 2012. They returned last month with new album Marble Skies, building on their psych-meets-indie-via-surf-rock sound; catch them at SWG3 in this rescheduled show that was delayed by The Great Snowmapocalypse 2018.
Jon Collin, Kiran Leonard & Jessica Higgins @ Mono, 26 Mar
This pay-what-you-want bill at Mono brings together Winebox Press label boss and abstract composer Jon Collin with prodigious Oldham-based songwriter Kiran Leonard and Glasgow-based artist Jessica Higgins for an evening of "late start feel good sit down heavy listening".