Edge Festival 2010: Sneaky Pete's

Article by Steve Hill | 01 Aug 2010

First up at the Cowgate's live music hub are Irish songstrels Villagers on 6 Aug. Comparisons with Sparklehorse seem fair, and frontman Conor J. O'Brien is nothing less than 'edgy'. Apt for this festival indeed.

The North Atlantic Oscillation blow into Edinburgh on 13 Aug (ok, so they already live here) as the heirs apparent to the Beta Band's progressive blend of rock and electronica.

Sneaky's is a sweaty fun-pit at the best of times, but nowhere will this be evidenced more than when German wunder-producer Pantha du Prince hits the decks on 14 Aug with his odd yet wonderful blend of Detroit techno and shoegaze.

More extensive footwear examination on 17 Aug when post-rockers The Besnard Lakes bring their introspective yet gloriously ornate soundscapes to town.

They've been living in a hypestorm for some months now, but Frankie and the Heartstrings wear their Smiths obsession with pride. They're joined on the 19 Au by fellow northern indie rockers Sky Larkin

Liberian/Nigerian/Scottish Psychedelic hip-hop electro boy band Young Fathers turn up on 20 Aug. Methinks that description should suffice in shifting tickets.

New-wavey Northerners Field Music like their sprawling chamber pop. Every track's an opus, get along now if that's your thing.

We want to know at what age the feisty teen rapper from Tampa will drop the explicit reference to her tender years. Yes, Dominique Young Unique swaggers onstage, showing her ass, sometime on 25 Aug.

Thankfully not a Stone Roses tribute act but a rather delectable LA-based Afropop collective. Fool's Gold will possibly provide one of the highlights of the entire festival, promise.

Of course, so could the similarly aurically themed Gold Panda on 27 Aug, the one-man sonic palette who likes to watch you (yes, you) dance, 'cos he's a bit strange like that.

But then so are Texan pop-punksters Harlem, who on 28 August will eschew any notions of the highbrow in favour of banging out tunes you can hurt your neck to.

Finally, after their stupendous Crystal Falls album release this year, alt-country hardasses Sparrow and the Workshop prove a suitably high-profile final act to round off an exceptional lineup. Go see 'em all!

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