h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I know what you are saying, there is a lot of good stuff out there but you are really going to have to look. If we take the sort of places you are talking about "tourist traps" you know the cash hungry monsters are only at best going to have the Runrig back catalouge and at worst the Runrig best of C.D. So if we are looked upon as liveing in a shortbread tin so be it, better that than "that band".

Is this the right place to have a mini rant about the twee representation of Scotland around the world then? And can we start with one of the worst offenders of the lot - Monarch of the sodding Glen, a show with plots so shortbready and saccharine that they have been known to cause diabetes in those unfortunate enough to watch the bloody thing.

<\rant over. For now>

Oops, sorry, in my rantyness forgot to say well done Cosmic for a very good (and necessary) article!

Not exactly. The large record stores (who shall remain nameless) are usually not great but are still not that bad at stocking decent Scottish music - especially here in Edinburgh. If you live outside Scotland you do have to know where to go but there are a number of good web sites. I'd recommend but I'm not sure I'm allowed to!

Thanks for the interest!

Slainte

Cosmic

Yes ranty person, you're absolutely right. If we could educate people into what it Scotland really is all about we'd be more than half-way there. That's part of the point of the article.

Glad you liked it!

Slainte

Cosmic

>> If we could educate people into what it Scotland really is all about

Well, that was a good lesson, Cosmic!

I've been downloading MP3s from the musicians' links you posted. There's some interesting music out there.

(BTW, the Brian McNeill URL is dead)

I'm a descendent of the Scottish diaspora to North America and I recently attended a Scottish Festival aboard the RMS Queen Mary (built on the River Clyde and now permanently moored at Long Beach, California) There were several vendors with tons of CD's and, as I've always been fascinated by the sound of the bagpipes, I bought a couple: Pipes and Drums 1st Battalion The Black Watch and the Wicked Tinkers. Great stuff, but you've opened my ears to something else I hadn't considered. Thanks!

Oh yeah, the homemade shortbread at the festival was delicious!

Loch Sloy!

Shipwrecked

Glad you liked it Shiprecked - glad to be of service.

I know about the Brian McNeill link. It was fine when I submitted the articel but seems to have gone nasty since then. I'll try and contact him and let him know.

Keep listening to the music and check out the link to the Penicuik Folk Club. There's a huge selection of links there, most of which should be stable!

Slainte

Cosmic

Excellent.

Some of my favourites are Deaf Shepherd, Swamptrash (remember them?), Hex, Jackie Leven, oh and Wolfstone of course.

The Penicuik links are good too - thanks!

O-God how right you are.It allmost make grity, real life programs like River City watchable. Note I said allmost( get that bit in before thay come and take me away for my good and the good of the hole communuty).

As I've been away from home for a year, I've unfortunately (?) missed out on River City, although this could be a blessing in disguise.

I did in a past life (hangs head in shame) watch Take the High Road though. But I was young, and, err, my granny used to watch it as well. Does that sound like the worst case of justification ever?

Music-wise, radio Scotland can be quite a good place to listen to contemporary folk music. They have a page of mp3s from currently unsigned bands at http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/musicscotland/celticroots/unsigned/index.shtml
which tend to be pretty good.

Also from a Uk-wide point of view (I'm not just a stereotypically parochial Scot thanks) I can heartily recommend Cara Dillon from N.Ireland, and Eliza Carthy who sings traditional English stuff that has nothing to do with men in white suits with bells and hankies. I don't have any web links for those sadly.

Slainte
Perseus

I don't think you should be too sad about missing "River City". Hasn't "Take the High Road" been cancelled?

The Radio Scotland site is impressive - as is the Radio 2 folk and acoustic site:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/folk/

I can't get terribly excited about Cara Dillon but she is doing extremely well at the moment so who am I to knock it! Eliza has always been a favourite of mine. She and her afmily are part of a group of people who are finally trying to define what it really means to be English. Something that has been abandoned up to now. Eliza used to live down the road from me... The best place for her is the Waterson: Carthy website:

http://www.folkicons.co.uk/wcart.htm

She has her own website as well but it's run by Warner and they've lost interest now. I don't think she was making them enough money.

Slainte

Cosmic

Thanks for those Cosmic - I kept meaning to look for them.

I saw Cara at South Shields last year, and again when for some unfathomable reason she came out to do a gig in a small church here in northern Switzerland. For that reason alone, lighting up my year out here, I will always be a fan of hers!

Eliza, and in fact the whole extended Waterson:Carthy dynasty are just fantastic. The album for Warners, Angels and Cigarettes, is not as folky as I had expected, but just shows how versatile she is as a singer/writer. I haven't got Anglicana yet, but when I get home...

Tappadh leat for those links again,
Perseus

Get "Anglicana", you'll love yourself for ever. Make sure you've heard "Red" and "Rice" as well. They're my desert island discs!

Slainte

Cosmic

Well I know what I'll be buying at Gatwick if the shops are still open at ten in the evening next week when I fly home!

Red is possibly my favourite album ever, and Rice is up there as well. Sadly i don't have the Red CD with me (travelling light was the order of the day) and my computer has corrupted the files, but only a week to go until I can hear it again.

I'd also recommend Kate Rusby from the English tradition. She is married to John Macusker formerly of the Battlefield Band (I think) and her album "Sleepless" is just about perfect in my opinion.

Right I'm off to listen to the Mike Harding show on the listen again page!

Slainte,
Perseus

Yep - Kate Rusby as well. John McCusker was of the Battlefield Band - he was just a wee boy when they took him on! They're both playing in the Edinburgh Fringe this year. Kate always talks about Nic Jones as her influence. He was in a car crash in the early 80's (or was it late 70's?!) and doesn't play any more but a few of his albums are available. Check them out!

Slainte

Cosmic

I certainly shall do. I heard Worcester City from the Anglicana album (am I right in thinking it was mostly recorded in Edinburgh?) on the radio last night, and it fair blew my socks off (had I been wearing any - ten o'clock at night and its still above 30°. I hate heatwaves).

So I'm counting the days till I can get it for my very ownsome

Slainte
Perseus

You're right. It was recorded mostly in Edinburgh with bits and pieces elsewhere.

Heatwaves are a pest - especially when you're not used to them. I'm glad I live somwhere that rarely has them!

Slainte

Cosmic

Did you get to hear the bands in the basement, Shipwrecked? The music was too loud down there for me without my earplugs, so I never got close enough to see if any of them were selling any of their CDs, but it was good listening 2 floors up.

I didn't actually - who was playing?

Slainte

Cosmic

Sea Change, no I missed the bands. Nobody was playing while I was aboard the ship. After wandering around the displays, visiting my clan's booth, and buying a pair of incredibly comfortable sheepskin slippers (and the CDs), I went outside to see some of the athletic events. Wouldn't you know it, I missed the caber tossing, too! But it was interesting nonetheless, to watch all that huffing and heaving!

So are you an Angeleno, too, or were you just in LB for a visit?

Shipwrecked