Friday night will see the truly unique stylings of Mr Scruff takeover The Arches for his quintessential banquet of alt-club classics, with droplets of his own quirky work across a hectic evening.
The Manchester mix-wizard isn’t just known for his inventive LPs – over the last decade his live sets have evolved into mammoth four hour sessions covering the musical spectrum from funk to folk, in a blend that saves any swathes of dancefloor departures.
If this seems like too much bang for your buck, Mr Scruff’s Teashop will be on hand to supply his brew based wares; without the P&P to sweat over, the only drama is how many mugs you can cart back to your flat after.
The choice of The Arches super-club atmosphere is testament to his trust in the venue, from a man that has played across some of the most vibrant and varied club on the planet.
His attention to technical detail with both the record being spun and the audio/visual scope the audience get to enjoy it in is second to none.
The Scruff doesn’t come to town as often as he might like – but it’s always a visit to remember. With such a random pick’n’mix of tunes on offer, going for a fag or a trip to the bar could mean missing two tunes that could truly make or break your evening.
Tickets £12.50 ADV / £15 | Doors 10pm
(Edinburgh Potterow on Thursday)
Saturday night in Cabaret Voltaire will see the post-grunge rumblings of a Yuck, a band that appear to have as much of a following across the pond as in the UK, in as small a venue as you’re likely to catch them from this point on.
Born from the songwriting combination of ex-Cajun Dance Party frontman, Daniel Blumberg, and bassist, Max Bloom, picking up guitars and feverishly writing material for an album within months of the demise of the once indie-pop hopefuls.
It was an exceptionally quick turnaround, from signing with label Fat Possum in September 2010 to the release of their self-titled debut in Febuary of this year. They carried over little more than the main thread of the Cajun Dance Party sound: melodically bashful vocals under overhanging riffs, in an altogether more exportable fuzzbox sound.
Whilst the duo’s Americanised record collections may have shaped their early writing, the swift addition of the gutteral basswork in Mariko Doi picking up the New Jersey flavoured drumming from Jonny Rogoff in an Israeli dessert, this made the realisation all the easier.
A thinly veiled lo-fi approach was always going to hit the media hype ground running. Add to that a nonchalant, accidental coolness and the fourpiece were quickly swept up for US sessions with NPR, Billboard Magazine and a quintessential showcase on Pitchfork.
Even with playing back-to-back Scottish dates, we’re suprised to see the guys still performing (and hopefully selling out) venues of this size. With their continuially prolific recording output, a double CD version of what is likely to be one of this years top albums has just been released in Australia, you won’t be likely to catch them without being surrounded by 500+ sweaty punters again.
Tickets £9 | Doors 2000
Not so much a musical ensemble, as an Irish tour de force, The Rubber Bandits leap their way into King Tuts on Friday evening on the back of the YouTube sensation “I’ve Got A Horse Outside”, which has now topped 8 million views.
After a year peddling their way from acting up as location reporters on RTÉ’s Republic of Telly to cuts on MTV and Channel 4 across in the mainland, this is as close as Ireland get to Ali G.
Musically they throw elementary hip hop beats with traditional Irish licks and a smearing of classic pop, all the while rapping the kind of tounge in cheek that could easily see them slapped with a Secterian breach of the peace (rhyming ‘up the ra’ with ‘Cantona/Paul McGrath’ whilst reading out a list of alledged IRA members (George Lucas, Winona Ryder…).
Their first appearance on Scottish soil was a beer garden bursting appearance at Edinburgh’s Three Sisters on St Patrick’s Day, paving the way for Tut’s to be something of an Irish assembly come Friday night.