CELEBRANT, SNEAKY PETE'S, EDINBURGH, MARCH 5 2026

Something gentle, for a change. Here's hoping that Sneaky's can be restrained with the smoke machine...

And are they? No. They are not.

Line-up

BELL LUNGS: Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist soundscaper CEYLAN HAY. Although, to be fair, there's not much evidence of the singer/songwriter bit in tonight's performance. Instead we get a mesmerising ambient/drone piece featuring looped violin, accordion, all kinds of bells and whistles, squeaky things and rattly things and some wordless vocals that sound more like gulls than anything human. If you think that all sounds horrible, then you are wrong. It's the sound of lonely open spaces, big skies and high Scottish moors.

No pics, because it was too dark and smoky. Standard Sneaky's. So you get a strange murky video instead. Sounds good, though.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/t1cSQSmfqnM   https://www.facebook.com/bell.lungs

GAZE IS GHOST: Northern Irish born singer/songwriter/school-teacher LAURA McGARRIGLE. The only name on tonight's bill that I have seen before, and more than happy to see her again.

Delicate piano ballads, folk-tinged and a bit gloomy, a voice for which the word 'ethereal' was invented, she only plays a short set of five songs. I manage to record the one song she plays on guitar, but she's not happy with the performance and asks me not to use it. 

CELEBRANT(feat. HAVER QUARTET): I'm not entirely sure what genre this multi-national outfit fits into. I think I'll settle for 'indie-folk chamber-pop', accompanied as they are by a string quartet. They're here tonight promoting their new single 'Feral Gods' The chap with the guitar  - Tom Irvine - used to be in Glasgow's URVANOVIC, as did Seonaid Stevenson, who joins in on vocals for the last few songs of the set. By way of an encore, Irvine, Stevenson, singer Laura Zoschg and one of the violinists - who probably does have a name -  jump down from the stage and give us one final, unplugged, song, and it's lovely.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/LQbDlYqzzoQ   https://www.facebook.com/celebrantsongs

QUADE, SNEAKY PETE'S, EDINBURGH, SEPTEMBER 25 2025

I have no idea who QUADE are, or what they do. What can possibly go wrong? Apart from mis-spelling 'SNEAKY'...

Line-up:

ELLIANA CRAIG: Apparently, ELLIANA CRAIG is not a person, but a band. Local lads. I'm finding it hard to describe what it is that they do. It seems to have it's origins in post-punk, but it went off the rails somewhere and hooked up with noise rock. And some kind of warped post-rock. There's quite a bit of instrument swapping, and there's a violin. Some of it is quite gentle, and some of it is a discordant scraping noise. I'm not sure if I like it or not. Probably I do.

Video:  https://youtu.be/EmnztJNNacw   https://www.instagram.com/ellianacraig_band/

QUADE: Like the lads above, QUADE are difficult to pin down. They are, as previously mentioned, from Bristol, but that's about the only thing I can definitely say about them. Let's try. They don't talk much, and most of what they do is very quiet. It's a bit folk, a bit ambient, a bit post-rock, a bit jazz, a bit prog. There's quite a bit of instrument swapping, and there's a violin. Wait, that sounds familiar... Well, yes. They are made from a kit of parts similar to the one used by Alliana Craig, but assembled in quite a different way. Less chaotic. The sensible adults to AC's unruly teenager.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/pfzr_-vB3tQ  https://www.facebook.com/quadebanduk

SLOTH, FRINGE BY THE SEA, NORTH BERWICK, AUGUST 5 2025

FRINGE BY THE SEA is a 10 day multi-arts festival in the normally sedate seaside town of North Berwick, East Lothian. It's also only a few miles away from my house. It would, therefore, be rude of me to not pop along for a sample. The list of bands appearing includes the likes of BOOMTOWN RATS, AIR, THE BLUEBELLS, SANDI THOM, EDDIE READER, etc. so, obviously, I choose to see local ambient post-rocky shoegazers SLOTH. 

The festival takes place in, around and near North Berwick, but the main events happen in two tents in the Lodge grounds. A big tent - to the right of the picture below - and a not-so-big geodesic dome of a tent - to the left. SLOTH are in the latter. You should note that the picture was taken BEFORE the tents were erected.

Today's event narrowly escaped Storm Floris, which passed by yesterday shutting everything down for the day.

But it's all OK now.

This is, possibly, one of the oddest audiences I've ever been in. It's quite busy, half of the crowd looking like -no offence intended here - middle class holiday makers and parents, and the other half  being a few dozen small children, ages maybe 4 to 10-ish. Oldies at the back, kiddies on beanbags at the front.  I have my doubts whether the kids have the patience for SLOTH's ambient hypnotic post-rock style and, indeed, there is a lot of fidgeting and chattering, but it's all pretty good natured and nobody minds. I do, however, get the impression that the band is holding back, and would be happy to get all Mogwai on us if they had a chance. Also, as we are surrounded by food stalls, the whole tent smells faintly of popcorn and fish.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/1e1OBqYKGhE

SLOTH don't do Facebook, or the socials generally, but you can find them on Instagram if you look hard enough - @sloth._band, I think... They also have one song on Bandcamp, coincidentally the song on the above video.

ACCEPTANCE, BANSHEE LABYRINTH, EDINBURGH, JUNE 20 2025

What better way to get back to gigging than an evening of pure filth and beautiful noise in a tiny room? On possibly the hottest night of the year so far.

Line-up:

A.V.L: Pulling a double shift tonight, with a sludge set and a noise set. Seen them very briefly once before, and very happy to get the chance to see them again. They start with a lengthy noise/drone piece and segue into a bruising drums/bass/vocals sludge/grind set, many songs and lots of sweat. 

VIDEO 1, Sludge set:  https://youtu.be/jzXn_uQyaQo    

VIDEO 2, Noise/drone set:  https://youtu.be/F89WPZA-MO0

CANAAN BALSAM: Ambient/electronica knob twiddling. Spoken word vocals with added violin and hand-saw. Eerie and unsettling, and quite beautiful. Not that it's particularly relevant, but the man himself looks like a blend of Limmy and Thom Yorke.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/TVKPEM_SIxg    https://www.facebook.com/canaanbalsam

ACCEPTANCE: Black metal from Leeds, fka FATALIST, not to be confused with the other Fatalist or, indeed, FATALISTS. Appearing tonight as a trio, their bass player being ill. Doesn't seem to phase them though, and they are spectacular. Not sure if that drill-like guitar sound is deliberate or just a consequence of the lack of a bassist, but it all seems to work.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/xoPDp4qDBK8    https://www.facebook.com/Acceptance.Leeds

A belter of a gig, quality from start to finish. Cheers to The Kurgan for bringing Acceptance to Scotland for the very first time, and special thanks to the sound man for doing a cracking job and making everything crystal clear.

BILGE PUMP, LEITH DEPOT, EDINBURGH, FEBRUARY 17 2019

An evening of alternative rock in various flavours in Leith Depot. Which isn't actually in Leith.

Line-up:

UNWAVERING: Solo ambient folk/drone from local ambient folk/drone soloist.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/gzWtd1WoUow   

SONS OF THE DESCENT: More locals, this time doing a kind of alternative indie/psych. As opposed to REGULAR indie/psych, I suppose. Although the video says 'pop-tinged noir'. Make up yer own mind.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/qL6ADOeKboY    https://www.facebook.com/SonsOfTheDescent

PILOTCAN:  Indie slacker veterans. And yes, that's Michael Branagh on drums, who is is every Edinburgh band, ever.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/3fqGDyiyVSE    https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100030982436920

BILGE PUMP:  From Leeds. That's not very local, unless you're in North Yorkshire. Deemed 'unlistenable guff' by the NME, they do post-punky noise rock. Or DID, anyway, because they're no longer active. You might find something relevant if you look for OBJECTIONS instead.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/Uupr_4aZsNA   https://www.facebook.com/ObjectionsTheBand