Seven albums in two years, all funded by his fans.  Is Ginger Wildheart an example of the future of the music industry?  I don’t know, but I’m definitely not complaining about it.  Those of us who are on the wagon have already got our hands on the most recent Pledge funded Ginger album, Albion, which see’s him returning to the studio with the band he has been touring with for the last few years.
Killswitch Engage and Trivium w/ Miss May I and Battlecross at the O2 Academy Glasgow, 4/2/2014
Package tours are becoming more and more common, but few this year are likely to elicit the response that the announcement of Trivium and Killswitch Engage taking to the road together did.  These two metal titans have been on redemptive paths in the last few years.  Killswitch reuniting with Jesse Leach and remembering how to kick ass (although I was actually a Howard fan) and Trivium slowly rebuilding their damaged reputation and fighting back up to the top of the metal ladder (which they should have been on top of a long time ago.)
Inside Llewyn Davis
Inside Llewyn Davis is the latest release from the Cohen brothers and tells the story of a struggling Greenwich village folk musician.  Llewyn Davis’s life is an endless circle of small gigs, crashing on friends floors and disappointment.  His previous musical relationship was cut short when his partner, Mike, committed suicide.  While the people he calls friends are not really his friends and more suffer him because without them he’d be dead.  Reading that back it all sounds rather depressing doesn’t it?
Against Me – Transgender Dysphoria Blues
“No more troubled sleep, there’s a brave new world raging inside of me.”  Sometimes music transcends it’s genre.  It becomes a hell of a lot more important than words on a lyric sheet or notes in a song.  I think it’s fair to say that the latest Against Me album Transgender Dysphoria Blues could be placed into that category.  Telling the story of a women trapped inside the body of a man it follows lead singer Laura Jane Grace’s decision to come out as a transgender woman, it is a piece of music that tells much more than just the story hidden away within the songs.
Suicidal Angels – Divide and Conquer
The recent thrash revival has shown the demand for old school balls to the wall thrash is alive and well in the metal world today and one band who are willing to give us this is Suicidal Angels.  Hailing from Greece they have just released their fifth album Divide and Conquer and will be looking to spread their blood and thunder thrash approach to the masses.
Skindred w/ SOiL and Viza. 27th January 2014 at Glasgow O2 ABC.
The fact that Skindred aren’t the biggest band in the world right now is a tragedy.  However, it is reassuring to look out over the Glasgow ABC and see that while it isn’t sold out, they have pulled one of the biggest crowds I’ve seen them play to outside of festival bills.  Maybe the message is finally getting out there about these incredible performers.
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There have been very few films released in the last year that are as brave as All is Lost.  Which could easily have been called Robert Redford On A Boat.  If there are fifty words said in this film I would be surprised and apparently the script was only 32 pages long.  There is also only one actor in the entire film, the aforementioned Robert Redford.  If you can find me another film like that then it will be a rare one.
Victorian Trout Conspiracy Interview
This article originally appeared in today’s Daily Record (22/1/2014) however was slightly cut so I figured I’d post the whole thing up here for anyone who was interested. Â Enjoy!
The Breadalbane Arms in Aberfeldy has probably not played home to too many great musical moments. However, for Edinburgh based ska band Victorian Trout Conspiracy it will live in their memories as the place they were joined on stage by Brit award winning singer songwriter Ed Sheeran.
Bruce Springsteen – High Hopes
Bruce Springsteen is a man who should need no introduction, back with his eighteenth studio album High Hopes The Boss has taken the unusual decision of forgoing the normal writing process and instead releasing a selection of reworked tracks and some covers.  He’s joined, as usual, by The E Street Band but also be a few new additions including one Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) who has been playing with the great man live.
12 Years a Slave
So as we enter Oscar season it becomes clear that a certain kind of film begins to dominate our cinema screens.  Movies that are aiming for one of those nice shiny statues are out in force in the UK and one of the pack leaders stands in the form of Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave. It’s a movie that tells the remarkable true story of Solomon Northup, a free black man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the early 1800’s.  It was nominated for 9 awards by the Academy and has so far appeared to receive universal acclaim.
