Black and White Boy – The Avenue

Carefully looking to strike a balance between making music recognisably your own and not falling into a repetitive rut must be the curse of the musician, but Andrew Nicol - aka Black and White Boy - is still on that high wire and moving incrementally forward.

With his talents as a songwriter it could very well be an easy transition from doing what he wants to, to doing what the public apparently wants, but it’s to his credit that he refuses to write material by numbers and instead remains true to his melancholic heart.

On this outing there are still the strains of his Finn Brothers influences serving as a foundation, but with the addition of some Springsteen-esque flourishes the songs, while still not moving into party anthem territory, have a certain shading to them that brings in some lighter moments that contrasts well with the lyrical content.

It’s very mature fare and written to appeal to a more contemplative audience.

That being the case there is the possibility that some may miss out on the magic that lies therein if they are looking for a quick hit as it’s not a body of material that is looking to grab at the listener, but instead it’s more about forming a relationship with them.

Easing in and taking root and ultimately settling in for the long haul is probably how it could best be described.

It’s certainly difficult to commit to saying whether this is a brave or foolish approach in an era that seems keen to simply be guided towards a more consumerist take on music.

Undoubtedly much of what is on offer in the mainstream is largely deliberately disposable, but I for one will tip my hat to anyone who considers tilting at windmills as a worthy pursuit.

In short some things are really worth the effort of taking the time to explore and in this instance I would recommend that you set aside the time to get your head wrapped around ‘The Avenue.’

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The Cundeez - Murder on the Oary Express

Culturally Dundee has never really featured on the map.

In the last decade all that has come from there is the incredible acting skills of George - the cat - Galloway, and the indie pop of The View, but now they can add a third string to their bow as The Cundeez are looking to stick a tartan emblazoned flag in the eye of the music scene.

It would be a valid point to claim that doing the rounds on bills with punk acts has pigeon holed them to an extent, but with 'Murder on the Oary Express' it's pretty obvious that they have a lot more going for them than simply appealing to those who arrived at a bar with their ticket for the nostalgia train only to find that they had to sit through The Cundeez before the could embark on their trip into the past.

With a swirl of the bagpipes layered in with their street punk, new wave and ska influenced tunes, the band are covering a great deal of ground sonically speaking, and while some may consider the Dundonian dialect heavy going and a bit of a struggle to get to grips with, it is ultimately a rewarding experience that will leave you smiling in admiration at their ability to walk the tightrope between being a joke of a band, and a band that can deliver a joke.

A big difference that sometimes some people don't seem to be able to grasp.

I reckon that in some strange alternative universe this would be called world music, and just for the shits and giggles I would love to see them on Jools Holland sending the whole thing up.

Facebook - www.facebook.com/Thecundeez

Reverbnation - www.reverbnation.com/thecundeez

Shifty Presidents

Hip Hop, like most genres of music, has two major threads to it.

One is the public face that is designed for mass consumption.

It's unchallenging, repetitive and has only one purpose in life, and that's to act as a cash magnet.

There's very little heart or soul in the shiny bling heavy MTV targeted hip hop that is promoted globally.

It's a stereotype that feels like it has left its expiry date far behind.

A hollow fast food representation of something that should have some meat to it, but doesn't.

The other is the sound of the underground, and it's there that the beats pump fast and passionately.

Especially here in Scotland where acts like Hektor Bizerk and The Girobabies are ripping up the rule book and casting it in the air like confetti.

In this ever shifting bastard offspring of a loose scene the only thing that you can expect is the unexpected, and strangely enough the latest act to throw his hat in the ring defines this unexpected aspect, as instead of a skinny pissed off wigger from a council estate spitting out rhymes Shifty Presidents hails from Chicago, and prior to relocating to Glasgow has been around the block a bit.

While presently he's more Eminem and Jay Z than the punk upstarts with a fistful of repetitive beat that we are used to, there's undoubtedly some influences from his travels creeping into what he is rapping about, and it's clear from listening to his rhymes that what we have is an artists who is maturing and using his experiences to move beyond simple emulation of his heroes and is edging ever closer to a sound of his own.

This stranger in a strange land soaking up partially foreign influences could be exactly the thing that Shifty needs to push some space between himself and the pool of rappers he has left behind in Chicago, and vice versa it adds a certain flavour to what he does that Scots audiences will only have an experience of from watching the dreaded MTV.

If he can tread that line between where he came from and where he's at, and then forge something from both then there's really no telling where he will end up.

While some may be intent on repeating history this is a young man who has his eye on the prize and is keen to write his own story.

You've got to give him kudos for that.

It's not all praise though.

Nothing is ever perfect, and what I am hearing is an artist on a journey. and some of the destinations he is referencing could be left in his rear view mirror.

The bitches and other stereotypical hip hop phrases and terms that are liberally sprinkled sound dated and should be left in the mouths of the less intelligent rappers out there.

Which he isn't one of.

It just feels counterproductive to pay lip service to something that he could easily replace with a more visceral turn of phrase.

However while that is a criticism it's still clear to see that Shifty Presidents is moving away from that and reaching for a less ghettoised sound, and it's this forward momentum that gives me hope that we will be hearing plenty of good things about him once he has soaked up some more experiences and used them to turbo charge his songs.

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