There's been a raft of new music in the last 12 months flowing out of Aberdeen and crossing genres like never before!
I recently caught up with an old school friend which brought me back to the heady days of live music in Aberdeen circa 2000 to 2005. It seemed like bands were playing every other weekend but friends were doing a lot too and their musical styles stretched from Fugazi to The Flaming Lips. The old Dr Drakes bar was a regular haunt seeing Hookers Green #1, Masamune and Deadalus every other week. DJ Giles Walker had events on across the city and the Dirty Hearts Club was still just starting out. A lot has changed in the years since but Aberdeen still has a strong music scene which has grown in breadth with new artists and producers helping to put Aberdeen on the map.
Although music has always been important to met but its not something that's filtered onto the site very often. I'll maybe highlight a special gig or event on the Deen Scene updates but generally I swerve requests to review stuff as I find it akward. The guys at POST on the other hand embrace a much wider slice of what Aberdeen has to offer and have done a great job in compiling together a playlist of local musicians which they update regularly. You can listen to it via the platform of your choice here.
There's been a lot of great releases in the last 18 months and even some from last week with the Kitchen Cynics new tape release Fractured Memories dropping on the 6th January. My year so far has been filled with the music of CS Buchan who dropped not one but two new albums in 2022, Shaz Bee and Takkin Shelter. The latter features a selection of tracks that never found their way onto albums along with some live versions of Leave It All Behind and Broken Parts. Craig John Davidson released Tickets to the Sea and dropped a new single Lesson Learned in December. 2022 finished up with a strong release from Fiona Soe Paing with Sand, Silt, Flint which has garnered international attention and a Guardian review. The Little Kicks made a return to the live circuit with a slew of gigs across Scotland and the release of album no 5, People Need Love. Their gig at the Arts Centre was one of my highlights for 2022 and also introduced me to The Capollos who were on support duties. Van den Plastic are new on my radar but have a new EP titled 'La Tourmentine' with all songs sung in French out now!
Another live highlight came thanks to We Are Here Scotland and the Incubata Showcase at the Lemon Tree which featured Glasgow artist Eyve & Edinburghs Danny Cliff along with a megamix from local DJ & producer Vagrant Real Estate. He's been busy this year with break out albums with Clbrks and a ton of production credits. Vagrant is also passionate about supporting the local scene and the HOURS ABDN nights have shown there's a new generation not only coming up but smashing the doors off. Artists like Chef & AiiTee have both received critical acclaim with airplay on BBC Introducing and blog features across the UK. You can jump from bedroom producers to garage bands like Depeche Choad who released new album Realism late last year and kicked off 2023 with an intimate basement gig at 26 Studio which I was gutted to miss due to having a cold.
So there's a load going on and that's not including the Aberdeen musicians who've moved beyond the borders of the Granite City like OK Button. We still claim Annie Lennox as our own so anyone who's from Aberdeen will always have our support. Not that Annie needs our support but certainly all the artists highlighted and on our Creative Aberdeen playlist could benefit from plays via their Spotify channels which I've either linked to above or you can find via the playlist below. Playing their music and adding to your own playlists is the easiest way to support and can lead down a rabbit hole of new sounds which can only be a good thing. Especially for someone like me who's favourite albums are now considered classics despite feeling like they just came out a few years ago. No Suprises by Radiohead was released 25 years ago and I am feeling old!
