Contemporary music featuring heavy Scottish accents?
June 5, 2013 12:44 PM Subscribe
For some reason I really like contemporary music (indie rock, pop, alternatives etc.) featuring vocalists with very heavy Scottish accents (I like Scottish traditional folk too) and I am looking for more to listen to. Some of my current favorites are Arab Strap (and the solo Malcolm Middleton), The Twilight Sad, Frightened Rabbit, King Creosote, and Admiral Fallow.
Female examples particularly appreciated since that current list is all men.
Here is my current playlist on Spotify
http://open.spotify.com/user/124420896/playlist/1BxcrrqVORroj60rHmShGB
Female examples particularly appreciated since that current list is all men.
Here is my current playlist on Spotify
http://open.spotify.com/user/124420896/playlist/1BxcrrqVORroj60rHmShGB
I don't see The Proclaimers on your list, and they may fit.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:49 PM on June 5, 2013
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:49 PM on June 5, 2013
There's, of course, Belle and Sebastian who name-checked the Arab Strap: The Boy With The Arab Strap. Perhaps not a super-thick accent, but definitely discernible.
posted by fikri at 12:56 PM on June 5, 2013
posted by fikri at 12:56 PM on June 5, 2013
Also from the 90s, there's bis, from Glasgow. Here's their track Tell it to the Kids.
posted by fikri at 1:04 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by fikri at 1:04 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
accent may not be heavy enough, but try We Were Promised Jetpacks
posted by dogwalker at 1:05 PM on June 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by dogwalker at 1:05 PM on June 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
Best answer: No guarantee that my idea of what constitutes a heavy Scottish accent will match yours but here are a few ideas:
Glasvegas
Amy Macdonald
The View
Runrig (contemporary-ish)
posted by neilb449 at 1:07 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Glasvegas
Amy Macdonald
The View
Runrig (contemporary-ish)
posted by neilb449 at 1:07 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Camera Obscura. I would say it's a relatively light accent, but I can definitely tell they're Scottish.
posted by kpmcguire at 1:08 PM on June 5, 2013
posted by kpmcguire at 1:08 PM on June 5, 2013
Set the way-back machine all the way to 1981 and you get altered images: I Could Be Happy.
posted by fikri at 1:10 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by fikri at 1:10 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The Fratellis
Mull Historical Society
Paulo Nutini
Stiltskin
posted by neilb449 at 1:15 PM on June 5, 2013
Mull Historical Society
Paulo Nutini
Stiltskin
posted by neilb449 at 1:15 PM on June 5, 2013
I'm going to say contemporary music includes the early eighties and go with Orange Juice.
posted by hydrophonic at 1:28 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by hydrophonic at 1:28 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Mogwai R U Still Into It.
Of course, most of their music has no lyrics.
posted by Kafkaesque at 1:30 PM on June 5, 2013
Of course, most of their music has no lyrics.
posted by Kafkaesque at 1:30 PM on June 5, 2013
Best answer: The Yummy Fur, any of their songs, but Roxy Girls is good
Jozef K , fainter Scottish accent, but still discernably from Edinburgh - Sorry For Laughing
Folk wise, Alasdair Roberts - Long Lankin as just one example of an artist with a massive back catalogue. He releases vis Drag City
RH Hubbert, this one featuring Aidan Moffat from Arab Strap and Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand - Car Song
posted by stevedawg at 1:45 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Jozef K , fainter Scottish accent, but still discernably from Edinburgh - Sorry For Laughing
Folk wise, Alasdair Roberts - Long Lankin as just one example of an artist with a massive back catalogue. He releases vis Drag City
RH Hubbert, this one featuring Aidan Moffat from Arab Strap and Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand - Car Song
posted by stevedawg at 1:45 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Adele Bethel and David Gow played with Arab Strap for a while and then went on to form Sons and Daughters, with Adele as main lead vocalist. The Repulsion Box is their very excellent first full length. The first EP is great, too and the other two albums are good.
I did not know them when I first saw them opening a show but when I heard them talk I perked right up and thought to myself, oh, they're Scottish! They're gonna be great!
posted by mountmccabe at 2:08 PM on June 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
I did not know them when I first saw them opening a show but when I heard them talk I perked right up and thought to myself, oh, they're Scottish! They're gonna be great!
posted by mountmccabe at 2:08 PM on June 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
I forgot about Django Django! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDjpOrlfh0Y
posted by stevedawg at 2:34 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by stevedawg at 2:34 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Biffy Clyro
(If you follow this link ignore the first 20secs of the first clip, it makes them sound like a death metal band...)
posted by billiebee at 4:11 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
(If you follow this link ignore the first 20secs of the first clip, it makes them sound like a death metal band...)
posted by billiebee at 4:11 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Seconding the awesome and highly Scottish Sons & Daughters - try Jonny Cash.
For folk, Kris Drever is from Orkney - Steel and Stone is a good example
posted by patricio at 4:22 PM on June 5, 2013
For folk, Kris Drever is from Orkney - Steel and Stone is a good example
posted by patricio at 4:22 PM on June 5, 2013
appendix out (and alasdair roberts more traditional solo stuff), the pastels, international airport, the delgados
posted by noloveforned at 4:55 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by noloveforned at 4:55 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Camera Obscura are fantastic, and have a new album out.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 6:19 PM on June 5, 2013
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 6:19 PM on June 5, 2013
Best answer: oh my god, Idlewild, no one has yet mentioned Idlewild, how can this be?
posted by corvine at 6:26 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by corvine at 6:26 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Edwyn Collins - someone's mentioned Orange Juice, he's their lead singer, but his solo albums are great too - the latest got good reviews a few months ago
And a great late 80s/early 90s Scottish band who probably influenced a lot of the more recent bands mentioned is Aztec Camera.
And +1 Idlewild and Sons & Daughters.
posted by infinitejones at 11:58 PM on June 5, 2013
And a great late 80s/early 90s Scottish band who probably influenced a lot of the more recent bands mentioned is Aztec Camera.
And +1 Idlewild and Sons & Daughters.
posted by infinitejones at 11:58 PM on June 5, 2013
Best answer: Check out some of the artists under the Fence Records label. Particularly its founder and most well known artist: King Creosote. The linked video contains a live performance of him covering an older song that dabbles in the Scots dialect, but his accent is generally discernible in his own stuff.
Also check out: James Yorkston, Pictish Trail and Kid Canaveral who also come under this label.
If you like folky stuff, maybe check out Rachel Sermanni. She is from the north-east of Scotland, and her accent is a little unusual, but definitely apparent in her songs.
posted by TheOtherGuy at 12:47 AM on June 6, 2013
Also check out: James Yorkston, Pictish Trail and Kid Canaveral who also come under this label.
If you like folky stuff, maybe check out Rachel Sermanni. She is from the north-east of Scotland, and her accent is a little unusual, but definitely apparent in her songs.
posted by TheOtherGuy at 12:47 AM on June 6, 2013
Biffy Clyro - I thought their last album was very accessible. My husband has a soft spot for them as they also hail from Ayrshire. 'Mon the Bif!
Fratellis - Their first album is so easy to get into and Chelsea Dagger always causes an impromptu dance in our home
Proclaimers also come out of our speakers every once in a while.
My husband likes Glasvegas. I can take about 30 minutes of them. I find them super depressing in an annoying way, ymmv.
posted by like_neon at 1:19 AM on June 6, 2013
Fratellis - Their first album is so easy to get into and Chelsea Dagger always causes an impromptu dance in our home
Proclaimers also come out of our speakers every once in a while.
My husband likes Glasvegas. I can take about 30 minutes of them. I find them super depressing in an annoying way, ymmv.
posted by like_neon at 1:19 AM on June 6, 2013
Deacon Blue - another of the big Scottish rock bands of the eighties with a strong celtish lilt.
Isobel Campbell (of Belle and Sebastian) has released a couple of great albums with (Queens of the Stone Age) Mark Lanegan. Her accent is soft in her singing voice, but it's there.
posted by MuffinMan at 1:28 AM on June 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
Isobel Campbell (of Belle and Sebastian) has released a couple of great albums with (Queens of the Stone Age) Mark Lanegan. Her accent is soft in her singing voice, but it's there.
posted by MuffinMan at 1:28 AM on June 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
also Snow Patrol.
Sorry to be a pedant, but Gary Lightbody (the lead singer of Snow Patrol) is from Northern Ireland so he doesn't sing in a Scottish accent.
posted by billiebee at 1:32 AM on June 6, 2013
Sorry to be a pedant, but Gary Lightbody (the lead singer of Snow Patrol) is from Northern Ireland so he doesn't sing in a Scottish accent.
posted by billiebee at 1:32 AM on June 6, 2013
Best answer: Withered Hand! He is GREAT, and if you like Frightened Rabbit, you will like him.
posted by mippy at 3:22 AM on June 6, 2013
posted by mippy at 3:22 AM on June 6, 2013
Oh - The Delgados have a female singer, but I'm not sure they're very accenty.
posted by mippy at 3:23 AM on June 6, 2013
posted by mippy at 3:23 AM on June 6, 2013
Best answer: Foxface
The Just Joans
Mersault
Ballboy
Tango in the Attic
Butcher Boy
My Latest Novel
Karine Polwart
posted by liquidindian at 3:53 AM on June 6, 2013
The Just Joans
Mersault
Ballboy
Tango in the Attic
Butcher Boy
My Latest Novel
Karine Polwart
posted by liquidindian at 3:53 AM on June 6, 2013
Best answer: Yes to Sons and Daughters, yes yes yes to Idlewild.
Roddy Woomble (Idlewild's lead singer) is working on solo stuff at the moment (and their old guitarist is in The Birthday Suit who are Edinburgh-based but who I don't think sound terribly Scottish at all).
posted by citands at 5:25 AM on June 6, 2013
Roddy Woomble (Idlewild's lead singer) is working on solo stuff at the moment (and their old guitarist is in The Birthday Suit who are Edinburgh-based but who I don't think sound terribly Scottish at all).
posted by citands at 5:25 AM on June 6, 2013
Best answer: Olympic Swimmers (link is to vimeo video of single "knots".) Their website is here
&
The Scottish Enlgihtenment (link is to the Bandcamp page for their "Little Sleep" EP.) The full album is on Bandcamp here
posted by u17tw at 6:11 AM on June 6, 2013
&
The Scottish Enlgihtenment (link is to the Bandcamp page for their "Little Sleep" EP.) The full album is on Bandcamp here
posted by u17tw at 6:11 AM on June 6, 2013
Also - a shout out for the Waterboys. The lead singer, Mike Scott doesn't sing in a Scottish accent per se, but he doesn't sing in an authentic Irish one either to my ears. Like Marcus Mumford, his accent is folkish.
They were a half Scottish, half Irish band in that Mike Scott was the driving force and came from Edinburgh and Steve Wickham came from Dublin - and the rest of the line up chopped and changed.
Anyway if you like celtic folk music with some Scottish influence then you might like.
posted by MuffinMan at 8:17 AM on June 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
They were a half Scottish, half Irish band in that Mike Scott was the driving force and came from Edinburgh and Steve Wickham came from Dublin - and the rest of the line up chopped and changed.
Anyway if you like celtic folk music with some Scottish influence then you might like.
posted by MuffinMan at 8:17 AM on June 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks guys! Can't wait to listen to all the suggestions!
posted by melissam at 9:16 PM on June 10, 2013
posted by melissam at 9:16 PM on June 10, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
Big Country
Simple Minds
Okay, it's old, but it's all good.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:49 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]