Staying out for the summer: Feugh Fest, Loopallu and Darvel Music Festival

There are just a few major events in the music calendar left to tell you about... so we've decided to bundle them all together for one, big festival orgy. If that's not enough to make you agoraphobic, The Pop Cop will be hosting a very exciting competition this Friday which you'll definitely want to check out.

What's it called? Feugh Fest.

Where's it at? King George V Park, Banchory, Aberdeenshire.

When's it kicking off? August 30.

Who are the headliners? The Brand New Heavies, Sandi Thom.

How do the organisers describe it? "With an extensive line-up of some of Britain's best bands headlining the main stage, the second stage in the marquee will feature a host of popular local and national cover bands."

What's its pedigree? This is the 2nd year.

What's the damage? £41.50 (tickets), £46.50 including camping (tickets).

Verdict: One the worst line-ups of any festival this summer. We're surprise they didn't persuade WAG Amy Macdonald to come along, given her footballing fiancé Steve Lovell's ties with Aberdeen.

ESSENTIAL FEUGH FEST SOUNDTRACK:
4 Popup - Lucy, What You Trying To Say?
4 Attic Lights - 5 Weeks Behind

What's it called? Loopallu.

Where's it at? Broomfield Holiday Park, Ullapool.

When's it kicking off? September 19-20.

Who are the headliners? Levellers, The Rascals.

How do the organisers describe it? "Loopallu is becoming more like a family reunion that you actually want to go to! Our friendly family festival is a fantabulous weekend for all, with activities for all ages and music for all ears. We all come together with one common idea... to have fun."

What's its pedigree? This is the 4th year.

What's the damage? £56.50 for the weekend, £71.50 including camping (tickets).

Verdict: Franz Ferdinand made Loopallu their only UK festival stop of 2007, which just goes to show the lengths (literally) even the biggest bands will go to for a gig at the most northerly alternative music festival in Scotland. Under-12s go free so that should secure a whole new generation of Frightened Rabbit and Broken Records fans.

ESSENTIAL LOOPALLU SOUNDTRACK:
4 King Creosote - Not One Bit Ashamed
4 Frightened Rabbit - The Greys
4 Broken Records - Out On The Water

What's it called? Darvel Music Festival.

Where's it at? Darvel Town Hall, Darvel, East Ayrshire.

When's it kicking off? September 26-28.

Who are the headliners? Crash My Model Car (Friday), Hamish Stuart Band (Saturday) and Session A9 (Sunday).

How do the organisers describe it? "The best wee festival in Scotland (in our humble opinion!)."

What's its pedigree? This is the 7th year.

What's the damage? £14.25 for Friday (tickets), £24.25 for Saturday (tickets), £19.25 for Sunday (tickets).

Verdict: Officially, this year's event is a mini-version of the real thing in order to raise funds for the full two-week festival in 2009, but the presence of Roddy Hart and Crash My Model Car - two of the four Scottish acts who made The Pop Cop's ones-to-watch list at the start of the year - make it a veritable treat.

ESSENTIAL DARVEL MUSIC FESTIVAL SOUNDTRACK:
4 Roddy Hart - I Will Not Fear The Dark
4 Crash My Model Car - Maybe
4 Yvonne Lyon - Colours

Staying out for the summer: Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival

It seems like forever ago that we first gave you the lowdown on what music festivals to look forward to (or avoid) in Scotland this year. Back then summer seemed so far away - the days were short, drivers scraped frost off their windscreens, children built snowmen. It was nearly May after all. Seeing as the current heatwave - that's 22 degrees, folks - has turned everyone into a darker shade of pale, it's time to get back in the festival spirit with this Highland fling...

What's it called? Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival.

Where's it at? Belladrum Estate, by Beauly, Inverness-shire.

When's it kicking off? August 8-9.

Who are the headliners? Scouting For Girls, The Waterboys.

And the flatliners? Scouting For Girls.

How do the organisers describe it? "It’s homegrown heaven in the Highlands. The craic's amazing, the people are friendly, families love it, the setting is stunning, the music blows you away and it's all on a relaxing human scale you can enjoy without that Times Square sensation of being over-thronged."

What's its pedigree? This is the 5th year.

What's the damage? £56.50 for Saturday only (tickets), £87.50 for Friday & Saturday (tickets).

Most likely to be attended by: We would assume all the gig-starved people who live in beautiful Inverness. As the fastest growing city in Europe it's time touring bands started taking it seriously as a concert destination. Music fans do exist north of the Central Belt, you know.

Verdict: Where else could you play football with Biffy Clyro and befriend Polish hitchhikers? That's what happened in The Pop Cop's last visit to Belladrum two years ago when we were charmed by the festival's relaxed atmosphere, the genuine, warm enthusiasm of the punters and the complete absence of neds and posers. It doesn't cost a penny more to camp or use the car park and kids under 13 get in for free - what a breath of fresh air to find organisers who aren't desperate to fleece their customers for everything they've got. Oh, and the line-up is pretty decent too.

ESSENTIAL BELLADRUM TARTAN HEART SOUNDTRACK:
4 Infadels - Free Things For Poor People
4 The Wallbirds - 8 O'Clock Blues
4 Idlewild - Faster
4 Del Amitri (Justin Currie) - Roll To Me
4 Angus And Julia Stone - Bella
4 Frightened Rabbit - Fast Blood
4 Kathryn Williams - We Dug A Hole
4 Broken Records - Lies
4 The Brute Chorus - The Cuckoo & The Stolen Heart
4 The Lemonheads - Different Drum
4 Cold War Kids - Hospital Beds
4 Sons And Daughters - Broken Bones

The Outsiders: Craig Michie

We hope you've enjoyed The Pop Cop's series on The Outsiders - be sure to share your thoughts and feedback. With any luck you're feeling inspired and have learned something new, even if it's just that every ex-pat Scot has met Coldplay. Thanks to everyone who gave their time to contribute. Here's the final instalment.

Name: Craig Michie.
Job title: A&R scout, Chrysalis Music Publishing.
Age: 27.
Hometown: St Andrews.
When did you leave Scotland? 2002.
Is your Scottish identity important to you? Very much so.
How did you get your job and what had you done before? I was bored in the job I was in so I phoned my cousin in the middle of the day. She knew someone at EMI so I called him up and it turned out he had a job going at Virgin Records as an A&R assistant. I got the job because he was from Inverness and supported Dundee United, and I used to play for Dundee United reserves so I had many stories to tell him. I got my job at Chrysalis because the MD of Virgin knew I wanted to move on and his Jewish mate (my current boss) had a job going and gave me it. It's about who you know, being in the right place and being pushy yet polite. But you also have to know your place and be willing to make mistakes and learn from your bosses. There is a reason why they are still in their jobs.
Who is the most famous person you have met while doing your job? Chris Martin.
What's the best and worst part of your job? It's a lifestyle, not a job. Flexi-time. It's a journey rather than a planned out career. It's like the thrill of buying a lottery ticket - it just might become massive!
What music are you excited about right now? Glasvegas.
Have any new Scottish acts caught your eye recently? Glasvegas, Frightened Rabbit.
Anything else you'd like to add... It is people like you (The Pop Cop) who are the future of the music industry, not people like me.

4 Glasvegas - Geraldine
4 Frightened Rabbit - Soon Go

The Outsiders: Claire Lim and Paul McCallum

You get two for the price of one in our penultimate Outsiders feature in which underground gig promotion is the name of the game.

Name: Claire Lim and Paul McCallum.
Job title: Promoters, A Badge of Friendship.
Hometown: Glasgow.
Age: Claire: 24; Paul: 28;
When did you leave Scotland? 2002.
Is your Scottish identity important to you? If so, in what ways? Claire: It was more important when I had just arrived in London as I hadn't left home before. There are lots of Scots down here and we seem to migrate towards each other subconsciously! I am proud to be Scottish but because London is such a multi-cultural place being Scottish, English, French, German etc doesn't seem to have an importance. Paul: Definitely. Scots have a warmth and humour inherent in our culture unlike most other nationalities, a trait that attracts us to other people as well as each other. Since moving down to London, I have made probably just as many new Scottish friends as I had back home, which is an indication of the sense of community felt by most Scots.
How did you get your job and what had you done before? Claire: It was quite hard getting a foot in the door in the music industry so Paul and I ended up just creating the job for ourselves. We love music erring on the side of alternative and there seemed to be such a great scene down here and lots of bands waiting in the wings to play so why not start promoting? I had written some fanzines and promoted some shows in Glasgow before but A Badge of Friendship has really taken off and we have big plans for it. Paul: Before ABOF I was involved in music in various guises. I was in charge of sales whilst touring with bands, I took photos and shot videos for bands and for Fender guitars etc. In addition, I have worked in the TV and film world.
Who is the most famous person you have met while doing your job? Claire: Har Mar Superstar. He was all sweaty and was wearing pink cords. He didn't say much. Paul: There are quite a lot of famous people I have met over the years, however most of them are quite uninteresting. The ones who have excited me would be so obscure to most they are barely worth a mention!
What's the best and worst part of your job? Claire: Best parts are having fun with bands, meeting so many nice folk, watching crowds flood in to watch great music and have people tell us how much fun they had afterwards. Worst parts are giving shedloads of money to venues for the expensive hire fees when we could be giving it to the bands. Oh, and sound problems - there is nothing worse than the band being unhappy with the sound. Paul: The best is most definitely being my own boss in an industry I truly love and hopefully making a difference. The worst has to be the uncertain nature of putting on any underground gig - you just don't know how it's going to go.
What music are you excited about right now? Claire: We put on some really excellent bands recently - These Monsters, Wintermute, YouMeTheSwitch and And So I Watch You From Afar. I'm really excited about the new Dianogah album - I also work for Southern Records so I get to hear lots of awesome bands all day. Paul: In terms of bands that we have put on, The Cathode Ray Syndrome, Lite, Shield Your Eyes, Antelope, The Paper Chase and Silent Front. In terms of what I am personally listening to, Minus The Bear, Traindodge, Riddle Of Steel, Band Of Horses and Melvins.
How would you rate your knowledge of the current Scottish music scene? Have any new Scottish acts caught your eye recently? Claire: I would rate it as zero! Sorry, but I've not been back in such a long time. We put on The Twilight Sad last December and they have been the only thing from Scotland recently who've grabbed my attention. Lovely boys too! Paul: My knowledge is nowhere near as great as it once was but I have heard good things about Frightened Rabbit and Errors. And, of course, there is my good friends Biffy Clyro who some people may have heard of!
Anything else you'd like to add... Claire: If you are looking for great new music, dig deep. Don't just rely on the magazines and usual indie websites for the answers. Look at labels' back catalogues, sift through allmusic.com to see your favourite artists, go see live shows, speak to DIY promoters and bands. Paul: Since this is all about music I'll end with a Frank Zappa quote - "Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid."

4 Dianoagh - The Smallest Chilean
4 Errors - Dance Music

The Outsiders: Paul Barton

The Outsiders is all about Scots who have left the comfort of their homeland to carve out careers in the music industry. Everyone has their own opinion on who they think the next big thing will be, but the reputation of our next interviewee depends on getting it right.

Name: Paul Barton.
Age: A young 31!
Job title: A&R manager, Warner Bros Records.
Hometown: I was born in Edinburgh but moved to Falkirk before I was one. So, really I'm from Falkirk.
When did you leave Scotland? I moved away in November 2000, returning in February 2001. I left again in May 2001 and have been in London ever since.
Is your Scottish identity important to you? If so, in what ways? It is important to me personally but I don't think it is important to me socially or for work. I'm very proud of Scotland as a country and, having been away for so long, Scots are absolutely some of the friendliest people you will ever meet. I come from a through and through Scottish family and they made sure I learned the heritage and history of Scotland - I can't thank them enough for making sure I did!
How did you get your current job and what had you done before? When I was living in Falkirk I was in bands, ran a rehearsal studio and booked bands for a local pub. While doing this I did a Music Technology course at Falkirk College then a Music Management and Marketing course at Stow College in Glasgow. The idea of getting a job in London came from my lecturer at Stow, Alan Rankin, who really opened my eyes to how the industry works. I got work experience at Sony Music and assisted the press department for a month doing everything from making tea, delivering packages, cleaning out cupboards and answering the phones. Just as my course was finishing I was asked back to Sony to cover a load of people's holidays, so for three months (unpaid!) I did whatever they asked me to do. I was put forward for a load of interviews and got a job as a royalty administrator at a small independent music publisher/record label called SPZ. This led to me moving into label management at ZTT Records and then becoming A&R manager at Perfect Songs, the publishing arm of the company. A couple of years later I joined Warner Bros Records as A&R manager.
Who is the most famous person you have met while doing your job? I guess having lunch with Coldplay while they were recording their third album was a good laugh.
What's the best and worst part of your job? I am a total music lover so every day all day I'm listening to music, getting to work with some of my heroes and being creative. I'm extremely lucky, you can't call it a proper job. The worst part is that no-one wants to pay for music these days. Everyone thinks they should get it for free and that is killing the entire industry. Many people don't realise that it isn't the music companies - major or indie - they are killing. It is the chances of all the young bands and artists out there wanting to make a living out of playing music they are killing.
What music are you excited about right now? Iglu & Hartly, In Case Of Fire, Haunts, Flight Path. The new album from The Subways is absolutely blinding as is the new My Morning Jacket album - two of the best this year.
How would you rate your knowledge of the current Scottish music scene? Have any new Scottish acts caught your eye recently? I'd say 9/10. I have a fantastic scout in Glasgow called Ali Davidson. He is my eyes and ears in Scotland and without him I'd be totally lost. He is on everything really early and has a good idea of what is good and what isn't. He called me in a state of complete excitement about Make Model having only heard half a song... through a wall! And he was right - I really wished I'd signed that band. I really love Broken Records and Black Alley Screens, Jocasta Sleeps and Paper Planes are also worth keeping an eye on. And I think Y'all Is Fantasy Island make some of the most interesting music I've ever heard.

4 Jocasta Sleeps - The Crayfish Cocktail
4 Y'all Is Fantasy Island - Consider Yourself Swallowed

The Outsiders: Pam Ribbeck

Our next Outsider hasn't looked back since leaving Scotland to navigate the murky waters of press publicity. Here, she reveals the secrets of her success.

Name: Pam Ribbeck.
Job title: Senior press officer at Fiction/Polydor.
Age: 31.
Hometown: Arran.
When did you leave Scotland? Coming up for 14 years ago.
Is your Scottish identity important to you? If so, in what ways? Absolutely. Home is where the heart is, as they say.
How did you get your job and what had you done before? I did an HND in Music Business Administration at West Lothian College. The course ran for about 10 years and was run by Gordon Campbell, a great guy. I would never have had the courage to move to London and try to get a job in music without the knowledge, contacts and friends made during that time. I was lucky.
Who is the most famous person you have met while doing your job? I would say Slash. He’s pretty famous, right? Nice chap too.
What's the best and worst part of your job? Best: The people I meet and work with, and being immersed in music. Worst: Getting the work/life balance right. It’s a sociable job and it's pretty hard to switch off. And emails - the greatest and worst evolution of the past 10 years.
What music are you excited about right now? I love Feist (OK, she’s on Polydor but I don’t do her press!). Her performance of Sea Lion Woman on Later With Jools Holland convinced me she is a very special woman - it bowled me over. She has the most incredible voice. Fleet Foxes, Band Of Horses, Bon Iver, Phosphorescent, Vetiver, the new Conor Oberst album (I can see a trend there), Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, Alela Diane, Elbow, Les Savy Fav, Neon Neon, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Black Kids. Oh, loads of stuff! Looking forward to new albums from Archie Bronson Outfit, The Cure and Mogwai.
How would you rate your knowledge of the current Scottish music scene? Have any new Scottish acts caught your eye recently? I’ve got some pretty clued up friends based in Glasgow and I sit in the Fiction office along with the A&R people here which is helpful as far as hearing good new bands from all over the UK goes. But I wouldn’t say I had a specific knowledge of the current Scottish music scene - that would be a lie. I know Glasvegas are an obvious mention but I love the singer's voice and his heart-on-his-sleeve lyrics and those fuzzy guitars are just lovely. And Errors are ace.
Anything else you'd like to add... Now I know how it feels to be interviewed!

4 Feist - Sea Lion Woman
4 Conor Oberst - Moab

The Outsiders: Barry Saint

We're back with the second and final week of our feature on The Outsiders - the Scots who are making a name for themselves in the wider world of music. Today's subject certainly knows a thing or two about talent-spotting.

Name: Barry Saint.
Job title: I have three jobs - manager of the Scottish band, Broken Records. A&R manager for Distiller Records. A&R consultant for Z Management.
Age: 28.
Hometown: Glasgow.
When did you leave Scotland? 2003.
Is your Scottish identity important to you? If so, in what ways? Yes. I love Scotland, I'm very proud to be Scottish and I love nothing more than coming back home. We are different people from the English, Welsh etc, and I think this is even more noticeable when you are away. We should protect our identity.
How did you get your job and what had you done before? I moved to London to become an A&R scout for Sony BMG then became an A&R manager at EMI before moving on to my current positions.
Who is the most famous person you have met while doing your job? I have met The Fratellis, Lily Allen, The Kooks, The Libertines, Stereophonics plus lots more. I'm not sure who is the most famous though.
What's the best and worst parts of your job? The best part is discovering an amazing band and knowing they are unsigned. The worst part is watching that band sign to a rival label.
What music are you excited about right now? I'm really excited by Broken Records, whom I recently took on for management. They are an exceptional band with really big, well-written songs. A true gem.
How would you rate your knowledge of the current Scottish music scene? Have any new Scottish acts caught your eye recently? I would like to think I have a really good knowledge of the Scottish scene. I always keep up to date with what is going on and I'm always looking for the next big one to come out of there.

4 Broken Records - Nearly Home
4 Broken Records - Ghosts

The Outsiders: Paul Smernicki

Next up on The Outsiders - our exclusive feature on relocated Scots working in the music industry - we introduce a man you may recognise since he was on The Pop Cop last month in his capacity as guitarist in footballer Christian Dailly's band. Here he explains why he hasn't given up the day job.

Name: Paul Smernicki.
Job title: Head of digital, Polydor Records.
Age: 36.
Hometown: Born in Dundee, grew up in Tayport over the water in Fife, but consider myself Dundonian.
When did you leave Scotland? 1994-ish. It wasn’t a clean break. I went to Australia for a year, came back, flitted between London and Dundee then moved here permanently in 1997.
Is your Scottish identity important to you? If so, in what ways? Absolutely. I try to distance myself from the tammy-wearing, flag-waving See You Jimmy brigade, of whom I am mortally embarrassed. My Scottishness is about real history, the mood and character of the Scottish people, humour, football and pride.
How did you get your job and what had you done before? I’ve been at Polydor since 1999, when I was poached from RCA to join the press team here. I progressed to an artist development role then in 2004 set up Fiction Records as a Polydor imprint with my friends Joe Munns and Jim Chancellor. Our first release was Run by Snow Patrol followed by the album Final Straw, so we got off to a great start. I went to uni with Snow Patrol which is the connection that allowed me to bring them here. I’ve been head of digital for about a year. It's a really exciting area to be in and a very steep learning curve. Before working at labels, I was a journalist with DC Thompson and had my own fanzine.
Who is the most famous person you have met while doing your job? Probably The Rolling Stones or Martin Scorsese or Bono.
What's the best and worst part of your job? The answer to both parts of that question is “it’s the music business”.
What music are you excited about right now? Current listening is Sigur Ros, an unsigned band called Boy Cried Wolf whose song When You Cry You Cry Alone is a thing of rare beauty, Frightened Rabbit, the new Coldplay album is excellent, Holy Fuck from Canada, Tinariwen who are the most amazing band from Africa and Echo & The Bunnymen (original line-up) are always on my playlist.
How would you rate your knowledge of the current Scottish music scene? Have any new Scottish acts caught your eye recently? My Scottish knowledge is certainly not what it was. My younger brother Rik has an A&R consultancy in Dundee called Hatch Music UK and he’s all over it, so I’m lucky to be able to tap into his knowledge. Frightened Rabbit are one of my favourite bands ever, though, and deserve to be massive. I would advise anyone to check out either of their two albums.
Anything else you'd like to add... I was pleased to read The Pop Cop piece on Foxface, I think they are excellent.

4 Boy Cried Wolf - When You Cry You Cry Alone
4 Snow Patrol - I Am An Astronaut

The Outsiders: Cara Anderson

Strictly speaking our next Outsider hasn't left Scotland, but seeing as this lovely lady spends the majority of her working life hopping from country to country looking after rock stars, she's well worth getting to know...

Name: Cara Anderson.
Job title: Tour manager for Glasvegas, tour assistant for Editors and Razorlight.
Age: 25.
Hometown: Inverness originally but have been in Glasgow for seven years.
How much time do you spend outside Scotland? About 60% per year. It varies depending on what kind of band you are working with.
Is your Scottish identity important to you? If so, in what ways? Yes, it is important, as it’s good to know where your roots are and have a place to come back to. Touring is very nomadic so nothing beats coming home to Scottish weather/food and familiar accents.
How did you get your job and what had you done before? I worked in a venue (the QMU) for three years before working on festival sites and then meeting a tour manager who offered me a job as his assistant.
Who is the most famous person you have met while doing your job? Dave Grohl, Annie Lennox, Josh Homme, Paul McCartney - it depends on your preference!
What's the best and worst part of your job? Best is that you get to travel the world and get paid for it; worst is that I miss everyone back home and I often miss family events and nights out that I should be there for.
What music are you excited about right now? Mirrorkicks, a London band connected with Razorlight, and Jape. Anything I listen to I like!
How would you rate your knowledge of the current Scottish music scene? Have any new Scottish acts caught your eye recently? I used to be really genned up when I lived here all the time but touring makes it impossible to keep up with the next big thing before everyone has heard of it. Glasvegas are great, and doing wonders for the Scottish scene, and bands like Frightened Rabbit, The Twilight Sad and We Were Promised Jetpacks are making waves too.

4 Mirrorkicks - Anything
4 Jape - Graveyard

The Outsiders: Murray Chalmers

Here's the second subject of our feature on ex-pat super-Scots working in the music business. What boy from Dundee wouldn't want to have Kylie and Lily on speed dial?

Name: Murray Chalmers.
Job title: Formerly PR director at EMI Records, where I worked for 24 years. I left in June 2008 and set up my own PR company Infinite. So I guess I'm company director.
Age: 48.
Hometown: Born in Dunkeld, raised in Dundee.
When did you leave Scotland? 1978. I came to London to see Siouxsie & The Banshees and ended up following them round the country. I then decided I wanted to be in London and live that life full-time. Now I prefer Scotland again!
Is your Scottish identity important to you? If so, in what ways? Yes, more and more as I get older. I go back up every weekend as I have a house there and I find I really need it after a week in London. The people, the surroundings, the way everyone helps each other - the opposite of London life! I also love it culturally. I'm really into Scottish visual art as well as music.
How did you get your job and what had you done before? I got the job at EMI because I lived in a punk squat in 1978 and someone there knew someone who did PR in an independent PR company. We nicked a band from EMI and, one day whilst collecting some records from EMI, I met the then head of the PR department and she offered me a job.
Who is the most famous person you have met while doing your job? Depends on how you class fame. I don’t really think of any of them in that way. The well-known artists I work with are Kylie, Yoko Ono, Coldplay, Radiohead, Lily Allen and Pet Shop Boys.
What's the best and worst part of your job? The best part is the music and integrating with the artists. The worst part is that you are on call all the time, particularly with tabloids at the weekend when stories for the Sunday papers might be breaking on a Friday night, just when you are hoping for a night off!
What music are you excited about right now? Broken Records, from Edinburgh, the best new band in the country. Also Burial and I just got some demos of new Lily Allen tracks and they are amazing. After the Radiohead live shows I have been on a big Kid A revival too.
How would you rate your knowledge of the current Scottish music scene? Have any new Scottish acts caught your eye recently? I know a few bands from Dundee such as Luva Ana and I work with Broken Records. Apart from that I'm not too clued up as I'm in London most of the time. My favourite Scottish band of all time is The Associates - the maddest pop music ever and they also happen to be from Dundee.

4 Coldplay - 2000 Miles (The Pretenders cover)
4 Luva Anna - Wooden Shoe

The Outsiders: Kim Dawson

Back in March, The Pop Cop ran a special feature called The Insiders in which the movers and shakers in Scotland's music industry exclusively revealed all about the work they do - and who they slept with to get their cushy jobs (joke).

For the next 10 days we'll be doing something similar, only this time we've spoken to high-flying Scots who spend most, if not all, of their time working outside Scotland. These are our music ambassadors and we've collectively branded them The Outsiders for obvious reasons.

First up is our very own tabloid music columnist extraordinaire...

Name: Kim Dawson.
Job title: Daily Star 'Playlist' editor.
Age: 28.
Hometown: Aberdeen.
When did you leave Scotland? October 1999.
Is your Scottish identity important to you? If so, in what ways? Not hugely. I like to judge people and artists on face value, regardless of where they come from. Because I’m from Scotland I try to make sure the column isn't too London-centric because I'm very conscious of how boring it can be. That's why we’ve got a freelancer in Aberdeen.
How did you get your job and what had you done before? I started off in the Aberdeen Evening Express before going to Teletext in London. I then came to the Star as deputy editor to Joe Mott on the column and took over when he left. So far so good. There’s a lot of pressure as we’re a small team. There are only three of us - the other tabloids have five people or more. We work in the office till 7pm then go out and get stories.
Who is the most famous person you have met while doing your job? The Spice Girls, Take That, Liam Gallagher, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey.
What are the best and worst interviews you have done? The one that always sticks in my head was Cliff Jones from Gay Dad. He was a former journalist himself and he started to ask me all my questions back. Jason Mraz was really rude too - he sounded like he was on some sort of drugs. Those with the least talent have a bit of ego and try to pretend. I’ve actually found that the more successful someone is, the nicer they are. Amy Winehouse, for example. It’s all about building up relationships. We have to explain that although we’re a tabloid we’re not going to stitch them up or talk about their sex life.
Do you ever get recognised? No, which is good! I don’t want to be famous. A few weeks ago me and my boyfriend were stuck in traffic in Manchester and some guys in the car next to us were reading the Star. My boyfriend rolled down the window yelled, "My girlfriend’s on page 22!". They looked at us like we were crazy.
What music are you excited about right now? A guy called Taio Cruz and I can't wait to hear the new Razorlight album.
How would you rate your knowledge of the current Scottish music scene? Have any new Scottish acts caught your eye recently? I always keep an ear out for Scottish talent breaking through and I'm particularly keen on watching Glasvegas grow. I'm also looking forward to the return of Paolo Nutini and Franz Ferdinand this year.

4 Johnny Borrell (Razorlight) - Funeral Blues
4 Franz Ferdinand - All My Friends (LCD Soundsystem cover)

T in the Park 2008 review

If you went to T in the Park last weekend with the wrong attitude it could quite easily have seemed like some sort of Neanderthal hell on earth. Your hair will have been drenched with beer launched from up to 50ft behind you. You'd have witnessed rows of men urinating against every inch of wall in sight. If you accidentally bumped into someone's pint you could have ended up in a fight or made a new best friend.

But, as the fan who got punched by Amy Winehouse at Glastonbury diplomatically put it, it's all just "part of the experience". Whether this was your 1st or 15th T in the Park, it doesn't take long to figure out that this festival isn't really about the music for many punters.

But for The Pop Cop it most definitely is, and a trip to the Futures Stage to check out London newcomers WHITE LIES seemed as good a place as any to begin our T party on Saturday. Their dark pop follows the Joy Division -> Interpol -> Editors progression and they have a flair for making the kind of driving, epic songs that end up in indie discos. Good start.

Next on our hitlist was SONS AND DAUGHTERS in the King Tut's Tent, who were satisfyingly raucous and full of their usual feisty Glaswegian swagger, while guitarist Scott Paterson was clearly the winner of the prize for the weekend's most ridiculous sunglasses.Wearing matching pillarbox red trousers and exposing their pasty white Scottish torsos, the BIFFY CLYRO boys looked like three traffic cones from the distance we were away from the Main Stage. Their most recent album Puzzle has armed them with a plethora of singalong material and slick forthcoming single Mountains proves Biffy won't be altering course until they're headlining this festival.

Meanwhile, in the tiny T-Break Tent, was none other than PAOLO NUTINI with his so-called secret appearance (the Paisley crooner as good as announced it himself on his Myspace blog last Friday) under the name of Snake Derrick And The Vipers. He treated those in the know to a mix of old and new and even gave away a pink guitar to one of The Pop Cop's photographers in the front row.

WE ARE SCIENTISTS are a strange one. They have forged a reputation for being a must-see live band pretty much entirely on the strength of their (admittedly witty) between-song banter. There was plenty of it at the Radio 1 / NME Stage but you couldn't help thinking it merely papers over the cracks in their disappointing Brain Thrust Mastery album and the fact that they struggle to reproduce the best moments of With Love And Squalor on stage.The Pop Cop stayed put to see THE PIGEON DETECTIVES, who play fun, frantic guitar pop and possess a frontman who can't stand still for a second. Matt Bowman climbed the stage scaffolding, dived into the crowd, performed about a dozen scissorkicks and barely paused for breath. Pretty much the perfect festival band then.
THE FRATELLIS could certainly learn a thing or two from the Pigeons in terms of presence. They might have the knees-up pop formula sussed but they gave a good impersonation of a band thoroughly bored of playing their own tunes. So much so that better entertainment was to be found during their set by watching fans attempt to bypass security to sneak into the already-full Main Stage pit area. We watched one chancer get rugby-tackled to the ground, while another guy (the speccy one below) had four attempts at breaking through before a pissed-off steward had the last laugh by tearing up the ruffian's weekend ticket in front of him. Saturday's headliners pitted Rage Against The Machine against Kaiser Chiefs against Ian Brown against INTERPOL. Seeing as we only go to watch bands in capital letters, you should already know we opted for Interpol. And hot damn were they good. Yet it could all have gone so horribly wrong after about three songs in when guitarist Daniel Kessler and his immaculate suit were introduced to the contents of a lobbed water bottle. After mouthing "Fuck off" then "Fuck you" to a punter (which suggested he had identified the tosser), Kessler simply got on with the show with renewed vigour and proved to be something of a hero. A few songs later a group of fans at the front of the Pet Sounds Arena were chanting his name and by 22.50 all was forgiven as the New Yorkers ended an hour of skin-crawlingly glorious music with the riotous Roland.There's nothing like half-an-hour of BRITISH SEA POWER to banish those Sunday hangovers. If an award existed for the Most Improved Band it would surely go to this lot. You could have accused them of being indie makeweights until they pulled a red sock out the white washing with their third album, Do You Like Rock Music?. You just had to be in the King Tut's Tent to see and hear proof that studio trickery isn't behind their new-found ability to make it sound like there are four times as many of them playing than there actually is.While having a quick breather in the Media area The Pop Cop spotted Tim Burgess sporting a hideous new hairdo before we bumped into our old chum Matt Berninger of The National, who was reassuringly charming and friendly.If you're looking for a T in the Park coming-of-age moment then VAMPIRE WEEKEND delivered just that in a rammed-full King Tut's Tent. The Americans have somehow found a way to take the quirky, sparse feel of their debut album and subtly bounce them out from the stage as irresistible bite-sized pop classics. Nobody left the end of their set anything other than euphoric and you can be sure their days of operating just under the mainstream radar are coming to an end.
AMY WINEHOUSE at the Main Stage. We couldn't not be there. It wasn't a ramshackle mess, nor was there any physical violence or controversy. In fact it was just dull, peddling and top-heavy on jazzy numbers that a massive T in the Park crowd were remarkably patient with (c'mon, if anyone was going to be on the receiving end of a pint of Tennent's finest...).Relief from the tedium was reliably provided by THE NATIONAL in the Pet Sounds Arena, who were worth the £20 charity donation entry fee alone. There was something for everything. The moshers went wild to Abel and Mr November, the restructured live versions of Secret Meeting and Baby, We'll Be Fine would have given cool musician types something to discuss, while the romantics had a chance to get all misty-eyed with Slow Show.Bringing a miraculously mud-free festival to an end on the Main Stage were REM. Despite understandably but unexpectedly devoting a large portion of their headlining set to their new album, every world-beating hit like Electrolite, The One I Love, The Great Beyond and Man On The Moon just served to remind what it takes to be a legend in this game. The sight of Michael Stipe swapping hats with the entire front row as he sang Losing My Religion capped the best T in the Park in years.

Of course, you can do it all again next year by buying your 2009 T in the Park tickets this Tuesday from here.
4 White Lies - Death
b October 3, King Tut's, Glasgow (tickets)

4Biffy Clyro - A Whole Child Ago
bAugust 25, Zavvi, Buchanan Street, Glasgow (instore)

4Paolo Nutini - Jenny Don't Be Hasty
bAugust 30, Hydro Connect, Inverary (tickets)

4British Sea Power - It Ended On An Oily Stage
bOctober 10, Fat Sam's, Dundee (tickets)

b October 11, ABC, Glasgow (tickets)

4 Vampire Weekend - A-Punk
b October 29, Barrowland, Glasgow (tickets)

Back to the future

I'd love to be one of those people who can say they don't have any regrets in life, but that will never be the case for at least three reasons:

1. I got into Radiohead too late to see them touring The Bends album.
2. I missed Oasis at their 1996 peak at Knebworth and Loch Lomond.
3. I scored an own goal in a Scottish under-13 schoolboy cup final.

Also on my black list of rue, albeit a good few places further down, is the fact that Inside In/ Inside Out - THE KOOKS' sun-drenched debut album - only became a Pop Cop favourite after they had outgrown Scotland's best small venue, King Tut's. Even worse was the fact that they followed it up this year with the dire Konk, pretty much ending any real desire to see them play in the flesh.
But July 11, 2008 will be remembered as the day The Kooks returned to King Tut's and, better still, blitzed through the highlights of their first album during the opening 45 minutes.

We may never know whether that crowd who stood in the same venue two-and-a-half years ago was also full of screaming girls and blokes holding aloft mobile phones rather than pint glasses. But what we do know is that this gig was a warm-up for T in the Park, and you can now consider both The Kooks and The Pop Cop ready.

4 The Kooks - Naive
4 The Kooks - Eddie's Gun

T in the Park stage times

If you're going to T in the Park it's understandable you might be a little miffed you won't know what time the bands you've paid £170 of your hard-earned cash to see are actually on stage at.Of course, you could just find out when you get there by forking out another £8 for the privilege of wearing the running order around your neck.

Or you could print off the timetable for the Main Stage, Radio 1 NME Stage and King Tut's Tent here. (*EDIT: We'll be updating the graphic to add the other stages as they become available). Tough call.

To get you in the mood, here are the best songs you can expect to hear from each of the stages we've got times for.

4 Stereophonics - Local Boy In The Photograph
4 Biffy Clyro - Mountains
4 REM - Find The River
4 The Wombats - Backfire At The Disco
4 The Subways - Alright
4 Panic At The Disco - Nine In The Afternoon
4 The Futureheads vs Alphabeat - Hounds Of Love vs Fascination
4 Sons And Daughters - Taste The Last Girl
4 British Sea Power - Waving Flags

A lost Weekend

The image on the left is VAMPIRE WEEKEND. On the right is page 166 of the current Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme which previews the band's apparent gig at the Corn Exchange on August 24, 2008 as part of The Edge Festival. But don't believe everything you read.

This morning I called the telephone number (0844 499 9990) on the listing which took me through to Ticketmaster, who knew nothing about the show. When I asked the call centre employee if tickets might be available in the near future, he replied: "No idea. They don't tell us guys what gigs are going on sale until the day before people can buy tickets." Obviously the world of indie concerts operates on a strictly need-to-know basis.

The Fringe Box Office people would doubtless put me right. So I dialled the number in the programme (0131 226 0000 if you want to play this game too) and got through to a local-sounding young lady. I explained my confusion and asked her for clarification.

Confused herself, she put me on hold to speak to her supervisor and came back a minute later to tell me that they didn't know if Vampire Weekend were playing, and that I should speak to The Edge Festival organisers. I asked her for their number and she put the handset on the desk, allowing me to overhear muffles of agitated chatter before she came back exclaiming: "Ticketmaster.co.uk!"

The Pop Cop: "Excuse me."

Fringe ticket office: "Ticketmaster.co.uk! The tickets are on the website."

The Pop Cop: "No, they're not."

Fringe ticket office: "Yes, they are. My colleague's on the site now. The tickets are on sale!"

The Pop Cop: "Hold on, I'm at my computer, I'll just check..."

Fringe ticket office: "OK, bye." [hangs up]

Of course, the tickets weren't on the website at all and I had just been told a big, fat lie. Resisting the urge to call straight back and tell the evil bitch she looked fat, I took it on the chin and rang the Corn Exchange (0131 477 3500). Surely the venue would know whether or not they were expecting four pop-making Americans to turn up next month? Apparently not...

Corn Exchange: "We don't know. It could be that it's not happening or perhaps it just hasn't been confirmed."

The Pop Cop: "So... which is it?"

Corn Exchange: "Oh, we're always the last to know. Maybe you should call back in a couple of weeks."

Undeterred, I emailed Vampire Weekend's UK press agent, Richard Onslow (richardonslow@xlrecordings.com). If anyone would know, this man would. Just 21 minutes later he sent me this message:

"Hi
Hope you had a good weekend. Today sees Beck release his first album for XL Recordings - 'Modern Guilt' and Ratatat release their third album, 'LP3'.
Any reviews please send over to me.
Cheers
Richard
P.S. If you haven't received a Beck album, and are expecting one, it'll be with you shortly."

By now I was contemplating phoning directory enquiries as their opinion would probably have been just as enlightening. But that seemed a bit immature. So we put the question to AQA 63336, the text service that answers ANYTHING you care to ask.

As you can see above, our question was: Are Vampire Weekend playing Edinburgh Corn Exchange on August 24, 2008? Within 45 seconds (quicker than everyone else we had asked) we got this response by text...

AQA: "No, Vampire Weekend currently don't have any tour dates lined up for Scotland, apart from T In The Park festival in Kinross on 13 July 2008."

That failed to explain how a gig which didn't exist ended up in the official Fringe programme but the novelty of getting an educated reply from a complete stranger was kinda cool. Just as we were about to ask AQA 63336: "How could wreckage from United Airlines Flight 93 be found eight miles from the supposed impact point in New Baltimore, Pennsylvania if it wasn't blown out of the sky by an American fighter jet?" the mystery was solved (the Vampire Weekend one that is, not the 9/11 conspiracy).

Our saviour was Lee Beattie from Burt Greener, the company which does the PR for The Edge Festival, who emailed this to The Pop Cop:

"Hey, we hoped this would be confirmed for launch time so gave it to the Fringe for their prog to meet deadline but in fact it still hasn’t confirmed. If it does, I will give you a call!"

And so, not at all thinking I've lost half a day of my life that I'll never get back, there's the answer to a puzzle you probably didn't even know existed.

4 Vampire Weekend - Arrows
4 Vampire Weekend - Little Giant
4 Vampire Weekend - White Sky

b July 13, T in the Park, Balado (sold out)

b August 24, Corn Exchange, Edinburgh (fuck knows)

Too many Kooks (fans)

There's no point in beating around the bush, size does matter. In the life of a rock band, for example, the number of punters they are able to draw to gigs is directly proportionate to the magnitude of the tour bus you'll see parked outside the venue. Big is always best.

Of course plenty of music fans hanker after that loving feeling they got when they first saw their favourites before everyone and their dad brazenly jumped on the bandwagon. Once you've stood in the front row of a sweat-stenched basement and wiped away the singer's spittle after every lyric starting with the letter 'P' you just know life will never be this good again.

But with such a limited shelf life, you can't blame musicians for wanting to milk their earning capacity while they're still hot. Yes, even if that means playing to people who only know the singles.

Nevertheless, THE KOOKS are going back to basics next Friday with a gig at King Tut's, a venue they last played in February 2006 when, as the picture above shows, they looked worryingly malnourished.

And clearly PRIMAL SCREAM also think that getting intimate with 350 people is the perfect preparation for playing to an audience of at least 10 times that amount at T in the Park. They'll be serenading competition winners at a secret Glasgow location (*cough* ABC2) on Monday.

4 The Kooks - Be Mine
4 The Kooks featuring Simon Wilcox - Young Folks (Peter Bjorn And John cover)
bJuly 11, King Tut's, Glasgow (sold out)
bJuly 12, T in the Park, Balado (sold out)

4 Primal Scream - Accelerator
4 Primal Scream - Country Girl
bJuly 7, secret location, Glasgow (competition winners)
bJuly 13, T in the Park, Balado (sold out)

Scotland loves England

There is no bigger fallacy than the perceived magnitude of the modern-day rivalry between the Scots and the English. What most people don't realise - or choose to ignore - is that it doesn't actually exist outside the context of national football teams, a domain populated by millionaire sportsmen who live in a world the rest of us can only fantasise about.

Scottish people would have no particular resentment towards colleagues, TV personalities, products or musicians if they happen to be English. At this year's T in the Park, for instance, the Main Stage, Radio 1/NME Stage and King Tut's Stage will collectively host 34 English acts compared to just seven from Scotland. Are we jealous? Not in the slightest. England's population is ten times greater than our own, so it makes sense that they'd have five times as many performers.

So now that we've cleared all that up, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to learn that one of the scenes that seems to be going down particularly well in Scotland right now is posh English folk music. Johnny Flynn, Laura Marling, Noah And The Whale and Eugene McGuinness have led the way, but the best of the lot is MUMFORD & SONS... and they just happen to be making their live debut north of the border very soon.

We gave you a sneaky taster of the Londoners' genius back in April, and here are two more reasons why we're ready to embrace our neighbours with open arms.

4 Mumford & Sons - Roll Away Your Stone
4 Mumford & Sons - Liar

b July 8, The Captain's Rest, Glasgow (tickets)