May 17, 2011

Scotland. It's a country where every kitchen counter has a deep fat fryer. It's also my home.

I'm proud of the fact we love to deep fry a Mars bar. Have you ever tasted one? Devine, I tells thee. Devine. If you've never tried one, you should. Tweet me (@calumshanlin) and I can recommend some places...

As well as deep frying Mars bars (and fish) we're very good at a few other things. Music is one of them. Our friend George recently set me a task for the Strombo Show. We'll pick a country, be it Swaziland or Mali, and I have to find the Tragically Hip of that country - a band that's huge where they're from but hasn't really broken out elsewhere - and also the new, cool up and comer. I then get a wildcard... anything I want from that country.

Scotland was country number one on the show. Let me tell you, I had some hard, hard choices.

For the Tragically Hip of Scotland, I went for Deacon Blue. Should they put on a concert in Scotland, you can guarantee it will sell out in hours. They're fantastic 80s rock/pop. I could have gone for the Proclaimers. You all know '500 Miles', but do you know 'Sunshine on Leith' and 'Letter to America'? No? Well, the twins are so big in Scotland they've had a musical written to their music, a la Mamma Mia and Abba. There are a few others, for example, Idlewild. Here's their video for the utterly fantastic 'You Held the World in Your Arms':

Now - the 'cool' up and coming band. Where to begin? If you're a regular listener to the Strombo Show you'll probably have heard some Frightened Rabbit. What a band, what a fantastic band. Their song 'Swim Until You Can't See Land' has recently been featured on the trailer for 'The Beaver'. You can watch the video below. Jodie Foster (star and director of 'the Beaver') was on our TV show recently, you can check out the interview here.

As well as Frightened Rabbit (@Frabbits on Twitter) there's a band called We Were Promised Jetpacks (@wwpj). Check 'em out. The album 'These Four Walls' is a work of genius. I decided to play some Admiral Fallow (@admiralfallow) because they've only just released their album 'Boots Met My Face'. A great title. It's also a great record, listen to it! Going back to Frightened Rabbit, their album 'the Midnight Organ Fight' is one of my favourites of all time.

Time for the Wildcard. Now, this is where things get difficult. Being Scottish, I've been introduced to and love so many Scottish bands. Having listened to the show, you'll know I chose the Delgados as my wildcard. They're incredible. As George said, he loves them, and if you ever got the chance to see them live here in Canada you're one of the lucky few. We played 'Thirteen Gliding Principles' (wow) on the show, but check out the video for 'All You Need is Hate' below, and then buy all of their five albums.

There are a few other Scottish bands I'd like to recommend who could have been my wildcard. You all know Arab Strap, Mogwai, Belle and Sebastian etc, but do you know Malcolm Middleton? He's the other half of Arab Strap alongside Aidan Moffat. See below, his video for 'A Brighter Beat' and videos for Camera Obscura's 'The Sweetest Thing', Teenage Fanclub's 'Everything Flows' and the Beta Band's 'Dry The Rain' - as featured in the Nick Hornby/John Cusack classic 'High Fidelity'.

Yeah, Scotland's alright, so it is. Aye?

Here's the scene from High Fidelity (be warned; with some blue language) and look out for a reference to another great Scottish band, the Jesus and Mary Chain.