Tonight, Chemikal Underground Records celebrates its 15th birthday with a gig at the ABC in Glasgow. Playing at the talent crammed gig are Lord Cut Glass, Emma Pollock, Adrian Crowley, Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat, The Unwinding Hours, Zoey Van Goey and topped off by The Phantom Band. It'd be fair comment to say that i'm pretty devastated that i can't make the gig tonight but i'll celebrate Chemikal in my own little way. Chemikal Underground came about when Scottish indie band The Delgados decided to buck against the trend. Instead of trying to get themselves signed to [...]

There's nothing attractive about shoddy housekeeping. So while we can roll out all manner of superlatives about the bonkers brilliance of SLUTS OF TRUST , the fact that the Glasgow duo have seemingly abandoned their duty to inform, educate and entertain (actually, maybe that's The Pop Cop's job) is really inexcusable. The evidence? Well, their official website hasn't been updated for two years, their Myspace page has been subjected to the internet equivalent of fly-posting and they haven't released any new music since 2004. [...]

Mania may be overstating it a bit, but it is Tuesday, so you know what that means--it's contrast podcast day. This week Tim turned it over to the musicians themselves as they introduce their own songs. Check it out here . It's typically full of great stuff, as varied and unusual as the regular podcasts are. Next week--I'm so excited--Tim has picked one of my suggestions, which is simply "Elvis!" Not songs by the King, mind you, but with Elvis in the title, or [...]