Franz Ferdinand

The Mercury Prize might be the main indie music accolade everyone's talking about, but if you're in Scotland you'll be more interested to hear this year's nominations for the Scottish Album of the Year. The ceremony takes place next month, and in that time the long-list will be whittled down to nine.

Franz Ferdinand at The Biggest Weekend

Like the Mercury Prize, the SAY Award includes a monetary prize which this year stands at £20,000, while the 9 runners-up get £1,000 each. There are 20 artists on the long-list, with the stand-out nominees including Franz Ferdinand with their sixth studio album 'Always Ascending', former Mercury Prize winners Young Fathers with their Ninja Tune outing 'Cocoa Sugar' and, of course, Glasgow's Mogwai with their release from last year 'Every Country's Sun'.

Continue reading: SAY Award Nominations: Scotland's Answer To The Mercury Prize Have Longlisted Franz Ferdinand And Young Fathers

We preview some of the prospective albums by major artists who are due to release a new record in 2018.

Charlie Puth looks set to dominate again

Charlie Puth

Continue reading: Charlie Puth, Vampire Weekend, Iggy Azalea And More - Five Huge Albums Set For 2018

The Killers have been revealed as the third and final headliner for next year’s TRNSMT festival in Glasgow.

The American rock act, returning after a five-year absence with a new album earlier in 2017, will close out Scotland’s largest musical festival on Sunday July 8th, 2018.

TRNSMT’s organisers DF Concerts also confirmed that Scottish art-rock heroes Franz Ferdinand and alt-pop act Chvrches have been added to the bill for the Sunday night. The other headliners for the three-day event are former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher and rock veterans Stereophonics.

Continue reading: The Killers Revealed As Third Headliner For TRNSMT Festival 2018

Popular noughties art-rockers Franz Ferdinand have announced details of their first studio album in nearly five years, along with a UK tour for 2018.

Having lost a member last year but adding guitarist Dino Bardot and keyboardist Julian Corrie for this year’s North American tour, fans of the Scottish band have been eagerly awaiting news about their fifth album.

On Tuesday, the band announced details of Always Ascending, and shared an official audio video of the title track and lead single. The album, produced by Philippe Zdar of French house act Cassius, will be released on February 9th 2018 via Domino Records.

Continue reading: Franz Ferdinand Announce New Album 'Always Ascending'

In one of the most intriguing musical collaborations of the year, indie stars Franz Ferdinand are to team up with new wave legends Sparks for a joint album to be released in the summer. Rumours have been abounding for the last month, but today the bands announced some details about their new project.

Working under the name ‘FFS’, their album will be self-titled and will be released via Domino Records on June 8th. They also shared an audio clip of their first single ‘P*** Off’, which will also be the closing track on the album.

Franz Ferdinand (above) have gotten together with Sparks to make a collaboration album 'FFS'

Continue reading: Franz Ferdinand And Sparks Announce Details Of Collaboration Album And Tour

A week in music videos... Kanye West has been doing a lot of promotion for his edgy, rock-infused track 'Black Skinhead' (or 'BLKKK SKKKN HEAD' as it's otherwise known'), the lead single from his US and UK number one album 'Yeezus', so his anger when the unfinished video directed by Nick Knight was leaked earlier in July was unsurprising. He described the unauthorised distribution as 'heartbreaking' and no wonder; a video as unique as this was definitely worthy of a grand entrance but, nonetheless, the spoiler has definitely not affected the viewing experience.Watch the video for BLKKK SKKKN HEAD here.

French house star Kavinsky has already become a hit in his home nation with his debut album 'OutRun', released earlier this year, reaching number 2 in the charts and he's certainly turning heads overseas too. Teaming up with Canadian producer The Weeknd on one of his newest singles, Kavinsky delivers a driving dance beat with 'Odd Look' - the single from his new EP of the same name. The track also features on his album as a collaboration with fellow electronic musician SebastiAn. Listen to Odd Look here.

Continue reading: A Week In Music, Kanye West Releases 'Black Skinhead' Video, Dawes Talk New Album And Bob Dylan And Mercury And Jackson Duets Are To Be Unveiled

It is perhaps Beck's strangest album. Song Reader - the record made up entirely of sheet music - was played in full at London's Barbican Theatre on Sunday (July 7, 2013), with a huge cast of musicians including Jarvis Cocker, Franz Ferdinand and Beth Orton. This potentially had disaster written all over it, though reviews suggest the album was perfectly  realised in the historic setting.

Song Reader contains twenty new songs, all publishing on song sheets. The tracks are scored for keys, guitar and voice though Beck's intention was for fans to elaborate and change the songs to their liking. As noted by the Financial Times' Ludovic Hunter-Tilney in his review, songwriter Ed Harcourt was given that job on the piano. He was accompanied by flugelhorns, ukuleles, drums and guitars.  The veteran punk poet John Cooper Clarke read prose between songs while female vocal trio The Staves helped out on vocals.

David Smyth of the Evening Standard suggested the concert will have encouraged fans to have a go themselves, writing, "The songs Beck performed himself sounded the most predictable, with acoustic guitar to the fore, though a jazzy, catchy Do We, We Do would have stood out regardless of the singer. For those buying the book in the lobby, it was a case of do try this at home."

Continue reading: Song Reader: Beck Plays Album Of Sheet Music At London's Barbican

Depending on the way you look at it, Beck's decision to release his last album in the form of sheet music was either incredibly innovative or unforgivably pretentious. Released in December 2012, Song Reader comprised of twenty songs in sheet music form as well as over one hundred pages of art. The idea behind the unusual decision was to let the fan become the composer, with many interpretations quickly surfacing online showing the versatility of the pieces.

Prolific Experimentalist Beck Invited A Host Of Artists To Help Him Perform Song Reader live.

This was all very well if you're a Beck fan with some degree of musical talent but for those hungering for the white rap of Odelay, the pop experimentation of Midnite Vultures or the sweet melancholy of Sea Change were left feeling a little bemused and perhaps even cheated.

Continue reading: Beck Summons An Army To Help Him Turn 'Song Reader' Into Music