Glo and shove it

Dear List,
I’ve just bought the tightest keks in Europe and a vest so day glow it could send a Geiger counter wild at 50 paces. Flag me up some how now danceable indie gigs at which to flash my hot new garb.
Beth, Maryhill.

Flaunt your new dapper threads in the company of grimy Holloway techno punks We Smoke Fags (King Tut’s, 13 Oct) and while you’re at it, stick around for Afrobeat-inflected Scouse post-rock twangers Hot Club de Paris (Cabaret Voltaire, 17 Oct; King Tut’s, 18 Oct) and disco-powered post-grunge duo Blood Red Shoes (King Tut’s, 19 Oct). Then wring the sweat out of those svelte breeks for a final flurry: Sydney boys The Presets, who’ll be making newwavey techno noise at Classic Grand (5 Nov) and Liquid Room (6 Nov), and, finally, Mancunian sleazy house tarts The Whip at the Arches (14 Nov).

Wigger mortis

Word up List
I hear sounds of the inner city – ‘urban flavas’, if you will – are very much of the moment, but I wouldn’t know an S1W from SW1. Do tell how I can indulge in some serious ‘rap shit’ this autumn.
Peace out etc,
Torquil, Morningside.

We’re feelin’ you Torquil. Head to Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom for a dose of Brummie geezer chronicles from The Streets (4 Oct). Follow that up swiftly with a double hit of funky dub and hip hop Roots Manuva style (Liquid Room, 8 Oct; Arches, 9 Oct), and a blast of street-life beat poetry, care of the Hasidically hirsute Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip (Strathclyde Union, 9 Oct). Wind back up a month later with some serious goodness from the GZA (ABC, 12 Nov), he of Wu Tang infamy, some fully automatic grimey rhyming from Dizzee Rascal (ABC, 15 Nov), and the dapper get-up, high-rolling rappery and arena sized ego of Kanye West at the SECC (16 Nov).

XY marks the spot

Hi List,
Sisters are doing it for themselves to such a degree these days I don’t even know where to start when it comes to lady sounds. Assist me, please, in sifting the wheat from the chaff amongst the music of the fairer sex.
Baz, Leith.

Girls, as you clearly well know Barry, just want to have fun. Just ask freaky 80s pop legend Cyndi Lauper when she turns up at Carling Academy (16 Oct) – as good a gig as any to start this female-formulated pop odyssey with. Next stop: Glasgow’s QMU, for child-actress turned Rilo Kiley frontwoman turned rock’n’roll solo star Jenny Lewis (18 Oct), and then straight onto jazzy Gallic chanteuse Camille’s show at ABC (20 Oct), stopping off briefly to highlight the joyous sway of Scots troubadette Eddi Reader who makes an appearance at Perth Concert Hall (14 Oct). The only thing more chic and ornate than Alison Goldfrapp’s ice cool, winsome electronic pop is her wardrobe, so you can’t really lose when she pulls up at the Corn Exchange (5 Nov). Norwegian garage rocker Ida Maria claims to prefer wearing nothing at all, although it’s doubtful she’ll get away with that kind of behaviour at Oran Mor (7 Nov) or Cabaret Voltaire (8 Nov), even if she is likely to raise most other kinds of hell. Conclude with the breathy electronic disco stylings of former Moloko singer Roisin Murphy back at ABC (27 Nov).

Living la vida local

Dear List,
Glasvegas just went stellar and I’m cursing myself for failing to catch them on the way up. Spare me the mental anguish of missing the next big Scottish thing in their infancy with some insider tips.
Mags, Milngavie.

We can’t better predict the fickle tastes of the record buying public than Rob McElwee can forecast a freak shower Mags, but we’ll certainly tip our hats enthusiastically to the following, starting with Edinburgh indie folk octet Broken Records – for proof, hit King Tut’s (22 Sep). Despite a critically lauded debut album, Glasgow quartet De Rosa (SWG3, Glasgow, 27 Sep) have yet to take off as fully as their moody strain of post-folk merits, but we wouldn’t bet against them doing so come delivery of their impending second longplayer. Ex-Bis frontlady Manda Rin, meanwhile, returns for a second slice of the sugar-coated, shouty electro pop pie with her solo debut ‘My DNA’, and a show at Stereo (4 Oct) while Popup launch their debut album at the Captain’s Rest the same night. Alternatively, try some moody, literate, monochrome post-punk Gdansk style (Captain’s Rest, 6 Oct), or perhaps some snot-nosed high-voltage fight pop care of Dirty Summer (Cabaret Voltaire, 23 Oct). Finally, those of a post-rocking bent might favour atomic-powered soundscapers Galchen, who play the Classic Grand (6 Nov).