Go North/Rockness Preview

This weekend bring the 9th annual Go North music showcase to the lucky people of Inverness, coinciding for the second consecutive year with the Rockness Festival just down the road on the shores of Loch Ness. Taking the form of a series of free entry showcases held over two days throughout the city in the style (if not the scale) of SXSW and Manchester's In The City, participating bands are then given the opportunity to play the Go North stage at Rockness over the weekend. As usual, this year's batch of bands comprise a mixture of the most talked about and less well known new artists from all over Scotland, here's our pick of the bunch.

Mitchell Museum

Like that crazy man that used to live in your town, who wore bin bag armour, shouted loudly and incoherently at passing post offices and that your mum would pull you away from when you passed him in the street, Mitchell Museum are massively intriguing and totally awesome. Sounding like a cross between a listenable Animal Collective and a Wolf Parade dripping with pop-hooks, the band have picked up a string of notable fans over the past year, including Marc Riley, Steve Lamacq and Rough Trade to name but a few. Go see them, if only to see what real crazies look like. 

Mitchell Museum - Extra Lives

Mitchell Museum play The City Bar on Thu 11th (9:15pm) and the Go North stage at Rockness on Sat 13th.

Nacional

Nacional is a name that you may or may not be familiar with yet, however the band have achieved a remarkable amount in a short space of time since forming in late 2006. Hailing from all round Scotland and Northern England, the band have had a successful year, having been part of the Scottish contingent at this year's SXSW, playing at Glastonbury and winning an army of fans including Radio 1's Huw Stephens and Vic Galloway. With a very British sound that draws heavily from early 80's post-punk, the band have just released the sublime "On T.V" through the excellent Art Goes Pop label. If this is the future for British guitar rock then the future looks pretty bright indeed. 

Nacional - Telephone

Nacional play the Ironworks on Thu 11th (11pm) and the Go North stage at Rockness on Fri 12th.

We See Lights

We See Lights make some of the nicest noises we've heard in a long time, and the prospect of catching their sunny, bittersweet folk-pop in a muddy field on the banks of Loch Ness is good one. Music for the summer outdoors in every sense, the band's forthcoming debut album Ghosts and Monsters was recorded in a cottage on the banks of Loch Linnhe and they have already notched up a host high profile festival appearances, including the Isle of Wight Festival, Wychwood and T in The Park. 

We See Lights play The City Bar on Thu 11th (11:15pm) and the Go North stage at Rockness on Sat 13th.

Also definitely worth checking out over the course of the festivities are Glasgow's Barn Owl, United Fruit and Yahweh, Edinburgh's Come On Gang and the excellent The Boy Who Trapped The Sun. Check www.gonorth.biz for full listings and programme. 

DW