The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Marching to the beat of Dundee
Every year Andy Truscott puts together an album showcasing the best of the city’s lively music scene. Here he gives us a sneak preview of what album three has to offer
Music has always been a huge part of my life so I was really pleased to be asked to compile a CD which was designed to highlight and support music in the city. Its called Sound of Dundee and was released in September 2015.
Two Sound of Dundee compilations have been released so far, which have featured a really eclectic range of acts at different stages of their careers.
We’ve had bands such as Model Aeroplanes and Be Charlotte who have since gone on to achieve great success, and established acts such as Spare Snare and Sinderins.
As the project developed, it was important for us to get the design of the brand just right – for the album covers, posters and supporting publications.
I decided to collaborate with the inhouse designer for Leisure and Culture Dundee, Angela Gahagan.
We spent a while discussing the music we had sourced and the types of places it would be played.
With this in mind Angie came up with a brilliant aesthetic using the Tay Rail Bridge, which will be used again on our third CD.
We also decided each year to change the colour of the album cover, which is testament to the strength of the design.
This year it will be Marrs Green, which was chosen as the world’s favourite colour and named after one of my colleagues at UNESCO City of Design Dundee, Annie Marrs.
The third compilation is currently in production and we’ve made sure to put more focus on supporting new and emerging talent in the city.
It will also feature new independent music from established Dundee musicians, local bands and young people participating in Dundee’s Youth Music Initiative.
Among the musicians featured are up and coming artists ST MARTiiNS, who feature on the recently released Over Bridges song for Dundee’s European City of Culture 2023 bid.
The album will also see the likes of folk musician Rhona Macfarlane, who has performed on the renowned Danny Kyle open stage at Celtic Connections.
Dundee’s thriving and diverse punk scene is also well represented, with tracks from the Tragical History Tour and Terrafraid.
There is additionally a strong contingent from the alternative rock scene from bands Broken Boy who feature alongside Kashmir Crows and Sahara, who recently performed at the inaugural Carnival 56 Festival.
Singer-songwriter Mark Urban, aka Haystack Monolith, has a track alongside the Bob Dylan-esque warbling of Neil Morrison. There will also be some music from the brilliant Emerald Iona, who brings her uptempo electronic pop to the compilation.
This year, as part of the fourth Gardyne Youth Music Initiative, the tutors have worked with “Anxiety in Motion”, a programme to better support and educate young people who experience difficulties which impact on their ability to attend school.
Through this work they encouraged young people to attend a 12-week programme at Gardyne recording studios and introduced them to the art of music and composition, with one of the results being a track called Put the Fire Out, which closes the compilation.
The Sound of Dundee, volume three, is evidence that our city continues to develop and produce some of the best musicians in Scotland and the compilation is something I feel proud of helping to put together each year.
The playlist will be produced as a limited run of 4,000 CD’s which will be available for the public to get for free at the Flower and Food Festival at Camperdown Park on September 1-3.
It will then be available from shops across Dundee.