‘Scotland’s answer to John Peel’ introduces himself in this exclusive guest blog…

I’m the new boy at Amazing Radio, so I thought I’d hijack the blog to introduce myself!

I already love what happens at Amazing Towers, so didn’t even need to think about it when I was asked if I’d be interested in doing a show. As a fan of New Music, I’ve already discovered a heap of new acts simply by Amazing Radio, and now with my own show I’m able to trawl the whole of the amazingtunes.com website and uncover the tracks I’d like to hear on the rather (never mind about you… it’s all Me Me Me!).

I must admit I was a lapsed amazingtunes.com user. I didn’t realise this until a few months back, when I tried to register, only to be told the jimgellatly user name was already taken! I was offered jimgellatly1 then remembered that actually the other Jim Gellatly was me!

For the past few years I’ve hosted the unsigned band stage at the Rockness Festival in the highlands of Scotland… and the winners of amazingtunes.com’s Sound 08 secured a slot on that stage courtesy of the competition. That band were Spokes, who are now set to release their debut album through Ninja Tune offshoot Counter Records… but I’d like to think I’ve played my part in their story with them playing that stage on the banks of Loch Ness. Truth is of course that amazingtunes.com made that happen, and I’m sure if we fast forward 10 years a whole host of acts will have found their way thanks to one of the most exciting platforms for unsigned music that there is.

So why am I a lapsed amazingtunes.com user? Well… truth is, with the growth of social networks and other aggregators for sampling new music, I sort of just moved on. And then I discovered Amazing Radio!

Amazing Radio really does take the whole concept of amazingtunes.com one step higher. Not that unsigned music should need it, but it sort of legitimises what’s on offer on the site. These tracks are actually getting played on proper radio, not just streaming on another unsigned portal just listened to by the bands themselves.

I compare Amazing Radio to stepping out of the TARDIS in a year’s time and switching on Radio 1. It’s likely that you won’t recognise the current tunes being playing, but you not think they’re out of place… and they’ll no doubt be of a certain quality. I listen to unsigned bands all the time, and I have been genuinely impressed by the standard of tracks featured on Amazing Radio. It’s a radio station that’s playing exciting and interesting music, without being elitist. Most of what you hear would quite easily fit on higher profile outlets.

I’ve been attempting to present and produce leftfield radio shows for over 20 years now, including stints at Xfm Scotland and BBC Radio Scotland. The radio landscape has changed dramatically in that time with more stations appearing, then less choice with the introduction of networking, and I do wonder why anyone would tune into certain radio stations when their iPod might serve exactly the same purpose (but with the advantage to skip tracks). Amazing Radio is different… it is a real doorway to sounds you might not necessarily know, but may well like. Perhaps I’m living in a fantasy land if I think people might want to hear only tracks they know on the radio? I do hope not, and If like me, you discover your next favourite new band through Amazing Radio… it’s anything but a fantasy.

While I’m currently also holding down the Saturday afternoon slot on Scotland’s biggest local radio station, Glasgow’s Clyde 1, my passion is for New Music, reflected in the weekly podcast that I publish….

Now with Amazing Radio added to my portfolio, I look forward to sharing even more wonderful new music. Don’t be shy to get in touch!

Check out Jim’s show on Amazing Radio at 3pm Sunday and 6pm on Tuesday. You can also find out more about Jim at www.jimgellatly.com

As this summer’s festival season moves into full swing amazingtunes found itself in amongst the sun-kissed masses last weekend, donning the shades and dancing it up at the Rockness festival following Spokes as they looked to impress the reveling crowds.

As part of our Sound08 competition held in March of this year we gave one lucky act the chance to get played on XFM and perform live at the Rockness Festival. The eventual winners Spokes last weekend took to the stage in Dores, on the shores of Loch Ness, with a point to prove. The heavily dance orientated line-up at this years event was a motion away from the more subtle and emotional guitar driven melodies of Spokes, however their departure from the intensities of the surrounding stages made them, for me, something of a stand out act.

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Opening with the instrumental track ‘We Like to Dance and Steal Things’ the band built a strong foundation from which to develop, moving into tracks like ‘Sleep it off’ and ‘Young People! All Together’ with a great enthusiasm. While the quieter moments were unfortunately often offset by the traveling bass from the other stages, Spokes’ ability to command a wall of sound made the large majority of the performance a powerful experience, with strong progressions and well weighted climaxes keeping the audience enthused throughout.

While having to compete against a line-up clash that saw the band scheduled to play at the same time as DJ Yoda and the Editors, the lads and lady from Manchester held their audience with great confidence and it certainly left myself with a smile on my face. Speaking with Matthew Baty, the drummer of Spokes, after the performance he said “It was a superb experience. Playing at the same event as so many great acts was a bit of a surreal experience, but really enjoyable. After it was over we decided to make sure that next year we’ll do what it takes to be playing at plenty more festivals.” And with lots of smiles after their performance from both on and off the stage I’m sure they won’t be disappointed.

The festival itself was a great show set in some of the most idyllic scenery north of the border, and with such great weather there was always going to be enjoyment to be had. Fatboy Slim called in the Saturday night, entertaining a massive crowd in front of the main-stage with a brilliantly thought-out set after Soulwax had stunned their patient fans with a live show in the Soulwax Arena, a show that was packed full of energy – and nothing short of amazing. Mylo, donning a vintage Scotland shirt, fed the crowd with healthy doses of bass and the Mystery Jets went down with great aplomb, their single ‘Two Doors Down’ getting an excited response. Underworld reminded us of why they were so successful all those years back, whipping the audience up into a frenzy with an extended version of Born Slippy, and then, of course, there was Spokes. While obviously not commanding quite the same level of interest as Johnny Burrell et al, this relatively new act, here to prove a point and reach new ears, stood tall and left their audience with something a little different to take home with them.

…amazingtunes