As the Edinburgh International Film Festival draws to a close there's a special Black Box event on Saturday as the Dead Rat Orchestra perform a live accompaniment to James Holcombe's film Tyburnia.
The film is a history of the Tyburn Tree, for centuries the principal hanging gallows in London .
The Dead Rat Orchestra, pictured, has been researching 16th and 17th century ballads to complement the theme of Holcombe's film.
"Largely these songs have long slipped from use," explains Orchestra member Nathaniel Mann. "In fact some won't have been sung for centuries, as these were the musical equivalent of today's newspapers - relevant to the moment, yet only fleeting in their use. That's why these aren't songs that ever made it into oral traditions. An alternative social and political history is embedded within these words and melodies - our job has been to reveal it."
Tyburnia with Dead Rat Orchestra is at Traverse 1 on Saturday.
edfilmfest.org.uk
The National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland's annual summer tour gets under way at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on the Isle of Skye on Wednesday, July 15.The orchestra's guest this time is saxophonist Iain Ballamy, a founding member of 1980s London big band Loose Tubes, who have been enjoying a successful second coming over the past year, and a recent visitor to Scotland with singer June Tabor and pianist Huw Warren in folk-jazz group Quercus. Following the Skye concert the orchestra and Ballamy play Websters Theatre, Glasgow on Thursday, July 16 and the Maltings, Berwick on Tweed on Friday, July 17.
nyos.co.uk
Rachelle Rhienne from Balloch has won a national songwriting competition after impressing the judges and a capacity audience at legendary London music venue Dingwalls on Sunday. Rhienne, pictured, performed her song The Chance to Say in Sunday's grand final in front of a panel of music industry executives including representatives of Sony and Universal, having won through local auditions and a regional showcase. She has now signed to a personal management company and will release her debut single later this summer.
songwritingcontest.co.uk
The success of the Brian Wilson movie Love and Mercy, which screened at Edinburgh International Film Festival and has opened in the US to critical acclaim, has led to the cancellation of Wilson's autumn UK tour, which included a date at Glasgow's SSE Hydro on September 27. The former Beach Boy's commitments in the US mean he will not be back in Europe until 2016 with a string of concerts to mark the 50th Anniversary of the album Pet Sounds. His statement says: "I'm sorry I won't be able to make these shows this year, but I look forward to seeing all my fans in 2016 on my final European tour. I hope you all enjoy my movie when it opens in the UK on July 10."
brianwilson.com
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