Digital Release Review: Various Artists - Capitalised: Tall Tales And Low Lives Of Edinburgh

The Scottish capital city of Edinburgh strikes an intriguing balance between the historical and the hip. It’s the home of the magnificent Edinburgh Castle and the fun and fascinating Camera Obscura Museum, but also has Rose Street, which overflows with record stores and other trendy establishments. You’ll find bands playing on street corners, and of course, there’s the world-famous Festival Fringe every August.

Judging from Capitalised: Tall Tales And Low Lives Of Edinburgh, a various artists compilation recently released by Dog’s Got A Bone Records, the city’s music scene is pretty diverse as well. The 10 tracks include shoegazer music, harder rock, indie rock, and acoustic rock. It’s now available on the indie label’s BandCamp page with a pay-what -you-want option.  

You have to love a song with a title like, “One Mistake From The Gutter, A Thousand Decisions From The Stars,” especially when singer-guitarist Epsilon One gives it a melodic arrangement reminiscent of Love And Rockets. Scott Watson of The Jackals gives a hard-edged and compelling acoustic take on his band’s “Dancin’ Round The Nails (Wooden Box Blue)”, while The Valkarys “(Love’s) A Losing Game” could have come from one of Johnny Cash’s American Recordings albums. The shimmering “Enomena” by The Durty Wurks is the best of three shoegazer tracks, and “Jiggery Pokery” by The Rhemedies gives Capitalised a welcome shot of glam/garage rock.