Press

album reviews
Paul Haig Go Out Tonight (ROL 019)
Scotland On Sunday
The Scotsman
pennyblackmusic.com
is this music?
Leonard's Lair

Electronik Audience (ROL 015)
Leonard's Lair

Chain (CDMRED 336)
Record Collector
pennyblackmusic.com

Cinematique 1&3 (ROL 010) (LTM 2309)
Uncut
Whisperin & Hollerin


Josef K Entomology (REWIG30)
The Guardian
pitchforkmedia.com


Laki Mera Clutter (ROL 018)
Scotland On Sunday
Drowned in Sound
The Skinny


interviews and articles
Paul Haig Josef K
The Herald (Live review)
The Scotsman
pennyblackmusic.com

Haig/MacKenzie feature Dec 1999
Uncut

Rough Trade Shops
INDIEPOP 1





The Herald 12/04/08
Paul Haig: Go Out Tonight****
There's a message in the title of this new album from former frontman of Josef K, culled from the lyrics of Stay Mine, one of the standout songs in a fine set from a chap who seems to have thrown off his agoraphobic tendencies. The 10th in a fairly low-key series of solo releases, the new album follows swiftly on from last year's Electronic Audience and is as good as any for new listeners to start. The various sounds of Haig are all here: the spiky pop that has influenced Bloc party and Franz Ferdinand, the edgy dancefloor grooves (Trouble Maker), and the sweeping cinematic electronica of Fantasize. More to the point, he sounds like he's having fun. Keith Bruce.

Sunday Express 20/04/08
Go Out Tonight ********
For too long, Haig has almost denied his part in the Scottish post-punk revolution of the Eighties as a member of Josef K, but this 10th solo outing should thrust him firmly back into the limelight. Previous albums have been dominated by electronica, but here he allows the guitar some time to breathe, and the results are impressive, especially on Trouble Maker, Stay Mine, closer Gone In A Moment and belting single Hippy Dippy. David Esson.

GO OUT TONIGHT
FUSE April 2008 www.myspace.com/fuseweb
Paul Haig is a legend. Why? Because he is the former frontman of the legendary electro-punks Josef K, who were one of those bands destined to be largely ignored by all but the enlightened few, but who have subsequently become retrospectively acknowledged as being years ahead of their time. They’ve even got covered by Klaxons! Buoyed by the success of lastyear’s excellent album ‘Electronic Audience’ Paul himself went into creative overdrive franticly creating its follow-up ‘Go Out Tonight’. The album explores the idea that simple actions can have dire consequences and is laced with Big Brother style irony (that’s 1984 not Channel 4!), dislocation and shadowy underworlds. Musically, it treads angular, jerky electronic pathways that stand back and watch what happens when slashing new wave guitars meet bubbling techno synths. The result? A creative genre defining genius at his best.

LAKI MERA – CLUTTER
Laki Mera are a pan-European sonic collective who fell to Earth in Glasgow three years or so ago. Their combination of talents draws together a former punk multi-instrumentalist from Rome in the guise of Andrea Gobi, the angel voiced Laura Donnelly andthe diverse backgrounds of Kier Long, Tim Harbinson and Trevor Helliwell. Together they make electronica from the top drawer. Lush, almost cinematically visual soundscapes build from spacedout synths and carefully controlled percussion into spectacular ambient audio bliss. The album’s 11 masterpieces are served ice cold, and gently melted by Laura’s spine-tingling vocals. Stunning, ambient electronica conjures shapes and textures occasionally hinted at by Zero 7 but not fully heardand appreciated since latter day Eno or ambient Japanese god, Ryuichi Sakamoto.

The Herald
Laki Mera - Clutter *****
Those of us who have lived with Laki Mera's debut album since it was available as a free download via these pages at the end of last year already know it is a fine piece of work. In fact, its delayed appearance on physical disc is a reason for great rejoicing based on the fact that familiarity only builds its appeal. Not since the Blue Nile's first recording has such well crafted music appeared from a Scottish band, Laura Donnelly's voice as affecting as Paul Buchanan's. With Portishead reborn and the ambience of trip-hop being reassessed, the time may be just right for Laki Mera to make the leap to more widespread acclaim - they're out on the road with label boss Paul Haig in a week's time. Keith Bruce.

SUNDAY EXPRESS 27/04/08
CLUTTER ****
Scots-Italian collective that remind you at times of Massive Attack backing Cocteau Twin Liz Fraser. Laura Donnelly has a haunting quality to her vocal that draws you in to the band’s serene soundscape of ambient electronica, although tracks like How Dare You and She’s A Day Later also have a brooding menace to them. David Esson.

Daily Express 23/11/07
PAUL HAIG: CHAIN****(Cherry Red)
REMASTERED and expanded version of the 1989 solo offering by post-punk Scots band Josef K head boy Haig, eschewing the guitars of his band life for sophisticated electronic pop, married to soul and even disco. Class written all over it, from Audrey Hepburn on the cover, to the majestic opening track Something Good, which inexplicably failed to be a monster hit, through to Chained, provided by tragic friend Billy Mackenzie. Five bonus tracks add to the pleasure. David Esson.

UNCUT Electronik Audience**** July 2007
Josef K frontman returns with pulsing electronic set
Domino's recent Josef K compilation went some way towards reclaiming Paul Haig's reputation as the inventor of the scratchy post-punk sound later exploited by Franz Ferdinand. In the last 25 years since Postcard Records' heyday, Haig has been embalmed in electronic froideur. Here he indulges his pop instincts, adding an understated croon to pulsing rhythms and Kraftwerk melodies. It's an old-fashioned futuristic album, and though the sense of alienation remains, Haig sounds like he's having fun-albiet as a wallflower at the space station disco. ALASTAIR McKAY