Ladies and gentlemen, you’ve seen the scenes of Madchester, of Seattle, the psychedelics of Brooklyn and the electro of Hoxton. Shout4Music is proud to bring you Inverness. Is there a scene in Inverness? I’m preparing myself for a siege of angry emails from up that neck of the woods, but I’m buggered if I know. There was a cartoon about a family of Loch Ness Monsters that ate musical notes for tea a few years back…What there undoubtedly is in Inverness, is a talented chap going by the name of Calamateur. They’d have dined like gourmets from him…

Having ploughed away up in the Highlands for a fair few years now, building up celebrity admirers like Gideon Coe and the incomparable John Earls, Andrew Howie is releasing fourth long-player ‘Each Dirty Letter’ this month thru Autoclace records. Comprising quiet bits, noisy bits, and a smattering of electronica, it’s a more ‘proper-song’ led affair than previous outings where his use of texture was given foreground. Any fans of American Music Club, Elliott Smith or Sparklehorse should find much to love in his heartworn tunes.

Have a listen to him do a live take of ‘Perfect Moment’ on the video below. And if any bands from Inverness see me later in the month, mountain biking in Rothiemurchus; any and all demos most welcomely received – please don’t set fire to me, or throw poo, or point out that smoking and cycling is a really stupid plan….