by Amy Baggott

Edinburgh, quite easily the prettiest city in Scotland, is a place where you can explore castles, climb up (extinct) volcanoes, see big, pointy, gothic monuments to Walter Scott and stalk J.K. Rowling. As if that weren’t enough, there’s also plenty to do for the thinking indiekid about town. Oft ignored in the shadow of the mighty Glasgow indie scene, Edinburgh has a smaller, but equally notable stack of indie credentials of its own. With an illustrious history that boasts bands as diverse as Idlewild and the Shop Assistants, and record labels such as 53rd&3rd and SL Records based in the city, we have a music scene that is equally exciting, if only a fraction of the size of that of our west coast rivals. Although I’ve only lived here for the past two years, I couldn’t be much more in love with a place. Let me give you a brief guide to my favourite bits of it.

The Egg
The Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh College of Art, Lauriston Place. Every Saturday night, 11pm-3am. £4.50 or £4 for members.
The most established indie night in town, the Egg draws a mixed crowd with its indie, punk and northern soul ethic. The music policy can be a bit rigid, preferring classics to newer tunes, but the atmosphere is always good. In the aptly named Wee Red Bar, it can get a bit crowded on the dance floor, resulting in a huge sweatfest, not aided by the over-enthusiastic deployment of smoke machines approximately every thirty seconds or so. If you don’t mind dancing in a simulated swamp though, you will have a great time. The drinks aren’t too badly priced with it being in a student union, but the downside to the location is the slightly power-mad bouncers who can randomly pick on people without student ID and refuse entry to lovely, sober(ish) nice folk. Photo ID is therefore a good idea, as is buddying up with a student for the evening. A night at the Egg is always good fun though, whether you are laughing at the hipster degenerates with stupid haircuts and pointy shoes or dancing with Gordon from Ballboy.

Auto
Subway Cowgate, 69 Cowgate. Alternate Tuesdays, 11pm-3am. Admission free.
Although Subway is famed for its cheap drinks and sleazy atmosphere, alternate Tuesdays see a different kind of night altogether take place here. The drinks are still practically free and they don’t charge on the door, so you do still get a few unsavoury characters wandering around, drunkenly and sleazily. However, they will be wandering around, listening in confusion to the likes of Helen Love, Hefner, Misty’s Big Adventure and Mclusky, for Auto champions an alternative indie playlist that is more adventurous and interesting than that at the Egg. A fantastic little night that recently celebrated its first anniversary.
(www.autoclubnight.co.nr)

Unknown Pleasures
Teviot Student Union, Bristo Square. Every Friday during termtime, 10pm-3am. Admission free some weeks, £1-£5 on band nights
This is a clubnight run by the Edinburgh University Indie Society, with live bands some weeks too. The playlist is eclectic, but generally excellent, featuring a wide variety of indie music. Bands who have graced the stage here are Aberfeldy, St. Jude’s Infirmary, Multiplies and Ballboy, to name but a few. You need photo ID to get in, with it being in the union, but the drinks are cheap, the music is good and fun is generally had here.

A Hard Days Night
Subway Cowgate, 69 Cowgate, 11-3am every other Friday
A new indie night with different guest DJs for each night from Manchester, London, Leeds etc. playing indie, soul and rock'n'roll. Cheap drinks on offer with Stella and Corona at £2 a bottle and free vodka with every drink between 11-12. Also having a band play each month in between DJ sets. (DB)

Brass Monkey
14 Drummond St, EH8 9TU. Mon-Sat 11am-1am, Sun 12pm-12am
This cosy little pub has a back room that is a miniature cinema where the seating is in the form of a giant bed. They have a decent selection of DVDs and will usually screen a requested movie for you and your friends if you ask nicely. The giant bed makes it the comfiest pub in town too. It has a pool room, fireplace, relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff. Drinks prices are middling to fair.

The Royal Oak
1 Infirmary St, EH1 1LT. The bars are open until 2:00am, or until 4:00am during the festival.
The Royal Oak is a traditional pub, complete with real ales, roaring fire and weather-beaten old folk musicians providing the entertainment. (They aren’t always weather-beaten and old actually; Aberfeldy had a residency here before signing to Rough Trade). Still, if the prospect of a grizzled, bearded old man with nought but a fiddle and his dog makes you want to run away and hide, I’d steer clear of this pub. However, if you appreciate a fine ale, a relaxed atmosphere and what is often actually some rather beautiful folk music, you will enjoy the Royal Oak.
(www.royal-oak-folk.com/index.html)

City Café
19 Blair Street, EH1 1QR. Mon-Sun 11am-1pm
This is a vaguely trendy, but very likeable American diner style place, serving yummy burgers, nachos, all-day breakfasts and hot chocolate as well as serving drinks. The drinks prices are a bit steeper here, but it’s a nice place to hang out, play some pool and occasionally hear some good music, though the quality of the music policy varies considerably and unpredictably. You may even occasionally spot the odd hipster or scenester here, but try not to let that put you off.

Avalanche
63 Cockburn Street or 17 West Nicolson Street
If you’re interested in record shopping in Edinburgh, your first port of call has got to be Avalanche. They specialise in independent indie and usually at the lowest prices in town as well. The store on Cockburn Street is good, but the one on West Nicolson Street has the better selection of vinyl. The second hand sections in both stores are absolute treasure troves and the section titled “Scottish Indie” is obviously well stocked. If you collect vinyl on the Postcard label, you will think you have died and gone to heaven. Watch out for great in-store free gigs from an eclectic selection of artists as well.
(www.avalancherecords.co.uk)

Vinyl Villains
5 Elm Row, Leith.
Vinyl Villains has a pleasingly random selection of mainly second hand records of all genres, as well as cassette tapes and soundtracks. It’s nowhere near as specialist as Avalanche, but time spent patiently flicking through the records here could unearth a rare find every once in a while. Funky kitsch carrier bags too, for those of you geeky enough to care about such things.

Ripping Records
South Bridge, EH1 1HN
OK, this isn’t really so much a record shop as a place where you buy tickets for gigs, but as such, it is an essential place to make friends with the staff of. The Avalanches are really the main record emporia of the city. Once you’ve exhausted them, there isn’t much else to see beyond a couple of Fopps, HMVs and a Virgin Megastore.

Ballboy
Ah! I could wax lyrical about the joys of Ballboy. Based around the singing-songwriting talent of Gordon McIntyre, the songs are all Wedding Present-esque guitars and poppy keyboards, held together with lyrics that are alternately witty and tender, biting and heart-breaking. Songs about everything from cycling to sniffing glue, kissing to arseholes, basically. Beloved of the late John Peel and beloved of anyone with ears - how could you not like them?
(www.ballboy.org/)

Aberfeldy
Unexpectedly signed to Rough Trade after two years of contented obscurity on the Edinburgh folk circuit, Aberfeldy are an indiepop-folk band who never planned to make it big. Incredibly twee, they sing pretty songs about love, loss and alien abduction. With fiddles, xylophones and special effects that include pinching your nose to make a space-alien-sounding voice. Ace!
(www.aberfeldys.com/)

Saint Jude’s Infirmary
Formed around the songs of brother and sister duo, Grant and Ashley Campbell, St. Jude’s play fuzzy VU-style melodic indie rock, with sweetly harmonised female vocals. Their songs are all softly melancholic odes to missed opportunities and summers past, brimming with wistful longing and regret, and as such, they are pretty wonderful.
(www.saintjudesinfirmary.co.uk/)

There’s so much other fun stuff to do in the city, I just thought I’d give mention to a few things, not least of all, places to eat. Cool cafes include Plaisir du Chocolat on the Royal Mile, the Elephant House on George IV Bridge and Monster Mash on Forrest Road, a retro diner specialising in gourmet bangers and mash. For the veggies, there’s Suzie’s Diner on West Nicolson Street or the Forest Café on Forrest Road, a hippy-type place run entirely by volunteers and supporting local musicians and artists. You can also visit some of the city’s many museums and art galleries, see the Camera Obscura on the Royal Mile, or even take a “Trainspotting” literary tour of Leith, tracing the steps of the characters from Irvine Welsh’s famous novel. On sunny days, you can’t beat the Meadows for a picnic and a game of Frisbee, or there’s always the Botanical Gardens too. Basically, you’re best just to go for a stroll around the city, though, get a bit lost along all the closes and wynds and see what you discover. You can’t go far wrong.

Main Edinburgh photo and Botanics photo © Urban75
Additional review by Daniel Bailey

If you'd like to recommend a club, bar, record shop, band or any indie delight for inclusion in the Indie Travel Guide, please email us. If we've included a link to your band/shop etc, it would be lovely if you could link back to us. Thank you!