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FAMILY GUY: THE QUESTFOR STUFF Free for all

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ROWAN ROSSWHERE: GlasgowFOR FANS OF: Elvis Cos-tello, Paul McCartney, RufusWainwrightJIM SAYS: Multi-instrumental-ist Rowan Ross has createdone of the most beautifulalbum’s I’ve heard recently.His debut Second Fiddle

opens with a haunting violininstrumental before launch-ing into a selection of classyfolk-tinged songs.The album release was

delayed for a year after afreak accident, in which helost his left eye (hence theeyepatch), but it’s been wellworth the wait.Growing up in Dunblane,

music was always a way oflife. He said: “I grew up in amusical family with my mumand sister playing piano inthe background to pass thetime. I started to learn pianothen violin at school agedeight. There was also anacoustic guitar in the houseand I started to teach myself,learning some chords thenpicking up songs by ear.“The Beatles, Del Amitri,

Cole Porter and Danny Wil-son come to mind.”Indeed, Danny Wilson’s

Gary Clark, whose recentsongwriting credits includeLawson, The Wanted andDemi Lovato, is a massivefan. Gary said: “I heard theRowan Ross record when itcame out last year. It’s quite abrave and eclectic record.Celtic laments sit side by side

with McCartneyesque popsongs and even touches ofhot club jazz but it all actuallyhangs well together andsounds like one band.”It must be pretty special for

Rowan to have one of hisheroes talk of his music inthis way. He said: “I drew alot of inspiration from DannyWilson. Great songs, innova-tive arranging/production andthey also had a braveapproach to the music indus-try.“They inspired me to listen

with an open mind and appre-ciate songs from the past asmuch as modern chartsongs.”Rowan has been floating

around the Glasgow scenesince moving to the city in2000. He played violin on thefinal Aereogramme album,and continues to play withBlues outfit The FortunateSons and jazz singer Chris-tine Bovill. He said: “The writ-ing on this album is just mebut I am lucky to have madea lot of friends who are happyto come along and record tohelp me present the songs ina really pleasing way.“Louis Abbot from Admiral

Fallow is a great percussion-ist and his marimba playingadds a lot to the feel of thealbum.”Rowan Ross plays a solo

set supporting Heidi Talbot atMilngavie Folk Club tomor-row evening, with furtherdates planned for summer.MORE: rowanross.comQJim presents Drivetime on XFMScotland, Monday to Thursday4-7pm. xfm.co.uk jimgellatly.com

NEW MUSICBy JIM GELLATLY

GET through your reading listfaster than ever with thisspeed-reading app.Flashes text on the screen

one word at a time to help youread articles from the web at“superhuman” speeds. It’simpressive stuff.

SIDE-SCROLLING, rootin’tootin’ racing game which hasa Wild West theme.Great for short bursts. Just

stay calm and don’t get tooangry with the game’s physicswhen your tiny racer keepslanding on its head.

ODDLY, given its arcade-stylepotential, it’s a wonder thatthere hasn’t yet been anall-conquering darts game.A market Darts Match clearly

aims to corner.Details like playing on an

officially approved PDCdartboard, or the ability tocustomise your dart in thestore (fear not, no more in-apppurchases) won’t make awinning difference, though.It’s going to be all about the

gameplay and taking on yourmates. Thankfully, it recordsyour triumphs.You can pair with an

opponent through Facebook,which is easy and not at allintrusive as long as you’re aufait with the site’s appnotification settings.You can also play strangers

and, of course, play alone –which is how I spend most ofmy time on the app.Rather than waiting for your

mate to have their turn, whichcan be arduous if there aredelays for each throw, you cantake on a computer foe.Three classic modes are

offered here – theself-explanatory 501, 301 andaround the clock – all of whichare perfect bog-seat fodder.The mechanics of actually

throwing the dart is prettystandard and isn’t hard to getthe hang of – but the gameremains tricky.Which is fair enough. Since

when was darts easy?This is a real bullseye of a

game but I just wish there wasa way of improving the clumsymultiplayer mode.

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2014 FIFA WORLD CUPBRAZIL PS3/Xbox 360, (£39.99/£44.99)

CLEARLY influenced by classic Spy Hunter,this title sees you racing down a road, dodgingcars while pulling awesome stunts.The short stages are perfect for playing while

you’re on the bus or waiting in a queue.Beating each level unlocks more levels and

challenges but the controls could be crisper.And unless you choose to spend extra

money, the game will downgrade your visuals.Other than these gripes, this is a decent

enough game and worth checking out. MQ

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MICROSOFT has finallyreleased an iPad version ofOffice so now you can leave thelaptop at home.Word, Excel and Powerpoint

are free to download but youwill need a monthly subscriptionto use them.

THIS relaxation app combinesnatural outdoor sounds with 3Dartwork to soothe you and helpyou drift off to sleep.There is also a nice little story

to accompany each peacefulscene, which will help you reallyrelax and unwind.

STUNT GUY 2.0Free on iOS and Android 3

THIS title has come in forplenty of criticism – withEA accused of cynicallyusing the World Cup asan excuse to release anin-game mode as amoney-spinning title.They say that this is indistin-guishable to FIFA 14, just givena lick of World Cup paint.That may be so but one of myfondest gaming memories is play-ing a title of exactly this ilk —FIFA: Road To World Cup 98. Isunk hours into the game,

because I was so enthused bythe forthcoming World Cup.It brought me a great deal ofjoy, not least for its inspiredchoice of Blur’s Song 2 for thetheme tune, while Des Lynamand John Motson seem nostalgicchoices now.Fast-forward 16 years and I’mequally excited about the WorldCup. So does this game stokethose flames or put them out?The Captain Your Countrymode is great, allowing you to

progress through the nationalsquad list, eventually becoming afirst-team regular who leadsyour nation to the World Cup.

Double price itought to be

Elsewhere, there’s the newonline mode, Road To Rio deJaneiro, which challenges you toadvance through each of Brazil’shost stadiums.This is effectively an expensiveDLC pack for FIFA 14.It is at least double the priceit ought to be and it should be

downloadable to your existingFIFA game.But the biggest omission isthat it has been released solelyon last-gen consoles, the Xbox360 and PlayStation 3, withusers of Xbox One and PlaySta-tion 4 overlooked.This makes perfect businesssense but it wouldn’t have takenmuch work to avoid excluding aportion of the market.Going back to the old-gen plat-form makes the game feel dated,slow and difficult to enjoy.If you ask me if it’s worth pay-ing £40-plus for this game, theanswer (sadly) is: “No!”

BASICALLY The Simpsons:Tapped Out but with naughtierjokes. Not exactly a challengebut gets addictive once youstart tapping.New scenes and jokes from

the makers of the Family GuyTV show will keep you playing.

ROCK babe Brody Dalle isone person who will defi-nitely spice up the EasterWeekend. She kicks off herUK tour in Glasgow on Mon-day night at The Garage.Brody‘s other half isQueens of the Stone Agehardman Josh Homme. She’llbe banging out her first soloalbum Diploid Love and tak-ing no prisoners. Get ticketsat: www.ticketmaster.co.uk

Listen to the band at:thescottishsun.co.uk

ONE2SEEONE2HEARTHERE’S been loads of chatabout Brown Bear & The Ban-dits for a while now.But it’s time for the talkingto stop.The Largs group’s debutalbum is a go this summer.First single Dead Or Alivewill kick it all off on May 25— and it sounds superb.You can hear it now at:www.soundc loud . com/brownbearandthebandits

ByCHRIS

SWEENEY

DARTS MATCHiOS (Free)

HARDCORE ravers Bear-tooth act like they’vesunk a crate of RedBull — EACH.They live on the edge andare bursting with energy.But instead of drinkingRed Bull, they’re actuallysigned to the drink giant’srecord label.And the partnership hasseen the Columbus, Ohio,rockers rocket from nowhere.Their first EP Sick hassucked in an army of fans.Frontman Caleb Shomo, 21,said: “They’ve definitelyopened a lot of doors. But Idon’t think I was ready forthis to happen so fast.“I expected it to be aslower process, if it did atall. But it’s thrown us in atthe deep end. Because they’resuch an extensive company,it’s very interesting to seethem in the music world.They are into extreme things.“And they work in musicin that extreme sense.“For the band we are, itmakes perfect sense to bewith them — they push what-ever they do and it’s coolwe’re part of that.“That’s the reason I wantedto do the deal with them,you feel this endless freedom.“They are a bunch of downto earth people but theyreally know what they’redoing — and how to pushthings in a way that mostpeople wouldn’t. They have

the means to do it and it’s agreat situation for us.”The band’s debut album isdue out this summer. Andthey’re keeping it simple.Caleb explained: “When Iwrite a Beartooth song, I justwant it to be guitar, bassand drums — and for it tofeel intense. I want you to beable to hear the feedback, allthe mess ups and the littlevoice cracks.“I try to record and letwhat happens happen.“We don’t use synths oranything else like that, wekeep it very natural.”

‘We just play’And their Scots fans willget a chance to hear thealbum before it hits shops —as the band play Glasgow’sO2 ABC with Of Mice &Men on Sunday night.And punters shouldn’texpect any frills.Caleb snapped: “Live wejust go and do it. I don’tknow how to explain it anyother way. We get up thereand play. We try to have asmuch fun as we can and notthink about it. We don’t sayanything or talk to thecrowd — we just go play.“That can be kind of oddfor people but in our heads,we have about 30 minutes toget all our energy out. So wego crazy up there. That’swhat this band is all about.”Q For more, check out: facebook.com/BEARTOOTHband

Friday, April 18, 2014 671S