 | | Ghostly Man (pic: Sarah Pooley) |
Still, the sun was out in the tiny garden at the back of Kro and find of the festival, Gillan Edgar, was making the most of the crowd. He calls his music unashamedly pop, but in fact, it’s simply unashamed brilliance, walking that fine line that can land you on the covers of both the music and the teen mags. He delivered his “wee songs” with an affable humour and unmistakable charm that saw him even manage to start a sing-along for his set closer, the insanely catchy The Greatest Gift.  | | Rachael Kichenside (pic: Sarah Pooley) |
What followed at Kro simply couldn’t live up to his standard. Despite his obvious ability, Jon Kenzie’s acoustic soul edged too close to dreariness to really catch the imagination, while Claire Wood struggled with a wobbly keyboard to produce a passable rendition of Tori Amos without ever really revealing herself in the songs. It was time to make the hike up to Urbis. Sure enough though, I Am Kloot made the journey worthwhile. As beautifully broken as ever, the ultimate tumbledown band proved that there’s still life in them, despite their recent split with their label. Their new songs, in particular The Only Roll In Town (dedicated, with a collective tear, to the recently departed Brian Glancy), more than stood up to the older favourites, and a thrilling To You, complete with Guy Garvey on harmonies, was enough to cement the good feelings that oozed out of the Gardens.  | | Rachael Kichenside (pic: Sarah Pooley) |
Ever onwards, the third leg of the trek took a turn to the Late Room in time for the new sensation, Rachael Kichenside. With a voice matched only by her beauty and a grin a mile wide, she’s an artist that grips an audience through the eyes and ears, and conjures songs that sweep from heartbreaking to toe-tapping. Her music is a constant shifting sand, lulling you into gentle folk territory before ripping the floor from under you in a jazzed up, stripped down style. By the time she closed her short set, full-stopping it with another dazzling smile, she’d got the whole audience in the palm of her hand, and they were happy to be there.  | | Peter and the Wolf (pic: Sarah Pooley) |
Next, a shift of gear for the quirky ditties and sunshine pop of Peter And The Wolf. Their songs are filled to the brim with ramshackle rhythms and ready for fun. There’s something of Badly Drawn Boy’s Once Around The Block to their style and something of Roddy Woomble to the vocals. If the rest of their set hadn’t been enough to convince you they were worth further investigation, then the audacity of doing a doo-wop indie tune dedicated to “high school sweethearts” and actually pulling it off has got to make you love them.  | | Ghostly Man (pic: Sarah Pooley) |
That only left Ghostly Man, who is always a great place to finish. The name is an anagram of the centre-point of the band, Glyn Thomas, ex of Alpinestars and one of the best performers this city has. He’s spent the last year fine-tuning his sound and the results are impressive, not least in the excellent Hundred Heart Attacks and the sublime rocker She Loves To Lose. Thomas has a voice that is reminiscent of Tim Booth’s and a line in indie pop that should see him fly. There may have still been two bands to come, but after the hike around the city, it was time to leave. SWAP as a concept works brilliantly, and the artists they pick are diverse and intriguing, but they’ve got to understand that making this work means bringing it all closer together. | 
