Saraseto Records – Everywhere You Are

As a native of Glasgow, we’re always yammering on about the musical heritage of the city and the surrounding area, our wonderful artistic lineage and yes, who indeed can argue with the genius of The Fratellis, GUN and Darius Danesh? I’m joking, of course. I don’t think anyone really needs a reminder, but how about Belle and Sebastian, Mogwai, Arab Strab etc and so on. However, it’s been a while since we’ve seen a notable record label start up in Glasgow, and it would be a brave step for anyone to take in this economic climate. Step forward, though, Saraseto Records. Claiming to be “artist focused”, sampler Everywhere You Are showcases the best of the label and features bands from Scotland, England, Italy and Canada, to name but four places.

As is often the case with record label samplers, it’s very much a hit-and-miss affair going from the sublime to the ridiculous. So let’s start with the good: Everywhere You Are begins with one of the bright hopes of the Glasgow music scene, Mitchell Museum. ‘Warning Bells’ is a brilliant slice of psych-pop calling to mind the early days of The Flaming Lips when they didn’t have a clue about production values. That’s followed by the first Canadian offering, courtesy of Ottawa’s Loons. Their offering, ‘Bricks’, makes sure to stick to the template of their fellow countrymen and women, given that it’s an upbeat electro-pop tune in the vein of Wolf Parade.

We then come face-to-face with the bad, in the shape of Glasgow’s Blue Sky Archives and their song ‘Crash Your Face’. It aims for some post-rock skyscraping but falls flat on its face thanks to some irritating vocals and bland melodies. Joining them in the “bad” pile are London’s SAFARI, who seem to think that The Bravery should be the starting point for making great music – which, of course, is a terrible idea in anyone’s book. Little Fire, from Ayr, the home town of the execrable Biffy Clyro, offers ‘Fire Me Up Now’ a sub-Clyro acoustic dirge with no discernable quality, leaving the only thing “fired up” being my ire, and then there’s She Said Resist who seem to think it’s time for an Ultravox revival – it’s really not.

Thankfully there’s more good stuff to come, shown by Los Angeles’ Eastern Conference Champions, them of Twilight soundtrack fame/infamy. ‘Bloody Bells’ is pop genius of the highest order, showing off their class and experience compared to some of their novice labelmates. Speaking of experience, Boston’s Wheat could also be classed as veterans compared to some of the newer bands on the album, given that – and I’m showing off my age here – they’ve been releasing record since 1998’s brilliant Medeiros. ‘Changes’ actually proves that the band hasn’t changed in over a decade, its classic alt-rock styling hitting the spot perfectly.

Returning to the newer faces, Toronto’s Bravestation give us ‘Clocks & Spears’, a lovely synth wonder calling to mind Yeasayer, and Italians Welcome Back Sailors keep the laid-back electro pop vibe going with ‘Skateboard’. Staying in the same genre, a word of praise has to go to Nevada Base‘s ‘Electric Touch’, a demented slice of noisy nonsense.

Suitably, perhaps, the album ends on a high note with the none-more-Scottish sounding Over The Wall and their triumphant mix of folk and brass on ‘Thurso’, which has been used to great effect as the theme tune to the mental yet brilliant BBC Scotland comedy sketch show Burnistoun – if you’ve not seen it, do check it out.

It’s pleasing that Everywhere You Are is more killer than filler, meaning that the city of Glasgow is still able to come up with the goods when it counts. Good luck, Saraseto, here’s to a many a fine release over the coming years.

Stream Everywhere You Are in full via Saresto Records’ Bandcamp.