Plum

On the night, the self-anointed McTwitterati will gather and be entertained with live music from "loop-machine genius" Plum, among other Twitter-related fun, including raffle prizes to be won from Canongate Books, Regal T-shirts and Glenmorangie. - The Scotsman

Holly Golightly? Scottish loops'n'samples slinger Plum is a 20-something electronic-based musician with her two feet firmly planted in a zillion different camps. Plum has been described as the female Fourtet, and with good reason: Combining her naturalistic, gentle vocals and guitar with all manner of sampled and live instruments, her EP The Whispering Chamber (Summer Rain Recordings) matches the sound of coquettish woodland nymphs with sampled electronic bits ricocheting off some abandoned satellite. But beyond that natural/synthetic mold so common to the music of Fourtet, Plum also recalls English knob-twiddlers Laika, Lemon Jelly, and Plug. Give a listen, Plum will set your head reeling, and your thoughts to daydreaming mode.

"My EP The Whispering Chamber will be released on 19th November electronically," Plum wrote me late last year. "I am originally from Scotland, and am finding it a bit daunting being female (where are the rest of us in this electronic mash of testosterone?). I love to use samples I collect myself and recreate memories in my music. My music has been really well received in America, and I've had a fair amount of airplay in New York on Home Grown Radio NJ. I've had over 11,000 plays on MySpace and I've got a number of remixes in the pipeline from ex-Boards of Canada musician Christ. to Planet Mu's Frogpocket, to Singapore artist Sonic Brat. It's hard to promote yourself, but hopefully you'll have a listen--my music is soft and kind of childlike."

"Plumbada" begins with an off-kilter drum roll leading into a deep bucket wash of dub-like textures and Plum's sweet vocal, layered for ultimate doper's effect. Childlike, perhaps, if your child is knowledgeable in the ways of African rhythms and ominous soundscapes. Plum blends dulcet vibraphones, turntable squeegees and acoustic guitar on "Fairies," her spoken word narration adding a deliciously dark mood. But "Toys" may be my favorite from The Whispering Chamber, an up-tempo beat blast with what sounds like an African child's laugher filled voice looped and deconstructed, then matched with bouncy instrumentation straight offa Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do." It's an infectious track bubbling with quirky sounds and happy summer vibrations.

Plum has also released a remix EP, Glory Feast (Summer Rain). "Toys Amyl JP MC remix" is a stunner. - Yahoo; Better Living Through MP3

On the night, the self-anointed McTwitterati will gather and be entertained with live music from "loop-machine genius" Plum, among other Twitter-related fun, including raffle prizes to be won from Canongate Books, Regal T-shirts and Glenmorangie. - The Scotsman

Published Date: 21 May 2008
By Mark Inchley
Living in Australia, but with her visa about to expire, Shona Maguire did what any reasonable person would do when looking for guidance ... she turned to the magic eight ball.
She wasn't ready to return home to Peebles, applying instead for teaching jobs in China, Japan and Korea and, when the magic eight ball pushed her towards Korea, she went. No questions asked.
The 26-year-old singer/songwriter is something of a free spirit. She's spontaneous and ambitious, constantly pushing herself in new directions and taking risks both in life and her music. But she's not apologetic about that and, meeting her, it's an attractive, almost inspiring, quality – particularly in someone so young.
We meet in Starbucks the morning after her performance at Wonky Wallpaper at the GRV club in Edinburgh, where she launched her first music video on Friday. It's the ideal venue for her style of music and the gig, full of highlights and hiccups, was warmly received by the small but enthusiastic crowd.
Shona – aka Plum (a childhood nickname that she's adopted as a singer) – describes her music as electronica, but it's dark with throbbing, looping vocal hooks underpinning breathy, haunting melodies.
"I do like the dark side, I can't help it," she jokes, before giving more insight into the roots of her melancholic sound.
"When I went to Korea it was really isolating because I didn't know anybody and couldn't speak the language. Also, one of my friends had just been killed in the tsunami. I should've been there with him but didn't have enough money to make the trip. It all made me question the meaning of life. I'm not remotely afraid of death but I don't deal with it well when it happens around me.
"It wasn't good being in Korea on my own at that time, but I probably wrote some of my best lyrics while I was there."
While her music marks a progressive fusion of acoustic ballads with heavily compressed electronic backbeats and basslines, her lyrics – delivered with a tender quality – explore some of the inner struggles she's dealt with in life.
Describing one of her earlier tracks, Fairies, she says: "It's about when I was five, when I believed in magic and fairies. I realised there wasn't anything I really believed in any more and wanted to have that again. It's a shame we lose that as we get older. As humans, we're basically selfish and greedy. It's a horrible system and it makes it hard to believe in anything good. But now I do – I've met lots of nice people since writing that."
Having spent some years travelling, Shona was challenged to pursue music more seriously after a conversation with one of her Korean students.
"We were talking about the difference between communism and capitalism," she continues. "He said the weirdest thing for him was that in capitalism you have the ability to follow your dreams but for some reason people don't, despite the amazing freedom they have. Then he asked what my dream was and I was really challenged and ended up on the internet later that day looking up music production courses. And it's all taken off from there."
Recently, Shona – or Plum as I should really say – remixed Radiohead's single Nude as part of a competition run by the band and fans can vote for her track online until the end of the month. For now, though, she's working on her own first album and has various live dates lined up, including Knockengorroch Festival this weekend and Pulse at The Eastgate Theatre in Peebles next Saturday.
But beyond that, not surprisingly, she's reluctant to commit to any plans.
"I don't have the magic eight ball anymore," she laughs. "And I don't have a plan. I have absolutely no idea where I'm going to be in five years' time.
"Blind optimism is one of my strong points, if you can call it that. It just depends what comes up but I really want to keep on with my music because that's what I really love doing."
For more information about up-coming gigs and releases, or to vote for Plum's Radiohead remix, visit www.myspace.com/plumtunes - The Southern Reporter

Wonky Wallpaper is currently establishing itself as Edinburgh's most experimental and intriguing club night, with its aim to cover everything from glitch and grime via acid rave and acoustic electronica, all accompanied with some of the most original and innovative visuals and short films being produced in the independent Scottish scene. This month's line-up sees a wide variety of guests, including techno-hip-hop duo Stick 430, and Frog Pocket, whose productions fuse Aphex Twin beats with traditional Scottish influences.

Also joining them will be Plum, whose dreamy music recalls Four Tet and Beth Orton, as well as established local names Analogue Vs Digital and K3nn3th. There is no doubt that there will be something for everyone at this event! - The Skinny

Published Date: 21 May 2008
By Mark Inchley
Living in Australia, but with her visa about to expire, Shona Maguire did what any reasonable person would do when looking for guidance ... she turned to the magic eight ball.
She wasn't ready to return home to Peebles, applying instead for teaching jobs in China, Japan and Korea and, when the magic eight ball pushed her towards Korea, she went. No questions asked.
The 26-year-old singer/songwriter is something of a free spirit. She's spontaneous and ambitious, constantly pushing herself in new directions and taking risks both in life and her music. But she's not apologetic about that and, meeting her, it's an attractive, almost inspiring, quality – particularly in someone so young.
We meet in Starbucks the morning after her performance at Wonky Wallpaper at the GRV club in Edinburgh, where she launched her first music video on Friday. It's the ideal venue for her style of music and the gig, full of highlights and hiccups, was warmly received by the small but enthusiastic crowd.
Shona – aka Plum (a childhood nickname that she's adopted as a singer) – describes her music as electronica, but it's dark with throbbing, looping vocal hooks underpinning breathy, haunting melodies.
"I do like the dark side, I can't help it," she jokes, before giving more insight into the roots of her melancholic sound.
"When I went to Korea it was really isolating because I didn't know anybody and couldn't speak the language. Also, one of my friends had just been killed in the tsunami. I should've been there with him but didn't have enough money to make the trip. It all made me question the meaning of life. I'm not remotely afraid of death but I don't deal with it well when it happens around me.
"It wasn't good being in Korea on my own at that time, but I probably wrote some of my best lyrics while I was there."
While her music marks a progressive fusion of acoustic ballads with heavily compressed electronic backbeats and basslines, her lyrics – delivered with a tender quality – explore some of the inner struggles she's dealt with in life.
Describing one of her earlier tracks, Fairies, she says: "It's about when I was five, when I believed in magic and fairies. I realised there wasn't anything I really believed in any more and wanted to have that again. It's a shame we lose that as we get older. As humans, we're basically selfish and greedy. It's a horrible system and it makes it hard to believe in anything good. But now I do – I've met lots of nice people since writing that."
Having spent some years travelling, Shona was challenged to pursue music more seriously after a conversation with one of her Korean students.
"We were talking about the difference between communism and capitalism," she continues. "He said the weirdest thing for him was that in capitalism you have the ability to follow your dreams but for some reason people don't, despite the amazing freedom they have. Then he asked what my dream was and I was really challenged and ended up on the internet later that day looking up music production courses. And it's all taken off from there."
Recently, Shona – or Plum as I should really say – remixed Radiohead's single Nude as part of a competition run by the band and fans can vote for her track online until the end of the month. For now, though, she's working on her own first album and has various live dates lined up, including Knockengorroch Festival this weekend and Pulse at The Eastgate Theatre in Peebles next Saturday.
But beyond that, not surprisingly, she's reluctant to commit to any plans.
"I don't have the magic eight ball anymore," she laughs. "And I don't have a plan. I have absolutely no idea where I'm going to be in five years' time.
"Blind optimism is one of my strong points, if you can call it that. It just depends what comes up but I really want to keep on with my music because that's what I really love doing."
For more information about up-coming gigs and releases, or to vote for Plum's Radiohead remix, visit www.myspace.com/plumtunes - The Southern Reporter