Beatles v Stones. Oasis v Blur. Foals v Kula Shaker…

All right already: the last one exists probably solely in my head. There’s nothing, really, linking late 90’s thinking persons’ Britpop psychedelic sensations Kula Shaker with mid-Noughties indie rock sensations Foals. Except I like them both, and I’m seeing them both live in action within the next few days.

First up: Foals, tonight, at the SSE Hydro. Daughter and Heiress and I saw them back in 2014 at the 02 Academy, in the Gorbals, and they may well have delivered The Greatest Rock Gig Ever. So they’ve got a lot to live up to, although they have of course, since then, produced the mighty album ‘What Went Down,’ which I’ve already described as having an adverse impact on my driving behaviour.

I have a longer history with the Kulas, who first came to my notice, if I recall, when my mate Alan put one of their albums on a cassette for me (the other side, if I recall, was Oasis, so he doesn’t have perfect taste). Named after King Kulashekhara, who I thought came in at number four for Sri Lanka but was also a ninth century Indian emperor and holy man, the band is fronted by Crispian Mills, who, it’s fair to say, likes a bit of Indian influence in the musical mix. Wikipedia describe their sound thusly:

‘in addition, many of the band’s songs feature traditional Indian musical instruments, such as the sitar, tanpura, and tabla, juxtaposed with guitar-heavy, Western rock instrumentation.’ Yes indeedy, and a pleasing juxtaposition it is too! They’re on at the 02ABC in Glasgow on Monday.

Anyhoo, time is short, so I’ll leave you with, firstly, Daughter and Heiress’s favourite Foals track, and my favourite from the Kulas.

Anything below here was put there by WordPress, and probably doesn’t involve guitar-heavy Western rock music, more’s the pity.