Malcolm Middleton (born 31 December 1973) is a Scottish musician best known for his work with Aidan Moffat in post-folk indie band Arab Strap as well as his solo career writing and producing. To date, Middleton has released five solo studio albums, with his most recent, Waxing Gibbous , released on 8 June 2009. [1]

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Early life

Middleton was born in Dumfries but raised in Falkirk, Scotland. He attended Graeme High School. ^[2] He played bass, guitar and sometimes sang in several bands in the 1990s, including Purple Bass Plectrum, Rabid Lettuce, Pigtube and The Laughing Stock. ^[3]

Career

Arab Strap

In 1995, Middleton and Aidan Moffat, after bonding over their love of musical artists such as Smog and Will Oldham, began making music under the name "Arab Strap". The band released six studio albums before splitting up in 2006.

Solo Career

Middleton released his first solo album 5:14 Fluoxytine Seagull Alcohol John Nicotine in 2002, followed by Into The Woods in 2005. After Arab Strap split in 2006, the album A Brighter Beat was released in 2007. The first song on the album "We're All Going To Die" was released as a single on December 17 ^[4] and started off with odds of 1000-1 against becoming the Christmas number one - reportedly the highest odds ever quoted. But after support from social networking websites and from BBC Radio 1 DJ Colin Murray the odds dropped to 9-1 and Middleton was 4th favourite for Christmas number one, behind Leona Lewis, Katie Melua ft Eva Cassidy and X Factor winner Leon Jackson.

Murray started supporting the song as a response to repeated Christmas chart domination by manufactured pop acts churned out by the likes of The X Factor. Middleton has said that, despite the song's negative-sounding title, he feels the song perfectly sums up the spirit of Christmas - the need to make the most of life while we have it. ^[5] The song was beaten to the top on 23/12/2007, having reached number 31 in the UK singles chart, with the UK Christmas number one being a cover of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston's When You Believe as performed by X-Factor winner Leon Jackson. The publicity around the single gave Middleton significant mainstream exposure for the first time in his career. Middleton's solo album Sleight of Heart was released in 2008.

Middleton has finished recording his fifth solo album, and notes that it could be his last: ^[6]

I'd like to do something different, whether it's under a different name or start a new band or something. I'm starting to feel like I've done as much as I can with this creative voice. I think I'm getting to the point where Arab Strap were, where we felt like we couldn't do much more once we were placed in our pigeonhole. I'm not very comfy in presenting myself. When I wrote Into the Woods , I remember thinking that it was going to be for a band. Like, I'm going to record and produce it, but get someone else to represent it. Maybe I'd just like to do that; write songs for people and produce, without having to go and stand on stage and act like a fanny, you know? No matter how much you tour, you go out and you feel the same lack of confidence. It's not like you can accrue what you've learnt before and take it with you. In the past with my solo records, I've pretty much been really confident, thinking I can tell straight away if what I'm singing is good or if it's just crap. But right now I'm not so sure of that, or whether there's any reason to be singing about these things, or if it's just someone complaining. I think that's what I miss about being in a band; you don't have people to bounce off, which, after being in Arab Strap for so long, I needed to get away from, but now I miss it a wee bit.

Middleton's fifth solo album, entitled Waxing Gibbous , was released on June 8, 2009. The single "Red Travellin' Socks", released on May 18, 2009, preceded the album's release.

Discography

Studio Albums

• 5:14 Fluoxytine Seagull Alcohol John Nicotine (2002)
• Into The Woods (2005)
• A Brighter Beat (2007)
• Sleight of Heart (2008)
• Waxing Gibbous (2009)

Live Albums

• Live At The Bush Hall (2007)

Singles

Year	Song	Album	Record label
2004	"Ryanair Song"	(none)	Nowhere Fast
2005	"Loneliness Shines"/"No Modest Bear"	Into The Woods	Chemikal Underground
2005	"Break My Heart"	Into The Woods	Chemikal Underground
2007	"A Brighter Beat"	A Brighter Beat	Full Time Hobby
2007	"Fuck It, I Love You"	A Brighter Beat	Full Time Hobby
2007	"Fight Like The Night"	A Brighter Beat	Full Time Hobby
2007	"We're All Going To Die"	A Brighter Beat	Full Time Hobby
2008	"Blue Plastic Bags"	Sleight Of Heart	Full Time Hobby
2009	"Red Travellin' Socks"	Waxing Gibbous	Full Time Hobby
2009	"Zero"	Waxing Gibbous	Full Time Hobby

Notes

1. Interview: Malcolm Middleton
2. Pachyderms of Endearment – Arab Strap Interview
3. Malcolm Middleton Interview with pennyblackmusic.com
4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7125130.stm
5. Malcolm Middleton: On a mission to beat X Factor video interview with stv.tv, December 2007
6. The Skinny: Issue 39, Dec 08 pg.39