Aidan Moffat

Aidan Moffat

The singing/mumbling half of Arab Strap -- once credited after partner Malcolm Middleton, who was credited with "most things musical," with "most things not" -- Aidan Moffat (actually a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter) spent the first half of the '90s shuffling between a couple bands, including the Angry Buddhists and Bay. He and Middleton formed Arab Strap in 1995; together, they released six studio albums through 2006 filled with alcohol-soaked tales of romantic relationships that tended to emphasize their lecherous aspects. In 2002, Moffat began recording on the side as Lucky Pierre, beginning with the samples- and- electronics-heavy Hypnogogia. Six years later, he released a poetry-oriented album of mostly minute-long vignettes titled I Can Hear Your Heart, credited to his full name, Aidan John Moffat. A return to downcast songs, backed by a small band dubbed the Best-Ofs, came with 2009's How to Get to Heaven from Scotland. Andy Kellman