Montjuic, aside from being a well-trodden part of the tourist trail in Barcelona, is the name adopted by two veterans of the Glasgow music scene for a collaboration that resulted in a debut album appearing in late 2025.
James Hackett is the lead singer of The Orchids, an indie-guitar band who first came to prominence in the mid-late 80s, with their initial singles and albums being on the legendary label, Sarah Records.
Ian Carmichael is a producer of note, who worked with The Orchids from near enough the outset, before building and opening his own studio in Glasgow in the late 80s and then branching out as a writer and performer with One Dove, whose sole album Morning White Dove went Top 30 in 1993 and spawned a fabulous single, White Love, that has been featured a few times on the blog. He would also become a friend of Andrew Weatherall, with who he would often collaborate.
James and Ian have, obviously, known each other and worked closely together for decades, but was only during the COVID lockdown that they began to work on the idea of being a duo, deciding to name themselves after the hill in Barcelona, writing and recording remotely.
Taken from Things Must Change, a 14-track album, was released on Last Night From Glasgow Records last September.
JC
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 