The best EIF contemporary music - Scotsman critic Fiona Shepherd previews the 2024 programme

This Cologne-based Canadian pianist, conceptualist and Guinness World Record holder (for the longest piano concert) is an old Festival hand, presenting the theatrical suite Room 29 when last here with Jarvis Cocker in 2017. He returns solo to regale with repertoire from forthcoming album GONZO, his first non-instrumental release in over a decade, featuring tracks such as F*ck Wagner, a rap about separating artist and art. To that end, he is spearheading a campaign to rename Cologne’s Richard Wagner Strasse in honour of Tina Turner. Usher Hall, 11 August

Bat For Lashes

Natasha Khan, aka Bat For Lashes, is an intriguing musical shape-shifter. Her latest album, The Dream of Delphi, is a woozy fever dream suite dedicated to her young daughter which she recorded during the Covid pandemic , in snatched moments while she was nursing communicating the agonies and (mainly) ecstacies of new motherhood. Queen's Hall, 23 August

​Cat Power Sings Dylan '66

In her time, acclaimed US singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power, has proved to be as diffident a performer as Bob Dylan but it’s his music not his perversity she is celebrating with this cover concert, following the setlist of Dylan’s 1966 Royal Albert Hall show. This was the infamous/revolutionary tour when he swapped acoustic guitar for electric in the second half, provoking the notorious heckle “Judas!” when he played in Manchester. On the Edinburgh date, the audience just tried to drown him out with their own harmonicas. Playhouse, 18 August

Balimaya Project

With a name meaning “brotherhood” in the Maninka language, this 13-piece ensemble was founded by Nigerian-Senegalese percussionist Yahael Camara Onono in 2019, quickly attracting comparisons with Sun Ra’s Arkestra and Fela Kuti’s Egypt 80 for their compelling performances, which honour the influence of West African musical legends Salif Keita and Ali Farka Touré as well as showcasing a “London ear” for their home city’s jazz and grime scenes. Queen's Hall, 20 August

​Grit Orchestra

Given their 80-strong line-up of the cream of Scotland’s folk, jazz and classical musicians, getting the Grit Orchestra back together is quite a feat. Nevertheless, this will be their third appearance at the Festival, following their 2015 debut and their storming show in Princes Street Gardens last year. Formed initially by conductor Greg Lawson to celebrate the music of the late Martyn Bennett, their repertoire has now expanded to include compositions by some of the members. A musical force like no other, they are not to be missed. Playhouse, 25 August

The Magnetic Fields

The Magnetic Fields are also frequent Festival flyers. These concerts are not even their first two-night stand at the EIF. In 2017, the New York-based group, led by baritone bard Stephin Merritt, performed 50 Song Memoir – one song about every year of Merritt’s life to date. Now they mark the 25th anniversary of the classic 69 Love Songs album by performing all 69 tracks across two nights. It would be wise to collect the set. Queens Hall, 24 & 25 August

For more information, and to book tickets, visit www.eif.co.uk