Toadcast #32 – The Tribecast

Hello, more Toadcastery. I’ve, erm, focussed on Dadrock for this one. Not too much of it on the playlist, fortunately, although there’s a couple of well-known names on there. In my defence though, I couldn’t bring myself to feature Coldplay, so I was forced into the compromise of playing an almighty butchering of one of their songs by the splendid Richard Cheese.
Basically I spend most of this podcast trying to justify the presence of so much bland music in the charts and how the hell that came to pass. There’s plenty of chatter about how music is used as a sort of social glue as well, in which case the quality of the stuff becomes almost secondary. There are some really good new bands on this as well – The Velcro Quartet are particularly brilliant, as are the songs by Mumford & Son, Yoshimi! and Honeytrap. Enjoy responsibly.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
01. Hercules & Love Affair – Hercules Theme (01.32)
02. The Velcro Quartet – Dead Dog’s Hill Replaced with Johnny Cashback, at the band’s request. (07.53)
03. Seabear – Teenage Kicks (11.17)
04. Athlete – Shake Those Windows (21.02)
05. Richard Cheese – Yellow (30.31)
06. ESL – Czarne Oczy (31.59)
07. Emiliana Torrini – Me & Armeni (39.50)
08. Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal (43.24)
09. Snow Patrol – Last Ever Lone Gunman (48.11)
10. The Killers – All These Things That I’ve Done (58.17)
11. The Pictish Trail – All I Own (66.52)
12. Mumford & Sons – White Blank Page (73.01)
13. Honeytrap – Song For Nona (82.17)
14. The Velcro Quartet – How to Kill Your Wife (87.04)
15. Yoshimi! – Song For Suzy (Demo) (94.34)
16. Frank Turner – The Outdoor Type (100.34)


[...] Over on the other side of “the pond,” Matt at Song, by Toad has posted his 32 “Toadcast” chock full of yummy tunes [Song, by Toad] [...]
Ah Maffyoo, this looks a treat. I’m off on “holiday” (as I believe it is called by the more picturesque denizens of your isle) and haven’t been able to check in quite as often as I’d like for the last week or so. I’m once again jonesin’ for my Toadfix, however. Can’t wait to hear that new Honeytrap. Have you got your advance copy, then?
Too much talking again, I’m afraid, but the playlist is excellent. Nothing advance about it, mate, the album is out there to be bought and I recommend you do so immediately.
I had no idea. Did I miss your review, or is it in the queue?
It’s about a day or two away. I’ve been a bit shite about getting reviews up quickly of late.
Not sure if it was the pints of gin, but you should definitely stick to calling them cold patron or slow play since you do seem incapable of distinguishing between them. As a self-confessed ignoramus with the musical depth of a seahorse tadger and the discriminating capabilities of a blind, deaf, physically, mentally impaired, nonconformally aged, of questionable sexuality, with dubious morals of ethnic roots with controversial religious beliefs and minority status alien on the planet Agugoo then I’m most definitely not offended by your Earth-born mainstream tripe. However that Mumford & Sons is indeed pick of bunch for while. Ho-hum, destined for mainstream success & subsequent pitfalls justifying musical snobbery.
Crikey they aren’t half proving popular. The posts I’ve written on their EP and their live show in Glasgow the other day were both really busy ones.
Not quite sure why I’ve deemed it necessary to make my second post on this site an ode to my embarrassing love of the Killers, but I genuinely consider ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’ one of the real classics of my generation. And I’m dead chuffed that you (to some extent at least) agree.
I have a long-running worry that the sheer volume of music out there – while it is undoubtedly a fantastic thing on balance – means that we don’t get those songs that are universally loved and experienced together. The mainstream so rarely throws up a gem (‘Hey Ya!’, the aforementioned Killers song, ‘A Certain Romance’ maybe?) and the indie scene is so fragmented that those songs that maybe should be “indie classics” either never get heard by the vast majority of even indie folk (I put Meursault in this category by the way, and hope your love for them has not yet waned) or get dismissed as a hype-fest; or forgotten for the next big thing.
As for the latter, in my honest opinion ‘All My Friends’ by LCD Soundsystem* should go down right next to ‘This Charming Man’ and ‘A Day In The Life’ in that canon of songs that are near-universally known and loved. But of course it won’t, given the state of things.
That’s why I think songs like ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’ and bands like Arctic Monkeys – that really capture the imagination of the mainstream, but that can also be looked back on a few months down the line without any hint of embarrassment – are so important. They’re the only point of cultural bonding (and drunken singalong) I can expect to have with anyone of my age in 10 years time.
That and Arrested Development.
*Feel free to substitute any song you feel is more appropriate here. That fact that there’s no agreement is kind of the point!
PS. I hope some very small amount of that made a degree of sense. I won’t count on it though…
[...] writing in The Independent. Why Has Modern Music Lost So Much Impact? by the Kings of A&R. This comment, from a reader called Alex in the comment thread of my recent podcast – The [...]
[...] writing in The Independent. Why Has Modern Music Lost So Much Impact? by the Kings of A&R. This comment, from a reader called Alex in the comment thread of my recent podcast – The [...]
[...] writing in The Independent. Why Has Modern Music Lost So Much Impact? by the Kings of A&R. This comment, from a reader called Alex in the comment thread of my recent podcast – The [...]
[...] writing in The Independent. Why Has Modern Music Lost So Much Impact? by the Kings of A&R. This comment, from a reader called Alex in the comment thread of my recent podcast – The [...]