Live in Edinburgh This Week – 26th April 2009
Well, erm, Thursday should be fun.
This weekend was somewhat written off, after an apocalyptic drinking session on Saturday took its terrible revenge on Sunday, rendering most of the day a ruin apart from shitty movies and too much Chinese takeaway. To everyone who came round to the house on Saturday, I apologise. It was a fucking good party, though. Our next door neighbour seems to have the habit of opening a window and playing terrible music as soon as we go out in the back garden, which is both tedious and foolish. Foolish because our stereo can blast the hairs clean off your nipples if we really turn it up which, at 4am after obliterating almost four cases of beer, we often do. Eat alt-folk, bitch!
This week will see the completion of the Homegame videos project, which will be fun, and probably a trip through to Glasgow for Hinterland on Thursday and Friday. I’d love to see the likes of Jeffrey Lewis and the Wave Pictures, as well as Mitchell Museum, Zoey Van Goey, Fanfarlo and Wild Beasts if possible. And of course, Toad Records’ own Meursault at the Classic Grand (with thanks to This is Music for putting them on).
Tuesday 28th April 2009: Alex Cornish at the Caves.
Alex has re-released his debut album Until the Traffic Stops this week. I know he may be a tad Radio 2 for a lot of you (hell, he was for me too until I realised just how infectious his way with a tune is) but anyone who can self-record and self-release an album and get onto the B playlist at Radio 2 without so much as a record label to do his donkey work deserves some serious respect. And congratulations.
Alex Cornish – Sweet Child o’ Mine
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Thursday 30th April 2009: Found & The 48 at Cabaret Voltaire.
Since their experimental pop classic The Mess We Keep Reshaping, found have leaked out little bits of work here and there, EPs and such like, but I always find myself wondering what their next album is going to be like. For a band without all that much history of trotting out standard records when there are interesting little side projects to be done, I am not sure why I am so sure that they are necessarily making one, but it seems to me like we’re getting to the point where one would feel right.
Found – FND043
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Thursday 30th April 2009: The Wintergreens & The Weeping Sons at Henry’s Cellar Bar.
These two are relatively new bands, playing music I guess you might describe as a sort of folk tinged post-rock. It’s all very downbeat and atmospheric, but still quite acoustic, which is where that slightly inadequate description comes from. They’re pretty new to my awareness, as I said, but from what MySpace can tell me I think both bands deserve a good look.
The Weeping Sons – Yer Feet in the Water of Leith
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Thursday 30th April 2009: The Voluntary Butler Scheme, Damn Shames & Futuristic Retro Champions at Sneaky Pete’s.
Apparently Rob Jones was a full-time part-time drummer, if you get my meaning, before forming his own band. It’s basically a gently eccentric pop sound, but there’s been a lot of chat and he sounds quite interesting.
Voluntary Butler Scheme – Tabasco Sole
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Saturday 2nd May 2009: Come On Gang, Day of Days & Little Buddha Band at Cabaret Voltaire.
Apart from the sparky indie punk pop of Come On Gang, Little Buddha also sound rather interesting: kind of like a rockier version of early Goldfrapp. Oddly, there seem to be a few good bands coming out of Kirkcaldy at the moment.
Little Buddha – Losing You
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Sunday 3rd May 2009: The Black Oil Brothers at the Bowery.
Normally, this would be a little too literal an interpretation of stampy blue for my taste, but I found myself enjoying the stuff on their MySpace page, and this sort of music is almost always really good live.
Black Oil Brothers – Dirty, High & Confused
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Worth noting the Found show is a free one for which you can get tickets sent to your mobile here http://www.themill-live.com/
Fuck, of course, forgot to mention that. Cheers old chap.
Aren’t the stormy seas playing on Wednesday?
And Foundling Wheel is playing Limbo, just to make Thursday even more complicated.
And I quite fancy And So I Watch You From Afar at Sneaky Pete’s on Wednesday, mainly because its been so long since a band from Northern Ireland have got so much attention.
for something noisier, electronicier and experimentalier, there’s also Limbo this thursday with Xvectors, The Foundling Wheel, and S.C.U.M. sorry for the shameful self-promotion.
Ted – you’re more than welcome to pop on here and correct me, I’m just sorry I missed it in the first place.
I sometimes wish Bart would show your good grace and diplomacy, but no, he just goes barging in with his corrections and his blethering.
His mother would be ashamed.
Only trying to help.
no worries. I’m slowly teaching myself to be more assertive off-meds, er, i mean, stage.
. . . and thanks Bart, for barging in! we must have commented simultaneously.
See. At least someone appreciates me.
I’m like the voice of the people.
viva la revolucion, Bart!
I’m not taking sides but, erm, cheers Bart!
You are the voice of the people, Bart.
Woo! Go Bart!
Anyway, onto the reason I was posting other than blowing smoke up Bart’s behind..
I quite like some of the selections your neighbour graciously offers to accompany your afternoon soirées.
We actually had some good chat last week when DC, TWoTH and Chutters were round after Homegame, based solely on the unpredictable tunes coming from next door.
I recall particularly enlightening discussion about such disparate subjects as Michael Jackson’s Thriller heyday right after Beat It came on, Steve Harley And The Cockney Rebel’s underachievement, and a fascinating explanation of The Searchers’ standing in the 1960s beat heirarchy.
Quality conversation with delightful company, all courtesy of your neighbour’s generosity. I think you should pop next door with a box of Cadbury’s Roses to say thank you.
(I hope someone else has posted in-between so I don’t do a TPM.)
Bugger. I did a TPM.
I particularly liked the bit where, following one of our loud discussions on the neighbour’s musical tastes & the fact he/she was on-line on facebook (we could here the message bloop every so often), said neighbour poked a silhouetted head around the curtains to check we were still there/make us aware he/she was there.
I still maintain, however, we were listening to his/her soundtrack to a seduction & whomever the lucky recipient of this aural strip tease was must have been somewhat perplexed by some of the, er, cheesier rock moments.
ive just been looking at the hinterland site and im a bit confused. so you pay what about 40 odd quid then realistically youll see one gig each night maybe eight bands in total if your lucky. if you want to catch all your favourite acts then you will probably have to spend some time running from venue to venue. is this good? i think its great that someone has got so many great bands in the city playing around the same time but its maybe a bit to crowded in my opinion. not complaining i just think its slightly odd.
hinterland, all the good bands aside, looks shite
see what i lack is your supreme sense of diplomacy.
Good post Chutters – I don’t get it, but good post.
DC, the neighbour is clearly a master of subterfuge and stealth tactics given their camouflaged satellite dish.
I recall you hadn’t even noticed it was there until I pointed it out.
i mean it’s a shite idea….2 nights, 4 hours each night….venue all over the place….no guarantee that you’ll get in.
could end up nightmare
i totally agree. very strange idea.all the work that must have gone into it if only it was spread out over the week or two weekends or something. no chance i will be spending £40 to see two gigs which on any other given night would cost £5/6. but i do respect the organisers for trying something different and getting some very good bands invloved.
….it’s a novel idea done shite…..
“its a novel idea done shite”
t-shirt!!
Just to join in the fun I’ll be seeing the Twilight Sad in D.C. on … that’s right, Thursday.
C&B very jealous….they’ll rip your face off
Yeah, can’t wait. I saw them about 18 months ago in the same place. There were only 30 or so people there, so I was right up front and they were incontinence-inducingly loud. Fucking brilliant.
The sexual objects, Davy Henderson’s new band are playing the Ark on Saturday. Along with the Bum Clocks. That will be barry I’d imagine. Really Barry.
Also, as if there wasn’t enough on Thursday, there’s also the Leith Tape Club at the Iso Bar, with Doug Johnstone, Debutant and Gummi Bako.