Hmm, fun fun, I am enjoying this.  It’s massively obvious to say that Emit Bloch sounds for all the world like he is channelling the spirit of Woody Guthrie, with his guitar sound swinging from a harsh battering to a gentle strum, and his lyrics veering wildly from tender to aggressive to witty to borderline nonsense.
His voice wobbles and wavers, rises to an occasional nasal squawk, and then drops to a low, comforting tone.  This latter incarnation has the kind of sincerity to it that you could almost imagine it is the voice he might use to apologise to his loved ones for driving them nuts after a day spent railing against the absurdities of the world around him.

As you might have guessed from the comparison in the first paragraph, this is a very anachronistic album.  Early Dylan, Guthrie, Phil Ochs; this is a very familiar sound for those of us raised in certain households but for all he deserves few marks for originality, he does pull off his own version of this particular sound with some style, stuffing this album with charm and charisma.  He reminds me a little of the excellent Adam Balbo in that respect.

There’s also an element of challenge to the warmth with which he writes and performs his music.  Something about the attitude of the delivery is just a little belligerent, not in an aggressive way, quite the opposite, more in the sense that you can feel a slight undercurrent of something darker and perhaps less friendly than the surface of the album might suggest.  After a couple of whiskies I could easily imagine Bloch becoming quite morose or bitter, although this recording has those tendencies well under control, and if anything is more sassy than anything else.

Most reviews have made a fair deal of the fact that this record is actually a series of demos recorded on the dictaphone which gave the album its title, the studio versions not living up to the appeal of these ropey modern-day field recordings.  Given the touchstones for the actual style of the music mentioned above I think all that needs to be said is that if you put this album in that company, then the style fits perfectly and that is all that needs to be said.  It is human, approachable and warm.

I am still as much of a whore for sad music as I always was of course, so it will probably surprise no-one to hear that Dorothy is my favourite song on this album.  I played it on the podcast a while back, and it says something for the quality of his songwriting that I found myself humming a fragment of that song a few days ago, unable to remember what song it was, wondering which of the revered masters I mentioned above had written it.

Emit Bloch – Dorothy

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Emit Bloch – Married Creature

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Emit Bloch – Bottom-Class Middle-Feeding Top Hat Duet

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MySpace | More mp3s | Buy direct from One Little Indian

My descent into rabid eagleowl fanboydom has been as slow a build as the climax of any of their songs.  The first time I heard them play I really liked it.  By the time of the release show for their For the Thoughts You Never Had EP I thought they were bloody excellent.  Late last year they released Sleep the Winter on 7″ and I was already becoming a bit of an embarrassment, but since their Toad Session in December and the spell-binding launch night for this new EP last Friday I am starting to think that a restraining order can’t be far away.

Collectively, they do have the atmosphere of a group hitting something of a purple patch.  There was a confidence to their performance at the launch, and a verve to their playing which suggests that they feel that what they are doing is right.  And it is.  Very much so.

They may be post-folk slowcore (that’s not my phrase, and it is a bit silly, but it’s not a bad description unfortunately) but there’s actually more mischievous humour to their music than many of their more obviously sprightly contemporaries – as anyone who first snorted with laughter the first time they heard Motherfucker or had the dubious privilege of witnessing their recent R. Kelly cover at this year’s Homegame Festival can attest.

Their early material was thick and rich and glacially, agonisingly slow.  I don’t mean that as a criticism, but I was always aware that to listen to any extended collection of their music there would be a definite danger of people being unable to penetrate the blanketing haze.  Music, like a bicycle, needs a degree of momentum, and even as fan I was aware that eagleowl would have to tread a little carefully to ensure that their slow pace never meant that they keeled over altogether.

Recent work, and in particular this EP, makes a mockery of that concern, because despite being ridiculously long for a four-song record, Into the Fold seems to me to have an oddly puckish quality to it.  I suppose I’d say that it seems to have a lightness of touch totally at odds with the sticky textures of much of the music, and this is at the heart of the trick eagleowl seem to be able to pull off with increasing alacrity.

In general I would describe Into the Fold as a work of utter brilliance, but I have actually found one little niggle, just to try and make this review seem a little less fawning, and it is this: in a live setting the choral ending to No Conjunction is so lovely it’s almost euphoric, but in this recording it remains just a little bit muted and I think that serves to rob it slightly of its emotive impact.  I may only be saying this because I knew the live version before ever hearing it recorded, but whatever, that’s my tuppence worth.  Otherwise, this EP really is just unspeakably good, and if you don’t buy it you’re a bloody idiot.

I was going to include a single song for download here, but there is a subtle variety to this record which means that I wasn’t really happy with picking any one song to represent the entire EP.  It feels a bit weird to let you just hear the whole thing though, but given it’s up on the band’s Bandcamp page anyway I figured that was probably the best thing to do.  My recommendation is to draw the curtains, sit down, turn the stereo up nice and loud and just let it wash over you.

Website | More mp3s | Buy from their Bandcamp page

It’s Tigerfest and The Kays Lavelle album launch this week, as well as being May, which says to me that our first barbecue of the season can’t be much further away, surely.  Ach, who knows though, this Spring’s been all over the bloody shop so Christ knows.

Still, we’re firmly into the first stirrings of Festival Season now which is… erm, well certainly not a bad thing I guess.  There are some fucking shitty festivals (blogs, bands, etc…) out there, and I am becoming distinctly picky in my taste for festivals, and really quite middle-aged.  I do not have the patience for shitty camping and massive green-field sites with fucking dreadful beer, a swampy bog of misdirected urine surrounding the toilets and a two-hour queue for a drink.  Not happening, not any more, not for Toad.  Fuck off.

So, erm yes, the rise of the boutique festival in recent years has been very welcome for me indeed.  The food and drink are infinitely better, the facilities are better, the lineups are a little more focussed and because the budgets are smaller you can be absolutely confident of never, ever, ever accidentally hearing Kasabian play.

And, let’s be entirely honest, there are simply fewer people and I really do not like people all that much.

So, if anyone can tell me what that little rant had to do with anything then there’s probably some sort of prize – amnesty from me hugging you when I’m drunk sounds like a suitable bonus.  So, erm, live in Edinburgh this week then.

Thursday 6th May 2010: Born to Be Wide Music PR Seminar at Electric Circus.

Apart from admin and spare cash, PR is pretty much the single most important function of a record label these days.  It’s also, apart from actually making the music itself, the most important thing for any unsigned band to master.

Thursday 6th May 2010: Hannah Kitchen, The Wee Rogue and The Last Battle play the Leith Tape Club at the IsoLounge.

I don’t know Miss Kitchen, but The Wee Rogue is really excellent, and the Last Battle have just signed up with 17 Seconds records and have a debut album on the way, so should be full of the joys of life at the moment.  Their music leans a little more towards the traditional, in terms of song structures, in comparison to the general landscape of alternative folk around these parts, whereas The Wee Rogue leans a bit closer to total silence, his music can be that still.  It’s compelling nevertheless, so this gig is highly recommended.

The Last Battle – Nature’s Glorious Rage (Fresh Air Session)

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Thursday 6th May 2010: Dead Boy Robotics, Vasquez and The Foundling Wheel play Limbo at The Voodoo Rooms.

On what is proving to be a rather busy Thursday this gig is Dead Boy Robotics’ EP launch, supported by Vasquez who I don’t know at all, and The Foundling Wheel.  Expect thumping noise, which is likely to veer from the boisterously danceable into the ear-splittingly unhinged.

Friday 7th May 2010: Cath & Phil Tyler, The One Ensemble and Neil Davidson at The Roxy Room.

I know precisely nothing at all about this lineup, sorry.  But it’s a combined promotional effort between Braw Gigs and Tracer Trails (I think – it’s called Braw Trails Presents, so I guess that’s probably right) and those two rarely ever put a foot wrong (new as the former might be) so I definitely think this will be worth checking out.

Saturday 8th May 2010: The Kays Lavelle, The Oates Field and The Scottish Enlightenment at the Wee Red Bar.

This is the Kays’ album launch party for their upcoming debut album Be Still This Gentle Morning, and I am going to be in bloody Manchester for Unconvention, which is hugely frustrating.

The Kays Lavelle – Scars From the City

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Sunday 9th May 2010: 17 Seconds presents X-Lion Tamer, The Wildhouse and The Gothenburg Address at The Roxy Room.

This is curated by 17 Seconds the blog for Tigerfest and is not to be confused with the 17 Seconds Records showcase next week, which is different, apparently.  Although X-Lion Tamer and The Wildhouse are actually on 17 Seconds Records.  But then, without the approval of 17 Seconds the blog, they probably wouldn’t be signed to 17 Seconds the label, would they?  Keep up!

X-Lion Tamer – Life Support Machine

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We have been collecting for the lifeboats today and as usual we have had a massive, lovely meal prepared by my darling Mrs. Toad.  It was fucking awesome, I have to tell you, and anyone who wasn’t here truly did miss out.

We, and the RNLI, owe a massive debt of thanks to Sharon from the Wirral, Euan from The Kays Lavelle (and many other things), Peter from next door, Matthew from Glasgow (as of last week), Ella from the Last Battle, Lucy and Catherine from Mrs. Toad’s Finance Corp., Jamie from Broken Records, and Dylan and Ed who turned up and were nice but didn’t really do much, and of course the internationally renowned musical expert, the esteemed Dr. Millar.

In terms of actually making a difference, it’s worth pointing out that the collection in Stockbridge has hovered around the £200 mark for about the last thirty years, but since us young ‘uns have been involved that number has almost tripled, which is sort of nice.  It actually does make a big difference when you all turn up and show some enthusiasm and commit even just a few hours to helping out.  Charity people can be a bit pushy at times, so it gets a bit of a bad rap, but it really does make an important difference.  So thank you.  And hopefully we’ll see you all again next year.

Toadcast #120 – The Swing-O-Cast

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1. The Bonzo Dog Band – No Matter Who You Vote For, the Government Always Gets In (5.35)
2. Billy Bragg – The Marching Song of the Covert Battalions (13.27)
3. Wham! – Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) (22.23)
4. Pet Shop Boys – Opportunites (28.59)
5. The Dead Kennedys – Kill the Poor (41.00)
6. Bruce Springsteen – Atlantic City (44.04)
7. REM – Ignoreland (52.33)
8. Pearl Jam – Bu$hleaguer (60.39)
9. Gao Yuqian, Liu Changyu, Qian Haoliang – The Party Has Taught Your Son to be a Man of Iron (80.01)
10. Erase Errata – Another Genius Idea from our Government (81.44)