One thing about going away on holiday is that I seem to have lost all grip on my Facebook invites.  And whilst I know that Facebook invites have become just another form of tedious spam for most of you, for me they are still a pretty handy way of staying on top of the week’s gigging activities.

The week’s gigging activites are relatively thin on the ground this week, however.  There is, of course, the BBC Scotland SXSW documentary tomorrow at 9pm.  There is plenty of Withered Hand, Kid Canaveral, Rachel Sermanni and Unicorn Kid to go around, as well as the likes of Vic Galloway, the Twilight Sad and of course my good self.  My parents will be watching and will no doubt very proud.  Or at least, hopefully a little less ashamed than usual.

As well as that there are a couple of gigs on, and the return of Born to Be Wide, whose sync panel takes place on Thursday.

Thursday 7th July 2011: Born to Be Wide Sync Panel at the Electric Circus.

Sync deals in adverts and TV shows are probably one of the few ways left for bands to make grown-up money in the modern music industry, but as a consequence, there are now a fuck of a lot of people rather greedily eyeing that money.  Giving us some advice on pinching a little for ourselves will be: Gerry Farrell (creative director of the Leith Agency), David Harron (Executive producer at BBC Scotland), Caroline Gorman (Rage Music), David McGinnis (A&R and head of licensing at Mute Song).

Thursday 7th July 2011: Alex Cornish at The Caves.

Alex starts his UK tour this week, and anyone who saw his amazing performance at the recent Song, by Toad house gig will presumably be up for this one, performed with a full band at Edinburgh’s snazziest venue.

Friday 8th July 2011: Plastic Animals Dark Spring EP launch with Trapped Mice & Yusuf Azak at The Wee Red Bar.

I first came across Plastic Animals only recently, but they were excellent supporting Milk Maid and PAWS at Henry’s a while back, and they have a new EP to promote as well, which you can buy here. It will also be a pleasure to see Yusuf Azak back in Edinburgh as well – he has a new album recorded and it’s bloody brilliant.

Plastic Animals – It Fell Apart

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We have a few releases to blether about at the moment, so I will start with Lil Daggers.  This four song EP is being released on 7″ vinyl, and has been played late and loud in our house so many times recently that I think our speakers could hum it by heart.

Lil Daggers are actually a Florida band, and we are hoping to be able to get them over to tour if at all possible, but in the meantime you can make do with a free mp3 and video of the title track, and if it strikes you, you can buy the 7″ here.

Lil Daggers – King Corpse by Song, by Toad

Fast because I need to squeeze eleven songs into an hour because I just didn’t want to trim the playlist, fast because I want to get out into the back garden asap to enjoy the sun, and fast because um… well, just because.  I dunno.  Fuck you, anyway, this is the one-hundred-and-eighty-first stupid name for one of these damn things I’ve had to come up with.  The names were bound to get worse over time really, weren’t they.

Anyhow, once this is done, I expect to get a couple of hours out in the garden before buggering off to Henry’s for the Edinburgh School for the Deaf, Zed Penguin and Spook School gig.  These things have to happen on bloody glorious days, don’t they. Ah well, at least it wasn’t a Toad Session this time, like it usually is the moment we get a sunny day.

Direct download: Toadcast #181 – The Fastcast

01. Yo La Tengo – Outsmartener (00.25)
02. Enfant Bastard – Demo Scene (06.40)
03. Lambchop – Came Home Late (12.34)
04. Smog – Teenage Spaceship (16.35)
05. Castor – Watcher Buckles (21.56)
06. Boring Girls – Tin Foliage (27.57)
07. Mitchell Museum – What They Built (32.15)
08. Plastic Animals – It Fell Apart (35.27)
09. Seafieldroad – Cramond Island Causeway (40.56)
10. Sun Glitters – Things Are… (47.11)
11. Little Deadman – Post Helado Madness (52.31)

Bloody hell.  Holidays are awesome things, but getting back from them to the terrifying number of neglected tasks which pile up in your absence is quite intimidating.

So far the best I have managed has been to stare in a startled way at my desk and adopt a facial expression which looks dangerously like Ctrl-Alt-Delete is called for.  I think I might wait for lunch and just go an lie in the sun in Inverleith Park instead, and accept the meltdown rather than fight it.

Anyhow, that clip at the top is from the BBC’s SXSW documentary, due to go out on BBC2 Scotland on Tuesday 5th July at 9pm. I mention this for several reasons.  Firstly, I was there this year, and seeing that all documented from someone else’s perspective is both very cool and a little strange.  Secondly, there is a significant amount in the programme about bands I (and presumably you too) happen to love, such as Withered Hand and Kid Canaveral.  This is a good thing.

And thirdly, really quite surprisingly, there is quite a lot of me in it as well, which is also both odd and splendid at the same time.  The Beeb have used a lot of the footage they shot of Vic, Peej, Stuart and myself recording our SXSW hangover podcast, and it may only be the last ten minutes or so, but given I am not a band that is pretty incredible really.

Anyhow, while I am scrabbling to get the post sorted out, in order to prevent outraged shoppers battering down our door due to the lateness of their orders, here are five stupid questions to which it would be nice to receive five stupid answers, and god knows whatever other bollocks is on your mind at the moment.

And I promise that after the disruption of the last couple of weeks, normal service, whatever that is, will be resumed henceforth. Phew!

1. What chore are you currently the furthest behind with?
2. Do you like tennis (in general) or Wimbledon (in particular).
3. Are you fond of strawberries?
4. Have you watched pals of yours on the telly before?
5. Anyone going to any gigs on the weekend?  I seem to have completely lost track of what the fuck is going on at the moment!

The Radiators – Television Screen

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Doc & Merle Watson – Bonaparte’s Retreat

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Marcy Playground – Sunday Mail

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George Pringle – Carte Postale

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Orange Juice – Holiday Hymn (Peel Session)

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