Since Matthew is in Canada slathering himself in maple syrup and offending his relatives, I’m in charge of this the gig listings this week. This has actually made me look up gig listings in Edinburgh properly for the first time in ages. And it is depressing. There are some interesting things happening this week, however, such as Neu! Reekie! and *ahem* The Ides of Toad, but there really is such a shortage of gigs in this city, especially if you compare it to other cities. As a youth I think it is fair to blame it on a distinct lack of interest by most of the young people here…

YOUNG PEOPLE OF EDINBURGH; PUT DOWN YOUR STRAWBERRY DAIQUIRI FROM TIGERLILLY, TAKE OFF YER JACK WILLS JOBBY CATCHERS, LEAVE GEORGE STREET, AND COME AND ENJOY SOME MUSIC. LOVE, IAN.

Okay? Okay.

Monday 21st May: Admiral Fallow at The Queen’s Hall

I still don’t get why people like Admiral Fallow. But if you are a 16 year old girl or a dad who doesn’t know any better, then this may be for you.

Tuesday 22nd May: Bronto Skylift, Lady North and Rollor play The Ides of Toad at Henry’s Cellar Bar

Bronto Skylift are fucking mental, and fucking great. The lead singer once threatened to punch me in the face, so hopefully that won’t happen this time. Lady North and Rollor bring as much cohesion to the line-up as possible, I suppose. Both are terrific live bands, so get down.

Tuesday 22nd May: DZ Deathrays play Sneaky Pete’s

Aussie thrash rockers are playing at Sneaky’s. Not sure of support as Ides of Toad have stolen all the good loud bands in Scotland. Nae joy.

Friday 25th May: FOUND’s  Ziggy Campbell, Clare Pollard, Fiona Soe Paing play Neu! Reekie! at The Scottish Book Trust

For fans of the avant-garde, Neu! Reekie! always has intriguing and alternative line-ups. FOUND’s Ziggy will be singing some songs, poet Clare Pollard will be doing poetry and Fiona Soe Paing will bring her ambient Lamb-esque tunes and visuals to the mix. Should be a good one.

As this evening brings us yet another excellent Ides of Toad lineup at Henry’s (it’s starting pretty much now – run, you might make it!) I thought I should probably write out another one of those lists of upcoming stuff, just so it lodges in the back of your mind now, and then you can all flood down in your droves on the night, filling the bands with joy and making me an unspeakably rich man in the process.

Well, it’d be nice if at least a few of you came anyway.  This is where I feel I should insert one of those internet Safety Winks, just so you know I’m joking —>

Anyhow, we now have pretty much a gig every other week booked between now and the blundering behemoth of the Edinburgh Festival, which I fully intend to boycott in its entirety this year.  Honestly, whilst a couple of our gigs last year went pretty well, I’m not sure I can be fucked with the stress this time around.  Still, last year’s posters were pretty cool.

All tickets can be purchased either online here, or from Avalanche Records on the Grassmarket.

Tuesday 22^nd May
Henry’s Cellar Bar
Bronto Skylift, Lady North & Rollor

This will be pretty full-on, I think, with Rollor returning to Edinburgh to take on the combined frantic mentalism of Lady North and the Highlands’ most fearsome band, Bronto Skylift.

Friday 15th June
Venue TBC
PAWS, Dolfinz, Waiters & Sex Hands

For the launch of the split 12″ we are releasing with the above four bands, we are organising a mini tour of the UK (London, Manchester & Aberdeen as well) and getting all four bands to play.  It will be raucous and guitary and fucking ace.  And you can buy gorgeous clear turquoise vinyl at the gigs too.

Saturday 30^th June
Henry’s Cellar Bar
Milk Maid, New Fabian Society & OP

Milk Maid return to Edinburgh, with their second album pretty much finished.  I am very much looking forward to seeing them again. They are joined on the bill by hypnotic, shoegazey newcomers The New Fabian Society, and OP who are a mysterious concoction of members of North American War and The John Knox Sex Club.

Saturday 7^th July
The Queen’s Hall (tickets for this are from their website)
Meursault Something For the Weakened album launch, with Rob St. John & Jill O’Sullivan and Jenny Reeve

Meursault’s third album Something for the Weakened is now finished and ready to be prodded out into the world. Having worked with a stable six-piece for the last two years this is much more of a band record than previous albums. Support will come from label-mate and musical collaborator Rob St. John and long-time pal Jill O’Sullivan from Sparrow and the Workshop, who will be performing with Jenny Reeve.

Wednesday 18^th July
Henry’s Cellar Bar
Dolfinz & Fantasy Rainbow

Dolfinz are on the verge of becoming the Ides of Toad’s house band, and they’re back in July, bringing another two of the UK’s finest garage bands with them.  It will be loud and messy and awesome, as per usual.

Friday 27^th July
Henry’s Cellar Bar
Jo Schornikow (The Shivers) & Scott Rudd

Jo Schornikow from The Shivers, who just released More on Fife’s Fence Records, will be touring her solo material, along with the beautiful acoustic songwriting of New York’s Scott Rudd.

Well, after a thin couple of weeks there are some rather excellent things happening in Edinburgh over the next few days.  Except I won’t be here because of a wedding.  Drat.  People really shouldn’t get married.  Mrs. Toad and I are married now, that’s all the weddings there need to be.

Alternatively, I suppose, if people weren’t getting married all the time I might well take no holidays at all, so I suppose I should be a little less ungrateful and just take the opportunity to put my feet up.

Anyhow, the Ides of Toad makes a return as well, with our next gig on Wednesday.  Which is tomorrow!  You all better come.  Please.

Wednesday 16th May: Slow Down Molasses & Smackvan play The Ides of Toad at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

As I have mentioned already, Slow Down Molasses (see video above) were fantastic at The Great Escape.  The sound was a right bloody racket when they got all three guitars, keyboards and both drummers going, but they’re still a subtle band, with a light touch.  Smackvan are a somewhat quieter proposition, and their latest album is one of the best things to come out of Scotland this year.

Friday 18th May: The Still Corners, Honeyblood & Magic Eye at Sneaky Pete’s.

This show is in celebration of This is Music turning six, which is probably something like 57 in promoter years.  The lineup is bloody exceptional though, with newcomers the dreamy Magic Eye and the raucous Honeyblood providing local support to Subpop’s excellent Still Corners.

Saturday 19th May: Jonnie Common, Mitchell Museum & Gav from Over the Wall play Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms.

Jonnie Common is a pop genius, pure and simple.  Mitchell Museum are back after officially retiring two years ago, and Gav from Over the Wall has some solo stuff coming out very soon.  So this, as much as there is, is probably Limbo royalty, just about.

Sunday 20th May: Jonquil & Sebastian Dangerfield at the Electric Circus.

Jonquil seem, according to their website anyway, to be tropical pop these days.  I am pretty sure when I saw them they were a sort of orchestral alt-folk band, although I could be wrong about that, because I was embarrassingly drunk at the time.  Anyhow, they’re playing the Electric Circus on Sunday, so you can find out for yourselves I suppose.

It’s been an amazingly busy year so far, and recently I have had so much stuff going on even on the weekends – be it gigs, recording, trips to various events and so on, that even sticking to the podcast schedule has been an enormous challenge.

It’s odd to think that a lot of the things I am doing for the blog seem to get in the way of me actually writing it, but that is the case at the moment. Going down to The Great Escape this week, for example, is mostly blog-related in that I’m on a panel about new broadcasting models and podcasts, and another about running DIY record labels, but it is likely to play havoc with the posting on the site.

Also, blogging is itself changing as well.  A lot of the music chatter I find myself engaged in is finding an outlet on my Tumblr site and through Twitter as well, so suddenly my insistence that the entire internet agree with me about music is being spread across those two forms of social media, as well as Facebook, this site, the record label and the now-regular gigs we host.  And I don’t even make Spotify playlists yet, or use This is My Jam.  It means Song, by Toad is certainly changing, but I am buggered if I know what it is turning into.

I suppose it will always be little more than a slightly different incarnation of the same thing: me going on and on and on about music I like, so no real change, if you look at it sensibly.  But the new formats and new channels are kind of fascinating, in that very twenty-first century way: it’s obvious that things are changing, but not particularly obvious how.

The same bloggers who once had journalists cursing at the general public’s lack of appetite for thoughtful, intelligent writing, are now making the very same complaints themselves, as short-form, quickfire media like Tumblr and Twitter become more prominent.  I am not sure how much I agree with them, though. I mean, we all have our natural formats in which we are the most comfortable communicating, but a good writer should be a good writer, be it over ten paragraphs or 140 characters. I certainly find a lot of merit in all these new formats, but I am not always entirely certain what content I think belongs on the Tumblr site, say, instead of this one.

The reason I am going on about this at such length is partly because there is bugger all happening in Edinburgh this week, as far as I can see, in terms of live music, so I started a post and then found I had nothing to put in it.  And also, as I mentioned, I am about to start redesigning the site, to make sure the gigs are better represented, to make sure the label is more prominent, and to better integrate Twitter and Tumblr.

It’s a bit of a tricky task this time around.  The last time we redesigned the site was about three years ago or so, and back then it was simple: blog + label.  Now there is so much more going on, and frankly I am not sure where I should best be placing the emphasis.  It’s interesting though.  So yes, just warning you.  You might see some more changes around here soon.  I’ve absolutely no fucking idea what kind of changes, but definitely changes!

Actually, that’s a lie.  I’m not English enough to be patriotically English, and patriotism gives me the fucking creeps anyway, in all its guises. Not that this has anything to do with the unavoidable fact that the Maypole is still just a little bit silly, of course.

We aren’t really getting the Spring weather up here in Scotland, although it’s been threatening it here and there.  Still, it would be nice to be able to get out into the garden again without a coat on.

Wednesday 2nd May: Cashier No.9 & Homework at the Electric Circus.

Cashier No.9 have been much discussed over the last year or so.  I declined to review their album because to be honest I thought it was no more than pretty good – the kind of thing the popular press described as being rough and ready and bristling with energy when it was nothing of the sort.  Nevertheless, as a smooth, rather more polished incarnation of that description they do have some pretty decent stuff so this should be worth popping along to if you have no other plans this week.

Friday 4th May: Ute Lemper at the Queen’s Hall.

This is a bit of a strange one for me to be listing, you might justifiably think, given that we are talking about a cabaret singer here who, while she has a great voice, is bordering on caricature.  Nevertheless, she released an album a few years back with songs by the likes of Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Neil Hannon and Elvis Costello, so she’s an interesting artist and this might make a nice change of pace from the usual stuff I recommend.

Ute Lemper – Little Water Song (written by Nick Cave)

Saturday 5th May: The Machine Room, Thank You So Nice & Reverieme play Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms.

This is a solid lineup of three really quite new Scottish bands.  I have to confess to not knowing all that much about any of them, honestly, although if pushed I think I would say that The Machine Room probably have the most promise – to my ears anyway, for whatever that’s worth.

I nearly typed ‘Lice in Edinburgh This Week’ in that post title, which actually rather amused me. Just in case you wondered.

Anyhow, wildly entertaining typo anecdotes aside, I have some exciting stuff to tell you about this week, although most of it is Toad stuff, honestly.  The awesomeness of The Leg’s album launch could only be outdone by something pretty fucking special, to be honest, and although Neu Reekie will probably have a good go, I still back The Leg.  This is going to be bloody brilliant.

And if you want to earn some karmic brownie points this week, you will also have the opportunity to do that as well: Mrs. Toad is organising the annual collection for the lifeboats on Saturday and we are looking for volunteers to come down to Stockbridge and help us between about 10am and 5pm.  There will be cake and booze offered as an inducement, and you’ll only be expected to do an hour or so (depending, of course, on how many people actually turn up) and I promise we’ll be suitably grateful.

Anyhow, for those of you who don’t care about helping out for charity (note extreme disapproving face) there are some more conventional entertainments on offer this week as well:

Wednesday 25th April: Three Blind Wolves, Cate leBon, Saul Ashby & Sam Airey at Sneaky Pete’s.

This is another Communion night.  Welsh singer Cate leBon has a new album out nowish, I believe, and she is joined on the bill by Glasgow’s Three Blind Wolves, along with Saul Ashby and Sam Airey.

Friday 27th April: Neu Reekie at the Edinburgh Book Trust.

Neu Reekie is a combination of music, spoken word, poetry, art and all sorts.  It sounds like an excellent night, and I have rather shamefully yet to make it along to one, so I am hoping that this week will be the lucky charm.

Friday 27th April: Remember Remember, M.O.T.O. & Kill the Waves at The Third Door.

I only really know the first band on this bill, and that was from one of Vic Galloway’s lineups at the Electric Circus earlier this year: they’re kinda epic, proggy and hypnotic, and they’re nice and loud too, so I reckon this should be worth a bash on Friday night.

Saturday 28th April: The Leg album launch.

We’ll be meeting at The Wash bar on the Mound, between 6-8pm, and then walking up to the venue from there. There will be a glass or two of wine for everyone, a string quartet because that’s how fucking sophisticated we all are, and then The Leg will play.  Anyone who comes along to this and wants to go to Papi Falso afterwards will get a pound off both gigs too, because we’re that nice.

Saturday 28th April: Papi Falso 1st Birthday Party at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

With special guests, no less, this show will start a little earlier in the night with a secret band playing (on stage late enough that you can go from The Leg launch to this without missing anything), and then unusual boogie late into the night.

There are two main things happening this week, as far as I can tell.  One is the above-mentioned Ides of Toad gig of course, and the other is Record Store Day.  I am ambivalent about Record Store Day, I have to confess, as it seems to encourage the worst kind of scalping and eBay profiteering, and it also seems like a poor apology for not spending more time in record shops year round.

But at the same time it can be a really nice day, and encourages people back into shops with some really nice, limited edition products.  Also, it seems to encourage a bit more cooperation between record shops themselves and the music communities they are there to serve, which is also a good thing.

Here at Song, by Toad we will be doing some special stuff with our local record shop: Vox Box on St. Stephen’s Street. Ian has been working with them on this and will be announcing some special bits and piece, including a couple of rather brilliant in-store performances.

Anyhow, here’s a quick run-down of some interesting things happening in Edinburgh this week:

Tuesday 17th April: Library Tapes, Poppy Ackroyd & Hiva Oa at the Third Door.

This gig should inhabit the space broadly between classical, experimental and folk music.  Ah yes, that space, I hear you cry.  That well-established pop niche which has made many bands so many millions of pounds – but of course!  Well okay, I admit this might be something of a niche concern, but it sounds like a really good gig to me, and actually, for it’s hardly made anyone rich, the intersection between classical, experimental and folk music sounds like a highly fascinating place, to me.

Hiva Oa – Badger

Friday 20th April: R.M. Hubbert, Yusuf Azak & Rory Sutherland play the Ides of Toad at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

RM Hubbert’s mesmerising new album features all sorts of inspired collaborations to complement his intricate Flamenco guitar playing. Yusuf Azak’s new album is finished too, and should be released sometime this Summer. And opening will be Rory Sutherland, more usually known as the violin player in Broken Records. I have no idea what he will be playing, but I am sure it will be good!

R.M. Hubbert – Sandwalks

Yusuf Azak – Lay Me Down

Saturday 21st April: Record Store Day

Whether you’re in Edinburgh or not, this Saturday should be a fine day for music fans, as shops around the world celebrate Record Store Day.  In Edinburgh I know Avalanche have a lot planned – in-stores from Withered Hand and Ballboy, some official Record Store Day beer, and then a knees-up at the Electric Circus in the evening in conjunction with The Tidal Wave of Indifference, involving a stripped down set by The Last Battle, followed by Emily Scott and then Star Wheel Press.

We at Song, by Toad will be, as I mentioned earlier, working in conjunction with our own local record shop Vox Box, and will provide early chances to get your hands on new albums by The Leg and Jesus H. Foxx, as well as live performances by… well, I won’t mention too much about it, as it was actually Ian who went to a lot of work to set this up, so I think I will let him set it all out when he posts about it tomorrow.

It’s quite busy this week, although perhaps not in the way you’d thing.  Is today the day Jeebus was crucified, the day he was plonked in the cave, or the day he rather creepily rose from the dead?  One of those anyway, because it’s definitely Easter, although how rabbits and chocolate eggs relate to zombie hippies rising from the dead I have no idea.

I suppose that’s the best thing about your entire worldview being based on ‘making shit up’ – if you want chocolate eggs, then dammit you can have chocolate fucking eggs, balls to it if it doesn’t make sense.  A bit like the Mission Impossible films in that respect.

Wednesday 11th April: United Fruit, Shudder Pulps & Fat Bicth at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

This will be another guitary gig, from old school slacker indie to full-on mental racket.  Fat Bicth and Shudder Pulps were introduced to me by Dolfinz, and are touring together, with Glasgow’s United Fruit coming through to headline.

Wednesday 11th April: Simone Felice at the Electric Circus.

I loved the Felice Brothers, but since rather horrible personal circumstances prompted Simone to go it alone, his own material has been equally gorgeous.  He’s been quite heavily involved with the ever-growing Communion project too, which is an interesting one, although the music clearly fits so I suppose it makes good sense in that respect.

Wednesday 11th & Thursday 12th April: Wide Days Seminars at Teviot House on Bristo Square.

The full list of seminars can be found here, but Wide Days is always worth attending.  For anyone wanting to get involved in music professionally, whether it’s as a musician, manager or pretty much anything else, this kind of thing is really helpful, just to get a feeling for how things work.  Don’t go along pockets stuffed with demos or business cards which you thrust into the hands of everyone you can, though.

I’d personally recommend just soaking up the chat at the seminars, just to gain an understanding of the general landscape, and then make sure you have a demo or business card on you, because the best time to hand one over will be when you spend an hour chatting with someone over a beer and they ask you for one.  If they ask, they will remember. If you thrust it upon them, it will probably go in the bin.

Thursday 12th April: Wide Days Showcases at various venues.

In the evening of Thursday 12th a selection of bands will be playing at various venues across Edinburgh, from Sneaky Pete’s to The Third Door and on to the Electric Circus.  It’s sort of a musical pub-crawl, and a fine, boozy way to end two days of chatter and schmooze!

Last year was the first time I saw PAWS play, who we’ve ended up releasing in the form of our forthcoming split 12″, and bands this year include Homework and Honeyblood at Sneaky Pete’s, followed by Michael Cassidy and Quickbeam at The Third Door. Donna Maciocia, Lady North and Honningbarna will play at Electric Circus, which will also host the closing party. All gigs are free and fans can simply order tickets for the act they want to see. Details can be found at www.widedays.com/tickets. See you there.

Sometimes I take the wrong message from advertising.

You know those adverts where they hysterically proclaim that there are many more bacteria on your chopping board than there are on your toilet seat?  Well I assume the message they are intending to put across is something like this:

“Aaaagh, ohmyfuckinggod, what have I done, I’ve poisoned my child, I’m a SUCH A BAD MOTHER I MUST BUY MORE OF YOUR CHEMICAL SHITE!”

I, on the other hand, take the message to be this, pretty much:

“Ah well, no need to worry about the toilet seat then.”

But then I don’t think I’m entirely in their target audience, although I could be wrong.

Anyhow, for all there isn’t really all that much going on this week, it does rather annoyingly all seem to be taking place on the same two days at the end of the week.  And once again, I happen to have accidentally ended up putting on a gig at Henry’s at the same time as Pendulum Man puts on a Song, by Toad Records band at the Banshee Labyrinth.  Balls.

Friday 6th April: Edinburgh School For the Deaf, Chris Devotion and the Expectations & Blank Canvas play Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms.

I haven’t seen Edinburgh School For the Deaf since noise-merchant Kieran Naughton moved down South and the band had to rejig their lineup slightly, so this looks really good.  The whole lineup is strong actually, because CD/EX were fantastic at the Ides of Toad earlier in the year, with an awesome set of boisterous rock ‘n’ roll.  And Blank Canvas I have yet to see at all, despite their generating a good bit of buzz around these parts recently.

Edinburgh School For the Deaf – Love is Terminal

Friday 6th April: Indie Funday Friday with Cancel the Astronauts, The Cosmonauts, Fishing for Seagulls & Astronaut Head and at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

All the proceeds from this night of pure bouncy indie-pop fun go to Capability Scotland, so as well as fun, you can also reassure yourself that you are making a positive contribution to the world, rather than just going out and getting pished like you normally might on a Friday night.

Cancel the Astronauts – I am the President of Your Fanclub (and Last Night I Followed You Home)

Saturday 7th April: North American War, Plastic Animals & Palms at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

I’ve been trying to get these two bands through to Edinburgh for a while, and it is finally happening this weekend.  Palms still only have a single song on their Soundcloud page, so I honestly don’t know all that much about them, but North American War’s five song Me and My G.I. Joes EP is really good, and Plastic Animals have been recording recently, so they should be ready to release EP4 into the world relatively soon.  All in all this should be an excellent evening of guitar music which is pretty constantly on the verge of falling to pieces.

Palms – Wolf

Saturday 7th April: The Japanese War Effort, Ten & Convex Mancave at the Banshee Labyrinth.

For those of you not so very much interested in guitars, across the city on Saturday there will be something altogether more layered and experimental, with Song, by Toad’s favourite buckie-fuelled smart-arse The Japanese War Effort on a bill with Ten and Convex Mancave.  Tickets can be bought here, and come with a free download of a couple of tracks from the bands on the bill.

The Japanese War Effort – Summer Sun Skateboard

There’s a near-complete dearth of gig that you would expect me to be recommending this week – not a distortion pedal in sight, in fact – so I reckon I should embrace the fact that some of Edinburgh’s most interesting promoters have quite a lot going on, and it would be the perfect chance to step out of the same old routine and go and see something different.

Tuesday 27th March: The Doozer, Long Distance Runner & Shareholder at the Banshee Labyrinth.

The Doozer have been described this way: “The lazy man’s way to review it [would be] to call it a bridge between Syd B and Chris Knox, carrying all the weird damage and superb left field pop motion that implies” by Byron Coley in the Bull Tongue Top Ten of 2010, and as I am not so much a lazy man as an ignorant one I am going to have to go with that.  The two support bands are apparently mysterious Edinburgh supergroups, composed of various members of the city’s underground bands.  Looks intriguing.  And good.

Wednesday 28th March: As Old as My Tongue – the Myth and life of Bi Kidude at the Third Door.

Bi Kidude is apparently a Swahili musician who, as well as having a long a distinguished musical career, has continually attracted controversy due to her less than acquiescent attitude to a woman’s role in Muslim society.  This is actually a film event, with a discussion with the director afterwards, and whilst I know nothing about Kidude herself I have to say it sounds rather fascinating.

Friday 30th March: Neu! Reekie! #15 at the Scottish Book Trust.

Neu Reekie is a night which amalgamates animation, music, spoken word, poetry and, I would imagine, pretty much any other kind of art form it can get its hands on.  This is the kind of night I’ve been looking for for a long time actually, so I think this Friday, especially given the excellent Withered Hand and Ryan Van Winkel are performing, might be the time to pop along.

Saturday 31st March: Khyam Allami at the Pleasance Theatre.

This is a collaboration between Powan Presents and the Edinburgh University Middle Eastern Society, and brings world-famous Oud player Khyam Allami to Edinburgh. Tickets can be purchased here.