Quite a thin week by recent standards actually, but that’s no bad thing.  Homegame is approaching and a weekend that is easy on the liver and easy on the wallet will be a very good thing.  Plus we have to spend it all making up copies of the new Meursault EP, Nothing Broke.  Yes,  you heard me right.  Terribly exciting, wot.  It will mark the first offical outing for crowd favourite William Henry Miller Pt.1, albeit an acoustic version of the song, the full version of which will be available along with The Furnace, The Dirt & the Roots and William Henry Miller Pt.2 as part of a set of two 7″ vinyl releases in late Spring.

And the Maxwell Panther album is about done.  And the Inspector Tapehead album is almost there, although that’s not quite a done deal yet, so I’ll keep that under my hat for a little longer.

The reason this post is so late is because I have been galavanting about going to weddings.  It turns out an old friend of mine from uni made that crazy Sony Bravia exploding paint advert.  Who knew what a talented bunch my classmates were.  Maybe if I’d ever turned up myself I’d have known this kind of thing.

Tuesday 7th April 2009: Danananaetc… & Favours For Sailors at Cabaret Voltaire.

Dananandingdong are, in all honesty, a band about whom I am personally no more than lukewarm.  I don’t know them all that well yet though, so that might change, but for now the recommendation is a tentative one.  Favours For Sailors are newly signed to one of my favourite labels, Tough Love Records, and are garnering an awful lot of press at the moment, so I may well wander down for this.
Favours For Sailors – Our Name

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.

Wednesday 8th April 2009: Great Eskimo Hoax, We See Lights & Cancel the Astronauts at Sneaky Pete’s.

Great Eskimo Hoax sound rather interesting at times.  It can veer a little close to a kind of haircut-friendly indie pop at times, but there are definitely plenty of interesting things happening in their songs, so this might well be worth trying out.
Great Eskimo Hoax – Camp Beatbox

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.

Thursday 9th April 2009: Lovers Turn to Monsters & Little Pebble at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

Little Pebble is excellent live and Lovers Turn to Monsters also sound quite promising.  The latter plays a tense kind of awkward indie folk, of the sort that seems to be designed for Edinburgh at the moment.
Lovers Turn to Monsters – The Four O’Clock

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.

Sunday 12th April 2009: State Broadcasters, Benni Hemm Hemm & Jo Foster at the Bowery.

The Gentle Invasion wonderfully (and somewhat inevitably) comes out of retirement to put on some lovely indie folk pop from Glasgow at the Bowery.  Edinburgh’s most prominent Icelandic musician (I, er, think) supports, along with Fence lady Jo Foster.  I hope her arm has sufficiently recovered from the skiing accident which caused her to miss her last gig at the Bowery.
State Broadcasters – Our Favourite Park

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.

Well it’s welcome back to Edinburgh for Mrs. Toad, returned on Saturday evening. It’s good to have the stroppy old bitch back, telling me all the things I haven’t done to her satisfaction during her absence. I’d forgotten how much I missed that incessant grumble.

This week isn’t really live week for me, if I’m honest. I have sessions and interviews that are woefully behind schedule and need dealing with before they go stale. I might sneak out and see the Byrons on Thursday, but that might be it I think. Ah the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, when did it foresake me?

Thursday 2nd October 2008: The Byrons & The Fnords at The Ark.
Okay, okay, so the Ark is a shitty venue, but this looks like fun. I like the Byrons, they have a new EP apparently, and given how different their previous recorded material was from their live show I’m very curious to hear it. The new stuff on their MySpace page is sounding pretty sharp, so it’ll be good to see them live and in person once again. The Fnords aren’t going to win any prizes for originality but they play a sort of rockabilly punk and they do it pretty well, judging from their MySpace, so they could be great fun.
The Byrons – Lights Have Changed

Saturday 4th October 2008: Johnny Foreigner & Danananackroyd at Cabaret Voltaire.
When Johnny Foreigner played Henry’s last year the place was half empty, but the reviews were spectacularly favourable. I personally have always been just a little ambivalent as far as they are concerned, but there were a lot of very trustworthy sorts getting very excited about their brand of furious guitar-bothering.
Johnny Foreigner – The Houseparty Scene is Killing You

Sunday 5th October – Fanattica, Black Diamond Express, Claes Cem & Injuns at Henry’s Cellar Bar.
I don’t know too much about any of these bands, but I’ve been intending to see Black Diamond Express and Fanattica for a while now. There should be plenty of real instruments at this gig, which is always welcome. Where is the good punk these days, then?
Fanattica – Black Cat, White Cat