Song, by Toad

Given how mental it looks like December is going to be for gigs, the last week of November looks as thin as I wish I still was.  There are a couple of things knocking around though, so bear with me.

On the subject of touring, incidentally, it’s really not a cheap undertaking so as an alternative Candy Claws – who are on my friend Kevin’s label, Indiecater Records – are doing a virtual tour.  This means that each day for a couple of weeks a new blog in a new place will host one of their videos, thus allowing them to play to audiences in lots of different places in much the same way a conventional tour does. List of remaining dates at the bottom of the page.

Erm, so here are the only gigs I could really dig out for the week.  There’s not a lot, but then, giving the liver a rest in the week before the Christmas mayhem really kicks off is no bad thing.  Song, by Toad Christmas part and the last night at the Bowery on the 12th, remember.

Tuesday 24th November 2009: Dawn Landes & the Last Battle (I think) at Sneaky Pete’s.

Dawn Landes is a very lovely American lady singer-songwriter.  I don’t mean to be flippant, but there’s really not much else you need to know.  I think The Last Battle may be supporting, but I’ve managed to lose the email telling me one way or another, so I’m afraid a suspicion is all I can give you.

Dawn Landes – Picture Show

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Saturday 28th November 2009: Drums of Death at Sneaky Pete’s.

Oddly, I am going to have to confess to not being an enormous fan of Drums of Death, but whether or not this was a thin week I’d still be recommending him.  I saw him at Wickerman this Summer and despite the thumping, dirty doosh-doosh-doosh music not being my bag, it was still a really impressive performance, so I’d definitely recommend seeing him if you think you are even slightly likely to like it.

Candy Claws virtual tour dates:

12/8 – Liverpool – The Devil has the Best Tuna
12/9 – Ireland – Asleep on the Compost Heap
12/10 – Norway – Eardrums Music
12/11 – Germany – Das Klienicum
12/12 – Scotland – Song, by Toad

12/14 – Switzerland – Music of the Moment
12/15 – Huggerland – mp3hugger
12/16 – Venezuela – Gopher Illustrated
12/17 – Philippines?
12/18 – Surprise Finale!

Even in my absence I didn’t want to skip this little weekly roundup of all things live and Edinbugsly, so I wrote this post in advance just to make sure I didn’t let you all down.

I hope C&B has been treating you well, and that you’ve all been nice and gracious and left him lots of comments to show your appreciation. You’d fucking better – I don’t want him being nice enough to help me out and you bunch of ungrateful wastrels not showing him some goddam gratitude.

Anyhow, after the excesses of Homegame, there are some great things on in Edinburgh this week, so read on for your itinerary.

Tuesday 1st April: Barry Adamson at the Voodoo Rooms.
Barry Adamson is just fucking brilliant. Patchy, but brilliant. His cinematic jazz noir is perfectly suited to the Voodoo Rooms plush exuberance, and I am really looking forward to this. So much so that I bought Mrs. Toad a ticket without even asking her. I’ve heard rather negative reports of his latest album from a very reliable source, but I’ll take my time and make my own decisions on it, as you would expect. In the meantime, I am really excited about this show.
Barry Adamson – The Big Bamboozle
Barry Adamson – You Sold Your Dreams

Thursday 3rd April: Zoey Van Goey at Henry’s Cellar Bar.
I don’t know too much about Zoey Van Goey, but they’re pretty well thought of from what I can tell, and I think a friend of a friend twice removed is in the band. Or something like that. Either way, I’m going along. It should be an indie-pop pleasure.
Zoey Van Goey – Song to the Embers

Thursday 3rd April: Josh Ritter & Dawn Landes at the Liquid Room.
I’m not, I must confess, a massive Josh Ritter fan, although that may be due to not having heard much of his work. This is the gig for you if you like singer-songwritery Americana because he is supported by the slightly folkier and utterly lovely Dawn Landes. Expect a lot of thoughtful head-nodding in the mosh pit, but I reckon it should be a pretty good gig nevertheless.
Josh Ritter – Wings
Dawn Landes – Caroline

Sorry chaps, I’ve got fuck all in me today. A post just won’t pop into my head, and I haven’t listened to any of my new music enough yet to feel I have enough understanding of it to pass on.

The other thing is that I have my latest podcast swimming around in my head and it is making it very difficult to think about other things. It appears I have the classic male mind: complete inability to multi-task, apart from the obligatory reflections upon sex every six seconds.

The new podcast is about gayness in indie music and life in general, which is something I feel really very strongly about. I’m not sure why because I am not gay myself and I don’t have many gay friends. The ones I do have a very good ones though, so maybe that’s it. Maybe it’s also the fact that homophobes are such unspeakable cunts that I would feel obliged to oppose them even if they were recommending a recipe for salad dressing.

Either way, for ‘research purposes’ I was printing off a splendid study about how homophobic men show unusual levels of arousal when exposed to gay porn, only my boss got to the printer before me. Honestly, he didn’t say anything, apart from ‘there’s something very strange printing off’ when I asked him if the printer was working properly, which isn’t always a given around here. So now I’ve been caught printing off articles about gay porn at work, which is nice. It annoys me a little that I find this at all embarrassing (Fuck you, it’s lunchtime, I’ll print what I want) and it also annoys me that it is very likely he did find it highly suspicious.

I am so tired and fed up with all this shit. Homosexuality. Not fucking leprosy, you retards.

So, until I get this podcast out of my system and get down and listen to some new music properly I am going to have to throw out a smattering of new and interesting things that are floating around my inbox as a sort of interlude. Sorry y’all, normal service will continue shortly.

More from (The Real) Tuesday Weld’s new album, The London Book of the Dead. It’s out, and I will buy it but I haven’t got round to it yet. This is just brilliant though. (The Real) Tuesday Weld – Kix

I know nothing about this, but Campfires & Battlefields sent it through on the weekend and it’s ace. Enjoy, and buy here. A.A. Bondy – Vice Rag

This one nearly made it onto my Pink Podcast, but just missed. It’s from the Dusty in Memphis album. Dusty Springfield – Windmills of Your Mind

A splendid cover of the Peter, Bjorn & John track Young Folks. Dawn Landes – Young Folks

One from my inbox: Sleeping States – Rivers