Christ on a bike, is it that time already?  So much to impart and so little time in which to do it!  First up, a raging hangover and an incomplete Toad Session may have prevented me getting my gig listings sorted this week, but there are loads of things happening this weekend which you will enjoy, so I figured I might as well do a quick preview for you now, before the fives and the radio show.

Tonight:
- The Ides of Toad present: The Pineapple Chunk, Brown Brogues and Zed Penguin at Henry’s Cellar Bar.
- Sparrow & the Workshop and Bwani Junction at the National Museum of Scotland.
- Lach and Catherine Brogan doing spoken word performances at Neu Reekie, at the Scottish Book Trust.
- Rod Jones & the Birthday Suit at the Electric Circus.

Tomorrow:
- The Ides of Toad present: Louis Barabbbas & the Bedlam Six, Skeleton Bob and Lee Patterson at the Third Door.
- PAWS, Edinburgh School for the Deaf, Sebastian Dangerfield and Broken Records solo acoustic at the Wee Red Bar.
- Michael Kiwanuka at the Electric Circus (I think this is sold out, but it’s feasible there are tickets on the door if you’re really determined).

Anyhow, as per usual El, Brian and myself will be back on Fresh Air at half three, and this week El is picking the entire playlist so it should actually be some fun to listen to for a change.  There might even be enjoyable music.  And possibly some remixes. In fact, probably some remixes. But I’ll fill in the playlist at the bottom of the page as we go along so

On air from 3:30pm UK time – listen live here.

And in the meantime, Friday is de-lurking day on Song, by Toad of course, so come out of the woodwork and say hello by answering, as frivolously as you please, the following five silly questions:

1. Any festivals you’re looking forward to this year?
2. Suggest a movie mashup of two films you’d like to see combined into one.
3. Give us a good colloquialism you’ve been enjoying recently.
4. If you make a piece of toast for a snack, what do you spread on it?
5. Instead of ‘this vehicle is reversing’ what should we be teaching our vans to say?

Playlist for our Fresh Air radio show this afternoon, as chosen entirely by Miss El Parks.
1. Selector Dub Narcotic – Distorted Cymbals
2. Y’All is Fantasy Island – With Handclaps
3. Dum Dum Girls – Play With Fire
4. El Mato a un Policia Motorizado – Un Million de Euros
5. Louis Barabbas & the Bedlam Six – Away in a Manger
6. Brown Brogues – Don’t Touch My Hair
7. Dead Rabbits – I Think I Know
8. Mount Kimbie – Maybes
9. Bull Moose Jackson – Big Ten Inch Record
10. The Coasters – Down in Mexico
11. Mongrels – Massive C*nt
12. Plastic Animals – Ghosts (Demo)
13. Franz Ferdinand – Lucid Dreams

 Morning.  Fucking brilliantly awesome get tae fuck good fucking morning to you all.  Grrrmpf.  You know those days which start out fucking shite from the very get go and before you answer a single email or deal with a single individual you’re already within a whisker of just telling everyone to piss off because you just can’t be fucking arsed with them?  Yep, one of those I’m afraid.  Hopefully El and Brian will cheer me up on Fresh Air this afternoon.

This is the last show on Fresh Air this entire term, I think, so we’ll be playing a combination of Christmas tat and end-of-year favourites, I believe.  And after that I shall be scuttling off for a much-deserved pint.

On air from 3:30pm UK time – listen live here

In the meantime, after the hugely successful song of the year vote, we are at that time of year, where I ask you to tell us all which albums you have loved the most this year.  I’ll add them up as we go along and on Monday I will announce the winner.

This is of course the perfect opportunity to de-lurk and say hello.  It’s always nice to hear from people I had no idea were reading, and of course our readership is orders of magnitude larger than our commentership* so I am forever wondering who these shadowy thousands are who read the site regularly but hang about in the shadows saying nothing.  Make today the day!

So, simply, just list your five favourite albums, in no particular order, preferably in the format band – album so I can tally them easier, and we’ll see who everyone’s been enjoying the most in 2011.  And the tracklisting for the radio show will appear live below as we go along, once the show starts at half three.

1. Ian Humberstone – The House on the Hill
2. Seth Faergolzia – Weird Old Toad
3. The Leg – Witch on the Speakers
4. Jesus H. Foxx – So Much Water
5. Louis Barabbas & the Bedlam Six – Away in a Manger
6. Meursault – Christmas in Kirkcaldy
7. Warpaint – Billie Holiday
8. Tom Lehrer – A Christmas Carol
9. Yusuf Azak – Swim
10. Plastic Animals – Post-Rapture Blues
11. Trapped Mice – Just Like Christmas (Low cover)
12. Waiters – Tomorrowland
13. Battles – Ice Cream
14. Easter – Damp Patch
15. Hookworms – Teen Dreams
16. Dead Rabbits – All You Need
17. Sons of Joy – Go Tell it on the Mountain

*My sincere apologies to the English language.

 BUT DON’T WORRY!  After last week there will be no surprise eighties bonanza, just good old whinging indie pish, as you’ve probably come to expect these days.

After the radio show there will be a bite to eat, and then a slow slide into oblivion as I go from Collar Up, Sparrow & the Workshop and Meursault at Cabaret Voltaire to the Gerry Loves Records Christmas Party at the Banshee Labyrinth.  It might get messy.

On air from 3:30pm UK time – listen live here.

Also, yesterday I dropped off some Toad merch at a new Christmas popup shop on St Leonard’s Street, in the Studio 203 Gallery.  If you’re heading out of town past the Pleasance, it’s a couple of hundred metres further out, opposite the Lismore Rugby Club, and there’s a map here, if that doesn’t ring any bells.

Normally an arts studio, I believe, the gallery is now full of all sorts of really nice handmade bits and pieces, as well as releases from some of Scotland’s best independent labels, in the music room through the back.  Well worth a visit, I reckon.

Anyhow, in the meantime, delurk, come out of hiding, bother your arses and complete this Friday’s five stupid questions:

1. Have you put any thought into your top albums/songs/etc lists for 2011 yet?
2. At what date is Christmas officially allowed to start being mentioned, in your view?
3. Next film you’re likely to see.
4. Favourite thing to do with snow.
5. Artistic skill you would learn if you had the time/inclination/talent.

And again, as per usual, the playlist for the radio show will appear below once we go live at around half three this afternoon.

1. The Fall – Two Librans
2. Liars – Scissor
3. Deerhunter – Nothing Ever Happened
4. Washed Out – Eyes Be Closed
5. Collar Up – The Boatman
6. Spook School – Are You Who You Think You Are?
7. Jetskis – Moonlight Kawasaki Ride
8. Quiet Americans – Summer House
9. Dead Rabbits – Make Me Believe
10. Robin Grey – The Hackney Gentrification Song
11. Video Thrills – Sports Park USA
12. Trapped in Kansas – Happiness is an Allegory, Sadness a Story